Bill Clinton: “Let me say one other thing. I want to say it right here in Milwaukee. There's a lot of difference between talking about…”

“Let me say one other thing. I want to say it right here in Milwaukee. There's a lot of difference between talking about the issue of welfare reform and doing something about it. There are 1.8 million fewer people on welfare today than there were the day I became President. We didn't have to cut anybody's health care to do it; we didn't have to throw anybody into the street to do it--1.8 million fewer people. Why is that? Because most people on welfare who are able-bodied are dying to get off and will take a job if they have a chance to do it, if they can get the training to do it, if they can get the child care to do it. Now, here's what this welfare reform bill I signed really does, pure and simple. And on Labor Day, we need to all listen to this, and we need to make a commitment. This bill says there is still a national guarantee for the health care of the children and the parent. There is still a national guarantee for the nutritional needs of the children and the parent. There is now national funds available for the first time for adequate child care if a person takes a low wage job, has to leave the kids behind, and they don't have the money for child care. But the money that used to go in an income check every month will now be sent to the States or the localities, depending on what the State does, and they will have to figure out how to devise work for people who have been on welfare who are able-bodied, who will then do work for the income check. That is a good thing, except this: If you want to say to people, ``You've got to go to work,'' there needs to be a job there for them to go see every day. So I say, I am sick and tired, as a person who has spent time in welfare offices, who has talked to welfare people--I started working on welfare reform in 1980 before it was a cool, hot issue because I could see that the people who were trapped on it were the ones being hurt, and their children. But it is time now. We have changed the system. And I don't ever want to hear Republicans attacking Democrats again over welfare. I don't ever want to hear politicians attacking poor people again over welfare. I want the American people--everybody who's ever pointed their finger about this--to figure out how are we going to take this new flexibility, this new power, how are we going to take the initiatives President Clinton proposed at the Democratic Convention, putting $3 billion more into our cities to create jobs, giving more incentives to people who will hire somebody off welfare, the other things that we can do, and create jobs for these people. They deserve the jobs. You cannot put people in the street; you have to put people to work. That's what we have to make welfare reform all about, in an honorable, decent way. Will you help us build that kind of bridge to the 21st century? Every one of you, will you help me do that? [Applause] Their children need it. Our country needs it. Will you help do that? [Applause] Folks, there's a lot of other things I'd like to say today. It's getting late and it's getting hot, but I want to tell you just one or two. Do you know that we still have 10 million kids in this country living within 4 miles of a toxic waste site, even though we cleaned up more sites in 3 years than were cleaned up in the 12 years before? If you give us 4 more years, we're going to clean up 500 more sites, the two-thirds worst. We want our children to grow up next to parks, not poison. Will you help us give our children that kind of future? Will you do that? [Applause] That will create jobs, raise incomes, and clean the environment. Will you help us do that? [Applause] And the last thing I want to say is this. I have never been in a crowd of working people, talking to them and listening to them for any length of time, that I didn't find every family had at least one example of a time when they'd felt a terrible, gnawing conflict between their responsibilities as parents and their responsibilities at work. You know, the American people are not lazy people. The average family is spending a lot more hours at work today than they did 25 years ago. Almost all parents are in the work force now. And the great challenge for our State--our country--is to figure out how people can do a good job of raising their kids and do a good job at work. That's what the family leave law was all about. That's why I want to amend the family leave law and say you not only can have time off when there's an emergency, working people ought to be able to get some time off without losing their jobs to go to those regular parent-teacher conferences at school and take their kids or their parents to the doctor. Will you help me build that kind of future? Will you do that? [Applause] Now, this has been a great day, an enthusiastic day. You have made me very happy to see the spirit in your eyes. You're the kind of people that Al Gore and I have been fighting for and working for for 4 years, and I wouldn't take the world for this experience. But this is the beginning of this campaign, not the end--the beginning, not the end. Are you going to help us build that bridge to the 21st century? [Applause] Sixty-four more days? [Applause] Four more years? [Applause] Every one of you, we need you. Wisconsin, we need you. Thank you, and God bless you.”