[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1994, Book II)]
[August 11, 1994]
[Pages 1459-1460]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 1459]]


Remarks Announcing the Appointment of Abner Mikva as White House Counsel 
and an Exchange With Reporters
August 11, 1994

    The President. Good afternoon. I am delighted to announce that Chief 
Judge Abner Mikva of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of 
Columbia will become the new White House Counsel, effective October 1st.
    I am very pleased to have a man of Judge Mikva's stature, integrity, 
judgment, and experience join us in our efforts. He's had a long and 
distinguished career in public service, and he will make a vital 
contribution to the operations of this White House. A World War II 
veteran, and a member of the Illinois Legislature for 10 years, Judge 
Mikva was elected to the Congress in 1968. He served with distinction on 
the House Judiciary and Ways and Means Committees and built a reputation 
as a remarkably thoughtful, fair, and progressive public servant. In 
1979, Judge Mikva went to the Federal bench on the highly regarded Court 
of Appeals here in Washington, where he has served as Chief Judge for 
the last 2 years. During the time that he served on this court, he's 
come to be regarded, justifiably, as one of our Nation's leading 
jurists.
    With his new post Judge Mikva will have served his country now in 
all three branches of our National Government. I expect that his broad 
experience, his deep understanding of our country, our people, and our 
institutions will make him an extremely valuable member of the White 
House team.
    He is a man of great decency who loves his country very much. And I 
am very grateful that he's willing to give up his lifetime appointment 
to the Federal bench to serve the White House as Counsel.
    The White House Counsel advises the President on matters of law and 
justice, ranging from the appointment of judges to the application of 
law throughout our society. He must ensure that the White House meets 
the highest standards of ethics and trust. Judge Mikva, a man of 
uncompromising integrity and judgment, is the right person for this job.
    Let me also say a special word about the man whom Judge Mikva will 
replace. Lloyd Cutler came to the White House 5 months ago for the 
second time in his distinguished career to serve for a limited time as 
my Special Counsel. Once again, he has served his Nation magnificently. 
Mr. Cutler is a wise counselor, and I and all of us have benefited 
immensely from his contributions here at the White House. I thank him 
for all he has done here, and I look forward to his continuing good 
advice in the years to come.
    It's a measure of the seriousness with which we view this office 
that we have turned to Abner Mikva as Lloyd Cutler's successor. And so I 
want to say to Judge Mikva, welcome to the White House.
    Before I call Judge Mikva up, I'd like to make a special note of the 
debate now underway in the House of Representatives on the crime bill. 
As you know, this has been very hard fought. And there are many interest 
groups arguing that the Members of Congress should vote against the so-
called rule to keep the crime bill from coming to a vote in the first 
place so that they can kill the crime bill without getting credit for 
killing the crime bill.
    The choice is still the same: Are we going to put another 100,000 
police officers on the street? Are we going to ban assault weapons? Are 
we going to ban ownership of handguns by minors? Are we going to make 
our schools safer? Are we going to give our young people something to 
say yes to, even as we make punishment stiffer and build more prisons?
    The average violent criminal goes free in 4 years. This crime bill 
has been taking shape and has been up to the gate and thwarted for 6 
years. There is something wrong with out national institutions when we 
can't do that. And I want to urge the House to pass the rule and the 
bill and do it today.
    Judge Mikva, the microphone is yours.

[At this point, Judge Mikva made brief remarks.]

Baseball Strike

    Q. Mr. President, can you tell us about the baseball strike which is 
about to start? As a fan, is there any reason why these negotiators 
should not be sitting down and at least trying to resolve this? They're 
not even meeting.

[[Page 1460]]

Would you call upon them to at least sit down and have some talks?
    Q. And don't go away, Mr. President. [Laughter]
    The President. I've got to go away, because I've got to get back on 
the phone. If I don't--I'll have lots to talk to you about if we pass 
the rule today, but if I don't make some more calls, then I'll always 
wonder.
    Let me make one comment about the baseball strike. First of all, I 
think that you should know that since the Secretary of Labor first 
contacted both sides, we have been in continuous contact with both sides 
and have done what we could to make some constructive suggestions about 
how to avoid the strike. It appears that both parties are determined to 
let the strike proceed. We will do what we can to be of help and to get 
things back on track if there is anything we can do.
    Today I would like to speak on behalf of the country because this is 
an unusual situation. You know, when a company goes on strike, the right 
to strike is protected and the workers go on strike because they and the 
management can't reach agreement. But they always have to consider in 
the end their customers and what will happen if they lose their 
customers. In a great event like the baseball strike, I think there's an 
assumption that the customers are always there. But the only thing I'd 
like to say to both sides is that there are a lot of little kids out 
there who don't want to see this season come to a close. And there are a 
lot of not-so-little kids out there who know it's the most exciting 
baseball season in 40 years.
    And I hope that in the days ahead they will search for a way to get 
back together, finish this season, extend it by a few days so that all 
the games can be played, and the feelings of the American people that 
this could be one of those seasons that occurs once every four or five 
decades could be vindicated. I think the people really ought to be taken 
into consideration here, and I hope they will be.

Note: The President spoke at 4 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White 
House.