[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992-1993, Book II)]
[September 16, 1992]
[Pages 1571-1572]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks and an Exchange With Reporters on Family Leave Legislation
September 16, 1992

    The President. One of the things we're going to be talking about 
here today is family leave. I am very proud of what we have already 
accomplished for families. We all know the issues on that. We have a 
child care plan that puts the power in the hands of families and 
parents, not bureaucrats. We let the family choose their child care and 
not the Government. We should provide an equally flexible approach to 
family and medical leave.
    I favor family and medical leave, always have. But the real question 
is how do we achieve that goal? Now the Democrats are sending me a bill. 
It's been timed for politics. They've been sitting on it for a whole 
year. It takes one different--approach different from ours.
    Unfortunately, they and my opponent believe in a Government-dictated 
mandate that increases costs and loses jobs. Every Governor that comes 
in here says, ``Please don't create more mandates.'' But now they're 
sending me a mandated program.
    Our alternative is to provide a family-oriented solution in the form 
of a tax credit for small and medium-sized businesses. Our approach both 
encourages companies to adopt family leave policies and gives them the 
flexibility to target the specific needs of their employees.
    My tax credit approach, and we have it in a bill, has another great 
big advantage. The Democrat bill covers only businesses with more than 
50 employees, leaving out the millions of employees of small firms, 
those the least likely to get leave. Our solution would provide an 
incentive to all small and medium-sized companies to provide this 
important benefit. So, in fact, I think our approach has a broader 
coverage and includes those most in need.
    So I would like to suggest if people are really interested in 
getting family leave done, and I am, that the Democratic leader-

[[Page 1572]]

ship go to work on this. It can be done very, very quickly, and it will 
not cause a loss of jobs, something that concerns me very much in this 
small-business arena. We're trying to help small business, not mandate 
them so that, whether they want to or not, they have to lay people off.
    So I would like to see immediate action on this. There's an awful 
lot of politics at play here. But here's an approach that for those that 
want family leave can do it; those who are opposed to mandates, as I am 
and many, many other people are across this country, they can support 
this very nicely.
    So that's where we'd like----
    Q. Mr. President, do you know how much it would cost and how would 
you pay for it?
    The President. Well, we're going to be discussing that with the 
leaders. There are some $60 billion that OMB knows about where we can 
allocate to this. But that has to all be negotiated out, depending on 
the size of it and all.
    Q. So you are going to veto the bill?
    The President. Well, I've sent a veto signal for a long, long time 
on this. It's just odd that now, after a year up there, it shows up down 
here 2 weeks before the adjournment of this session. I find that very 
peculiar and highly political.
    So I'll stay with my past position here. If there's some last minute 
compromise that can be worked out on existing legislation, fine. I don't 
see it. Our people, Nick Calio and all, have been struggling very had to 
try to get something done on family leave that is not a mandate. And 
therein lies the key.
    Q. You didn't offer this bill the last time you vetoed family leave.
    The President. Well, we've been trying to work with the Congress to 
try to get something done. Now here's a clean approach that those who 
really want family leave should take a look at.
    Thank you. Hey, listen, I've got to go to work here. Thank you all 
very much.
    Q. Are you going to be in Lansing on Tuesday?
    The President. I don't know where I'm going to be Tuesday. That's a 
long way away.

                    Note: The President spoke at 8:15 a.m. in the 
                        Cabinet Room at the White House prior to a 
                        meeting with Republican congressional leaders. 
                        In his remarks, he referred to Nicholas E. 
                        Calio, Assistant to the President for 
                        Legislative Affairs.