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REMARKS BY:  DONNA E. SHALALA, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
PLACE:	     DICKINSON COLLEGE, CARLISLE, PENNSYLVANIA
DATE:	     APRIL 14, 1998

I really do appreciate being here at Dickinson tonight. I am an old friend of President Fristchler. Dickinson is lucky to have attracted him - he is an important leader in public administration. I always look forward to any chance to get back to a campus. I miss college life - especially the students.

And since the Washington Redskins used to practice here in Carlisle every summer, you're probably used to seeing rough, tough, hard-working competitors like me coming in from D.C. It was here in Carlisle that the Redskins trained for their last three Superbowl victories. But ever since they moved their training camp to Maryland, they haven't even made the playoffs.

Visiting campuses is like a pilgrimage for me. It energizes me. And students always challenge and humble me. You have this amazing knack for asking that one question -- that one annoying question -- that I don't have an easy answer for. Stump the politician. It's a game I loved as a college student. Last week I had fun playing "Stump the Politician" with the students at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. I'm looking forward to playing the Dickinson version of "Stump the Politician," but before I do, I'd like to play "Stump the Students," and ask you a couple of questions.

OK. Who coined the immortal phrase, "United we stand, divided we fall"? Who had the guts to tell Thomas Jefferson that his writing needed work? And which of our Founding Fathers refused to sign the Declaration of Independence, because he hoped for a peaceful resolution of the dispute with England? OK ... time's up. Now, most of you know I'm talking about the namesake of your school, John Dickinson. The rest of you are being sent back to first-year orientation.

But I admit -- I certainly didn't know that Dickinson is regarded as the "Penman of the American Revolution." And like President Clinton today, Dickinson was known for having his finger on the pulse of the American people. He spoke their language. He understood their concerns. As a result, while Dickinson is a relatively unsung hero of the American Revolution, he had an extraordinary influence on the birth of our nation.

It's no small thanks to Dickinson that Jefferson captured our nation's greatest democratic ideals with such elegance and eloquence in the Declaration of Independence. It's an amazing document that's worth re-reading once in a while. It declared that we have the God-given right to be free from a distant and abusive crown -- but that's not all. It also said we had the right to create our own government, one that would be "most likely to effect [our] safety and happiness."

Most of you declared a kind of independence when you left the safety and happiness of your homes to come to Dickinson. And as you said good-bye, some of your parents probably quoted Martin Luther King, Junior, saying, "God Almighty, we're free at last."

But on commencement day, when you burst through the doors of Old West saying "free at last," it will be up to you to effect your own safety and happiness. The question is: what kind of future will you help to create? Will you be prepared to shape this future and meet its demands? Will you be engaged in building American society for the next millennium? And will this society be faithful to legacy of Dickinson and Jefferson? The answers are all up to you.

You are the first generation of the next Millennium. Like Dickinson and Jefferson, you have the opportunity to be the architects of your own America. You have the unique opportunity to create, to construct and to define the next century. Each one of you -- no matter what kind of career or life you choose, no matter where you go, how far or how high. Because like John Dickinson, each one of us is an unsung hero with the power -- together and individually -- to write and edit history.

But to harness your individual power, I recommend that you take a page out of another great American work of literature -- the Wizard of Oz. Because to write the history of your time, you need three basic things. You need brains, heart and courage.

When I say you need brains, I don't mean just smarts, I mean you need to stay informed. Informed about what's going on in your country, your community, your culture -- and yes, your nation's capital. If you diss politicians and dismiss Washington, you're going to miss out. That's not what Dickinson and Jefferson intended. They created our democracy so we could be free from the abuses of tyranny -- not free from the duties of citizenship. And right now, things are happening in Washington that will affect your lives in a very real way -- things being done on your behalf, that need your input.

And to have real input, and a real impact, you need to really be informed. That doesn't mean getting all of your information from TV, your opinions from talk radio, and your ideas about life from South Park. It means constantly reading books and newspapers, engaging your political representatives, and taking part in the public debates, from local to national.

If you have been reading, listening and taking part, you know that these are great times to have your future spread out before you. As President Clinton said in his State of the Union Address last February, the State of the Union is strong. Everything that should be up is up, and everything that should be down is down. The economy, jobs, wages, home-ownership - all up. Unemployment, inflation, crime, welfare rolls and the size of government - all down.

For the first time since 1969 -- for the first time in your lifetime - Washington finally has put our national fiscal house in order. You remember the line from the song in the Wizard of Oz -- "somewhere over the rainbow, bluebirds fly." For years, we were operating in Washington on the theory that, "somewhere over the rainbow, balanced budgets lie."

This year we found the end of the rainbow. The President submitted to Congress the first balanced budget in 30 years, and it looks like Congress is going to pass one. We used to talk about federal deficits as far as the eye can see. Now we talk about federal surpluses as far as the eye can see. That means that if we continue to make prudent choices, good times will continue to be in store for America, with a robust economy and good jobs, good incomes, and a good life for all. And so we close this American century stronger and safer than a generation ago.

I believe Dickinson and Jefferson would have been proud of the care we have taken of the nation they created. But we never got this far by resting on our laurels or riding our luck. As Jefferson used to say, "I am a great believer in luck and I find that the more I work, the more I have of it." The fact is, ensuring the safety and happiness of our nation is a job that is never done. There are no small challenges confronting us. Challenges that - if we address them well - will ensure a stronger State of the Union throughout your 20's, 30's or 40's -- and even in that distant day when you retire. That's why, as President Clinton said, "this is not the time to rest, it is the time to build."

And he has challenged Congress to adopt his plan of action that responds to the challenges of a new generation -- challenges to ensure the safety and happiness that our Founding Fathers envisioned for us.

But how the federal government ensures our safety and happiness has changed dramatically since Dickinson's day, of course. It's also changed dramatically since 1969, the last time the federal budget was in balance. The change in government is like the change in an old car from the Sixties that has made a remarkable comeback for the Nineties: the Volkswagen Beetle. The New Beetle is a lot different than the old one. It's more streamlined. More efficient. More responsive. It's reengineered for our time.

So is the federal government today. As the President has said, "The era of big government is over. We have shaped a new kind of government from the information age. We have moved past the sterile debate between those who say government is the enemy and those who say government is the answer. We have the smallest government in 35 years, but a more progressive one."

What the President has done is challenge Washington and the nation to extend today's good fortune into the years to come. He has called for making new investments to help working families with child care investments to extend health insurance to children and seniors who have no coverage and investments in scientific research, to harness this golden age of scientific breakthrough to finally defeat our most deadly diseases, from cancer to AIDS to diabetes to heart disease.

And because so many Americans have had terrible experiences with the health care system today, the President has set forth a Patients' Bill of Rights. It says that American health care consumers have a right to access ... quality ... choice ... privacy ... and recourse if care is shoddy or coverage is shortchanged.

These are important investments in the health and well being of all Americans. But at this moment in Washington, the number-one fight in front of us is the fight against the number-one preventable cause of death in America. I'm talking, of course, about tobacco.

A new study shows that smoking among teenagers has jumped by a third. Among African American teenagers, smoking has skyrocketed a full 80 percent. Now, about 40 percent of teenagers now smoke or chew tobacco. Maybe some of you began smoking in high school. We know now that the tobacco companies hoped that you would -- and spent millions of dollars to get you to start. No wonder as many children can recognize Joe Camel as Mickey Mouse.

But, as the President has said, we are going to turn these statistics around. We are going to win the fight to protect our children from tobacco. But how we got to this point demonstrates how our political system can -- as Jefferson envisioned -- effect the nation's safety and happiness.

The fight began back in 1993, during the Clinton Administration's first year, when the FDA and other Senior public health officials in the Administration began to strategize about the problem of tobacco and young people.

A rigorous review confirmed the most troubling findings. That 1 million adolescent boys use smokeless tobacco and 3 million young people smoked cigarettes. That the rate of tobacco use and smoking was rising sharply among young people. That every day, 3000 teenagers become regular smokers and 1000 of them will die prematurely from tobacco-related illnesses. That 80 percent of smokers got hooked before the age of 18. That children tended to vastly underestimate the likelihood that they will become addicted to these products. And, that most adolescents who smoked said they wanted to quit, and most would not start smoking, if they had that choice to make again.

In the summer of '95, the President approved a sweeping FDA regulation to control access and appeal to minors. After a long public comment period, we issued the final rule in the summer of 1996. The tobacco industry sued. The courts confirmed the FDA's jurisdiction over tobacco but sent the advertising issue to appeal.

Meanwhile, the tobacco fight was raging on another front. Several states were suing the tobacco industry to recover Medicaid and other costs associated with tobacco-related illnesses. In addition, the industry faced potentially ruinous liability judgments from other class-action lawsuits. So the industry's lawyers sat down with the attorneys general of the states, and negotiated a settlement. That settlement required approval by the Congress and the Administration. We were under pressure to embrace it immediately. It was a good foundation, but it did not do enough to protect children or hold the Industry responsible for helping to reduce teenage tobacco use.

That's why the President is now challenging -- and working with -- the Congress to adopt comprehensive tobacco legislation before Congress goes home for reelection this fall. The President has not submitted legislation. Instead, he is insisting that the legislation must uphold five key principles. It must give to the FDA full authority to regulate children's access to tobacco product. It must increase the price of cigarettes by a dollar-fifty a pack, because children tend to be sensitive to price. It must impose strong penalties on tobacco companies that keep advertising to children. And, it must protect our public health priorities, and the rights of tobacco farmers.

We are making very clear to Congress -- this is not about politics ... or money ... or revenge. It is not about punishing the tobacco industry, or putting it out of business. But it is about putting the industry out of the business of selling tobacco to children. Right now, we have a bill in Congress that has tremendous bipartisan support. And our message to Congress is: Don't go home this session without passing comprehensive tobacco legislation. Don't go home without it.

But as any political science major knows, few things are accomplished in Washington without a vigorous debate over national priorities -- and that's the way it should be. Even if Congress proposed a resolution supporting Mom and apple pie, there would be somebody rising in opposition. The Washington Post would write an editorial weighing the pros and cons. And Sam Donaldson would shout out a question to the President, "Isn't this just politics as usual?" But as Dickinson and Jefferson knew, the sound and fury of political debate is the sound track of the American success story.

My message to you is that today's national debates cannot be complete without your voice in the chorus and your hand on the pen. So in addition to brains -- the information you need to help draft the future -- you also need the other two things from the Wizard of Oz. You need heart and you need courage. You need the passion and the will, to harness your knowledge, to apply what you've learned in your classes at Dickinson, to speak up and take action for a better nation.

It can involve raising consciousness, like the students who volunteer for Wheel and Chain to prevent domestic violence. It can involve the sweat of your brow, like the students who volunteer for the local Habitat for Humanity, building homes and hopes for families in the South. It can even involve simply showing up and listening up, like the students who packed the public affairs symposium to hear Terry Anderson and author James McBride.

No matter which way you lean politically, I hope you take part in the national debate about the future, to engage others in the same discussion. And to paraphrase Archimedes, I urge you to find a lever, and your own place to stand, and use your leverage to move the world.

Thank you.