Clinton in NC

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Education Barnstorming Tour Continues

Clinton talks up his education proposals to the North Carolina legislature

RALEIGH, N.C. (AllPolitics, March 13) -- President Bill Clinton continued his education barnstorming tour of state legislatures today in North Carolina, where he implored lawmakers to accept the challenges he laid out in his State of the Union address in January.

In a speech to a joint session of the North Carolina state legislature, Clinton cited the state's history of "vision and disciplined long-term effort" as evidence that the state is ready to take the lead on education reform.

He cited North Carolina's Smart Start program as a model other states should study. "The idea of having all elements of a community in a community nonprofit environment working on not only education, but health care and parenting skills and child care, trying to give our poorest children a coherent early childhood, is terribly important," Clinton said.

The president's language closely mirrored that of his State of the Union address, and he laid out no significant new proposals today.

The president was accompanied by Education Secretary Dick Riley, who is the former governor of neighboring South Carolina, and Defense Secretary William Cohen. "You may wonder why the secretary of defense is here with me today," Clinton said.

"Before I came down here, Senator Helms asked me to tell you that he is not the guard that Jesse once said I would need to come to North Carolina." Clinton said to laughter and applause.

"Ever since I got a chief of staff [North Carolinian Erskine Bowles] that does not speak with an accent we've been getting along a lot better, Senator Helms and I," Clinton added.

The president said he wants to apply his suggested education standards to the schools the military runs at its bases throughout the world. Clinton noted that the Defense Department has 115,000 students in its system, about as many as the state of Delaware.

Riley, whose presence was more easily explained, also provided a laugh line for the president. "Dick Riley and I were laughing with [North Carolina Democratic Gov.] Jim Hunt," Clinton said. "We all -- we were together 18 years ago as the governors of Arkansas, South Carolina and North Carolina. And we were laughing that Jim was probably the only one of us could still get elected governor in our home states after 18 years," Clinton said.

Clinton also declared himself "honored and mildly surprised" that the lawmakers were able to attend his speech despite the four teams North Carolina has in the NCAA college basketball tournament.