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Posted on 12/06/2001 9:39:17 AM PST by Stand Watch Listen

(CNSNews.com) -

Former President Bill Clinton broke ground Wednesday in Little Rock on the $104 million Clinton Presidential Center in front of a crowd of supporters and dignitaries and about a dozen union members unhappy that the construction will involve non-union workers.

Historical preservationists in Little Rock are also angry that a century-old freight depot, built by former African-American slaves, was torn down to make way for Clinton's presidential library.

In a 20-minute address, Clinton offered support for President George W. Bush's efforts against terrorism, but called on the United States to fight global poverty and AIDS, to support democracy, to combat global warming and to educate the world's children.

"No terror campaign has ever succeeded, and this one won't either, but we are vulnerable here at home for the first time for a simple reason: We have built a world without walls," Clinton said.

"We have torn down barriers, collapsed distances and spread information. We cannot claim the benefits of that world without recognizing the exposure that it brings us. And since we can't rebuild the walls, and most of us don't want to -- we must go on to build our defenses, to fight our adversaries, but also to make a world where we have more partners and fewer terrorists."

Clinton said the library's documents, many of which will be available on the Internet, will provide a historical record of his administration's involvement in Bosnia and Kosovo, its 1993 economic plan, welfare reform and even the administration's failed attempt at health care reform. He did not mention the political scandals that accompanied his administration.

Clinton said his "Third Way" political philosophy had found followers across the world and said the nation had made far-reaching advances since he was elected in 1992.

He read from a letter, to be housed in the library, written shortly after Clinton's father was killed in an auto accident.

"That letter was written by my mother on her birthday in 1946 -- three weeks after my father had died, three months before I was born. I hope I didn't let her down," he said.

The center will sit on a 27-acre site along the Arkansas River in an area dominated by old warehouses and, until recently, the historical railroad depot. It will house more than 77 million documents, 75,000 artifacts, 1.8 million photographs and 40 million e-mail messages.

It will also house the public papers of former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, who, along with members of Arkansas' congressional delegation was unable to attend.

Joking about the cost of the center, Clinton said, "We're going to try to build it in less time than it took to build the medieval cathedrals and the Egyptian pyramids, but if I can't rein in my team here, they may cost as much in present dollars."

The Rock Island Railroad Bridge across the river will become a pedestrian crossing, and the historic Choctaw Station, built in 1899, will be renovated to house the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service.

Union protestors were kept well outside the fenced in, invitation-only event, where Clinton made his remarks. They marched peacefully, carrying signs reading "What about us, Bill?" and "Thanks for Nothing."

"Organized labor contributed millions of dollars for his election and re-election, unpaid volunteer hours into his election and re-election, and now they're going to build the library and they're not including organized labor. Now that's wrong," said Lindsay Brown of Little Rock, a member of the International Union of Painters & Allied Trades District Council #80.

Skip Rutherford, president of the Clinton Library Foundation, said contract negotiations are ongoing, however, "the true story is, the huge majority of the work is already committed to union participation."

Meanwhile, the Hot Springs Advertising and Promotion Commission announced that all copies of a fourth and final trading card featuring the former president had been snatched up Wednesday morning, only two days after they had been made available to the public. The commission had printed 100,000 of the free cards, which feature Clinton palming a basketball while wearing an Arkansas Razorbacks jacket on the White House lawn.

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