Remarks to the Community in Plymouth, Michigan

The President. All right. Great train trip. Thank you all very much. Thank you, Governor. What a great Governor the State of Michigan has. I'm so proud of John Engler. You know, Barbara and I are on a 233-mile train ride through the great heartland of America. We just came across the line into Michigan and let me tell you, Barbara and I think it is fantastic to be here in Plymouth and see this marvelous turnout. Thank you all very, very much. May I salute Michelle Engler, as well as the Governor; Mayor Robert Jones; your great State chairman, Dave Doyle. May I ask you a big favor. It's a favor for the whole country that you help me clean House in Washington and send Bob Geake to the United States Congress. We need him.

Audience members. Clean the House! Clean the House! Clean the House!

The President. Clean the House. Clean it out. Give the American people a break; clean that institution out. Thirty-eight years it's been controlled by those same liberal Democrats. Clean House! Send this man to Washington.

You know, this is the last stop for tonight. For today, on this fantastic journey, filled with incredible sights and sounds, we've seen entire towns turned out beside the tracks to say hello to this train, this Spirit of America. We've seen the faces of young people, fresh faces, young faces; some waving flags, some with these great signs like we see here, all proud to be a part of America. And the election is about these young people's future, what kind of nation we want them to grow up in.

I want an America where everyone can find a good job, because you can't build a home without a hammer, and you can't build a dream without a job. And if they do what I've been saying in terms of incentives, we would be creating jobs today. We need to do it. Another thing is we need to open foreign markets for our products so we can create good jobs in America, because the American worker never retreats; we always compete. And we always win.

Help me get people in the Congress who will help reform a legal system that is careening out of control, faster than a lawyer can chase an ambulance. [Laughter] As a nation, we've got too many of these crazy lawsuits. Doctors can't practice, people can't coach Little League for fear of these suits. As a nation we've got to sue each other less and care for each other more.

And we have a plan to literally reinvent American education, to give these young people the very best schools in the entire world. I want to give every parent the right to choose their children's schools, public, private, or religious.

I believe we need to reform our Government and make it serve you, not the other way around. Governor Clinton says he is the candidate of change, but he opposes the most important change this year: limiting the terms of the Members of the Congress. Let's limit those terms and get on with this.

These are just some of the ideas I'm fighting for: health care reform, a sound environmental record, great energy strategy. But while I'm out there trying to find ways to rebuild America, build it up, Bill Clinton is spending his energy tearing down America. The only way he can win is if he convinces the American people that we're in decline. And we are not. We are the United States of America, the most respected nation on the face of the Earth. So don't listen to that gloom and doom. While I'm focusing on the future of these kids, he's out there distorting our record. I am proud of the record, and I will stand by it. But if candidate Clinton wants to talk about the past, that's okay. We pulled the train here this evening to blow the whistle on Governor Bill Clinton. Just like that sign says.

And here's the record for you; just take a comparison. As Governor of Arkansas, Bill Clinton raised and extended the sales tax. He taxed groceries. He taxed mobile homes. He doubled the tax on gasoline. And he even raised the tax on beer. How do you like that one? And he says -- here's the really scary part -- he says he wants to do for America what he's done for Arkansas. I don't know whether that's a promise or a threat. It's terrible, though. We can't have that. There's another sign, "We will not let Clinton do to the United States what he did to Arkansas." Lady, you are right.

Hey, look, he has already proposed, just for openers, $150 billion in new taxes plus at least $220 billion in new spending. But don't worry, he says, don't you worry, it will all come from the rich guys, top 2 percent, people who make over $200,000. But here's the truth. To get the money he needs for his plan, the $150 billion that he's promised in new taxes, Governor Clinton would have to raise taxes on every individual with over $36,600 a year in taxable income. And we cannot let him do that. If you listen to Clinton and Gore, he thinks these people are the ones who hang out on the Riviera. They're not the "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous." These are good people who work hard all day, and they deserve a break, and you deserve a break. Do not get this Arkansas taxer in there.

But it's even worse -- I'm sorry to bring you gloomy news -- it's even worse than this. Bill Clinton has promised a new program every time he makes a speech. But he hasn't said how he's going to pay for them. To pay for all these promises, he'll need hundreds of billions of dollars more beyond the tax increases he's already proposed. And you might say, where is he going to get the money?

And listen to the newspaper from Governor Clinton's own State, the Pine Bluff Commercial. They said, and here's an exact quote, "If Congress followed the example of Bill Clinton, the one he set as Governor of Arkansas, it would pass a program that hit the middle class the hardest." We cannot let that happen to the young families in this country. Bill Clinton says he wants to hit the rich, but the middle class will take it on the chin. And I'm not going to let him do it. The middle class will get the shaft, and we're not going to have that happen.

And besides that, I think his ideas are all wrong for America. I want to put more power with the family and the American people and local governments. And he wants to put more with those codgy old subcommittee chairmen in Washington. Let's give the power back to the people here.

And so, here's the difference on philosophy. You know what he wants to do on tax-and-spend. And I say Government is too big, and it spends too much of your money. And let's get something done about that in the new Congress that's coming up. To give you more power -- that's what it's about. To choose your own schools. I believe parents should be able to choose the schools, private, public, or religious. I believe parents ought to be able to choose day care centers, not have some mandated program out of Washington, DC. And I believe you ought to have more power to keep your hard-earned tax dollars.

You know, Governor Clinton is already talking about pulling together the best and the brightest -- all the lobbyists, economists, lawyers, all those guys, liberal guys that were hanging out with him in Oxford when some of you were over there fighting -- and have them solve all of America's problems.

I've got a very different vision: a responsible Government but a smaller Government, a Government that sees not every problem can be solved along the Potomac but understands that the real strength of America is right here in places like Plymouth, Michigan.

We saw great sights today coming in here, rolling hills and golden cornfields, vivid proof of why our great Nation is the most bountiful and special place on the face of the Earth. And while America is a land of extraordinary physical beauty, America is even more a land of extraordinary people. Because Americans had the courage to stand for freedom, our children today do not know the fear of nuclear weapons. And I am proud to have been a part of that. Governor Clinton says that the United States is somewhere below Germany and just above Sri Lanka. And I say to him he ought to open his eyes. Because of what you did -- and many of you here today -- in Desert Storm, we are the most respected nation on the face of the Earth. And don't let him tear down America. Don't let him tear it down. Because we had the courage to stand for freedom, the world today now holds unprecedented opportunity. We've got to be ready for it. And in this election, I am proud of my record as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. I'm going to take the case to the American people that you can't be on both sides of every issue when you make a tough decision. You've got to do what is right for the United States.

So the bottom line is freedom. And I bring my case to you, and I say, look, we have just begun to fight. We've accomplished a great deal. The world is a much more peaceful place. Our new education program is rolling. We've got a health care program to bring insurance to every family in this country without getting the Government to run our medicine. And we've got all these programs that work if you can get us some help in the Congress.

Here's what's going to happen. Already we've got over a hundred, a hundred new Members of Congress will be there. And I'll sit down with them and say, look, the American people are tired of gridlock. Whether you're Democrat or Republican, here's my hand. Let's take this country forward once again. We can do it. We are a nation on the rise, not a nation in decline.

And the last point I would make is this. The last point I would make is this: I hope I have earned your trust to be President of the United States. And I know very well we've got the best First Lady in the entire world, who has earned your trust to be the First Lady. And Barbara and I want to do everything we can to help strengthen the American family: back up our law enforcement officers, give parents choice, help these kids learn to read, strengthen the greatest institution we've got, which is the American family. Give me 4 more years to get the job done.

Thank you very, very much. Thank you so much for this fantastic rally. This is great. Thank you so much.

Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!

The President. Thanks a lot. The skies are clearing.