    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1994, Book II)]
    [November 2, 1994]
    [Pages 1960-1962]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Interview With Van Harden, Bonnie Lucas, and Bob Quinn of
    WHO Radio, Des Moines, Iowa
    November 2, 1994

    1993 Midwest Flood

        Mr. Harden.  Well, we're very fortunate to have a very special guest
    on the phone with us here today, here on ``Van and Bonnie in the
    Morning,'' President Bill Clinton. Mr. President, welcome to WHO Radio.
        The President. Thanks, it's nice to be back with you. I was there
    once before, remember?
        Mr. Harden.  Yes, I was just going to say, the last time we talked
    we--well, you were here filling up sand bags, helping us with water
    jugs, and all that.
        The President. Yes, we had a lot of water the last time I was there.
    I'll never forget that.
        Mr. Harden. Times are a lot better now, we're happy to report. And
    we want to thank you, too, for especially the moral support you lended
    us during that time because, as you found out, it was not very good back
    then.
        The President. It was difficult but, you know, I was honored to be
    able to do it, and I'm proud of the response that we had from the
    Federal Emergency Management Agency and Secretary Espy and all the
    others. We worked very hard with the people of Iowa on that flood, and I
    was honored to do it.
        Mr. Harden. Well, you got a chance to see from the airplane a lot of
    the agricultural--our crops and things that were going on. And we

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    have Bob Quinn, our farm director, here that would like to ask you a few
    questions in that regard.
        The President. Hello, Bob.

    Ethanol

        Mr. Quinn. Mr. President, when we talked in April of '93, the first
    time we met in New York City, we talked about your support of ethanol
    and the clean air bill. Well, the clean air bill, as you well know, has
    kind of stalled out; it's blocked in court. What's your stance on
    ethanol? Still supporting ethanol?
        The President. I'm still strongly for it. As you know, we stayed
    with our commitment, and we went forward with the ethanol policy, which
    was strongly supported by the farmers in the Middle West. And we've been
    sued in court; I think we'll win that lawsuit. I think that it is within
    the policy discretion of our Government to support ethanol. I think it's
    good for agriculture, good for the environment, and I still have the
    same position.

    Farm Bill

        Mr. Quinn. You know, we're talking about the farm bill right now,
    and we've heard some talk over the weekend from the Republican side that
    there may be some cutting of farm programs. Now, in your farm bill plan,
    do you hope to reduce spending or cut farm programs at all?
        The President. Well, I think we need to make a distinction between
    what the two alternatives are here, because they are dramatic.
        We've already figured into the budget and all the farm groups have
    supported the fact that the subsidy programs themselves will be somewhat
    less costly in the years ahead because of the trade agreements and
    especially the GATT agreement. But the reason for that is that we've got
    agreement from our competitors, especially in Europe, to cut their
    subsidies. And our products are so much more competitive, we're going to
    sell more on the markets around the world, and that's going to increase
    farm income. That's a good thing and, I think everyone would admit, an
    appropriate thing to do.
        What they're talking about is something very different from that.
    They have made all these promises. They've promised to cut taxes--mostly
    for the rich, but they just want to throw tax cuts around; they've
    promised to spend more on defense and on Star Wars; and they promised to
    balance the budget in 5 years.
        Now, the House Budget Committee did an analysis and basically says
    if they do that, they'll just have to cut everything across the board:
    $2,000 a Social Security recipient a year, cut Medicare, cut farm
    programs, cut veterans programs. If they back out of cutting Social
    Security, then they have to cut everything else 30 percent across the
    board. If they back out of that, we're right back into the trickle-down
    economics of the eighties, where we explode the deficit and put the
    economy in the ditch. So, they're in a pickle. They've made a bunch of
    promises that the only way they can keep their promises is to devastate
    the farm programs.
        We've got a chance to be very creative and flexible in the '95 farm
    bill and do some things that help farmers without being imprudent with
    our tax dollars. You know, we can't do what they want; we cannot. And
    that's why I'm telling all the people in the farm belt, you know, you
    just don't need to send people to Congress that are addicted to this
    rather way-out contract notion that you can promise people the Moon and
    there are no consequences to it. It's not the way to run a country. We
    need to run our country with discipline and look towards the future.

    Talk Radio

        Mr. Harden. Mr. President, the last time you were here, you
    graciously did a talk show for us on WHO. We were mostly talking about
    the flood. But when you were done, I said, ``Well, you do a pretty good
    talk show,'' and you said, well, you might like to host a show like that
    someday. And I just was curious as to when you think you might be
    available?
        The President. Well, I hope it won't be quite--[laughter]--let me
    say this, I hope it'll be longer before I'm available than some talk
    show hosts hope it will be. [Laughter] But I'd like to do it because I
    think that radio is in some ways more intimate than television even. And
    I think that talk shows can be very, very helpful in furthering the
    national dialog. But I think that it's important that they really be
    conversations and not screaming matches and not just a form of attack
    journalism. Because when you do that, nobody learns anything, and people
    are liable to have their heads full of facts that aren't accurate. So, I
    think it's like any other weapon: The more powerful it is, the

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    more potential you have for good, the more potential you have for harm.

    White House Communications

        Ms. Lucas. We want to know, Mr. President, do you really have a red
    telephone in your office? And if so, who calls you on it?
        The President. [Laughter] No, it's not red, but I do have two sets
    of phones. I have my normal set of phones, and then I have a set of
    phones that have absolutely secure lines that are not subject to anybody
    tapping or intervening on. And I use it on occasions for secure
    conversations, normally with foreign leaders who have something very
    sensitive they want to discuss with me and they're worried that they
    don't want anybody in their country or our country to know about it.
    It's not red, but it is secure.
        Mr. Harden. Mr. President, thank you so much for taking the time
    with us, and we'll see you tomorrow here in Iowa.
        The President. Can't wait.
        Mr. Harden. Okay.
        The President. Thanks.

    Note: The interview was recorded at 6:05 p.m. on November 2 for
    broadcast at 8 a.m. on November 3. The President spoke by telephone from
    the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence, RI.