pd08jn98 Remarks to the Democratic Leadership Council National Conversation...

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Joe then noted that the sharp growth of the Asian-American community in 
the Gulf Coast region of Texas has not been accurately reflected in the 
census.]

    The President. If I might say--this is a problem--this particular 
problem she has mentioned is a bigger problem with Asian-Americans than 
with any other minority group, but it is also a general problem in the 
work that we're trying to do around the country in revitalizing the 
inner cities.
    If you look at the American unemployment rate now, which is about 
4.3 percent--it's the lowest it's been since 19--I think '74, '73, 
something like that, now--and when I became President, the conventional 
theory among economists--we had these huge arguments, I remember, after 
I was elected in '92 and before I took office, and we got everybody down 
around the table at the Governor's Mansion in Little Rock and talked 
about this. Conventional economic wisdom was that if unemployment 
dropped much below 6 percent, you would have terrible inflation, the 
economy would be in bad shape, and we'd have to run it back up again.
    Well, the American people have proved that that's not so, through 
high levels of productivity and technology. But then you ask yourself, 
well, how can we keep this economy growing now that--if the national 
unemployment rate is down to 4.3 percent? How can we grow the economy 
without inflation? The obvious answer is, go to the places where the 
unemployment rate is still higher, where people will work for 
competitive wages, and where they can create markets because they do 
have money to spend if people invest it there.
    So, you see this also in Hispanic communities in places like Los 
Angeles, where we've put together a $400 million community development 
bank to go into these neighborhoods and make small loans to 
entrepreneurs to start businesses. You see it in these community 
development banks we've put up in New York and elsewhere.
    In New York City the unemployment rate is still almost 9 percent, so 
obviously there is an enormous opportunity there for growth, and a lot 
of the unemployed people in New York are Hispanic, African-American, 
Asians, people from the Caribbean, not counted. So you go and you say, 
``Well, make me a loan, and I'll go start this kind of business, and 
there are this thousand many people in my neighborhood and in my market 
area.'' And somebody picks up a census and says, ``No, there are not, 
there are only half that many.''
    So this is a free enterprise issue as well, because I'm convinced 
that we have an opportunity that we've not had in 30 years to really 
crack the unemployment and the underemployment problem and the lack of 
business ownership in inner cities throughout this country. But to do 
it, even if you have generous and sympathetic bankers and a Government 
program that says you're supposed to target low-income areas, you've got 
to know what the market is.
    So it's a problem--the one you said is not just specific to you in 
here, it's a huge general problem throughout America that an accurate 
count would help. So it actually, I believe, would help us to keep the 
growth of the economy going and help us to lower the

[[Page 1015]]

unemployment rate further by knowing where investment capital could 
flow.
    Let me just ask--and I guess I'd like to start with Dr. Klineberg 
because he started the Houston area survey--how possible do you think it 
is to get an accurate survey, and what do you think--what steps need to 
be taken? And what arguments do you think we could make to the skeptics 
who say no statistician with a computer can compete with people going 
around door-to-door and counting heads?
    This is a--you know, it's kind of like a--it's not an easy argument 
to win. You know, the average person, you just come up to somebody and 
say, ``We're here to figure out how many people are in this room. Would 
you think it would be better to have an expert look in the room and 
guess or have somebody walk up and down the rows and count?'' So we've 
got to figure out how to--we've got to win this argument with average 
American people who aren't used to thinking about these sort of things. 
And we have to prove that we can do it. So maybe we ought to talk about 
where we go from here. But, Doctor, would you like to say a few things?

[Stephen Klineberg, professor of sociology, Rice University, described 
how the census was used and why accuracy was important to the work of 
sociology and political science in understanding America at a time of 
great demographic change from an amalgam of European nationalities to an 
amalgam of worldwide nationalities. Rev. Clemons commended the President 
for his support of statistical sampling, but urged collecting detailed 
data in the census.]

    The President. Let me ask you another way, because this is where I 
think--obviously, I'm here in part because I was--because I wanted to 
come here to illustrate the importance of the census. I'm also here in 
part, to be candid, because the outcome of this battle is not clear. We 
all know that. That's why Congressman Sawyer and Congresswoman Maloney 
came all the way from Washington with me today.
    And suppose I got all of you, and I put you in a van. We all got in 
the van; we drove across town; and we stopped at a little real estate 
office. The people had never had any contact at all with the census 
except they always filled out their form--or we stopped in a service 
station, and we met a couple guys that--they never thought about this 
issue for 5 minutes. They're not conscious that it affects them at all. 
How can we convince ordinary citizens in all the congressional 
districts, whether they're represented by Republicans or Democrats, 
without regard to party, that statistical sampling will give them a more 
accurate count than hiring 6 million people to go door to door? What can 
you say that is consistent with the experience of ordinary working 
Americans that will make them understand that?
    Dr. Mindiola.
    Dr. Mindiola. Mr. President, if I were you I would tell them this 
story. Most Americans, I think the vast majority of Americans go for 
medical checkups. And during that process, they do a blood test. But 
when you go get your blood test, the doctor or the nurse does not draw 
100 percent of your blood out of your body. They draw a sample. And 
based upon that sample--[laughter]--and based upon that sample, they can 
tell your cholesterol level, whether you have too much acid in your 
blood, et cetera, et cetera. And I think in those common, everyday 
terms, the average American citizen should be able to understand the 
validity of sampling, because that's a common, everyday experience,
    The President. That may go down in history as the Dracula theory of 
the census. [Laughter] That's pretty good, though.
    Go ahead, Marta.

[Marta Moreno, director, Magnolia Multi-Service Center, a Woman, 
Infants, and Children (WIC) program facility, stated the importance of 
making people feel comfortable with filling out the census form and 
advocated public service announcements to achieve that goal. She also 
favored hiring minority groups to participate in data collection for the 
census.]

    The President. Gilbert.
    Mr. Moreno. I think that transportation ultimately is one of the 
most impacted areas, and boy, in Houston if you're sitting in that rush 
hour traffic, you're going to have our vote, because you're sitting in 
bumper-to-bumper traffic in 100 degree weather.

[[Page 1016]]

    The President. So you'd make a practical argument.
    Mr. Moreno. It is. Houston, as you know, is the fourth fastest 
growing city in sheer numbers. Dallas is third. The towns in south Texas 
are growing at an incredible rate, and they're stacked on a very poor 
highway that links those cities.
    The President. We're trying to build you one, though.
    Mr. Moreno. Yes, exactly. It's dangerous to drive from San Antonio 
to Houston on a Sunday night because the traffic is just stacked.
    The President. You know, one of the things that I find works 
sometimes is the analogy to political polling. I mean, most people 
understand that a poll taken before an election is a statistical sample. 
And sometimes it's wrong, but more often than not it's right. And there 
you may only sample a thousand people out of millions of voters. I mean, 
there are ways to do this, but I just think--I wish you would all think 
about it because, again--the other point that I think is important that 
a lot of you have pointed out is that, a lot of people, you can send all 
the forms you want to their house, and they either won't or can't fill 
out the forms. And we know that in some cases, almost--and maybe even 
without an attempt to deceive, people have gotten census forms if they 
have a vacation home or two homes, so that ironically, the most over-
counted people tended to be upper-income people who would be the least 
likely to benefit from a lot of these investments, and they might have 
innocently filled out the forms twice, not necessarily wanting to be 
over-counted, and just done it.
    So I think that that's--the other thing is to point out that people 
are moving all the time, and sometimes people aren't home, and sometimes 
somebody is home and somebody is not, which means that even if you 
thought sending out 10 million people to physically count the other 200 
and--how many people did you say we were--268 million of us--it may not 
be physically possible to do. So that even if you could do it, even if 
we could put 10 or 15 or 20 million people on the street for a couple of 
months, it might do no more of an accurate job than a very good sample.
    The only place I know that probably got a good head count recently--
well, you may have seen the press, where they have a much more 
controlled society, where people don't get to move around on their own, 
is Iraq, where they shut the whole country down for a day. You remember 
that? Nobody moves; everybody stays home; kids have to play in front of 
their house--stay there. That doesn't seem to me to be a practical 
alternative for us. [Laughter]
    Glenda.

[Ms. Joe stated that it is necessary to convince citizens that the 
accuracy derived from statistical sampling serves their self-interest. 
Rev. Clemons stated that minorities are reluctant to answer the census 
because they believe the information would do harm rather than good and 
that reversing that perception was essential for participation. Dr. 
Mindiola stated that the census is not a political issue and politics 
should be taken out of it. Dr. des Vignes-Kendrick commended facilities 
such as the Magnolia Multi-Service Center and underscored the need for 
accurate census data in order to more fully serve their communities. She 
stated that if census data can be demonstrated to link service, 
resources, and opportunity to the community, participation would 
increase.]

    Mr. Moreno. Mr. President, we're about out of time, but we did want 
to thank you tremendously for your visit to the East End of Houston. 
This is a real historic visit. It's my understanding that you're the 
first President since FDR to visit and so----
    The President. Is that right?
    Mr. Moreno. Hopefully, it won't be that long again.
    The President. Thank you. Let me say one other thing. I would like 
to close this--thank you all for your participation, and thank all of 
you--but I would like to close by putting this issue even in a larger 
context if I might, just to close.
    To me, having an accurate census is a big part of having a strategy 
for racial reconciliation in America and building one American community 
that works. Why? Because if people feel they're undercounted, and they 
don't get--their children don't get the help they need, whether it's an 
education or health

[[Page 1017]]

care or whatever--it will breed, inevitably, a sense of resentment, a 
sense of unfairness, a sense that people aren't really part of the 
mainstream and the future. And this is really important.
    I know a lot of people think I'm obsessed with this, but I think the 
fact that we are growing more diverse as the world gets smaller is an 
enormous, enormous asset for the United States in the 21st century if we 
really live together on terms of the quality and harmony and 
cooperation--and if we're growing together, not being split apart.
    But if you look at what I have to spend my time doing as your 
President when I deal with countries around the world, how much of it is 
dealing with people who are burdened down with group resentments? Why 
were we all rejoicing when the Irish voted for the peace accord? Because 
the Catholics and the Protestants had given up their group resentment to 
work together for a unified future.
    What is the problem in Kosovo, a place that most Americans had never 
heard of before a few months ago? Ethnic Albanians and Serbs fighting 
over group resentments. What was Bosnia about? The same thing. What is 
going on in the Middle East? What is the dynamic within India now? It's 
just all in the news because of the nuclear test, where you have a Hindu 
party claiming that the Hindus historically have been insufficiently 
respected and oppressed by the Muslim minority, and you have group 
resentments.
    I mean, this whole world is so full of people's resentments because 
they think that the group they're a part of is not getting a fair deal 
from everybody else if they happen to be bigger or richer or whatever.
    We have--with all of our problems in America--we have slowly, 
steadily, surely been able to chip away at all of the those barriers and 
come together. That, in the end, may be the largest issue of all about 
the census: Can we succeed in building one America without knowing who 
we are, how many we are, where we are, and what kind of situation we're 
living in? I think the answer to that is, it will be a lot harder. And 
if we do it right, we'll be a lot stronger.
    Thank you all, and God bless you.

Note: The President spoke at 11:40 a.m. at the Magnolia Multi-Service 
Center. In his remarks, he referred to Mayor Lee Brown of Houston; State 
Senators Mario Gallegos and Rodney Ellis; State Representative Gerard 
Torres; Jew Don Boney, president, Houston City Council; Robert A. 
Eckels, Harris County Commissioners Court; and President Ernesto Zedillo 
of Mexico.


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[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents]
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[Page 1017-1021]
 
Monday, June 8, 1998
 
Volume 34--Number 23
Pages 1003-1056
 
Week Ending Friday, June 5, 1998
 
Remarks at a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Reception in 
Houston

June 2, 1998

    Thank you so much. First, let me join in thanking Richard and Ginni 
for welcoming us into their magnificent home and this magnificent art 
gallery. [Laughter] You know, it's amazing how you use cliches year-in 
and year-out, and sometimes something happens that it gives whole new 
meaning. This lunch has given a whole new meaning to the Democratic 
Party as the party of the big tent. [Laughter] It's really very, very 
beautiful, and we're grateful to you.
    I want to thank all the Members of Congress who are here, all the 
candidates for Congress who are here; my great longtime friend Garry 
Mauro; and Jim Maddox and Ann Richards, who had to go. And I thank you, 
B.A. Bentsen, for being here, and thanks for giving us a good report on 
Lloyd.
    Ladies and gentlemen, what was just said about Martin Frost is true 
and then some. Right before I came up here, I was sitting down there, 
and Mary--[inaudible]--asked me about my dog, Buddy. I don't know if 
you've ever had a Labrador retriever, but they're smart, and they're 
loving, but, Lord, are they insistent. [Laughter] And about once a day 
my dog comes into the White House, to the Oval Office, and he'll go in 
the back room--he knows where all his toys are--and he'll sort through 
his toys, and he'll go get his ball, and he comes and throws the ball 
down at my feet. And you know, I could be talking to Boris Yeltsin on 
the phone--[laughter]--but he doesn't care. He just starts barking. 
[Laughter] The whole Federal budget could be an issue. Buddy doesn't 
care. He just starts barking. [Laughter] And he'll keep right on barking 
until I go out and throw that ball with him for a while.

[[Page 1018]]

    That's the way Martin Frost is about these events. [Laughter] If I'd 
had thought about it, I'd have called Buddy, Martin. But I say that out 
of real admiration, because somebody's got to do this work--somebody's 
got to do this work.
    In 1996 we would have won the House back if we hadn't been outspent 
in 20 close districts in the last 10 days, about 4 to 1. That's not an 
exaggeration. Now, we had a long way to come back, and we had to spend 
some money along the way, and it's not going to be that bad this time. 
But Martin Frost understands that.
    And this is a completely thankless job. In Texas, at least you can 
express your appreciation for him, you can support, you know. But he's 
out there helping people in Connecticut, in Colorado, in Washington, 

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