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William J. Clinton

William J. Clinton Quotes

42nd U.S. President

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Famous William J. Clinton Quotes

“I liked working with Republicans. We had five pretty good years after we had that bad year in '95 that culminated in two government shutdowns. But then they really decided that they liked being in the majority for the first time in forty years, and they wanted to get some things done, and I agreed, to get things I wanted. It was all perfectly transparent. Everybody knew what they wanted and what I wanted.”

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Author:William J. Clinton
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“If you wanted to create jobs in a way that has minimal effect on the deficit but has government action, the two best things you could do are the infrastructure bank and a simple SBA-like loan guarantee for all building retrofits, where the contractor or the energy-service company guarantees the savings. So that allows the bank to loan money to let a school or a college or a hospital or a museum or a commercial building unencumbered by debt to loan it on terms that are longer, so you can pay it back only from your utility savings. You could create a million jobs doing that.”

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Author:William J. Clinton
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“You need to know that a member of Congress who refuses to allow the minimum wage to come up for a vote made more money during last year's one-month government shutdown than a minimum wage worker makes in an entire year.”

KnowsNeedsYearsMadeGovernmentLastsPoliticsMonthsPoliticianMembersVoteWorkersCongressCome UpRefuseMore MoneyLast YearMinimumMinimum WageGovernment Shutdown
Book:Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton, 1995
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“It's only in America where there seems to be this sort of systematic denial of the reality of global warming at the governmental level, and in too many sectors of the high, the private sector. But it looks to me the business community may actually lead us toward a clean energy future almost in spite of government policy.”

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Author:William J. Clinton
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“One of the things that I realized when I left office was that in the 1990's citizens across the world applied more power than they had ever had, as compared with the government, because of more people living under democracies than dictatorships for the first time, the power of the internet, which the young Chinese used to basically change China's policy on the SARS epidemic, and shut it down, and because of the rise in non-governmental organizations like my foundation.”

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Author:William J. Clinton
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“Our new immigrants must be part of our one America. After all, they're revitalizing our cities, they're energizing our culture, they're building up our economy. We have a responsibility to make them welcome here, and they have a responsibility to enter the mainstream of American life. That means learning English and learning about our democratic system of government. There are now long waiting lines of immigrants that are trying to do just that. Therefore, our budget significantly expands our efforts to help them meet their responsibility. I hope you will support it.”

TryingMeanLongHelpingGovernmentAmericaCultureWaitingLinesEffortCitiesResponsibilitySupportEconomyBuildingDemocraticWelcomeBudgetsImmigrantsMainstreamAmerican LifeBuilding UpSystems Of GovernmentEnergizingLearning English
Author:William J. Clinton
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“We can't be so fixated on our desire to preserve the rights of ordinary Americans.”

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Book:Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton, 1993
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“We Democrats think the country works better with a strong middle class, real opportunities for poor people to work their way into it and a relentless focus on the future, with business and government working together to promote growth and broadly shared prosperity. We think "we're all in this together" is a better philosophy than "you're on your own."”

PeopleThinkingWayRealCountryPhilosophyGovernmentTogetherOpportunityStrongGrowthPoorClassFocusMiddleDemocratProsperityMiddle ClassWorking TogetherPoor PeopleRelentlessFocus On The Future
Author:William J. Clinton
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“The new rage is to say that the government is the cause of all our problems, and if only we had no government, we'd have no problems. I can tell you, that contradicts evidence, history, and common sense.”

IfsI CanProblemGovernmentPoliticalPoliticsCausesCommonEvidenceRageCommon SenseNo Problem
Book:Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, William J. Clinton, 1995, Bk. 1, January 1 to June 30, 1995
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“With almost no time to decide, they [your loved ones] gave the entire country an incalculable gift. They saved the capitol from attack. They saved God knows how many lives. They saved the terrorists from claiming the symbolic victory of smashing the center of American government. And they did it as citizens. They allowed us to survive as a country that could fight terror and still maintain liberty and still welcome people from all over the world from every religion and race and culture as long as they shared our values, because ­ordinary people given no time at all to decide did the right thing.”

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Author:William J. Clinton
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“Let us rededicate ourselves to the principle that all Americans have the tools to make the most of their God-given potential. For Indian tribes and tribal members, this means that the authority of tribal governments must be accorded the respect and support to which they are entitled under the law. It means that American Indian children and youth must be provided a solid education and the opportunity to go on to college. It means that more must be done to stimulate tribal economies, create jobs, and increase economic opportunities.”

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Author:William J. Clinton
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“Though government has an important role to play in meeting the many challenges that remain before us, we are coming to understand that no organization, including government, will fully succeed without the active participation of each of us. Volunteers are vital to enabling this country to live up to the true promise of its heritage”

ImportantCountryPlayGovernmentChallengesRolesPromiseSucceedOrganizationMeetingsIncludingActiveHeritageVolunteerParticipationEnablingVolunteerismActive Participation
Author:William J. Clinton
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“I did attempt to find out if there were any secret government documents that revealed things. If there were, they were concealed from me too. And if there were, well I wouldn't be the first American president that underlings have lied to, or that career bureaucrats have waited out. But there may be some career person sitting around somewhere, hiding these dark secrets, even from elected presidents. But if so, they successfully eluded me...and I'm almost embarrassed to tell you I did (chuckling) try to find out.”

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Author:William J. Clinton
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“I think the country could be spared a lot of agony and the government could worry about inflation and a lot of other problems if [Nixon would] go on and resign. [There is] no question that an admission of making false statements to government officials and interfering with the FBI and the CIA is an impeachable offense.”

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Author:William J. Clinton
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“New information and communications technologies can improve the quality of life for people with disabilities, but only if such technologies are designed from the beginning so that everyone can use them. Given the explosive growth in the use of the World Wide Web for publishing, electronic commerce, lifelong learning and the delivery of government services, it is vital that the Web be accessible to everyone.”

PeopleIfsWorldUseGovernmentGivenGrowthQualityTechnologyInformationCommunicationWideDisabilityPublishingCommerceLifelongQuality Of LifeDeliveryExplosivesLifelong LearningNew InformationWorld Wide WebPeople With DisabilitiesLearning DisabilityCommunication TechnologyGovernment ServiceInformation And CommunicationBetter Quality Of Life
Author:William J. Clinton
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“Thanks to the leadership of Vice President Gore, we have a government for the Information Age, once again a government that is a progressive instrument of the common good, rooted in our oldest values of opportunity, responsibility and community, devoted to fiscal responsibility, determined to give our people the tools they need to make the most of their own lives in the 21st century, a 21st century government for 21st century America.”

PeopleWorldNeedsGivingGovernmentAgeAmericaValuesOpportunityPresidentCommunityCommonResponsibilityCenturyInformationToolsInstrumentsVicesDeterminedThanksProgressiveRootedDevoted21st CenturyGoreNew World OrderVice PresidentCommon GoodInformation AgeFiscal Responsibility
Book:Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton, 1999
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