    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book II)]
    [November 11, 1995]
    [Pages 1730-1732]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's Radio Address
    November 11, 1995

        Good morning. At midnight this Monday night, unless Congress passes
    legislation to keep the Government running, the Federal Government will
    be required by law to begin shutting down. For months, the congressional
    Republicans have made a consistent threat: If I don't

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    sign legislation cutting Medicare, education and the environment,
    they'll plunge the Government into default and force it to close its
    doors.
        I don't want to shut down basic Government services for the American
    people, but I can't allow that to be used to force us to accept extreme
    budget measures that would violate our basic values as a nation and
    undermine the long-term welfare of the American people.
        A very great deal is at stake in this debate. This budget debate is
    not about whether we will balance the budget. Both parties support that.
    It's about whether we will balance our budget in a way that is
    consistent with our fundamental values: our responsibility to our
    parents and to our children; our determination to provide opportunity
    for all Americans to make the most of their own lives through good jobs
    and education and technology; our obligation to protect the environment
    and to keep America the world's strongest force for peace and freedom,
    democracy and prosperity.
        This budget debate is about two very different futures for America:
    about whether we'll continue to go forward under our motto, E Pluribus
    Unum, out of many, one; whether we will continue to unite and grow
    together; or whether we will become a more divided winner-take-all
    society.
        Today as I speak with you, the congressional Republicans are on the
    verge of carrying out their threat. I want to explain how we have come
    to this juncture and why it is so important that we stand firm against
    measures that would endanger our future. The congressional Republicans
    propose to balance the budget in 7 years, but they would get there with
    deep cuts in Medicare, education, protection for the environment, and by
    raising taxes on working people. Five full months ago, I proposed an
    alternative plan to balance the budget in 10 years while protecting
    Medicare and Medicaid, increasing our investment in education and
    technology, protecting the environment, without raising taxes on working
    families. Since then, the Republican Congress has dismissed my proposal
    at every turn and has not met the deadlines established by law for
    setting this year's budget.
        The new Federal fiscal year started back on October 1st. Now it's
    November 11th, Veterans Day, and still they haven't sent me a budget,
    even though the Republicans control both Houses of Congress. This is
    very unusual. In my first 2 years, we passed budgets to reduce the
    deficit in a timely fashion.
        Also this year, the Republicans have not come close to resolving
    their own internal differences in their overall budget plan between
    measures passed in the House and the Senate. Back in 1993, we passed our
    deficit reduction plan 3 months earlier than this, in August. That plan
    has now given us 3 years of deficit reduction in a row for the first
    time since Mr. Truman was President. And the United States now has the
    lowest deficit as a percentage of our income of any industrial nation in
    the world except one. Let me say that again, we now have the lowest
    deficit as a percentage of our income of any industrial nation in the
    world except one.
        Now, there have been times in our history when our budget process
    has run late before. I want to acknowledge that. But when that happens,
    the differing sides, regardless of party, usually agree to find a fair
    and unbiased way to keep the Government going and to enable the United
    States to pay its bills, while the broader debate about budget
    priorities goes on.
        That is what I worked out with Congress in September. They passed
    and I signed a simple, straightforward bill to keep the Government
    running and to prevent America from going into default. That was the
    serious and responsible thing to do, and I applauded them for doing it
    at the time. Last week, I met with the Republican congressional
    leadership to try to find a way, again, to keep our Government open and
    to keep it from falling into default. As I told them then, we should
    balance the budget. But we cannot do it under a threat of Government
    shutdown and default.
        Instead of following the path of reconciliation, however, they have,
    once again, gone their own way. This week, they voted on an
    unprecedented measure. On Thursday night, as a part of their bill to
    keep the Government going, both Houses voted a 25 percent increase in
    Medicare premiums for every single senior citizen on Medicare. That is
    an extraordinary act. No Congress in our history has ever demanded an
    increase in Medicare premiums as a condition of keeping the Government
    open. That is wrong, and I will not accept it.
        And on this Veterans Day, they have a strange way of honoring all of
    those men and women who have sacrificed for our country. Eight million
    of the senior citizens and disabled Americans whose Medicare premiums
    would be raised

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    by Congress are veterans, and they, too, deserve better.
        The Republicans in Congress are also demanding deep cuts in
    education and the environment and a profound weakening of environmental
    laws as a condition of keeping the Government open and our bills paid.
    And they have added conditions to the debt limit legislation that amount
    to a shortcut to default on the full faith and credit of the United
    States.
        Think of it this way, my fellow Americans. Imagine the Republican
    Congress as a banker and the United States as a family that has to go to
    the bank for a short-term loan for a family emergency. The banker says
    to the family, ``I'll give you the loan, but only if you'll throw the
    grandparents and the kids out of the house first.''
        Well, speaking on behalf of the family, I say, no thanks. I believe
    we can find a good-faith way to keep the Government open and make good
    on its obligations. So I've asked my Chief of Staff, Leon Panetta, to
    meet with the Republican and the Democratic leaders of Congress this
    afternoon. I've instructed him to present them with the straightforward
    ideas to keep the Government open, just like we did in September and
    just as Congress has done dozens of times before. But I will not allow
    them to impose new, immediate cuts in Medicare, education, and the
    environment as a condition of keeping the Government open.
        I believe we can resolve these differences without hurting the
    American people or our future. All around us we see evidence that
    America is on the move. Our economy is the envy of the world. The
    unemployment and inflation rates together are at a 25-year low, new
    businesses and exports of American products at an all-time high.
        As I said, our deficit already is the smallest of any major economy
    in the world but one. Our Government as a percentage of the work force
    is the smallest it's been since 1933. We're making a serious assault on
    our social problems, like crime. Now our challenge is to balance our
    budget in a way that is consistent with our fundamental values and to do
    it without threats and without partisan rancor. We can do that, so let's
    get it done.
        Thank you for listening.

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