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Bill Clinton Speaks at UCF Commencement


Former President Bill Clinton was in Orlando to deliver a commencement speech to students graduating from UCF's College of Health and Public Affairs and the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences. Clinton told students that solving domestic and global health care problems will take coorperation.

Play Audio Story[President Bill Clinton Receives Honorary Degree from UCF] 

President Bill Clinton talked about his fight against water borne diseases killing children abroad and how childhood obesity is the number one health threat here at home. He also talked about the high cost of health care and how it hurts the entire nation.

“In America, we have to figure out how to improve health care and improve health and not have this massive gap between what we spend, right now about 17.9 percent of GDP and what every other big rich country spends,” he said. While he applauded recent medical advancements, he warned that technology was only part of the solution.

“Medicine in the 21st century will be a dizzying combination of pushing the envelop in the latest scientific discovery and constantly re-examine non-medical behaviors. How do we eat? How do we exercise, how do we grow food? How do we process food?” he said. 

 Clinton told graduates that critical health issues can’t be solved if people can’t get along and he encouraged them to look at UCF’s own history for an example of how much can be accomplished through partnerships and coorperation. Clinton is the second US President to speak at a UCF graduation. In 1973, President Richard Nixon gave the commencement speech to graduates at what was then known as Florida Technological University or FTU.

 

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