Family should act in ways that value family values

By Hillary Rodham Clinton

In the weeks leading up to my speech at the Democratic National Convention, I got a lot of evidence about what I should do and say in my hometown.

One friend suggested that I bring along a typical tough-on-the-outside yet warm-on-the-inside Chicagoan: Binti, the child-saving gorilla from the Brookfield Zoo. Another friend, knowing the public's endless curiously about my hairdos, suggested that I have my hair cut and colored orange -- then, I could introduce myself on stage as Hillary Rodham Clinton.

After considering these suggestions, I decided to do what I've been doing for years -- talk about what matters most in our lives and in our nation; children and families.

Right now, in our biggest cities and smallest towns, there are parents worrying about how they will pay for child or college. There are parents afraid that gang members and drug pushers are waiting to tempt children in their own neighborhoods. There are parents troubled by the effects of a popular culture that glamorizes smoking, drinking and worse -- and a consumer culture that teaches children to value the logo on their jeans more than the generosity in their hearts.

But also rights now, there are dedicated teachers preparing lessons for the new school year, volunteers mentoring children in their homes, doctors and nurses agonizing over children who are sick, and police officers risking their lives to help kids stay out of trouble and off drugs.

Parents, first and foremost, are responsible for their children. But we are all responsible for ensuring that our children grow up in a nation that doesn't just talk about family values but acts in ways that value families.

As Christopher Reeve said on the first night of the convention: We are all part of one family -- the American family -- and each one of us has value. Each child who comes into the world should feel special -- every boy and every girl.

Chelsea will graduate from college in 2001, at the dawn of the next century. Though that's not so far away, it is hard for any of us to know what the world will look like then, much less when Chelsea is my age -- in 2028.

But one thing we do know is that while change is certain, progress not. Progress depends on the choices we make today and tomorrow and whether we meet our challenges and protect our values.

We can start by doing more to support parents at home and on the job. Over the past four years, Americans have benefited from new laws that strengthen families. The Family and Medical Leave Act has allowed parents time off for family emergencies, including the birth or adoption of a child, without fear of losing their jobs. The Kennedy-Kassebaum law will enable 25 million Americans to keep their health insurance -- even when they switch jobs, lose a job or have a family member who's been sick. The minimum-wage bill the President just signed offers a tax credit for parents who adopt and abolishes the barriers to cross-racial adoptions.

We can do more by electing people who will recognize that helping children means helping parents -- especially our working poor -- to find affordable healthy insurance for their families. It means expanding Family Leave to allow workers time off for parent-teacher conferences or to take their children to doctor's appointments. It means strengthening our nation's public schools and making sure every child is equipped with the education he or she needs to succeed in the 21st century.

For Bill and me, there has been no experience more challenging, more rewarding and more humbling that raising our daughters. Nothing has brought home the lessons about what children need form us like becoming parents ourselves.

And we have learned that to raise a happy, healthy and hopeful child, it takes other family members, teachers, clergy, business people, community leaders and those who protect our healthy and safety. Or, as I am prone to say, it takes a village.

But it also takes a President -- a President who believes not only in the potential of his own child but of all children, who believes not only in the promise of each of us as individuals but in our promises together as a nation.

It takes a President who holds these beliefs -- and acts on them.

Sometimes, late a night, when I see chelsea doing her homework, or watching TV, or talking to a friend on the phone -- will be better because of what all of us are doing together. They will face fewer obstacles and more possibilities. That is something we should all be proud of.

-- Creators Syndicate, Inc.