    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
    [July 28, 1993]
    [Pages 1212-1215]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following a Luncheon With Business Leaders and an Exchange With
    Reporters
    July 28, 1993

        The President. Thank you very much. Please be seated. First let me
    thank all the business leaders who are here: Felix Rohytan, John
    Johnson, Ron Hall, Harry Buckley, and Mike Walsh for the fine words that
    they said but all those who are also on this platform behind me today.
    They represent companies of all sizes and shapes from Main Street to
    Wall Street.
        They're here united in an unwavering desire and commitment to the
    health of the American economy over continued political rhetoric, to
    productivity over politics, to action over gridlock. They are here, just
    as I am, not because anyone agrees with every last line and jot and
    tittle of this economic program as it will doubtless come out of the
    conference, but because of what it does and because it does far more
    good than harm; because it brings down the deficit by $500 billion;
    because it has an equal apportionment of cuts and new revenues; because
    the revenues are fairly apportioned. And I was very proud of the
    speakers because the people who are up here with me are the ones who are
    really going to pay all the revenues that others are complaining about.
    And they have determined that they will do it to bring the deficit down,
    to keep interest rates down, to restore the stability and health of the
    American economy.
        We talked a lot today about a few other issues at lunch, and I just
    would emphasize what I have tried to emphasize before, which is that
    over 90 percent of the small businesses in this country will be eligible
    for a tax cut if this plan passes; that working families with incomes
    under $30,000 will be held harmless; the work-

    [[Page 1213]]

    ing poor with children in their homes who spend 40 hours a week on the
    job will, for the first time, be able to work themselves out of poverty;
    that we have new and important incentives for high tech companies,
    extension of the incentives for research and development, and a real
    commitment to grow this economy.
        I want to say again, as I have on so many other occasions, that for
    every $10 of deficit reduction, $5 is in spending cuts; $4 in new
    revenues from the upper 6 percent of the American work force; and $1
    from middle class families with incomes of between $30,000 and $140,000.
        The people on this platform today represent what makes America
    work--the fact that they have become more involved in this, that they
    are willing to put their own names on the line. And many of them are
    Republicans; some are Democrats; some are independents. They're all
    united here because they're Americans, and they know that we've
    neglected our problems long enough.
        I thank them for their presence here, for their willingness to lobby
    the Congress. And I assure them that together our best efforts, I
    believe, will produce a victory in this economic battle.
        Thank you very much.

    Bosnia

        Q. Mr. President, if I could turn your attention to the situation in
    Bosnia. The United States has long promised to provide air support if
    U.N. peacekeepers are threatened. French peacekeepers have now been
    fired on for 2 days in a row. Are you now prepared to deliver your air
    power, and would that alone be enough to deter Serbian aggression?
        The President. We are prepared to fulfill our commitments, yes. The
    procedure is as follows: The United Nations forces in Bosnia must ask
    the Secretary-General of the United Nations for assistance. He will then
    relay that request to NATO, and we would act through NATO. And the
    answer to your question is, we are prepared to move if we are asked to
    provide that assistance by the Secretary-General.
        Will it be enough to deter aggression, to stop the shelling of
    Sarajevo, to bring the parties to the peace table? I don't know. But we
    are prepared to do our part.
        Q. Mr. President, do you feel that the United States and its NATO
    allies already have the assets in place, the air power and the air
    traffic controllers to go ahead with these kinds of air strikes? And
    what does your gut tell you? Do you think the U.S. and its allies will
    be bombing Serbian targets in Bosnia within the next few days?
        The President. There are a few questions on which a President's
    conversation with his gut should not be made public until the facts
    present themselves. [Laughter] Let me say this: If the request comes, we
    certainly can be prepared. NATO can be prepared within a very brief time
    span.

    Middle East

        Q. [Inaudible]--bombing--near silence of the United States during
    this fourth day of bombardment of Lebanon--the civilians being driven
    from--is being interpreted in the Middle East as supportive of these
    assaults. What are you going to do to stop the bombing, and would
    Christopher really be welcome in these outraged capitals?
        The President. The reason I asked--well, I didn't ask; Secretary
    Christopher and I had a conversation, and we agreed that he should come
    home--is because we are so concerned about what is going on in the
    Middle East. I think Hezbollah should stop its attacks, and I think
    Israel should stop the bombardments. I think that Syria should go from
    showing restraint to being an active participant to try to stop the
    fighting. And we ought to do whatever we can to stop the fighting as
    quickly as possible.

    Economic Program

        Q. Mr. President, on the subject of the budget, at least eight
    Democratic Senators, possibly as many as 10 or 12, have said that they
    are leaning against voting for it. And five Democratic Senators have
    written to the conference committee chairman and have said that they do
    not want the gasoline tax or any form of energy tax. Do you believe you
    will have to make major compromises, such as eliminating the gasoline
    tax entirely, in order to get it past the Senate? How do you propose to
    get Senator----
        The President. I don't.
        Q. ----Boren and Senator Nunn----
        The President. I don't, because I haven't--no one's answered the
    question that--almost all the ones who say that also say I want $500
    billion in deficit reduction and, by the way, put all the economic
    incentives for growth in. It

    [[Page 1214]]

    becomes an arithmetic problem at some point. And that's really basically
    what it is. The fuel tax that's in there now is modest. It will not
    promote a great deal of energy conservation. It has very little
    environmental significance. The real question is, is it necessary to get
    $500 billion in deficit reduction to have real tax fairness in terms of
    what's provided in terms of the earned-income tax credit and to have the
    economic incentives. And no one so far has been able to give a credible
    alternative. So I would say to you I think our plan is still the best
    one on the table.
        Q. You've been meeting one-on-one with them. Have you been able to
    persuade any of the opponents to switch?
        The President. Let me say this: The atmosphere and discussions here
    is not as bad as--if anything, it's a little better than it was before
    the initial votes were taken in the Senate and the House. We'll just
    have to see. I mean, I think in the end a lot of them, whatever the
    situation is, they're going to have to make up their minds whether the
    consequences of voting no for the country are graver than the
    consequences of voting yes. If that's the question, they'll all vote
    yes.

    Bosnia

        Q. Mr. President, I just want to clarify on the Bosnia situation. Is
    it your interpretation that if we do engage in air strikes there, that
    we will go not after the source of fire if it can be identified but
    also, if necessary, against other Serbian targets, headquarters, or
    logistical sites? And just as a followup to that, if I could, are you
    concerned that in doing this that we'll send a signal possibly to the
    Moslems that it could be overinterpreted by them that the cavalry is
    coming and maybe now they should hang back a little bit?
        The President. Let me try to answer both questions. First of all, I
    have not yet had a meeting with the Secretary of Defense and the
    Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. I have not been briefed on our options.
    And I don't think I should comment on that at this time.
        Secondly, we have, at the request of President Izetbegovic, agreed
    to have Reg Bartholomew go and participate in the discussions about
    whether a peace agreement can be reached. We have made it clear to all
    the parties all along that we would never seek to impose an agreement on
    the Bosnian Government. We've also made it clear to the Bosnian
    Government that we think that they should always be willing to talk, but
    we're not going to try to impose a settlement on them. I think that they
    know that our position would be that we should continue to discuss a
    peaceful resolution to this.

    Middle East

        Q. Do I detect correctly, sir, a slight shift in your attitude
    towards Syria, which you commended yesterday for its role in the current
    trouble in the Middle East? And do you think you might have been too
    hasty yesterday and have you changed your mind?
        The President. No. I don't think anybody thought that Syria was
    exactly behind Hezbollah. I just believe that they could do more. I
    think it's now time for all the players to do more to bring an end to
    the fighting. I think Syria, and Israel, Jordan, the Palestinians, and
    the Lebanese, everybody except these political groups that make their
    living from the continued misery of the Palestinians, everybody else has
    a vested interest in continuing the Middle East peace process, and I
    hope that we can get it going again.

    NAFTA

        Q. On the free trade agreement, you are coming to the end of the
    collateral negotiation with Canada and Mexico. I understand they'll be
    meeting here tomorrow--country are talking about--deficit reduction.
    What new facts are you getting from them on the free trade agreement,
    are they backing you on that?
        The President. I think most of them are for it. I certainly hope
    they are, and I believe they are. I'll take one more.

    Bosnia

        Q. Mr. President, Boutros-Ghali has said in the last few hours that
    he thinks the NATO air cover should be able to start early next week.
    Based on what you know about it now, and this plan has been around since
    May, how do you calculate the risk? Do you feel like you have any
    obligation to go to Congress before that first plane takes off or to go
    to the public with this?
        The President. I think I should wait. I asked the Secretary of State
    to come home to discuss the Middle East. He is now home. I want to talk
    about Bosnia with him, with the Secretary of Defense, with some others,
    before I decide

    [[Page 1215]]

    on what next has to be done. I think that the commitment that we have
    had all along to defend the United Nations forces there if they were
    attacked is, I think, fairly clear and has been highly publicized. But
    of course, if we have to take any action, I will have appropriate
    consultations with Congress and appropriate conversations with the
    American people.
        Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 2:12 p.m. in the East Room at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to Felix Rohytan, senior partner,
    Lizard Freres; John Johnson, chairman and chief executive officer,
    Johnson Publishing Co.; Ron Hall, president and chief executive officer,
    Citgo Petroleum Corp.; Harry Buckley, president and chief executive
    officer, H&R Block Tax Services, Inc.; Mike Walsh, chairman and chief
    executive officer, Tenneco, Inc.; and Alija Izetbegovic, President,
    Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina.