Bill Clinton: “Hey, folks, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. I'm glad--wait a minute, wait, wait. I'm glad we've got some…”

“Hey, folks, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. I'm glad--wait a minute, wait, wait. I'm glad we've got some people from the other camp here. They need to hear this. And you know, when all you do--wait a minute. And you know, it's hard to hear when all you're doing is name calling. And so, I want you to do what I said at the Democratic Convention. I want us to be respectful and polite and positive and issue-oriented, because there are some things I want everybody in Texas to hear today. And I want you to help me say it. You know, I came right here to this park almost 4 years ago, right at the end of the election. And I said that I wanted to give this country back and its future back to ordinary Americans. I said that I wanted us to go into the 21st century with opportunity alive for everybody, with every citizen being responsible, and this country coming together, not being driven apart by our differences. We should respect our differences, build on them, and understand it's our meal ticket to the future. Just like the mayor said, if we can learn to live and work together, there is no stopping America and our best days are still ahead. Now, 4 years ago I had a tough time in Texas. I mean the Democrats hadn't been winning the White House in a long time, and then I looked up and both my opponents were from Texas. [Laughter] It hardly seemed fair. And here you were, the biggest State in--the second biggest State in the country, representing so much of the future, and I know I'd spent more time in Texas than anybody else running over the last 40 years. And I had to run against two people from Texas. [Laughter] Well, that's not a handicap anymore, and I don't have any excuse. But neither do you. So why don't we just think about where we've come from and where we're going? Four years ago this country had high unemployment, 20 years of stagnant wages, increasing inequality among working people. The crime rate was going up. The welfare rolls were going up. Public cynicism was going up because we despaired that we could make any difference, that what our leaders in Washington did would make any difference to people here at home, wherever home was in America. Well, 4 years can make a lot of difference. And I appreciate what Congressman Green and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee said. I especially appreciate what the mayor said about the work we've done together. But let me tell you what happened to me when I was in Longview this morning. We had 13,000 people in Longview this morning. It was great, unbelievable. And I ran into three people, just walking down the line like I always do. After I talked, I went down the line and shook hands with people. And I ran into three people; they weren't holding my signs or the other party's signs. They weren't holding--they were just people there. But I want to tell you who they were. I met a man who was a Vietnam veteran, with his wife and his child. And his child has spina bifida, has had 12 operations. That man and his child at long last, because of a bill I signed yesterday, are finally going to get the medical attention and the disability support they need. And then I went down the line a little ways, and I met a lady who said, ``I'm a 34-year-old single mother of two children, and I'm a graduate of AmeriCorps. I worked for my community, and now I'm paying my way through the college here to start a better life and give my kids a better life.'' And then I went on down a little more and I met a lady who was really crying. She was so--I didn't know what was the matter, she was obviously disturbed. And she said, ``I'm sorry that I'm emotional, but because of the family and medical leave law, I was able to take a little time off from work when my husband was so sick with cancer, and I didn't lose my job. And it made a big difference to our life and our family.'' I say this to point out that too many times over the last several years our politics in Washington have been more about hot air than concrete action to change the lives of the American people for the better. And I was determined when I went to Washington to replace the politics of finger-pointing and asking who's to blame with the politics of saying, what can we do to make this country a better place? What can we do to work together? What can we do to build a better future for our children? And I come here to tell you today we're in better shape than we were 4 years ago, and we're on the right track for the 21st century. You know, I couldn't help but thinking about a lot of things that have been said over the last 4 years. I remember that Mr. Morales' opponent once said that if the President's economic plan passes in 1993, the deficit will go up and unemployment will go up and it will throw us into a recession. It's a terrible, terrible idea. And a lot of people believed him, and it took a while before we could tell, you know. But now we know. Now we know. So here's the report on what they all voted against: 4 years later, 10\1/2\ million new jobs, a record number of new small businesses, record exports of America's goods and services, the highest rate of homeownership in 15 years, 4\1/2\ million new homeowners, every small business in the country eligible for a tax cut when they invest more in their business if they buy their own health insurance, easier for them to take our retirement plans. And yesterday the census report, which comes out every year at this time, a totally nonpolitical document, tells us how we're doing. Here's what the census report of the United States said yesterday: It said that in 1995 median income--that is the families in the middle--increased on average almost $900 after inflation over '94, the biggest increase for ordinary Americans in 10 years. It said that since that economic plan passed, the increase was over $1,600 in the pockets of ordinary Americans. It said that we had the biggest decrease in child poverty in one year in 20 years in 1995. It said that we had the biggest decrease in inequality among working American families in 27 years. It said that we had the biggest reduction in the number of people living in poverty-- most of them working, I might add--in 27 years. It said that we had the biggest drop recorded to the lowest levels ever--listen to this--since they have been keeping these statistics, that the poverty rate among African-Americans and American senior citizens had reached its lowest level in recorded history. We are on the right track, folks, to the 21st century. Don't let anybody kid you about that. We are moving in the right direction. As Congressman Green said, on October 1st 10 million Americans will get an increase in their minimum wage. And let me tell you what else that bill does. It gives a $5,000 tax credit to anyone who will adopt a child. There's a lot of kids out there that need a good home, and this will help. Thanks to the leadership of people like the mayor of Houston, the crime rate in the United States has dropped for 4 straight years in a row. And our crime bill is putting 100,000 police on the street and helping to support the decline in crime. And we ought to finish it. Now, let me say one other thing. Mr. Lampson's opponent and a lot of other people made a lot of headway 4 years ago, going out to Texans and to people in my home State and around the country saying, ``Well, that fool President's trying to take your gun away. That's what that Brady bill's all about. That's what that assault weapons ban's all about. He wants to take your gun away. He's going to interfere with your second amendment rights.'' And you know, no one knew in 1994, and it was pretty scary. But now we know. And you know something, it turned out we told the truth. That bill protected 650 different kinds of hunting and sporting weapons. Not a single hunter in Texas, not a one, lost a rifle. But 60,000 felons, fugitives, and stalkers could not get handguns because of the Brady bill. We were right, and they were wrong. And now we know. We're on the right track to the 21st century. The welfare rolls are down almost 2 million. Child support collections are up almost 50 percent, by $3.8 billion. That's why people can get off welfare, if their children are supported by their parents. Our environment is cleaner, our water, our air, our food. We're making progress in public health and the environment. We cleaned up more toxic waste dumps in 3 years than our opponents did in 12. We are moving in the right direction. And I came here to ask you to help me build that bridge to the 21st century. Will you do it? Will you do it? Audience members. Yes!”