The following are remarks given by Allegheny College sophomore Sam Rigotti on April 19 prior to President Clinton's talk.
Hey Allegheny! My name is Sam Rigotti, and I am the President of the Allegheny College Democrats. Thank you all for coming out to this amazing event. You know, when Professor Shea asked me the other day, How would you like to help introduce a former President of the United States? I said... Umm, YES! Of course! How do you respond to something like that? That would be the most incredible experience of my life! Its such an honor to be here with President Clinton today. I'm so proud to be speaking to you on behalf of Hillary's campaign. I know that she's going to make an excellent President when she does get elected. Not if, when. I want to tell you a little bit about why I'm supporting her personally.
Many of you know, especially my classmates here, that environmental issues are something that I truly care about. After 8 years of inaction, we cannot afford to sit idly by as global climate change takes its toll on this country and this planet. We need a leader like Hillary.
In 2005, there was a bill before the Senate that, among other things, would provide financial incentives to oil companies. Obama voted for it, Hillary voted against it.
On the issue of Hurricane Katrina, which still has not been resolved. There was a bill before the Senate for a railroad redevelopment project in Mississippi. Hillary voted to provide funding for this project; Obama didn't.
Another issue that I care passionately about-- and I know that a lot of you here at Allegheny and across the country do too–is women's rights. Women still make only 77 cents for every dollar that men earn, and if you're a member of a minority, that's even less. That's just terrible; we cannot have that in this country. Hillary has already demonstrated her commitment to making equality a national issue. If you go to Senator Obama's website, this is not even under his list of key issues
We know that we need changewe don't need someone to constantly remind us of this. Now we can listen to the flowery language and fluffy promises of hope, or we can cast our votes for a real leader, someone with the know how and drive to get things done in Washington.
President Clinton likes to say that "Hillary will make us proud." At a time of ever-declining respect among the international community due to years of failed foreign policy, she is exactly what this country needs.
As Hillary likes to say, "it took a Clinton to clean up after the first Bush, its going to take another Clinton to clean up after this one.
Let's show President Clinton that we're excited that he's here!
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