    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
    [June 25, 1993]
    [Pages 932-935]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 932]]

    Remarks on the Appointment of Kristine M. Gebbie as AIDS Policy
    Coordinator and an Exchange With Reporters
    June 25, 1993

        The President. Good morning. Thank you very much. First, let me
    welcome Speaker of the House and other distinguished Members of the
    House of Representatives here. I appreciate their coming. I understand
    they were able to get a little more sleep than the Senators were last
    night. I also want to welcome all the rest of you here.
        Before I make the announcement that we're all here to witness and to
    be a part of, I do want to say a word about the vote that was cast early
    this morning in the United States Senate to pass a version of the
    economic plan which I presented to them, which, to be sure, was changed
    to some extent from the House plan but still reflected, I think, a
    remarkable degree of courage: $500 billion in deficit reduction in the
    Senate plan, over 78 percent of the new revenues coming from people with
    incomes above $200,000, real commitment to significant budget cuts that
    were slightly greater than the ones in the House plan, and now clearly
    more budget cuts than tax increases.
        The most important thing is that now both Houses of Congress, under
    very difficult circumstances, with the same old rhetoric of the last 12
    years flying at them, had the courage to try to change this country for
    the better. What this means is incalculable. It means we can now move on
    to a conference committee with a clear signal to the financial markets
    that its interest rates should stay down and people should be able to
    continue to refinance their homes and finance their businesses at lower
    interest rates and that for the first time in a very long time an
    American President can go to a meeting of the G-7 nations in a position
    of economic strength, trying to lead a renewal of growth and opportunity
    all over the world.
        So I very much appreciate that. I want to compliment Senator
    Mitchell, Senator Sasser, Senator Moynihan, in particular, for their
    leadership and the courage of the Senators who voted in the way they
    did, so that we can go forward.
        One of the things that was in this budget that has received almost
    no notice is a real commitment to intensifying our efforts to deal with
    the AIDS crisis, even in the midst of all the budget cutbacks. One of
    those important efforts is the naming of a new AIDS coordinator with a
    higher visibility, a more important policy role, and more influence in
    the National Government than has been the case in the past.
        It is my distinct pleasure today to announce the appointment of
    Kristine Gebbie as our Nation's first AIDS Policy Coordinator. This
    position has never existed before, but circumstances now require us to
    look for unprecedented remedies to an unprecedented problem.
        Today, as we toil against one of the most dreaded and mysterious
    diseases humanity has ever known, we must redouble our Government's
    efforts to promote research, funding, and treatment for AIDS. The
    appointment of Kristine Gebbie is part of our pledge to do that. She is
    a proven health care leader who will bring to the administration years
    of experience in the AIDS field. I'm confident she'll work hard to
    ensure that our Nation no longer ignores an epidemic that has already
    claimed too many of our brothers and sisters, our parents and children,
    our friends and colleagues.
        I'm particularly pleased that Kristine Gebbie is so committed to
    helping our AIDS effort, for she certainly is no stranger to the field.
    To begin with, she hails from the Pacific Northwest, one of our
    country's most progressive regions when it comes to health care. A
    former nurse, she became the administrator of the Oregon Health
    Division, a position she held for 11 years, and later served as the
    secretary of the Washington State Department of Health. Currently she
    serves as a special consultant to the Department of Health and Human
    Services. She's also spent a lot of her time and energy on AIDS
    prevention. Since 1989, she's served as Chair of the Centers for Disease
    Control Advisory Committee on the Prevention of HIV Infection. She
    served on the Presidential Commission on AIDS. She was for 3 years a
    member of the National Academy of Sciences AIDS oversight committee, and
    she was chair of an HIV committee of State health officials around the
    United States.
        AIDS is terrifying. It inflicts tragedy on too many families. But
    ultimately, it is a disease,

    [[Page 933]]

    one we can defeat just as we have defeated polio, many forms of cancer,
    and other scourges in the history of our Nation. How can we do it? With
    commitment and courage and constancy, and with vocal and responsible
    leadership from our Nation's Government. Already this administration has
    requested a large increase in funding for AIDS research and prevention,
    even in the face of our severe budget cutbacks. We are now moving toward
    full funding of the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency
    Act. Our budget requested in fiscal 1994 a 78 percent increase in
    funding for Ryan White, an 18 percent increase for AIDS research, and a
    27 percent increase for prevention.
        In addition, the upcoming health care reform plan will make sure
    that AIDS sufferers are not victimized by unfair insurance policies when
    they seek treatment for their illnesses. AIDS touches all of us, and no
    single group should be discriminated against on the basis of this
    disease.
        To make Government's role in AIDS more efficient, we're also taking
    steps to coordinate AIDS policy. On June 10th, I signed into law the
    National Institutes of Health Revitalization Act that establishes an
    AIDS research office to coordinate all the AIDS research at NIH. By now
    appointing an AIDS Policy Coordinator, we will ensure that one person in
    the White House oversees and unifies Governmentwide AIDS efforts.
        Kristine Gebbie will be a full member of the Domestic Policy Council
    and will work closely with the Department of Health and Human Services--
    and I'm glad to see Secretary Shalala here today. She has my full
    support in coordinating policy among all the various executive branch
    departments.
        With the dedication and leadership that she has shown and that she
    will bring to this effort, I believe we will be able to wage the battle
    against AIDS with complete resolve. I look forward to working with her
    as we tackle the challenges that are posed to us. I assure you this is
    another step in the beginning of our effort, not the end of my personal
    commitment. This will guarantee the kind of focus this effort has long
    needed.
        Ms. Gebbie.

    [At this point, Ms. Gebbie thanked the President and discussed a
    coordinated approach to AIDS.]

        The President. Let me also say before we take a question or two, to
    Mr. Speaker and to Congressmen Studds and Frank and McDermott and Pelosi
    and Morella and to all the other Members of the Congress who have been
    willing to support increased efforts for AIDS in the face of these
    difficult budgetary times, I'm grateful for them, too. Because without
    the congressional support, we would not be able to make any progress, in
    my judgment, even with this heightened administrative effort.

    Homosexuals in the Military

        Q. Mr. President, as you approach your decision on gays in the
    military, have you reached a conclusion about the directive that says
    that homosexuality is incompatible with military service? Have you
    decided----
        The President. I have not received any such directive. And until I
    receive a report from the Pentagon, I have no further comment on this.
        Q. Can I just ask you a broader question, then, about this?
        The President. I'm not going to discuss it until I receive the
    report from the Pentagon. I have nothing else to say now.

    AIDS

        Q. Mr. President, I have a question for Ms. Gebbie, please. During
    the time that you served in Washington and Oregon on dealing with the
    AIDS epidemic, what will you bring to this job that you learned there?
        Ms. Gebbie. I think one of the biggest things I learned is that
    people have to be able to hear each other, not just talk to each other
    but hear each other, and then put that listening into effect, developing
    policies that work. That's a bit of a global answer, but it really has
    to be applied to each piece of this puzzle. And it's putting a puzzle
    together that's developing policy around this disease.

    Terrorism

        Q. Mr. President, yesterday when the news broke of the terrorist
    attempts at bombing various points in New York City, a lot of Americans
    felt an increased sense of vulnerability. I wonder if you would share
    with us your thoughts when you learned about it, and do you share that
    increased sense of vulnerability to terrorism in this country?
        The President. Any free society has always some exposure to
    terrorism. I think what the American people should do, though, is to
    feel

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    an enormous sense of pride in the aggressive work done by the New York
    Police Department and all the Federal authorities involved in New York.
    We are working aggressively on this issue. We will continue to work on
    it in a very tough way, and we will put whatever resources the United
    States has to put in to combating it.
        I think one of the problems that has plagued much of the world in
    the 1980's is random acts of terrorism. And there is always the
    possibility with increasing political instability in various places of
    increased terrorism. But I can tell you that I view the action in New
    York as reassuring. And all I can tell you is that we're going to do our
    best to be as tough, as intolerant, as effective in dealing with these
    kinds of problems consistently as the local and the Federal authorities
    were in New York.

    Economic Program

        Q. Mr. President, now that the Senate has voted, can you tell us
    where you come down on the differences between the House and Senate
    bills in terms of the gasoline versus Btu tax, in terms of the level of
    Medicare funding, and the other differences in the bills? And can you
    tell us, did you win a political victory at the possible expense of your
    program, in making so many deals that it's just complicated the process
    of getting things through conference?
        The President. Actually, this administration didn't make any deals.
    The Senate Finance Committee put together a bill that it could get out
    of the Senate Finance Committee. And then the question was very much
    whether we would go on to conference. I think there was a great sense in
    the Senate that they had to go forward with the bill. There were many
    Senators who told me they liked the House bill better. I mean, there
    were divisions even in the Senate. There were a couple of Senators who
    indicated they would have voted for the House bill who did not vote for
    the Senate bill. There was all kinds of difference of opinion.
        I think what happened was there was an institutional feeling there
    yesterday, which crystallized in the late afternoon, that the worst
    thing they could do is not to go forward, and that the worst thing they
    could do is not to break the gridlock, not to find a way to continue to
    push for real economic reform. And all this happened rather late last
    evening, and no decisions have been made. I haven't even had an ample
    opportunity to analyze whatever amendments were made yesterday. But this
    administration was not nearly as involved in the details of what came
    out of the Senate as was the case in the House.
        I am confident that the conferees will get together, will produce a
    bill that in some ways is superior to both bills and will have a broader
    support. That's what I think will happen.
        Q. Gas tax, sir?
        Q. On the budget, assuming that you want the final bill to resemble
    your own plan as much as possible, what is your response to Senator
    Moynihan's observation recently when he said that he felt that directing
    one-third of all tax increases and spending cuts to investment would be
    perhaps too excessive?
        The President. Well, we'll see. A lot of the Senators who came on to
    the bill late yesterday were holding out because the investment
    incentives have been cut back so much by the committee. One of the
    biggest hurdles was trying to convince some of the Senators that we
    might increase the investment incentives in the conference. So I can
    tell you that will be a point of continuing tension. But I expect there
    will be some real effort to try to get the investment and growth options
    back in there.
        Keep in mind, reducing the deficit helps you by bringing down
    interest rates. But still in the end if you want to grow the economy,
    somebody has to invest money and create jobs and put people to work. If
    the unemployment rate in this country were 4 percent instead of 7
    percent, we'd have far fewer problems than we do. And the stagnation
    worldwide of economic activity, which has been going on for some time
    now, is holding this country back and requires this country to make
    extraordinary efforts if we're going to swim against the tide and try to
    grow more than other nations to increase incentives to invest and create
    jobs and to grow this economy.
        If you take investment out of part of the country as, for example,
    you see in California with the big cutbacks in defense, there needs to
    be some offsetting investment. You can't create jobs out of thin air. So
    I think we want to see in this economic plan two objectives: really
    tough deficit reduction, keeping the interest rates down, freeing up
    money for private sector investment, and increasing incentives by the
    National Government to get more investment in the economy. And I hope we
    see it.

    [[Page 935]]

    Iraq

        Q. Mr. President, there seems to be another standoff in Baghdad
    between U.N. weapons inspectors and the Iraqi Government. This is the
    first time this has happened on your watch. How serious is this
    standoff? And what, if anything, do you plan on doing about it?
        The President. It's quite serious. And the United Nations--you've
    already heard the U.N. speak to it, and I would expect that the matter
    will have to be resolved one way or the other in the fairly near future.
    I do think that--I don't have much to add to the pronouncements that
    have come out of the U.N. The United States has to continue to support
    compliance with the U.N. resolutions as they apply to Iraq.

    Economic Summit

        Q. Mr. President, you said that this is the first time that we're
    going to the economic summit in a position of economic strength. Another
    way to view that is that you had a tie vote in the Senate; that you're
    caught going into conference between the demands for more social
    spending, more investment, and those who want more cuts; and that
    there's no margin for error, which is not a very strong signal of the
    ability to resolve this and to get anything that will pass finally both
    Houses----
        The President. I don't think any of the people who have looked at
    this really believe that we won't get a bill out of the conference that
    will be marginally changed in ways from both the House and Senate bills
    that will make the bill more passable in the Senate as well as the
    House. For example, the House wanted basically the incentive package
    that was there but some less tax and some more spending cuts. That came
    out of the Senate. The Senate obliged the less tax and more spending
    cuts but did it at the expense of cutting so much of the investments
    out, because the energy tax had to be reduced as much as it did, not for
    the floor of the Senate but to get it out of the Senate Finance
    Committee.
        Now, what will happen now is you'll see a negotiation, and they'll
    try to bridge those gaps. I don't think they are particularly large. I
    think it's quite encouraging. And if you look at the level of aggression
    this country has displayed in trying to do something about its economic
    circumstances as compared with what is going on in these other nations,
    the political and the economic problems, I think the United States
    should be very proud. It is not easy to change.
        I mean, we've been on an incredible roller coaster ride for 12 years
    now, just sort of spending more than we're taking in and living by
    political rhetoric and hot air. And when you try to change, it's not
    easy. You know, it's the same--my daughter always says when she is
    gigging me a little that old line about denial being more than a river
    in Egypt. I mean, you know, it's not easy to change.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 8:43 a.m. on the South Lawn at the White
    House.