    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book II)]
    [July 27, 1995]
    [Pages 1152-1153]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Signing Emergency Supplemental Appropriations and Rescissions
    Legislation and an Exchange With Reporters
    July 27, 1995

        Good morning. Before I sign this bill I'd like to thank the
    congressional leadership from both parties for sticking with this
    project through thick and thin. Right before we came in, one of the
    Senators said this is the only bill he'd ever seen that was passed 16
    different times.

    [[Page 1153]]

    But I want to thank everyone who worked on this and say a special word
    of thanks to the Appropriations Committee members and especially to the
    Senate and House Appropriations Committee chairs who are here today, who
    burned the midnight oil to get this done.
        The bill I am here to sign is proof that we can put party politics
    aside and do things that are good for our country. We're never going to
    agree on everything, and we shouldn't. That's the way our system works.
    But there is so much we do agree upon that if we deal with our
    disagreements openly and honestly, we plainly can make progress.
        On balance I am very pleased with this bill. The timber provisions
    are not exactly what I wanted, but they are better than they were, and I
    believe we can and should carry out the timber salvage plans and that we
    can do it consistent with our forest plan and with existing
    environmental laws.
        The budget cutting in this bill is exactly the kind of thing we
    should be doing. Together we are making a down payment on a balanced
    budget, cutting $16 billion in spending from this year's budget, cutting
    unnecessary spending but maintaining our commitment to education, to
    health care, to the environment. At the same time, the Congress has
    voted for funds that will help the people of California finish the work
    that has to be done to recover from the earthquake; that will help the
    people in Oklahoma City to deal with the financial aspects, at least, of
    the terrible tragedy they endured; that will help us to step up the
    fight against terrorism; and that will enable us to keep our commitment
    to the Middle East peace process.
        This is how we should work together. We agree we should balance the
    budget. We disagree on how. But this shows that we can work through
    those disagreements. Everyone here, just about, was raised with the old
    saying that where there's a will there's a way. If we have the will to
    balance the budget, we know we can find the way because of what happened
    on the rescission bill.
        Let me again say a word of thanks to the Members who are here. To
    Chairman Hatfield and Chairman Livingston and to Senator Lott and to
    Senator Ford, I thank you very, very much. And it's an honor and a
    pleasure to be able to sign this legislation that you've provided to the
    American people.
        Thank you.

    [At this point, the President signed the bill.]

    Bosnia

        Q. Mr. President, are you going to veto the Bosnia arms bill?
        The President. Hasn't passed yet.
        Q. Mr. President, do you think it's time for the allies to make a
    similar agreement with the U.N. to defend Bihac?
        The President. Well, you know what we did at NATO. We agreed that
    since NATO and the United Nations had said that Bihac and Sarajevo
    should both be protected, we urged that our NATO planners begin working
    on the plans for that. And of course, that's what I believe the United
    Nations should do.
        Now that we understand what has to be done to compensate the
    UNPROFOR forces, the United Nations must never again be caught in a
    position where it makes a commitment, as it did in Srebrenica, and then
    does not attempt to keep that commitment.
        So, I certainly believe that should be done. But I was very pleased,
    I must say, by Secretary-General Boutros-Ghali's actions yesterday, and
    I hope that this indicates that the United Nations is going to keep its
    commitments. And the United States is certainly determined to see that
    it does so.
        And I think the vote in the Senate should be taken as a message,
    simply a message to do that. The United States Senate, both the 69
    people who voted for the resolution and the 29 people who voted against
    it, all believe that the United Nations must move aggressively to
    protect the people of Bosnia from what they have endured.
        Q. Mr. President, because of so many hollow allied threats in the
    past, why should the Bosnian Serbs be scared of this latest allied
    threat of massive airstrikes?
        The President. Well, they ought to be able to tell from what's going
    on here in the United States that if the U.N. fails the next time, that
    there will be a different course.

    Note: The President spoke at 9:08 a.m. in the Roosevelt Room at the
    White House. H.R. 1944, approved July 27, was assigned Public Law No.
    104-19.