Remarks at a National Italian American Foundation Dinner

Thank you very much. Thank you to the diehard in the back there. [Laughter] Thank you very much. I'm delighted to be here. I was told on the way in that since I came here as a Governor in 1992, I have made seven of nine possible NIAF dinners, and I am delighted to be here again for the last time as President.

I want to thank Chairman Guarini; your dinner chair, Dick Grasso. I thank the Representatives of Congress who are here, Representatives Morella and Pelosi, and my good friend Geri Ferraro, Ambassador Browner, Ambassador Tufo—Administrator Browner—Ambassador Rosapepe, and the president of NIAF, Joe Cerrell.

I also want to say, as all of you know, I have had a penchant for Italian-American Chiefs of Staff; they have been overrepresented. [Laughter] So far, we have staved off any affirmative action suits. [Laughter] When Leon Panetta was my Chief of Staff, he used to say that it was such a hard job, he thought "Panetta" was Italian for "pin˜ ata." [Laughter]

Now, John Podesta is here. We were doing a little research the other day—this is true; this is not an after-dinner joke—and we discovered that in Renaissance Italy, the rulers of the citystates were often quite apprehensive that they wouldn't be able to maintain authority. So they, from time to time, hired an enforcer to come in from outside the city-state, and the enforcer was called a "podesta." [Laughter] So he is well named. And since then, we have a disproportionate number of Italians throughout the White House. Two of them, Karen Tramontano and Loretta Ucelli, are here tonight; I thank them for their work.

I also want to congratulate Tommy Lasorda on the fabulous job he did with our baseball team at the Olympics. And congratulations to you, Mr. Berra. Your spirit was alive and well at the World Series.

I want to congratulate the honorees tonight, my good friend Muhammad Ali, and Angelo Dundee, Andrea Bocelli, John Paul DeJoria, Joseph Nacchio, Miuccia Prada, Dick Vermeil, and my friend of many, many years Millard Fuller. Thank you for honoring them, and thank you for all the work you do.

The legacy of Italian-Americans has been celebrated by this organization for 25 years now. This is an important milestone for you. I know that you have just begun. One of the things I particularly appreciate is your interest in one America, trying to reach across the cultural divide. Just a couple of nights ago we had a birthday party for Hillary up in New York. And Robert De Niro was trying to teach me how to speak New York. [Laughter] And I don't know if you saw it, but I was really appreciative that he was so generous and understanding of my culturally challenged accent. [Laughter] So he tried to teach me how to say "fuggeddaboudit." [Laughter] And I finally learned, see? [Laughter]

At the turn of the last century, an Italian-American said, "I came to America because I heard the streets were paved with gold. When I got here, I found three things: First, the streets weren't paved with gold; second, they weren't paved at all; third, I was expected to pave them." [Laughter]

In the century that has elapsed, our streets aren't paved with gold yet, but our Nation has entered a golden era, thanks in no small part to the efforts of Italian-Americans, to your intellect, your industry, your good will, and above all, your contagious love of life.

I must say, I am especially grateful for all the opportunities that I have had these last 8 years to work with not only the Italian-American community but also to work with Italy. I thank the Italian Ambassador, whom I'm sure is here tonight, along with the other distinguished guests from Italy, for all you have done to help make the work of the United States and the world more successful.

And I thank the Italians who have been with us from the beginning. An Italian discovered America; another named it. We have two busts in the Blue Room at the White House on the formal State Floor—only two—one of Christopher Columbus, one of Amerigo Vespucci, brought here in the early 1820's by President James Monroe. Two Italians signed the Declaration of Independence. Thousands fought in the Civil War. Millions came ashore early in this century, fought in our wars, stood with us in the cold war, built the great American middle class, and now are leading America into the global information age.

Many Italian-Americans from the beginning excelled in athletics—no small number in boxing. I grew up watching Rocky Marciano. There was Carmen Basilio, Jake LaMotta, and so many others.

It is, therefore, altogether fitting that you would give your first One America Award to Muhammad Ali. In the ring, he captured the imagination of the world with his distinctive fighting style. Before and after the fights, he captured the imagination of the world with his distinctive speaking style. He's the first fighter ever to win the heavyweight title three times.

But outside the ring and what he's done since, in my mind, are even more impressive: his work for children and feeding the hungry and dedicating his life to his faith and his fellow human beings.

I am sure I'm not alone when I say that 4 years ago when Muhammad Ali lit the Olympic Torch in Atlanta, it was one of the greatest personal thrills I have ever had as an American citizen. And I thank you, sir.

And of course, he didn't do it alone. In his corner for more than four decades was tonight's other nominee, his trainer, the great Angelo Dundee. Truly, this Italian-American/African-American team symbolizes the one America you believe in. They are an inspiration for the one America we all still have to build.

I am profoundly grateful that the National Italian American Foundation has been a vital partner in our administration's efforts to do that, with your programs in schools and communities all across America. I am especially grateful for your concern for young people. The first thing I was asked tonight, when I was standing outside waiting to come in, is whether after my remarks I would walk over and speak to the young people who are just a few yards down the way. And I'll be happy to do that, because they are your future and mine and ours.

In the struggle, in the beginning, of Italian-American immigrants and in the triumphs of Italian-American immigrants, we are reminded that our diversity is our greatest strength, as long as we celebrate it and understand clearly that our common humanity is even more fundamental; that our Nation, as ever—indeed, more than ever—is a family of immigrants.

For 8 years now, it has been my great honor, along with Vice President Gore, to work to strengthen America's families, to give people the tools and create the conditions for a better life. We've tried to do that through things like the family and medical leave law, which has now given some 22 million Americans a chance to take the time off from work when a baby is born or a parent is sick, without losing their jobs; by adding 2.5 million children to the ranks of those with health insurance; by providing after-school and mentoring programs to a million kids; by ending welfare as we knew it, but giving families the support they need to succeed as parents as well as workers. It has given us the lowest welfare rolls in 32 years, half the size they were in January of '93.

We did it with the HOPE scholarships and lifetime learning tax credit, to open the doors of college to all. Ten million American families are now benefiting from it, and the collegegoing rate in America is by far the highest it has ever been.

We have worked hard to strengthen America's families. And, like you, we've worked hard to strengthen it by creating one America with the most diverse Cabinet and administration appointments in history, with a real commitment to empowering those who have too long been left out and left behind.

When I came here in 1992, it was a very different America. We had a troubled economy, a divided society, a paralyzed political system. I think it's worth pointing out—because I watched the news tonight on the way over, and all the news is about the continuing arguments I'm having with the Congress. I never thought I would see a bunch of politicians stay in Washington so close to election. And I know that when you see this, you must think of one of Mr. Berra's immortal lines, that we may be lost, but we're making good time. [Laughter]

But the truth is, this has actually been quite a productive Congress for the American people. We've set aside more land than ever before in an act of Congress for all time. We have passed an historic bill that I've not yet had the opportunity to sign, but the agreement is there to do America's part to relieve the debt for the poorest countries in the world, as long as they put the money into education and health care and development for their children and the future. We have provided an unprecedented outreach to Africa and our Caribbean neighbors. It has been a good session of Congress, and they are working on an education bill that I think all Americans, without regard to party, will be proud of.

So while we fight and argue—which is, after all, the essence of democratic representation— we're actually making a good deal of good progress. Today, the American community and the American family is stronger than it has ever been.

I know and you know that many of the social indicators have gotten better in no small measure because our economy has been so strong, because we have the lowest unemployment in 30 years and the longest expansion in history and the lowest poverty in 20 years, the lowest minority unemployment ever recorded, and the highest homeownership in history. A lot of you deserve a lot of the credit for that. I think about that every time I see Mr. Grasso ring the bell down at the Stock Exchange.

But tonight, what I want to say to you is, America's business is not done. America's business will never be done. All of you have to decide how to vote in the coming election, and I did not come here to discuss this. But I will say that I hope that whatever happens, we will make decisions consistent with keeping this economy strong, keeping it growing, because that is what will enable us to give economic opportunity to people and places left behind. That is what will enable us to bring health care and education at excellent levels to people who still don't have either at the quality they should.

We have to do the things that immigrants did when they came here. We have to forget about short-term gains in time to look for the long run. I must say, from time to time, people come up to me, and they ask me, "Well, what great, new economic idea did you bring to Washington? How did the Government makes its contribution to this boom? What new thing did you bring?" And I always have a one-word answer, "Arithmetic." We tried to bring arithmetic back to Washington. And that's how we've turned a $290 billion deficit into a $237 billion surplus. That is yours now—that is yours now. It belongs to all the American people.

And what I want to say to you is that never before in my lifetime has our Nation enjoyed at once so much economic prosperity and social progress with the absence of domestic crisis or foreign threat to our security. Therefore, never before in our lifetime have we had a chance like this to build the future of our dreams for our children. There are big challenges out there. How are we going to handle the aging of America? When all us baby boomers retire, there will only be two people working for every one person on Social Security. That is, unless we can get even more immigrants into the country and treat them more fairly than we treat some of our legal immigrants today, I might add, something I'm trying to correct in the closing days of this Congress.

We have the largest and most diverse school population in history. How shall we guarantee them all excellence in education? We've just been through a little bit of an energy scare. But we know that the development of new technologies on the horizon—and, in some cases, already on the shelf—could dramatically alter our future in ways that would strengthen our economy. Will we have the will and vision to do that?

General Motors announced just last week that their efforts, through our Partnership For the Next Generation Vehicles, which the Vice President and I have been working on for 8 years, have given them a car that gets 80 miles to the gallon. I signed today the research budget for the Agriculture Department—listen to this— which involves funds where they're trying to figure out how to make ethanol and other biomass fuels from gasoline. Today, the problem with that is, it takes 7 gallons of gas to make 8 gallons of ethanol. But the chemists are on the verge of discovering how to make 8 gallons of ethanol with 1 gallon of gas, and when that happens, you will be getting the equivalent of 500 miles to the gallon.

All of this is out there. The young women in the audience who are still in their childbearing years, within 5 to 10 years, will be bringing babies home from the hospital, thanks to the human genome project, who will have a life expectancy of 90 years. We will see the cure—in the lifetime of virtually everybody in this audience, we will see cures for Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. We may even see people be able to—the scientists be able to reverse Alzheimer's.

Digital chips now can be implanted deep into the ear canals of profoundly deaf people and they can hear. And they believe, the scientists do, that soon they will be able to implant them into the spinal cord of profoundly injured people, and they will be able to get up and walk. The future is incredible out there, and I am very grateful that I have had the chance to serve at this time.

But what I want to say to all of you is, this country, as always, belongs to the people. It may not always be clear, except at election time when everybody's vote counts exactly the same. But every day, in every way, the greatness of America fundamentally depends upon the people and our belief that everybody deserves a chance, and we all do better when we help each other, that there should be opportunity for every responsible citizen, but in the end, we must be one community. That's what this foundation has been all about. That's what your One America Award is all about.

And I have to tell you today, if someone were to give me one wish, it would be that somehow America would find a way out of the thicket that so bedevils people everywhere. [Inaudible]—we're still fighting, in this most modern of age, over the most ancient of demons: the fear of those who are different from us. It is the source of anxiety in the country from which my ancestors hail, Ireland, where we've made a lot of progress on the peace process, but it's not completely finished yet.

It is the heartbreaking source of this upsurge in violence in the Middle East after over 7 years of working together—people that know each other by their first name, know their children, know their grandchildren, all of a sudden at each other's throats again, almost in the blink of an eye, both sides shaking their heads, wondering how it could have happened.

It was the source of all that awful tribal warfare in Africa and the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia and Kosovo, which—thank God—has come to an end because the United States, with our Allies—Italy and our other Allies in NATO—stood up against it, and then the people of Serbia finally threw off the shackles of Mr. Milosevic and decided to vote for the rule of law over the rule of hatred.

Now, I say all this because I really believe that in the new century, in order for America to do good around the world, we must first be good at home. And we must say we're not going to let the lines that divide us tear us apart as long as we share a common commitment to a law-abiding, cooperative future. That's why I support the hate crimes legislation and the employment nondiscrimination legislation and the equal pay legislation for women—because I believe they symbolize those kinds of things.

But the larger point is the one I want to make. We're about to give an award to Muhammad Ali and Angelo Dundee. But all across America today, in little play yards and dusty rural roads, there are young people with their dreams. Some are of European descent; some are African-American; some are Hispanic; more and more are Asian. They're from everywhere. Just across the river here in the Alexandria school district, there are people, children, from 180 different racial and ethnic groups.

Their parents speak over 100 different languages. So when we say we're a nation of immigrants, we have to also say, but we're one Nation, determined to build one family, determined to make the decisions today with discipline to preserve the future for tomorrow, and determined to give all these kids a chance to live their dreams.

Not every child can be a Muhammad Ali, a Yogi Berra, an Andrea Bocelli. But every child can serve in the way that Millard Fuller has served, and every child can learn to respect his or her own heritage and faith and ethnic or racial background, but also those of every other American. That is the genius of America. That is the soul of the justification for this award you give.

It has been a profound honor for me to be able to come here representing the people of the United States these last 8 years. I have loved the work. I've even liked the fight. But more importantly, I have just loved seeing Americans pull together, move forward, and believe in each other again. Whatever happens, no matter what comes to this country, don't you ever let that change. As long as it doesn't, our best days will always still be ahead.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

Now, I have the honor to present Muhammad Ali and Angelo Dundee with this first-ever One America Award. And I ask Angelo and Mrs. Ali to come up here. Let's give them a big hand. [Applause]

Thank you.