pd04oc99 Memorandum on Measures Regarding Certain Liberians in the United States...

	Web GovRecords.org

lowest welfare rates in 32 years, the lowest crime rates in 26 years. 
This year we announced that this year's budget surplus was going to be 
$115 billion, and it's the first time in 42 years we've had 2 years of 
budget surpluses in a row.
    Now, those are facts. And while the economy has been growing, I 
signed the family and medical leave law, and millions of people have 
taken advantage of it. Every year we've had a record number of new small 
businesses. I signed the Brady bill, and 400,000 people with criminal 
backgrounds or mental health histories haven't gotten handguns. And not 
a single hunter or sports person has been inconvenienced, but a lot of 
lives have been saved.
    The air is cleaner; the water is cleaner; the food is safer. We've 
tripled the number of toxic waste dump cleanups. And the economy has 
grown, not been hurt, by strengthening our commitment to the 
environment. Ninety percent of our kids are immunized against serious 
childhood diseases. And the HOPE scholarship gives virtually a universal 
tax credit that opens the doors of college to anybody who will work hard 
enough to go.
    This country is moving in the right direction, because of the ideas 
that we shared. And one of the reasons that I would go anywhere for him 
is that none of this would have happened, in my judgment, if we hadn't 
enacted the economic plan of 1993, which helped to cost us the Congress 
in '94 because people knew that it was controversial. We cut spending 
and raised taxes both, and everybody was mad and nobody felt the 
benefits yet. And it passed by one vote.
    So if he hadn't been there to vote for it, or if he had said, ``You 
know, I come from Louisiana; it's a conservative State,'' and he'd taken 
a dive, none of us would be here tonight, because I wouldn't have been 
reelected; the economy wouldn't be in good shape; and we'd all be 
singing another tune. But he was there because he knew it was the right 
thing to do. And he supported our crime package and all the other 
initiatives.
    So I think his philosophy is right, and I know he's got the courage 
of his convictions. That's the first thing.

[[Page 1837]]

    The second thing that I would like to say is that every election is 
about where you're going, not where you've been. I love to tell this 
story, but when I was Governor I used to go out to the State Fair every 
year and have Governor's day. And I'd just sit there in some little 
booth in one of the big pavilions. Anybody that wanted to come up could 
come up and say whatever they wanted. In 1990 I had been Governor for 10 
years, and we had an election coming up. So this old boy in overalls, 
who was about 75 years old, comes up to me and he says, ``Well,'' he 
said, ``Bill, are you going to run for Governor again?'' I said, ``I 
don't know; if I do, will you vote for me?'' He said, ``Yeah, I guess 
so. I always have.'' And I said ``Well, aren't you sick of me after all 
this time?'' He said, ``No, I'm not--but,'' he said, ``nearly everybody 
else I know is.'' [Laughter] And I got kind of hurt, and I said, ``Well, 
don't you think I've done a good job?'' He said, ``Sure, but you drew a 
paycheck every 2 weeks, didn't you? That's what we hired you to do.'' 
And it was a stunning insight.
    So every election is not about yesterday; it's about tomorrow. 
Yesterday is important because it's evidence of what you'll do tomorrow.
    So what are we going to do with all this prosperity? And what's 
still out there? And what does that got to do with this Governor's race? 
Number one, I believe with all my heart we need to use this time to deal 
with the long-term challenges of this country.
    What are they? The aging of America. The baby boomers like me--I'm 
the oldest of the baby boomers--people between the ages of 35 and 53 are 
in the baby boom generation. We retire--we're much bigger than any other 
group our age except until these kids that are in school today. Thirty 
years from now there will be twice as many people over 65--twice as 
many--two people working for every one person drawing Social Security.
    Now, with the surpluses, now is the time to deal with the challenge 
of Social Security and Medicare, to add a prescription drug coverage to 
the Medicare program--we'd never start Medicare without prescription 
drugs today--to lengthen the life of the Social Security Trust Fund 
until 2050, anyway, to get through the lifetimes of the baby boom 
generation. That's what we've got to do. It's the first thing we ought 
to do.
    The second thing we need to do is to recognize that not everybody 
has been a part of this economic recovery. And we need to keep working 
to get more investment to people and places that haven't had it yet, and 
to keep this expansion going.
    So I want to do two things. Number one, I want to give the same tax 
incentives to investors to invest in America we give them to invest in 
the Caribbean or Latin America or Africa or any other place in the 
world. I like those incentives to invest overseas in poor countries, but 
we ought to give the same incentives to people to invest in poor 
neighborhoods, poor communities, the Mississippi Delta, the Indian 
reservations, the inner cities in the United States of America. That's 
very important. If we can't bring investment and jobs to these places 
now, we will never get around to doing it. This country has never had 
greater prosperity.
    And the other thing that we have to do, in my judgment, is not to 
squander this surplus. We need to save enough of this surplus to 
lengthen the life of Social Security and Medicare and to pay down the 
debt. Do you realize that this country could be out of debt in 15 years 
for the first time since 1835, when Andrew Jackson was President? Just 
think about--here in New Orleans, you think about how long ago that is--
a guy that got to be President because he won the Battle of New Orleans 
in 1814, a guy that got to be President because of a battle he won in 
1814 was the last person to have this country out of debt.
    But in a global economy, it's a good deal. Why should liberals be 
for a debt-free America? Because money moves around the world in a 
hurry. That's what happened to Asia. You remember a couple years ago 
when they all went belly up at once. And if a government is not 
borrowing money, that means you get to borrow money for lower cost, your 
interest rates are lower. Lower business rates means more jobs and 
higher incomes. Lower personal rates means lower house loans, lower car 
loans, lower college loans, lower credit card payments, a longer, more 
protracted, more prosperous future for America. That's

[[Page 1838]]

important. And all that could be done entirely by the Federal 
Government.
    But the third big challenge cannot be. The third big challenge is 
doing right by the children of this country, and, specifically, giving 
them all world-class education. Do you believe all kids can learn? I do. 
Do you believe we need to challenge them to do better? I do. Do you 
believe we need to identify failing schools and require them to turn 
around and do better, or shut them down and let the kids go to other 
schools? I do.
    I'm not for vouchers because we don't put enough money in the 
schools in the first place. So if you give vouchers, you take a 
relatively large amount of money away from the school budget for a 
relatively small number of people. That's why I'm not for it. But on the 
other hand, I think to just justify the status quo is wrong.
    So I've offered the Congress a plan which would say you can have 
your Federal money for education, but if you want it, you've got to have 
a plan to hold schools accountable for the performance of their 
students, to turn around failing schools or shut them down, but we're 
not going to blame the kids for the failures of the system. We're going 
to give you some money to turn these schools around, and we're going to 
triple the money we give for after-school programs, which will help you 
keep the crime rate coming down. Won't it?
    Now, this is where we come to the Governor's race. No matter what I 
do, under the American system and the constitution of every State, the 
primary responsibility for education is vested in the State. And most of 
the money for education is paid by taxpayers to the State or to the 
local government. Today, in a global economy, with modern technology, 
more education is critical. And yet, it is more difficult than ever in 
America because our student bodies are more and more diverse. I mean, 
today I saw people from at least four different ethnic groups in that 
little group of school children you had gathered up for me today--just 
looking at the faces of those kids.
    Believe it or not, in the Alexandria school district, across the 
river from the White House, in Virginia, there are kids from 180 
different racial and ethnic groups whose parents speak a hundred 
different languages, in one school district.
    Now, that means we have work to do. And there is no more important 
responsibility for the Governor. If I were a citizen of Louisiana, if I 
were back home just voting in Arkansas--I hate to ever be a single-issue 
voter, but I would be almost completely a single-issue voter in a 
Governor's race, based on the person I thought was most likely to do the 
most for the schools of my State, because if these kids don't have the 
education they need, nothing else the rest of us do will matter for 
their future. It is the most important thing.
    Last point--I'm the only person here who has been a Governor, and I 
did if for 12 years, and I loved it every day. And I did not get tired 
of it. I didn't get bored with it. And when I left to go be President, I 
was having more fun being Governor before I started running for 
President than I had ever had in my whole life. It's a wonderful job.
    And if you like it, if you like people, if you like to work hard, if 
you believe in good schools and good jobs, and if it thrills you to get 
things done for your State, it's a wonderful job. But to be really good 
at it, you need to be passionate about your convictions, and you need to 
have a real vision you'll fight for. But you can't be too partisan and 
mean-spirited. You've got to be someone who can get people together, 
work with all kinds of different people, and convince people that your 
vision is the right one. And when other people have a good idea, then do 
that, too.
    That's the kind of person Bill is. That's why he was voted the 
``Best Legislator'' in the State legislature two different times when he 
was a State legislator. And I can tell you as someone who has done this 
job for 12 years, he has the right temperament. He has plenty of sense. 
He has a magnificent wife to keep his head balanced and to help remind 
him that education is his first priority--[laughter]--and he has years 
and years and years of knowledge and skill in getting things done, 
including in the Congress, that money can't buy and that you can only 
get by living the way he has lived.
    So I think what you ought to do is go out there and say, listen, to 
everybody--he hasn't asked anybody to vote for him because of

[[Page 1839]]

his race. All he has asked is that nobody votes against him because of 
his race. All he said is--he wants to treat everybody the same and give 
every child the chance to live up to his or her God-given capacities.
    But I'm telling you, if you look at a man's life, his record, his 
personal skills, and what the State needs at this time, and how it fits 
with what we're doing to move America into the 21st century, I can 
hardly think of anybody who is as well qualified, remotely, as he would 
be to be the Governor not only of this State but any State. You're lucky 
to have him running, and I hope you'll keep helping him.
    Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 6:50 p.m. at a private residence. In his 
remarks, he referred to dinner hosts Arthur Q. and Mary Wineman Davis; 
Mayor Marc H. Morial of New Orleans; Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee; 
lobbyist Tommy Boggs; and Representative Jefferson's wife, Andrea.


<DOC>
[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents]
 [frwais.access.gpo.gov]
                         

[Page 1839]
 
Monday, October 4, 1999
 
Volume 35--Number 39
Pages 1821-1886
 
Week Ending Friday, October 1, 1999
 
Memorandum on Delegation of Authority Under the Immigration and 
Nationality Act

September 24, 1999

Memorandum for the Attorney General

Subject: Delegation of Authority Under Sections 212(f) and 215(a)(1) of 
the Immigration and Nationality Act

    By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and 
the laws of the United States of America, including sections 212(f) and 
215(a)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended (8 U.S.C. 
1182(f) and 1185(a)(1)), and in light of Proclamation 4865 of September 
29, 1981, I hereby delegate to the Attorney General the authority to:
    (a) Maintain custody, at any location she deems appropriate, and 
      conduct any screening she deems appropriate in her unreviewable 
      discretion, of any undocumented person she has reason to believe 
      is seeking to enter the United States and who is encountered in a 
      vessel interdicted on the high seas through December 31, 2000; and
    (b) Undertake any other appropriate actions with respect to such 
      aliens permitted by law.
    With respect to the function delegated by this order, all actions 
taken after April 16, 1999, for or on behalf of the President that would 
have been valid if taken pursuant to this memorandum are ratified.
    This memorandum is not intended to create, and should not be 
construed to create, any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, 
legally enforceable by any party against the United States, its agencies 
or instrumentalities, officers, employees, or any other person, or to 
require any procedures to determine whether a person is a refugee.
    You are authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the 
Federal Register.
                                            William J. Clinton

Note: This message was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
September 28.


<DOC>
[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents]
 [frwais.access.gpo.gov]
                         

[Page 1839-1843]
 
Monday, October 4, 1999
 
Volume 35--Number 39
Pages 1821-1886
 
Week Ending Friday, October 1, 1999
 
Remarks at a Breakfast With Religious Leaders

September 28, 1999

    Thank you very much and good morning. I, first of all, would like to 
thank you for the invocation and let you know that, as with many other 
Americans, we have been thinking about you and your people in your 
church.
    Hillary and I welcome you here today. As you know, the Vice 
President and Mrs. Gore are normally here, but he is often otherwise 
occupied these days. [Laughter] And I hope you will forgive their 
absence. They really wanted to be here.
    I would like to thank Secretary Shalala, Secretary Riley, Jack Lew 
for being here. I would also like to thank Barry McCaffrey, the Director 
of our Office of National Drug Control Policy. And to those of you who 
come nearly every year, welcome back. To those of you who are here for 
the first time, welcome. We are delighted that you are all here.
    I have looked forward to this day every year for as long as I have 
been President and we have been doing this. All of you know that, if 
you've come to some of the others,

[[Page 1840]]

that each one of these days has been special. And, as in the 1990's, as 
America has grown more involved with the rest of the world and more 
diverse, because of our history of religious liberty and the way our 
Constitution has worked, more and more religious convictions and 
affiliations have flowered in our country. And you can look around this 
room today--see, it would be very unusual if you could have this kind of 
gathering in any other country in the world. And for that I am 
profoundly grateful.
    Last year was one of the most difficult years in my life, and this 
occasion, because it has come to mean so much to me, was a very 
difficult one. For those of you who were part of that, I want to express 
my particular appreciation. I'd like to say a special word of thanks to 
my good friend Reverend Wogaman and to Gordon MacDonald--I think he is 
here back there--and to Tony Campolo, who is not here, who have kept 
their word to meet with me over the last year, both to help me and to 

Other Popular 1999 Presidential Documents Documents:

Other Documents:

1999 Presidential Documents Records and Documents