[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1994, Book I)]
[March 12, 1994]
[Pages 433-434]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



The President's Radio Address
March 12, 1994

    Good morning. This morning I want to talk with you about what we're 
doing here at home and abroad to create better jobs for our American 
workers and about a breakthrough we've had in our trade talks with 
Japan.
    Let me begin with this important news. Today we've reached an 
agreement that will open up Japan's cellular telephone market to high-
technology products made here in America. This is a big win for 
everyone. Workers in the United States will gain because the agreement 
means more demand for cellular telephones and related equipment made in 
America. Japanese consumers win because they'll have access to better 
service and better technology at better prices. Even Japanese 
manufacturers may win because of the increased demand for cellular 
telephones. This agreement is designed to produce results; both 
countries will be able to measure progress. And it demonstrates that the 
United States and Japan can work together to open up jobs in America by 
opening up markets in Japan in ways that help both Americans and 
Japanese.
    Our trade negotiations with Japan are just one example of the 
challenges and opportunities that face us in this new global economy. 
That's why tomorrow I'll join leaders of the world's seven major 
industrial nations in Detroit for a conference on creating more and 
better jobs for our people. For two decades, all these wealthy countries 
have struggled to protect the jobs of our working people and to create 
new jobs in an extremely competitive and rapidly changing global 
economy. None of us has had the success we would like. That's why I 
asked for this meeting.
    But remember this: Of all the advanced nations, America is doing the 
best job of creating new jobs, and we should be proud. After 12 years of 
drift, we were able to get the deficit and interest rates and inflation 
down and to get productivity and investments in growth up. As a result, 
our economy has generated 2 million new jobs in a little more than a 
year, and 90 percent of them are in the private sector. And if we stay 
with our program when it comes to jobs, there will be 2 million more in 
1994.
    But we can't rest on this record. Too many Americans haven't yet 
felt the benefits of recovery. Too many middle class Americans are still 
working harder for the same or lower wages. And too many lack the 
education and training they need to prosper in today's competitive 
environment.
    Our trading partners all have similar problems. Advanced nations are 
experiencing chronic unemployment and stagnant wages. Powerful new 
technologies and global communications have created the most competitive 
world markets ever, and we must compete and win in it.
    These are very serious problems. They require new ways of thinking, 
and no nation has all the answers. But all of us are trying, and we all 
have something to learn from each other. That is the purpose of the 
conference in Detroit.
    In Detroit, I will reaffirm my belief that the global economy is not 
an obstacle to progress but a great opportunity for us. We can't build 
walls around our nations and refuse to compete. Turning inward won't 
change the world or improve our jobs. Preparing for change and em-


[[Page 434]]

bracing change, however, and using it to create more high-wage jobs will 
do what we want to do. That is our goal. And here's how we plan to do 
it:
    First, we'll continue to expand trade in open markets around the 
world. International trade is an engine for growth that creates jobs, 
that lifts wages. That's why we've signed more trade agreements and 
lowered more trade barriers this year than in any recent memory. Our 
commitment to opening new markets to American goods is unshakable.
    Second, we must invest to develop new technologies and products like 
the information superhighway or new technologies for dual use in both 
defense and civilian markets. And we'll continue to demonstrate that 
protecting the environment can be good for the economy. For example, 
there are hundreds of thousands of good jobs in producing clean cars and 
alternative fuels, and we believe those jobs should be American jobs. 
Sound fiscal policies at home, opening markets abroad, investing in the 
technologies of the future, that's how to create more high-wage jobs.
    The final piece of this puzzle is to invest in the education and 
skills of our people so they are prepared to fill those jobs. That's why 
we've already invested more in getting our children off to a good start 
in Head Start, in the Women's, Infant, and Children nutrition programs. 
That's why we've already reformed the student loan program so that all 
children, including children of the middle class, can afford to go to 
college by borrowing money at lower interest rates and paying it off as 
a percentage of their incomes after they get jobs. That's why, just a 
few days ago, I asked Congress to discard the old unemployment and 
training program, which is too big, too old, and too slow, and replace 
it with a system to retrain our workers quickly for the high-skilled 
jobs of tomorrow and to link them to those jobs within weeks, not months 
or years.
    We're pushing Congress hard to pass a safe schools act, to reduce 
violence in our schools and to make our children safer on the streets on 
the way to school. Congress now is finishing work on our Goals 2000 
education bill, which will establish world-class standards for 
educational excellence and on our school-to-work initiative, which will 
allow our young people who don't go to college to get the skills they 
need to find good jobs. Each of these important measures stands a good 
chance of becoming law, many in just a matter of weeks.
    Meeting this challenge head-on is never easy. Change is always 
difficult. But these are things we have to do and something we've proved 
we can do. Our economic policies have sparked a real recovery and begun 
to put our economic house in order. The Congress seems determined to 
continue working with me this year. Just yesterday, the House of 
Representatives, in record time, okayed our new budget. If it passes the 
whole Congress we will have 3 consecutive years of declining deficits 
for the first time since Harry Truman was President.
    Our trade policies continue to open markets in ways that will boost 
exports, create jobs, and share the benefits of growth. We can defeat 
any obstacle to change, we can create millions of high-wage jobs for our 
people if we have the courage to confront our problems boldly, not to be 
diverted or deterred, and we make a commitment to solving these problems 
together.
    That will be my message to all the nations gathered this Monday in 
Detroit, and it is my commitment to all of you hearing this broadcast 
today.
    Thank you for listening.

Note: The President spoke at 10:06 a.m. from the Oval Office at the 
White House. A table listing education, training, and reemployment 
legislative priorities for the 2d session of the 103d Congress was 
attached to the release.