William Jefferson Clinton

“ Sometimes it takes a terrible tragedy to illuminate a basic truth. In a democracy, government is not "them" versus "us." We are all "us." We are all in it together. Government is our neighbors and friends helping others pursue the dreams we all share, to live in peace, provide for ourselves and our loved ones, give our children a chance for an even better life.
So in this season of reflection and rebirth, let us follow their example and rededicate ourselves, each in our own way, to the welfare of our beloved country and our fellow citizens. ”

“ I believe America will look forward toward tomorrow, not toward yesterday. I believe America won't give in to the easy path.
Just as we are setting the example by working abroad to help to advance the cause of democracy, peace, and freedom, we can set an example for ourselves by looking to the future at home. We owe that to the good men and women of our Armed Forces who are out here for our sake. The world they're helping to make peaceful expects no less of us, and I believe the American people will expect no less of themselves. ”

“ So in education, in health care, in family leave, in crime, we're working hard to give the American people the security all of us need to face the changes we confront. But we cannot make the world the way it was. We simply cannot protect our workers, their jobs, and their incomes from the winds of global competition by trying to build walls. The only way to provide economic security and expanded opportunity for the middle class in this country is to take this new world head on, to compete and to win. And we can win. The American worker is now the most productive worker in the world again. ”

“ This balanced budget is a victory for every parent who wants a good education for his or her children, for every child in our hardest pressed households who needs health care, for every family working to build a secure future. After years in which wages did not rise as fast as they should, this tax cut will clearly provide a direct increase in take-home pay for millions of families. It is the best investment we can make in America's future. It is the achievement of a generation, and all Americans should be proud. ”

“ In Washington, we all know this has been a year of serious differences and profound debate over our Nation's future direction. But if we remain true to our values, we will prove once again that in America we can have serious differences without leaving deep divisions. We know our Nation is strongest when we're true to our fundamental values, giving every American the opportunity to make the most of their lives, remembering the duty we owe to our parents and our children, preserving our families and our communities, keeping America the strongest force for peace and freedom in the world. ”

“ This holiday season, one of the greatest blessings of all is that our Nation is at peace, freedom is on the march, and the world is a safer place than it was a year ago. I'm proud of our efforts to turn conflict into cooperation, to transform fear into security, to replace hatred with hope. In a world that is ever more bound together, those efforts have been good for millions of people around the globe, and very good for America. ”

“ Like so many Americans, part of my family calls Ireland home. And having been there, having met with so many remarkable Irish men and women from all sides of the conflict, I have seen the future in their eyes—a future in which children can grow up free from fear; a future rich with the lilt of Irish laughter, not the pain of bitter tears. ”

“ The divide of race has been America's constant curse in pursuit of our ideals. The struggle to overcome it has been a defining part of our history. Racial and ethnic differences continue to divide and bedevil millions around the world. And as we become an ever more pluralistic society with people from every racial and ethnic group calling America home, our own future depends upon laying down the bitter fruits of hatred and lifting up the rich texture of our diversity and our common humanity. ”

“ To those who would do nothing or slide back into the status quo of the last several years, I say we must go forward with a plan that grows the economy, reduces the deficit, creates jobs, and restores fairness.
I say to my friends in the other party in Congress, just as you have worked with me and the people of the Midwest together to help thepeople dig themselves out of a natural disaster, so should you join us in digging America out of the legacy of two decades of declining growth, declining productivity, growing deficits, and economic crisis. We are Americans; we can pull together. ”

“ But most of all, we are a people of faith. The Bible I carry to church on Sunday says, "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things unseen." America is a special nation because it is the product of that kind of faith in the future to which so many have held fast in spite of fearsome obstacles and great hardships. Always we have believed that we could do better, conquer injustice, climb new mountains, build a better life for ourselves and a future of infinite possibility for our children. Always we have believed we can keep the promise we call America. ”

“ Today, in the rooms and hallways of Solidarity House, you still can hear the echoes of the voices of the men and women whose sweat, energy, and vision lifted millions into our middle class and transformed America into the world's greatest force for peace, prosperity, and freedom. With them as our guide and our inspiration, we can and we will harness the power of our new global economy to build a bright future for all our people in the 21st century. ”

“ After all, our job, no matter what our party is, is to work together to move America forward and to preserve the American dream for all Americans in the new global economy.
That's why I proposed the middle class bill of rights, to cut taxes for ordinary people to help them invest in their families and in their education; why I want to raise the minimum wage, so people who will take the responsibility to work full-time and stay away from welfare can earn a decent living for themselves and their children while they're doing it. ”

“ Whenever we act to heal our environment, some always question whether it will hurt our economy. But today, our economy is the strongest in a generation and our environment, the cleanest in a generation. Whether the problem has been acid rain, deadly pesticides, polluted rivers, or the ozone hole, the ingenuity of the American people has always proved to carry the day—and we'll do it once again. Working together, we will overcome the challenge of global climate change and create new avenues of growth for our economy. ”

“ All around us, we see changes transforming our economy. Global competition, new technologies, and the reductions in military spending after we won the cold war. We can't stop the world from changing, but there is one decision we can and must make. Will we leave our people and our Nation unprepared for changes that are remaking our world, or will we invest in our people's jobs, our education, our training, our technology to build a high-skilled, high-wage future for ourselves and for our children? ”

“ By arbitrarily cutting future welfare costs the Republicans get money to pay for their tax cuts. Well, I agree we need to cut costs, but we also have to be sure that when people leave welfare they have the education, training, and skills they need to get jobs, not simply to be off welfare and turn to lives of crime or to remain in poverty.
If we cut child care, how can we expect mothers to go to work? If we cut job training, how will people learn to work? If we cut job programs and these people can't find jobs in the private sector, how can we require them to work? ”

“ I wish every American could have been with me as 40,000 people filled Free-dom Square in Riga, Latvia, waving American flags and looking to us with hope and admiration. We should see ourselves as they see us, a nation of doers, of optimists, a nation with a future, leading the world to a future of peace and prosperity. ”

“ In the end, we must all face up to the responsibility to end this violence. We must say to those who would feed their neighbors what Martin Luther King called "the stale bread of hatred and spoiled meat of racism": That is not America; that is not our way. We must come together, black and white alike, to smother the fires of hatred that fuel this violence. ”

“ Will we vote for hope over fear? The history of America's greatness says we will, for we've always triumphed when our Nation has engaged the world and great challenges it offers. By passing NAFTA, Congress can demonstrate that we intend to compete and win in a thriving global economy. We took the lead in creating it, now we have to make it again for the 21st century. We can build a future we'll be proud to leave our children, and the future begins on Wednesday with a positive vote for the North American Free Trade Agreement. ”

“ That's what my plan is all about: a leaner, more efficient, more responsive Government; a ladder of contribution that demands the most from those who have the most; investment incentives to help businesses build for the future and create jobs for all Americans; education and training to prepare workers and students for new jobs in a new economy; a reformed medical system that restores peace of mind to family life; an America where every citizen has a right to a prosperous economy and a shared patriotic stake in the work to make it grow. ”

“ We have to drive the forces of violence further and further into retreat. And as we move forward, we have to remember that we're not just fighting against crime; we're fighting for the kind of nation we want to build together for the 21st century, for an America where people feel safe when they walk around the block at night and untroubled when they kiss their children goodbye in the morning, an America where nobody's grandmother lives across the street from a crack house and nobody's child walks to school through a neighborhood overrun by gangs. ”

“ But any budget that cuts funding for disabled children and school lunches, for Head Start for our youngest children, for college scholarships and loans, that doubles Medicare premiums and undermines the entire Medicaid program that provides for nursing home care and home health care for the elderly, the disabled, and health care for poor children—this budget's dead on arrival when it comes to the White House. And if the price of any deal are cuts like these, my message is, no deal.
The effort to make the American people swallow a budget that will hurt our country is over. ”

“ America is at a crossroads. One path leads to continual partisan conflict, where nothing is ever really resolved and each decision simplysets the stage for the next fight. The other path leads to national unity, a unity built on true solutions and real common ground. Down this path lies progress and strength; that has always been the right path for America. So I appeal to the Congress and to Members of both parties to put aside partisanship and work to craft a balanced budget agreement that upholds our values and reflects the common ground the American people have decided upon. ”

“ For more than 7 years now, our Nation has followed a course of fiscal discipline that has paid tremendous dividends for the American people. We made tough choices, cut our deficits, paid down our debt. We've strengthened and extended the life of Social Security and Medicare. And we made the investments that matter most for America's future in education, in health care, in the environment, in science and technology, and in targeted tax cuts. ”

“ Good morning, and happy New Year—or, we should say, happy new millennium. Last night Hillary and I joined thousands of Americans on the National Mall to bid farewell to the remarkable century just past and to welcome the new millennium. The feelings of good will and hope that overcame us all will be among our most treasured moments, and we're deeply grateful that the celebrations were both jubilant and peaceful here and all around the world. ”

“ I ask them to put aside partisan differences, as I pledge to do, and join me in a New Year's resolution to do everything we can to help Americans prosper; to reduce yesterday's Government but help Government stay on the side of American families; to give the middle class tax relief but to do it responsibly, without exploding the deficit; to keep investing in education and job training; and to make our tax relief targeted toward the future, toward raising children, educating and training people, toward the things which make America great. ”

“ To truly move forward as one community, it is just not enough to prevent acts of violence to our bodies; we must prevent acts of violence to our spirits.
By convening the very first White House Conference on Hate Crimes this November, America can confront the dark forces of division that still exists. We can shine the bright light of justice, humanity, and harmony on them. We'll take a serious look at the laws and remedies that can make a difference in preventing hate crimes. We'll have the frank and open dialog we need to build one America across all difference and diversity. ”

“ This week all of us watched with wonder as South Africa was reborn. Young men carried their elderly fathers on their backs to the polling booths; black voters came on crutches and in wheelchairs, traveling for miles and waiting for hours in this great march to freedom. The miracle of South Africa's rebirth as a nonracial democracy is an inspiring testament to the courage and vision of its citizens. ”

“ For a child without an involved family, a gang offers a feeling of belonging. For a young person without options for tomorrow, a gang offers a sense of purpose. For anyone born in a home barred and chained off from danger, life on the streets seems like a taste of freedom they've never known.
But America knows how to use its freedom better than that. We see it every day in big cities and small towns as Americans do come together to take up their responsibilities and to put the spirit of community to work. ”