[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992-1993, Book II)]
[October 20, 1992]
[Pages 1877-1887]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Question-and-Answer Session in Atlanta, Georgia
October 20, 1992

    Mr. Nigut.  We want to welcome everyone to our town hall meeting, 
``Ask George Bush.'' Mr. President, we're delighted that you could be 
with us in Georgia this evening. We have, as you know, an audience of 33 
people who say they are still undecided voters. Just before you came 
into the studio I asked them to tell me, after last night's debate, how 
many were still unde-

[[Page 1878]]

cided. Most of them raised their hand, said they're still trying to make 
up their mind. So this is your opportunity to address their questions.
    The President. That sounds like a reasonable deal. They all look 
relatively sane and--[laughter].

The Economy

    Mr. Nigut.  Let me start, to get the ball rolling, and then turn 
immediately to questions from the audience--ask you a quick question. 
Coming out of the debates last night, there are some people who say that 
the campaign schedules today say a lot about how these last 2 weeks of 
the campaign is playing out. Your opponent Governor Clinton is off 
campaigning in States that at this stage of the campaign typically would 
no longer be vulnerable to a Democratic candidate, but they feel they 
are. You've come south where many people feel you should have been able 
to build your base a long time ago.
    The last poll that we conducted with the Atlanta Journal 
Constitution suggests that this is a very tight race here, but that your 
job approval rating has been high in Georgia. Thirty-three percent of 
the core Republicans said they're not particularly pleased with your 
job. Have you in some way let them down? And if you have, how do you get 
them back in these final 2 weeks?
    The President. I think the major problem has been the economy. And 
we're going to get them back because I think people are going to decide 
when they go into that voting booth on trust, on proven leadership. I 
think character is important. And then I think people are going to, in 
the final analysis, compare economic approaches. I just don't happen to 
think we need to tax people more and spend more. So I've got to get that 
in focus.
    But look, it's not just the United States, the whole world has been 
through a tough economic time. This will come as a surprise, perhaps, 
but we're an interconnected world, and we're leading most of the 
European economies, the great European economies. Our growth rate is 
twice what Japan's is. Yet I hear everybody comparing, talking about how 
great Japan is, and we ought to do better. Of course, we ought to do 
better. But we're going to lead the way out of what's been an economic 
slowdown.
    I think the economy has been the major problem for the working men 
and women in this country, for the unemployed. I believe that our 
proposals, the agenda for America's renewal, is what's going to change 
it and make it better.
    Mr. Nigut. Well, I promised that I would ask very few questions and 
give the audience most opportunities. A number of people wanted to ask 
questions based on last night's debate. These people all watched the 
debate last night, so I wanted to first turn to a few people who said 
they had specific followups to last night.
    Would you please stand up? You started to talk before about a couple 
of questions that were lingering after the debate last night.

Iraq

    Q. Well, I think that Mr. President has made it an issue of the 
character and judgment of one of his challengers, and Mr. Perot last 
night challenged him and was very adamant about maybe his character or 
judgment. I would like him to respond to the allegations of quote, 
unquote, Iraqgate or the Glaspie papers. He said that you were dealing 
with Saddam Hussein, helped build him up and gave him the opportunity to 
move into Kuwait.
    The President. I heard what he said. He also strongly opposed the 
war, and he said that we had not leveled with the American people on the 
Glaspie--that was Ambassador Glaspie. Let me tell you something. Every 
single paper, including Secretary of State's notes, which is 
unprecedented, was taken up to the United States Congress and looked at 
in detail. And after the event, Secretary Baker went and explained that 
to Mr. Perot, who said he hadn't known that.
    So I hope that one is cleared up, because you had congressional 
hearing after congressional hearing. My position on Iraq was we did try 
to make Saddam Hussein into somebody a little more sane. You know, when 
the war in Iran and Iraq ended, Saddam Hussein had the fourth largest 
army. Our Arab friends were saying, ``Try to bring him along. We don't 
need a radical

[[Page 1879]]

in our midst. Try to help him.'' We had letters, incidentally, from many 
of the people now critical on trying to sell American grain to Iraq, 
including the two Senators from Arkansas: ``Please sell grain to Iraq on 
credit.''
    Mr. Nigut. Is this an issue that still concerns you?
    The President. Can I just finish?
    Mr. Nigut. Yes, I'm sorry.
    The President. Because what happened is he then refused to come 
along and do what we encouraged him to do. And we knocked his socks off, 
thanks to the sons and daughters of Georgia who did what most Americans 
do: When called, they served, and they served with great distinction. It 
was a proud moment, and people are now trying to revise it and make it 
something it's not.
    Mr. Nigut. Are you satisfied? You still have some lingering 
question?

The Character Issue

    Q. Well, no. In the second debate I think that the audience 
participants tried to keep the character and judgment issue out of the 
room.
    The President. Well, may I respond? Do you think character is not 
important?
    Q. No, I do think it's important, Mr. President.
    The President. But they did try to keep it out of the room, and it 
belongs on the front page. A President must have character. You know, 
the way I described it last night, Clinton said it's not the character 
of the President but ``of the Presidency.'' That is absolutely 
ridiculous. I am judged on my character every single day. Every 
President must be judged on that. And so must he be judged on his 
character, and so must Mr. Perot. Character is vital. It is essential, 
because you have to have the trust of the whole world when you're 
President, or lack thereof.
    So I'm not going to let some guy stand up and say what I can talk 
about or what I can't. I happen to think that every schoolchild ought to 
think their President has a certain degree of character. Maybe Mr. 
Clinton's got it; maybe Mr. Perot's got it. But certainly it belongs as 
a matter for discussion.
    Mr. Nigut. Let's move on to another question. We talked to some 
people in here earlier and most of them said their decision now is 
between you and Governor Clinton. But a few said they still like Ross 
Perot, and you were one of them. What did you want to ask the President 
today?

Domestic Airline Industry

    Q. Mr. President, my question is twofold. It involves the airline 
industry. I would like to know why it appears that we are being so 
cooperative with foreign airlines and we've abandoned the weaker 
carriers of the United States. One, specifically in the past involving 
the demise of Eastern Airlines, why did you defy the recommendation of 
the National Mediation Board to form a Presidential emergency board to 
address this transportation crisis? And secondly, specifically in the 
present, why are you promoting policies which appear to give foreign 
airlines nearly total freedom to invest and operate within the United 
States with little or nothing in exchange for the United States 
airlines?
    The President. Tell me about the mediation board. Remind me of what 
that was, would you?
    Q. It had to do with investigating Lorenzo's actions involving the 
bankruptcy of Eastern Airlines.
    The President. I'll tell you what my philosophy is on these matters. 
As much as possible, it is to let these disputes be handled by private 
sector. I don't believe the Government ought to get in at all times. The 
one that Mr. Perot was hitting out about last night was an attempt for 
the British Airways to purchase USAir. You've got a major dispute 
raging. The USAir employees everyplace you go are holding up picket 
signs, not picket signs but saying, ``Hey, protect my job. Let the 
merger go through.'' And then you've got the other airlines like Delta, 
outstanding airline headquartered right here, American Airlines saying, 
``Wait a minute. It's not fair to let British come in here under USAir 
and then not let us have access to the British market.''
    Mr. Nigut. Of course, Eastern Airlines' bankruptcy and the decision 
not to allow mediators to come in was of enormous con-

[[Page 1880]]

cern here in the Atlanta area because we have some 5,000 Eastern 
employees who lost their jobs.
    The President. Sure it is. But my point--I was getting to the point. 
The point is, all USAir employees are saying, ``Let British take over,'' 
and all Delta Airline people are saying, ``Don't do it.'' This one has 
to be resolved by Government because of the routing and all of that. 
It's being negotiated now, and I'm not hiding behind this. But it would 
be most inappropriate for the President to take a position on it while 
the Department of Transportation is handling it. It will come to me. 
Everything does. And then you have to say, ``I'm for this,'' or against 
it.
    But on the other one, I just don't believe that the Government ought 
to intervene in all of these things.
    Mr. Nigut. All right, thank you, sir.
    The President. That's a big difference we've got on some of this 
philosophy.
    Mr. Nigut. Thank you, sir.
    The economy everyone identifies as a crucial issue. Does someone in 
the group want to ask an economic question of the President right now? 
Who has something they want to----

Improper Display of Canadian Flag

    The President. I want a baseball question, if I could.
    Mr. Nigut. We do have, actually----
    The President. Only because I've got a serious thing I want to say.
    Mr. Nigut. Go ahead. We're calling on you because the President 
mentions baseball. You've got your Braves T-shirt on. You get special 
treatment here today.
    The President. You don't have to ask baseball, but I just want to 
use this program, Bill, if I can to say something about the flag 
situation. Maybe I could do it before; then you'd be unfettered by my 
trying to define what you should ask about.
    But here's the thing on the Canadian flag inadvertently flown upside 
down. If that had happened in Canada and we'd have seen the United 
States flag flown upside down, every American would have been very, very 
upset. This was a mistake. Certainly, nobody would ever do anything like 
that on purpose.
    So what I wanted to use your program for is to say how badly I feel 
about it, how badly all the American people feel about it, how much we 
value our friendship with Canada. They are our strongest trading partner 
in the whole world, and we would do nothing to hurt the national pride 
of Canada. So, on behalf of all Americans, I simply wanted to apologize 
to the people of Canada and suggest we try to keep this now, from now 
on, out of the marvelous baseball rivalry between Atlanta and Toronto. 
And that's all I want to say.
    Mr. Nigut. How are you going to feel tonight? We are likely to see--
they're planning on flying a lot of American flags upside down tonight 
in Toronto. How are you going to feel if you see that?
    The President. Well, I won't like it, because when you see the 
American flag flown upside down, as a person that served in the Armed 
Forces and fought for my country, I would find that inappropriate. I 
guess I'd have to say I understand the passions of the Canadians, but I 
would simply ask them to have the same respect for the American flag 
that all Americans have for their flag, and recognize, as I said last 
night, if you make a mistake, whatever it is, hey, say, ``I made a 
mistake,'' and get on about the Nation's business.
    But I use this because the Prime Minister of Canada is a wonderful 
man. He's a friend to the United States, and he gets pounded in Canada 
for his friendship. Don't mistake it; he's pro-Canadian. I suspect he's 
rooting hard for Toronto. But I just wanted him to know how strongly 
Americans feel. End this discussion now, please.

Social Security

    Q. I'm a lunchroom lady, and this is something--I'm really very 
privileged. How many times do we get that opportunity, you know, us 
little folks down here? But I am concerned about Social Security. I'm 
about, well, a little less than 20 years away from it, but I'm concerned 
about if I'm going to have it when I get up there. And I have a 2-week-
old granddaughter that, in 62 years--I know that's a long time, but 
she's going to be there, too, someday. I want to know that we have that 
available to us

[[Page 1881]]

when we're ready for it.
    The President. First place, I think you'll remember that I'm the 
President that said in the State of the Union Message, don't mess with 
Social Security, don't touch it. Last night, perhaps inadvertently, 
Governor Clinton said something about those that take out more than they 
put in ought to do something about it. He may have misspoken, so I want 
to be fair about that. That's messing with Social Security. Ross Perot 
has proposed some kind of tax on Social Security. We ought not to mess 
with it.
    It was fixed in a bipartisan agreement under the Reagan 
administration, I think in '83 or '84, in there. It is solvent well into 
the--way after the turn of the century, up until about 2030 or something 
like that. If it needs further adjustments then, it should be fixed 
then. You'll still be alive, but I don't think I'll be around wrestling 
with the problem in the year 2030. And we ought not to fool around with 
it.
    In my budget plan, this Agenda for American Renewal, I say we've got 
to control the growth of these mandatory programs, but set Social 
Security aside. It's not a welfare program. It originally was to be a 
supplement to people's incomes. It's sacrosanct.
    So I think you can tell your daughter that the system is sound, and 
if it's not sound when she gets up there, my age, it will be made sound. 
But the big thing for now is, don't fool around with it, leave it 
separate as we try to control the growth of other spending programs.
    Mr. Nigut.  All right, Mr. President. We have a question over here, 
please.

Urban Initiatives

    Q. I would like to know--as you already know, the black people of 
this Nation and the black African-American people feel that we have been 
made a mockery of and that our issues are not being faced. We have not 
been addressed, and we have not had the proper opportunities that we 
should have in this country. We would, at this time, like to know 
specifically what you plan to do in order to get our vote this time 
around. After 12 years of being in office, what do you plan to do this 
time around to prove to us that you are capable of being our leader in 
this next 4 years?
    The President. That's a good question. I'm delighted that you're 
undecided, because so many are traditionally taken for granted by one 
party. They'll vote the straight lever on the other side and be had by 
local officials and by the United States Congress.
    We've got a good urban program. I don't know if you're talking about 
urban America. But if you're talking about urban America, the best thing 
for minority Americans is to bring the jobs into urban America. And 
we've got this program called enterprise zones. Now we're getting a lot 
of lip service from the Democrats, but they've been unwilling to pass 
it. They control the Senate, and they control the House, and they've 
controlled them both for 38 years.
    Enterprise zones says, look, give a tax break to businesses, make it 
worth their while to come into the urban centers and create jobs. I 
think our anticrime program benefits minority families more than others 
because some of those areas are the ones that are most afflicted by bad 
crime statistics. I think that homeownership is a far better concept 
than these big public tenements where the residents don't have the 
pride. I think tenant management, which we have pioneered, is a much 
better answer to urban hopelessness than having some Government official 
trying to run the places where people live.
    So all of these things, in my view, would raise the quality of life 
for people. It's not just for minorities, but I think it would 
disproportionately help the minorities. We've really got a good urban 
program.
    Mr. Nigut. I apologize, sir. We have to pause for a break, and we'll 
be back with you in just a moment.

[At this point, the television station took a commercial break.]

    Mr. Nigut. We're back with our town hall forum with George Bush, 
President of the United States. We want to get right back to questions. 
Go ahead.

Mortgage Loan Discrimination

    Q. My question is about homeownership. My wife and I hope to become 
homeowners in the near future and therefore favor the

[[Page 1882]]

tax credit to the first-time homebuyer. My question is, how can we as 
minorities be assured of this tax credit if we can't get equal lending 
from our banking community?
    The President. First place, the first-time homebuyer should be 
thrilled about my proposal. The way it works is you give a $5,000 credit 
to the family that's never owned a home before, for the first time. It 
is hung up, regrettably, in the Democratic Congress. They will not pass 
it. And it is the best possible thing that you could do.
    Obviously, the credit that you need to buy on the home has to come 
from your own full faith in credit, your own standing. But this is a 
major break for homeowners, and besides that, it would stimulate the 
economy. Along with building homes goes a lot of other industries that 
outfit the houses and refrigerators and furniture. And so it really is 
essential. I'm not sure I fully answered your question, but your 
credit--this won't help your borrowing. It will help it that you have 
$5,000 less you'll have to come up with. But it's really stimulative for 
the housing industry.
    Is that it? Did I get to it fully?
    Mr. Nigut. I'm sorry. I'm going to walk right in front of the camera 
to get you here on that.
    Q. Well, you touched on it. I'm talking about a couple of weeks ago 
our local paper ran an article where blacks and other minorities are 
being discriminated against on the lending, from the lending community. 
I think it's 18 percent or so, being denied. And the credit standing 
wasn't one of the biggest issues for denial.
    The President. Well, the credit standing should be the only issue 
for denial. I mean, if you have discrimination against anybody in 
housing or in loaning, that is against the law, and it must not 
continue.
    Mr. Nigut. What are you suggesting we do? Any ideas--how we 
enforce----
    The President. Well, I'd go right to the local officials here and 
get something done about it. You're looking at a man who, as a 
Congressman from Texas, voted for open housing. My view was if you've 
got kids dying--coming out of the ghettos--in Vietnam--they ought not to 
come back and find that they couldn't live where they wanted to live. So 
I'm a fair housing person.
    You're talking about something that is already against the law, 
where people discriminate against, lenders, because of their race is 
what I think you're saying. That is purely against existing Federal law. 
You ought to go get it enforced by the local law enforcement people and, 
if they're violating a Federal law, by the Federal law enforcement.

Tax Credit for First-Time Homebuyers

    Mr. Nigut. A quick followup on what you've made a big issue out of 
it in the campaign, and that's your break, your tax credit, for first-
time homebuyers. How much does it cost, and how do we pay for it?
    The President. It costs very little because it stimulates the whole 
industry, and when you get industry stimulated you have much more jobs. 
Frankly, I think it would be income-productive, because housing is going 
to lead the way out of this slowdown, in some areas, recession. So there 
is some good news----
    Mr. Nigut. But you acknowledge that initially we take a pretty big 
chunk of income tax----
    The President. Not that big. I can't give you the exact figure, but 
it's not enormous, and it will be far more offset by growth. Housing 
sales, incidentally, were up yesterday. I don't know; I didn't hear that 
on the top of the news last night. It may have been in there somewhere, 
but it's very difficult to get any good news out. That's good news for 
America.
    Mr. Nigut. Let me turn to another question.

The Economy

    Q. Four years ago, I voted for you, and I was a freshman in college. 
And now it's 4 years later, and I just graduated. I've worked really 
hard in school, and I was looking forward to entering the job market. 
But I'm very undecided about the whole economic issue, and I'm already 
discouraged before I've even started. What is your economic plan to have 
someone offer me who's just entering the job market?
    The President. You're caught up in what

[[Page 1883]]

has been a global recession. It's not just the United States. I'll take 
my share of the blame for the United States. I'm not going to take all 
of it because I think there's a lot of fault as to how things can be 
better. But this agenda for Americans' renewal that puts emphasis on 
investment is job-creating. I mentioned the homebuyers tax credit. I 
might talk about an investment tax allowance; it would stimulate job 
creation. You know I'm for the capital gains reduction. And the 
opposition--except I think Mr. Perot may be for it--but the opposition 
says this is a tax break for the rich. It is not. It is to stimulate 
entrepreneurship, the creation of new businesses.
    So I would suggest that the best answer to the economic recovery 
which is needed are these incentives that I've proposed as recently as 
January of this year, all hung up by a Congress that has to win by 
having things bad. I wouldn't be sitting here probably if the economy 
was growing at 3.5 or 4 percent, and it's not. But I think these 
incentives that I proposed are the way to make the economy grow.
    Herein I have a big difference with Governor Clinton. He says, 
``grow the economy,'' get the Government to use what he calls 
investment. Government investment does not create the kind of job that 
you're looking for. It creates bureaucracy.
    Mr. Nigut. Have you made a decision at least tentatively about which 
of the three Presidential candidates you believe has the kind of 
programs that will make sure you'll find good work down the road?
    Q. Well, like I said before, I voted for the President 4 years ago. 
So to begin with, I was leaning toward him, but now I've gone back and 
forth just because of the different economic plans. I'm just not sure.
    The President. Let me throw in another selling point. [Laughter] 
Four years ago you were a college freshman. Did you ever worry about 
nuclear war back then? Did you? You worry less about it now. But most 
kids that vintage, 4 years ago, would share the same fear of nuclear war 
that their parents had. We've changed all that.
    All I ask is to be judged on the whole record, and I really think 
that's dramatic. Forty-three more countries are free and democratic, 
since I've become President, around the world. You've got ancient 
enemies talking to themselves. That may not affect the job market, but 
it does affect the climate in which we're going to grow and create 
opportunity.
    Again, I get back to--last night I had this big argument with him 
about exports. Exports are going to save the job market. They're the 
only thing that saved it in this slow growth or in a recession.

Health Care

    Mr. Nigut. Mr. President, we have a voter here who is very concerned 
about health care and who has said frankly that he has been a supporter 
of yours in the past but needs to hear more from you about the whole 
issue of health care before he makes up his mind.
    Q. I think the American people understand your ability as a leader 
and to lead us in international affairs. I think we understand that 
that's really second to none, and we appreciate the job that you've done 
in the last 4 years. We also believe, I think, that if you understand us 
and our domestic problems as well as you understand the international 
affairs, that you will do as good a job here as you've done 
internationally. The question is, have you lost touch with America? Have 
you lost touch with us?
    My case in point is health care. When you have a monopoly such as 
the health care system, and I do mean monopoly because you have pills 
that cost, for 20 pills they cost $500. That's monopoly because without 
that this person is not going to survive. What do you do about the 
inequities in the health care system? You want a cap----
    Mr. Nigut. [Inaudible]--I understand your concern, and you're asking 
a terrific question. But if we could give the President a chance to 
respond.
    Q. Basically, it's the inequities in the health care system that are 
there. I can't afford health care in 5 years with the way it's going up. 
As a middle class person it will be out of sight. I've had a doctor say 
we can't do an operation for a loved one because I didn't have enough 
insurance. What's going to happen to the rest of us if middle class 
America is being squeezed?
    The President. That's a very good ques-

[[Page 1884]]

tion. Let me tell you, you know why some of the doctors say that, or why 
the doctors say you've got to have five tests instead of one? Because 
they're afraid of being sued. They're afraid of these malicious 
lawsuits. Part of my health reform plan is to put a cap on these 
malicious lawsuits.
    The trial lawyers have a very powerful lobby. And you go look up 
where the contributions come from. People talk about lobbies and power 
groups; the trial lawyers are solidly behind Governor Clinton. He 
refuses to do anything about malpractice. And you're right, $25 billion 
to $50 billion in additional costs come from malpractice.
    Now, that's part of the answer. But that's why the doctors are 
telling you this. Some of them give up practicing medicine. Some people 
give up coaching Little League because they're afraid of being sued. 
Some people see a wreck along the highway, and they want to stop and 
help their fellow man, and they say, ``I'm not going to do it because I 
read about a lawsuit that wiped out a guy like me. I moved his head, and 
the next thing, he dies, and I'm sued for trying to be a good 
Samaritan.''
    Mr. Nigut. Are you convinced that eliminating frivolous lawsuits, or 
allegedly frivolous lawsuits, are the first big step, or is the problem 
much larger than that?
    Q. I don't think that's the issue. I don't think the people----
    The President. I thought you asked about the doctors.
    Q. No, I agree that that should be taken care of, but I don't 
believe the person at the lower income that needs just basic health care 
is being addressed by attacking the lawsuit issue. They're just worried 
that----
    The President. Well, let me finish then. I got cut off.
    Mr. Nigut. Let's let him respond.
    The President. I think we have the best health care reform plan. 
What it does, it provides vouchers to the poorest of the poor. There are 
a lot of people, 40, 38 million people that have no insurance. It 
provides insurance to the poorest of the poor. For the middle income, it 
provides tax credits and breaks, so it's the equivalent of a sustenance 
there to help you buy insurance. It keeps the Government out of it.
    My big argument with Government and Clinton, he wants another 
Government board to set prices. Anytime you have Government intervention 
in the market, prices go up. So I believe our health care plan--and I 
hate guys that say, have you read my speech or looked at my program, and 
then make you read 30 pages--take a look at it because it does address 
itself to these ever-increasing costs.
    Mr. Nigut. Mr. President, thank you. We've got to take another quick 
break, and we'll be back after this.

[At this point, the television station took a commercial break.]

    Mr. Nigut. We're back with more questions for the President. We 
talked a little about health care before the break and we have a 
followup question.
    Q. I think all of your proposals for access to health care are 
great, but we need money now for preventative care. Our funding for AZT 
ran out this year, and we need money to get into the neighborhoods and 
teach prenatal care so that we don't have the expensive burdens on the 
other end. I want to ask how you can help us with that.
    The President. Well, I would only refer you to the fact that money 
from the Federal Government for health care has increased dramatically. 
The problem you have is you don't have unlimited resources. Take AIDS 
funding on research, for example. We've doubled, in the last 4 years, 
the Federal participation in research and treatment and all of this. 
We're up to $4.9 billion, 10 times as much for AIDS victims as per 
cancer victim, what the Federal Government can do. We're operating at 
these enormous deficits. And so, I'd like to sit here and say, the 
Federal Government can solve this problem, or the Federal Government can 
solve the problems of urban America by spending more. I don't believe we 
can do it.
    I think the best thing the Federal Government can do is to continue 
to be as compassionate as possible on funding for health care. It's way 
up, believe me; just look at the numbers. But it's got to be done as 
much as possible by participation of others

[[Page 1885]]

also. We cannot do it and then say, ``Well, I'm going to get the deficit 
down.'' You can't be taxed much more.
    So the President is faced with the problem: How do you help these 
hospitals for the indigent, and yet, how do you protect the taxpayer's 
wallet. I've concluded that we've got about the right balance for what 
we can do right now.
    Mr. Nigut. What do we spend at a Grady hospital on a baby who is 
born prematurely because of a lack of prenatal care?
    Q. As much as $100,000 in a year.
    Mr. Nigut. So the question, of course, is, are you robbing Peter to 
pay Paul on this?
    The President. I don't get the question.
    Mr. Nigut. In the sense that, without prenatal care and spending for 
prenatal care, you end up getting bigger bills down the road?
    The President. Spending for prenatal care--my point is--it's up by 
the Federal Government. My point is, I don't believe anybody can say the 
Federal Government alone can solve the problems of prenatal care. We've 
got a great Secretary of HHS. He comes right from Atlanta, Lou Sullivan, 
one of the outstanding medical people. He was head of Morehouse College 
here. I think he's reached about as good a sensitive balance in terms of 
support for programs like this as he can do, if he is restricted on the 
funds.
    We're operating at such big deficits. I don't like to sound 
hopeless, but I say we have increased support for all of these things. 
Somebody's got to be responsible to the taxpayer or to the young woman 
who is trying to get a job, and they all interact. So I hope we can help 
more.
    Mr. Nigut. All right. We'll try to get a few more questions.

Family Values

    Q. I'm a divorced father, and I support four children. During your 
campaign, you've allowed the Vice President and others to make family 
values a political issue. I just wondered why you did that. And if you 
could go back, since you're running a distant second now in the polls, 
if you could go back, would you change that as being an issue?
    The President. Oh, no. No. I think family values is critical. Now, 
if you're talking about am I trying to define that a one-parent family 
is no good and two-parent families are perfect, that's not the case. I'm 
talking about when Mayor Bradley of Los Angeles came to see me, along 
with other mayors, he said the major concern of urban decay is the 
decline of family values. He was talking about discipline. He was 
talking about respect. He was talking about helping people to learn. He 
was talking about respect for law enforcement. He was talking about 
strengthening the family through choice, or I'm talking about it, in 
child care or schools.
    So please, I wouldn't go back because I believe family is important. 
When Barbara reads to these children, she's trying to say, ``Hey, 
parents ought to read to kids.'' When you talk about discipline, Federal 
Government can't do that. But respect for the law is a family value, 
respect for your parents.
    So I'm glad you gave me a chance to clear it up because nobody is 
saying single parents are wrong. My respect for you, supporting four 
kids is great. My respect for the father that runs away from the mother 
and leaves her to do it without any support has--I think that's 
disgraceful. So we're trying to pass laws to reform the welfare system, 
and I'm glad you gave me a chance to clear it up.
    Mr. Nigut. Very quickly--I want to get other people in, but you're 
shaking your head.

Black Americans

    Q. I still don't believe that the issue that I presented to you was 
answered. I mean, I----
    The President. What is your question again, ma'am?
    Q. ----but I still think you should let us know what can you do to 
make us believe that you are qualified to be a black Afro-American 
people President?
    The President. Well, I thought I just told you that the best thing 
to do is to bring jobs and hope to the inner city, to do things 
different, and to get some people in the Congress that agree with me 
instead of trying to perpetuate the hopelessness that's brought to bear 
on some of these neighbor-

[[Page 1886]]

hoods.
    I think welfare reform is important. I believe making people learn 
and work when they're on welfare is important. Now, you may disagree 
with me. But I think dependency on welfare is terrible. Give people a 
better break in education. Give them a better break in health care. But 
then let everybody else pitch in and be part of the American dream. I 
think we're doing tremendous amounts in terms of helping people, and I 
want to make it so people can help themselves more.
    Now, I've told you housing programs and all of this. But maybe we 
just disagree. But I'd say to black Americans, don't be taken for 
granted all the time. Don't vote that straight lever and go right down 
the way your predecessors did, and then wake up in despair. Try 
something different.
    Mr. Nigut. I'm sorry, another question if we can.

School Choice

    Q. My statement and question is about education. Seeing that some 
middle class taxpayers are actually saving the government State and 
Federal money by making great sacrifices, like my husband and I to send 
our daughter to private school, could it be possible for some of us that 
we work so hard to give our children a good education, get a tax break, 
such as a rebate in school taxes?
    Mr. Nigut. I think you've just been served up a home run pitch here, 
Mr. President. [Laughter.]
    The President. Well, I have.
    Forty-six percent of the public schoolteachers in Chicago send their 
kids to private school. I have a big difference with Governor Clinton on 
this one. I believe, and our ``GI bill'' for kids suggests, if it worked 
for the GI bill for people coming after World War II--the Government 
said, here's the money, to the family, to the soldiers, and you go to 
the school of your choice, private, public, or religious. And the State 
schools got better if they weren't chosen. Public schools, exactly the 
same thing: Give the parents a voucher, if they go to public school or 
private school, or religious school. And that then starts, as it has in 
Milwaukee, competition. And the schools not chosen, the public schools 
are getting better. There's a black woman up there named Polly Williams, 
a big, strong Democrat, and she thinks that her kid was maligned by the 
public school system. She was given, under their program, choice. She 
sent that kid to a private school, and now he's a high attainer. The 
school that wasn't chosen is doing much better because they have to 
compete. So we've got the program for you.
    Q. As far as my question goes, I don't think I quite get--what I was 
asking is, we, as middle class taxpayers trying to make a sacrifice to 
send our daughter to private school. It's a misconception that people 
seem to think that everybody that sends their children to private school 
is well off or rich, and we are not. My question was, is it possible 
that in the future you will have a program that will look at us, at 
middle class Americans trying to work hard----
    The President. Our program gives you a break. Our program gives you 
a break so you can get assistance in sending your--to the school of your 
choice. School choice, religious, private, public, that's what I favor, 
and you're just exactly the guy that would benefit from our program. 
Help me get it through the Congress.
    Mr. Nigut. Well, we have so many people, Mr. President, who would 
like to still ask you questions. Their hands are in the air, but 
unfortunately, we've come to the end of our time. So what I want to do 
is finish by saying, thank you very much. We are truly delighted you 
could be with us tonight.
    The President. It's like the last inning. I love baseball. Played 
it; love it. Remember the last inning of the Braves game when everybody 
went to the exits, and the Braves knocked it out of the park. Now 
they're in the World Series. Great pride. That's exactly what's going to 
happen in this election. So stay tuned.
    Mr. Nigut.  Last 2 weeks, we'll watch you carefully. Thank you, sir, 
very much. And thanks to our audience for all their wonderful questions.

                    Note: The question-and-answer session was

[[Page 1887]]

                        taped at 10:02 a.m. at the WSB-TV studios for 
                        evening broadcast. WSB-TV newsman Bill Nigut 
                        served as moderator for the session.