    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1994, Book II)]
    [November 2, 1994]
    [Pages 1954-1955]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Interview With WDIA Radio, Memphis, Tennessee
    November 2, 1994

        Q. WDIA here in Memphis, Tennessee. We have President Bill Clinton
    live and on the radio with you.
        Good afternoon, Mr. President.
        The President. Good afternoon. How are you?
        Q. I'm just fine, thank you.
        Q. W.C. Brown is joining me here, and we're glad that you're joining
    us here by phone in Memphis. And we have a few questions we'd like to
    ask you, but first we'd like to give you an opportunity to make a
    statement.

    Midterm Elections

        The President. Well, first, it's good to be talking with you and to
    have a chance to visit with you so close to this election. The message I
    want to get out is that with all of our challenges in America, we're in
    better shape than we were 21 months ago. We're rebuilding the economy.
    We have more jobs; we have a lower unemployment rate; we've got more
    high-wage jobs coming into the economy. We're doing things for ordinary
    American families: the Family and Medical Leave Act, tax breaks for 15
    million working families to keep them out of poverty, immunization for
    our children, more Head Start. We're doing things to support education:
    expanded college loans and apprenticeship programs for young people who
    don't go on to college. We've supported African-American educational
    programs especially strongly, and we'll continue to do that. We've
    supported the kinds of things that will move this country forward. We've
    taken steps to help communities deal with the crime problem, not just
    with more police and the Brady bill, the assault weapons ban but also
    with prevention programs for our communities so that we can help our
    young people live a more positive life. So we're moving in the right
    direction.
        The Republicans offer a contract that would take us back to the
    trickle-down Reaganomics era of the 1980's where we explode the deficit,
    move our jobs overseas, and have the risk of big cuts in programs that
    are important to all Americans, like Medicare and Social Security. We
    need to keep going forward; we don't want to go back. In order to do
    that, in a place like Tennessee where there are so many important
    elections--two Senate races, all the Congress races, a big Governor's
    race--it's important that people go out and vote next Tuesday.

    Anticrime Legislation

        Q. That's very true, Mr. President. The crime bill is an issue that
    we talk here on the talk show programs and in the news all the time
    about. A lot of people are concerned about the amount of money that's
    earmarked for the Midsouth area, the Memphis Midsouth area, as well as
    whether or not the crime bill is really going to be something that can
    be effective here in the Midsouth or whether it's just another Band-Aid.
    What would you say to that?
        The President. I think it depends upon what the people at the local
    community do with it.
        Q. Okay.
        The President. It is the best crime bill, in my judgment, that has
    been passed at least in my lifetime. It gives the local communities the
    ability to increase their police forces by about 20 percent over the
    course of the next 5 years. It gives local communities the ability to
    put more serious offenders behind bars. It gives local communities the
    ability to have prevention programs, education programs, recreation
    programs, alternatives to imprisonment for young people to give them a
    better chance at a better future. But all of this depends on what local
    people do. The President, the Congress, we can't fight crime on the
    streets; all we can do is give you the tools to make the most of it. But
    if your churches, your community groups, your community police forces,
    if they make the most of this, it will lower crime and reduce violence.

    [[Page 1955]]

    White House Attacks

        Q. Thank you, Mr. President. Also, there have been two attacks on
    the White House itself recently.
        Q. You would bring that up.
        Q. I would have to bring that up. I haven't heard in the media you
    respond to those attacks on the White House per se. How would you
    respond to that? Would you say that that is, as Rush Limbaugh, a friend
    of yours--[laughter]--would say, is that the American people being
    expressive through those people who have enough nerve to go out and do
    something about it? Or are these just idle terrorist acts that are being
    done by people who have lost it, shall we say?
        The President. The first incident I think was not even an attack. I
    think it was a stunt that went awry. I think the man was plainly just
    trying to land his plane there. The second incident, we'll have to see
    when all the facts get in. But I believe the Secret Service do a good
    job protecting me and our family, and I feel great confidence in that. I
    just get up every morning and do my job. I think that every President
    knows there's always some chance that somebody will be out there
    thinking about something like that; but it doesn't bother me much. I
    don't think about it; I just try to work with the Secret Service. I
    think they do a good job, and I just go on with my job.

    Income Taxes

        Q. Mr. President, this is W.C. Brown. Would you talk just a little
    bit about tax breaks? We hear that tax breaks are contained in a bill
    that will help to benefit the poor.
        The President. Yes, our budget contained tax cuts for 15 million
    families. And in Tennessee, there were almost 20 times as many people
    who got an income tax cut as who got an income tax rate increase. Three
    hundred and eighty-four thousand working families in Tennessee,
    including a lot of them in your listening area, got a tax cut because
    they work full time, they have children in the home, but their incomes
    are still modest. We wanted to make absolutely sure that people that
    work full-time with kids in the house would not be in poverty. So we
    expanded a program called the earned-income tax credit, which not only
    reduces taxes but can get people a refund on their taxes if their
    incomes are modest enough. It was the most significant thing done in the
    last 20 years to make the Tax Code fairer to working people. I'm very
    proud of it and I think it's not very much understood, but it's very,
    very important to emphasize. Senator Sasser, Congressman Cooper,
    Congressman Ford, in your area, these people stood up for the interest
    of working people, and now they are being pilloried in Tennessee in this
    election and accused of raising taxes on average Americans when in fact
    they cut taxes on almost 20 times as many Tennesseans as had their tax
    rates raised. And they ought to be supported for it, not criticized for
    it.

    NCAA Basketball

        Q. Mr. President, on a lighter note. We here in the Midsouth area
    are also big fans of your favorite team, the Arkansas Razorbacks----
        The President. Boy, they're good, aren't they?
        Q. ----the NCAA championship team. And of course, we know you're
    good friends with Nolan Richardson. What would you have to say about the
    team this year, their chances in repeating? And we have a game coming up
    in Memphis at the Pyramid pretty soon. Would you be thinking about
    visiting Memphis and probably supporting your team?
        The President. Well, I'm looking at all the basketball schedules,
    seeing if I can make any of these games. Of course, they lost 2 of their
    12 men on the team, but all the first 5 are coming back. They had a good
    recruiting year. He's a great coach; they're great kids. I think they've
    got a good chance to repeat. But it's very, very difficult to repeat.
    There's a lot of talent out there, and when you get to the end of the
    NCAA's, one game and you're out. So it's going to be tough, but they're
    a great team. They've got a great chance, and obviously I'm pulling for
    them.
        Q. Well, thank you very much. And when you're in Tennessee,
    certainly we'd like to invite you to WDIA and be a part, because this is
    Clinton country.
        The President. Thank you.

    Note: The interview began at 4:51 p.m. The President spoke by telephone
    from the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence, RI, to
    interviewers W.C. Brown, J. Michael Davis, and Leon Gray.