[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 56 (Monday, April 29, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4271-S4272]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      UNDERMINING THE PUBLIC TRUST

  Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, in the real world, when one of us makes a 
promise, he is expected to keep it. Politicians are held in low repute 
precisely because people do not expect them to keep their promises, and 
herein lies the heart of President Clinton's problem.
  The people elected him President in 1992 because of his promises and 
now find that he has repudiated them. President Clinton promised to 
``end welfare as we know it.'' He broke that promise. He failed to keep 
his promise to give the middle class a tax cut. He failed to keep his 
promise to reduce the size of Government. He failed to keep his promise 
to balance the budget in 5 years.
  The consequences of the President's broken promises are grave, not 
just because the country is still stuck with a broken welfare system, a 
Tax Code that makes it hard for workers and their families to get by, 
and a rising national debt that threatens the future of our children 
and grandchildren but also because in failing to keep his promises the 
President undermines the public trust.
  President Clinton, I fear, does not understand that when he breaks a 
promise, he contributes to the cynicism and anger of the public. The 
American people are by nature neither cynical nor angry, but who can 
blame them for their distrust of politicians in Washington, DC, when 
they are forever being disappointed by broken promises.
  The people have demonstrated to us time and time again that they want 
welfare reform, they want a balanced budget, and they want tax relief. 
Most people, unfortunately, are not aware that Congress has passed all 
three, and President Clinton has vetoed every one. Welfare reform, 
indeed, he has vetoed twice.
  I am reminded of T.S. Eliot's eloquent poem ``The Hollow Man.'' In it 
he paints a dismal picture of politicians whose talk means nothing and 
actions meaningless:

       Between the idea
       And the reality
       Between the motion
       And the act
       Falls the Shadow

  There is, indeed, a shadow between the President's words and his 
actions. He can work wonders in front of a camera or before a live 
audience. When he is performing, he is good. But when the time comes to 
act to keep his commitments and make tough decisions, sadly, he comes 
up short.
  Of course, the picture is not irredeemably bleak. There has been 
progress. Two years ago, most Washington, DC, politicians were talking 
more and bigger Government programs, not a balanced budget; midnight 
basketball, not welfare reform, and tax hikes, not tax cuts. Today, the 
picture is different. This Congress has changed the debate. We have not 
won on every point but progress, especially when one is dealing with 
such issues, is bound to be slow and a certain amount of time and 
patience required, but we are doing our level best to keep our 
promises.

  So, we can ask that age old question: Is this glass half empty or is 
it half full? It is half empty if you want a balanced budget and do not 
have it. It is half full if you recognize that Republicans in Congress 
have accomplished what no Congress did for 30 years--we passed a 
balanced budget. President Clinton vetoed it.
  The glass is half empty if you expected tax cuts for families and 
small businesses. It is half full if you remember that Republicans 
passed a bill to give just such relief but the President vetoed it. The 
glass is half empty if you see an unreformed welfare system continuing 
to undercut the American ideal of family responsibility and hard work, 
but it is half full if you credit a Congress that took seriously its 
commitment and the President's to end welfare as we know it. But Bill 
Clinton vetoed welfare reform--twice.
  Republicans passed a balanced budget for the sake of our children and 
grandchildren. Knowing that every American's personal share of the debt 
is $18,000, and that continued unrestricted growth in Government will 
add so much more to our national debt that a child born today can 
expect to pay $187,000 in interest on that debt in his or her lifetime, 
Congress acted. We made some tough choices and hard decisions to cut 
Government spending, and we came up with a plan for a balanced budget. 
President Clinton vetoed it. He says he favors a balanced budget, and 
he uses all the fine words his political consultants advise him to use, 
but the bottom line is President Bill Clinton vetoed the only balanced 
budget Congress has passed in 30 years.
  Republicans reformed Medicare to preserve and strengthen it for older 
Americans and for those who expect it when they retire, but President 
Clinton vetoed it. Just last week, his own Medicare trustees reported 
that Medicare's hospital insurance fund is approaching bankruptcy even 
more rapidly than we feared, but President Clinton will not budge.
  Republicans also voted tax relief to American families and to those 
who provide jobs and opportunity for all Americans. President Clinton 
vetoed this tax cut as well. With hundreds of thousands of working 
families just barely making ends meet, with small businesses--the 
driving force of the American economy--increasingly burdened by heavy 
taxes and regulations, the President sent the message to taxpayers that 
the Federal Government wants more and more of their hard-earned 
dollars.

  Republicans twice passed welfare reforms to require able-bodied 
people to work and to instill responsibility and dignity into the lives 
of those who are subjected to the destructive forces of the current 
system. President Clinton vetoed welfare reform bills not once but 
twice.
  It is unfortunate but true that Bill Clinton is the President of the 
status

[[Page S4272]]

quo. He is the President of big Government, high taxes, and an 
unreformed welfare system.
  We all must admit, of course, that President Clinton has some of the 
attributes of a great leader. He does an outstanding job when he makes 
a speech or brings the Nation together in times of tragedy. But there 
is much more to leadership than giving speeches, shaking hands, and 
acting well before the camera lens. Being a leader is not just 
eloquence. Being a leader is acting on that eloquence and keeping your 
word even when it is tough to do so.
  Do the American people trust the President's word? Do we in Congress, 
even some in the President's own party, trust the President's word when 
he says something? When he makes a commitment, can we be sure that he 
means it now and will mean it in a week, a month, or a year?
  One of my colleagues said recently, more in sorrow than anger, ``My 
problem is I believe 90 percent of what he says and disagree with 90 
percent of what he does.''
  When we look at the glaring difference between what the President 
says and what he does, our reaction can only be one of profound 
disappointment. So many chances we have had to set America on a new 
course, to change the way the Government works, and so many chances 
lost because the President will not stick to his word.
  The President of the United States holds a special elevated place in 
the minds of the people. More than Congress, more than any other 
institution, the people look to the President for leadership. His words 
and his actions are of great importance, and have an immense impact.

  The learned historian Donald Kagan, writing about the first great 
democratic leader who lived more than 2,000 years ago, Pericles of 
Athens, said:

       Every leader who makes any impression at all acts as an 
     educator for good or ill, knowingly or not. His people pay 
     attention to his words and deeds as to few others, and he 
     contributes to their vision of the world, their nation, and 
     themselves and their relations among them.
       The leader's vision may be confusing and chaotic, or it may 
     be . . . clear and orderly; it may encourage or discourage; 
     it may degrade or elevate the people.

  How shall we assess the President's leadership by this standard? I am 
saddened, I am disappointed to say it has been confusing and chaotic--
to the American people, and to us in Congress. It has been discouraging 
as well. The President has lifted our hopes by promising he is for 
welfare reform, tax relief, and a balanced budget, only to discourage 
us by going back on his word. Time and time again, the President has 
changed his mind. Things have come to such a sad state that we are no 
longer surprised when the President breaks a promise. We expect him to 
be inconsistent more than we expect him to be reliable.
  I hope the President will decide that keeping his promises is better 
politics than repudiating them. If he does, we can work with him on a 
balanced budget, tax relief, and welfare reform--all the changes the 
American people want, changes, indeed, they have wanted for a long 
time, and that will be of enormous help for the country.
  I wish I could be optimistic in this hope, but based on his past 
record, I doubt President Clinton will sign a balanced budget, tax 
relief measures, or welfare reform legislation. I doubt he will work 
with Congress to reduce the size of the Federal Government or to get 
Government off the people's backs. This is an area, however, Mr. 
President, in which I hope against hope that the President will prove 
me wrong.

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