Apr. 2 / Administration of William J. Clinton, 1996

tain, because things are changing so fast. And years. I mean, for people like me that grew now the biggest challenge is figuring out how up memorizing the baseball statistics, not just to keep the job machine going and still give of all of my heroes in the fifties when I was the baseball fans in America, the working peo- a boy but going back to the twenties and thir- ple, the security that they deserve while they ties, I knew the hitting records of all the old are on the job, some certainty that if they work players. The idea that we were going to have harder they can get a raise, they can have a a—literally a 50-year record in hitting. And I retirement, they can provide health care for know there are all kind of reasons for it, the their kids, that kind of thing. expansion teams. I know all that. But to see And no one knows how to do this. It’s a that just thrown away, it just broke my heart. new challenge. We have never had a time before For all of us nuts, it was a bad deal. when we generated so many new jobs, and the Q. Thanks for being with us, sir. It’s been economy was performing well, but we still have a pleasure. people uncertain out there. So that’s our biggest The President. Thanks. challenge today. Q. Come back anytime. Q. One out, Mike MacFarlane up for the The President. Thank you. This, however, is Royals. He doubled and scored his first time going to be a good year. up. Q. Yeah, I imagine, and a busy year. We were talking about somewhat of a back- The President. A good year for baseball. ground in sports as a youngster. Did you take Q. And also a busy year for you. any lessons away from competition that you use The President. But I’ll still keep up. now in your life and on the job? Q. Okay. Good luck. Nice seeing you. The President. Absolutely. Two, particularly. Q. A real pleasure. No matter how good you are at what you’re The President. Thank you. doing, most things work out better when teams Q. We’ll be back with more from Camden do it together. People work better together than Yards in a moment. Thank you, Mr. President. they do on their own most of the time. And The President. Give me a golf game some the second lesson is the obvious one: Never day. give up. It’s not over till it’s over. Q. Okay. You got a deal. Q. Were you very frustrated as a sports fan during the baseball strike? The President. Yes, very. Especially that year. NOTE: The President spoke at approximately 4:30 It’s something that you can identify with as a p.m. in the HTS broadcast booth at Oriole Park pitcher. It was the greatest hitting year in 50 at Camden Yards.

Remarks at a Dinner Honoring President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro of April 2, 1996

Ladies and gentlemen, good evening. Presi- have affected Italy and all Western democracies dent Scalfaro, Mariana Scalfaro, members of the since the end of the cold war, he has been Italian delegation, distinguished guests: Hillary a clear voice for civility and decency in public and I are delighted to welcome President life. Scalfaro to the White House. We were so warm- Today we had a serious talk about the issues ly received by him in both and we are working on together, but tonight it is in 1994. fitting that we celebrate the extraordinary President Scalfaro’s long public career and his friendship between Italy and the United States lifelong devotion to the people of Italy mark and between the people of Italy and the people him as one of the great democrats of our era. of the United States. And tonight, Mr. Presi- He has always been a great friend of the United dent, on behalf of all the American people, we States. And during the tremendous changes that thank Italy for the greatest of all its gifts to

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us, its people. For America has been enriched He had an incredible string of accomplish- beyond measure by Italian-Americans. ments. He was the first European to build a In this century we have been treated to su- ship on our Great Lakes. He and La Salle to- preme grace on our sporting fields by athletes gether explored the Mississippi River. He from Joe Dimaggio to Joe Montana. In the fine brought settlers and traders to the great State arts we’ve been blessed with the exuberance of Illinois. And historians credit him with being of in music from Toscanini to Sinatra the true father of that State. This remarkable to Jon Bon Jovi. [Laughter] We have seen the Italian came to my attention because in 1686 pathbreaking innovation of Frank Stella in paint- he founded a settlement about midway between ing, and we have seen Italian after Italian after Illinois and the Gulf of Mexico on the Mis- Italian grace the silver screen, from Frank Capra sissippi River. The town became known as Ar- to this year’s best actor, Nicholas Cage. kansas Post, the very first settlement in my We have, as everyone knows, benefited enor- home State. mously from contributions to our public life La Salle said that Tonti’s energy and resolve from the legendary Fiorello LaGuardia to Sen- made him, and I quote, ‘‘equal to anything.’’ ator John Pastore, Judge John Sirica, Governor In their long and rich history, Italian-Americans Cuomo, Geraldine Ferraro, the many Italian- have proved themselves equal to anything. And American mayors here tonight, the many Italian- so the extraordinary friendship between the Americans now serving in Congress, and to the United States and Italy has also proved equal Italian-Americans who serve on the court, begin- to anything. ning with the Supreme Court Justice, who has The extraordinary friendship between the also joined us this evening. United States and Italy, rooted in our common Of course, there are millions more. The love of liberty and democracy, our shared energy Italian-Americans who built our businesses and and resolve, will help us rise to the challenges our farms, who are the backbone of our commu- of the 21st century and will ensure that we nities, they deserve so much of the credit for will always be the closest of allies, the best of America’s strength and greatness. friends. Many believe the remarkable story of Italians And so ladies and gentlemen, let us raise a in America began with the immigration at the glass to the partnership between our nations, early part of this century. But in fact, the pat- to the Italian-American community, to the Presi- tern was set long before that by an Italian dent of Italy and his daughter. Viva l’Italia, and named Henry de Tonti, born Enrico Tonti in God bless America. Gaeta. A renowned soldier, sometime diplomat, fearless adventurer, Tonti was the most trusted deputy of the great French explorer La Salle. You could say he was La Salle’s Leon Panetta. NOTE: The President spoke at 8:37 p.m. in the [Laughter] East Room at the White House.

Remarks to Commerce Department Employees on the Aircraft Tragedy in April 3, 1996

Thank you, Dr. Good. Ladies and gentlemen, and friends who are there. And we wanted to the Vice President and the First Lady and the come and spend a few moments with you. members of the Cabinet and I wanted to come As all of you know, the plane carrying Sec- here to be with the employees of the Commerce retary Brown and his delegation, including a Department at this very difficult hour. Hillary number of your colleagues, business leaders, and and I have just come from Ron Brown’s home, members of the United States military, went visiting with Alma and Michael and their family down today near Dubrovnik, Croatia. We do not know for sure what happened there. But

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