PRESS RELEASE
September 25, 1996

TRANSCRIPT OF PRESIDENT CLINTON’S FREE AIR TIME REMARKS

President Clinton’s remarks will be broadcast this evening, October 24, 1996, on the following stations: CNN, C-SPAN, NOSTALGIA TELEVISION, NPR, PBS AND UPN.

Throughout this election, I have done my best to focus on ideas, not insults.

I have done that because what really matters are the lives and futures of the American people -- and who can best lead us into the 21st century.

I have a philosophy I’ve tried hard to follow these last four years -- create opportunity for all; reinforce responsibility from all; and help us to build a community where all Americans have a role to play.

Compared to four years ago, we’re clearly on the right track: 10 1/2 million new jobs; a 60% cut in the deficit; incomes rising for the first time in a decade; nearly 2 million fewer people on welfare; the lowest crime rate in ten years. We’re putting 100,000 police on our streets, and we’ve stopped 60,000 felons, fugitives, and stalkers from buying guns.

Our progress is only the beginning. Now let’s keep going, and build our bridge to the 21st century by focussing on what really matters in the lives of our people.

What matters is how we strengthen our families. Strong families need first a strong economy. That means balancing our budget to lower interest rates on everything from home mortgages to car loans to credit card payments and student loans, but doing so while protecting Medicare, Medicaid, education, and the environment. It means giving tax cuts to help families when they need it the most -- to raise and educate their children, to pay for medical emergencies, and buy that first home. It means working hard to help parents protect our children from gangs and guns, from drugs and tobacco.

What really matters is how we finish the job of reforming welfare, so we can break the cycle of dependency for those families who are trapped in it. We must move at least one million people from welfare to work; and I’ve got a plan to do that in partnership with the private sector.

What matters, more than anything else now, is how we give our children the best education in the world, to prepare them for that 21st century. We must make sure that every eight-year-old can read; every twelve-year-old can log onto the Internet; and every eighteen-year-old can go on to college; and every worker can keep on learning for a lifetime.

Now if we focus on these things, on what really matters for our future, we will build that bridge to the 21st century, with more opportunity, more responsibility, and a stronger community for all of us.

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