[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-


[[Page 1695]]

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

[[Page 1696]]

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.