    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book II)]
    [August 10, 1995]
    [Pages 1237-1246]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's News Conference
    August 10, 1995

    Teenage Smoking

        The President. Good afternoon. Today I am announcing broad executive
    action to protect the young people of the United States from the awful
    dangers of tobacco.
        Over the years, we have learned more and more about the dangers of
    addictive substances to our young people. In the sixties and seventies
    we came to realize the threat drugs posed to young Americans. In the
    eighties we came to grips with the awful problem of drunk driving among
    young people. It is time to take a third step to free our teenagers from
    addiction and dependency.
        Adults are capable of making their own decisions about whether to
    smoke. But we all know that children are especially susceptible to the
    deadly temptation of tobacco and its skillful marketing. Today, and
    every day this year, 3,000 young people will begin to smoke. One
    thousand of them ultimately will die of cancer, emphysema, heart
    disease, and other diseases caused by smoking. That's more than a
    million vulnerable young people a year being hooked on nicotine that
    ultimately could kill them.
        Therefore, by executive authority, I will restrict sharply the
    advertising, promotion, distribution, and marketing of cigarettes to
    teenagers. I do this on the basis of the best available scientific
    evidence, the findings of the American Medical Association, the American
    Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, the American Lung
    Association, the Centers for Disease Control. Fourteen months of study
    by the Food and Drug Administration confirms what we all know:
    Cigarettes and smokeless tobacco are harmful, highly addictive, and
    aggressively marketed to our young people. The evidence is overwhelming,
    and the threat is immediate.
        Our children face a health crisis that is getting worse. One-third
    more 8th-graders and one-quarter more 10th-graders are smoking today
    than 4 years ago. One out of five high school seniors is a daily smoker.
    We need to act, and we must act now, before another generation of
    Americans is condemned to fight a difficult and grueling personal battle
    with an addiction that will cost millions of them their lives.
        Adults make their own decisions about whether or not to smoke.
    Relatively few people start to smoke past their teens. Many adults have
    quit; many have tried and failed. But we all know that teenagers are
    especially susceptible to pressures, pressure to the manipulation of
    mass media advertising, the pressure of the seduction of skilled
    marketing campaigns aimed at exploiting their insecurities and
    uncertainties about life.
        When Joe Camel tells young children that smoking is cool, when
    billboards tell teens that smoking will lead to true romance, when
    Virginia Slims tells adolescents that cigarettes may make them thin and
    glamorous, then our children need our wisdom, our guidance, and our
    experience. We are their parents, and it is up to us to protect them.
        So today I am authorizing the Food and Drug Administration to
    initiate a broad series of steps all designed to stop sales and
    marketing of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco to children. As a result,
    the following steps will be taken. First, young people will have to
    prove their age with an I.D. card to buy cigarettes. Second, cigarette

    [[Page 1238]]

    vending machines which circumvent any ban on sales to kids will be
    prohibited. Third, schools and playgrounds will be free of tobacco
    advertising on billboards in their neighborhoods. Fourth, images such as
    Joe Camel will not appear on billboards or in ads in publications that
    reach substantial numbers of children and teens. Fifth, teens won't be
    targeted by any marketing gimmicks, ranging from single cigarette sales
    to T-shirts, gym bags, and sponsorship of sporting events. And finally,
    the tobacco industry must fund and implement an annual $150 million
    campaign aimed at stopping teens from smoking through educational
    efforts.
        Now, these are all commonsense steps. They don't ban smoking; they
    don't bar advertising. We do not, in other words, seek to address
    activities that seek to sell cigarettes only to adults. We are stepping
    in to protect those who need our help, our vulnerable young people. And
    the evidence of increasing smoking in the last few years is plain and
    compelling.
        Now, nobody much likes Government regulation. And I would prefer it
    if we could have done this in some other way. The only other way I can
    think of is if Congress were to write these restrictions into law. They
    could do that. And if they do, this rule could become unnecessary. But
    it is wrong to believe that we can take a voluntary approach to this
    problem. And absent congressional action, and in the presence of a
    massive marketing and lobbying campaign by cigarette companies aimed at
    our children, clearly, I have no alternative but to do everything I can
    to bring this assault to a halt.
        The issue has touched all of us in personal ways. We all know
    friends or family members whose lives were shortened because of their
    involvement with tobacco. The Vice President's sister, a heavy smoker
    who started as a teen, died of lung cancer. It is that kind of pain that
    I seek to spare other families and young children. Less smoking means
    less cancer, less illness, longer lives, a stronger America. Acting
    together we can make a difference. With this concerted plan targeted at
    those practices that especially prey upon our children, we can save
    lives, and we will.
        To those who produce and market cigarettes, I say today, take
    responsibility for your actions. Sell your products only to adults. Draw
    the line on children. Show by your deeds as well as your words that you
    recognize that it is wrong as well as illegal to hook one million
    children a year on tobacco.
        Terry [Terence Hunt, Associated Press].
        Q. Mr. President, with your decision on tobacco you're taking on one
    of the biggest cash crops in a region where you've already got major
    political problems. Are you writing off the South for next year's
    elections? And isn't this is a blow to other Democratic candidates in
    tobacco States?
        The President. Well, first of all, the most important thing is that
    there is an epidemic among our children. You've got a third more 8th-
    graders, a quarter more 10th-graders smoking than there were 10 years
    ago. Whatever the political consequences, a thousand kids a day are
    beginning a habit which will probably shorten their lives. I mean, that
    is the issue. And I believe that is the issue everywhere.
        I believe there are tobacco farmers in the States which grow
    tobacco, who have been involved in it a hundred years or more--their
    families--who don't want their kids to start smoking. We're not talking
    about whether they have a right to grow tobacco or reap the paltry 4\1/
    2\ cents, which is all they get out of a pack of cigarettes. We're
    talking about whether we are going to do what we know is the right thing
    to do to save the lives of America's children. And I think it is more
    important than any political consequence.
        Helen [Helen Thomas, United Press International].

    Bosnia

        Q. Mr. President, the war in Bosnia is widening. How long is the
    world, particularly the Europeans who have been there in the past, how
    long are they going to stand--we all are going to stand by and watch
    this barbarism on both sides? And what are your new initiatives to end
    this suffering?
        The President. Well, first of all, let me briefly review what our
    objectives are. Our objectives are to minimize suffering, to stop the
    war from spreading, to preserve the integrity of a Bosnian state. We
    have promoted the Muslim-Croat Federation. We have plainly succeeded in
    limiting the war. And except when the United Nations and NATO had not
    done what they said they would do, we have saved lives.
        This is an important moment in Bosnia, and it could be a moment of
    real promise. Because of the military actions of the last few days, the

    [[Page 1239]]

    situation on the ground has changed. There is some uncertainty and
    instability. It could go either way. But I think it's a time when we
    should try to make a move to make peace.
        Now, since the fall of Srebrenica and Zepa, we have tried to do two
    things: first of all, to strengthen the presence of the United Nations
    through the Rapid Reaction Force of the French, the British, and the
    Dutch, which we are supporting; and through getting a clearer chain of
    command and a stronger, broader use of authority for NATO to have air
    power where necessary where the protected areas are threatened.
        The second thing we want to do is to see whether or not some
    diplomatic solution can be brought to bear that would be fair and decent
    and just and that would take advantage of this moment where people are
    reassessing their various positions. And that's what Mr. Lake is doing
    in Europe. We are consulting with all of our allies, and we're going to
    do the very best we can. I think we need to try to make a decent and
    good peace here because, ultimately, that's the answer to all the
    questions you ask.
        Q. [Inaudible]--you have new ideas?
        The President. Well, we're exploring some ideas with the Europeans.
    I will say again what I said from the first day I came here: I do not
    believe it is right to impose peace on people. I don't think in the end
    you get a lasting peace. So the United States does not seek to impose
    peace. But we're exploring some different ideas. We don't have a set
    map; we don't have a set position. We have some ideas that the new
    events may make possible, and we're discussing it with our allies.
        Brit [Brit Hume, ABC News].

    Teenage Smoking

        Q. Mr. President, in view of the powerful evidence of the dangers of
    smoking which you cited, wouldn't it have been more logical to impose an
    outright ban instead of a regulatory partial step which has the effect
    of getting the Federal Government into the business of regulating the
    size of print in advertising?
        The President. Well, first I don't know that the Federal Government
    will regulate the size of print; we regulate the warning labels. And of
    course, there is a proposal here on advertising to try to deal with
    restricting access to billboard advertising and others.
        But I think it would be wrong to ban cigarettes outright because,
    number one, it's not illegal for adults to use them. Tens of millions of
    adults do use them, and I think it would be as ineffective as
    prohibition was. But I think to focus on our children is the right thing
    to do. Purchasing of cigarettes by young people, children, is supposed
    to be illegal in all 50 States, but they do it regularly. These fine
    young people here were with me this morning, and one of them talked
    about how he bought cigarette pack after cigarette pack after cigarette
    pack out of vending machines to try to demonstrate to his local
    legislators that the laws were a sham. These will not make the laws a
    sham. This will enable us to save young people's lives.

    China

        Q. Mr. President, has there been any progress in getting China to
    free human rights activist, Harry Wu? And related to that, will Mrs.
    Clinton be going to China in September to attend the U.N. Conference on
    Women?
        The President. On the first question, we're obviously very concerned
    about Harry Wu and following his case very closely. And I think the
    situation is in a position where the less that is said about it right
    now, the better. But it's a very important issue to the United States,
    and I think to people throughout the world.
        No decision has yet been made about whether the First Lady will go
    to China. But I think it's important for the American people to
    understand that this conference on women is a United Nations-sponsored
    conference that they decided to hold in China. It is a very important
    thing in its own right, and the United States will be represented there
    with a very strong delegation, whether she goes or not. And I think it's
    important that we be represented there.
        Yes, Wolf [Wolf Blitzer, CNN].

    Iraq

        Q. Mr. President, the situation in Iraq seems to be somewhat fluid
    right now with the defection of two of Saddam Hussein's daughters, two
    of his sons-in-law, his oldest grandchild to Jordan. And King Hussein's
    granting political asylum to all of these people. First of all, can you
    assess what is happening in Baghdad right now? And have you offered
    additional assurances to Jordan that the United States will provide
    security if there is a threat from Iraq?

    [[Page 1240]]

        The President. Well, as soon as the defections occurred, King
    Hussein contacted us, and I called him back as quickly as I could on
    Tuesday evening and we had a long talk about it. I think what these
    defections demonstrate is just how difficult things are within Iraq now
    and how out of touch Saddam Hussein has become with reality, how
    difficult things are for his people. I also think this evidence supports
    the strong and firm position the United States has taken of not lifting
    the sanctions until Iraq fully complies with all the United Nations
    resolutions. I think that is--it's clear that we have done the right
    thing.
        Now, with regard to your second question, King Hussein's decision,
    located where he is, to grant asylum to those individuals was clearly an
    act of real courage. And I have assured him and told him that we would
    stand behind Jordan. We owe it to the people who are our partners in
    peace in the Middle East to stand behind them, and we have already made
    it clear that if Iraq threatens its neighbors or violates United Nations
    resolutions, we would take appropriate action. I think we have to do so
    in this case.
        Q. Any contingency steps being taken?
        The President. Well, I think you saw when Kuwait was threatened a
    few months ago, we are quite well-organized, and we have thought through
    what our--various scenarios there and how we might move. But beyond
    that, I don't want to say. And I don't want to raise a red flag. I'm
    just saying we know that Saddam Hussein has been unpredictable in the
    past, we know this must be a very unsettling development, and it should
    be clear that the United States considers Jordan our ally and entitled
    to our protection if their security is threatened as a result of this
    incident.

    Teenage Smoking

        Q. Mr. President, given the fact that there's been a 20-year war
    against drugs, which are illegal for everybody, which has produced, at
    best, mixed results, and given the fact that anybody who has kids know
    that the more you prohibit something, the more attractive it often
    becomes, what makes you think that you think you can do any better in
    the war against cigarettes than we've done against drugs?
        The President. Well, first of all, let me say that--let me take on
    your premise here. There have been sustained periods of years in our
    country and in recent history when drug use has gone down in all
    categories of drugs, among all ages of people without regard to race or
    income. Unfortunately, today the picture is somewhat mixed because
    casual drug use among young people seems to be going up in areas where
    they feel a certain level of hopelessness. And we intend to reassert our
    efforts there.
        But it's simply not true that cultural changes and legal bars
    together cannot work to reduce consumption. With regard to cigarettes,
    we have seen cultural changes leading to reduction in consumption. But
    what we see among young people is adults quitting and young people
    increasing their usage. If you make it clearly illegal, more
    inaccessible, you reduce the lure of advertising and then you have an
    affirmative campaign, a positive campaign, so that you don't just say
    no, you give young people information and make it the smart, the cool,
    the hip thing to do to take care of yourself and keep yourself healthy
    and alive. I believe there is every evidence from what has happened in
    drugs and in many other areas that we will see a dramatic decline in
    smoking among young people. I think we can do that.
        And I think you see--there have been a lot of cultural changes to
    that effect in other areas. You see some States that have done it right
    have big increase in the use of seatbelts. Drunk driving goes down
    dramatically in some areas with the combination of the right sort of
    enforcement and the right sort of publicity. So I believe--I just don't
    accept your premise. I think we'll have a big dent in this problem.

    Appropriations Legislation

        Q. Mr. President, the House has cut $20 billion in discretionary
    spending for next year. Will they have to return some of those cuts to
    avoid you vetoing some of their appropriations bills?
        The President. Yes. [Laughter]

    Whitewater Hearings

        Q. Mr. President, on Whitewater, you've said in the past that as far
    as you know everything as far as major evidence that is going to come
    out is out. We now face the prospect though of hearings going into 1996.
    Do you view this as pure politics? Do you worry about the overall shadow
    it has cast, merely the appearance of wrongdoing over the White House?
        The President. I don't have anything new to add to what I've already
    said about that. I will

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    reiterate, when I started this whole episode I said I would cooperate
    fully; I have cooperated fully. There is nothing else for me to do. I
    have to spend my energies and time being President, and that's what I'm
    doing my best to do.
        Yes, Mara [Mara Liasson, National Public Radio].

    Political Reform and Ross Perot

        Q. Mr. President, what message do you want Senator Dodd and Mr.
    McLarty to take to Ross Perot when they go down there this weekend? And
    also, do you feel that Ross Perot's contribution to the issue of
    political reform is significant enough that you would consider
    appointing him to the bipartisan commission, should it get established?
        The President. The answer to the second question--let me answer that
    first--the answer to the second question is, yes, I would consider doing
    that, but first, the Speaker has got to answer my letter or see John
    Gardner or Doris Kearns Goodwin or do something to respond to the
    handshake we made in New Hampshire. Of all the strange things that
    happen in Washington--and I know people think that all the rules are
    different here than they are for anybody anywhere else in America--but
    even here, when you shake hands with somebody in broad daylight and say
    you're going to do something, you ought to at least act like your going
    to do it. [Laughter] Where I come from, you know, if kids did that,
    their mamas wouldn't let them have dinner before--they got spanked, when
    I was growing up I mean, this is an amazing thing. So, yes, I would.
        The second part of the question was what will their message be.
    Their message will be: Number one, that the things that Ross Perot and
    Bill Clinton advocated in '92 had a lot of overlap, and we have made
    significant progress in implementing 80 percent of the things that Ross
    Perot campaigned for in 1992; two, a lot of the things that we haven't
    done are because of obstruction in Congress, and I mention only two, the
    line-item veto and political reform; and third, our budget is more
    consistent with the budget priorities outlined by Ross Perot and his
    campaign in 1992, that is, balance the budget but increase investment in
    education, research, and development, technology, and defense
    conversion.
        So, we've got a record message. We've got a present conflict
    message. We've got a message to ask them to come help us to support
    meaningful political reform and the right kind of balanced budget.

    Tobacco Industry

        Q. Mr. President, you noted in your speech in Charlotte yesterday
    that children follow what we do more than what we say. And I wonder what
    you think the message is when, on the one hand, the Government cracks
    down on teen smoking, on the other hand, it spends perhaps $25 million a
    year subsidizing the growth of tobacco, and when you yourself continue
    to smoke those big old cigars. [Laughter]
        The President. Well first of all, as you know, I'm allergic to
    cigars, so I don't smoke many anymore. But I smoke a handful a year
    probably, and I probably shouldn't. And I try not to do it in any way
    that sets a bad example. But I plead guilty to that.
        On the tobacco program, if it is self-financing--and I have always
    supported the tobacco program. It is essentially a self financing
    program. The question is, do you want this tobacco grown by family
    farmers, or do you want it grown by big corporations if it's a self-
    financing program? I would not favor a large taxpayer outlay for it. But
    a self-financing program, essentially which is what that is, has been
    designed to preserve the structure of family farms and the culture of
    the family farms rather than let the big tobacco companies grow it
    themselves and turn all those folks into hired hands. I have thought,
    since it was going to be grown one way or the other, the family farm
    structure was a better one. I don't think that sends a signal that we
    think young people ought to smoke cigarettes.

    Drug Cartels

        Q. [Inaudible]--the Colombian Government has captured some of the
    top leaders of both cartels, and there's been friction between your
    government and the Samper government when he came in. My first question
    is, do you think they are doing everything they can? And the second
    question is, how worried are you that as the Colombian cartel wanes in
    influence, Mexican cartels will pick up the breach?
        The President. Well, first of all, I want to support the statements
    made by the DEA Director in my administration, Tom Considine. We have
    worked very hard with the Colombians and with others in South America,
    and you see the

    [[Page 1242]]

    results in the last several months. We have had more major drug dealers
    arrested than in any previous similar time in our history, I believe.
    And we're on the verge of breaking this Cali cartel. It's been great
    cooperation; we've worked hard. It's making a difference.
        Secondly, as long as the raw crops can be grown and processed and
    distributed, we will have a constant battle, as long as there's demand
    in the United States, to keep any vacuum from being filled. And we are
    exploring today what the problems created by our successes might be,
    that is, if we continue to break down existing cartels, who will take up
    the slack and how can we prevent it.

    Teenage Smoking

        Q. Mr. President, last week you said that you did not want to
    advance a tobacco strategy that would get caught up in the courts and
    prevent any kind of action from taking place for years. Now you seem to
    have embarked on that strategy. Tobacco companies have already today
    filed suit against your proposals. Why did you determine a voluntary
    effort in concert with the tobacco companies would not work? And is
    there any hope for some sort of compromise, some sort of either
    compromise with the tobacco companies or congressional action before you
    implement these regulations?
        The President. Well, first of all, I had hoped that the tobacco
    companies would agree to support these restrictions and to put them in
    law. And it's still not too late for that. The FDA--Dr. Kessler has
    announced today a rulemaking procedure on the assumption of jurisdiction
    and on the specifics that I just outlined. If the tobacco companies
    accept those and this Congress will write them into law, then you will
    not have a long regulatory proceeding. But you will have immediate,
    immediate, effects. That is, if they would rather have a law than
    Federal regulation, the FDA Director, Dr. Kessler, and I would rather
    have an immediate impact on teen smoking, not 2 years of litigation and
    then start the work. So it is not too late for that.
        But I am against a voluntary plan. I'm against it for several
    reasons. First of all, there would be no way to enforce it. Secondly,
    the history of voluntary agreements with the tobacco industry is not
    good, to put it mildly. And thirdly, even if they tried to adhere to it,
    I don't believe they could legally do so.
        Let me just give you one example. Suppose you were in the vending
    machine business and you sued the tobacco companies for deciding
    together that they were going to not let your vending machines go
    anywhere. Without a legal requirement there's a good chance that could
    be held in a court of law to be a restraint of trade. So I think even if
    they tried to do it, they couldn't do it.
        So we have to have a mandatory system. But I would just as soon have
    an act of Congress. Dr. Kessler agrees because we've got an epidemic of
    teen smoking, and far better to start right now as soon as we can pass a
    law than wait until we wade through all this litigation.

    Airline Safety

        Q. Mr. President, there was a scary breakdown yesterday in the air
    traffic control system in the Western United States, and we've had
    similar incidents in past months and recent years. Can you tell the
    American people that the FAA is doing everything possible to preserve
    the safety of the flying public, or do you see that new measures need to
    be taken?
        The President. I can tell you that I have asked that question
    repeatedly since I have been President, and I have worked very hard on
    making sure that we are moving to do everything we can constantly to
    make sure that the air traffic control system is as safe as possible.
        We also, as you know, have ordered some new measures to be taken to
    promote airline security, which the Secretary of Transportation
    announced just in the last couple of days. And I do want to emphasize to
    the American people because I know there's been a lot of discussion
    about it, there was no specific incident that prompted me to make the
    decision to try to increase security around airports. But the overall
    conditions, it seemed to me, dictated that we do that.
        And I think that this country has been very strong against terrorism
    through military action, imposing sanctions, stopping sanctions from
    being lifted, stopping terrorist incidents before they occur, arresting
    terrorists shortly after they commit acts. This is a part of our ongoing
    effort to protect the American people from that.
        And parenthetically, I would like to say I certainly wish the
    Congress would pass the antiterrorism legislation which was promised to
    me on Memorial Day. That would also help us in this regard.

    [[Page 1243]]

    Teenage Drinking

        Q. In going after teenage smoking, Mr. President, did you consider
    including alcohol abuse as part of that? I know you mentioned drunk
    driving in your opening remarks, but alcohol among young people is
    thought to be as much of a problem as smoking is.
        The President. First of all, it is far less accessible. It's harder
    to get. What we have advocated there, and I hope the Congress will
    adopt, is a national zero tolerance for alcohol among young drivers. If
    we go to zero tolerance among young drivers, I think it will make a
    difference. Now, I noted last week--and I would like to give the State
    credit for it--one State adopted zero tolerance this last week. We are
    now up to 27 States that have done it on their own. But I think zero
    tolerance is the best thing to do.
        Sarah [Sarah McClendon, McClendon News].

    Opposition From Congress

        Q. Mr. President, there's a move on Capitol Hill among some right-
    wing Senators--Faircloth of North Carolina--and also joined by--and
    D'Amato, of course, New York--and several left-wing Democrats, real
    liberal left-wing Democrats to try to get you out of office this month.
    They're going to try to do that by embarrassing you so that you will
    resign. Would you resign your office under any circumstances? [Laughter]
        The President. Well, if you promise to run off with me, I might.
    [Laughter] But otherwise I can't think of any reason. [Laughter]

    1996 Election

        Q. Mr. President, continuing on the political mien, if we might.
    [Laughter] A year from now the Republican Presidential convention opens.
    Looking at the electoral vote now, it seems to be a lot of political
    experts say that you're in trouble in the South, in trouble in the West,
    it's really going to be an uphill battle for reelection. How do you
    assess your position at this time?
        The President. Well, first of all, I don't think my position at this
    time amounts to anything because the world will turn around. At this
    time, when I started running for President--I hadn't even declared for
    President this time 4 years ago, and everybody said the incumbent
    President could not be defeated. So I don't think anyone knows, and I
    think all this is idle speculation.
        I will tell you this: I have done my best to do what I said I would
    do when I ran. This is the second anniversary of our economic plan. We
    passed our reconciliation bill on this day 2 years ago. Theirs is still
    not passed. And the people who are now in charge of the Congress said
    that it would be the end of the world; we would have a terrible
    recession; it would bankrupt the country; it would be awful. And 2 years
    later, we have 7 million jobs, 2\1/2\ million new homeowners, 1\1/2\
    million new small businesses, a record, a record number of new self-made
    millionaires, a very high stock market, very low inflation.
        Now, this is the first time in history we've had this kind of surge
    that hasn't also raised the incomes of ordinary people because of the
    new realities which we face. So now, economic policy must be seen as a
    two-step, not a one-step process. We've got to grow the economy and
    raise incomes. That's why I want to raise the minimum wage. That's why I
    want to give every unemployed worker or underemployed worker the right
    to 2 years of education at the local community college. That's why I'm
    trying to have a tax cut that's focused on childrearing and education,
    to raise incomes.
        But I believe when the record of this administration is made, in
    every area, whether it's this or in fighting crime or protecting the
    environment or educating our people or trying to prepare the world for
    the end of the post-cold-war era and a new era of cooperation, I believe
    the American people will listen, and then they'll make their own
    judgments about it. But I don't think anybody can know what's going to
    happen a year and a half from now.

    Teenage Smoking

        Q. Mr. President, are you sure you wouldn't like to pledge today not
    to smoke cigars anymore to set an example? [Laughter]
        The President. Well, you mean should I go from five or six down to
    zero a year? Maybe so. But I don't think that's the point. The point I
    want to make is, number one, cigars and pipes were not found by the FDA
    to be part of this. Did you know that?
        Number two, the issue is, for me--I try to set a good example. I try
    never to do it when people see. I admitted that I did do it when Captain
    O'Grady was found because I was so

    [[Page 1244]]

    happy. It was a form of celebration. But I don't think you should let
    that become the issue. The issue is whether the children are smoking
    cigarettes in this country.

    Nuclear Testing by France

        Q. Mr. President, on the French nuclear testing, the French are now
    saying they will agree to a zero threshold for nuclear tests in the
    Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Will the U.S. concur? Do you think the French
    should cancel their tests? And very importantly, has the U.S. agreed to
    share technology with the French so that they can develop their own
    computer simulations and not have to test?
        The President. I applaud the French statement today. It will make it
    much easier for us to get a comprehensive test ban. I do not think they
    should resume testing, but they know that. That's a difference between
    us and them and most of the rest of the world and them. And we will have
    a statement about our own policy in the very near future, but I don't
    want to make it today.
        Press Secretary Mike McCurry. Let's make this one the last question.

    Teenage Smoking

        Q. Mr. President, the steps that you outlined today are tailored
    very carefully to curb the sale of tobacco to young people. My question
    is, if they're implemented, will the FDA retain power that would allow
    them at a future date to ban or curb sale of tobacco to adults?
        The President. Well, of course, that's what the tobacco companies
    are worried about, I guess. Our belief is that this is a pediatric
    disease. This is a problem for children, that when tobacco is lawful, it
    would be wrong for a Government agency to try to in any way restrict the
    access of adults to it if it is lawful. So the answer is, I don't know
    what the law would be because, in this case, I'm not the lawyer for the
    agency. I can't give you a lawful answer. I can tell you that the policy
    of this Government is that the focus should be on our children, their
    health and their welfare. That is the focus.
        If there is a worry underlying the question you asked, there is an
    answer to that worry: Put it in the law. Let's have the tobacco
    companies come in. Let's talk to the Members of Congress from the
    tobacco-growing States. Let's pass it into law. Pass these restrictions.
    Put them into law. Do it now. Then we won't have all these lawsuits, and
    we will begin immediately, right now, to protect the children of this
    country. That is the answer.
        Yes, Deborah [Deborah Mathis, Gannett News Service].

    Whitewater Hearings

        Q. Mr. President, there has been a parade of you and your wife's
    friends, associates, aides, former aides on Capitol Hill lately in both
    the Senate and House Whitewater hearings. How does it make you feel to
    see so many of your old friends and associates being grilled, in effect?
    And have you been keeping track of the hearings, and if so, how?
        The President.  The answer to the second question is, not really,
    Occasionally I see a clip or something, but I don't watch television
    very much, except late at night for a few minutes before I to go bed. So
    I haven't had a chance to keep up with it. My impression is that they
    have all acquitted themselves quite well, and I've been proud of them.
    But I don't have anything to say on the underlying substance beyond what
    I've already said.

    Teenage Smoking

        Q. Mr. President, on the FDA rule again, a coalition of advertisers
    is filing suit today saying that for a legal product, your rule would go
    far beyond any precedent in restricting first amendment rights. Is there
    any precedent that you could cite that would be equivalent in its reach
    into the first amendment? And if not, are you not concerned about that
    aspect?
        The President.  First of all, nobody who's ever held this office
    loved the first amendment any more than I do. And no one has ever felt
    both edges of it any more than I have. I believe in the first amendment.
    That's what my speech about religious freedom was about the other day. I
    believe in it.
        But I would remind you of just a few basic facts. It is illegal for
    children to smoke cigarettes. How then can it be legal for people to
    advertise to children to get them to smoke cigarettes? And does anybody
    seriously doubt that a lot of this advertisement is designed to reach
    children so we get new customers for the tobacco companies as the old
    customers disappear? It cannot be a violation of the freedom of speech
    in this country to say that you cannot advertise to entice people to do
    something which they cannot legally do. So I just don't

    [[Page 1245]]

    buy the first amendment argument, it's just not true.
        And by the way, that is why--to go back to an earlier question--the
    FDA ran the risk of having a rather complex rule to make it clear that
    there should be some freedom left, some considerable freedom left to
    advertise to adults.
        Yes, ma'am.

    China

        Q. Mr. President, your administration has said on many occasions
    that you're going to adhere to the one-China policy. However, the two
    sides of Taiwan's fate obviously have different views on what this one
    China is. And you are the one who made the decision to allow President
    Teng-hui to come to the United States, and China is very, very unhappy
    now. So I wonder, how are you going to balance between a democratic
    Taiwan willing to risk everything to seek international recognition and,
    on the other hand, the very, very important strategic interests between
    the United States and China?
        The President. First of all, we're going to balance them by
    continuing to adhere to the one-China policy. It is the policy of the
    United States; it has been for years; it continues to be.
        Secondly, we are going to do everything we can to make sure that our
    policy is clearly understood in China and in Taiwan. I made the decision
    personally to permit President Li from Taiwan to come into this country
    not as the head of state, not as the head of a government that we had
    recognized but because he wanted to come. I'm sure there were political
    aspects to this, but he asked whether he could come to his college
    reunion, whether he could give speeches, whether he could travel in our
    United States. He is a law-abiding person. We had no grounds on which to
    deny him.
        In the American culture there is a constitutional right to travel
    and a constitutional right to speak. And as a man who has almost never
    missed any of his high school or college reunions, I just felt I ought
    to give him the same opportunity. It was not an abrogation of our one-
    China policy in any way. It was a recognition of something that's
    special in our culture about the rights we accord individuals who obey
    our laws and comport themselves appropriately.

    Welfare Reform

        Q. Mr. President, as you know, the welfare reform bill has been
    delayed in the Senate. I wonder how optimistic you are that welfare
    reform can pass this year and to what extent welfare reform has been
    wrapped up in Republican Presidential politics.
        The President. Well, it plainly has been wrapped up to some extent
    in Republican Presidential politics, and that's bad because 85 percent
    of the American people want it. As I think Senator Dole acknowledged a
    day or so ago, I made a personal appeal to him to try to work with me to
    get a welfare reform bill out and to do it this year.
        What do we want out of welfare reform? We want work. We want time
    limits. We want responsible parenting. Those are the three things we
    want. Can we get there from where we are? I think we can. I think that
    Senator Dole has moved somewhat away from the extreme right of his
    party. Senator Daschle, Senator Mikulski, and Senator Breaux have
    offered a bill which has united the Democrats in moving away from the
    conventional wisdom toward welfare reform. And what we need to do over
    this break is that folks need to get together and figure out how we can
    put these approaches together and come out with a bill which promotes
    work, which promotes time limits, which promotes responsible parenting.
    I cannot believe we can't reach an agreement here.
        Meanwhile, I will keep trying to get more States involved. You know,
    I have 32 States now that I've given permission to get out from under
    the Federal rules to promote welfare reform. And I would remind you I
    have offered all 50 States within 30 days the right to require young
    teen mothers to stay at home and stay in school to get checks, to put
    time limits and work requirements on welfare reform, and to allow the
    States to convert the welfare benefits and the food stamp benefits into
    wage supplements to get private employers to hire people in the private
    sector. Every State in the country could do that within the next 30
    days. They just call us and send a request; we do it.
        So we'll keep working, but we need the legislation, especially
    because we have to have national standards for tough child support
    enforcement that we cannot implement without the law.
        I think our time is--one more question. Yes, go ahead.

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    Legislative Priorities

        Q. Before the tobacco regulations came up this news conference was
    billed as your chance to give a farewell message to Congress. If you
    could send them a postcard from Jackson next week--[laughter]--what
    would you list as your top three or four priorities?
        The President. We need to pass a decent budget that balances the
    budget but doesn't do it on the backs of elderly people who don't have
    enough to live on by exploding their Medicare costs; it doesn't walk
    away from our commitment to education, the education of our young people
    from Head Start to more affordable college loans through national
    service; that doesn't undermine our common commitment to the
    environment. We can find common ground on this budget that brings the
    American people together and moves us forward.
        The second thing I would say is, we need to pass welfare reform. We
    need to pass welfare reform--work, time limits, responsible parenting.
        The third thing I would say is, let's get to work on the unfinished
    agenda here, pass the antiterrorism bill, the line-item veto, appoint
    the political reform commission. Let's get after it. Let's do the things
    that we all are for, we keep saying we're for. Let's deliver for the
    American people.
        Let me say in closing that my family and I are leaving on Tuesday
    for Wyoming, and I want you to enjoy your vacation.
        Thank you, and God bless you. Thank you.

    Note: The President's 101st news conference began at 1:32 p.m. in the
    East Room at the White House.