[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
[April 19, 1993]
[Pages 454-455]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks to the Champion University of Maine Ice Hockey Team and an 
Exchange With Reporters
April 19, 1993

    The President. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It's an honor for 
me to welcome the University of Maine Black Bears, the winner of the 
NCAA Division I hockey national championship to the Rose Garden and the 
White House. I understand from Senator Mitchell that this is the first 
team from the University of Maine ever to win a national championship. 
And we're glad to have them here.
    I'm inspired not only by how the team pulled together to win the 
championship but how the entire State pulled together to cheer them on 
to victory. Coming from a State that is also relatively small in size 
but also filled with pride and tradition and community, I can understand 
how the people of Maine must feel about the Black Bears. In our State, 
people are still talking about the time we won the Orange Bowl over the 
number one ranked football team, and that was back in 1978. I'm sure 
that 15 years from now the people of Maine will be as proud of this team 
as they are today.
    You know, in my State football is a slightly more popular sport than 
hockey. We don't have a lot of ice. [Laughter] But after spending 3 
months getting banged around in this town, I can understand a little 
more about hockey than I did before I came here. Hockey is a tough game; 
it's a hard-hitting sport. It does have one virtue though, there's a 
penalty for delay of game. I wish we had that rule in the Senate. 
[Laughter] In Government, as in hockey, leadership is important. In the 
United States Senate, our team has a great captain, the majority leader 
and the senior Senator from Maine, George Mitchell; junior Senator Cohen 
looks so young, I can't imagine. [Laughter] I'm actually bitter about 
Senator Cohen because he looks so much younger than me.
    On your hockey team the captain, Jim Montgomery, has done a great 
job. He scored the winning goal late in the championship game, leading 
you to a come-from-behind victory, something else I know a little bit 
about. Sport brings out the best in individuals and in teams and in 
communities. I share the pride that Senator Mitchell and Senator Cohen 
and Congressman Andrews and all the people of Maine must feel for the 
Black Bears who have shown us all how to play as a team, how to bring 
out the best in one another, and how to come from behind. I think it's 
important, as I ask young people from around America who have achieved 
outstanding things in working together to come here to the White House 
to be recognized and appreciated by their country, to remember that 
those kinds of values and those kinds of virtues need to be ingrained in 
all of us for all of our lives. We now have another role model, and I'm 
glad to have them here today.

[At this point, the President was presented with a team jersey.]

    The President. That's great. I love it. It's beautiful.

[The President was then presented with an autographed hockey stick.]

    The President. Thank you. That's great.

Branch Davidian Religious Sect Standoff

    Q. Mr. President, did you authorize the move on Waco this morning, 
sir?
    The President. I was aware of it. I think the Attorney General made 
the decision. And I think I should refer all questions to her and to the 
FBI.
    Q. Did you have any instructions for her as to how it should be 
executed?
    The President. No, they made the tactical decisions. That was their 
judgment, the FBI.
    Q. Is this a raid?
    The President. I want to refer you to, talk to the Attorney General 
and the FBI. I knew it was going to be done, but the decisions were

[[Page 455]]

entirely theirs, all the tactical decisions.

Stimulus Package

    Q. What did you and Senator Mitchell talk about this morning?
    Q. Any chance for that stimulus package?
    The President. Senator Mitchell ought to pay my quarter. I was in 
there--[laughter]----
    Senator Mitchell. You have to pay that quarter.
    The President. I was ready. [Laughter] Senator Mitchell, he's worth 
a quarter any day.
    Q. Any chance for your bill, sir?
    The President. We talked about what was going to happen this week in 
the Senate and about what other meetings we're going to have for the 
rest of the week. We only had about 5 minutes to talk, and we agreed 
we'd get back together later, around noon, and talk some more.
    Q. Senator Dole said over the weekend that your compromise is no 
compromise.
    The President. Well, I know he did, but look, Senator Dole and a lot 
of the other Republicans now in the Senate voted for the same kind of 
thing for Ronald Reagan in 1983. And our research indicates that a 
majority of them over time voted for a total of 28 emergency spending 
measures totaling over $100 billion when Reagan and Bush were President, 
in those administrations. And many of those purposes were not nearly as 
worthy as putting the American people back to work. I don't want to go 
back and revisit every one, but you can do it. You can look at the 
research there. So this position they're taking is not credible. We have 
a very tough 5-year deficit reduction plan. All these costs are covered 
during that time and then some. And the very people that are saying this 
has all got to be paid for don't have much of a history on which to base 
their position. They've got 12 years of votes for stimulus measures of 
this kind that had very little to do with putting the American people 
back to work. So I think we've got a chance to work it out, and I'm 
hopeful. We'll see what happens today and tomorrow. I'm feeling pretty 
good about it.

Note: The President spoke at 9:58 a.m. in the Rose Garden at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to the assault by Federal agents with 
armored vehicles and tear gas on the Branch Davidian religious sect 
compound in Waco, TX. The action ended a 51-day standoff which began on 
February 28 when Federal agents raided the compound in an attempt to 
serve warrants for firearms violations on David Koresh, leader of the 
sect. A portion of these remarks could not be verified because the tape 
was incomplete.