    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1994, Book II)]
    [November 4, 1994]
    [Pages 1983-1984]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Employment Statistics and an Exchange With Reporters in
    Duluth, Minnesota
    November 4, 1994

        The President. Good morning, everyone. I have always thought the
    best social policy was a good job. And with our national economic
    strategy that was adopted last year by Congress, we have been creating
    millions of those jobs.
        Today we can see that in the report that the Nation's unemployment
    rate has fallen to 5.8 percent, its lowest level in 4 years. And while
    we still have more work to do to make this economy, work for all
    Americans, it's clear that progress has been made. While we have been
    shrinking the Government and reducing the deficit, America has been
    growing the economy. More than 5 million new jobs have been created in
    the last 21 months, more jobs in high-wage industries this year alone
    than in the previous 5 years combined.
        Had we listened to the doubters, this progress never would have been
    made. Those who opposed our economic plan argued that growth would
    stall, that jobs would be lost, that the deficit would go up. They were
    plain wrong. We have delivered what the American people have long
    wanted: lower deficits, $100 billion lower than predicted; strong
    growth, nearly 4 percent a year since I assumed office; and with the new
    revision, over 5 million jobs, 5 times as many per month as were created
    in the previous administration.
        Of course the real heroes in all this are the American people, the
    workers and their firms who have made America the most competitive
    economy in the world, the heroes in the auto industries whose facilities
    are filled today with more workers than they've had since 1979. And for
    the first time since 1979, American automobile companies have outsold
    their Japanese competitors all around the world. The heroes are the
    people who are working full-time, even though they live on modest wages.
        This improving employment picture is, in short, a credit to the hard
    work and the responsibility and the productivity of working Americans,
    as well as to the partnership that our Government has established with
    the private sector. We have to continue with this economic policy that
    puts people first. It is working.

    Republican Contract With America

        Q. Mr. President, Haley Barbour says you're telling a big, bald-
    faced lie when you say the Republicans intend to cut Social Security
    benefits, sir. Are you playing fair? Are you telling the truth?
        The President. Well, why don't you ask Mr. Barbour what his position
    is? They want to have it all ways. They're out here now running ads
    criticizing this economic plan, which has plainly played a role in this
    terrific recovery we have. They're playing to the worst instincts of the
    American people.
        With their contract, what have they tried to do? They have made one
    trillion dollars' worth of promises. Now, you don't have to take my word
    for it; look at the study done by the House Budget Committee. Mr.
    Barbour has the following options if they intend to keep their promise--
    huge tax cuts, spending increases, balance the budget--the following are
    his options: You can cut everything 20 percent across the board, which
    is a $2,000-a-person-a-year Social Security cut. If you say, ``Well, I
    don't want to cut Social Security,'' then you cut everything else 30
    percent across the board, including Medicare. You devastate Medicare,
    veterans benefits, the agriculture programs, and much of the other good
    things done by the National Government.
        Of course, there's always the possibility that Haley Barbour's
    right, they're just going to deliver the goodies and forget about paying
    for them, in which case you go right back to the 1980's, exploding
    deficits, shipping our jobs overseas, putting our economy in the ditch.
    This economy is growing. We are moving in the right direction because we
    have played on America's strengths. I'm interested in making this
    country

    [[Page 1984]]

    strong; they're interested in talking tough and acting weak. And their
    weakness made this economy weak. They were weak when they were in
    office. They were weak; they let this deficit get out of control. They
    stopped investing in our future. They didn't expand trade as they should
    have. They behaved in a weak fashion. They talked tough; they played to
    the fears of the American people. They are very, very good at it. But
    they did not build America's strength. I'm interested in this country
    being strong at home with good jobs, strong families, safe streets, and
    strong abroad. And that is what this election ought to be about.

    Midterm Elections

        Q. Mr. President, in these final days before the election, you're
    focusing in on Minnesota and Michigan, California, Washington State. But
    you're avoiding a lot of other States where there are some very close
    contests, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Florida. Why aren't you going to
    those States instead of coming to these States twice?
        The President. First of all, I'm going where I think I can do the
    most good. Secondly, in Tennessee, the Vice President, who is from
    Tennessee, has been there and is going back and is spending a lot of
    time. We're practicing division of labor. I've been to Florida; I've
    done, I think, all the good I can do there. I also think, in the Federal
    races, I can have more impact than in the State races. So I'm doing the
    best I can with the limited time we have. I have a vigorous schedule.
    We're going back to Michigan. We're going to try to make one or two
    other States, too, before the end. But I'm doing what I think is most
    important.
        Secondly, I believe that thanks to you, all of you, that wherever I
    go the most important thing is to get the message out, get the message
    to the American people that we have made a good beginning in these last
    21 months, that we are dealing with problems that accumulated for years
    before I took office, that I don't pretend that we have solved all the
    problems. I know there are still things to do, but we ought to keep
    going forward, not turn back. That message goes across America no matter
    where I am.

    Death of Michael and Alexander Smith

        Q. Mr. President, the Nation has been stunned by the news of the
    deaths of these two children in South Carolina. Do you have any
    reflections on that this morning?
        The President. Well, I think like every American, especially every
    parent, I have followed this gripping incident, and it's been a
    heartbreaking thing. I think today what I would like to do is to say a
    word of encouragement to the people of Union, the people of the
    community, beginning with the sheriff and all the law enforcement
    officials, all the children who prayed, all the people who worked to try
    to recover those children.
        It is very important that they not, in any way, feel that their
    efforts are diminished. The American people looked on them with enormous
    admiration, the way they pulled together across racial and other lines,
    the way they tried to find those children, the way they worked to get to
    an answer, the way they prayed for the safety of the children. I just
    don't want them to believe that somehow what the mother did in any way
    diminishes the quality, the character, the courage of what they did.
        And so my thoughts and prayers are with them today. And I would hope
    the American people would feel that way as well. I think we were all
    moved and deeply impressed by how that community responded, and this
    awful turn of events cannot undermine that.

    Note: The President spoke at 9:15 a.m. at the Holiday Inn. In his
    remarks, he referred to Haley Barbour, Republican National Committee
    chairman, and Susan Smith, who was charged with murder in the drowning
    of her children after originally claiming they had been abducted by a
    carjacker on October 25.