[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book II)]
[August 4, 1993]
[Pages 1333-1334]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks on Signing the Executive Orders on Budget Control and the 
Deficit Reduction Fund and an Exchange With Reporters
August 4, 1993

    The President. Before I sign these orders, I'd like to make a brief 
statement, if I might. Nothing has done more to erode the confidence of 
the American people in our Government than our chronic failure to manage 
our finances and to stabilize the economy so that it can create jobs. 
Year after year, the public has been told that sustained economic growth 
and deficit reduction would come from actions taken here. And as 
deficits have grown larger and incomes have shrunk, the people have 
become more and more skeptical, even cynical, about everything that is 
said and done here even with the best of intentions.
    We have a budget deficit, we have an investment deficit, and we 
clearly have a trust deficit in America. I am determined to do something 
about all three. I know the American people are doubtful about any claim 
by our Government, and I know they wonder if the cuts that we are 
proposing are real and if the taxes will really be used to pay down the 
deficit. That's why I want to go the extra mile to ensure that this plan 
is fundamentally different from what has been done in the past.
    This plan is based on conservative revenue estimates of future 
revenues, with year-by-year, line-by-line specific spending cuts; new 
incentives to expand the private sector's contribution to economic 
growth; minimizes the burdens on the middle class; and now creates two 
safeguards to keep a watchful eye on future spending, especially in 
entitlements, while protecting the savings produced by the plan.
    We owe the Executive orders I am about to sign to the hard work of 
the Members of Congress who are here today. The House included both 
provisions in its version of the reconciliation bill. The Senate would 
have done the same with similar amendments supported by Senator 
DeConcini, Senator Feingold, recommended publicly by Senator Bradley and 
others, but for the procedural maneuvering by people who feed the public 
cynicism by talking about deficit reduction on the one hand and 
nonetheless have prepared to block action for these needed reforms on 
the other. The fact that the Senate rules required these Executive 
orders today, that we could not do it by statute, is something that 
should be debated at a later time. But I want to make it clear that the 
Senators who are here and others strongly support what is being done.
    These orders are almost completely identical to the provisions 
adopted by the House and approved by a majority in the Senate. The 
deficit reduction order creates a deficit reduction trust fund, an 
account in the Treasury that guarantees that the savings from the 
reconciliation bill are dedicated exclusively to reducing the deficit. 
This locks in deficit reduction and mandates all members of the 
executive branch to follow these procedures.
    The entitlement and review order requires that entitlement spending 
be limited to the estimated levels included in the reconciliation bill. 
If those levels are exceeded, I will present recommendations to Congress 
on corrective action. No longer can we permit entitlement spending to 
soar out of control without some concrete action being taken to restrain 
it.
    These Executive orders are the product of years of hard work by the 
men and women represented here today. I am grateful to them for their 
inspiration and their tenacity in getting this work done.
    As important as this plan is for reducing the budget and investment 
deficits, these Executive orders deal also with the trust deficit. They 
are the assurance to the American people that our good words about 
deficit reduction and economic growth will be matched by good works

[[Page 1334]]

as well.

[At this point, the President signed the Executive orders. Senator 
Dennis DeConcini then made brief remarks.]

Economic Program

    Q. Mr. President, what have you offered him to--[inaudible]
    The President. Good Government. [Laughter]
    Q. Can you have the--will you have the vote without him?
    The President. I guess I ought to say one other thing about this. I 
still think these things should be adopted in the law. And I would be 
prepared to support, as quickly as we can get it up and voted on, a 
separate piece of legislation to do these things. And I do want to 
emphasize that.
    These Executive orders are identical, virtually identical, word for 
word, for what the Congress, the majority in the Congress, wanted. They 
clearly bind the executive branch just as much as an act of Congress. 
But I think it would be better, from the point of view of the public 
trust and also more binding on Congress, if we can pass a separate piece 
of legislation.
    So I do want to make it clear that while I support these ideas 
strongly and I will faithfully adhere to them in the Executive order, I 
have also told the Members of Congress who care about this that I am 
prepared to strongly support a separate legislation to achieve these 
objectives in the law. And I'd like to see it brought up just as quickly 
as we can after the August recess is over.
    Thank you.
    Q. Mr. President, did you know it before now that Senator DeConcini 
had not made up his mind yet?
    The President. Senator DeConcini and I agreed that this press 
conference would be about this, and not----

Note: The President spoke at 12:39 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. The Executive orders are listed in Appendix D at the end of this 
volume.