Telephone Remarks to the Wall Street Project Conference,
January 14, 1999

I am very sorry that bad weather prevented me from being with you tonight. But if Mother Nature is kind, I will be in New York tomorrow. I want to thank all of you for coming together through the Wall Street Project to work to ensure that the unprecedented prosperity of our time reaches into every corner of America.

We are living in blessed times. Our economy is the strongest in a generation. Our social fabric is mending. That’s why we must seize this moment of prosperity to tackle some of our greatest challenges. You gather tonight in one of the greatest monuments of American capitalism. But just blocks away, there are hard-working families who have yet to feel the prosperity. We have not only an opportunity, we’ve got an obligation to give all of them the tools they need to share in this bounty.

As leaders of the companies on the Big Board, as the men and women who have helped to transform America into the world’s economic superpower, you must help to build the bridge between those who work in our gleaming office towers and those who live in their shadows, between Wall Street and our greatest untapped markets. Tomorrow I’ll talk about my plan to work with all of you to bring capital and hope to our most underserved neighborhoods.

Not too long ago, Reverend Jackson once talked about the freedom symphony he would write for America. The first movement would represent our liberation from slavery; the second would be the struggle to end legal segregation; the third would be the fight to win the vote; and the final movement would be the crusade to bring economic opportunity to all Americans. You can help to write that movement. In fact, it can’t be written without you.

I thank you for helping to make sure that no family is left behind. And I look forward to seeing all of you tomorrow.

Note: The President spoke at approximately 8:30 p.m. from the Oval Office at the White House to the conference in New York City. In his remarks, he referred to civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson. This item was not received in time for publication in the appropriate issue.