Bill Clinton: “A generation ago, Robert Kennedy spoke of America's cities and towns and said, ``The time has come to bring the engines…”

“A generation ago, Robert Kennedy spoke of America's cities and towns and said, ``The time has come to bring the engines of government, of technology, of the economy fully under the control of our citizens, to recapture and reinforce the values of a more human time and place.'' We honor leaders who have done that. But I hope also we look at the challenges still facing all of us. I asked Henry Cisneros to join this Cabinet because I thought he was not only a brilliant and committed person but because I thought he understood how we could help instead of hinder the energies of people who live at the grassroots level. We're trying to reform a lot of our housing programs to help you do that. I asked Bob Reich to come into the Labor Department because I thought he understood that cities and local groups committed to training our work force and helping unemployed people go back to work weren't doing very well with 150 separate education and training programs. We want to allow you to consolidate them and spend the money in ways that will best put your own people back to work. I have done everything I could to support the brilliant work done by the Vice President to try to reconceive the whole relationship between the Federal and the State and local government. We have a lot of work to do. And I just want to say one thing in closing. One of the things that we have to do is to impress upon the people who live here in Washington, and not just the United States Congress but also the people who run all of these Departments, that we don't have a day to waste. You see every day where you live what can happen if you do something right. You also see the enormous consequences of continued neglect, of continuing to do things the way they are. And let me just say, there are a lot of things that I want to do as President that will just help you to do what I know you'll do anyway if we can find a way to give you the power to do it. I hope you will help us to pass the kind of health care reform that will liberate you and make your citizens healthier. I hope you will help us to pass this reinventing Government program. I hope you will support the innovations of Henry Cisneros and Bob Reich and the other members of the Cabinet. I hope you will come up to this city and demand that we finally do something to help you get guns out of the hands of people who are behaving irresponsible with them. We need to pass the Brady bill. And we don't need to have a situation that we have in many of our cities where the average person committing a murder is under the age of 16 and has access to semiautomatic weapons. There's no reason children should have those in the cities of this country. We have work to do. We need your help. Bring your ideas, your innovation, your energy back to Washington and give us a chance to do it. Thank you very much.”