Remarks on Signing the
National Hispanic Heritage Week Proclamation
Well,
good afternoon. We're here today to commemorate National Hispanic Heritage
Week, and I'd like to thank the White House Hispanic Heritage Week Host
Committee for their help in making it possible. I'm delighted to see Governor
Bob Martinez here today and Donna Alvarado of ACTION.
And
I'm honored to welcome Colonel Gil Coronado [USAF]. Due to his efforts, we're
not just here to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Week but to announce that in 1989
the period between September 15th and October 15th will be Hispanic Heritage
Month. It's an honor well-deserved. And you can thank Colonel Coronado, who's
been a stout defender of his Hispanic heritage and the
And
among the civilians here, we have three honorees with us who are going to be
celebrated this week, too: publisher Dr. Nicolas Kanellos,
artist Orlando A.B., and master teacher Jaime Escalante. You know, if I were
still in the movies, I would have loved to play Jaime in ``Stand and Deliver.''
[Laughter] But at my age, they'd have to call it ``Sit Down, Take a Load Off,
and Deliver.'' [Laughter]
Yes,
we gather to salute the Hispanic heritage. It's not only the heritage of these
19.4 million Americans of Spanish-speaking descent, it's
part of my heritage, too, and my family's heritage and the heritage of every
American as well. We have all been enriched by the contributions of Hispanics
in every walk of American life. The Hispanic heritage is many and many things.
It's the abrazo, the hearty and heartfelt greeting
that binds the community together. It's the iglesia,
a place for contemplation and confession and communion with God. It's the escuela, where children learn to understand the world
around them. And most of all, it's the casa, the almost mystical center of
daily life, where grandparents and parents and children and grandchildren all
come together in the familia. As the great poet Octavio Paz has said: ``In Hispanic morals, the true
protagonist is the family.'' Well, there's a special intimacy here and a sense
of continuity between past and future that is more precious than rubies.
These
traditions are the bedrock of all Hispanic culture. They're what
Mexican-Americans and Puerto Ricans and Cuban-Americans and all other Hispanics
have in common. And they're traditions that suffuse the American experience as
a whole. But I fear that too often, in the mad rush of modern American life,
some people have not learned the great lesson of our Hispanic heritage: the
lesson of family and home and church and community.
I
want you all to know that in this administration George Bush and I have worked
hard to support these bedrock traditions -- family and hope and church and
community. We fought for the tax cuts that gave all Americans more of their own
money to build a better future. We sponsored tax reform that removed an
estimated 450,000 disadvantaged Hispanic families from the Federal income tax
rolls. We've stood up for the principle that every child should have the right
to say a prayer in school. We've seen to it that the violent criminals who prey
on our community are given what they deserve -- a jail term instead of a slap
on the hand.
And
our commitment to the sanctity of the family is stronger today than it ever
was. George has proposed an innovative measure to help families in need of
child care assistance with a tax credit. Now, this will allow parents to choose
among a variety of options if they need child care assistance. Like many
Americans, Hispanic families often look to grandparents or other family members
to help with their child care. Experts like Penelope Leach tell us what common
sense always has: The best people to take care of children are family members.
And that's the kind of care that George Bush's plan will help provide --
tender, loving, family care.
Now,
compare this plan with the one offered by the liberals. They've written a bill
that gives assistance not to the parent but to the person who provides the
care. And why? Because they want to make sure that
they have control over the kind of care your child receives. And that means if
you want to leave your child with his grandmother during the day she will have
to be licensed under Federal standards if she's to be given assistance for
helping to raise her grandchild. Licensing grandmothers -- can you believe it?
Well, I think it's terrible, and I don't think the American people are going to
stand for it.
Instead
of listening to these new and untried ideas about our children, I believe we
should listen to the glorious traditions at work in Hispanic culture -- the
tradition of caring for your own. Children are the future, and they deserve the
best. And that's why education is so strong a part of Hispanic life and why
you've been so stout in demanding that your children be given every opportunity
to learn. In
A
prominent
All
Well,
I hope that all of the Members of Congress who are present here have heard how
bothersome those airplanes are, coming off of National [Airport]. [Laughter]
But
thank you all, and until next year and Hispanic Heritage Month, God bless you
all. And now I think I have some signing to do.
Note: The President
spoke at