Remarks of the President at Lunch for Heidi Heitkamp

remarks of the President at lunch for Heidi Heitkamp
                              THE WHITE HOUSE

                       Office of the Press Secretary
          _______________________________________________________
For Immediate Release              September 19, 2000


                         REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
            AT LUNCH FOR STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL HEIDI HEITKAMP

                              St. Regis Hotel
                                      Washington. D.C.


12:30 P.M. EDT


          THE PRESIDENT:  You know, I have a lot of interest in this race.
Heidi was Attorney General; I was Attorney General.  And I was governor for
a dozen years.  It's a wonderful job, really matters whether we have a few
more Democratic governors.  This year more than ever, I think women should
be elected to public office.  (Applause.)  But the main thing I want to say
is you've got Dorgan, Conrad, and Pomeroy.  And you all know how strong
I've been for diversity.  I just want anyone who doesn't look like a spy
during the Cold War -- (laughter) -- representing North Dakota.
(Laughter.)

          I'm convinced that sometime years ago when the Republicans were
winning all the races, these brilliant guys made a pact and said, listen,
guys, if we all have short hair, if we're thin, if we wear glasses, we
ain't going to scare nobody and we can do whatever we want to do.
(Laughter.)  And, look, what can I say -- it worked.  I never carried North
Dakota.  (Laughter.)  It was great.  But I think they're really stepping
out here.  (Laughter.)  I mean, they're really stepping out.  (Applause.)

          Now, I'll be brief and serious.  The two things should always go
together.  One of the greatest things about this country is its genuine
diversity, going beyond even race and religion and all the things we talk
about in Washington, to the way people make a living off the land, the way
they organize themselves in their communities, the difference in what it's
like to live in a place like North Dakota where Heidi can invite you all to
come and mean it, and it's so big we could all be missed if we showed up.
And a place where nobody's got any elbow room.

          And the genius of our system is that if we all do our part, the
country works better.  Central to that is what happens in all these states.
And North Dakota, too, is growing more diverse and more faced with the
challenges of the 21st century.  And I can just tell you I have an enormous
amount of respect for Heidi Heitkamp.  And I know how important it is that
we have good governors.

          I'll give you just one example.  I could give you 20, but after
she -- by saying I talked an hour-and-a-half in North Dakota, I'm not going
to do that.  (Laughter.)  I started to bring a cup of coffee up here, too,
and I couldn't -- (laughter.)
But, anyway, I'll give you one example.  We passed in the balanced budget
bill in 1997, with a bipartisan vote in both Houses, big majorities, the
largest expansion in federally funded health care for children since
Medicaid -- the Children's Health Insurance Program.  And we knew that the
number and circumstances of the children were different from state to
state.  So we reached a bipartisan agreement that instead of just expanding
Medicaid, we would allow the states to build and design these programs and
enroll the children.

          Now, there's enough money in that program to enroll 5 million
kids.  And if the program really identified all the people who were
eligible, it would also picked up another 2 million or 3 millon kids who
could be served by Medicaid.  There is a drastic difference in how well the
different states have done in identifying and enrolling their children.  It
matters who the governor is in a state.

          I'll give you another example.  Under the leadership of Secretary
Riley over the last seven years, we have cut federal regulations on states
and local school districts by two-thirds, but we have increased the focus
of federal spending on certain standards, so that for example, all the
schools -- all the states that get federal funds, have to have some
standards, have to identify failing schools and have to have strategies to
try to turn them around.  As some of you know, I've tried to get federal
funding tied a little tighter, to say you've got to turn them around, shut
them down or give the kids some other alternative.  But already, we have
required them to identify failing schools.
          Now, some states have said, so what.  Some school districts have
said, so what.  But I was in an elementary school in Western Kentucky the
other day, that was one of their failing schools three years ago that's now
one of the 20 best schools in the state.  Lots of poor kids, lots of
problems -- it worked.

          I was in a school in Harlem the other day, to take a totally
different culture, that two years ago had 80 percent of the kids reading
and doing math below grade level, elementary school.  Today, 76 percent are
reading and doing math at or above grade level, in two years.

          Now, if you do it on a -- one of the biggest problems with
education reform is that no one has ever done it systematically.  Every
problem in American education has been solved by somebody somewhere.
Places like North Dakota have generally done very well because they have
time and space enough to give everybody the personal attention they needed.
But they will have a lot of these challenges, too.  And I'm telling you, it
really matters who is governor.  No one has ever succeeded in
systematically doing what teachers and principals do every day in the most
difficult circumstances, creating miracles all over this country -- it's
never been done in any state in a systematic way, but some are done much
better than others.  It matters who the governor is.

          And those are only two examples.  It matters economically.  It
matters in terms of the social services.  It matters in terms of how the
elderly are treated, and especially those that get nursing home care.  And
what about the people who are going to be living in boarding homes, and
what about the people that are going to be -- you're going to see the most
unbelievable explosion of living options for elderly and disabled people,
as we are able to keep more disabled people alive and functioning and doing
well, and more elderly people live longer, that you can imagine.

          And a lot of it, I don't care what we do at the national level
and who's the President and what the Congress does, it will matter who the
governor is.  I just -- the first time I ever met her, I thought she was
great.  I wanted to take her home to meet Hillary, and keep her there for a
couple weeks.  And she had other obligations.  (Laughter.)  She is an
extraordinary woman.  You did a good thing coming here and giving her money
today.  And if we all keep doing it, I think she'll win in November.

          Thank you very much.  (Applause.)

                          END       12:40 P.M. EDT
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