    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
    [June 7, 1993]
    [Pages 815-818]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks to the League of Women Voters
    June 7, 1993

        The President. Thank you very much, Becky, for that wonderful
    introduction. I want to thank you and Gracia Hillman and all the leaders
    of the State and local chapters of the League of Women Voters from
    around the country who are here. I know there are at least three members
    from my home State here. I'm glad to see you all. Karen Stevens, Bobbie
    Hill, and Linda Polk, I thank them for coming. This is your house. And
    I'm glad to have you back here.
        When I ran for President, I did so with the conviction that we had
    to create a new season of opportunity and a new climate of
    responsibility in America so that together we could rebuild the American
    community. And there were some very specific commitments that I made in
    that regard: an economic program that would be good for America's
    families and working people;

    [[Page 816]]

    a health care program that would control cost and provide basic coverage
    to all Americans; a program of national service and reform of the
    student loan program to open the doors of college education to all
    Americans; a program to change the welfare system to move families from
    dependence to independence; and a program of political reform to open
    the system of this country so that ordinary Americans could pull the
    levers of power and have their voices heard.
        Your presence here today, for the first time since 1980, after
    decades and decades, the League of Women Voters coming to the White
    House without regard to party, in a bipartisan fashion, coming back here
    for the first time since 1980, is a symbol of the importance of opening
    the political system to informed citizens to let them have influence
    over the decisions that are made affecting the lives of ordinary
    Americans. And I welcome you here today.
        Not long ago, as Becky said, we gathered here to sign the motor
    voter bill--again, a strong priority of the League of Women Voters--
    without regard to party, opening the franchise more to all Americans and
    especially to many younger Americans who were so terribly interested in
    this issue. That was a very, very important day for all of us. It was
    not only good for voter registration, it was in a very fundamental sense
    a civil rights law and a real advance for all the people of the United
    States.
        Not long before that, I gathered here with other Americans to sign
    the family leave bill into law, which is a very important thing because
    it attempts to unite two of our most important values, work and family,
    guaranteeing ordinary citizens that if they have to take a little time
    off for a baby to be born or a parent to be cared for, they won't lose
    their jobs.
        These are the kinds of things that Government ought to do with the
    American people, not to just do things for people but to empower people
    to take care of their own business. That's what motor voter does; that's
    what family leave does. That's what we ought to be about in this
    country.
        Now, we are moving ahead in the Congress with the economic plan,
    soon to be followed by the health care plan. And there is a very
    ambitious agenda of political reform before the Congress. I know that's
    what you're here about, so I'd like to say just a word about that, if I
    might.
        There are actually two important political reform bills in the
    United States Congress today. And I urge you to embrace them both. The
    first one you know about and that is the campaign finance reform bill in
    the United States Senate. The bill does exactly what we ought to do: it
    lowers the cost of campaigns, reduces the influence of special interest
    groups, and opens the airwaves to more honest debates so that incumbents
    are not unduly protected and wealth is not the primary determinant of
    whether a person can wage a credible campaign. It is a very, very
    important advance. And we have proposed to--you can clap for that, I
    like that--[applause]--we have proposed to pay for this by repealing a
    tax deduction that is only 30 years old and that is the tax deduction
    for lobbying. We've proposed to repeal it and pay for campaign finance
    reform. No other money will go into campaign finance reform except that
    which is voluntarily contributed by the American taxpayers if this bill
    passes as it has been proposed. So I urge you to go up there and plead
    with the United States Senate and talk to the House Members while you're
    at it and say, give us a bill we can be proud of to give the election
    process back to the American people. One of the reasons more people
    voted in the Presidential election in 1992 than had voted in a long time
    is because of all the debates, all the town meetings, all the open
    forums, all the ways that people found to say this is your place, not
    the politicians' place. This is your country. This is your Government;
    take it back. And campaign finance reform will help us to do that.
        The second bill has already been passed by the Senate and is now in
    the House. It is a bill long overdue, which will require all people who
    lobby the United States Congress to register and report and will require
    the reporting of virtually all funds expended on Members of Congress by
    lobbyists. It is a very important bill, and I urge you to support that.
        Secondly, I appreciate your support for health care reform. Let me
    say that the First Lady and the hundreds of people who worked on the
    task force and the people in the administration who are still reaching
    out over America to the health care providers and the health care
    consumers and the business community, the labor community, everybody
    affected by this, deserve a lot of credit. They have done more complex,
    exhaustive work in less time than any other group like this, I think, in
    the entire history

    [[Page 817]]

    of the United States. And I'm very grateful to them for that. And soon
    we will have a health care proposal that I believe will be self-
    evidently in the interest of the vast majority of the American people,
    not only to provide universal coverage but to do it in a way which
    preserves what is best about American health care and brings these costs
    down before we bankrupt the United States with health care costs and
    without universal coverage.
        Let me say, before we do that, we have got to get the Government's
    house in order. In 12 years--the 12 years you weren't here; it may be
    because you weren't here--[laughter]--in the 12 years you weren't here,
    the debt of this country went from $1 trillion to $4 trillion. Our
    national deficit was over $300 billion this year. We have got to do
    something about it. But the most frustrating thing of all, it's like
    health care; we spend 35 percent more than anybody else in the world and
    do less with it. With our Government's deficit soaring, with our debt
    exploding, we have reduced our investments in the things that make us a
    richer, stronger, more productive country and that offer our children
    the chance to seize the American dream.
        We have to put our house in order and reverse a lot of those
    practices, practices that have, to be sure, the stamp of not only
    Republican Presidents but also Democratic Congresses, practices born of
    taking the path of least resistance and telling people what they want to
    hear. It is always more popular to cut people's taxes and send them more
    money and deplore the Government every step of the way. But in the end,
    you have to live with the consequences of what you have wrought. And
    that is what we are doing today. And we are determined in this
    administration to change those consequences.
        The House of Representatives acted very courageously to pass the
    largest deficit reduction program ever proposed by an administration. At
    the same time they did it, I pledged to review the budget to ensure that
    we maximized our reliance on spending cuts, minimized our reliance on
    new taxes, and kept the burden on middle class working Americans as
    light as possible.
        As we move into the Senate this week, we will fight for all the $250
    billion in spending cuts contained in this program, including $100
    billion in reductions in entitlements already in this program. We will
    fight for the fairness of the program, which has over 60 percent of the
    new taxes coming from people with incomes above $200,000, over 74
    percent coming above $100,000; which costs the average family with a
    $40,000 or $50,000 income $1 a month next year, $7 a month the year
    after, and $17 a month at a maximum rate; and which holds harmless
    working families under $30,000 a year; and which has the first incentive
    in the history of the United States of America to lift the working poor
    out of poverty by using the tax system to say if you work 40 hours a
    week and you have a child in the house, you will not be below the
    poverty line. If you want welfare reform, that's it.
        Now, later today I will meet with Senator Mitchell, the Senate
    majority leader, and Senator Moynihan, the chairman of the Finance
    Committee, and I will tell them that I intend to designate the Treasury
    Secretary, Secretary Bentsen, to work with them to come up with a budget
    that the American people will accept and that the Congress will pass. As
    we complete work on this growth plan, I intend to do everything I can to
    say I welcome additional cuts. But I will fight to protect the most
    vulnerable people in this country. And I will fight to protect our
    investments to create jobs. For in the end, this cannot be about passing
    budgets or reducing deficits. It certainly can't be about raising taxes
    or even cutting spending. What it is in the end is about giving us
    control over our destiny again, giving us the ability to create jobs and
    opportunity and increase incomes for the American people.
        And let's not lose sight of what has been done. This program which
    cuts spending, raises revenues, cuts the deficit, and invests in jobs
    and technology for the future has already by its advocacy and passing,
    dramatically contributed to bringing interest rates to their lowest
    point in 20 years; so that you've got a 7-year high in home buying,
    unemployment below 7 percent for the first time in a year and a half,
    and 755,000 new jobs in this economy in the last 4 months. I think
    that's something to be proud of, and I don't understand why people are
    not glad that those consequences are flowing from these efforts.
        I believe the American people want us to move in this direction.
    Last week the Home Builders Association endorsed the economic program,
    not a traditionally Democratic group. [Laughter] The Realtors
    Association has en-

    [[Page 818]]

    dorsed it. More than half the 100 biggest companies in the United States
    have endorsed it along with the largest labor organizations in America.
    This is a program that's good for jobs. The Congressional Black Caucus
    voted for it unanimously because of the empowerment zones in the program
    which gives the private sector incentives to invest in putting people
    back to work in the most depressed areas in America. The business
    community is pleased because of the incentives for starting new business
    and for helping small businesses.
        If you will look at this program you will see it is no accident why
    the interest rates are down, the jobs are up, and investment is coming
    back into America. If we can keep interest rates down, then all this
    debt that has piled up in the last 12 years at least can be refinanced
    in terms of home mortgages, business loans, college loans, consumer
    loans, car loans. And all that lower interest rate will then free up
    money to invest. That is what is creating these jobs now, and we cannot
    turn our backs on it.
        So I say, let's move on to the Senate. Let's pass the economic
    program; then let's move on to health care. And let's never forget that
    it will all work better over the long run if we pass campaign finance
    reform and lobbying reform and continue to fight to open this system to
    the American people.
        Thank you very much.

    Supreme Court Nomination

        Q. Mr. President, how close are you to a Supreme Court nomination?
        The President. Pretty close. I have not made a decision yet, but I'm
    working on it, talking to people. I expect a decision very soon.
        Q. [Inaudible]--spoken to anyone about the decision----
        Q. Why are you backing off of Babbitt?
        Q. ----any of the potential nominees?
        The President. Stay tuned.
        Q. Why are you backing off of Babbitt?
        The President. I'm not. I've never----
        Q. Babbitt's in the race?
        The President. I'm not backing off or on anybody. I haven't made a
    decision yet.
        Q. Is he in the race?
        The President. I haven't made a decision yet. When I do, I'll tell
    you. Thanks.

    Note: The President spoke at 2:23 p.m. in the Rose Garden. In his
    remarks, he referred to Becky Cain and Gracia Hillman, president and
    executive director, League of Women Voters of the United States; Karen
    Stevens and Linda Polk, member and president, Arkansas League of Women
    Voters; and Bobbie Hill, member of the boards of directors of both the
    national and Arkansas leagues. The exchange portion of this item could
    not be verified because the tape was incomplete.