[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.