Bill Clinton: “That's right. You know, we flew that person up here from Washington, and I was beginning to think they weren't going to…”

“That's right. You know, we flew that person up here from Washington, and I was beginning to think they weren't going to say anything. [Laughter] The second thing I want to say is, we want to broaden the number of Americans who can invest tax-free in an IRA, an individual retirement account, but we want to let people withdraw from the IRA, tax-free, to pay for education expenses, so that you can take better care of yourself. The last education component is, we want to take about 70 different programs the Federal Government runs in training, which require enormous administrative costs, collapse them and give the money to the American people who are eligible for them. So if a person loses a job and is on unemployment, or if a person is in a lower wage job so they're eligible for Federal training help, instead of having to figure out which of 70 programs you qualify for, you just get a voucher of $2,600 a year--up to that--for 2 years, and you take it to this school or take it to a local community college or take it wherever you choose if you're eligible to get it. It's a kind of a ``GI bill'' for American workers. It will make a huge difference. And it's the kind of thing Government ought to be doing: less bureaucracy, more direct help to people to get the education and training they need to grow and to learn. I want all of you to help me do this for you. We are trying to change the focus of the National Government to the grassroots of America. There are a lot of other things that I will be talking about over the next few weeks that are part of this New Covenant, welfare reform, what we're going to do in crime to lower the crime rate and implement the crime bill, what we're going to do to try to grow the economy, and other ways. But nothing, nothing can make a bigger difference than trying to get more education to more people in more ways. So I hope that you will do two things: first, I hope you will say, with your voices, without regard to your party, ``Cut the deficit. Cut spending. Reduce the size of the Federal bureaucracy. Keep on doing what you're doing, but do not cut education. Increase investment and education so we can grow this economy and grow America.'' And I hope you will support the middle class bill of rights, and I hope you will support the AmeriCorps program in Pennsylvania, and I hope you will support the programs at this school to develop entrepreneurs because they're all grassroots community-building programs that develop the ability of people to fulfill their own dreams and bring us together across the lines that divide us. You know, I don't have an--literally, I don't have a clue about which of the people I was sitting and talking with this morning were Democrats, which were Republicans, who was an independent. I don't have any idea who they voted for in the last election. I probably should have checked. [Laughter] I mean, I don't. Why? Why? Because they are organized around developing the potential of the people here. They have built a community of interest where everybody wins by helping everybody else. Now, that's what makes America go. That's what makes America grow. I see it when I visited these community services programs. I see it, as I said last night in my speech, when I go out after a disaster. I mean, it's a terrible thing to say, but if you go to one of these places where they're putting sandbags on a levee against a flood or where they're trying to help people deal with the aftermath of the fires, as I saw in California, the earthquakes, people have their shoulders back and their heads held high, and their eyes are clear, and their voices are strong. Why? Because they know they matter. And when Americans get in trouble, you know, we would take the shirt off our back for people. And we fight, and we work in these things, because we know we matter, because we're doing something that makes us feel better and stronger and we're helping other people as well. We have to return that spirit to our country every day, in every way, in all of our activities. That is what this is all about, and we can do that. So what I want to say to you is, we've got a lot of economic challenges, and we've got some profound social problems. But we can deal with them, we can solve them, we can move on them. I see it--I have seen all over this country. I am telling you, there is not a problem this country has that is not being addressed in a way that all of you will be proud of by somebody, somewhere. What we have to do is to figure out a way to galvanize and organize and energize all of that work so that it spreads across our whole country. The New Covenant is a way of thinking about that. Responsibility in return for opportunity, building this country at the community level, that's what I'm committed to doing. My role in that will be in this coming Congress to try to pass the middle class bill of rights, to try to emphasize education, to try to keep downsizing the Federal Government and controlling the deficit and cutting unnecessary spending, but building up those things which will enable people to make the most of their own lives. That is my job. Your job is to support institutions like this to get all the education you can to break down the walls between business and government and education at the grassroots level and to try to help me pass this. Would you do that? I need you. I hope you will, and I want your support for it. [Applause] Folks, the best days of this country are still before us. This is the most exciting era we have ever known. You are going to see opportunities in the next 20 years for people to make a living in exciting and interesting ways that we could not have imagined 20 years ago. But our job is to make sure that, as President Kennedy said, ``the rising tide lifts all boats.'' We can't have an America where 20 or even 40 percent of us are the only ones that really do well in this global economy, and it need not be that way. But if we want our best days to lie ahead, we have got to--we have got to say we are going to get an education for all of our people. It's going to be a lifetime project. Our educational institutions are going to become the center of our communities. We're going to tear down the walls that divide us. We're going to make education available to everybody, and we're going to use the power of Government not to expand or create a new bureaucracy but to empower people at the grassroots level to chart their own future and to make their own lives in this new and exciting age. That is our mission. If we do it, our best days are ahead. I want that more than anything for you, for our children, and our grandchildren and our country. And I can tell you, the world still needs that. There are a lot of things out there in the rest of the world that are still a threat to decency and humanity and progress. You saw this terrible terrorist attack in the Middle East the last couple of days. The world needs a strong America, and Americans deserve it. And we're going to get it with your help. Thank you, and God bless you all.”