[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992, Book I)]
[May 19, 1992]
[Pages 794-797]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks to the National Retail Federation

May 19, 1992
    The President. Let me first salute Lamar Alexander; most of you know 
who he is, our Secretary for Education. But as we're trying to literally 
revolutionize American education, give kids a real break, give them a 
shot at excellence, why, I can't tell you how grateful I am to have him 
as Secretary. He's doing a superb job.
    Tracy, president, thank you for having me here. And to Joseph 
Antonini, I salute him, our chairman. And thank you all very much for 
coming.
    I gather Pat Saiki has been here, right, or has she?
    Ms. Tracy Mullins. She spoke to us this morning.
    The President. Yes. I want to say about Pat, when this problem broke 
out there in Los Angeles, she took that SBA and really rose to the 
occasion. I think she's really trying to help in that field. And of 
course, what they're doing, SBA, across the board, I hope, is beneficial 
in many ways to all business people in this country.
    But as you know, these riots out there left a large number of retail 
operators and a lot of small businesses devastated. What happened in the 
Korean community, where it was particularly concentrated, was just 
horrible and, of course, all communities. But

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Pat did respond very swiftly. The SBA and then also FEMA, the Federal 
Emergency Management Agency, have made massive resources available. The 
Federal Home Loan Bank is going to offer an additional $600 million to 
finance the rebuilding of homes and businesses there. Then we have a 
special task force to cut the redtape and to make sure that these 
businesses get the help that they deserve in record time.
    So I wanted to just give you a report on that. I think the Federal 
Government has responded promptly to the troubles out there. The 
Governor and the Mayor have both thanked us for what we've done, not 
only in this side but also in the law enforcement side by bringing to 
bear some of the U.S. Army, the 7th Infantry, and the Marines at a time 
when it was very dicey. So I hope that our response has been proper. But 
now we've got to go beyond this tragedy and renew our commitment to 
bring hope and to bring opportunity not just to Los Angeles but to every 
city.
    Last week, we went to the Congress with six action-oriented items. 
Again I had a chance to repeat that; we had the Democratic leaders and 
the Republican leaders into the White House today. And the six points: 
The first one was a ``Weed and Seed'' anticrime initiative, where you 
weed out the criminal elements and then seed the neighborhoods with 
investments and jobs that hopefully will bring opportunity to the 
communities.
    The housing initiative is known as HOPE, that's Homeownership for 
People Everywhere. We get hit, saying, ``Hey, we ought to try some new 
ideas.'' We said, ``This is a new idea. It really hasn't been tried.'' 
It's a proposal we've had out there. But I happen to feel that dignity 
comes with owning your own home an awful lot of the time. So we're going 
to press, and I think Congress now will be much more receptive to that.
    Education reform Lamar will talk about. But in terms of meeting 
medium and longer range objectives, therein lies the answer. These kids 
have got to be educated. They have got to understand that gang warfare 
is no substitute for jobs. So we're putting an awful lot of stake on 
trying to get through now the education program that I'm sure Lamar will 
describe to you.
    Welfare reform, you've got to be careful that you put it forward in 
a very constructive way, and that, again, is what we're trying to do. I 
read the case of the family the other day where a little girl had 
managed to save a pittance, her mother being on welfare, and the welfare 
law was such that she couldn't save anything beyond $1,000. That seems 
to me to be counterproductive. So we're trying to make reforms there, as 
well as permit the States to try new things through what we call the 
waiver process: give waivers to the States from the existing guidelines 
and let them try innovative answers, whether it's learnfare or workfare 
or whatever it is. So this one is important. Again, it transcends just 
Los Angeles, but it's a national thing.
    Strong job training programs for young people is a very good one. 
And we've got Job Training 2000, which is like a one-stop shopping for 
all the Federal Agencies to come together and help on that one.
    Then the enterprise zones approach. I was amazed, but in everyplace 
I went, both there in South Central, in the Korean community, and then 
in Pittsburgh and in Philadelphia, there's an idea which really has 
unanimous support now. So I am very hopeful that this enterprise zones 
concept that passed the Congress, not in the form we wanted but that 
passed the Congress, will be enacted into law. It will bring private 
capital and jobs to the neighborhoods. It will act like a magnet, giving 
businesses a break to locate in these tough areas. And obviously, if it 
didn't work and wasn't productive, they wouldn't stay. But at least it's 
an idea that needs to be tried.
    Now, on your business, I know the retailers have not had it easy. 
You've been through some tough times, as have many other sectors of the 
economy. I think there are reasons to be encouraged overall. In the 
first quarter of this year, retail sales were up by, I'm told, a strong 
3 percent. And I want to tell you that we are going to try to do 
everything we can from here to ensure that the growth continues.
    It's odd, I just saw some new surveys, and the American people still 
feel the economy is getting worse, even though most economists now and 
most business people are

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saying, ``Hey, it's beginning to move.'' I think you'll see some growth 
figures that confirm that. But there's a confidence problem out there 
that I'm sure adversely affects some of your interests, some of your 
business. I think that can turn around now, and I think it will turn 
around.
    We are going to try not to oversell where the economy stands but at 
least try to gun down some of this pessimism you get on the top of every 
news broadcast across this country. I mean, when a statistic comes out 
that's favorable, somebody finds a bad one to offset it with or trying 
to put a bad spin on it. But I believe things are beginning to move. And 
I think most people in the country feel that way. I hope that that is 
immediately felt in the retail business.
    In Washington, clearly, we've got to get our own house in order. We 
have proposals before the Congress now that really would help with the 
Federal deficit. We are not going to get the deficit down until we cap 
the growth of--you don't have to cut--but cap the growth of the 
mandatory programs. There's no other way to do it. We've done fairly 
well by capping the discretionary programs. But we've got to get 
discipline back.
    That leaves me to ask for your support for an idea that I've long 
been for, advocated it in campaign after campaign, but that we may have 
a chance to get through Congress now, and that is the balanced budget 
amendment. It will have to be phased in. It can't be done overnight. But 
it can be phased in. And I really think it would discipline not just the 
Congress but any executive branch, ours or subsequent executive 
branches. I would like to ask your support on that because that's 
beginning to churn around in the Congress right now.
    Secondly, we are going to continue to go after redtape, reduce 
Federal redtape. It acts as a straitjacket. I was in business once, that 
was way back in the fifties and sixties, and I remember the pain it was 
to have to go to several Agencies to get permits to go out and do our 
business. So we are trying to simplify all that now, recognizing that 
every dollar you spend conforming to some Government mandate is a dollar 
that you could spend in some way making sales to your customers more 
efficiently or reducing costs or whatever.
    As you may know, we have a moratorium now on new Federal 
regulations. It has been successful, and now we've renewed it. We're 
speeding up those regulations that encourage growth. Wherever possible, 
we are actually canceling regulations that needlessly burden business. I 
have certain responsibilities for safety, for the environment, but I am 
convinced that up until now we've not found, Government hasn't found, 
the proper balance. We are really working at this problem, and I hope 
that we can prove to you that the days of overregulation are just 
exactly that, that they are over. But if you get examples from your 
businesses where that is not true, please call them to our attention, 
and let us try to help with this bureaucracy out there where we have to 
fight to hold the line against the excesses of regulation.
     The IRS, just by way of example here, at our direction has issued 
new rules to simplify the payroll tax system. Those new rules are really 
going to reduce, significantly, I might say, the payroll costs of 
businesses. We're launching an experimental program that will let 
employers make tax payments electronically. And there is no reason why 
you should waste time and money doing paperwork for the U.S. Government.
    I also understand how crucial trade is to the growth of your area; 
this is a whole other point. In fact, I believe it is crucial for every 
American. Our economic success at home depends on our economic success 
abroad. We can no longer pull back in isolation or into protectionism. 
We simply can't do it. There are some bad politics in it. Maybe there 
are some good politics. I know there's good common sense in this 
approach I've outlined.
    I really appreciate what you all have done on behalf of the North 
American free trade agreement. And I am convinced that it is in the 
interest of the American worker to get that agreement passed. When we 
get it, and I am confident we will, we're going to have created a $6.5 
trillion market with the North America free trade agreement, $6.5 
trillion market, one of the largest of the world.
    Also on the GATT round, we're moving forward there. It's difficult, 
the hangups, I

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won't burden you with all the details, but I'm telling you it's like 
pulling teeth getting the GATT round completed. But a successful GATT 
agreement could pump more than $5 trillion into the global economy over 
10 years. Our share of that promises to top $1 trillion. That means, 
obviously, more and more better jobs for Americans. I think it means 
better service for your customers, too, and I think it means better 
prospects to make your businesses grow. I think the consumer is helped 
here by prices being reasonable and more competitive.
    Now, I am committed to both the NAFTA and GATT round conclusions. 
And some call this trade policy optimistic, and in a sense, I think 
they're right because I am optimistic about this country. I refuse to be 
one of the pessimists when it comes to where we stand in terms of the 
future. The creativity and the energy and the enthusiasm of the members 
of this organization are just the best possible rebuttal to the 
pessimists.
    So with your help I think we can demonstrate, as we're coming out of 
this slow, infinitesimal growth period, that we've got plenty to be 
grateful for and that there's plenty of opportunity out there. The 
retailers have been in the lead for many sensible fiscal proposals up 
there on Capitol Hill, and this is a good opportunity just to say thank 
you from the bottom of a very, very grateful heart.
    Thank you for being with us today. And now I will turn the program 
either to the chairman or to the other president, depending how we want 
to do all of this.

                    Note: The President spoke at 3:03 p.m. in Room 450 
                        of the Old Executive Office Building. In his 
                        remarks, he referred to federation officers 
                        Tracy Mullins, president, and Joseph Antonini, 
                        chairman.