Bill Clinton

“ The responsibilities of parenthood have become even more challenging in today's complex world. In many American families, both parents must work, struggling to balance the demands of job, home, and family. This balancing act is even harder for single parents, who must face the challenge of raising their children alone. In our mobile society, parents are often less able to rely on an extended family to help them provide the care and attention their children need. ”

“ Parents work hard to meet their children's need for food, shelter, clothing, and protection; but more important, they give their daughters and sons the deep and abiding love, guidance, attention, and encouragement that empowers them with the values and self-esteem to succeed in life. Parents love their children as they are, yet still help them to dream big dreams about who they can become. ”

“ Recognizing that good parents are the foundation of our society, my administration has strived for the past 4 years to give parents the help they need to meet their responsi-bilities. I signed into law the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, and we are now proposing an expansion of that legislation to allow workers up to 24 hours of unpaid leave each year to meet family obligations. We are fighting to make our neighborhoods safer and drug-free and to reduce juvenile crime. ”

“ We have expanded and improved Head Start to help parents prepare their young children to enter school ready to learn, and we have created an Early Head Start Program for children age 3 and under. We succeeded in requiring the installation of the V-chip and in helping to develop a voluntary ratings system on television so that parents can better protect their children from inappropriate material. And we are working with the computer industry to provide family-friendly controls that will give parents similar tools to use on the Internet. ”