    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
    [February 8, 1993]
    [Pages 63-65]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks and an Exchange With Reporters Prior to a Meeting With Economic
    Advisers
    February 8, 1993

    Stimulus Package

        Q. Mr. President, do you have any response to the Republican letter?
    Did they say that they will not support your economic plan unless you do
    more on the spending side?
        The President. They said they were against the stimulus program, and
    that's basically a statement that they think things are fine in the
    economy now, and I just disagree with that.
        I'd like to read this statement, and then I'll

    [[Page 64]]

    be glad to answer it. That reflects the old way of thinking, you know,
    we're coming out of a recession, therefore we don't need a stimulus
    package. It overlooks the fact that there are now 3 million jobs less in
    this economy than there would be if we were in a normal recovery, that
    we now have fewer nonfarm payroll jobs today than we did 2 years ago--3
    years ago, 646,000 fewer jobs than in January of 1990.
        Let me make this announcement about unemployment, and then I'll
    answer a couple of more questions on this.

    Unemployment

        You all know that we've been here working every day for hours and
    hours, putting together this economic package designed to increase
    income and generate jobs and reduce the deficit.
        Before we begin our next meeting, I have two things that I want to
    say: First, despite these encouraging statistics about the increased
    productivity, there are still millions of Americans who want to go to
    work to support their families, but they can't find jobs. The
    unemployment rate, indeed, is 7.1 percent. It's been above 7 percent for
    14 months and is now higher than it was at the so-called bottom of this
    recession.
        Secondly, no short-term solution to the problems of the unemployed
    is adequate. Many unemployed workers are what we call ``permanently
    displaced.'' And they need much better access to reemployment services
    that will provide them the information and the changing skills necessary
    to compete in the changing world. The old ways of doing business are
    simply not good enough anymore. Unemployment compensation must now be
    both a short-term lifeline for workers and a long-term link to the
    skills that it will take for them to get where they want to be, back in
    the work force.
        Interestingly enough, Secretary of Labor Reich just showed me this
    little chart which makes the point painfully well. In the last four
    recessions, 56 percent of the workers laid off did not think they would
    get their jobs back; 44 percent did. In this recession, 86 percent of
    the workers don't believe they're going to get their jobs back, and only
    14 percent think they will. That means that we need a much stronger plan
    to create new jobs and an aggressive effort at unemployment compensation
    that does more than just pay.
        Today I want to announce a two-part initiative. First, I'm directing
    the Department of Labor to pursue legislation to extend the emergency
    unemployment compensation program for 7 months beyond March 6th, the
    date set for its expiration. I'm very pleased to also announce that this
    package will include reforms to the unemployment insurance program that
    will dramatically improve reemployment services available to
    structurally unemployed workers.
        The first step is to provide the critical link between permanently
    displaced workers and services to help them find the jobs. Using the
    data that is now routinely collected when an unemployed worker files a
    claim, individuals can be profiled by the 5th week of their unemployment
    to determine their need for reemployment assistance, and a referral for
    appropriate services can then be made. Recently, a number of
    demonstration projects, particularly the New Jersey Re-Employment
    Project, showed that this kind of work and referral can significantly
    reduce the time that workers spend unemployed, as well as raise their
    earnings once they do go back to work. And of course, that means that
    that will reduce State unemployment insurance costs and costs to the
    Federal Treasury.
        I will say again: I know the economic upturn looks good in terms of
    the big statistics, but the unemployment rate is higher than it was at
    the bottom of the recession. There are fewer jobs than there were 3
    years ago this month. We are 3 million jobs below where we would be in a
    normal recovery at this time. So we need this unemployment extension,
    and we need the economic stimulus program that I will propose when the
    Congress comes back into session.

    Stimulus Package

        Q. Have you made your decision on that stimulus program, and have
    you ruled out anything except the COLA on the Social Security?
        The President. I have made the decision on the general outline of
    the stimulus program, and I have made a lot of the specific decisions
    within it, but we're going to go back over it all one more time to
    refine it. I have worked very hard on the deficit reduction package, and
    I'll have more to say about that on the 17th.

    Kimba Wood

        Q. Mr. President, a lot of groups feel that there is a double
    standard here on the gender issue, because Kimba Wood was disqualified
    even though she had paid Social Security, but

    [[Page 65]]

    members of your Cabinet have not paid Social Security and are now trying
    to catch up. Are women being treated unfairly?
        The President. Absolutely not. For one thing, this issue was never
    an issue, and it never occurred to anyone to make it an issue, until Zoe
    Baird voluntarily disclosed it. So, no one knew, so no one was subjected
    to a double standard. Since that time--the Attorney General, which
    should be held to a higher standard than other Cabinet members on
    matters of this kind--all of our interviews, for men and women alike,
    have been conducted in a totally evenhanded fashion.
        And finally, I think Judge Wood has been somewhat unfairly treated
    inasmuch as what happened to her happened in the ordinary course of the
    vetting process. It's happened to many other people in the months that
    we have been working on this. She was singled out only because it was
    wrongly reported that she had been offered a job that she had not been
    offered by me or anybody else. I'm sorry that happened, and some say
    that a leak inside this administration caused that. If I knew who did
    it, they wouldn't be here.
        Q. What about the leak about the----
        Q. Playboy bunny girls, and----
        Q. ----Playboy Club?
        The President. That did not come out of here. Absolutely!
        Q. Where did----
        The President. It categorically did not come out of here, and I
    thought whoever leaked it, it was outrageous. But it did not come out of
    here.
        Q. When do you hope to have a decision on Attorney General, sir?
        The President. I have nothing else to say.

    Note: The President spoke at 3:15 p.m. in the Roosevelt Room at the
    White House.