    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
    [April 29, 1993]
    [Pages 536-538]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Reception for the President's Health Care Task Force and an
    Exchange With Reporters
    April 29, 1993

        The President. Thank you very much. Let me say how pleased I am that
    one of the things that even people who care about health care can't
    control, the weather, cooperated with us today. How delighted we are to
    have you here to just say a simple thank you for all the work you've
    done.
        I have a few other things I want to say, but I think I should begin
    by introducing the First Lady by way of saying that 10 years ago we
    tried this once before when I was Governor of our State. And it was
    obvious that we needed to dramatically overhaul our education system,
    and I asked her to chair this committee. And she looked at me as if I
    had lost my mind because we knew we had to make everybody in the State
    mad to do what needed to be done. And it turned out to be all right. We
    had to change a lot of things, but it was one of those remarkable
    moments in history when all the people were ahead of all the
    policymakers.
        I think we may be there again with health care. And I think that if
    all of this works I will be once again indebted to my wonderful wife and
    all of you. And I just want you to know that she has sung your praises
    to the Moon from the beginning of this. And so I

    [[Page 537]]

    hope that you think that she did as good a job as she thinks you did,
    because I think you were both pretty great. Thank you very much.

    [At this point, Hillary Clinton and Tipper Gore made statements
    welcoming members of the task force and commending their efforts.]

        The President. Thank you very much. You know, I wish there were
    something more I could do for all of you. I think you deserve a medal
    just for putting up with Ira's tollgates. I can't believe Ira's hiding
    back there. He's probably sharpening darts or something. [Laughter]
        I want to say a special word of thanks to Tipper Gore for her
    involvement and for the work that she's done to personally sensitize me
    to a lot of the mental health issues that I think all Americans need to
    know more about.
        I want to say, too, that the Vice President is not here tonight
    because he is on an errand for our administration in Florida and could
    not be here. But he sat in all those meetings with me, that we had, long
    hours trying to make sure that we understood the implications of every
    issue and understood all the incredible work that all of you have done.
        I want to say a special word of thanks to Ira. Hillary and I have
    known Ira a long time. Ira and I were at Oxford together back in the
    late sixties, and we always used to say when Ira walked into a room he
    doubled the IQ of whoever was in there, however many people were in
    there. [Laughter] I don't know how many of his brain cells he has
    departed forever in this endeavor, but--[laughter]--I hope that part of
    this endeavor will lead some of you to encourage him to take more care
    of his health. I don't think he's had any sleep since this whole thing
    started. He's really been a champ, and Hillary and I are very grateful
    for his efforts.
        I want to say, too, that there are a lot of people who said, well--I
    mean, I never could believe this--for years and years and years we all
    complained of gridlock and do-nothing and nothing ever got done. And the
    last 5 days, I see all these articles complaining that I'm trying to do
    too much. [Laughter] I plead guilty to that.
        But the overwhelming focus of this administration has been on the
    economy, jobs, deficit reduction, and investment in our people and on
    health care. That's what we have focused on, the things that will lift
    this country up again and bring this country together again and give
    people some measure of security, even as they go out in the highly
    changed and charged world that we're moving toward.
        I wish I could write a book. I wish I could even remember all the
    incredible stories I heard along this last year and a half when we were
    out on the campaign trail, related to health care.
        I'll never forget the woman I met in Columbus, Ohio who had six or
    seven kids and had to give up a $50,000 a year job because one of her
    children was so sick, and the only way she could get any care was to
    become Medicaid eligible; the farmers that I met along the way who
    couldn't get health insurance, or if they did, it took up the whole
    profit from the farms in the average years; the small business person I
    met who had only four employees and was chagrined because of the
    exploding cost of insurance in his small group, he had to go to a $2,500
    deductible, and how badly he felt for his own employees; the big
    businesses that told me about their inability to compete in a global
    economy because they had to spot their competitors so much; the doctors
    that I know who wanted to be good doctors and wanted to reach out to
    people who were spending more and more of their time and money on
    paperwork and regulation, and on and on and on.
        The human dimension of this issue is utterly enormous. The economic
    dimension is also very great. We're here, struggling to really be
    serious about reducing the Government's deficit, and under every
    scenario we can cut it quite a bit in the next 5 years, and then it
    starts to go right up again because of health care costs. So there has
    rarely been a time in the history of this country when an economic issue
    and a social issue, when an issue that affects all the big people and
    all the little people and all the people in between has been so tightly
    joined, as this health care issue.
        I know there are those who say, ``Well, we shouldn't try to deal
    with this. It ought to be enough just to have a fundamental budget that
    dramatically changes the priorities of America.'' But if you want to get
    rid of the deficit and have any money left to invest in your children
    and your education, your economy and your future, we have to do both.
        And so I just want to reaffirm to you that all of your efforts have
    not been in vain, and I'm going to do my best to give us a health care
    reform package that can pass the Congress

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    this year. And I'm going to do my best to fight for it, and I hope you
    will, too.
        It may be that we can only do one thing at a time in this town. That
    may be, but I'm not prepared to acknowledge that. Congress has worked
    out smaller bills, but they're all different. I mean, they've got an
    agreement on the family and medical leave, and now they're apparently
    going to send me the motor voter bill I've been working on. And today,
    they voted for a modified line-item veto in the House, which I thought
    was remarkable, the first bill we've had with real bipartisan support.
        I think we can do more than one thing. And I think if people
    understand that you have to do both of these things--have a new budget
    and a new direction and a new approach to health care to get control of
    our deficit and our financial future and to have something left to
    invest in our people, our economy, and our own future, I think we can do
    it.
        And I just have to ask all of you to be committed now to be agents
    of change. You've done all this work on this program. And you know, the
    final thing we come out with, none of you will agree with all of it. I
    won't agree with all of it. We're going to do the best we can to put
    something together that's good for America and that we can get through
    the United States Congress. And we're going to do our best to continue
    to reach out to both Democrats and Republicans as we have throughout
    this entire process, to try to make this an American effort, not a Bill
    Clinton effort, not a Democratic effort, not a Republican effort, but an
    American effort. America needs this.
        I'll say this: You know, when this group began to get together, I
    kept reading all this stuff about secrecy. And you know, shoot, I've
    read more about everything you've done in the press than anything else
    I've seen. [Laughter] If you can't keep a secret in Washington with two
    people, you sure can't keep a secret with 1,000. [Laughter]
        I think you've been great. I want to ask you to commit now to do
    what you can. A lot of you don't come from here. A lot of you live out
    in the country where a lot of these problems are being grappled with.
    When you go home, try to mobilize your friends to tell your Members of
    Congress that the time is now. The time is now to deal with this. And if
    you do live here and you have even more contacts on the Hill or with
    others that can influence this process, use your time now to pass it.
    Don't let all your work have been in vain. This is a magic moment in the
    history of this issue. People have been working for decades just to have
    the circumstances which exist now. And I hardly see anybody who doesn't
    admit that the time has come to do something, to do something bold and
    do something substantial, to do something we can live with from years to
    come that will really make our country better off, our people more
    secure, healthier, and happier.
        We're going to have enough insecurity as it is in America, and
    everybody is, with all the changes that are going on in this world. The
    least we can do is to join the mainstream of the world in taking care of
    our people better, providing a comprehensive, affordable, good, quality
    health care system. And it's good for the economy. If we can get that
    idea across, we can prevail.
        I need your help now to carry the fight to the floors of the
    Congress, both Chambers and both parties. And let's lift this issue up.
    Let's keep it high in America's mind and heart, and let's make sure that
    all this work you have done will be rewarded for generations to come.
        This is a real moment in the history of this country. You can be a
    part of it. Now the time has come to bring it home.
        Thank you very much.

    Bosnia

        Q. Mr. President, does this reconvening of the peace talks take the
    pressure off you at all, sir?
        The President. Well, let's see what happens there. Let's see what
    happens. Let's see how serious they are. You know, they've said things
    before and not meant it. If they mean it now, so much the better. I'll
    see.
        Q. How are you going to know if they mean it, sir?
        The President. We will know them by their deeds, not their words.

    Note: The President spoke at 6:38 p.m. on the South Lawn at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to Ira Magaziner, Senior Adviser to
    the President for Policy Development.