[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book I)]
[March 25, 1995]
[Pages 396-397]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



The President's Radio Address
March 25, 1995

    Good morning. This morning I want to talk about how much we can 
accomplish when we work in a spirit of cooperation. Once again, this 
week demonstrated that Democrats and Republicans can come together to 
break gridlock when they put the American people first.
    Our mission here is to keep the American dream alive for all our 
people; to grow the middle class and shrink the under class; to promote 
the mainstream values of work and family, community, and looking out for 
the future of our children; to reform Government to meet the challenges 
we face. There's a great debate here about how to change Government. On 
one side is the old view that big one-size-fits-all Government can fix 
all our big problems. On the other is the view that Government is the 
source of all our problems. In the real world that's a false choice.
    We must go beyond the old way of big Government and the new rage of 
no Government to the idea of Government as a partner, a partner that 
works to expand opportunity while shrinking bureaucracy, to empower 
people to make the most of their own lives through education and 
training, and to enhance our security on our streets and around the 
world. That's what I believe. And I believe most Americans feel that 
way, too.
    In short, I believe that Federal Government must be a savior--or 
cannot be a savior but must not sit on the sidelines. For our future we 
need a Government that helps us to create more opportunity but demands 
more responsibility from all our citizens. That's what I mean by the New 
Covenant: opportunity and responsibility.
    Despite real differences between Republicans and Democrats, we see 
progress on three proposals I have supported for many years, proposals 
that I advocated when I ran for President. All of them impose more 
responsibility on the Federal Government. And it's high time.
    First, Congress passed a bill, which I was proud to sign, requiring 
Congress to live by the laws it imposes on the private sector. Second, 
last week in the Rose Garden right outside the Oval Office where I'm 
speaking now, I was pleased to sign another bill which for the first 
time limits the ability of Congress to pass laws which impose unfunded 
mandates on State and local Governments. As a former Governor, I know 
this bill will make a big difference in the ability of State and local 
governments to improve the lives of our people without having Washington 
tell them how to spend the tax dollars you send them. Third, last week 
the Senate passed a line-item veto. I have favored this power for 
Presidents, no matter what their party, for a long time. It will bring 
more discipline to our spending process by enabling Presidents to veto 
particular projects which are unjustified but which today can be hidden 
in comprehensive bills the President has to sign. Now that the line-item 
veto in some version has passed both Houses of Congress, I urge Members 
from both parties to resolve their differences, pass a unified bill, and 
send it to me. Then the line-item veto can put our people ahead of pork.
    Last week, we saw some progress on another crucial issue, welfare 
reform. We saw that we can find common ground, but we are not all the 
way there yet. In my radio address last

[[Page 397]]

week, I talked about the need to have tougher child support enforcement, 
to demand that parents take responsibility for their own children and 
not let parents off the hook or make the taxpayers pick up the tab for 
their neglect. If all the child support in America that is owed was 
paid, we could move 800,000 families off the welfare roll.
    I'm pleased that Members of the House in both parties responded to 
my position on tougher child support enforcement. They voted by 426 to 5 
to adopt a provision from my welfare reform bill that calls upon States 
to deny driver's licenses and professional licenses to deadbeat parents, 
people who owe child support and can pay it but don't. The House has now 
adopted every major child support element in my welfare reform bill. If 
the Senate will follow suit, we'll mount the toughest crackdown on 
deadbeat parents ever and will help more children, too.
    But we have to do more to promote responsible parenting. Other 
provisions of the House bill would actually make it harder for many 
people to get off and stay off welfare. And the bill doesn't really do 
anything to promote work; indeed, it removes any real responsibility for 
States to help people gain the training and skills they need to get and 
keep jobs. It even cuts child care for working people struggling to hold 
down jobs and stay off welfare.
    I commend the Democrats in the House for voting unanimously for an 
alternative bill sponsored by Congressman Nathan Deal of Georgia because 
it was tougher on work requirements, better for children, and did more 
to promote responsible parenting. I'm looking forward to working with 
Republicans and Democrats to really end welfare as we know it, making 
sure people earn a paycheck, not a welfare check, that they move from 
dependence to independence.
    I also want to caution the Members of the House to try to tone down 
the rhetoric. It got a little rough last week and a little too personal 
and partisan. After all, all Americans want to change the welfare 
system; no American wants to continue a system that doesn't promote work 
and responsible parenting.
    In everything we do we must be working to expand the middle class, 
to shrink the under class, and to promote these values of family and 
work, community, and looking out for the future of our kids. I hope 
we'll be back in the Rose Garden while it's still spring to sign even 
more bills into law that help us to do those things. Guided by the 
values that have always kept us strong, we can work together to help all 
our people earn a fair shot at the American dream.
    Thanks for listening.

Note: The President spoke at 10:06 a.m. from the Oval Office at the 
White House.