[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992, Book I)]
[January 22, 1992]
[Pages 123-127]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



The President's News Conference

January 22, 1992

Secretary of Transportation Nominee

    The President. Let me just say that I am nominating Andy Card, 
Andrew H. Card, Jr., to be the Secretary of Transportation. His 
distinguished career in government service at both the State and the 
national level give him the unique background for serving the Nation's 
transportation interests. He's a friend of many years who started his 
career as a legislator in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. I 
have valued that experience often in the last 3 years

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here in Washington.
    As Deputy Chief of Staff, he has offered wise and loyal counsel on 
legislation, on management of Federal programs, and on intergovernmental 
relations. Scores of people from all walks of life know him as the White 
House manager who will listen to their concerns and get things done. 
That's true here. That's true on Capitol Hill.
    And I also want to express my appreciation once again to Sam Skinner 
for his expert and dedicated stewardship over at that Department, 
culminating in the landmark Transportation Act. He was known over there 
for his foresight and innovation, and he's brought that same energy, 
distinctive energy, to the White House.
    Our Nation's transportation system faces many important challenges 
in the years ahead. And a vast new highway system is taking shape under 
the Surface Transportation Act that was just signed into law. Whether it 
be in aviation, railroads, mass transit, shipping, or the Coast Guard, I 
know that Andy Card's leadership will be an important ingredient in 
providing the most effective transportation system possible.
    I look forward to having him in this important position on the 
administration team, look forward to having him as a valued counselor 
and member of the President's Cabinet. And he will do a first-rate job 
at Transportation, just as his predecessor did.
    Thank you very much. Andy, do you want equal time here?
    Mr. Card. I'm honored and quite privileged to be part of the 
President's team, and I'm flattered that he would choose me to be part 
of his Cabinet. I look forward to working with the other members of the 
Cabinet, with the rest of the Bush administration, and I want to carry 
on the fine tradition that Secretary Skinner brought to the Department 
of Transportation.
    Mr. President, I'm proud to be part of your team. Thank you.
    The President. We're scooting over to the State Department for an 
event. But maybe I should take a question or two. I know you're all 
interested in this appointment.

State of the Union Message

    Q. Mr. President, are you going to go for a middle-income tax cut? 
And are you going to cut the Pentagon budget by $50 billion? And are you 
going to break the budget agreement?
    The President. Helen [Helen Thomas, United Press International], you 
have 6 days to wait for answers to all those questions. So, I'm not 
going to now start taking specifics on the State of the Union. I'm 
confident that what we suggest will be widely received, well-received by 
the American people. I think we're transcending politics. So, I'm 
confident what I propose will have strong support from all elements on 
the Republican side----
    Q. How about the conservatives?
    The President. ----strong support there. And I think we're going to 
have a very good package. But we're going to eschew some of the pure 
political approaches. We're going to try to do something that will 
stimulate the economy and avoid these things that may have strong 
primary political appeal but would hurt the economy in the long run by 
shooting interest rates up. So, just stay tuned, and I'll give you all 
the answers to that one.
    Q. Can I follow that on a nonspecific----
    The President. Yes, you can.
    Q. Do you agree with those who say, even from among your own party, 
that you really don't have a message that you've presented so far?
    The President. No, I don't agree with them.
    Q. Why not?
    The President. But I think the State of the Union will give us a 
strong opportunity to get it across. Because we're in a political 
season, Ann [Ann Compton, ABC News]. And I point out what we've done in 
various areas, the benefits of a transportation bill, what we're doing 
in terms of a brand new education program. And it's pretty hard when 
you're out there getting hammered by the--the only way for the 
opposition to win in the political season is to tear down the President. 
The American people see that.
    So, what I've got to do is get out and above all that by this State 
of the Union and then following up vigorously, which we will do.

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Japan-U.S. Trade Agreements

    Q. Mr. President, there's concerns from comments from Prime Minister 
Miyazawa and other industrialists in Tokyo that there may be some 
backsliding in Japan on agreements they made during your trip. What is 
your reaction?
    The President. I was pleased with the correction or the comments 
coming out of Japan yesterday. I was not pleased with the statements 
that challenged the ability of American workers. I have full confidence 
in the American workers' competence, their ability. I do think that our 
products have to be competitive, and there's no question about that. But 
we've got the best workers in the world. So, when I saw a statement 
challenging that, I was upset.
    But I was also pleased when I saw a reaffirmation of these goals 
that were established, and we'll have more to say on that, on a computer 
agreement that has had strong support, and I've seen very little 
coverage on that. It's a very good agreement. And the Japanese have 
every intention of fulfilling that agreement.
    So, you know, I hope they don't judge American policy by some of the 
outrageous statements I've seen against them. And I won't judge Japanese 
policy by some of the outrageous statements I've seen against us. You 
need a steady hand here. You need to build on the progress we've made.

Economic Growth Initiatives

    Q. Mr. President, you used much the same words that you used this 
morning, eschewing a political approach, avoiding something that would 
send interest rates shooting up----
    The President. Right.
    Q. ----earlier this, or last year, in saying you would oppose a 
broad, general tax cut. Can we construe from your comments today that 
you will oppose a middle class----
    The President. You just have to wait and see. But I'll stay with 
what I've said here in terms of definition of our approach. And I think 
it will be well-received. And what it will do is to target growth of 
jobs in this economy. And I saw last year one program, I forget which it 
was, on the Democratic side that was just kind of a broadly--do away 
with the constraints on spending. People are tired of all this 
Government spending. They want to see the caps on the spending held. 
That program would have done away with the caps, give everybody a tax 
cut. And interest rates shot up the very next day.
    So, our proposal will try to avoid that kind of politically popular 
approach, but will focus on those things that will encourage jobs, 
investment, savings, whatever.
    Q. Mr. President, you talked a few minutes ago about political 
opponents tearing apart the Presidency.
    The President. The President.
    Q. The President.
    The President. To some degree the Presidency, the President.
    Q. But Republican conservatives are tearing apart your economic 
advisers. They're saying they haven't been bold enough. There are 
reports that you're considering some kind of staff shakeup. First of 
all, have the proposals not been bold enough? Are you going to become 
more bold in that approach? And do you have a shakeup in the works?
    The President. One, I feel confident that we'll have strong support 
in our party. There's some, one or two out on a real fringe running 
around up there, that might find it difficult to support me for 
political reasons. I mean, we all know we're in a political season. But 
I think the broad numbers of Republicans in the House and in the Senate 
will be supportive when they see what this package is.
    What was the second part?

White House Staff

    Q. Staff shakeup.
    The President. Well, anytime you have a new Chief of Staff, I tell 
him, ``Hey, take a look at the structure here; see what we can do to do 
a better job.'' We're moving into a very complicated and difficult year. 
And I have full confidence in the people around us, but whether there 
will be some structural changes that will facilitate one end or another 
of our responsibilities, let's wait and see.

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Aid to the Commonwealth of Independent States

    Q. Mr. President, on the C.I.S. conference you're about to host, a 
number of European countries are complaining that the U.S. is not in a 
good position to lead this because this country lags behind the rest of 
the world in aid for the Soviet Union. The French, in particular, have 
been outspoken. Do you feel they have a point, and do you anticipate 
adding more to the U.S. contribution?
    The President. Look, it's always been a hallmark of U.S. foreign 
policy, and I think of the heartbeat of this country, that if people are 
hurting, health reasons, famine, food reasons, that the United States is 
willing to help. So, I would anticipate our stepping up and trying to do 
as much as we possibly can. We have already made significant 
contributions. And I'm very proud that we have. That's the heartbeat of 
our country, trying to help people, home and abroad.
    And so I would expect that we'll do some more. But what we're doing 
now over at State is making sure everybody understands what really has 
been done. And yes, I've seen some comments out of the EC, for example, 
that they've done more. I don't think it's a question of who's doing the 
most. It's a question of each country in there doing its best. And I'm 
very proud that there's such fine attendance for this coordinating 
conference here. And we will do our level-best to help.
    We've got enormous problems here that need attention, but we're not 
going to change the view that when people are hurting the United States 
ought not to help. And we do have a big stake in this, in the success of 
the democracies in the Commonwealth. We've got an enormous stake.
    And isn't it better to send some money to help people who are hungry 
or perhaps need medical attention than it is to be ever increasing your 
nuclear weapons, one against the other? We're living in an exciting age 
where this country has much less to fear from nuclear weapons. And I am 
very proud that we have made a real contribution to that.
    So, we'll do what we can. But we have and I think everyone around 
the world has restricted funds on all of this. So, I think we'll have a 
good answer over there.
    Q. Do you feel Americans don't understand the need?
    The President. No, I think Americans do understand the need, 
particularly, I hope, the way I've explained it here. And I think in 
Congress most people seem to. They understand we have a big stake in the 
peaceful, democratic evolution of the Commonwealth. I think it's an 
enormous stake. And whether it's popular politically or not, I mean, 
we've got to continue to conduct ourself as the United States of America 
and not knuckle under to every political charge from right or left. I 
mean, it's in a funny time now, as we all know. And I'm going to keep a 
steady hand on this and do our very best. And we've got a good program.
    The last one.
    Q. Mr. Burbulis, who's the Deputy Prime Minister, this morning in an 
op-ed piece in the Washington Post is asking for significantly more 
money, specifically 6 billion for a type of stabilization program and 
another 6 billion for food and medicine. What is your reaction to that?
    The President. I've just given my answer to it here. I can't 
comment. One, I didn't see his comment. And secondly, we are in touch 
with the Soviet, the Russian leadership, the leadership of the republics 
at the highest level. And I'll take a look at what he says, but I can't 
comment on a story I haven't seen. But I gave the answers to what we 
want to try to do here.

Economic Growth Initiatives

    Q. You've promised a dramatic economic growth plan in your State of 
the Union, but the Democrats are already planning their own growth plan. 
The Democratic candidates have already planned a press conference the 
night of your speech. How likely do you think it is that you'll actually 
get cooperation from Congress?
    The President. I think the American 
people want action. I think they'd like to 
think that even in an election year we can lay politics aside long 
enough to get something done to help the American people. 
And yes, the Democrats control both

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Houses of the Congress. And I think the American people see that there's 
blame to be shared all around on all of this.
    But I will make the strong view that, ``Hey, this is a tough one, 
but let's try to get something done that's going to get this country 
back to work, that's going to create jobs.'' And we'll see. That's the 
approach I'll take. And I will resist and fight against things that 
won't do that, that will make the situation worse. And I'll fight very 
hard for things that I think will make it better.
    And indeed, looking back over my shoulder, I just wish that the 
growth initiatives that I've been proposing for 3 years had been passed 
by the Congress. And so, I will now challenge the Congress and ask the 
American people's support for a sound package. It won't have everything 
I'd like to see get done, I'm sure, but I think in that spirit, maybe we 
can get something accomplished.
    Q. You'll set a deadline, sir?`
    The President. You wait now and see about this message.

                    Note: The President's 119th news conference began at 
                        8:40 a.m. in the Briefing Room at the White 
                        House. Gennadiy Burbulis was First Deputy Prime 
                        Minister of the Russian Federation.