    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book II)]
    [October 6, 1993]
    [Pages 1694-1696]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Signing the Hatch Act Reform Amendments of 1993
    October 6, 1993

        Thank you. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. This is a very
    happy day for me. I've had lots of discussions with Senator Glenn about
    this bill. Bill Clay is happy as a lark. This has put 30 years on his
    life today. And the Vice President and I had occasion to talk about this
    quite a lot during the reinventing Government effort. I have some
    remarks I want to make, but I hope you will forgive me if, just for a
    moment, since this is my opportunity to speak to the national press and
    to the American people as well as to speak to you, I make a brief
    statement about Somalia.
        Today I have had two serious meetings with my national security
    advisers, along with the meeting we had last night, to discuss the
    future course of the United States in Somalia.
        Our forces went there last year under the previous administration on
    an extraordinary human mission: 350,000 Somalis had starved because
    anarchy and famine and disease had prevailed. Today we are completing
    the job of es-

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    tablishing security in Somalia that will not only permit those who are
    now living to enjoy the immediate fruits of our common efforts with our
    allies in the United Nations but also to prevent that terrible crisis
    from occurring as soon as we are gone. It is essential that we conclude
    our mission in Somalia but that we do it with firmness and steadiness of
    purpose.
        I want to emphasize that tomorrow I will be consulting with
    congressional leaders in both parties and with others, and then I will
    report to you and to the American people. But this much I want to say
    today. Our men and women in Somalia, including any held captive, deserve
    our full support. They went there to do something almost unique in human
    history. We are anxious to conclude our role there honorably, but we do
    not want to see a reversion to the absolute chaos and the terrible
    misery which existed before.
        I think the American people, and I hope the Congress will be
    satisfied that we have assessed our position accurately and that we have
    a good policy to pursue. I will discuss that with them tomorrow, as I
    said, and then I will be back to the American people and to the press as
    soon as that is done.
        Let me say this is something of special importance to me today. When
    I was a 32-year-old freshman Governor, in my first year, one of the
    first bills I sponsored in my legislature was a bill repealing
    restrictions on political activities by State employees in my State. A
    bill that, very much like the Hatch Act, had stayed on in its present
    form because it was needed in a former time when, I'm a little
    embarrassed to say, State employees decades ago would mysteriously turn
    up with increases in welfare checks right before the election. Well,
    that hasn't happened in a long time in my State, or in any other. And so
    we changed the law. And I can honestly say in all the years since, not a
    single solitary soul ever lodged a single solitary complaint against any
    of our public employees for being good citizens.
        Today, we put an end to a vexing contradiction in America's public
    life with a solution, I hasten to add, looking at the Members of
    Congress who are here, that is neither Democratic nor Republican but
    American in nature. And I thank the members of both parties who
    supported this important reform.
        We've been supporting democracy throughout the world. We've been
    standing up for Boris Yeltsin in the tight he's been in and cheering
    when he prevailed and cheering when he reaffirmed his determination to
    have elections. But here in our own country, millions of our own
    citizens have been denied one of the most basic democratic rights, the
    right to participate in the political process, because of conditions
    that haven't existed for a very long time.
        The original purpose of the Hatch Act was to protect Federal
    employees and other citizens from coming under improper political
    pressure. But now our Federal work force is the product of merit system,
    not patronage. We have laws to protect our citizens against coercion and
    intimidation. We have guarantees that the administration of Federal laws
    must be fair and impartial. We have an exceedingly vigilant press and
    people more than eager to talk to them whenever they have been abused or
    think they have. The conditions which once gave rise to the Hatch Act as
    it was before this reform bill passed are no longer present, and they
    cannot justify the continued muzzling of millions of American citizens.
        The Federal Employees Political Activities Act, which I'm about to
    sign, will permit Federal employees and postal workers on their own time
    to manage campaigns, raise funds, to hold positions within political
    parties. Still, there will be some reasonable restrictions. They
    wouldn't be able to run for partisan political office themselves, for
    example, and there will be some new responsibilities, which I applaud
    the Federal employees' unions for embracing and supporting.
        While we restore political rights to these millions of citizens, we
    also hold them to high standards. The Federal workplace, where the
    business of our Nation is done will still be strictly off limits to
    partisan political activity. Workers on the job won't even be allowed to
    wear political campaign buttons. At the same time, the reforms will
    maintain restrictions on the activities of workers in the most sensitive
    positions, in law enforcement and national security.
        Because we regard good ethics as the basis of good government, this
    reform strengthens criminal penalties for anyone convicted of abusing
    his or her position. And because we want our Federal workers to be
    responsible, to display an integrity worthy of the public service they
    perform, this reform includes a provision that allows the garnishment of
    Federal pay to repay private debt. That's been done in the private

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    sector for many years. And just as we now treat Federal employees like
    private citizens in their political activities, there's no reason
    Federal workers should get special protection for privately unpaid bills
    and obligations.
        Ultimately, I believe, as Senator Glenn said, that this reform of
    the Hatch Act will mean more responsible, more satisfied, happier, and
    more productive Federal workers. When we extend the political rights of
    any group of Americans, we extend the political rights of all Americans.
    And we deepen the meaning of our own democracy.
        Congress has done a lot of work on that just in the last 8 months
    since I've been President. We've passed the motor voter bill, which
    expands the franchise to people who have difficulty registering to vote.
    Thanks to the Vice President, we have a plan that will radically change
    the way Government operates. It will give rank-and-file Federal
    employees more meaningful jobs, more say over their work, and enable us
    to do more with less and increase the confidence taxpayers have in the
    work we do around here.
        Serious proposals on campaign finance reform and on lobbying reform
    have already passed the United States Senate and are now being acted on
    in the House of Representatives. There is a serious commitment in this
    Congress to try to deal with the continuing imperfections in our
    democracy. And I applaud them for it.
        Aristotle once said that, ``liberty and equality are best attained
    when all persons alike share in the Government to the utmost.'' Working
    together, we're closing in on that goal. And now, when I sign this bill,
    3 million more Americans will have a chance to share in their beloved
    Government to the utmost.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 3 p.m. in the East Room at the White House.
    In his remarks, he referred to Missouri Representative William Clay.
    H.R. 20, approved October 6, was assigned Public Law No. 103-94.