    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
    [May 19, 1993]
    [Pages 703-704]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Exchange With Reporters During a Luncheon With Business Leaders
    May 19, 1993

    Energy Tax

        Q. Mr. President, do you think you can persuade these business
    leaders that your energy tax is a good tax and that you have enough
    spending cuts in the budget?
        The President. Well, I hope so. Several of them endorsed this
    program yesterday. Mr. Chee on behalf of the realtors did, and Mr.
    Armstrong, he's aircraft. Mr. Wolf did. So I think we're making a real
    good dent. I think the main reason is that the business leaders who are
    familiar with what is actually in the

    [[Page 704]]

    program know that there's $100 billion in entitlement cuts there, know
    that the energy tax is going to work as an important part of getting the
    interest rates down and having credibility in the markets. So I think
    we've got a real shot at it.

    Health Care Reform

        Q. What about an entitlement cap, as some people on the Hill want?
    Wouldn't that help?
        The President. Well, it has to be done in the right way. My view
    is--and this is a good place to discuss this--the United States
    Government has already contributed to the rising costs of health care
    for employers by squeezing Medicare and Medicaid and forcing those costs
    off onto private employers. So if we have a cap on health care spending,
    which I'm not opposed to, and it should be done in a right way, it
    should be done in connection with the health care plan so that we're
    helping everybody. If we did it without doing it on the health care, if
    we did it now, it would run the risk of 2 or 3 years from now having
    another big increase in their costs, undermining their ability to hire
    American workers and to keep America competitive. So if we're going to
    do a health care cap, let's do it with health care. That's the way it
    should be done.

    Note: The exchange began at 12:23 p.m. in the Residence at the White
    House. In his remarks, the President referred to William Chee, chief
    executive officer, RESCO; Michael Armstrong, chief executive officer,
    Hughes Aircraft; and Steven Wolf, chief executive officer, United
    Airlines. A tape was not available for verification of the content of
    this exchange.