Presidential Documents - Govinfo.gov

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Weekly Compilation of

PresidentialDocuments

Monday, June 27, 1994Volume 30—Number 25Pages 1303–1350

VerDate 14-MAY-98 10:23 May 19, 1998 Jkt 010199 PO 00001 Frm 00001 Fmt 1249 Sfmt 1249 C:\TERRI\P25JN4.000 INET03

WEEKLY COMPILATION OF

PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS

Published every Monday by the Office of the Federal Reg-ister, National Archives and Records Administration, Washing-ton, DC 20408, the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Docu-ments contains statements, messages, and other Presidentialmaterials released by the White House during the precedingweek.

The Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents is pub-lished pursuant to the authority contained in the Federal Reg-ister Act (49 Stat. 500, as amended; 44 U.S.C. Ch. 15), under

regulations prescribed by the Administrative Committee of theFederal Register, approved by the President (37 FR 23607;1 CFR Part 10).

Distribution is made only by the Superintendent of Docu-ments, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.The Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents will befurnished by mail to domestic subscribers for $80.00 per year($137.00 for mailing first class) and to foreign subscribers for$93.75 per year, payable to the Superintendent of Documents,Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402. Thecharge for a single copy is $3.00 ($3.75 for foreign mailing).

There are no restrictions on the republication of materialappearing in the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Docu-ments.

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Contents

Addresses and Remarks

Business Roundtable—1309Congressional barbecue—1339Democratic National Committee—1330, 133450th anniversary of the GI bill of rights—1325Middle East peace process—1324North Korea—1327Radio address—1303Summer of Safety program participants, St.

Louis, MO—1344

Appointments and Nominations

National Council on the Humanities,members—1303

National Railroad Passenger Corporation,Board of Directors, member—1303

U.S. Court of Appeals, judges—1308, 1329U.S. District Court, judges—1321

Communications to Congress

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia andMontenegro), message—1317

Haiti, message—1322Review of the impact of the Chemical

Weapons Convention, message—1337‘‘Work and Responsibility Act of 1994,’’

message transmitting—1320

Executive Orders

Blocking Property of Certain HaitianNationals—1321

Interviews With the News Media

Exchanges with reportersBriefing Room—1327

Interviews With the News Media—Continued

Oval Office—1308, 1324, 1337St. Louis, MO—1344

InterviewsKatie Couric and Bryant Gumbel on

‘‘Today’’—1305Kevin Horrigan and Charles Brennan of

KMOX Radio in St. Louis, MO—1339

Meetings With Foreign LeadersHungary, President Goncz—1308Jordan, King Hussein—1324Slovakia, President Kovac—1308

Proclamations50th Anniversary of the GI Bill of Rights—

1323National Housing Week—1316

Statements by the PresidentSee also Appointments and NominationsAssistance to California—1338Congressional action on health care reform—

1338White House Conference on Africa—1329White House Conference on Travel and

Tourism—1338

Supplementary MaterialsActs approved by the President—1350Checklist of White House press releases—

1350Digest of other White House

announcements—1347Nominations submitted to the Senate—1348

Editor’s Note: The President was in St. Louis, MO, on June 24, the closing date of this issue.Releases and announcements issued by the Office of the Press Secretary but not received in timefor inclusion in this issue will be printed next week.


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Week Ending Friday, June 24, 1994

Nomination for Members of theNational Council on the HumanitiesJune 17, 1994

The President today announced his inten-tion to nominate 10 scholars and civic lead-ers, including 2 winners of MacArthur Foun-dation fellowships, the so-called geniusawards, to the National Council on the Hu-manities.

‘‘Over the past three decades, our Nation’scultural life has become immensely richerbecause of the work of the National Endow-ment for the Humanities. The scholars anddistinguished citizens I am naming today willhelp that tradition of excellence to continueto flourish,’’ the President said.

The nominees are: Ramon Gutierrez,Darryl Gless, Charles Patrick Henry, NicolasKanellos, Bev Lindsey, Robert Rotberg, JohnD’Arms, Thomas Holt, Martha Howell, andHarold Skramstad.

NOTE: Biographies of the nominees were madeavailable by the Office of the Press Secretary. Thisitem was not received in time for publication inthe appropriate issue.

Nomination for a Member of theBoard of Directors of the NationalRailroad Passenger CorporationJune 17, 1994

The President today announced his inten-tion to nominate Delaware Governor Thom-as R. Carper to serve on the Board of Direc-tors of the National Railroad Passenger Cor-poration (Amtrak). Governor Carper will as-sume the seat on the Board being vacatedby Gov. Tommy Thompson of Wisconsin.

In announcing the nomination, the Presi-dent said, ‘‘Governor Carper’s leadership, fi-nancial expertise, and strong commitment toproviding America with quality passenger railservice will be of great service to the Board

as well as to the millions of customers whorely on Amtrak’s service each year.’’

NOTE: A biography of the nominee was madeavailable by the Office of the Press Secretary. Thisitem was not received in time for publication inthe appropriate issue.

The President’s Radio AddressJune 18, 1994

Good morning. For a year and a half now,I and my administration have worked veryhard to do the right thing by ordinary Ameri-cans, to restore the values of community, op-portunity, and responsibility that have alwaysstrengthened our country. Thanks to you,we’re getting the job done on many fronts.

We’ve reduced the deficit dramatically.We’re going to have 3 years of deficit reduc-tion for the first time since Harry Trumanwas President. We’ve expanded trade and in-creased investment in our people’s educationand training and in new technologies. All ofthis has produced steady growth in our econ-omy. There are now 3.4 million new jobs inthe economy in the last 16, 17 months, morethan in the previous 4 years combined.

Meanwhile, we’ve worked hard to givemore of our children a better education,more of our workers a chance to meet thechanging demands of the job market. Thisweek we offered a plan to end welfare aswe know it, a plan that will encourage per-sonal responsibility and help strengthen ourfamilies through tougher child support, moreeducation and training, and an absolute re-quirement to go to work after a period oftime.

We’ve broken 7 years of gridlock to passthe family and medical leave law to giveworking families the security of knowing theywon’t lose their jobs if they have to take timeoff from work for a child’s birth or a sickparent; 7 years of gridlock to pass the Bradybill to help keep more of our citizens and


1304 June 18 / Administration of William J. Clinton, 1994

police officers alive by keeping guns out ofthe hands of people with dangerous criminalor mental health records. And then our ef-forts to reform health care, to provide healthcare to all Americans: For the first time ever,a committee of Congress has recommendedprivate health insurance for every Americanfamily. We’re trying to break 60 years of grid-lock and stranglehold by special interest onhealth care.

Now, each of these accomplishments is im-portant in its own right. But all of them takeon an even greater meaning when we seethem as part of our larger mission. That mis-sion is to make it possible for all Americans,without regard to their race, their gender,their income, the region of the country fromwhich they come, to be able to make betterlives for themselves, to face the future withall of its changes with the enthusiasm andconfidence that they should have. Our goalis not to hand anyone anything but to im-prove the economy, offer opportunities,strengthen families and communities so thatpeople can assume the responsibility to makea better life for themselves.

No issue poses the need to come togethermore to deal with the problems that we facethan does the cancer of crime and violencethat is eating away at the bonds that uniteus as a people. I saw it again this week whenI visited a housing project in Chicago calledRobert Taylor Homes.

I went there once 3 years ago, so I’m prettyfamiliar with all the wonderful people wholive there, the good things they’re trying todo, and the terrible problems they face fromviolence and guns and drugs. I went therebecause it’s a good place to emphasize to allAmericans that we have begun a nationwideeffort to drive the guns, the gangs, and thedrugs from public housing and from allneighborhoods where Americans feel terror-ized. I wanted to underscore how importantit is to empower our people to take back theirhomes, their streets, and their schools wher-ever they live. Unless we do something aboutcrime, we can’t be really free in this country,we can’t exercise the opportunities that arethere for us, and our children can’t inheritthe American dream.

Now, our administration and the Congressmust do our job on crime so that the Amer-

ican people can do their job in the commu-nities where they live. We have waited 5 longyears, through partisan and political gridlock,for a crime bill that will address the growingcrisis. That’s long enough. The crime bill,which has now passed both Houses of Con-gress, but which must be reconciled into onebill and passed one more time, does provideus with the tools we need to help preventand punish crime.

Congress is on the verge of adopting thiscrime bill. It contains almost all the elementsof the anticrime plan I’ve been promotingever since I started running for President.Now it’s time to pass the bill, to stop talking,to stop posturing, and pass the bill.

The crime bill will put 100,000 more po-lice officers on the street. They’ll be visible.They’ll know the children and the neighbors.They’ll give our communities the power tokeep themselves safer. Properly trained andproperly deployed, 100,000 more police offi-cers on our street will lower the crime rateand increase security.

The bill will enforce our sense of safetyin many other ways. We did what many saidcouldn’t be done, including in this bill a banon assault weapons. I saw hundreds, I meanhundreds, of those assault weapons in onelittle police cubicle in the office in RobertTaylor Homes just on Friday. We have gotto take these weapons of killing away frompeople who are putting the police at a dis-advantage and terrorizing our children andour neighborhoods.

This bill will provide for capital punish-ment for anyone who kills a law enforcementofficer. It will give serious repeat offenderswhat they have earned, a life sentence, bymaking ‘‘Three strikes and you’re out’’ thelaw of the land. It will make it illegal for teen-agers to possess handguns unless they’reunder the supervision of a responsible adult.It will make our schools safer by giving themost dangerous school neighborhoods in thecountry more resources to provide for safeschools.

But providing more police and tougherpunishment isn’t enough. We have to detercrime where it starts. This proposal also givespeople something to say yes to. It providesjobs for thousands of young people fromhigh-crime neighborhoods, particularly those


1305Administration of William J. Clinton, 1994 / June 20

who stay in school, off drugs, and out of trou-ble. It gives funds to keep schools open afterhours. It adds support for boys and girlsclubs, for community activities like midnightbasketball. It builds better partnerships be-tween our police and our young people.

An investment in a child is not only a con-tribution to America’s future, it’s a real strokein the war against crime. Those on thefrontlines of crime, our police officers, havewitnessed firsthand the explosion in youthcrime and violence, and they know this istrue. A coalition representing more than halfa million law enforcement officers nation-wide has just written to me and said, ‘‘Wesupport the inclusion in the crime bill of sub-stantial funds for prevention programs. Theycan help make a difference.’’

Here at the Robert Taylor Homes on Fri-day I saw young people wearing T-shirts forpeer groups, for adopt-a-grandparent’s pro-gram, for antidrug programs, for midnightbasketball programs. I met adults working intenant patrols. All these prevention programsare unleashing the grassroots energy of re-sponsible residents who understand thatthey, too, have a duty to try to do somethingabout crime. They’re young, they’re old,they’re middle-aged; they want to take theirstreets, their neighborhoods, their commu-nities back. And we owe it to them to supportthem. We can only do it if we keep the pre-vention component of the crime bill.

Now is the most crucial time to make sureyour Congressmen know you want action onthe crime bill. There has been enough talk.We have broken years of gridlock to get thebill through both Houses of Congress. Butunless it comes to my desk and I sign it, allthis effort will have been for nothing. Wecan give the families of this country thechance to control their own neighborhoods,to raise their children in safety and security.That’s what real freedom requires. We can’tgive up until we’ve got it.

Thanks for listening.

NOTE: The address was recorded at 11:07 p.m.on June 17 at the Robert Taylor Homes commu-nity center in Chicago, IL, for broadcast at 10:06a.m. on June 18.

Interview With Katie Couric andBryant Gumbel on ‘‘Today’’June 20, 1994

Q. Forty years ago, Harry Truman, whowas staying at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel herein New York City, decided to take a morningstroll down West 49th Street. There, thestory goes, he noticed a group of onlookerswatching the ‘‘Today’’ show through itsstreet-level glass window. He decided to jointhe crowd, and thus this unusual picture.

Today, minus the stroll, we are pleased towelcome another President to our street-level digs. Mr. President, good morning.Welcome to Studio 1A.

The President. Good morning, Bryant. Iwish I were with Harry Truman today, outthere on the street, looking in.

North KoreaQ. Well, Katie and I are very grateful that

you’re allowing us the opportunity to inter-view you this morning. Thank you for takingthe time.

Let’s start with North Korea, if we might.Former President Jimmy Carter, just backfrom the Korean Peninsula and meetingswith Kim Il-song, has said that he believesthe crisis has been defused and at this pointany sanctions would be counterproductive.Do his opinions reflect the views of your ad-ministration in any way? And if not, couldyou detail the extent to which his views andhis trip may have changed your approach?

The President. Well, the North Koreansasked President Carter to come as a privatecitizen. He called me, and we agreed thatthe trip might be productive, that he wouldgo, he would listen, he would faithfully statethe views of our administration and reaffirmthat our interest is in seeing that North Koreahonor its commitments under the NuclearNon-Proliferation Treaty and its commit-ment to a nonnuclear Korean Peninsula.

While there, when he notified us aboutwhat they were saying, we put out a state-ment, which he reaffirmed, which simply saidthat if North Korea wishes to talk and is will-ing to freeze their nuclear program, that is,not continue reprocessing or refueling whilethey talk, then that would be a step forward.He says that Kim Il-song made that commit-



ment to him. Now we have to verify that.So that’s the question.

We have, surely, something to gain by talk-ing with the North Koreans, by avoiding fur-ther steps toward a crisis. But we have toknow there’s been a change. So we’ll be look-ing to verify that. And that’s really the ques-tion. This is a question of fact now.

There are some hopeful signs, the willing-ness to meet between North and South. Butthe critical question is, are they willing tofreeze this nuclear program while we try towork these differences out?

Q. You say there are hopeful signs. Areyou prepared to respond with positive signsof your own, or have you reason to believethat Kim Il-song’s history suggests there’s awide divergence between what he says andwhat he does?

The President. Well, I think what we haveto do is to look to the present and the futureand say we will evaluate words in terms ofactions. We have the capacity, if the inter-national inspectors and the equipment aregoing to be left there, to evaluate whether,in fact, the nuclear program has been frozen.If it’s going to be frozen, then clearly thatis grounds for talking. But we have to knowwhat the facts are, and we’ll be attemptingto determine that.

Health Care ReformQ. Mr. President, moving to matters closer

at home now, yesterday on ‘‘Meet the Press’’Senator Moynihan, chairman of the FinanceCommittee, said that there was no chancethat Congress will pass a health care plan thatwill give all Americans immediate insurancecoverage. If that, in fact, is the case, will youaccept a plan that will provide universal cov-erage somewhere down the road?

The President. Well, Katie, our plan re-quired a phase-in. It’s going to take sometime for the States and for others who wouldhave to provide the insurance who don’t nowto phase it in. But I think the important thingis that we should not walk away from thisCongress without a commitment to cover ev-eryone. The so-called 91 percent solution, ifit’s a permanent solution, essentially wouldguarantee what we have now. The poorwould get health care; the wealthy would gethealth care; the middle class would be at risk

of losing it. One in ten Americans would nothave any health care all the time, and otherswould be losing it.

Keep in mind, we now have 3 million moreAmericans without health insurance than wehad 3 years ago. The situation in terms ofcoverage is getting worse, more and moremiddle class Americans at risk.

All I want to do is to give the Americanpeople what the President and the Congressand the Federal Government employeeshave. And my proposal would cost small busi-nesses much, much less than the last mini-mum wage increase that President Bushsigned.

Now, I admit that we needed to makesome changes in our original proposal. I al-ways said we would. We want it now to beless bureaucratic and less regulatory, and theproposals are. They reflect some changes thatwe have agreed to. But we have to cover allAmericans. And that’s the real issue.

Q. So you’re saying some of the bills thatare being discussed in Senate Finance whichwill provide insurance coverage for 91 per-cent, that if those bills, or a bill like thatcomes to your desk, you’ll veto it?

The President. What I’m saying is I don’tthink it will come to my desk for the simplereason that if you look at what the bill does,the bill that covers 91 percent of Americans,the proposal would cost middle class tax-payers more tax money, essentially subsidizelow-income people, and leave middle classworkers either without health insurance orat risk of losing it because of all the problemswe have in the system today. So I really don’tbelieve it is a solution.

I know that there had been tens of millionsof dollars in special interest money spent toconvince the American people that our planis wrong. I know that we needed to makesome changes in our plan. But I also knowthat the right thing for America is to do whatevery other advanced country has done inguaranteeing middle class working peoplehealth care that can’t be taken away.

When Harry Truman stopped by the‘‘Today’’ show 40 years ago and looked in atDave Garroway—who, by the way, was thefirst fellow I ever saw that wore a bow tie,so I remember this very well—he knew that.And they beat him to pieces over health care.



And they drove the popularity of his proposaldown. And he was never able to pass it. ButHarry Truman was right then, and we’reright now.

The right thing for America’s values, forwork, for family, is to provide health care forall Americans. It doesn’t have to be done to-morrow. It ought to be phased in over a pe-riod of just a few years. But we ought notto walk away without a bill that provideshealth care to all Americans.

HaitiQ. Mr. President, let’s turn to Haiti, if we

could for a moment. It’s being reported inthis morning’s paper that your administrationis trying to induce Haiti’s three top militaryleaders to leave Haiti for a comfortable lifein exile, perhaps by managing somehow topay them off. Is that something that’s beingpursued? And if you can get them to leaveHaiti, are you at all interested in bringingthem to justice after that?

The President. We have always said, ifyou go back to the beginning of this adminis-tration, that we had no interest in trying topersecute anybody. President Aristide him-self agreed on an amnesty proclamation aspart of the agreement we had last year. Themilitary leaders broke that agreement. Weare still looking at any number of options totry to restore democracy to Haiti so that thattroubled country can begin to have some eco-nomic growth and the people who have beenso oppressed by the military dictators can es-cape their oppression. So we have a numberof options under consideration.

What happens to those who violate thelaw, I think, depends in part on what thedemocratic government decides to do. ButPresident Aristide all along has said that hewas interested in honoring the original condi-tions of the Governors Island Agreement. Itwas the other side which broke them.

Health Care Reform

[Following a commercial break, it was an-nounced that the President would take ques-tions from persons outside the studio. Thena participant asked if an additional tax wouldbe used to help small businesses pay forhealth care.]

The President. Well, we propose to makeup that difference in two ways: first of all,by raising the cigarette tax and, secondly, byachieving other savings in Government pro-grams. Then we ask the very biggest busi-nesses in the country, who are going to geta big reduction, many—most of them, fromour health care plan because we’re going tospread the cost more evenly throughout thecountry, to pay a small amount of money intoa program that will support the subsidies forsmall business and continuing medical re-search.

This will work because of the competitivepressures to hold health care costs down ifwe get everybody in the system. That is, Ithink that it’s hard for most Americans torealize this, but we’re already spending about40 percent more of our income, as a percent-age of our income, than any other countryon Earth. And yet we’re the only country thatdoesn’t require everybody to have somehealth coverage.

So it seems to me that the simplest wayto do it is to just take the system we have,which is an employer-based system that over80 percent of the Americans are covered by,and just extend it to everybody. But in orderto do it, because we have so many small em-ployers, you’ve got to give them a discount.And I wouldn’t do this in this way if I weren’tconvinced that it would help the economyin the medium term and over the long term.We can’t do anything that will run unemploy-ment up. This will balance out the scales,in my judgment, and help more small busi-nesses create jobs.

Keep in mind, most small businesses aregiving health insurance now and paying 35percent or 40 percent more than bigger busi-ness and Government. And as a con-sequence, that undermines their ability tocompete. They can’t get fair rates. And theproposal we have, I will say again, will costsmall business considerably less than theminimum wage increase that President Bushsigned a couple of years before I becamePresident.High School Reunion[A participant from Park Ridge, IL, was in-troduced.]

The President. That’s a great town.



[The participant, who graduated from highschool with Hillary Clinton, asked if their30th reunion could be held at the WhiteHouse.]

The President. That’s a decision for herto make. But I’ll bet you she would like towelcome you here at the White House. I’mtrying to work out an opportunity to welcomemy 30th high school reunion class to theWhite House as well. I think both of uswould like that very much. And I will tellher that you asked. I’m sure—I hope she’swatching this morning, but I’ll tell her. AndI’ll bet she would love that.

O.J. SimpsonQ. Mr. President, let me close, if I could,

with one that isn’t a national issue but oneI’m sure you have some feelings on. The en-tire country, as you know, watched the O.J.Simpson drama unfold last week. What areyour own personal thoughts about the fallfrom grace of such an American hero?

The President. Well, it’s a genuine trag-edy. In some ways it’s a story as old as time;in some ways it’s a modern story. It’s ofcourse the biggest tragedy because two peo-ple were killed. Children were robbed of amother, a family’s lost loved ones, and a manwidely admired in this country is now caughtin the web of a terrible tragedy. But I haveto say that after we all watched it in excruciat-ing detail last weekend, the time has nowcome for the legal process to take its course.I think the less the rest of us say from nowon in until the legal process takes its course,the better.

Q. Mr. President, we thank you very muchfor taking the time to be with us——

The President. Thank you.Q. ——helping to christen our new studio.

We appreciate it and hope you’ll come back.Q. Next time President Clinton, come

here to New York and see us.The President. Oh, I’d like that. I’d like

to be looking—I’d like to be on the outsidelooking in, asking you questions. [Laughter]

Q. For a change, I guess, right?The President. That’s right.

NOTE: The interview began at 7:09 a.m. ThePresident spoke via satellite from the Oval Officeat the White House. In his remarks, he referred

to the first ‘‘Today’’ show host, Dave Garroway.A tape was not available for verification of thecontent of this interview.

Nomination for a United StatesCourt of Appeals JudgeJune 20, 1994

The President today nominated David S.Tatel to serve on the United States Courtof Appeals for the District of Columbia Cir-cuit.

‘‘David Tatel has an extraordinary recordof dedication and achievement in the legalprofession,’’ the President said today. ‘‘Hehas set an example for lawyers both in theprivate sector and in public service with hislifelong commitment to protecting and pre-serving the rights of all Americans.’’

NOTE: A biography of the nominee was madeavailable by the Office of the Press Secretary.

Remarks and an Exchange WithReporters Prior to Discussions WithPresident Arpad Goncz of Hungaryand President Michal Kovac ofSlovakiaJune 21, 1994

The President. May I first just make anopening comment here. The United Statesis very honored to have the Hungarian Presi-dent, Mr. Goncz, and the Slovak President,Mr. Kovac, here. They are on their way toNew York to receive a well-deserved awardfor their common commitment to democracyand reform. They have supported both,steadfastly and with great courage and con-sistency. And I have personally enjoyed verymuch the relationship that we have hadworking together on the Partnership ForPeace concept and in many other areas, andI look forward to their progress.

And I congratulate the people of Hungaryand the Slovak Republic for their steadfast-ness, even in the face of great difficulty, andtheir leaders for their genuine leadershipability. So, it’s a great honor for us to havethem here in the White House. And we willbe talking about the role the United Stateswill be playing with them and the other coun-



tries of Central and Eastern Europe, nowand in the years ahead, in this meeting.

Partnership For PeaceQ. Mr. President, is Russia going to sign

the Partnership For Peace tomorrow in Brus-sels, that you know of?

The President. We hope so. We hopethey will be doing it in the next few days.I’m not sure exactly whether all the detailshave been worked out. But when PresidentYeltsin and I spoke a couple of days agoabout the Korean matter, we talked a bitabout that. And I expect them to join thePartnership For Peace sometime in the nextfew days.

North KoreaQ. And have you opened up a channel to

North Korea in the aftermath of formerPresident Carter’s——

The President. Well, we have a channelof communications to them. And we have fol-lowed up President Carter’s statements tome and his letter of understanding with acommunication to the North Koreans, andwe will be waiting to hear back. And we ex-pect and hope to hear back within a coupleof days about whether President Carter’s un-derstanding of what they said is correct.

Legal Defense FundQ. President Clinton, have you decided

whether to launch a legal defense fund?The President. I have nothing to say

about that.

NOTE: The President spoke at 10:44 a.m. in theOval Office at the White House. A tape was notavailable for verification of the content of theseremarks.

Remarks to the Business RoundtableJune 21, 1994

Thank you very much, John. I’m trying tofix this lectern, if you’re wondering what I’mdoing up here. I’m proving that I don’t havesufficient mechanical skills. [Laughter]

I want to thank John for his leadership asthe chairman of this distinguished group andwelcome the incoming chair, John Snow,with whom I just shared a few words about

some of our common interests in Europe.I’d also like to say a special word of apprecia-tion to two of your members for working onissues that we share a common concernabout, Joe Gorman, who’s chairing your ses-sion on education, and Larry Perlman, who’schairing the work force development sectionand discussing the reemployment act thathe’s helping us to work on and about whichI wish to talk today. I want to thank the Busi-ness Roundtable for sharing a belief with meand with our administration that we have tomove aggressively to embrace the challengesof the global economy. That, after all, is whywe worked hard on the North American FreeTrade Agreement and why we are workingtogether to pass the GATT agreement.

I also want to thank you for our commonunderstanding of a simple but powerfultruth, which is that even as we lower barriersto trade around the world, we must workhard to lift our people up here at home sothat they can compete and win and carry ontheir work and build their lives. Investing inour people’s God-given potential is good eco-nomics. You know that, and I do. It pays offin higher productivity, more incomes, a com-petitive edge for our companies and ourcountry in the global marketplace. We talkabout this all the time in the White House.I see my Chief of Staff, Mr. McLarty, andour Economic Adviser, Mr. Rubin; the Dep-uty Treasury Secretary, Mr. Altman, is here.There may be others here from the adminis-tration. These are things that we say all thetime in our meetings. I appreciate the workthat you did in helping us to pass the Goals2000 legislation, one of the most importanteducation reforms in a generation in thiscountry. When we work together, we can dothings that help America prepare for the fu-ture.

I think today is an especially appropriateday for me to be here, speaking with youabout how we can better prepare our countryfor change. Fifty years ago tomorrow, as theAllied armies advanced from the beaches ofNormandy, President Roosevelt signed a billthat was called the Serviceman’s Readjust-ment Act, better known as the GI bill ofrights. Just as D-Day was the greatest mili-tary action in history, the GI bill arguablywas the greatest investment in our people



in American history. Its legacy is the world’slargest middle class, the world’s strongesteconomy. Its lesson is, in large measure, themission of our administration: If you givepeople a chance to help themselves, they’lldo it and they’ll do extraordinary things.

Before World War II, our country oftenfailed to prepare returning veterans afterwars. We gave them pensions and bonuses,but they had nothing left to build their futurewith. That’s why jobless and despairing veter-ans of World War I actually marched onWashington in 1932, why President Roo-sevelt declared that the GI bill, quote, ‘‘gaveemphatic notice to the men and women ofour Armed Forces that the American peopledo not intend to let them down.’’

We know why the GI bill didn’t let themdown. It relied on American values of workand responsibility. It offered a hand up, nota handout. The veterans of World War I, bycontrast, got a handout. To be sure, one theyearned and one the country was grateful for,but they got cash and a train ticket home.But the veterans of World War II got a ticketto the future instead. Uncle Sam helpedthem to go to college, to get job training,to finance homes and businesses of theirown. But it was up to them to seize the op-portunities. They did, and all of us are thebetter.

The GI bill helped 8 million returning vet-erans begin that journey. They flooded col-leges and trade schools: 450,000 veterans be-came engineers; 360,000 became schoolteachers; 240,000 became accountants;180,000 became doctors and nurses; 150,000became scientists. Millions more boughthomes or built businesses. Maybe some ofthem are among you who invited me hereto be with you today.

We really can’t even begin to calculate howmuch our Nation was enriched by the GIbill, how many communities sprung up, howmany companies prospered, how many fami-lies earned their share of the Americandream. This much we do know: Together allthose people built the American middle classthat has been the bulwark of our prosperitysince World War II.

Fifty years after the signing of the GI bill,the world’s changed a lot. Our economy hasclearly changed. But what it takes for our

people to meet the challenges of today andtomorrow has not changed. Now as then, westand at a pivot point in history. In the fivedecades between, our country mustered an-other great international commitment, thecommitment to stand strong in the cold war.That succeeded. Now we see a world econ-omy taking shape where investment and in-formation flow rapidly across national bor-ders. Competition for jobs and incomes isinternational and highly intense. And onceagain, we are being called upon to decideour future.

I have a vision, a mission, a strategy forhow I believe all this should take place; howwe can move forward in the 21st century;what the partnership between Governmentand business ought to be; what the wholeatmospherics in this country, the feelingabout our mission ought to be. I must say,it doesn’t fit very well into the establishedcategories of left and right and liberal andconservative and Democratic and Repub-lican. And I feel frustrated sometimes at myability to pierce the atmosphere that prevailshere. But it is clear to me that if we are goingto make a future that is consistent with ourvalues, we’re going to have to do it with adifferent approach.

Still, it has to be built on the spirit thatanimated the GI bill: Give Americans thechance to make their own lives in this fast-changing world so the changes can be theirfriends and not their enemies. To do it wehave to move on many fronts. We have tocreate an environment where business cancreate new jobs and new growth. We haveto open markets for our goods and services,for our companies and our workers. We haveto invest in our people’s work and security.

When I assumed this office, the deficit hadbeen increasing exponentially for 12 years;trade agreements were stalled; job growthwas agonizingly slow; consumer confidencewas shaky. We were actually facing the pros-pect that, for the first time, a generation ofAmericans would grow up to a future thatwas more limited than that which their par-ents enjoyed.

I adopted a strategy to, first, work on ex-panding the economy and getting our owneconomic house in order; second, to makeGovernment work for ordinary citizens and



end gridlock; third, to empower people andstrengthen communities; and fourth, to se-cure our role in the world, defending ourfundamental security interests, expandingour economic interests, promoting democ-racy, human rights, and limiting the spreadof destructive chaos arising out of ethnic andother hatreds.

The atmosphere, frankly, here has beenmore hostile to change than I had imaginedit would be. The American people des-perately wanted change but were often un-willing to listen to the complex debates andmake the difficult decisions that are inherentin it. And this town still is, in my judgment,too partisan, too negative, too obsessed withprocess and conflict instead of results andprogress, too interested in blame, and too lit-tle interested in responsibility.

Nonetheless, we have been able to put to-gether an economic strategy for putting ourhouse in order, making hard decisions thatwill make it possible next year, for the firsttime since Truman was President, to have3 years in a row of deficit reduction, eliminat-ing over 100 Government programs outright,cutting 200 others, cutting domestic discre-tionary spending—that’s everything besidesSocial Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, theother entitlements—cutting discretionaryspending on the domestic side, not just de-fense, for the first time in 25 years.

All of that will enable us to reduce thedeficit 3 years in a row for the first time sincethe Truman Presidency. It means we’ve hadto slash the Federal Government, to bringmore responsibility into the budgeting proc-ess. We completed the budget by the May15 deadline for 2 years in a row for the firsttime in 17 years.

We are making progress. We’ve adopteda very aggressive attitude on trade, whichyou’ve been a part of, as all of you know:NAFTA, GATT, the APEC meetings—I’mgoing to a second one in Indonesia this fall—a hemispheric summit at the end of the yearwith all the leaders of the Latin Americandemocracies. And 33 of the 35 countries inLatin America, along with the United States,are now headed by elected governmental of-ficials.

We’ve now got the first investment-led,low-inflation-based economic recovery since

the early 1960’s. In addition to that, we haveworked hard to make Government work.With the reinventing Government programthat the Vice President has spearheaded, atthe end of 5 years, we will have a Federalbureaucracy that has 250,000 fewer Federalemployees and is under 2 million in civilianworkers for the first time since the KennedyPresidency.

We have Federal agencies that are workingagain in fundamental ways to engage thebusiness community in the growth of theeconomy all around the world. The Export-Import Bank—I see Mr. Brody over there.I don’t know how many businessmen havecome up to me and said, ‘‘For the first timein my life, I travel overseas and I see theState Department and the Commerce De-partment actually working together trying topromote American business interests. And Iappreciate it.’’

The Small Business Administration hasbeen virtually revolutionized in the way itworks with small businesses. You can nowapply for a loan on a one-page form. Peopletalk to me everywhere I go in America aboutthe emergency management agency, FEMA,of the Federal Government, saying it finallyhas become the shining light of what a Gov-ernment ought to be when people are introuble instead of just a pain in the neck thathas to be dealt with. We are trying to makeGovernment work.

The Congress has before it major cam-paign finance reform and lobby reform legis-lation that has passed both Houses of theCongress, awaiting now a conference thatwill iron out the differences and send thatto me for signature.

Maybe most important of all, in spite ofeverything, gridlock is being dealt with. Lastyear, the Congress passed the Brady bill andthe family leave bill after 7 years of gridlock.We got agreement among the great nationson GATT after 7 years of debate. This yearthe Congress is going to pass a crime billafter 6 years of gridlock, one that will be themost sweeping anticrime legislation everadopted by the Congress: 100,000 more po-lice officers on our streets, tougher punish-ment, innovative prevention programs, a banon assault weapons that people said could



never be passed over the opposition of theNRA.

And at the end of last year, according tononpartisan sources, we had the best firstyear in working with Congress of any Presi-dency since the end of World War II, exceptthe Eisenhower first year and PresidentJohnson’s first year, which were about thesame. And if I may be forgiven a little bitof bragging rights, I think the things we triedto do and the atmosphere in which we triedto do them were far more difficult.

So we are trying to make Governmentwork. I say that to say that, yes, there havebeen some good results. And a lot of themare because you did a lot of work in the1980’s and the early nineties to become moreproductive and to be more competitive. Andin the first 16 months of this administration,over 3 million new jobs in the private sectorcame into this economy, 21⁄2 times as manythan in the previous 4 years alone. We had,the first quarter of this year, the first timein well over a decade when there was no bankfailure in a quarter. There were moreincorporations of new businesses than at anytime since World War II in 1993.

But I will say again, we can do these things,and unless we also empower our people todeal with the challenges of the global econ-omy, as we did with the GI bill, we’re goingto have a tough time.

With your help and support, a lot of thingshave already been done. A bigger and betterHead Start program will improve the qualityof the program and serve 40,000 more chil-dren this year and 90,000 more children nextyear than were being served previously.Goals 2000 will link grassroots reform withworld-class standards for our public schools,the first time we have ever had any nationalstandards for achievement.

The School-to-Work Opportunities Actwill help high school students learn real skillsand provide America with better trained,higher skilled workers. Student loan reforms,which the Secretary of Education, who’shere, has done so much to administer, willmake it possible for 20 million American stu-dents to repay their loans—some $50 billionof them—on more favorable terms and makeit possible for students in the future to bor-row money to go to college at lower interest

rates and better repayment terms. But it willmake it harder for them to avoid paying theirbills.

These things are very hopeful signs. Thenational service program, AmeriCorps, willmake it possible for 20,000 young people toserve their country at the grassroots level andearn money to go to college this year; theyear after next, 100,000 young Americansdoing that. The Peace Corps in its largestyear had 16,000 Americans serving. This na-tional service program literally has the poten-tial to change the way our young people thinkabout themselves, their country, and theirrole as citizens.

So many of you have helped us on all theseissues. And this summer, we’re going to havetwo or three more things that I want to askyou to help us on. First of all, as I go tothe G–7 conference, there will be a lot ofdiscussion about GATT. Everybody that Iknow sort of treats GATT as if it’s alreadydone. But as you know, the Congress has notyet passed the enabling legislation. I will sub-mit that legislation implementing the agree-ment this summer. We have worked very,very hard on meeting the strict budget rulesto find a way to pay for GATT. You and Iknow GATT will make the Governmentmoney, but under our budget rules, we haveto pretend that it’s going to cost us moneybecause we’re getting rid of tariffs.

I want to urge you in the strongest possibleterms: Do everything you can to persuadethe Congress to give this high priority, to passit with as little controversy and as little delayas possible, and to move on it this year. Onlythe United States, of all our trading partners,has to go through the budget hoops we doto pass GATT. All of our trading partnerslook at me and say, ‘‘You’re the person thatgot us all together and made us do this lastyear. How can you not ratify it?’’ We needyour help, and we must do it this year, notnext year.

Secondly, I ask for your help to pass thereemployment act which will change thewhole way our unemployment system works.It will turn a bewildering array of trainingprograms into a system where workers wholose their jobs can present themselves at aone-stop service center and get the guidance,the training opportunities, and the informa-



tion they need for real jobs in the privatesector. The boards that supervise these pro-grams will be controlled by people who knowmost about the opportunities, the private sec-tor. And I want Congress to enact that thisyear. This is very, very important.

The average person does not go back tothe job from which he or she is laid off, butthe unemployment system is still built on thepremise that they do. The consequence ofthat is that employers pay too much in unem-ployment for people to just hang around onthe system instead of prepare to take newjobs, and employees spend too much timedoing just that instead of moving more quick-ly into a new economy. We can change this,but we need to do it this year.

Let me finally say that, on this issue, a lotof you have expressed support to me person-ally for the welfare reform efforts. Whetherthat can pass this year or not depends uponhow much fire it catches in Congress andhow much controversy we can avoid in howto fund it. But we have to change the cultureof welfare. And this program that I have pre-sented to Congress, along with the othersthat have been presented, go right at theheart of parents who don’t pay child supportthey owe, to the heart of the teen pregnancyproblem, to the heart of requiring people towork once they have the skills to do so. AndI hope you will continue to support that.

Now, despite all these efforts, I have totell you that I do not believe that the Amer-ican people, as individuals, will be able toembrace the changes of the global economyas successful workers unless and until we ad-dress the health care crisis.

This goes to the heart of our debate onall of the other things in the strategy I out-lined. It goes to the heart of whether we canget our own economic house in order. It goesto the heart of whether we can make Govern-ment work for ordinary people. It goes tothe heart of whether we can empower peopleto view change as a friend instead of anenemy. Unless we can provide coverage forevery American in a reform system which fo-cuses on both quality and control of costs,the deficit will grow, your costs will continueto grow and undermine productivity, andmore and more Americans will lose their cov-erage or be at risk.

Let me briefly discuss this whole thingfrom my point of view, from your point ofview, and from the American citizen’s pointof view, from a worker’s point of view.

From my point of view, as the Presidentin charge of the budget, I’ve worked hardto get this deficit down for 3 years in a rowfor the first time since Truman was Presi-dent. I have done things that people who saythey’re more conservative than me talk aboutbut don’t do. We’re eliminating over 100Government programs. We’re cutting 200others. We’re reducing discretionary spend-ing for the first time in 25 years and stillwith the discipline to increase investment ineducation and new technologies and training.We have reduced defense all we can reduceit. And I think we are right at the margin,and we should not reduce it any more, giventhe challenges we face in this economy.

A lot of you will probably be called to tes-tify or to support the work of Senator Kerrey,Senator Danforth, and others in this entitle-ments commission, because you know thatthe only thing that is increasing our deficitnow is entitlements. But keep in mind, whenyou strip all that away, some of the entitle-ments are going down; Social Security isgoing up only with the rate of inflation andis roughly the same percentage of our GDPit was 20 years ago. The only part of the enti-tlements going up much more rapidly thaninflation are Medicare and Medicaid, theGovernment’s programs for the elderly andthe poor.

And I can tell you that unless we can bringthem in line with inflation, we will be forcedto either let the deficit go up again, raisetaxes more than we should, or cut our invest-ment in public investment, in things you sup-port, to a dangerously low level in a globaleconomy. So that’s what it looks like frommy point of view, just from a budget perspec-tive.

From your point of view, you know alreadythat the Government does not reimburseMedicare and Medicaid providers at 100 per-cent of cost, so the costs are being shiftedto you. The other people who are shiftingcosts to you are businesses and employerswho do not have health insurance but whoget health care. They are shifting the costto you.



Now, if our deficit goes up, and we haveto bring the deficit down, and we cut Medi-care and Medicaid without fundamental re-form, we’re going to shift more cost to you.And you will be put in the position of payingmore or covering less. And keep in mind,in the last 3 years, 3 million American work-ers have lost their health insurance. Thereare 3 million more Americans without healthcoverage today than there were 3 years ago.You are also paying for them in cost shifting.

So unless we have comprehensive reform,you will be put in the position of somedaycoming to the end of how much you can domanaging your health care costs on yourown—which you’ve done a very good job of,almost all of you. And you will be facing thecost shift coming at you from the FederalGovernment and from the increasing num-bers of employers who don’t provide any cov-erage.

Now, the third and the most importantthing of all: What does this look like if you’reout there working in this country, and youhadn’t had much of a pay increase in the last10 years, but you know that your country’sbecoming more competitive, and you’re ex-cited about the 21st century, and you knowthat you’re raising children who will have tochange jobs eight times in a lifetime? Whatare you going to do?

If you’re a man and you have a prematureheart attack, or your wife gets breast cancer,your kid develops some strange disease, andyou have a preexisting condition, and you’rebeing told, ‘‘It’s a brave new world out there.Don’t worry if you have to change jobs. Justget some new retraining. You’ll do fine.’’ Andthen it turns out nobody wants to hire youbecause you’ve got a preexisting condition.

Oh, I know there are those who say wecan just legislate these things. We’ll just legis-late the insurance reforms, say you can’t dis-criminate against anybody, and it will befixed. Look at the study that many of my ad-versaries in the Congress on this issue keepciting, the Lewin VHI study. They say thatall you can get out of insurance reforms iscoverage in the short run for 2.2 million morepeople. You look at the experience of NewYork that tried to mandate insurance reformsalone. What happens? A lot of people’s insur-

ance goes up, and a lot more people opt outof the system.

I say, if you look at the rest of the worldand you look at us, we have 81 million Ameri-cans out of a population of only 255 million,81 million of us live in families with peoplewho have preexisting conditions. But they allstill need to be able to change work seventimes in a lifetime.

Thirty-nine million of us do not havehealth insurance. There is no compelling evi-dence that we can both have quality and costcontrol and stop cost-shifting in the absenceof covering everyone. There is no compellingevidence. The Lewin VHI study, so oftencited by those who say, ‘‘Well, we could get91 percent coverage in America, up from 83percent, covering 97 percent of the cost ofhealth care if only we did this stuff, whichdoesn’t require employer mandates or ofsome other universal coverage’’—that’s beingtalked about. But if you notice, there’s notbeen a bill really pushing that. Why? Becausewhen you strip it away, you see that it costsliterally hundreds of billions of dollars overthe next 5 or 6 years to finance that in mas-sive subsidies which basically benefit poorpeople, most of whom are not working, someof whom are working, and does nothing formiddle-class workers. Which means to dothat instead of an employer mandate, wewould have to go back and raise the heckout of everybody’s taxes, which we are notabout to do. At that level it would not befair.

Now, how is it that every other advancedcountry in the world and all of our competi-tors—we’re only too happy to learn from ourcompetitors in every other way, and we’revery proud when we beat our competitors.And I don’t know how many of you have toldme personally, ‘‘We’re better now than any-body else in the world at what we do. Andwe went through all kinds of agonies in theeighties, and we faced all these challenges,and now we’re better than our competitors.’’

Well, our competitors, not a single, solitaryone of them spends more than 10 percentof GDP on health care. We spend 14, andwe’re the only people that can’t figure outhow to cover everybody. Now, I refuse todeclare defeat. Why should we jump in thetank?



I heard the messages about what peopledidn’t like about our original proposal: Don’tput restrictions on experimental drugs; don’tmake businesses go into alliances if theydon’t want to, let it be voluntary, peopleknow their own interests; let multistate busi-nesses have an approach which makes sensefor all their employers. We’re making thechanges that we heard people complainabout. Those changes are being made. Weknow we needed to make some changes. Butif you remember, when I offered my healthcare plan, I said, ‘‘This is not the end-all andbe-all. It’s the beginning of a debate.’’ Butwhat we need to decide is whether we’regoing to walk away from this session of Con-gress without the debate.

Harry Truman said 50 years ago, Ameri-cans will never be secure unless we did some-thing about health care. Everybody thinks ofHarry Truman now as the fount of all wis-dom. I come from a family that liked himwhen he was unpopular. [Laughter] But mostAmericans didn’t like him too much at thetime. He kept telling them uncomfortabletruths. He was right 50 years ago, and it’sstill true. So, yes, we need to make somechanges in the original proposal I made. Weput them out there. But what we need isa quick, honest, forthright debate. We needto deal with this issue this year because untilwe do, we will continue to spend a higherpercentage on health care than our competi-tors; you will continue to have costs shiftedto you; your Government will continue toface the agonizing choice of continuing tospend more and more of your tax money onentitlements, less on investment, and still in-creasing the deficit and still shifting costs toyou.

So, I ask you, enter the debate and justtell people what you have to do every dayin your own businesses. You get a real harddecision; if you don’t want the thing to col-lapse, you can’t walk away. And almost al-ways, you make a decision that is less thanperfect but is better than making no decision.

So I ask you, help me pass the reemploy-ment bill. Help us pass GATT. Help us passwelfare reform. But don’t walk away fromhealth care. The numbers are big; they’reenormous. And we can’t tell an averageAmerican, can’t tell a mother on welfare,

‘‘Get off of welfare and take a job so youcan lose your children’s health insurance andstart paying taxes for people to pay for theirkids’ health care who stayed on welfare.’’ Wecan’t tell a worker, ‘‘Give up your job securityand find a new security in your mind, in yourability to learn and change,’’ if your illnessor the illness of someone in your family willput you out of the job market. We must notask people to choose between being goodparents and good workers. We cannot askpeople to risk their children’s health to par-ticipate in the global economy. And most im-portantly, we can’t just keep working witha system that is fundamentally flawed thatwe can fix. We can look around the world;we know there are all kinds of fixes here.We may have to do more for small business;I’m willing to do that. We may have to domore, and we should, to make the thing lessregulatory; I’ve already made a lot of thosechanges. But let us not walk away.

When I spoke at Normandy a couple ofweeks ago, in the greatest honor of my Presi-dency, to represent our country in com-memorating the 50th anniversary of D-Day,the thing that overwhelmed me about thatwas that people did what they had to do be-cause there was no option, and they meas-ured up and literally saved the world. Andthat in that moment, there was no option tobe cynical. There was no luxury available forpeople to avoid the decisions before them,and they did not have the option to be cyni-cal.

Today, I tell you, we have fundamental de-cisions to make about what kind of peoplewe are going to be into the future. Walkingaway is an option that’s not really there.Being cynical or negative is always an optionthat’s there, but it’s something we pay a ter-rible price for. This country can do what wehave to do. We have to be what the peoplethat led the D-Day invasion were; they werecalled pathfinders, the people that went first.That’s what we’re being asked to do.

You live in an age which glorifies com-merce and success and international trademore than any other in the lifetime of any-body in this room. Therefore, you have enor-mous responsibilities. And you have to lightthe path to the future in the way that the



GI bill did 50 years ago. We can do it. Wecan do it if we make the right choices.

Thank you very much.

NOTE: The President spoke at 12:55 p.m. in theGrand Ballroom at the J.W. Marriott Hotel. Inhis remarks, he referred to John Ong, outgoingchair, and John Snow, incoming chair, BusinessRoundtable.

Proclamation 6702—NationalHousing Week, 1994June 21, 1994

By the President of the United Statesof America

A ProclamationHomeownership is a great anchor of safety

and security in an uncertain world, one ofAmerica’s most potent symbols of freedomand responsibility, of opportunity and pros-perity. The Federal Housing Administration(FHA) has helped to make homeownershipand decent affordable housing a reality formillions of Americans, who otherwise mightnot have had the opportunity.

On this, the 60th anniversary of the estab-lishment of the FHA, our Nation must re-dedicate itself to renewing the effort uponwhich it embarked in 1934 to expand home-ownership opportunities for millions ofAmericans. For shelter is not only a basichuman need—it also affects our physical andmental well-being, provides us with a senseof security, and is the focus of family living.

America is a country of many blessings—a rich land, a thriving democracy, a diverseand determined people. Our culture is builton faith in freedom and on the spirit of com-munity. In a nation of such infinite promise,the continuing problem of homelessness isa national tragedy. We must seek a properbalance of compassion and practicality if weare to end the terrible plight of our society’sdispossessed.

Homelessness is not a short-term emer-gency. It demands longer term, broader solu-tions—an array of services to meet the dif-ferent needs of people who find themselveson the streets. Toward this end, my Adminis-tration is proposing a new rent structure forpublicly assisted housing, and we are expand-

ing on innovative ways to create a new part-nership between cities and the Federal Gov-ernment to provide those in need with criti-cal social services and permanent housing.

As a direct result of the action taken bythe Congress and President Franklin D. Roo-sevelt in creating the FHA, housing financewas revolutionized, new standards of housingindustry innovation and consumer protectionwere created, and the dream of homeowner-ship for more than 21 million American fami-lies has since been realized through FHAfunding. Housing is vital to the economic andsocial well-being of our Nation, and it is es-sential to the vitality and stability of our com-munities today, just as it was 60 years ago.

In the years since the Great Depression,the FHA has come to symbolize America’scommitment to expanding opportunity forimproved housing and homeownership. Asthe challenges facing the Nation during thebirth of FHA were formidable, so are thechallenges facing our Nation today.

We recognize the importance of a decenthome and suitable living environment as anational goal for every American family. Thecontributions of the FHA toward the attain-ment of that goal are a crucial step in helpingto save countless people from a lonely, oftenfrightening existence. Working together, wecan restore hope and dignity to the lives ofthe many Americans who have no place tocall home.

Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton,President of the United States of America,by virtue of the authority vested in me bythe Constitution and laws of the UnitedStates, do hereby proclaim the week of June20 through June 27, 1994, as ‘‘National Hous-ing Week,’’ and I call upon the people ofthe United States and interested groups andorganizations to observe this week with ap-propriate activities and events. Let us renewthe commitment made 60 years ago and re-dedicate our Nation to the unfinished busi-ness of housing and community developmentfor all Americans.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto setmy hand this twenty-first day of June, in theyear of our Lord nineteen hundred and nine-ty-four, and of the Independence of the Unit-



ed States of America the two hundred andeighteenth.

William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register,4:51 p.m., June 21, 1994]

NOTE: This proclamation was published in theFederal Register on June 23.

Message to the Congress on theFederal Republic of Yugoslavia(Serbia and Montenegro)June 21, 1994

To the Congress of the United States:On May 30, 1992, in Executive Order No.

12808, the President declared a nationalemergency to deal with the threat to the na-tional security, foreign policy, and economyof the United States arising from actions andpolicies of the Governments of Serbia andMontenegro, acting under the name of theSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia orthe Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, in theirinvolvement in and support for groups at-tempting to seize territory in Croatia andBosnia-Herzegovina by force and violenceutilizing, in part, the forces of the so-calledYugoslav National Army (57 FR 23299, June2, 1992). The present report is submittedpursuant to 50 U.S.C. 1641(c) and 1703(c).It discusses Administration actions and ex-penses directly related to the exercise ofpowers and authorities conferred by the dec-laration of a national emergency in ExecutiveOrder No. 12808 and to expanded sanctionsagainst the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia(Serbia and Montenegro) (the ‘‘FRY (S/M)’’)contained in Executive Order No. 12810 ofJune 5, 1992 (57 FR 24347, June 9, 1992),Executive Order No. 12831 of January 15,1993 (58 FR 5253, January 21, 1993), andExecutive Order No. 12846 of April 26, 1993(58 FR 25771, April 27, 1993).

1. Executive Order No. 12808 blocked allproperty and interests in property of theGovernments of Serbia and Montenegro, orheld in the name of the former Governmentof the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugo-slavia or the Government of the Federal Re-public of Yugoslavia, then or thereafter lo-cated in the United States or within the pos-

session or control of United States persons,including their overseas branches.

Subsequently, Executive Order No. 12810expanded U.S. actions to implement in theUnited States the United Nations sanctionsagainst the FRY (S/M) adopted in UnitedNations Security Council Resolution 757 ofMay 30, 1992. In addition to reaffirming theblocking of FRY (S/M) Government prop-erty, this order prohibits transactions with re-spect to the FRY (S/M) involving imports,exports, dealing in FRY-origin property, airand sea transportation, contract perform-ance, funds transfers, activity promoting im-portation or exportation or dealings in prop-erty, and official sports, scientific, technical,or other cultural representation of, or spon-sorship by, the FRY (S/M) in the UnitedStates.

Executive Order No. 12810 exemptedfrom trade restrictions (1) transshipmentsthrough the FRY (S/M), and (2) activities re-lated to the United Nations Protection Force(‘‘UNPROFOR’’), the Conference on Yugo-slavia, or the European Community MonitorMission.

On January 15, 1993, the President issuedExecutive Order No. 12831 to implementnew sanctions contained in United NationsSecurity Council Resolution 787 of Novem-ber 16, 1992. The order revoked the exemp-tion for transshipments through the FRY (S/M) contained in Executive Order No. 12810,prohibited transactions within the UnitedStates or by a United States person relatingto FRY (S/M) vessels and vessels in whicha majority or controlling interest is held bya person or entity in, or operating from, theFRY (S/M), and stated that all such vesselsshall be considered as vessels of the FRY (S/M), regardless of the flag under which theysail.

On April 26, 1993, I issued ExecutiveOrder No. 12846 to implement in the UnitedStates the sanctions adopted in United Na-tions Security Council Resolution 820 ofApril 17, 1993. That resolution called on theBosnian Serbs to accept the Vance-Owenpeace plan for Bosnia-Herzegovina and, ifthey failed to do so by April 26, called onmember states to take additional measuresto tighten the embargo against the FRY(S/M) and Serbian-controlled areas of



Bosnia-Herzegovina and the United NationsProtected Areas in Croatia. Effective April26, 1993, the order blocked all property andinterests in property of commercial, indus-trial, or public utility undertakings or entitiesorganized or located in the FRY (S/M), in-cluding property and interests in property ofentities (wherever organized or located)owned or controlled by such undertakings orentities, that are or thereafter come withinthe possession or control of United Statespersons.

2. The declaration of the national emer-gency on May 30, 1992, was made pursuantto the authority vested in the President bythe Constitution and laws of the UnitedStates, including the International Emer-gency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701et seq.), the National Emergencies Act (50U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), and section 301 of title3 of the United States Code. The emergencydeclaration was reported to the Congress onMay 30, 1992, pursuant to section 204(b) ofthe International Emergency EconomicPowers Act (50 U.S.C. 1703(b)). The addi-tional sanctions set forth in Executive OrdersNos. 12810, 12831, and 12846 were imposedpursuant to the authority vested in the Presi-dent by the Constitution and laws of theUnited States, including the statutes citedabove, section 1114 of the Federal AviationAct (49 U.S.C. App. 1514), and section 5 ofthe United Nations Participation Act (22U.S.C. 287c).

3. There have been no amendments to theFederal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia andMontenegro) Sanctions Regulations (the‘‘Regulations’’), 31 C.F.R. Part 585, since thelast report. Of the two court cases in whichthe blocking authority was challenged as ap-plied to FRY (S/M) subsidiaries and vesselsin the United States, the government’s posi-tion in the case involving the blocked vesselswas upheld by the Fifth Circuit Court of Ap-peals. The Supreme Court declined to reviewthe decision. Milena Ship Management Co.v. Newcomb, 804 F. Supp. 859 (E.D. La.1992), aff’d, 995 F.2nd 620 (5th Cir. 1993),cert. denied lll U.S. lll, 114 S.Ct.877 (1994). The case involving a blocked sub-sidiary is pending a decision by the court onthe government’s motion for summary judg-ment.

4. Over the past 6 months, the Depart-ments of State and Treasury have workedclosely with European Community (the‘‘EC’’) member states and other U.N. mem-ber nations to coordinate implementation ofthe sanctions against the FRY (S/M). Thishas included visits by assessment teamsformed under the auspices of the UnitedStates, the EC, and the Conference for Secu-rity and Cooperation in Europe (the‘‘CSCE’’) to states bordering on Serbia andMontenegro; deployment of CSCE sanctionsassistance missions (‘‘SAMs’’) to Albania,Bulgaria, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Re-public of Macedonia, Hungary, Romania,and Ukraine to assist in monitoring land andDanube River traffic; bilateral contacts be-tween the United States and other countriesfor the purpose of tightening financial andtrade restrictions on the FRY (S/M); and es-tablishment of a mechanism to coordinateenforcement efforts and to exchange tech-nical information.

5. In accordance with licensing policy andthe Regulations, FAC has exercised its au-thority to license certain specific transactionswith respect to the FRY (S/M) that are con-sistent with the Security Council sanctions.During the reporting period, FAC has issued114 specific licenses regarding transactionspertaining to the FRY (S/M) or assets it ownsor controls, bringing the total as of April 15,1994, to 677. Specific licenses have beenissued (1) for payment to U.S. or third-coun-try secured creditors, under certain narrowlydefined circumstances, for pre-embargo im-port and export transactions; (2) for legal rep-resentation or advice to the Government ofthe FRY (S/M) or FRY (S/M)-controlled cli-ents; (3) for the liquidation or protection oftangible assets of subsidiaries of FRY (S/M)-controlled firms located in the United States;(4) for limited FRY (S/M) diplomatic rep-resentation in Washington and New York; (5)for patent, trademark and copyright protec-tion and maintenance transactions in theFRY (S/M) not involving payment to the FRY(S/M) Government; (6) for certain commu-nications, news media, and travel-relatedtransactions; (7) for the payment of crews’wages, vessel maintenance, and emergencysupplies for FRY (S/M)-controlled shipsblocked in the United States; (8) for the re-



moval from the FRY (S/M) of certain prop-erty owned and controlled by U.S. entities;and (9) to assist the United Nations in itsrelief operations and the activities of theU.N. Protection Forces. Pursuant to regula-tions implementing United Nations SecurityCouncil Resolution 757, specific licenseshave also been issued to authorize expor-tation of food, medicine, and supplies in-tended for humanitarian purposes in theFRY (S/M).

During the past 6 months, FAC has con-tinued to oversee the liquidation of tangibleassets of the 15 U.S. subsidiaries of entitiesorganized in the FRY (S/M). Subsequent tothe issuance of Executive Order No. 12846,all operating licenses issued for these U.S.-located Serbian or Montenegrin subsidiariesor joint ventures were revoked, and the netproceeds of the liquidation of their assetsplaced in blocked accounts.

The Board of Governors of the FederalReserve Board and the New York StateBanking Department again worked closelywith FAC with regard to two Serbian bankinginstitutions in New York that were not per-mitted to conduct normal business after June1, 1992. The banks had been issued licensesto maintain a limited staff for audit purposeswhile full-time bank examiners were postedin their offices to ensure that banking recordsare appropriately safeguarded. Subsequent tothe issuance of Executive Order No. 12846,all licenses previously issued were revoked.FAC is currently working with the FederalReserve Board and the New York StateBanking Department of resolve outstandingissues regarding the banks.

During the past 6 months, U.S. financialinstitutions have continued to block fundstransfers in which there is an interest of theGovernment of the FRY (S/M) or an entityor undertaking located in or controlled fromthe FRY (S/M). Such transfers have ac-counted for $58.6 million in Yugoslav assetsblocked since the issuance of ExecutiveOrder No. 12808, with some $22 million infunds transfers frozen during the past 6months.

To ensure compliance with the terms ofthe licenses that have been issued under theprogram, stringent reporting requirementsare imposed. More than 380 submissions

were reviewed since the last report and morethan 194 compliance cases are currentlyopen. In addition, licensed bank accounts areregularly audited by FAC compliance per-sonnel and by cooperating auditors frombank regulatory agencies.

6. Since the issuance of Executive OrderNo. 12810, FAC has worked closely with theU.S. Customs Service to ensure both thatprohibited imports and exports (includingthose in which the Government of the FRY(S/M) has an interest) are identified andinterdicted, and that permitted imports andexports move to their intended destinationwithout undue delay. Violations and sus-pected violations of the embargo are beinginvestigated and appropriate enforcementactions are being taken. There are currently50 cases under active investigation. Since thelast report, FAC has collected 20 civil pen-alties totaling nearly $75,000 from 17 finan-cial institutions for violations involving trans-fers of funds in which the Government ofthe FRY (S/M) has an interest. Two U.S.companies and one law firm have also paidpenalties related to exports and unlicensedpayments to the Government of the FRY(S/M) for trademark registration.

7. The expenses incurred by the FederalGovernment in the 6-month period from No-vember 30, 1993, through May 29, 1994, thatare directly attributable to the authoritiesconferred by the declaration of a nationalemergency with respect to the FRY (S/M)are estimated at about $3 million, most ofwhich represent wage and salary costs forFederal personnel. Personnel costs werelargely centered in the Department of theTreasury (particularly in FAC and its ChiefCounsel’s Office, and the U.S. Customs Serv-ice), the Department of State, the NationalSecurity Council, the U.S. Coast Guard, andthe Department of Commerce.

8. The actions and policies of the Govern-ment of the FRY (S/M), in its involvementin and support for groups attempting to seizeand hold territory in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina by force and violence, continueto pose an unusual and extraordinary threatto the national security, foreign policy, andeconomy of the United States. The UnitedStates remains committed to a multilateralresolution of this crisis through its actions im-



plementing the binding resolutions of theUnited Nations Security Council with re-spect to the FRY (S/M).

I shall continue to exercise the powers atmy disposal to apply economic sanctionsagainst the FRY (S/M) as long as these meas-ures are appropriate, and will continue to re-port periodically to the Congress on signifi-cant developments pursuant to 50 U.S.C.1703(c).

William J. Clinton

The White House,June 21, 1994.

Message to the CongressTransmitting the ‘‘Work andResponsibility Act of 1994’’June 21, 1994

To the Congress of the United States:I am pleased to transmit for your imme-

diate consideration and enactment the‘‘Work and Responsibility Act of 1994.’’

It is time to end welfare as we know itand replace it with a system that is basedon work and responsibility—a system thatwill help people help themselves. This legis-lation reinforces the fundamental values ofwork, responsibility, family, and community.It rewards work over welfare. It signals thatpeople should not have children until theyare ready to support them, and that par-ents—both parents—who bring children intothe world must take responsibility for sup-porting them. It gives people access to theskills they need and expects work in return.Most important, it will give people back thedignity that comes from work and independ-ence. The cost of the proposal to the FederalGovernment is estimated at $9.3 billion over5 years and is fully offset, primarily throughreductions in entitlements and without newtax increases.

The Work and Responsibility Act of 1994will replace welfare with work. Under thislegislation, welfare will be about a paycheck,not a welfare check. Our approach is basedon a simple compact designed to reinforceand reward work. Each recipient will be re-quired to develop a personal employabilityplan designed to move that individual intothe work force as quickly as possible. Sup-

port, job training, and child care will be pro-vided to help people move from dependenceto independence. Time limits will ensure thatanyone who can work, must work—in theprivate sector if possible, in a temporary sub-sidized job if necessary.

This legislation includes several provisionsaimed at creating a new culture of mutualresponsibility. It includes provisions to pro-mote parental responsibility and ensure thatboth parents contribute to their children’swell-being. This legislation establishes thetoughest child support enforcement programever. It also includes: incentives directly tiedto the performance of the welfare office; ex-tensive efforts to detect and prevent welfarefraud; sanctions to prevent gaming of thewelfare system; and a broad array of incen-tives that States can use to encourage respon-sible behavior.

Preventing teen pregnancy and out-of-wedlock births is a critical part of welfarereform. To prevent welfare dependency,teenagers must get the message that stayingin school, postponing pregnancy, and prepar-ing to work are the right things to do. Ourprevention approach includes a national cam-paign against teen pregnancy and a nationalclearinghouse on teen pregnancy prevention.Roughly 1,000 middle and high schools indisadvantaged areas will receive grants to de-velop innovative teen pregnancy preventionprograms.

The Work and Responsibility Act of 1994proposes dramatic changes in our welfaresystem, changes so bold that they cannot beaccomplished overnight. We can phase inthese changes by focusing on young people,to send a clear message to the next genera-tion that we are ending welfare as we knowit. The bill targets resources on welfare bene-ficiaries born after December 31, 1971. Thismeans that over time, more and more welfarebeneficiaries will be affected by the newrules: about a third of the caseload in 1997,and half by the year 2000. States that wantto phase in faster will have the option ofdoing so.

The results of these changes will be far-reaching. In the year 2000, 2.4 million adultswill be subject to the new rules under welfarereform, including time limits and work re-



quirements. Almost 1 million people will beeither off welfare or working.

But the impact of welfare reform cannotbe measured in these numbers alone. Thislegislation is aimed at strengthening familiesand instilling personal responsibility by help-ing people help themselves. We owe everychild in America the chance to watch theirparents assume the responsibility and dignityof a real job. This bill is designed to makethat possible.

I urge the Congress to take prompt andfavorable action on this legislation.

William J. Clinton


Nomination for United StatesDistrict Court JudgesJune 21, 1994

The President today announced the nomi-nations of three individuals to serve on theFederal district bench: Mark W. Bennett forthe Northern District of Iowa; and SalvadorE. Casellas and Daniel R. Dominguez for theDistrict of Puerto Rico.

‘‘These three nominees have impressiverecords of achievement in both the law andpublic service,’’ the President said. ‘‘I amconfident that they will serve with excellenceand distinction.’’

NOTE: Biographies of the nominees were madeavailable by the Office of the Press Secretary.

Executive Order 12922—BlockingProperty of Certain HaitianNationalsJune 21, 1994

By the authority vested in me as Presidentby the Constitution and the laws of theUnited States of America, including theInternational Emergency Economic PowersAct (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), the NationalEmergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.),section 5 of the United Nations ParticipationAct of 1945, as amended (22 U.S.C. 287c),and section 301 of title 3, United StatesCode, and in order to take additional stepswith respect to the actions and policies of

the de facto regime in Haiti and the nationalemergency described and declared in Execu-tive Order No. 12775, it is hereby orderedas follows:

Section 1. Except to the extent providedin regulations, orders, directives, or licensesthat may hereafter be issued pursuant to thisorder, all property and interests in propertyof:

(a) any Haitian national resident in Haiti;or

(b) any other person subject to the block-ing provisions of Executive Order Nos.12775, 12779, 12853, 12872, or 12914and Haitian citizens who are membersof the immediate family of any such per-son, as identified by the Secretary of theTreasury;

that are in the United States, that hereaftercome within the United States, or that areor hereafter come within the possession orcontrol of United States persons, includingtheir overseas branches, are blocked. Thissection shall not apply to property of non-governmental organizations engaged in theprovision of essential humanitarian assistancein Haiti or in the conduct of refugee andmigration operations in Haiti, as identifiedby the Secretary of the Treasury. Paymentsand transfers previously authorized by Exec-utive Order No. 12920 of June 10, 1994, maycontinue to be made in a manner directedby the Secretary of the Treasury.

Sec. 2. Any transaction by a United Statesperson that evades or avoids, or has the pur-pose of evading or avoiding, or attempts toviolate, any of the prohibitions set forth inthis order is prohibited.

Sec. 3. For the purposes of this order:(a) The term ‘‘Haitian national’’ means a

citizen of Haiti or an entity organized underthe laws of Haiti.

(b) The definitions contained in section 3of Executive Order No. 12779 apply to theterms used in this order.

Sec. 4. The Secretary of the Treasury, inconsultation with the Secretary of State, ishereby authorized to take such actions, in-cluding the promulgation of rules and regula-tions, and to employ all powers granted tome by the International Emergency Eco-nomic Powers Act and the United NationsParticipation Act, as may be necessary to



carry out the purposes of this order. The Sec-retary of the Treasury may redelegate anyof these functions to other officers and agen-cies of the United States Government. Allagencies of the United States Governmentare hereby directed to take all appropriatemeasures within their authority to carry outthe provisions of this order, including sus-pension or termination of licenses or otherauthorizations in effect as of the effectivedate of this order.

Sec. 5. Nothing contained in this ordershall create any right or benefit, substantiveor procedural, enforceable by any partyagainst the United States, its agencies or in-strumentalities, its officers or employees, orany other person.

Sec. 6.(a) This order shall take effect at 10:09

p.m., eastern daylight time on June 21, 1994.(b) This order shall be transmitted to the

Congress and published in the Federal Reg-ister.

William J. Clinton10:09 p.m.

6–21–94


[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register,11:33 a.m., June 22, 1994]

NOTE: This Executive order was released by theOffice of the Press Secretary on June 22, and itwas published in the Federal Register on June 23.

Message to the Congress on HaitiJune 21, 1994

To the Congress of the United States:On October 4, 1991, pursuant to the Inter-

national Emergency Economic Powers Act(‘‘IEEPA’’) (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) and sec-tion 301 of the National Emergencies Act(‘‘NEA’’) (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), PresidentBush exercised his statutory authority to issueExecutive Order No. 12775, declaring a na-tional emergency and blocking Haitian gov-ernment property.

On October 28, 1991, pursuant to theabove authorities, President Bush exercisedhis statutory authority to issue ExecutiveOrder No. 12779, blocking certain property

of and prohibiting certain transactions withHaiti.

On June 30, 1993, pursuant to above au-thorities, as well as the United Nations Par-ticipation Act of 1945, as amended(‘‘UNPA’’), (2 U.S.C. 287c), I exercised mystatutory authority to issue Executive OrderNo. 12853, to impose additional economicmeasures with respect to Haiti. This latteraction was taken, in part, to ensure that theeconomic measures taken by the UnitedStates with respect to Haiti would fulfill itsobligations under United Nations SecurityCouncil Resolution 841 of June 16, 1993.

On October 18, 1993, pursuant to theIEEPA and the NEA, I again exercised bystatutory authority to issue Executive OrderNo. 12872, blocking property of various per-sons with respect to Haiti.

On May 6, 1994, the United Nations Secu-rity Council adopted Resolution 917, callingon States to take additional measures to tight-en the embargo against Haiti. On May 7,1994, pursuant to the above authorities, I ex-ercised by statutory authority to issue Execu-tive Order No. 12914, to impose additionaleconomic measures with respect to Haiti. OnMay 21, 1994, pursuant to the above authori-ties, I exercised my statutory authority toissue Executive Order No. 12917, to imposethose economic measures required by Reso-lution 917 that became effective May 21,1994. These latter actions were taken, in part,to ensure that the economic measures takenby the United States with respect to Haitiwould fulfill its obligations under the provi-sions of United Nations Security CouncilResolution 917.

On June 10, 1994, pursuant to the aboveauthorities, I exercised my statutory authorityto issue Executive Order No. 12920, prohib-iting additional transactions with Haiti.

On June 21, 1994, pursuant to the aboveauthorities, I exercised my statutory authorityto issue Executive Order No. 12922.

This new Executive order:—blocks all property in the United States,

or within the possession or control ofUnited States persons, of any Haitiannational resident in Haiti, or any otherperson subject to the blocking provi-sions of Executive Order Nos. 12775,12779, 12853, 12872, or 12914 or a Hai-



tian citizen who is a member of the im-mediate family of such a person, as iden-tified by the Secretary of the Treasury;and makes limited exceptions for certainpayments and transfers, and for theproperty of nongovernmental organiza-tions engaged in the provision of essen-tial humanitarian assistance or the con-duct of refugee and migration oper-ations in Haiti, that are identified by theSecretary of the Treasury;

—prohibits any transaction that evades oravoids or has the purpose of evading oravoiding, or attempts to violate, any ofthe prohibitions of the order; and

—authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury,in consultation with the Secretary ofState, to issue regulations implementingthe provisions of the order.

The new Executive order is necessary totighten the embargo against Haiti with thegoal of the restoration of democracy in thatnation and the prompt return of the legiti-mately elected President, Jean-BertrandAristide, under the framework of the Gov-ernors Island Agreement.

I am providing this notice to the Congresspursuant to section 204(b) of the IEEPA (50U.S.C. 1703(b)) and section 301 of the NEA(50 U.S.C. 1631). I am enclosing a copy ofthe Executive order that I have issued.

William J. Clinton


NOTE: This message was released by the Officeof the Press Secretary on June 22.

Proclamation 6703—50thAnniversary of the GI Bill of RightsJune 21, 1994

By the President of the United Statesof America

A ProclamationFifty years ago, on June 22, 1944, Presi-

dent Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into lawThe Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of1944—‘‘The GI Bill of Rights’’—describedby many historians as America’s greatest sin-gle piece of social legislation from that time

period. President Roosevelt said that the pas-sage of the GI Bill gave ‘‘emphatic noticeto the men and women of our Armed Forcesthat the American people do not intend tolet them down.’’

That promise to meet the needs of a highlytrained and motivated military was well keptby the original GI Bill and has been renewedand revised with each succeeding generationof veterans. Today, those guarantees of assist-ance—from education to home purchase,from job training to medical treatment—arepart of every veteran’s expectations. They ex-tend beyond active duty service personnel,to include reservists and surviving spouses,as well.

The GI Bill has made life better for allAmericans. As it eased the transition of mil-lions of World War II veterans into civilianlife, it paved the way for an unparalleled pe-riod of U.S. economic growth and develop-ment, while reaffirming the vital importanceof our Nation’s Armed Forces.

GI Bill home loan provisions underwrotethe largest housing boom in our country’shistory. Now, most Americans may reason-ably look forward to owning their own homesat some time during their lives.

GI Bill educational benefits spurred nearly8 million World War II veterans on to highereducation. It transformed the Nation’s edu-cation infrastructure and made college edu-cation and technical training realistic optionsafter high school for those who may other-wise not have been able to afford these ad-vantages.

This half-century investment of more than$65 billion has been repaid to the Americantaxpayer time and time again. The Nation hasbeen enhanced by the increased earningpower and expanded economic activity di-rectly attributable to the GI Bill. It is gratify-ing to note that our veterans have utilizedthese benefits to the fullest extent. Their en-ergy, initiative, and ability have allowed themto make the most of this enduring promise.As they gave their best to the Nation whilethey were in uniform, they also gave us theirbest as civilians with the help of the GI Bill.

It is to them and to the pioneers who cre-ated and crafted the original GI Bill legisla-tion during the dark days of World War II,that we as a Nation owe our heartfelt grati-



tude this day. This measure opened the doorto the American dream of opportunity foradvancement to an entire generation ofyoung Americans.

Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton,President of the United States of America,by virtue of the authority vested in me bythe Constitution and laws of the UnitedStates, do hereby proclaim June 22, 1994,as ‘‘GI Bill of Rights Day’’ celebrating the50th anniversary of enactment of the Service-men’s Readjustment Act of 1944 and the sub-sequent legislation that has extended itspromise. I encourage all Americans, as wellas civic, veterans, educational, business, andnews media organizations, to join me in hon-oring this true American success story andthose veterans and visionaries who made itpossible.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto setmy hand this twenty-first day of June, in theyear of our Lord nineteen hundred and nine-ty-four, and of the Independence of theUnited States of America the two hundredand eighteenth.

William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register,11:32 a.m., June 22, 1994]

NOTE: This proclamation was released by the Of-fice of the Press Secretary on June 22, and it waspublished in the Federal Register on June 23.

Remarks and an Exchange WithReporters Prior to Discussions WithKing Hussein of JordanJune 22, 1994

Middle East Peace ProcessThe President. First, I would like to wel-

come King Hussein back to the White Houseand to say how very much I support his cour-age and vision in renewing his efforts to makepeace with Israel. I want to reaffirm the sup-port of the United States for a comprehen-sive settlement in the Middle East, includingthe Syrian track, and we will do whateverwe can to keep those things going.

This remains a very important priority forme and for our administration. And I am veryencouraged by where we are now in thewhole process and especially by the efforts

that King Hussein has made. And I’m lookingforward to having the chance to discuss thatwith him.

So, sir.Q. What are the chances, Mr. President

and King Hussein, of a trilateral settlementbetween you two and Prime Minister Rabin?Your Majesty.

King Hussein. I don’t think it is some-thing that has been discussed as yet, but inthe future, I suppose anything and everythingis possible.

Decline of the DollarQ. Mr. President, are you at all concerned

with the dollar’s fall? Your administration isnot intervening as it has in the past.

The President. Well, I talked to—I spentsome time yesterday on it. I talked to Sec-retary Bentsen again today about it. And Ithink that I would let him speak for us todayon it. We have agreed today on what he willsay and what our course will be.

Let me just emphasize that the dollar, asyou know, is traded in big multinational mar-kets with other currencies, and they go upand down. But the fundamental economic re-alities in this country are very strong. Thisis the first time in 30 years when we havehad a growth in the economy, with no infla-tion, led by investment that will create jobs.The unemployment rate has dropped dra-matically in the last year and a half; we’vejust passed in the first quarter of this year—the first quarter in over 15 years when therewas no bank failure.

So our fundamentals are quite good. Wehad a record number of new businessincorporations, the largest number sinceWorld War II, in 1993. I think we just haveto keep working on our fundamentals andknow that, in the end, the markets will haveto respond to the economic realities of theAmerican economy.

Q. Well, what do you think is wrong?

Campaign Finance ReformQ. Mr. President, speaking about dollars,

Common Cause has accused you and youradministration of betraying your campaigncommitments on soft money for the DNC,raising a lot more over these past 18 monthsthan the Republicans did when they were in



office. How do you respond to CommonCause’s accusations?

The President. First of all, my campaigncommitment is to seek campaign finance re-form legislation which will put both partieson an equal footing and will give the Govern-ment of this country back more to ordinaryAmericans. I have supported that legislationstrongly from the beginning. I still believewe’re going to get a good campaign financereform bill out of the committee and ontomy desk in this session of Congress.

In the meanwhile, as I have said all along,I don’t believe in unilateral disarmament.And I believe, if you will look, I’ve had alot more advertising and attacks against ouradministration and our policy than we havehad the financial wherewithal to respond to.

So, we’ve done our best to defend our-selves in the system that now exists. But Iagree with Common Cause, we need a cam-paign finance reform bill. I’m going to workhard for it.

NOTE: The President spoke at 10:50 a.m. in theOval Office at the White House. A tape was notavailable for verification of the content of theseremarks.

Remarks Commemorating the 50thAnniversary of the GI Bill of RightsJune 22, 1994

Thank you so much, Mr. Shropshire, forthat introduction and for your service to yourcountry and for making the most of the GIbill. And thank you, Mr. Mendoza, for yourservice to your country and for remindingus of the future of the GI bill.

Thank you, Secretary Brown, leaders ofveteran service organizations, and staff of thedepartment of veterans administration whoare here; to all the Members of Congress,Senator Robb, Senator Thurmond, SenatorJeffords, Congressman Price, Congress-woman Byrne, Congressman Sangmeister,Congresswoman Brown, CongressmanBishop; and thank you especially, Congress-man Sonny Montgomery, for a lifetime of de-votion to this cause. I’d like to also acknowl-edge three of Congressman Montgomery’scolleagues in the Senate and House on therelevant committee who could not be with

us today: Senator Rockefeller, Senator Mur-kowski, and Congressman Stump.

Before I begin, if I might, I’d like to saya brief word about a development in Brusselsthis morning that is in so many ways a tributeto the men and women who have worn theuniform of this country over the last 50 years.Today Russia took an important step to helpshape a safer and more peaceful post-cold-war world.

As all of you know, it wasn’t very manydays ago that we and the Russians were ableto announce that, for the first time since bothof us had nuclear weapons, our nuclearweapons were no longer pointed at eachother. Today, Russia made a decision to join20 other nations of the former Soviet Unionand Eastern Europe and Western Europe inNATO’s Partnership For Peace, to work to-gether on joint planning and exercises, andto commit themselves to a common future,to a unified Europe where neighbors respecttheir borders and do not invade them but,instead, work together for mutual securityand progress.

I want to join with the Secretary of State,who was on hand for the signing in Brussels,in commending the Russian people and theirleaders on this farsighted choice. And I thinkthat all of us will join them in saying thisis another step on our long road in man’severlasting quest for peace. We thank themtoday.

As Secretary Brown and Mr. Shropshiresaid in their eloquent remarks, I had the op-portunity not long ago of commemoratingthe service of our veterans at Normandy andin the Italian campaign. Joined by some ofthe veterans who are here today, includingGeneral Mick Kicklighter, who did such awonderful job in heading the committee thatplanned all those magnificent events, we re-membered the sacrifices of the brave Ameri-cans and their Allies who freed a continentfrom tyranny.

Their legacy is plain to see today in thewave of democracy sweeping across a unitedEurope. But their legacy is also clear hereat home. Fortunately, in spite of the terriblelosses, most of them did come home. Andwith a helping hand from Uncle Sam, theysparked an explosion of American energy andindustry. They built the great American mid-



dle class, the powerful example which, morethan anything else, helped us over the last50 years to win the war for freedom and de-mocracy and enterprise, because peoplecould look at the American veterans, the leg-acy they made here at home and see thatour system, our values, and our idealsworked.

As all of you know, it was 50 years agotoday that President Roosevelt signed the GIbill of rights. It was actually known as theServicemen’s Readjustment Act. Just as D-Day was the greatest military action in ourhistory, so the GI bill arguably was the great-est investment in our people in American his-tory. It provided the undergirding for whathas clearly been the most successful middleclass in all of history. That lesson, in manyrespects, is one I have tried to make the les-son of our administration: If you give theAmerican people, ordinary Americans, achance to help themselves, they will do ex-traordinary things.

Before World War II, our country typicallygave veterans pensions and bonuses, but theyhad nothing to build a future with. That’swhy despairing veterans of World War I actu-ally marched on this city in 1932, and whyPresident Roosevelt, learning the lesson ofWorld War I, declared that the GI bill gave‘‘emphatic notice to the men and women ofour Armed Forces that the American peopledo not intend to let them down.’’

We know why the GI bill didn’t let themdown. It relied on the American values ofwork and responsibility. It offered not ahandout, but a hand up. The veterans ofWorld War I got a handout, and they de-served it. But it was $60 and a train tickethome. The veterans of World War II got aticket to the American dream.

The GI bill helped over 15 million return-ing veterans begin that journey. It helped allof them, black or white, Asian or Latino, richor poor. But it was up to them to seize theopportunities. And look what they did. Theybuilt countless new homes and businesses.They flooded collages and trade schools. Outof the World War II class, 450,000 becameengineers; 360,000 became schoolteachers;240,000 became accountants. That’s beforewe needed them all in Washington. [Laugh-ter] One hundred and eighty thousand be-

came doctors and nurses; 150,000 becamescientists, paving our way to the next century.All of us are better off for their determina-tion.

We cannot even calculate how much ourNation has been enriched by the GI bill, howmany communities have sprung up, howmany companies have prospered, how manyfamilies have earned their share of the Amer-ican dream. This much we do know, that theGI bill began the process of building themiddle class that has been the bulwark ofour prosperity ever since the end of WorldWar II.

And it’s still working today. For 50 yearsnow, soldiers like Hugo Mendoza have stoodsentry around the globe, securing our free-dom, and knowing that on their return theywould find also a stepping stone of oppor-tunity. Today, as we face yet a new era ofchange and challenge, we have new choicesto make. Almost everything I am trying todo as President is to ensure that we makethe right choices so that we can secure ourliberty and our prosperity and expand thosegreat virtues across the world as we moveinto the next century.

Almost everything we are trying to do isanimated by the spirit and the ideas behindthe GI bill. Give Americans a chance to maketheir own lives in the fast-changing world;they will secure the American dream. Theywill secure our freedom. They will expandits reach if you give them the power to doit.

At Normandy I was able to pay special trib-ute to the first paratroopers to land in theD-Day operation, called the Pathfinders, be-cause they lighted the way for those who fol-lowed. Today, it is up to us to be the path-finders of the 21st century. The powerfulidea behind the bill of rights for the GI’sis still the best light to find that path.

Our job now is to do everything we canto help Americans to have the chance tobuild those better lives for themselves. Thatis the best way to prove ourselves worthy ofthe legacy handed down by those who sac-rificed in the Second World War, those whohave worn our uniform since, and those whohave been given their just chance at the brassring through the bill of rights for the GI’s.




NOTE: The President spoke at 1:25 p.m. at theDepartment of Veterans Affairs. In his remarks,he referred to Garnett G. Shropshire, World WarII veteran, who introduced the President, andHugo Mendoza, Persian Gulf war veteran.

Remarks on North Korea and anExchange With ReportersJune 22, 1994

The President. Good afternoon. Today Iwant to announce an important step forwardin the situation in North Korea. This after-noon we have received formal confirmationfrom North Korea that it will freeze themajor elements of its nuclear program whilea new round of talks between our nationsproceeds.

In response, we are informing the NorthKoreans that we are ready to go forward witha new round of talks in Geneva early nextmonth. North Korea has assured us thatwhile we go forward with these talks it willnot reload its five-megawatt reactor with newfuel or reprocess spent fuel. We have alsobeen assured that the IAEA will be allowedto keep its inspectors and monitoring equip-ment in place at the Yongbyon nuclear facil-ity, thus allowing verification of North Ko-rea’s agreement. We welcome this very posi-tive development which restores the basis fortalks between North Korea and the UnitedStates.

In addition to addressing the nuclear issue,we are prepared to discuss the full range ofsecurity, political, and economic issues thataffects North Korea’s relationship with theinternational community. During these dis-cussions we will suspend our efforts to pur-sue a sanctions resolution in the United Na-tions Security Council. We also welcome theagreement between South Korea and NorthKorea to pursue a meeting between theirPresidents.

I would like to thank President Carter forthe important role he played in helping toachieve this step. These developments marknot a solution to the problem, but they domark a new opportunity to find a solution.It is the beginning of a new stage in our ef-forts to pursue a nonnuclear Korean Penin-sula. We hope this will lead to the resolution

of all the issues that divide Korea from theinternational community.

In close consultation with our allies, wewill continue as we have over the past yearand more to pursue our interests and ourgoals with steadiness, realism, and resolve.This approach is paying off, and we will con-tinue it. This is good news. Our task nowis to transform this news into a lasting agree-ment.

Q. Mr. President, are you going to try toinsist on finding out whether or not they havealready built a bomb and getting the factson any past violations as part of these talks?

The President. Well, let me say that, firstof all, we have been in touch with the NorthKoreans in New York almost at this moment.We will set up these talks, and we will haveample opportunity to discuss the range ofissues that will be discussed in the talks. Andwe expect to discuss, obviously, all the issuesthat have divided us.

Yes, Helen [Helen Thomas, United PressInternational].

Q. Mr. President, what concessions did wemake to bring this about? And why is it thatyou did not meet with President Carter faceto face? Here’s a man who actually met KimIl-song, one of the few—our profiles may notjive and so forth. You would have had a greatchance to debrief him, and instead, youtalked to him on the telephone.

The President. We talked to him for along time on the telephone. The only reasonwe didn’t is because I didn’t want to ask himto come all the way up to Camp David, andwe had planned to go up there for the week-end. And he decided and I decided therewas—we know each other very well; we’veknown each other for 20 years—we decidedwe didn’t need to do it; we could just havea long talk on the phone, and that’s what wedid.

Q. Did we make any concessions——The President. No.Q. ——to the North Koreans to bring this

about?The President. No. The only thing that

we said was that we would suspend our ef-forts to pursue sanctions if there was a verifi-able freeze on the nuclear program while thetalks continued, which included no refuelingof the reactor and no reprocessing.



When President Carter came back hesaid—this was the cautionary note, you know,I raised in Chicago last Friday when I wasasked to comment on this statement—he saidthat he believed that Kim Il-song had madethat statement to him. We said that we wouldwait for official confirmation. We receivedit today. That confirmation gives us the basisfor resuming the talks.

Yes, Rita [Rita Braver, CBS News].Q. President Clinton, some of your aides

are saying, ‘‘We got everything we wanthere.’’ Is this one of those cases where theother guy blinked?

The President. I don’t think it’s useful forme to characterize it in that way. We knowwhat the facts are. If you look at what we’vedone over the last year and a half, we havefollowed basically a two-pronged policy. Wehave worked as hard as we could to be firm,to be resolute, to bring our allies closer andcloser together. And when I say our allieson this issue, I consider not just South Koreaand Japan but Russia and China to be ourallies. All of us have the same interests andthe same desires.

We also always kept the door open. I al-ways said I did not seek a confrontation, Isought to give North Korea a way to becomea part of the international community.

When President Carter was invited and ex-pressed a willingness to go to North Korea,I thought it gave us one opportunity that wewould not otherwise have with a private citi-zen, but a distinguished American private cit-izen, to communicate the position of our ad-ministration and to do it—the very fact thathe went, I think, was a gesture of the impor-tance that we placed on resolving this matterand not just for ourselves but for the world.

And so I think that we know what the factsare. We know we pursued a firm course. Weknow that President Carter went and madea very persuasive case, and we know whatthe North Koreans did. I don’t think it’s use-ful to characterize this in terms of winnersand losers. I think the world will be the win-ner if we can resolve this. But we’ve not doneit yet.

Brit [Brit Hume, ABC News].Q. Mr. President, it would appear that

President Carter may have either seen some-thing that perhaps you and others may not

have seen as clearly as he did, or that perhapsthis was a more closely coordinated effort be-tween you and Mr. Carter than it may haveappeared at the time. Is either of those thingscorrect?

The President. Well, I don’t know thatI would characterize it in that way. He calledme; we talked about it. I wanted to makesure he had adequate briefings. I have al-ways—I have, as you probably know, Ihave—and I’ve said this I believe publicly—I have sought other means of personally com-municating to Kim Il-song that the desiresof the United States and the interests of theUnited States and the policy of the UnitedStates was to pursue a nonnuclear KoreanPeninsula and to give North Korea a way ofmoving with dignity into the internationalcommunity and away from an isolated path,which we found quite disturbing for all thereasons that I’ve already said.

It seemed to me that when PresidentCarter expressed a willingness to go and theyhad given him an invitation of some long-standing to come, that that gave us the op-portunity to give North Korea a direct mes-sage to their leader from a distinguishedAmerican citizen, without in any way under-mining the necessary and correct govern-ment-to-government contacts that we hadgoing on at other levels.

President Carter, I think, was very faithfulin articulating the policy of our Government.And I think that that provided a forum inwhich the North Korean leader, Kim Il-song,could respond as he did. And I’m verypleased about it.

When we were called last Thursday andthis whole issue was discussed and we saidwhat we said about we hope that their mes-sage meant that they were willing to freezetheir nuclear program, then they said theywere. Then we got formal confirmation todayof the definition of freeze. Their definitionwas the same as ours. We had the basis togo forward. I’m very happy about it.

Yes, Wolf [Wolf Blitzer, CNN]. Go ahead.Q. There will be critics, as you well know,

who will argue that once again the North Ko-reans have succeeded in stalling, and clan-destinely, this will give them an opportunitywhile their negotiators talk to U.S. nego-tiators in Geneva to pursue their nuclear am-



bitions, which they’re not about to give up.How do you verify that they are sincere inthis effort?

The President. Well, that was a big partof the statement, of course, of the letter thatwe got, not just that there would be an agree-ment to freeze the program but that theagreement be verifiable. The IAEA inspec-tors and the monitoring equipment on theground can be and will be used to verify thecommitment not to reprocess and not to re-fuel.

If we didn’t have some way of verifyingit, you and I wouldn’t be having this con-versation at this moment.

Yes, one last question.Q. Mr. President, could you tell us, be-

yond just the focus of the talks, could youtell us what your longer range view is? Doyou see the Koreas being reunified? Whatdo you see happening, coming out of all this?

The President. Well, I think, first of all,that is a decision for the peoples and theirleaders in South and North Korea to resolve.What the United States wants is for theagreement that the Koreas made in 1991 tomake the Peninsula nonnuclear to be carriedthrough.

The United States wants the NPT to bea success with regard to North Korea. TheUnited States wants North Korea, in what-ever relationship it pursues with SouthKorea—that is up to them—to move towardbecoming an integral and responsible mem-ber of the international community. That willauger well for the peace and prosperity ofthe peoples of north Asia as well as for thesecurity interest of the United States. Thatis what we have pursued with great diligence,and I’m very hopeful that these talks willbring us closer to that.

As I said, this does not solve the problem,but it certainly gives us the basis for seekinga solution. And I’m quite pleased.

Thank you very much.Q. Have you called Jimmy Carter?The President. Oh, I have. I called him,

talked to him about the letter. We had a verygood talk, told him again I was glad he went,and I thought it was a trip worth taking, arisk worth taking, and I was very pleased.

Q. You didn’t mind his criticism of yoursanctions policy? He was pretty blunt, wasn’the?

The President. No. No, as long as theagreement—like I said, we’ve been friendsa long time. The agreement was that hewould faithfully communicate our position.I am absolutely convinced he did it, and I’mabsolutely convinced now that they have metthe agreement. And I feel good about it.

NOTE: The President spoke at 5:34 p.m. in theBriefing Room at the White House.

Statement on the White HouseConference on Africa

June 22, 1994

The challenges facing Africa and Americanpolicy towards the continent will draw on theparticipation and combined efforts of allAmericans. This meeting is an important op-portunity for leaders who care deeply aboutAfrica to share ideas and experiences.

NOTE: This statement was part of a statement bythe Press Secretary announcing that the WhiteHouse will host a Conference on Africa on June26 and 27.

Nomination for a United StatesCourt of Appeals Judge

June 22, 1994

The President today nominated William C.Bryson to serve on the United States Courtof Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

‘‘I am pleased to nominate William Bryson,who has devoted his career to serving thepublic,’’ the President said today. ‘‘He willbring a wealth of experience from the JusticeDepartment to the Federal bench, and theAmerican people will continue to enjoy thegreat benefits of his legal talent and personaldedication.’’

NOTE: A biography of the nominee was madeavailable by the Office of the Press Secretary.



Remarks at the Democratic NationalCommittee DinnerJune 22, 1994

Thank you very much. Chairman Wilhelm,my good friend Vernon Jordan, between thetwo of you there’s nothing left for me to say.[Laughter] I thank you for your leadershipof our party. I congratulate you and DeGeeon the upcoming birth of your first child. Ithank Vernon and Ann Jordan and all thoseothers who worked on this dinner and madeit so successful tonight. I want to thank TerryMcAuliffe and all the cochairs of this dinner,the Members of the Congress, the membersof the Cabinet, members of the administra-tion who are here, and my fellow Americans.

I have two pieces of good news tonight.The first is that with about a half an hourleft to go, the United States is ahead in theWorld Cup two to nothing over Colombia.I kind of like this World Cup. It remindsme of my campaign. We’re the underdog inthis deal; I like it. [Laughter] The second isfar more important, and perhaps most of youhave already heard, but this afternoon, theUnited States received official confirmationthat North Korea is prepared to freeze itsnuclear program in return for talking to usabout those issues. This event, of course, isimportant to all of us, to our children and,if we’re successful, even to our children’schildren. It does not solve our problems, butit gives us a chance to begin to solve them.It came about because of the steadfastnessand resolve of our administration and work-ing with our allies. In this case, we had aninteresting set of allies from the very begin-ning, of course our friends in South Koreaand Japan, but also in Russia and China.There was a sense that we had to do some-thing here.

It came about because of the deft puttingof our case and the case for North Korea’scoming into the community of nations by an-other great Democrat, former PresidentJimmy Carter. And tonight, I mentioned itnot only because it is so important to all ofus and to our future but because in additionto this being a party gala, it is an Americancelebration.

When I heard on the way in the themesof the little film you saw on our administra-

tion, I thought to myself that most of thosethings we have done benefit people withoutregard to their party and that Democrats in1992 promised a new direction for our coun-try, one rooted in the real problems and thereal promise of this Nation. I had some fairlybasic ideas. I thought that we could not bestrong abroad unless we were strong at home,that we could never be strong at home if wetried to withdraw from the world, but thatwe had to rebuild ourselves from the grass-roots, based on the real conditions in ourcountry.

I’ll never forget when David Wilhelm sug-gested that we get on that bus. It was easyfor him to say; he didn’t have to ride on itas long as we did. [Laughter] But I thinkHillary and Al and Tipper would admit thatthat bus and those trips not only became thesymbol of our campaign but kept us firmlyrooted to the American people. We saw indi-vidually the people that had been beatendown and had often given up on their Na-tional Government, Maybe collectively theywere cynical and believed gridlock was inevi-table, but individually, they were full of hopeand concern. They wanted so much for thepromise of America to be alive for their chil-dren, and they knew that some tough thingswould have to be done.

There’s no way that TV ads could conveywhat we saw in the eyes of a woman on theside of the road in the Middle West one nightwho told us that her husband and she hadbeen married for 35 years, and he had beenhaving increasing difficulty holding on to jobsbecause of the decline of the economy. Andfinally, he had taken a job paying just over$5 an hour, and they had lost their healthinsurance and she was ill. And she did notknow what to do, but she was absolutely surethat they had worked hard and played by therules.

There’s no way a poll or a commercialcould recapture the face of the woman I sawin Cedar Rapids, Iowa, one day at a QuakerOats plant, holding a child of another racewhile we were being demonstrated againstby people who disagreed with my pro-choiceposition. This woman had a pro-choice stick-er on, and she had a baby in her arms ofanother race. And I said, ‘‘Where did youget that baby?’’ And she said, ‘‘This is my



baby.’’ And I said, ‘‘Well, where did you getthis baby?’’ She said, ‘‘I got this baby fromFlorida, and she has AIDS. But somebody’sgot to take care of all these babies withAIDS.’’ This woman had been divorced, wasliving in an apartment with her own two chil-dren, struggling to make ends meet, and shehad adopted another child. She said, ‘‘I’m foryou, and I wish you’d tell those people backthere with their signs if they feel so stronglyabout it, come help me adopt these babiesand stand up for their right to grow up andlive a good life.’’

I met a sheriff in east Texas who’s got tobe the only east Texas sheriff in America thatsubscribed to Rolling Stone—[laughter]—who told me he wanted me to pass a realtough crime bill, but not to forget that thekids needed something to say yes to as well.

I wish I could just tell you all these stories.But when I showed up here, I knew that,as my Granddaddy used to say, ‘‘There wouldbe a lot of slips between the cup and thelip,’’ but if I could just keep rememberingall those people, in the end it would comeout all right.

And what we have tried to do is exactlywhat I said I would try to in the campaign.We’ve tried to restore the economy, to re-store the link between the people and theGovernment, to make it work for ordinarypeople again, to rebuild a sense of work andfamily and community and empowerment ofindividual citizens, and to move this countryinto the 21st century still the greatest countryin the world with the most hopes for our chil-dren.

If you look at what has happened in thelast 18 months, I think you can make a prettycompelling case that we’re doing the rightthings. Our economy is growing steadily: over3.4 million new jobs in 16 months, more thanin the previous 4 years combined; a point-and-a-half-plus drop in the unemploymentrate; in 1993, more new businessincorporations than in any year since WorldWar II; the first quarter of this year, the firstquarter in over 15 years when there was nota bank failure.

Our Republican friends always talk abouthow they deplored the deficit and they de-plored Government spending. But it justkept getting bigger when they were in office.

And they blamed the Congress. But whenyou look at the facts, the truth is that, in spiteof the exploding deficits, Congress actuallyappropriated slightly less money in the pre-vious 12 years than the administrations askedfor. [Applause] And all that about—there’sthe Congressmen clapping out there, tell youthe truth. [Laughter] But they were veryskilled at saying one thing and doing another.And I’m not very good at that, and it embar-rasses me, so we decided we’d actually tryto bring the deficit down.

Last year, by the narrowest of margins, be-cause we got no help and a lot of hot rhetoric,our economic plan passed. And it began asystem of disciplined budgeting, which willbe accompanied by this year’s budget, thefirst time in 17 years two Presidents’ budgetshave been adopted on time by the UnitedStates Congress. That will give us 3 years ofdeficit reduction for the first time sinceHarry Truman was the President of theUnited States of America.

And I want you to know, working with thisCongress, this budget, the Congress willeliminate over 100 Government programsoutright, will cut 200 more, will not only bereducing defense but will reduce domesticdiscretionary spending for the first time since1969, in 25 years. And still we will spendmore money on Head Start, more money onWomen and Infant Children, more moneyon school-to-work opportunities, moremoney on education and new technologiesfor the future. We will invest more in peopleand still cut Government spending, becausewe hired on to get things done not to justtalk about them, and that is what the Demo-crats are doing in this town today.

When you put that with the initiatives intrade that this administration has taken—more in 18 months than had been done ina generation—we have the basis for the firstgrowth in America in 30 years that is led byinvestment and that has no inflation, in 30years. That is what I asked for a chance towork on and what you helped to give me.And no amount of rhetoric to the contrarycan take away those facts.

The second thing I said I would try to dois to make Government work for ordinarypeople. And I think we’ve made a pretty goodstab at that. With the support of the public



employee unions, we have passed budgetswhich will reduce the size of the NationalGovernment by a quarter of a million by at-trition over 5 years, and leave us at the endof a 5-year period with the smallest Federalwork force since John Kennedy was thePresident of the United States. And themoney will be used to pay for the crime billto make our streets safer. That is a matterof record.

We’ve also begun to make the Govern-ment work again. Terry McAuliffe told meyesterday that a reporter for a newspaper thatis not exactly a house organ of the Demo-cratic Party called him and said, ‘‘How didyou get all these business people to contrib-ute to the Democratic Party?’’ He said,‘‘Well, the President’s got a good probusinessposition.’’ And a reporter starting laughing.One of the real problems here, you know,you’re always in the most trouble when youthink you have nothing to learn. [Laughter]

The Small Business Administration, underthe leadership of Erskine Bowles, will nowlet you apply for a loan on a one-page form,something small business people have beenbegging for for years. The Emergency Man-agement Agency, which was the source ofridicule and anger and frustration and revul-sion for years because it was dominated bypolitical appointees, now has a Director frommy home State who did it for a living. Andhe’s the most popular Federal bureaucrat inthe United States because FEMA has beenthere in earthquakes and fires and tornadoes,when people needed it. Nobody worriesabout whether the Federal Government isgoing to be there to do its job anymore. Ricefarmers in northern California, a few weeksago, for the first time ever, shipped their riceout of ports in northern California to sell inJapan, because the Government is workingfor ordinary people again.

I don’t know how many business peopleI’ve had come up to me in the last year andsay, ‘‘You know, I’m a Republican, but youhave the only administration where the Com-merce Department and the State Depart-ment work together to try to help me do busi-ness overseas, and I appreciate that.’’

I wanted to break gridlock. For 7 years,the world trade agreement was tied up. Itwas ratified last year by the nations, and

we’re going to implement it this year. For7 years, 7 years, even after the attempt onPresident Reagan’s life, with his fine PressSecretary, Jim Brady, surviving by a miracleand campaigning like crazy for the Brady bill,for 7 years the NRA and others tied it upin Congress. But we passed it last year. For7 years, even though it had some bipartisansupport, the Family and Medical Leave Actcould not pass the Congress, but we passedit last year. No Presidential vetoes—supportfor families in the workplace. For 6 yearsnow, politics has kept the crime bill frompassing, but we are on the verge of passingthe most important piece of anticrime legisla-tion in the history of the United States, morepunishment but more prevention, more po-lice. And the ban on assault weapons, whichlost just 2 years ago by 70 votes in the Houseof Representatives, passed. We have broughtan end to the gridlock in this country, andwe should not let it go back the other wayat election time.

Now we’re working on health care. First,the other side said there was no crisis; thenthere was a crisis but we needed a bipartisansolution. I said, ‘‘Fine, here’s my plan. Youtell me how we are going to change it, butwe’ve got to cover everybody.’’ Then theystarted running ads saying I was trying to givehealth care to the Government, which wasn’ttrue. But I went out and listened to people,and I said, well, maybe it is too bureaucratic.So we changed it some more and took outsome of the mandatory provisions and madeit more flexible to try to make it more respon-sive. And then a Republican Congressmanfrom Iowa named Fred Grandy stood up andtold the awful truth that he and his colleagueshad been given marching orders to do noth-ing to cooperate to try to solve the healthcare problems in this country.

The Governor of Florida was in heretoday, talking about how he had a bill in Flor-ida that was not mandatory but would makethe situation better, that had the support ofevery organization in his State. And it stilldied in the senate of the State of Florida be-cause there’s a 20–20 split between Repub-licans and Democrats. And with all the inter-est groups saying, please do something abouthealth care, every last Republican senator



still voted against it so they couldn’t say hedid anything on health care.

Now, in the Senate Finance Committee,there are a couple of Republicans who haveworked on health care for years, who are try-ing to come together and reach some accom-modation. And I can tell you they are underwithering pressure. But folks, those peoplewho say, ‘‘Let’s just cover 90 percent and for-get about it,’’ it won’t work. It won’t work.Three million working Americans have losttheir health insurance in the last 3 years. Weare going backwards. We are the only countryin the world with an advanced economy thathas not figured out how to cover everybody.

Read the article in the Washington Posttoday about the German health care system.The German health care system today takesup a smaller percentage of the income ofGermany than it did 2 years ago. It’s about8.5 percent. Our health care system costs us14.5 percent of our income, and we still can’tfigure out how to cover—we’re not even at85 percent anymore.

And all the solutions that say, well, let’sjust not make any tough decisions and go upto 90 percent, cost you a double-ton ofmoney in taxes, subsidize the poor, most ofwhom already can at least get Medicare, andnot do one single solitary thing for the work-ing middle class, 80 percent of whom arethose who don’t have insurance and who areterribly insecure. I’m telling you, we have gotto face this problem and face it now. HarryTruman tried to get us to do it 50 years ago,and we didn’t do it, and we’ve been payingfor it ever since.

Let me say that any time you quote HarryTruman now, the Republicans stand up andclap, and everybody says, ‘‘Gosh, I wish wehad him around; it’s too bad we don’t haveanybody like Truman anymore.’’ Let me tellyou something, folks, I came from one ofthose families that was for him when he wasliving. [Laughter] And a lot of the peoplethat brag on him today wouldn’t have walkedacross the street to shake his hand when hewas in office because he stood up for ordi-nary people and he told extraordinary truthsand he tried to get us to face the problemsof our time. Now, in retrospect, we can seethat he did a good job.

Every midterm election in the 20th cen-tury except one, when President Rooseveltcould not pass Social Security in 1934, everyother one has seen a loss in both Houses,or at least one House, for the President inpower, his party. Why? Because there is al-ways a disappointment from the bright prom-ise of the Inauguration to the hard realityof governing. Governor Cuomo used to say,‘‘We campaign in poetry, and we govern inprose.’’ [Laughter]

But there is a special problem this year.What is it? It is that there is so much accumu-lated cynicism in this country, and people arealways told about the process, the conflict,the ups, the downs, the differences, that alot of people don’t even know what I havejust told you. And our adversaries are bank-ing on two things: Number one, they believethe cynicism of the electorate will, A, causethem to say, ‘‘I don’t believe it,’’ if they hearwhat we have done and, B, cause them toblame those of us who are in if we fail tochange because they bring back gridlock.And so they think they can be rewarded ifthey stop anything from happening. And thesecond thing that they hope is that they candivert the attention of a significant numberof our voters from the crying issues that uniteus as a people by trying to launch anothercultural war. And this is not just my opinion.There’s a new book out by David Frum, con-servative and former editorial writer of theWall Street Journal, that you can find adapt-ed in Harper’s this week. He says that con-servatives fail to control the size and cost ofGovernment, and they’ve basically given thatup. That’s true; we’ve done a better job ofthat than they did. So instead, he predictspolitics in the future will become a lot nastierand that the only way to mobilize and excitevoters will be to trade on our differences onmoral and ethnic and racial issues.

I can tell you, folks, we have not survivedover 200 years as the strongest and oldestdemocracy in this country by fighting out ourdifferences on moral and racial and ethnicissues. And we did not get where we are bybecoming mired in the luxury—and I use theword clearly—the luxury of cynicism.

You know, the biggest honor I think I’vehad as your President was going to representus at the D-Day ceremonies. It was one of



the most extraordinary events of Hillary’s andmy life, going first to Italy and seeing whatour soldiers endured there, being shelled andkilled on those beaches week after week, notable to get off; going to England and seeingthe 3,800 graves of people who fought in theair war for 2 years before the D-Day invasionand the list of 5,000 names of people whonever came back, including Joe Kennedy, Jr.,and the great American band leader, GlennMiller; and then going to the beaches at Nor-mandy. And the thing that struck me over-whelmingly was that these people who savedthe world, who laid their lives on the line,they didn’t have an option. They knew whatwas at stake. And it makes a mockery of theirsacrifice for us to be cynical about fulfillingour own legacy.

This whole atmosphere that permeates thistown now—nothing makes any difference,and it’s all who’s up and down and in andout and all that, this obsession with processand conflict over product—it makes a mock-ery of what has gotten us here for 200 years.

I’m going to tell you something: Most ofthe people I’ve known in politics for 20 years,both parties, have been honest. Most of themhave worked hard. Most of them have donewhat they thought was right. Most of the timewe fought over things that were honest dif-ferences, worth arguing and fighting over.And we’re about to get ourselves in a fix onthe dawn of the 21st century. We’ve got thestrongest economy in the world. We are theenvy of the world. Our diversity is a sourceof great strength and the great, great motherlode of wealth for us in the 21st century inthe global economy, if we’ve got senseenough to rescue these kids out of these cit-ies, whose lives are being squandered. Andthe only thing that can mess it up for us isif we permitted ourselves to have the wrongfights, to believe that we were immoral be-cause we had differences over certain issues,and if we permitted ourselves to become socynical that we wouldn’t even listen to thetruth.

And I am here tonight to tell you that whatyou need to do is to go out of this room to-night and not just be glad that you gavemoney to this party and to our administrationand to our continued efforts but to think ofyour words as a knife that can cut through

stone. And every time you hear one of yourfellow Americans say some cynical and non-sensical thing implying that we’re all up herejust trying to feather our nest and it doesn’tmake any difference what’s done and every-thing’s in trouble, you tell them the truth,not to benefit me and the Democrats in Con-gress, although to be sure, we’ll be benefitedfor it because we have broken gridlock andwe are moving forward, but to give Ameri-cans their citizenship back. We did not gethere by being cynics, we got here by beingbelievers.

Thank you, and God bless you all.

NOTE: The President spoke at 9:09 p.m. at theWashington Hilton Hotel. In his remarks, he re-ferred to David Wilhelm, chairman, DemocraticNational Committee, and his wife, DeGee; dinnerchairman Vernon Jordan, and his wife, Ann; andDNC finance chairman Terry McAuliffe.

Remarks at the Democratic NationalCommittee Saxophone ClubReceptionJune 22, 1994

The President. Thank you, Hillary. Thankyou, Chairman Wilhelm and DeGee and Ver-non and Ann Jordan. And thank you espe-cially Sean Foley and Jessica Wasserman, forleading the Saxophone Club. I want to thank,too, Sean Burton and Jonathan Mantz forhelping to hold the Saxophone Club to-gether—[applause]—and the Homebuildersand Occidental Petroleum, that helped tosupport this event tonight. I also want tothank the entertainers. I’m kind of sorry Ididn’t see Hootie and the Blowfish. [Laugh-ter] And I know Paula Poundstone wasfunny, because she always is. And I’m hopingI get to hear a little bit of Chaka Khan andthe St. Augustine Church Choir. Thank youall for being here.

We just came, as you know, from anotherevent for the Democratic Party, and one thatwas immensely successful. But it struck mein that moment that the people who werethere were a stunning answer to those whosay that this is a cynical and selfish countryand that you are as well.

We had two pieces of good news alreadytoday; one’s light, and one’s not so light. The



light one is that the United States won thesoccer game tonight. I identify with our soc-cer team, you know, they start as underdogsin this deal. I like that. [Laughter] Andthey’re doing well. And the thing that poten-tially, and I hope and pray will ultimately af-fect your future in a very positive way, is theformal notification I received this afternoonthat the North Koreans are willing to sus-pend their nuclear program—[applause].

Then it occurred to me that at the eventwhere I just was there were lots of peoplethere, and they weren’t all Democrats. Somewere independents. Some came up to meand said they were Republicans; they wereproud to be there at our party’s event. Vir-tually every one of them, when our economicprogram passed last year, paid higher taxesso we could bring the deficit down and givea tax break to lower income working peoplewith families. Those people aren’t cynical.They did something that they believe is goodfor their country, good for their children, andgood for their future. And I am grateful tothem, because they are a rebuke to the cyni-cism.

And then I look out at all of you and Irealize—first of all, I look out at some of you,and a couple of you are my age, which makesme feel good. [Laughter] Somebody saidsome are older. I can tell you, you look goodout there with all these young people, butyou can’t turn it back. Even I can’t do thatfor you. [Laughter] But you are a rebuke tothis notion that—this whole idea of Genera-tion X. You know, it’s a bunch of hooey.

What I want to say to you in brief is this:First, let me thank you for keeping the Saxo-phone Club together. It means a lot to me.It means more than you could possibly knowthat there are young people who work in andaround this town who believe in this adminis-tration, who have stayed together, who werenot just in it for the campaign and are notjust sunshine soldiers but are actually herefor the long haul to make America a betterplace. I thank you for that. It means so muchto me.

The second point I want to say is this: Weare doing what you hired us to do, and that’simportant. When we had all those events inthe campaign, I told you I was fighting foryour future. And I still am. And when we

took office, I said I wanted to get the econ-omy going, to bring the deficit down, to in-vest more in our people, to make Govern-ment work for ordinary people, and to em-power people like you to seize your future.And you look—unemployment is down, jobsare up, new businesses are up. We’re movingin the right direction. We’re going to have3 years of deficit reduction in a row for thefirst time since Truman was President. Hard-ly anybody was here then. We’re empoweringpeople, 90,000 more kids in Head Start, 20million more college students eligible for lowinterest student loans and better repayment,national service will start this fall, with 20,000people year after next—100,000 youngAmericans revolutionizing the problems ofthis century. So, I tell you, we are fulfillingthe mission that you voted for, that youworked for, that you are a part of, and yourfuture is at stake.

And the third thing I want to say to youis this: I’m glad you’re here and I’m gladyou’re happy and I’m glad you’re enthusias-tic. You’ve made me happy, and you’ve givenme new energy. But let me tell you, whatis at stake this year and next year and thenext year is far bigger than Republicans andDemocrats and President Clinton. It’s aboutwhat the attitude of the American people isand what will be the dominant spirit of theAmerican people as we move toward the 21stcentury.

When we’re having this enormously im-portant debate on health care—and let mejust say, I put out a plan on health care andHillary and I worked hard on it, but we saidwe know it can’t be the end all and be all.We’re happy to change it. But for goodnesssakes, work with us without regard to partyor region. Work with us and help to coverall Americans and solve this terrible problem.That’s what we said.

And it seems pretty simple to me. Thisis the only country in the world with an ad-vanced economy hadn’t figured out how tocover everybody, but we’re spending 14 per-cent of our income on health care. Todayin the Washington Post, there was an articleon the German health care system, pointingout they’re spending 8.5 percent of their in-come on health care, and they’ve got 99 per-cent coverage. Now, I don’t honestly believe



that they’re that much smarter than we are.And I don’t think you do. What is the prob-lem? Well——

Audience members. Republicans!Audience members. Dole! [Laughter]The President. Listen, it isn’t all Repub-

licans. I’ve had Republican doctors, Repub-lican nurses, Republican home health opera-tors, Republican business people come up tome and say, ‘‘I support what you’re doing.We have got to have universal health cov-erage.’’

What is the problem? CongressmanGrandy from Iowa—wait, wait, Gopher—re-lieved of the burden of running for officenow for Congress, finally came out and saidthat the Republicans had been given, quote,‘‘marching orders by their leader to not co-operate, don’t offer any amendments, youcannot vote for anything.’’

Audience member. What about the coun-try?

The President. What about the country,yes. Not about what about the Democrats,what about the country? And let me tell youwhat’s at stake. This is a big deal. When youleave here, this will still be at stake. Theybelieve that they can win, based on twothings, in ’94 and beyond: first, the over-whelming cynicism of the American elector-ate bombarded every day by negativism, ob-sessively covered with process and conflictinstead of substantive product. They believethat the American people will either notknow what we have done or they won’t be-lieve it. And then they think they can divideus in a cultural war over moral issues, racialissues, and ethnic issues. They must beproved wrong.

You look around this room and you willsee a picture of America. The diversity ofthis country is our ticket to the future. It willmake us rich; it will make us strong; it willmake us powerful. It will make your livesmore interesting than any generation ofAmerica that went before if we can figureout how to go into these cities and into thesepoor rural areas and lift these children up,and if we can figure out how to live togetherinstead of avoiding our problems and divid-ing ourselves.

But we must not become mired in the cyn-icism and the negativism that dominates the

debate here every day. And you know better,and you can cut through it. And it’s your life.You’ve got more years ahead of you than Ido. I’ve already had more good things hap-pen to me than I ever deserved or I evercould have dreamed of. I’m up here thinkingabout what’s going to happen to my daughterand her children and your future. And I’mtelling you, we cannot cut it if we permitan election in 1994 to reward the people whohave stopped progress and tried to creategridlock because there is so much cynicismthat either people can’t find out what hap-pened good or they don’t believe it if theydo, and then they’re diverted. We cannot letthat happen.

And so I ask you to leave here thinkingthat. Perhaps the biggest honor I’ve had asyour President is to represent this countryat the 50th anniversary of the landings inItaly and D-Day. And I just want to—we’rehaving a good time, this is a light night, butI want to tell you one very serious thing.Those people did not put their lives on theline so that their children and grandchildrenand great-grandchildren should live cynicallyin America. You couldn’t look at row uponrow of graves over there and think, ‘‘Well,we’re just sunk; we’re just stuck in gridlock;we just can’t make anything good happen.’’

I want to tell you something. Most of thefolks I’ve known in public life the last 20years in both parties were honest and decentand worked hard and tried to do right. Thisthing we’re dealing with now is plumb outof hand, if you will forgive me using someArkansas dialect. All this whole negative busi-ness and all this cynicism, it is an indulgence,and you cannot afford it. And it is not youthat is doing it. You are not the cynical gen-eration. It is the people that are older thanyou that are filling the airways full of thisstuff that you don’t even want to listen to.And you leave here determined not just tohelp your President and our party but to helpyour country and your future. This countrywas not built by cynics, it was built by believ-ers. And it will be continued by believers.

God bless you, and good night.

NOTE: The President spoke at 10:10 p.m. at theOmni Shoreham Hotel. In his remarks, he re-ferred to Sean Foley and Jessica Wasserman, co-chairs of the Saxophone Club; Sean Burton, direc-



tor, and Jonathan Mantz, assistant director of theSaxophone Club; the rock band Hootie and theBlowfish; comedian Paula Poundstone; and singerChaka Khan.

Exchange With Reporters Prior to aMeeting With the DemocraticNominee for California GovernorJune 23, 1994

The President. Let me say first it’s apleasure for me to have Kathleen Brownhere in the White House, to have an oppor-tunity to talk about the many issues and chal-lenges facing California, what we can do towork on them together. I want to congratu-late her on her win in the primary, and Ilook forward to working with her.

California Gubernatorial CampaignQ. Are you planning to campaign for Ms.

Brown?The President. If she asks me to, I will.

That’s up to her.Ms. Brown. I’m asking. I’m asking.

[Laughter] Come ride our bus.The President. I’m in California a lot, you

know, and I expect to be back a lot. AndI’m encouraged by the signs that our eco-nomic program is beginning to take hold inCalifornia. I’m encouraged by the very rapidwork that was done to get the investmentsinto southern California after the quake. I’mencouraged by a lot of the work that’s beingdone in defense conversion in California.And I’m encouraged by the increasing ex-ports coming out of California and going intothe rest of the world. But there’s still an awfullot to be done, so I expect to be there quitea lot.

World CupQ. What about the World Cup?The President. I’m elated, aren’t you?

That’s right, the United States won in Cali-fornia. It’s great. I’m so excited about it. Iwent to the opening game in Chicago, youknow, between Germany and Bolivia. Andmy daughter got me interested in socceryears ago, but I’m about to get totally hooked.

I like this American team. You know, itreminds me of my campaign: They’re kind

of the underdogs, and they’re coming on, andI’m really very hopeful for them now.

NOTE: The President spoke at 6:15 p.m. in theOval Office at the White House. A tape was notavailable for verification of the content of this ex-change.

Message to the Senate on a Review ofthe Impact of the Chemical WeaponsConventionJune 23, 1994

To the Senate of the United States:Upon transmitting the Chemical Weapons

Convention (CWC) to the Senate November23, 1993, I indicated that the Administrationwas reviewing the impact of the Conventionon Executive Order No. 11850, of April 8,1975, which specifies current U.S. policy re-garding the use of riot control agents (RACs)in war, and would submit the results of thatreview separately to the Senate. The purposeof this letter is to inform the Senate of theoutcome of that review.

Article I(5) of the CWC prohibits Partiesfrom using RCAs as a ‘‘method of warfare.’’That phrase is not defined in the CWC. TheUnited States interprets this provision tomean that:

—The CWC applies only to the use ofRCAs in international or internal armedconflict. Other peacetime uses of RCAs,such as normal peacekeeping oper-ations, law enforcement operations, hu-manitarian and disaster relief oper-ations, counter-terrorist and hostagerescue operations, and noncombatantrescue operations conducted outsidesuch conflicts are unaffected by theConvention.

—The CWC does not apply to all uses ofRCAs in time of armed conflict. Use ofRCAs solely against noncombatants forlaw enforcement, riot control, or othernoncombat purposes would not be con-sidered as a ‘‘method of warfare’’ andtherefore would not be prohibited. Ac-cordingly, the CWC does not prohibitthe use of RCAs in riot control situationsin areas under direct U.S. military con-trol, including against rioting prisonersof war, and to protect convoys from civil



disturbances, terrorists, and paramilitaryorganizations in rear areas outside thezone of immediate combat.

—The CWC does prohibit the use ofRCAs solely against combatants. In ad-dition, according to the current inter-national understanding, the CWC’s pro-hibition on the use of RCAs as a ‘‘meth-od of warfare’’ also precludes the useof RCAs even for humanitarian pur-poses in situations where combatantsand noncombatants are intermingled,such as the rescue of downed air crews,passengers, and escaping prisoners andsituations where civilians are being usedto mask or screen attacks. However,were the international understanding ofthis issue to change, the United Stateswould not consider itself bound by thisposition.

Upon receiving advice and consent of theSenate to ratification of the Chemical Weap-ons Convention, a new Executive order out-lining U.S. policy on the use of RCAs underthe Convention will be issued. I will also di-rect the Office of the Secretary of Defenseto accelerate efforts to field non-chemical,non-lethal alternatives to RCAs for use in sit-uations where combatants and noncombat-ants are intermingled.

William J. Clinton


Statement on Congressional Actionon Health Care ReformJune 23, 1994

Under the leadership of Chairman Ford,the decisive action by the members of theHouse Education and Labor Committee hasbrought us one step closer to achieving ourgoal of universal coverage: guaranteed pri-vate insurance for every American that cannever be taken away.

Chairman Ford has had a long, distin-guished career in Congress, and his guidancethroughout the health care reform processand his commitment to universal coveragewill help us ensure that all Americans havethe health security they want and deserve.

With today’s action, for the first time ever,a committee in each House of Congress hasreported a bill that guarantees universal cov-erage. They have broken the chokehold ofspecial interests and, by choosing to covereveryone, have stood up instead for millionsof hard working middle class Americans.

As we continue to move forward, and asmomentum for reform builds, this committeeaction sends a clear signal to the Americanpeople that Congress is well on its way tomaking health care history this year.

Statement on Assistance to California

June 23, 1994

As earthquake recovery efforts have con-tinued, the President’s contingency fund hasenabled our administration to respond to un-foreseen problems. Most of the funds I amreleasing today will help small business peo-ple in southern California who have had dif-ficulty obtaining assistance until now.

NOTE: This statement was part of a statement bythe Press Secretary on assistance to California.

Statement on the White HouseConference on Travel and Tourism

June 23, 1994

The travel and tourism industry is one ofthe unsung heroes of our economy. Yourbusinesses employ more than 6 millionAmericans and, equally important, inter-national tourism is one sector of our economythat consistently generates a trade surplus.The White House Conference on Travel andTourism will provide you and your colleaguesan opportunity to meet with leaders in theexecutive branch and in Congress and, Ihope, to develop a shared vision, both of theindustry’s future and of the role of the indus-try in our Nation’s future.

NOTE: This statement was part of a White Housepress release announcing the conference.



Remarks at the CongressionalBarbecueJune 23, 1994

Thank you very much. We want to wel-come you back again this year. We want tothank you for braving, first, late votes andthen a late rain in all this heat. And finallyit’s kind of cooling down and getting better.

We’re delighted to see you, all of you heretonight. You are welcome here. This is, afterall, your house, and we’re sort of the tem-porary tenants, and we’re having a good time.We’re really looking forward to hearingTrisha Yearwood tonight. And I hope you’veenjoyed all the wonderful food. And I’d liketo ask that we give a round of applause tothe people who provided that. [Applause]

Hillary and I have tried to make this eventand the one we had last year fun, relaxing,nonpolitical, which is almost impossible inWashington. And only the heat reminds usof the atmosphere in which we must laborduring the daylight hours. [Laughter] But wehave really enjoyed having you here tonight.

I want to thank the Members who cameand brought their family members, theirfriends, their staff members. It really helpsus, I think, to get a feel for the human sideof what we hope will be a very enjoyablenight for you. And I think there’s alreadybeen enough talking, and I’m ready for themusic.

Would you like to say anything? She wantsthe music, too.


NOTE: The President spoke at 9 p.m. on the SouthLawn at the White House. In his remarks, he re-ferred to country and western entertainer TrishaYearwood.

Interview With Kevin Horrigan andCharles Brennan of KMOX Radio inSt. Louis, MissouriJune 24, 1994

Representative Richard Gephardt. Hi,Kevin and Charles. We want to welcome thePresident of the United States today. We’reon Air Force One, and we’re going to be inSt. Louis in a few minutes. And we welcomethe President to our great city.

Q. And we welcome you, Mr. Clinton, tothe voice of St. Louis, KMOX Radio.

The President. Thank you. It’s good tobe on KMOX, and it’s good to be comingback to St. Louis.

Campaign Finance Reform

[At this point, an interviewer asked the Presi-dent to justify raising $40 million in cam-paign funds after having campaigned duringthe Presidential election to reform campaignfinancing.]

The President. I justify it because of theopposition policies of the Republican Partyand all the special interest groups that haveraised and spent far more money against us,attacking me and my policies and spreadingdisinformation to the American people. Letme say that all this time, ever since I’ve beenin office, I have worked hard to pass a cam-paign finance reform bill, which would limitthese kinds of contributions right across theboard to both political parties and restore ba-sically unfettered debate to the central posi-tion it ought to have in our political system.

But I don’t believe in unilateral disar-mament. The money that I have raised willbe used to try to make sure that the Demo-cratic parties throughout the country in thesefall elections and our candidates will at leasthave a fighting chance to talk about ourrecord and the facts and what we’ve donehere. If we could change the rules for every-body, that’s what we ought to do.

When I ran for President, I didn’t eventake any PAC money. And I have workedvery, very hard to pass campaign finance re-form laws and lobby reform laws which willmake the system better. But until I do, itwould be a mistake for the Democrats to justlay down and not raise any money, lettingthe Republicans and a lot of their alliedgroups have all the money in the world whenthey already have greater access to a lot ofthings like a lot of other media outlets thanwe do.

Q. Wouldn’t you be setting a leadershipexample, though, if you were the first oneto say, ‘‘Look, these $15,000-a-table fund-raisers basically are way out of hand. I’ve gotto put an end to this’’?

The President. Well, I’m trying to put anend to it. All the Congress has to do is to



send me the campaign finance reform bill,and we’ll put an end to this so-called softmoney. I’ve been working for a year and ahalf to do it. But we have enough problems.The Republicans and the far right in thiscountry have their own media networks. Wedon’t have anything like that. They have extraorganized political action groups that wecan’t match. And they have the RepublicanParty’s fundraising apparatus, which has beenstrengthened by having had the White Housefor all but 4 years in the last 20 years.

So we have real problems competing. I ammore than happy to stop this. I’ve been outthere fighting to stop it. All they have to dois to send me the campaign finance reformbill, and it’ll be done.

[Representative Gephardt lauded the admin-istration’s efforts to advance campaign fi-nance reform and indicated that both thecampaign finance reform bill and the bill tolimit lobbyist activities would be on the Presi-dent’s desk in 3 or 4 weeks.]

The President. I’d like to emphasize thatthe things that are within my control, re-quirements and limits on my administrationand what can be done with regard to lobby-ing, are stricter now than they have ever beenin American history because of the thingsthat I’ve done, that I can do on my own.And I want this campaign finance law tochange. But we ought to change it by thelaw, and we ought to change it for everyone.

Media Criticism

[An interviewer asked the President if peoplewere becoming more cynical, less tolerant.]

The President. Absolutely. I think there’stoo much cynicism and too much intolerance.But if you look at the information they get,if you look at how much more negative thenews reports are, how much more editorialthey are, and how much less direct they are,if you look at how much of talk radio is justa constant unremitting drumbeat of negativ-ism and cynicism, you can’t—I don’t thinkthe American people are cynical, but youcan’t blame them for responding that way.

We, for example, we had a meeting theother day, and a group of people were toldthat under our budgets we were going tobring the deficit down 3 years in a row for

the first time since Harry Truman was Presi-dent. And some of them said, ‘‘Well, I justdon’t believe you. We never hear that on thenews. I just don’t believe you.’’ It’s a fact.I’ve worked hard to do it. And we’re goingto—we’re bringing the deficit down. That’swhat bothers me.

You know, I just got back from Normandy,celebrating the 50th anniversary of D-Day.And when I stood on Normandy beaches andwhen I saw all those rows of crosses there,it occurred to me that those people did notdie so the American people could indulgethemselves in the luxury of cynicism. Andfrankly, that’s just what it is. America nowhas—we have the strongest economic per-formance of any of the advanced countriesin the world. We’re bringing the deficit downat a very rapid rate. We’re increasing our in-vestment in education and training. We’re se-riously dealing with crime, with welfare re-form, with health care for the first time indecades. We have broken gridlock in theCongress; bills that languished around for 6or 7 years like the Brady bill and the familyand medical leave bill have passed. The econ-omy in St. Louis is booming.

There is no reason to be cynical. But theAmerican people keep being told that thingsare bad and politicians are corrupt and thesystem’s broken. That’s just not true.

You look at what we’re coming to St. Louisto celebrate today, this Summer of Service.We’ve got 7,000 young Americans who aregoing to be earning money for their collegeeducation by working and making their com-munities safer all across this country; in thefall, 20,000 young Americans, doing commu-nity service work, earning money for an edu-cation, helping to solve problems. These kidsaren’t cynical. They know that their countryis a good place, and they’re going to makeit better. We’ve got a lot of serious problems,and frankly, we can’t afford this cynicism. Butit’s all the rage today.

[An interviewer asked the President if grow-ing cynicism could not be traced to incidentssuch as the disappearance of towels and bath-robes from the U.S.S. George Washington.]

The President. Well, first of all, we’re notsure that just the White House staff did that.There were press people. There were lots



of other people on that boat who were notmembers of the White House staff. We thinkit—I’m not entirely sure it was. And theGeorge Washington is very, very upset by thepress reports that those towels, which wereobviously taken as souvenirs, were taken byall the White House staff. They never saidthat we stole anything. That’s the kind ofthing I’m talking about.

But let me just say this: Someone in theWhite House personally reimbursed theGeorge Washington for all of them, becausethey felt so bad. And the people who wererunning the aircraft carrier said that theywere astonished that the White House staffwas charged with taking all those things, thatthere were members of the press there, therewere other people there on that carrier. Theyweren’t at all sure that White House staffhad done that. But someone on my staff wasso upset that anybody had done it that theyreimbursed them entirely so that they didn’tlose a thing on it.

But you know, I could give you a lot ofexamples—a year ago there was a widely re-ported story that I kept airplane traffic wait-ing an hour in Los Angeles to get a haircutin an airport. That wasn’t true either. Itwasn’t true at the time. And I told the pressit wasn’t true. They ran the story anyway.Then 4 weeks later when the FAA filed theirofficial report, they said, ‘‘No, there were noplanes kept waiting.’’

Now, I am not responsible for stories thatare written that are not fully accurate or un-true, but it feeds into this cynicism.

Last year the Congress and the President,according to all nonpartisan reports, had themost productive year working together, get-ting things done for America, dealing withdifficult issues, of any first year of a Presidentsince the end of World War II, exceptDwight Eisenhower’s first year and PresidentJohnson’s first year, which were about thesame. And to be frank, we did it under moredifficult circumstances with tougher issues.I’ll bet you nobody in America knows that.Now, that’s not entirely our fault.

Look at all the things you could have askedme about, and you just asked me that. Didyou know that there were other people onthat aircraft carrier? Did you know therewere press people on the aircraft carrier? Did

you know that the—that the carrier had beenfully reimbursed out of the private pocketof a White House staff member who was soupset about it?

Q. No, I didn’t know that the WhiteHouse——

The President. No. No. Why didn’t youknow that? Because the press reporting itdidn’t say so.

Q. Yes.The President. I mean, part of the prob-

lem in this country today is that—this is agood country with a lot of people workinghard to get things done. And the Americanpeople are entitled to have some balancedand fair picture of what’s going on.

We’ve had 3.5 million new jobs come intothis economy since I’ve been President, farmore than in the previous 4 years combined.Most Americans don’t even know it, becausethat’s not the purpose of a lot of what’s com-municated to them.

And I think that—I have a very high re-sponsibility. I don’t mind you asking mewhether I should set an example on cam-paign contributions, but there are a lot ofother examples that need to be set in thiscountry. And I think the people who commu-nicate to the American people need to askthemselves, what are we telling the people?Are we telling them the whole truth? Do theyknow what’s good as well as what’s bad inthis country. And when we make a mistake,then we fess up to it.

I think that there is a lot of cynicism inthis country. But frankly, I think there area lot of vested interests that are promotingthe cynicism.

The Religious RightQ. Mr. President, let’s talk about that just

a little bit. Today, or yesterday, the Repub-licans in the Senate asked you to disavow aremark that I believe Representative Faziomade about evangelical Christians. At thesame time you’ve talked about extremists inthe other party, the Republicans, that yousay may be trying to launch a cultural war.They’re attacking you in very personal, de-rogatory, moralistic terms. Is this the stateof political debate in America today, wherewe call each other names?



The President. Of course it is. Let mesay, first of all, you have never found me criti-cizing evangelical Christians. I have wel-comed the involvement in our political sys-tem of all people and especially people offaith. I have bent over backwards as a Gov-ernor and as a President to respect the reli-gious convictions of all Americans. I havestrong religious convictions myself.

But that is very different, that is very dif-ferent from what is going on, when peoplecome into the political system and they saythat anybody that doesn’t agree with themis Godless, anyone who doesn’t agree withthem is not a good Christian, anyone whodoesn’t agree with them is fair game for anywild charge, no matter how false, for any kindof personal, demeaning attack.

I don’t suppose there’s any public figurethat’s ever been subject to any more violent,personal attacks than I have, at least in mod-ern history, anybody’s who’s been President.That’s fine. I deal with them. But I don’tbelieve that it’s the work of God. And I thinkthat’s what the issue is. I do not believe thatpeople should be criticized for their religiousconvictions. But neither do I believe thatpeople can put on the mantle of religion andthen justify anything they say or do. I thinkthat’s what Mr. Fazio was talking about.

We don’t need a cultural war in this coun-try. We’ve never done very well when ourpolitics has been devoted to dividing us alonggrounds of race, religion, creed, morality. Wehaven’t done very well. We’ve got a lot ofserious challenges in this country. And weneed to pull together and face them. Shouldwe have arguments about moral issues? Ofcourse we should. But they ought to be hon-est and careful and straightforward and re-spectful. And frankly, they’re not today.

Q. Are you talking about folks like the Rev-erend Jerry Falwell, who through his info-mercials is selling a videotape critical of you?

The President. Absolutely. Look at whohe’s talking to. Does he make full disclosureto the American people of the backgroundsof the people that he’s interviewed that havemade these scurrilous and false chargesagainst me? Of course not. Is that in a goodChristian spirit? I think it’s questionable.

But I think it’s very important that theDemocrats be careful—let me say this—to

make a clear distinction between tactics withwhich they do not agree and radical positionswith which they do not agree, and the wholenotion of evangelical Christians being in-volved in our politics. I think that evangelicalChristians should be good citizens, should beinvolved in our politics. They can be Repub-licans or Democrats; they can do whateverthey want. But remember that Jesus threwthe moneychangers out of the temple. Hedidn’t try to take over the job of the money-changers.

Decline of the Dollar

Q. Mr. President, world financial marketstoday report a continued slide of the U.S.dollar against other world currencies. Whatcan or should the United States Governmentdo to halt this slide?

The President. Well, the Secretary ofTreasury will have an announcement aboutit today. Let me say, just make one pointabout it. This is a development that is puz-zling a lot of economists because our econ-omy is performing so well. Our job growthis greater than any other of the advancedcountries. Our unemployment rate is lowerthan any of the advanced countries, exceptJapan.

In a funny way the currency values arerunning in the opposite direction of eco-nomic strength because Japan has a greattrade surplus with us, as you know. If theireconomy is weak, no matter what they do,they can’t lower the trade surplus becausethey don’t have the money to buy moreAmerican products if their own economy isweak.

So in a funny way, the perception of a weakeconomy in Japan has driven the Americandollar down against the Japanese yen becausetheir trade surplus has continued to be high.The German economy, thank goodness, iscoming back a little bit, and that’s a goodthing, but it strengthens the German mark.The American dollar is actually strongeragainst a lot of other currencies in the worldthan it was a year ago. I think it’s importantthat we not overreact to this. But the Sec-retary of the Treasury will have a statementtoday which will demonstrate the course that



we’re taking. And I think it’s a prudent thingto do.

Q. If I sense anything today, it seems likea frustration on your part about an inabilityor just—for some reason, you haven’t gottenacross to the American people the messagesthat you want to get across. Is that prettymuch true?

The President. Well, let me ask you some-thing, I’m coming to St. Louis to inauguratethe Metrolink, a Federal project, which isgood for St. Louis; to talk about the Summerof Service and the crime bill, the most impor-tant crime legislation in the history of theUnited States; and the national service pro-gram, which is going to have thousands ofyoung people working to make our commu-nities safer, all of those things, initiativesunder my administration, and you didn’t askme about any of them.

So I’m not frustrated about it exactly, butI tell you, I have determined that I’m goingto be aggressive about it. After I get off theradio today with you, Rush Limbaugh willhave 3 hours to say whatever he wants. AndI won’t have any opportunity to respond. Andthere’s no truth detector. You won’t get onafterwards and say what was true and whatwasn’t. So all I’m telling you is, I’m goingto be far more aggressive because the Amer-ican people are entitled to know what’s goingon good in this country.

When I go overseas—I just got back fromEurope, and the European press came upto me after—on several occasions—membersof the press in Europe, and say, ‘‘What isgoing on in your country? You’ve got thingsgoing well; you are nothing like they portrayyou; the things that are happening are posi-tive; we are bewildered.’’ Members of thepress in Europe said that to me repeatedly.So I decided instead of being frustrated, Ineeded to be aggressive, and I’m going tobe aggressive from here on in. I’m going totell what I know the truth to be.

Q. No more Mr. Nice Guy?The President. I’m going to be very nice

about it, but I’m going to be aggressive aboutit.

Health Care ReformQ. Well, let me ask you a little something

about health care, because I know this has

been the number one, or at least in the topthree in terms of issues for you. And youpromised long ago to veto any bill thatcrossed your desk that did not promise 100percent health care coverage in the UnitedStates. You said you’d veto that, any bill thatdid not insure every single living American.

The President. [Inaudible]—universal,we need to have universal coverage. That’swhat I said.

Q. Are you willing to compromise on thisright now if it turns out to be a political re-ality that Congress cannot go for the full uni-versal health care?

The President. Well, I think Congress willadopt universal health care. There may besome minor debates about exactly how to de-fine that, but the real issue is, is will Congressprovide health insurance to all workingAmericans? Will they provide a mechanismto do it? I still think there’s a good chancethey’ll do it.

Now, to go back to the first question youasked, there have been tens of millions ofdollars in kind of disinformation spent tofalsely characterize the approach that I want-ed to take. I am very flexible and always havebeen about how we do it. But I do believethat it is not rational for the United Statesto be the only country in the world that can’tfigure out how to guarantee health care cov-erage to middle class working Americans.And in fact, we’re going in reverse. We’relosing ground. We’ve got a smaller percent-age of our people insured than we did 10years ago. All the other advanced countriesinsure everybody and yet we spend 40 per-cent more of our income on health care thananybody else does. It doesn’t make any senseto me.

So I think Congress will find a way to dothis. I think they’ll measure up for the chal-lenge. And I’m going to keep working withthem. I think there’s lots of different waysto do it, and I think we’ll find a way to doit. I’m very, very hopeful now. And I thinkMr. Gephardt’s hopeful now.

[Representative Gephardt stated that Con-gress is making progress on health care re-form.]



Q. Mr. President, on behalf of everyonelistening to KMOX, thank you very much forjoining us this morning.

The President. Thank you. Goodbye.

NOTE: The interview began at 11:07 a.m. ThePresident spoke from Air Force One en route toSt. Louis. In his remarks, he referred to Rev. JerryFalwell and Rush Limbaugh, conservative radioand television commentators. A tape was not avail-able for verification of the content of these re-marks.

Exchange With Reporters inSt. LouisJune 24, 1994

Crime LegislationQ. Speaking of the crime bill, Mr. Presi-

dent, do you know where it stands right now?Can you give us a state of play?

The President. Well, I met earlier thisweek with Senator Biden and ChairmanBrooks, and we talked about it. We think thatthe essential elements are intact. We believethat it will come out with 100,000 police, with‘‘Three strikes and you’re out,’’ with preven-tion programs, with summer jobs for the kidsand midnight basketball, the after-schoolprograms, with the assault weapons ban. Andthey’re still working on some of the otherissues. I expect that the conference commit-tee will come out with it reasonably soon,and I think it will go through both Houses.

Q. One of the hangups, sir, is racial justice.Have you decided where you come down onthat position yet?

The President. Wait and see what theconference committee does. They asked meto give them a few more days to work onit, and we’re going to see what they——

Q. Would it help if you came out with——The President. ——know what’s going

on—the main thing we don’t want to do isto change the subject. The subject is howto get the crime rate down, how to get thepolice out, how to get the assault weapons—the police on the street, the assault weaponsban into law, how to get the prevention fundsout here, how to get the ‘‘Three strikes andyou’re out’’ law out. And I think that they’reworking on it. I believe everybody in the

Congress is going to work on it in good faith,and I think we’ll have a—[inaudible].

NOTE: The exchange began at 12:50 p.m. whiletouring the Fox Park neighborhood. A tape wasnot available for verification of the content of thisexchange.

Remarks to Summer of SafetyProgram Participants in St. LouisJune 24, 1994

Thank you very much. Thank you so much,ladies and gentlemen. It’s an honor for meto be back in St. Louis and to be with allthese fine people who have already spoken.Your mayor was on a roll today, wasn’t he?[Applause] You gave a great speech. Thankyou, Mayor. I want to thank the LieutenantGovernor, the other State officials who arehere, the legislators, the aldermen. I’d liketo say a special word of thanks to your Con-gressman, Bill Clay, for his outstanding lead-ership in the Congress and on this issue ofnational service. And I want to say a specialword of thanks to Dick Gephardt, the major-ity leader of the House. Without him, wewould not have been able to turn this econ-omy around, to break the gridlock in Wash-ington, to get this country moving again. Hisleadership has been extraordinary. I want tothank Chief Harmon for the enlightenedleadership he’s providing to this city and tothis police department and to all the officers,the men and women who work with him totry to make this a safer city. And I want tosay a special word of thanks to Tim Hager.Didn’t he do a good job introducing me?[Applause] You know, Martin Luther Kingonce said that everyone can be great becauseeveryone can serve. This young man had adream to be a United States marine. He ful-filled it. He proved he could make it throughbasic training. And then he had to leave. Buthe came home and joined this program. AndI think he captured the essence of his servicewhen he said it.

Let me tell you something, folks, all of usbreathed a sigh of relief and had a genuinehope when I was able to announce that theNorth Koreans had agreed to suspend theirnuclear program and talk to us about takinga different course into the future. And that



was a wonderful thing. But when thousandsof people are murdered on our streets everyyear, when thousands of our children arerobbed of their future, a big part of our na-tional security is what happens right here inSt. Louis and on the streets of every commu-nity of this country. And Tim is helping toprotect this Nation’s security by participatingin this program.

I’m glad to be here in Fox Park. Congress-man Clay said he used to play softball here,and he claims he was really good. Does any-body remember? [Laughter]

I want you to also know that I hope thisday will live in the history of this communityas the beginning of a real awareness by every-one in the community that perhaps the mostimportant thing we can do as Americans isto join together at the grassroots and takeaction to get control of our lives, our commu-nities, and our destinies again. As Eli Segalsaid, there will be over 7,000 young Ameri-cans working in this Summer of Safety pro-gram here and at 70 other sites all aroundour country, reminding us that we can domore than complain about what’s wrong; wecan actually get together and take action todo something right, to make our people saferand our future more secure.

In a funny way, the national service pro-gram, which is the least bureaucratic, leastnationally directed program I have been as-sociated with, may have the most lasting leg-acy of anything I am able to do as your Presi-dent, because it has the chance to embodyall the things I ran for President to do, toget our country moving again, to make Gov-ernment work for ordinary people again, andto empower individuals and communities totake control of their own destiny.

We are, after all, a nation of citizens. Ourpolitical system, just for example, limits thePresident to two terms. Our destiny is notdependent upon the actions or the successof any one individual. But it is dependentupon the shared values, the shared commit-ment, the shared determination, and theshared willingness of a majority of the peopleof this country and a majority of the peoplein every community in this country to seizeour own destiny.

These young people in the national serviceprogram—there are 7,000 this summer;

there will be 20,000 in the fall; year afternext there will be 100,000 of them. And thosewho work all year long will be working tosolve the problems of America at the grass-roots and earning a little credit for them-selves toward education, in a job-trainingprogram or in a college. We’re going to helpthem become better and more successfulAmericans because they’re going to help usto be better Americans as well where we live.

You know, at the very height of the PeaceCorps, which did so much to capture theimagination of my generation 30 years ago,the most who ever served were 16,000 in oneyear. We’ll have 20,000 this fall, 100,000 yearafter next, and I hope I live to see a perma-nent program with at least a quarter of a mil-lion young Americans every year, working tomove this country in the right direction.

This all sounds pretty high-flown, but letme tell you, it’s really personal. And we start-ed with the Summer of Safety because thereis nothing more important than order andpeace in a free society. It’s a really personalthing. I’ll bet you if I ask you to raise yourhand, every one of you just about knowssomeone in your family who’s been victim-ized by some kind of crime in the last 10or 15 years, maybe in the last 10 or 15months.

Some of you may remember SamuelSmith, who used to live in this neighborhood.Last Thursday he was found dead, killed inan attack that may have been drug-related.He was 12 years old, the 23d child killed inSt. Louis so far this year. You probably knowabout Joseph Gray, who stopped to use thephone outside the market at Shenandoah andCalifornia in Fox Park 2 months ago. He wasrobbed and gunned down with an AK–47.

We all know that this problem is out ofhand. We know that this is the greatest coun-try in the world with the strongest economyin the world. But we already have more peo-ple in jail as a percentage of our populationthan any country in the world, because we,you and I, have permitted the crime problemto get out of hand. And only we can turnit around. And we must do it.

The Congress has been working—when Icame here 2 years ago on my bus trip, afterlistening to the American people talk abouttheir problems and their hopes, I said we



ought to pass the Brady bill and require back-ground checks before we sold guns to peoplewith criminal records. Well, after 7 years ofgridlock, the Brady bill is now the Brady law.

I also said that we ought to cut the Federalbureaucracy and make it smaller and use thesavings to put more police officers on ourstreets, to ban assault weapons, to havetougher punishment for repeat offenders, butto provide boot camps and drug educationand midnight basketball and summer jobsand things for young people to say yes to,so that we could save them, as many as wecould possibly save, from a life of crime andviolence and disappointment. And now thoseideas and commitments are in a crime billCongress is debating. They’ve been workingon it since I became President.

But the time is now to act. People don’thave to live in fear. Young people shouldn’thave to feel pulled into a life of crime. Gangsshouldn’t be better armed than police. Don’tlet anybody fool you, the crime bill that’sabout to pass the Congress is the most impor-tant effort ever made by the United StatesGovernment to help people in their commu-nities fight crime. It means more police onthe streets and taking guns and kids off thestreets. It means more jail cells for peoplebehind bars and more jobs for kids to avoidgetting behind bars. It will ban assault weap-ons like the AK–47 that killed Joseph Gray.It will give serious repeat offenders what theyhave earned: three strikes and no eligibilityfor parole, you’re out. It will address the ter-rible, terrible problem of youth violence. Itwill be illegal for teenagers to possess hand-guns. It will be possible for every communityin this country to set up drug courts to turnaround cases of drug offenders by givingthem a chance to do something besides goto jail if they’ll take treatment and work ina community. It will provide more help forsafe schools, more security, more law en-forcement. It will help to reinforce the effortswe’re making in public housing projects allaround this country to end the cycle preyingon our children. This bill will give our youngpeople something to say yes to: midnight bas-ketball, after-school programs, summer jobprograms, and it will mean more police offi-cers on the street.

You know, the violent crime rate is 7 timeshigher now in 1994 than it was 30 years ago.But 30 years ago, we had 500,000 police offi-cers, and today we only have 550,000. Ourbill will put another 100,000 on the streetto walk the streets, to ride the bikes, to knowthe neighbors, to make contact with the chil-dren, to prevent crime as well as to catchcriminals.

This bill is paid for not by a tax increasebut by a disciplined determination to reducethe size of the Federal work force by 250,000over a 5-year period. At the end of this 5-year period, we’ll have the smallest FederalGovernment we’ve had since John Kennedywas the President of the United States. We’llhave 3 years of deficit reduction for the firsttime since Harry Truman of Missouri wasPresident of the United States. We will cutand totally eliminate over 100 Governmentprograms, cut hundreds of others. But we’llspend more on education, on training, onnew technology, and new jobs for the 21stcentury. And yes, we will spend much, muchmore for the fight against crime and the fightfor our children’s future.

This crime bill has been stalled in Con-gress for 5 years. But the House has passeda crime bill; the Senate has passed a crimebill. There are some differences betweenthem, and they’re trying to work it out. WhatI want to say to you, my friends, is if youbelieve in the Summer of Safety, if you be-lieve in the actions that Chief Harmon andMayor Bosley are taking here, tell the Con-gress that you support the efforts we are allmaking to pass this bill.

We don’t need to wait anymore; 5 yearsis too long. Too many children are dead; toomany futures are gone; too many neighbor-hoods have been divided. Now we know whatto do. Let’s get out here and help the volun-teers by having the National Government doits part to be partners in the fight againstcrime.

Let me just make one final point. In orderto be in the Summer of Service, in orderto wear these T-shirts, in order to put a policeuniform on every day, you have to believethat you can make a difference. In order towork with these children in these T-shirtshere, you have to believe that you can makea difference. One of the biggest problems


1347Administration of William J. Clinton, 1994

1 This release was not received in time for inclu-sion in the appropriate issue.

that we’ve got in this country today is thatwe are constantly being told that we can’tmake a difference, that everybody that’s try-ing is a sucker, that everybody in power istrying to take advantage of you, that nothinggood can ever happen. It emanates over andover and over again from every news outletwe have.

If you talk about hope, you’re derided asbeing naive. If you’re really good at bad-mouthing people, you can get a radio talkshow. [Laughter] Now, I want to tell yousomething: It may be fun to listen to, butit’s tough to live by. It’s tough to live by.Tim is going to make more difference thanall of the bad things that’ll ever be said onthe radio talk shows in his life.

These people in these uniforms deserveto have somebody believe in them and stickup for them and stand by them. And thesechildren deserve to have adults who believein their future and are prepared to fight forit. I’m telling you, we can do this.

The biggest honor I have had, I think, asyour President, is the honor of going to rep-resent the entire American people at the50th anniversary of D-Day and the end ofWorld War II by the most important militaryaction in the 20th century. When I lookedat the graves, the thousands of graves of allthose people who died for our security whenthey were so young to save the world andsave freedom, I thought to myself, therewasn’t a single cynic among them. Youcouldn’t be cynical and make that kind ofsacrifice. And all those who lived, who camehome, who were fortunate enough to survive,they weren’t cynical that day, either, that theyput their lives on the line for our freedom.If you look around these streets and youthink about the kids that have died, the peo-ple that have been on drugs, the old folksthat have been terrorized, that is not whatthose people died for. We did not get to bethe oldest and most successful democracy inhuman history by being cynics and by bad-mouthing. We got here by being believersand by doing. That is what we celebratetoday.

Thank you, and God bless you all.

NOTE: The President spoke at 1:33 p.m. in FoxPark. In his remarks, he referred to St. LouisMayor Freeman Bosley; Missouri Lt. Gov. Roger

Wilson; St. Louis Police Chief Clarence Harmon;and Summer of Safety worker Tim Hager. A tapewas not available for verification of the contentof these remarks.

Digest of OtherWhite House Announcements

The following list includes the President’s publicschedule and other items of general interest an-nounced by the Office of the Press Secretary andnot included elsewhere in this issue.

June 17 1

The President announced his intention tonominate Celeste Pinto McLain to serve onthe Board of Directors of the National Rail-road Corporation (Amtrak).

June 19In the evening, the President and Hillary

and Chelsea Clinton returned to the WhiteHouse from a weekend stay at Camp David,MD.

June 21In the morning, the President met with

President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda in theOval Office.

In the evening, the President and HillaryClinton hosted a reception for the Demo-cratic National Committee Business Leader-ship Forum on the South Lawn.

The President declared a major disasterexists in the State of South Dakota and or-dered Federal aid to supplement State andlocal recovery efforts in areas struck by se-vere storms and flooding.

June 22In the afternoon, the President and Hillary

Clinton hosted a luncheon for King Husseinand Queen Noor of Jordan.

In the evening, the President had a tele-phone conversation with President KimYong-sam of South Korea about recent de-velopments in the North Korean situation.


1348 Administration of William J. Clinton, 1994


Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin of Rus-sia.

The President announced his intention toappoint the following:

—William J. Wilson, to be a member ofthe President’s Commission on WhiteHouse Fellowships;

—John E. Lyle, to be a member of theFederal Council on the Aging;

—Stanislaus A. Blejwas, to be a memberof the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Coun-cil;

—Hugh H. Hogle, Wayne Owens, andRobert K. Nelson to be members of theUtah Reclamation Mitigation and Con-servation Commission.


President Carlos Menem of Argentina. Fol-lowing the meeting, the President traveledto St. Louis, MO. After his arrival in the latemorning, the President traveled from St.Louis International Airport to Union Stationon the Metrolink train system.

In the afternoon, the President went to theFox Park neighborhood where he was givena tour and attended a Summer of Safetyevent. In the late afternoon, the Presidentmet with the East St. Louis recipients of theChildren’s Defense Fund ‘‘Beat the Odds’’scholarship program at the Adams MarkHotel.

In the evening, the President attended areception for Representative Richard Gep-hardt at the Adams Mark Hotel. Followingthe reception, he returned to Washington,DC.

The President announced his intention toappoint Raul Yzaguirre as Chair, Ana Mar-garita Guzman as Vice Chair, and the follow-ing 19 members of the President’s AdvisoryCommission on Educational Excellence forHispanic Americans:

—Erlinda Paiz Archuleta;—Cecelia Preciado Burciaga;—George Castro;—Darlene Chavira Chavez;—Miriam Cruz;—Maria Hernandez;—Sonia Hernandez;—Mike Koldyke;

—Cipriano Munoz;—Eduardo Padron;—Janice Petrovich;—Edwin Quinones;—Gloria Rodriguez;—Isaura Santiago Santiago;—John Phillip Santos;—Samuel Vigil;—Diana Cendoya Wasserman;—Ruben Zacarias; and—Jose Gonzalez.The President announced his intention to

nominate Richard Holbrooke as AssistantSecretary of State for European and Cana-dian Affairs.

NominationsSubmitted to the Senate

The following list does not include promotions ofmembers of the Uniformed Services, nominationsto the Service Academies, or nominations of For-eign Service officers.

Submitted June 20

John Michael Bradford,of Texas, to be U.S. Attorney for the EasternDistrict of Texas for the term of 4 years, viceRobert J. Wortham.

John Haughton D’Arms,of Michigan, to be a member of the NationalCouncil on the Humanities for a term expir-ing January 26, 2000, vice Michael T. Bass,term expired.

Darryl J. Gless,of North Carolina, to be a member of theNational Council on the Humanities for aterm expiring January 26, 1998, vice AnnePaolucci, term expired.

Ramon A. Gutierrez,of California, to be a member of the NationalCouncil on the Humanities for a term expir-ing January 26, 2000, vice Harvey C. Mans-field, Jr., term expired.

Charles Patrick Henry,of California, to be a member of the NationalCouncil on the Humanities for a term expir-


1349Administration of William J. Clinton, 1994

ing January 26, 2000, vice Hillel Fradkin,term expired.

Thomas Cleveland Holt,of Illinois, to be a member of the NationalCouncil on the Humanities for the remainderof the term expiring January 26, 1998, viceCondoleezza Rice.

Martha Congleton Howell,of New York, to be a member of the NationalCouncil on the Humanities for a term expir-ing January 26, 2000, vice Edwin J. Delattre,term expired.

Nicolas Kanellos,of Texas, to be a member of the NationalCouncil on the Humanities for a term expir-ing January 26, 2000, vice William P. Wright,Jr., term expired.

Bev Lindsey,of Arkansas, to be a member of the NationalCouncil on the Humanities for a term expir-ing January 26, 2000, vice Donald Kagan,term expired.

Thomas Joseph Maroney,of New York, to be U.S. Attorney for theNorthern District of New York for the termof 4 years, vice Frederick J. Scullin, resigned.

G. Mario Moreno,of Texas, to be Assistant Secretary for Inter-governmental and Interagency Affairs, De-partment of Education, vice G.O. Griffith,Jr., resigned.

Phyllis E. Oakley,of Louisiana, to be an Assistant Secretary ofState (new position).

Robert I. Rotberg,of Massachusetts, to be a member of the Na-tional Council on the Humanities for a termexpiring January 26, 2000, vice MichaelMalbin, term expired.

Harold K. Skramstad,of Michigan, to be a member of the NationalCouncil on the Humanities for a term expir-ing January 26, 2000, vice Patrick Butler,term expired.

David S. Tatel,of Maryland, to be U.S. Circuit Judge for theDistrict of Columbia Circuit, vice RuthBader Ginsburg.

Submitted June 21

Mark W. Bennett,of Iowa, to be U.S. District Judge for theNorthern District of Iowa, vice Donald E.O’Brien, retired.

Salvador E. Casellas,of Puerto Rico, to be U.S. District Judge forthe District of Puerto Rico, vice Jaime Pieras,Jr., retired.

Daniel R. Dominguez,of Puerto Rico, to be U.S. District Judge forthe District of Puerto Rico, vice GilbertoGierbolini-Ortiz, retired.

Richard L. Greene,of Maryland, to be Chief Financial Officer,Department of State, vice Jill E. Kent.

Delissa A. Ridgway,of the District of Columbia, to be Chairmanof the Foreign Claims Settlement Commis-sion of the United States for the remainderof the term expiring September 30, 1994,vice James H. Grossman.

Delissa A. Ridgway,of the District of Columbia, to be Chairmanof the Foreign Claims Settlement Commis-sion of the United States for a term expiringSeptember 30, 1997 (reappointment).

John R. Lacey,of Connecticut, to be a member of the For-eign Claims Settlement Commission of theUnited States for the term expiring Septem-ber 30, 1995, vice Benjamin F. Marsh, termexpired.

Submitted June 22

William C. Bryson,of Maryland, to be U.S. Circuit Judge for theFederal Circuit, vice Howard T. Markey, re-tired.

Alan A. Diamonstein,of Virginia, to be a member of the Boardof Directors of the National Corporation for


1350 Administration of William J. Clinton, 1994

Housing Partnerships for the term expiringOctober 27, 1995, vice Eugene Peters, termexpired.

Robert James Huggett,of Virginia, to be an Assistant Administratorof the Environmental Protection Agency,vice Erich W. Bretthauer, resigned.

Neil H. Offen,of the District of Columbia, to be a memberof the Board of Directors of the Inter-Amer-ican Foundation for a term expiring October6, 1998, vice Paul Edward Sussman, term ex-pired.

Sandra Kaplan Stuart,of North Carolina, to be an Assistant Sec-retary of Defense, vice David J. Gribbin III,resigned.

Checklistof White House Press Releases

The following list contains releases of the Officeof the Press Secretary that are neither printed asitems nor covered by entries in the Digest ofOther White House Announcements.

Released June 18

Statement by Press Secretary Dee DeeMyers on President Carter’s visit to NorthKorea

Released June 19

Transcript of a press briefing by AssistantSecretary of State Robert Gallucci on Presi-dent Carter’s visit to North Korea

Released June 20

Transcript of a press briefing by Press Sec-retary Dee Dee Myers

Transcript of a press briefing by Assistant tothe President Eli Segal, Attorney General

Janet Reno, Interior Secretary Bruce Bab-bitt, Health and Human Services SecretaryDonna Shalala, Housing and Urban Devel-opment Secretary Henry Cisneros, and Envi-ronmental Protection Agency AdministratorCarol Browner announcing winners ofAmeriCorps grants

Released June 22


Statement by Press Secretary Dee DeeMyers on the Executive order blocking prop-erty of certain Haitian nationals

Statement by Press Secretary Dee DeeMyers announcing that the White House willhost a Conference on Africa on June 26 and27

Statement by Press Secretary Dee DeeMyers on the President’s meeting with KingHussein of Jordan

Statement by Press Secretary Dee DeeMyers on the President’s telephone con-versation with President Kim of South Korea

Released June 23


Released June 24

Statement by Press Secretary Dee DeeMyers on the President’s meeting with Presi-dent Menem of Argentina

Acts Approvedby the President

NOTE: No acts approved by the President werereceived by the Office of the Federal Registerduring the period covered by this issue.
