NOTE: This page contains more than one excerpt by Alexander.
Excerpt from a speech at Portsmouth, NH on 1/18/1996,
recorded and transcribed from audiotape by Michaleen Driscoll of UNH

The vision that I have for this country is a very bright one, even despite
our problems.  I can see a country going into the next century with more
good new jobs than we lose with a 4, 4 1/2 percent mortgage interest rate. 
A country strong enough to def end itself, but wise enough not to become
involved in other peoples' civil wars unless we're prepared to pick one
side and win that war.  A country with divorce rates and abortion rates
going down instead of up and where families stick together and father s
stick around.  A country where we don't start all of our conversations, or
our thoughts atleast, with someone we've just met by wondering about the
color of their skin.  And where you can almost hear the tv sets clicking
off as, families spend more time with each other and parents spend more 
time with raising their children.


Lamar Alexander on Popular Culture.  Excerpts from Speech to   
U.S. Conference of Mayors, Miami, FLA Excerpts from speech delivered on  
June 19

A month ago in Los Angeles Senator Bob Dole made an excellent
speech on this subject. He criticized Hollywood for promoting
morally empty values. I agree with him. I suspect most Americans
do.... 

The truth is, Washington, D.C., and Hollywood have become dancing
partners. Hollywood stars jet to Washington to tell Congress what
it should be doing. Washington politicians fly to Hollywood to
raise campaign funds and, then, complain about the entertainment
business.  It is a cynical little waltz they do, shifting blame,
pointing fingers. Neither wants to stand up and be held accountable
for what it is doing to our country. Neither wants to accept the
fact that its actions and deeds have consequences. This is part of
a corrosive force in America life that leads toward a no-fault
culture....

I would not want to make the same mistake this morning that Senator
Dole made a month ago, and leave out the last half of my speech,
which is this: if all we do about the breakdown in personal
responsibility is blame Hollywood or Washington or anyone else, we
will never get our country back on track, never recapture our
confidence in our future, never again be able to raise a generation
schooled in right from wrong and the attributes of personal
responsibility.   
   
In the end, personal responsibility is not Hollywood or Washington.
It is you and me.
    
We can turn off the television.
   
We don't have to go to the movies.
   
If our children aren't learning, we can read to them.
   
If they are not home we can find them....

In order to lead a revival of personal responsibility, the
President first should set a good example. Then, he should deliver
several messages.
  
Message number one would be to Hollywood: preview your films with
your own children; invite your friends over to listen to the lyrics
of the records you sell. If you're uncomfortable doing that, then
don't debase our culture. Shame, we should remember, is a powerful
weapon.