    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1994, Book II)]
    [November 2, 1994]
    [Pages 1957-1958]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Interview With Janet Peckinpaugh of WFSB Television, Hartford,
    Connecticut
    November 2, 1994

        Ms. Peckinpaugh. Mr. President, good evening. Thanks for joining us
    tonight.
        The President. Good evening, Janet.

    White House Attack

        Ms. Peckinpaugh. The first thing I want to ask you is, how can you
    feel so secure about your security right now? Does this have you shaken
    up at all?
        The President. No, not at all. In fact, when the incident occurred,
    within a matter of seconds a Secret Service agent was upstairs at the
    White House there with me. They have worked very hard to increase their
    ability to protect the President every year. And they get better at it
    every year. I have a high level of confidence in them.
        This incident could have happened at any time, I suppose. I regret
    it, but I don't think the American people should worry about it. We live
    in a democracy. People can move around freely. The one thing I do hope
    people will draw from this incident is that the congressional Members
    who were brave enough to vote for the crime bill, to stand up to the
    brutal pressure the NRA put on them and the threats they leveled against
    them, to try to get these assault weapons off the street were right.
    That man had a modified assault weapon with a magazine with at least 20
    bullets. And I think it's a good thing that we're trying to move against
    that.
        But in a free society where people have free movement and where
    there are lots of guns, this kind of thing can occur. I can't stop being
    President. This is a democracy. We have to get out here and--all of us--
    and be with one another and talk to one another. So I'm just going about
    my job and doing it with a very high level of confidence in the people
    whose job it is to protect the President.

    [[Page 1958]]

        Ms. Peckinpaugh. President Clinton, hearing that from you makes us
    feel a lot better. Thanks for telling us that.
        The President. Thank you.

    Midterm Elections

        Ms. Peckinpaugh. We asked our viewers to call into us, to write into
    us, to E-mail us with their questions for you tonight, so I'd like to
    take some time and talk about some of their questions. Linda Parker from
    Hartford wants to know how you feel about colleagues who have distanced
    themselves from you lately. We have an example right here in
    Connecticut: Congressman Sam Gejdenson and Jim Maloney, who is running
    for Gary Franks' seat, did not show up when you appeared here a couple
    of weeks ago. How do you feel when your colleagues do this?
        The President. Well, first of all, I can say for Sam Gejdenson
    that's just not an accurate characterization. I went to his district at
    his invitation and campaigned for him at a time when nationally I wasn't
    in nearly as good a shape in the polls as I am now, so I just think
    that's a bum rap. And Mr. Maloney, my wife has been to Connecticut
    campaigning for him. I took no offense at that.
        I think that it was a very successful trip to Connecticut.
    Afterward, surveys show that the support rose for Mr. Curry, our
    candidate for Governor up there. And I feel very good about the State of
    Connecticut and the relationship I've had with the Democrats.
        I also think, however, that every Member of Congress and every
    Senator should seek to run, to some extent, a campaign that is tied not
    to the President but to their constituents. What I like to hear a Member
    say is, ``When I voted with the President, I didn't do it for him, I did
    it for you.'' That's the proper message.

    Social Security

        Ms. Peckinpaugh. Okay. Quickly, Mr. President, what about this very
    controversial Social Security issue? John Francis from Stratford wants
    to know your thinking on that.
        The President. Well, here's what happened, and I think it's very
    important for the voters to listen to this. The Republicans put out this
    contract, and they said, ``If you'll give us control of the Congress, we
    will take you back to what we did in the 1980's, trickle-down
    Reaganomics. We'll give massive tax cuts, mostly to upper income
    people.'' That must be appealing in Connecticut; you have a lot of upper
    income people. ``We'll give massive tax cuts. We'll increase defense;
    we'll increase Star Wars. And we'll balance the budget in 5 years.''
        That costs a trillion dollars. The only way to do that is to cut
    everything, including Social Security, across the board 20 percent.
    That's $2,000 a Social Security recipient. You say, we don't want to do
    that. Then you have to cut everything else in the Government across the
    board 30 percent. That bankrupts Medicare. If you don't do that, you're
    right back to where they were before, massive deficits, shipping jobs
    overseas. Connecticut lost 150,000 jobs in the last 4 years because of
    that kind of economic policy.
        We need to invest and grow with discipline. We don't need a lot of
    easy promises. We need to embrace the challenges of the global economy,
    invest, and grow. That's my approach.
        This Social Security threat is very real. If they carry through on
    their promises, they cannot keep their promise to cut the taxes and
    increase the spending and balance the budget without going after it.
        Ms. Peckinpaugh. President Clinton, thanks for answering our viewer
    questions.
        The President. Thank you.
        Ms. Peckinpaugh. And thanks so much for taking the time to be with
    us.
        The President. Thank you.

    Note: The interview began at 5:13 p.m. The President spoke by satellite
    from the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence, RI.