    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book II)]
    [August 3, 1995]
    [Pages 1195-1196]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Education and an Exchange With Reporters
    August 3, 1995

        The President. Good afternoon. I'm glad to be here today with the
    Vice President and Secretary Reich, Secretary Riley, Deputy Secretary
    Kunin, Congressman Owens, Congresswoman Pelosi, and all these
    distinguished education leaders.
        The Secretary of Education is going to present me his draft report
    on the condition of education today. And since the House is about to
    vote on the education funding bill, I thought it was appropriate to make
    a brief statement.
        This is a critical time for American education for at least two
    reasons. First of all, everybody knows that the level of education and
    skills of our work force will determine their ability to get and keep
    good jobs and to have a secure future. Secondly, the number of children
    in our schools is once again rising. Today, one in four Americans is in
    school. The need for skills development is greater than ever, and the
    number of people who need it is larger than ever.
        I have made a proposal on education which shows that you can balance
    the budget and fully fund education and training in a way that is good
    for the economy. It's good for the economy to balance the budget; it's
    good for the economy to invest in education. And it is what we owe to
    our young people and to older people who need further education and
    training to get better jobs.
        Our balanced budget actually increases education $41 billion over
    the next 7 years. The bill being voted on today in the House does
    exactly the reverse. It dramatically cuts education--$36 billion. It
    would take 180,000 children off Head Start. It would end funding for
    Goals 2000, which raises standards and shrinks class size, which is
    terribly important. It would cut one million children who are poor out
    of the benefits of the Title I program. It would cut 300,000 low-income
    students out of Pell grants for college. It would target almost 600,000
    unemployed and underemployed adults who won't be able to get job-
    training programs, mostly in their local community colleges, throughout
    this country. This is wrong. It is simply wrong.
        Before this Congress, education and training have been matters of
    bipartisan common ground. President Bush often talked about how proud he
    was of increasing Head Start. This

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    is the first time, as far as I know, in the history of the Head Start
    program when the Congress is poised to reduce the number of children in
    Head Start.
        The school-to-work program is being cut. It's terribly important.
    There are a lot of young people who don't go to 4-year colleges who need
    the opportunity to get further training after high school and good jobs.
    And of course, what is being done to the college programs and the job
    training programs are simply unacceptable.
        So from preschoolers to adults, this bill is a body blow to their
    future and a body blow to our efforts to create a high-opportunity,
    high-wage economy, not a hard-work, low-wage economy. This is a decision
    today that will affect the incomes of the American people.
        The biggest problem we've still got is that we've got good economic
    performance, but more than half of our people are having stagnant wages.
    This will make the problem worse. Under the guise of balancing the
    budget, we are consigning millions more Americans to a more limited
    future. It is wrong, and I certainly hope it is defeated today.

    Bosnia and Croatia

        Q. Mr. President, does it help to have Croatian forces engaging the
    Bosnian Serbs on the western edge?
        The President. Well, we have--what we have cautioned the Croatians
    about is widening the war. We don't want to see a widening of the war.
    We understand their desire to relieve the pressure on Bihac. And of
    course, that is a commitment the United Nations has made as well.
        So we hope that whatever is done can be done without leading to a
    wider war. One of the prime objectives of the United States has been to
    try to confine the conflict to its present dimensions.

    Teenage Smoking

        Q. Mr. President, do you think that smoking among youth is----
        The President. I think that smoking among youths should be
    diminished, and the Government has a responsibility there. I'm looking
    at what our options are, and we'll have an announcement on it before too
    long.
        Q. So you support that idea?
        Q. Is that a yes?
        The President. I think--I told you what I--I think it's a terrible
    problem. We've got to do something about it. It's going up when it ought
    to be going down. If you want to lower health care costs, increase life
    expectancy, and broaden the quality of life for people, reducing teenage
    smoking is one good way to start. There's hardly anything we could do
    that would have a bigger impact. The question is, exactly what should we
    do? I've gotten some recommendations on it, and we'll have a position
    shortly. I just don't have an announcement to make today.

    Note: The President spoke at 12:15 p.m. in the Cabinet Room at the White
    House.