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Remarks in a Telephone Conversation With Larry Villella

February 22, 1993

The President. Larry, it's President Clinton. How are you?

Larry. Great. Nice to talk to you.

The President. It's nice to hear your voice. I just heard about you sending me this $1,000 check on CBS Radio. We just heard it over the radio this morning, and I really appreciate it.

Larry. Okay. I hope that you can use it towards the economy.

The President. Well, I think we can. One of the things that I've asked our staff to do, since citizens are not in the habit of sending money like this, is to see whether we can legally receive it and spend it just the way you want. And I'm going to also see whether or not your suggestion can be carried out in terms of involving other people doing the same thing you did.

But I think it's a remarkable thing for a 14-year-old young American to do. And it's very impressive that you have a business that's so successful that you can afford to do this. How long have you been doing that?

Larry. I've been doing it for 3 years now.

The President. And do you do it year-round?

Larry. It's pretty much year-round, except during the wintertime we have a few less sales of the sprinkler.

The President. And what's your annual-what's your sales, your volume of sales? How much do you sell every year?

Larry. Well, so far we've sold 3,000, and it's been divided between the 3 years since I'm just starting out.

The President. I think that's pretty good.

Larry. Thank you.

The President. Pretty impressive. What do you want to do when you get out of high school?

Larry. I want to go to college and then medical school.

The President. Do you want to be a doctor?

Larry. I'm hoping to be a cardiologist.

The President. That's great. Well, by the time you can get out of medical school and be a cardiologist the American people will be living much longer, but they'll all be worried about their hearts. There will be a big demand for what you do.

Larry. I hope so.

The President. Well, I certainly hope that I get to meet you sometime. And I'm really, really impressed that you did this. I think you're really a symbol of what's best in this country, and I'm proud of you, and I thank you for doing this. And I'm going to be back in touch with you about exactly what we can do with your, honey and whether we can adopt your suggestion.

Larry. Okay. Thank you. I'd really like to meet you, too.

The President. That's great. Tell your family hello, and you have a good day, okay?

Larry. Okay. Thank you.

The President. Bye-bye. Larry. Bye.

NOTE: The President spoke at 12:52 p.m. aboard Air Force One while he was en route to Everett, WA.

William J. Clinton, Remarks in a Telephone Conversation With Larry Villella Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/218064

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