    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book I)]
    [February 21, 1995]
    [Pages 239-241]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Announcing the Appointment of Laura D'Andrea Tyson as
    National Economic Adviser and an Exchange With Reporters
    February 21, 1995

        The President. Good afternoon. I am pleased to announce today my
    decision to appoint Dr. Laura Tyson, the Chair of the Council of
    Economic Advisers, to be the new Special Assistant to the President for
    Economic Policy and the chair of the National Economic Council.
        When I became President I believed that to have a sound economic
    policy, our economic policymakers had to work together as a solid and
    carefully coordinated team. To that end, I established the National
    Economic Council to play a coordinating role in economic policymaking,
    similar to the role the National Security Council has played in defense
    and foreign policy for 47 years. I believe that was clearly the right
    decision. It added discipline, direction, and strength, as well as sweep
    to the administration's economic policymaking.
        For 2 years, under the leadership of Robert Rubin, now the Secretary
    of the Treasury, we did work together as a team. We had talent. We had
    discipline. We had common vision, and we have produced results. We had
    an economic strategy that focused on the expansion of trade, technology,
    and educational opportunities and the reduction in the Government
    deficit and the size and sweep of adverse governmental policies. We had
    $600 billion plus in deficit reduction to which we have proposed another
    over $80 billion in deficit reduction. We've done more to open the
    world's markets to our products and services than any administration in
    a generation. We have reduced taxes on 15 million American working
    families and made tax cuts available to 9 out of 10 small businesses
    that invest more in their business. The economy in the last 2 years has
    created about 6 million new jobs, with the lowest combination of
    inflation and unemployment in 25 years.
        Reversing the economic policies of the previous 12 years did not
    come easily. It required tough choices. Many of them were unpopular in
    the short run, but the results have clearly been felt. We were able to
    make those choices and follow through on them in the face of relentless
    predictions that they would produce recessions and produce disasters,
    because of the hard work of the outstanding members of our economic
    team.
        One of the most important members of that team was Laura Tyson. She
    came to our administration from the University of California where she's
    a professor of economics and business administration. I found when I met
    her in the Presidential campaign that she had an exceptionally analytic
    mind and an understanding of the underlying global economic and
    political realities affecting our ability to compete and our economic
    future. She has been a very credible voice for us on the economy, and I
    have appreciated

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    especially her unfailingly frank, direct, and principled advice. She has
    been a consensus builder and an honest broker without in any way
    compromising her own views in the inner councils and when we discussed
    economic policy.
        We'll miss her at the Council of Economic Advisers, and I will
    appoint a new Chair in the near future. But I am confident she will be a
    worthy successor to Bob Rubin at the National Economic Council. I'm glad
    she's taking on this new job. I think it will help us to keep taking on
    the job of keeping the American dream alive.
        I also want to say again how important this is. I think when the
    history of this administration is written, one of the most significant
    organizational changes we will have made, and one that I predict all
    future administrations will follow, is the creation of a National
    Economic Council and the development of a coordinated, disciplined
    national economic policy for global economy.
        I'd like to now introduce Dr. Tyson and let her make a few remarks.
    Thank you for doing this. Congratulations; no condolences. It's going to
    be a good change.
        Thank you.

    [At this point, Dr. Tyson thanked the President and made brief remarks.]

    Contract With America

        Q. Mr. President, tomorrow's day 50 of the Republican Contract With
    America. Do you find yourself in the position now, as you criticized the
    Republicans the first 2 years of simply saying no to many of your
    initiatives, that you are saying no, consistently threatening vetoes to
    many of the Republican initiatives? Is there a way around this so that
    there can be some bipartisanship in the next 2 years?
        The President. There can be a lot of bipartisanship. First of all, I
    have not said consistently no. I strongly supported applying to Congress
    the laws that apply to the private sector. I have supported limiting the
    ability of Congress to impose unfunded mandates on State and local
    government. I support the line-item veto. I support significant reform
    in the Federal regulatory process.
        But where I do not agree with the extreme elements of the contract--
    and I might add, where also a number of Republican Senators do not agree
    with it and where, apparently, some Republican House Members no longer
    agree with it--Star Wars, eroding the 100,000 police commitment, cutting
    Medicare to pay for tax cuts. On those things, I think I'm obligated to
    say where I don't agree. And that's what I'm doing. I'm trying to be as
    clear as I can be, hoping we can work together, hoping we can get
    legislation out of this.
        I have not done what was done frequently in the previous 2 years,
    which is to say, ``We're walking away from this no matter what it is,
    even if we have to change our position on it,'' which is what they did
    on the crime bill.
        So I'm looking forward to this. We're still going to make some good
    things happen, and we can still do it. But I owe it to the American
    people to protect them. They did not, in my judgment, ratify every
    extreme element of the contract as defined in every piece of legislation
    there. I am not trying to thwart them; I am trying to give them an
    opportunity to know exactly where I stand and to work with them.
        This is Dr. Tyson's day, and I want to let her answer questions.
        Thank you.

    Mexican Loan Agreement

        Q. To both of you, sir, Mexican markets took quite a tumble today on
    the news of the agreement reached here, which I think was probably
    considered surprising in some quarters. I wonder if both you and Dr.
    Tyson could comment on why you think that is and any worries you may
    have that the cure here may turn out to be worse than the disease.
        Dr. Tyson. Well, I don't want to comment on specifics of the
    agreement, simply because there was a comment made by Secretary Rubin at
    luncheon because, frankly, I just got off an airplane and haven't been
    fully briefed on the agreement. What I will say is that we believe that
    the path that we've gone down is the correct path, and that we've worked
    hard to reach an agreement which we believe to be a sensible agreement
    which will do the trick.
        Q. Mr. President?
        The President. I don't know; I don't have an opinion. I think it may
    have something to do with the other decisionmakers than the United
    States and Mexico. We'll just have to see, but I would not overreact to
    it. We have done the right thing. Mexico is taking some very courageous
    steps, difficult steps for them. They have followed the proper economic
    path in general,

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    and the United States has great interest there. There are many jobs tied
    up in it, our whole strategy of promoting democracy and free markets
    throughout Latin America. I think we did the right thing, and I believe
    it very strongly, and I think that time will bear us out. And if it
    doesn't, then we have very good collateral on this deal, so we have done
    the right thing by the American taxpayers and the American people as
    well.
        Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 4:39 p.m. in the Briefing Room at the White
    House.