    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book II)]
    [September 2, 1995]
    [Pages 1283-1284]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's Radio Address
    September 2, 1995

        Good morning. On this Labor Day weekend, I am paying tribute to some
    of the most important labor ever performed on behalf of the American
    people. Hillary and I are in Hawaii, where we have gathered with
    veterans of World War II to honor the bravery and sacrifice of an
    extraordinary generation of Americans.
        Fifty years ago today, freedom triumphed over tyranny because those
    brave men and women, along with their colleagues from the allied
    nations, won a victory for freedom in the great struggle of World War
    II. America and the entire world will forever be in their debt.
        So when the veterans of World War II came home, America was ready to
    pay its debt to our soldiers. Even before the war ended, President
    Roosevelt had already signed the GI bill into law. The GI bill opened
    the doors to college for veterans and helped them to get a start on life
    with a new home. And because our Nation provided that kind of
    opportunity for the World War II veterans, the opportunity to build good
    lives for themselves and their families, they in turn were able to play
    an enormous part in making our Nation the strongest and most prosperous
    on Earth.
        Today, our challenge is to build on the foundation they laid, to
    keep our Nation strong and to give all Americans the opportunity to make
    the most of their own lives as we move into the 21st century.
        A central part of that challenge is our effort to balance the
    Federal budget to relieve future generations of Americans of the
    crushing debt burden imposed almost entirely in the 12 years before I
    took office. During that 12-year period, our national debt quadrupled.
    In 1993, in our administration's economic program, we passed

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    the bill that cut the deficit from $290 billion a year all the way down
    to $160 billion in just 3 years. In fact, our budget would be balanced
    today but for the debt run up in the 12 years before I became President.
        Well, now we all have to go the rest of the way to balance that
    budget. But how we do it will say a lot about the values we have as a
    people and how we understand what's in our interest as we move to the
    next century. I have a good plan to balance the budget. But it will also
    give every American the opportunity to build a good life for himself or
    herself and to build better futures for their families.
        Our plan will give our children the best possible education. It will
    keep our streets safer. It will take care of our elderly. It will
    maintain the purity and clarity of our environment. And it will maintain
    the strength of our Armed Forces.
        Our plan also will keep faith with the men and women who have put
    their lives on the line to protect the freedoms that we now hold dear.
    For over 50 years, all Americans who joined our military have known that
    they are making a bargain with America and that in return for their
    service to our country our country will stand by them. The young men and
    women who serve today in our military give us some of the best years of
    their lives. And one of the things we tell them is that the longer they
    serve our country, the more our country will owe them when their service
    is done.
        Amazingly, there are those today who believe that in order to
    balance the budget it's all right to break our commitment to a group of
    more than 800,000 men and women who've already served for at least 15
    years. Now when these people joined the armed services, they were told
    that their retirement pay would be based on whatever salary they were
    earning the day they retired. But now in the name of balancing the
    budget, some propose that we scale back their retirement pay in a way
    that will mean cuts for retired military personnel of as much as $200 a
    month.
        But I disagree. I believe that after asking so much of these men and
    women, our country should keep its commitment to them and find a better
    path to balance the budget. I have a plan to balance the budget that
    doesn't break our commitment to those who serve us in uniform. I think
    that kind of broken commitment is unconscionable. And as long as I'm
    President, we're not going to break our word to the members of our Armed
    Forces or our veterans.
        For the last 50 years, our Nation has kept commitments to veterans
    who fought and won World War II, those whom we honor here in Hawaii and
    all across America this weekend, and to the veterans who followed them.
    That's a big reason that we now have the finest military in the world,
    outstanding and brave men and women who understand the duty they owe to
    one another, their communities, to our country, and to the world. I
    think we have an obligation to them. You know, they give up a lot to
    serve us, a lot in time and money. But one of the things they get in
    return is a commitment on retirement, a reward for the work--the
    important work they do.
        So on this Labor Day weekend when we honor the work of all
    Americans, let us, all of us, recommit ourselves to the legacy of World
    War II, to the men and women in uniform today, and to our obligations to
    them.
        Hillary and I wish all of you a wonderful Labor Day weekend. Thanks
    for listening.

    Note: The address was recorded at 7:25 p.m. on September 1 at Wheeler
    Army Airfield in Honolulu, HI, for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on September
    2.