[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992, Book I)]
[April 4, 1992]
[Pages 540-541]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Radio Address to the Nation on Governmental Reform

April 4, 1992
    American democracy was launched from great ideas which grew out of 
great debate. Our Founding Fathers believed in the fundamentals: faith, 
family, and freedom. And

[[Page 541]]

they were determined to build prosperity. More than 200 years later, by 
holding firmly to our principles, America has changed the world.
    Henry Luce called the 20th century the American Century. If we are 
to ensure that the next century is also the American century, we must 
meet five great challenges: education reform, legal reform, health care 
reform, international competitiveness and market expansion, and 
Governmental reform.
    The latest unemployment figures were released Friday. They held 
steady at 7.3 percent. But unemployment is still too high. Too many 
Americans are out of work. To get this economy rolling again, faster and 
stronger, Congress should have passed our economic action plan. But they 
reverted to form, tried to raise taxes and increase Government spending. 
We can no longer afford this kind of business-as-usual. We need to 
reform Congress. And that is my focus today.
    G.K. Chesterton said, ``We cannot discuss reform without reference 
to form.'' In the face of overwhelming evidence that change is 
necessary, Congress has kept reform on the back burner. It is up to us 
to turn up the heat. If we are to improve education, health care, our 
legal system, if we are to reduce redtape and regulation, if we are to 
make our country competitive and get this horrendous deficit down, we 
must reform the congressional process itself.
    It is true that one-party rule in Congress is a big part of the 
problem. But the larger issue is a systemic problem: the 284 
congressional committees and subcommittees, the almost 40,000 
legislative branch employees and staff, the $2.5 billion of taxpayer 
financing, overlaid with $117 million reelection war chest and special 
interest campaign contributions for incumbents. Such a system cannot 
promote reform and change; instead, it aggressively protects the status 
quo.
    I know that the Federal Government cannot be run just like IBM or 
the local convenience store. But Government today is a $1.5 trillion 
enterprise, and programs that have outlived their function have not 
outlived their funding. We can and we must improve Government's 
responsiveness. What merely hampered us in the past will gridlock us in 
the future. Our ability to compete demands that Congress enact the 
reforms I have proposed. The set of actions I have proposed, when taken 
together, will help make Government respond to the people; Government 
for the people, as our founders envisioned.
    First, Congress should govern itself by the laws it imposes on 
everyone else. No more special treatment.
    Second, Congress should reform its operations and procedures.
    Third, we must make sweeping campaign finance reforms.
    Fourth, we need to change how Congress spends the people's money.
    Fifth, we must revise and eliminate Government regulations that 
impede our ability to compete, and we must accelerate regulations that 
enhance our competitive edge.
    Sixth, we must limit congressional terms. The cycle of virtually 
guaranteed reelection through the built-in advantages of incumbency must 
be broken.
    And finally, the Congress of the future should be a citizen 
Congress, not a career Congress.
    These reforms, taken together, can renew our faith in Government, 
restore the principles of our founders, and help guarantee for our 
children a new American century.
    The choice is clear: On the one side stand the defenders of the 
status quo; on the other, the forces of change. And now that we've 
changed the world, we must make the choice to change America.
    Thank you, and may God bless the United States of America.

                    Note: This address was recorded at 8:04 a.m. on 
                        April 3 in the Oval Office at the White House 
                        for broadcast after 9 a.m. on April 4.