    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
    [March 25, 1993]
    [Pages 355-356]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks in a Telephone Conversation With Senators George Mitchell and
    Jim Sasser and an Exchange With Reporters
    March 25, 1993

    Russia

        Q. Does the situation now appear to have eased in Russia to you, Mr.
    President?
        The Vice President. I don't think this is a press conference.
        The President. I don't know. I hope so.

    [At this point, the telephone conversation began.]

        Senator Mitchell. Hello?
        The President. Senator?
        Senator Mitchell. Yes.
        The President. How are you doing?
        Senator Mitchell. We're doing fine. How are you doing?
        The President. Well, I'm doing a lot better, thanks to you.
        Senator Mitchell. No, thanks to Jim Sasser, who is sitting right
    here with me and on the line, too.
        Senator Sasser. Hey, Mr. President, I'm on this party line, also.
        The President. Hello, Senator Sasser.
        Senator Sasser. How are you doing? We're doing terrific here.
        The President. The Vice President's here with me, and we just wanted
    to thank you for the work you've done. This is a great, great day.
        Senator Sasser. It certainly is. And we want to thank you, I do,
    particularly, for the help that you gave us in moving this resolution
    through the committee and off the floor. We had 56 amendments, and the
    truth is that not a single number changed in that budget resolution on
    any of those amendments. And we couldn't have done it without your help.
        The President. Well, we were glad to do it. I believe, and I think
    the American people believe, that this is really an historic moment.
    Finally, we've done something to break the gridlock and to bring the
    deficit down and to create new jobs through investment. It's a
    remarkable achievement. And I know we've got a lot of work still to do,
    but the fact that the Senate and the House have both passed these budget
    resolutions, it's really astonishing this early. And I'm just amazed,
    because we all know what a hard road you had to hoe. I can't tell you
    how much I admire you and how grateful I am to both of you.
        Senator Sasser. You're very kind to say that, and I very much
    appreciate it. I might say that this is the earliest time in my memory--
    the majority leader may know another time--but this is the earliest time
    in my memory that we passed a budget resolution here in the Senate. And
    we're proud of that and proud of your help on getting it done.
        And tell the Vice President we sure appreciate him coming over here
    and giving us encouragement.
        The Vice President. Well, I'm on the line, Jim, and thank you very
    much. You did a fantastic job. George, I think Jim is right. This is the
    earliest in history that a new budget has passed. And I've been hearing
    from a lot of people about how effective you all were in the caucus
    meeting in the conference a couple of days ago. The unity among
    Democratic Senators has been just remarkable and has made this whole
    thing possible. So, Mr. Leader, congratulations to you, and to you, Jim.
        Senator Mitchell. Thank you very much, Mr. Vice President. We really
    do appreciate your help, not just your physical presence but the
    leadership you gave in talking to Democratic Senators. I know many of
    them were impressed

    [[Page 356]]

    with the fact that you took the time to come up here, meet with them,
    talk with them, express support for and explain the President's
    position. I think that was extremely helpful in getting that kind of
    unity. So we're very grateful to both of you.
        And now, of course, there's no rest for the weary. I'll have a list
    of people for you to call on the supplemental----
        The Vice President. I'm ready.
        The President. We're ready to go. Give us our next assignment.
        Senator Mitchell. Well, that's it. We've already started on it, and
    we'll be in touch with you on that later today.
        The President. Thank you very much, George.
        Senator Mitchell. Thank you. Bye, Mr. President.

    [At this point, the telephone conversation ended, and the President took
    questions from reporters.]

    Stimulus Package

        Q. Do you feel you now have the votes on the stimulus package, Mr.
    President?
        The President. Well, I haven't gotten a late count, but I feel good
    about it. We worked hard on it, and I feel good about it.
        Q. What does it do to your package if Breaux and Boren were to
    prevail? Is that a killer amendment?
        The President. All I can tell you is, we're going to try to pass it.
    Let's just see what happens. I feel pretty good about it. We're working
    hard

    Russia

        Q. Mr. President--contact of Boris Yeltsin today? Have you heard
    anything?
        The President. No. I would say I've gotten reports and I've spent
    about, oh, I don't know, an hour and half on it this morning, working,
    trying to get ready for Vancouver and trying to make sure we know what's
    going on. But I don't have anything to add to what you already know.

    Note: The President spoke at 2:22 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House. A tape was not available for verification of the content of these
    remarks.