    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book II)]
    [November 19, 1995]
    [Pages 1774-1775]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Announcing an Agreement To Reopen the Federal Government and an
    Exchange With Reporters
    November 19, 1995

        The President. Good evening. As you know, an agreement has been
    reached to reopen our Government beginning tomorrow. The bill I have
    agreed to sign will allow our Government to once again begin to serve
    the American people while broader discussions about how best to balance
    the budget take place.
        I have made clear from the beginning my principles in this budget
    debate. We must balance the budget, but we must do it in a way that is
    good for our economy and that maintains our values. That means we have
    to do it without devastating cuts in Medicare and Medicaid, in education
    and the environment. And we have to do it without raising taxes on
    working families.
        This agreement reflects my principles. And for the first time, the
    Republican leaders in Congress have acknowledged the importance of those
    principles. As I have said throughout this debate, I could only agree to
    move forward if that occurred.
        Tonight represents the first sign of their willingness to move
    forward without forcing unacceptable cuts in health care, education, and
    the environment on the American people. The Republican budget which was
    passed just yesterday clearly does not come close to meeting that test,
    as I have said repeatedly. Therefore, I will veto that budget.
        As you know, I have expressed strong doubts that the budget can be
    balanced in 7 years if we use the current Republican congressional
    budget assumptions. But I am nevertheless committed to working in the
    coming weeks to see if we can reach common ground on balancing the
    budget. The key is that nothing will be agreed to unless all elements
    are agreed to. I simply cannot sign a budget that devastates Medicare to
    the elderly or Medicaid to senior citizens and disabled people and poor
    children, that robs educational opportunity or educational standards
    from our children in the future, or that hurts our environment. And I
    can't support a tax increase on working families.
        Well, tomorrow the Government will go back to work. And now the
    debate will begin in earnest on how to balance the budget in a way that
    is consistent with the interests and the values of the American people.
        I appreciate the work that was done by both Democrats and
    Republicans tonight. I applaud

    [[Page 1775]]

    the leadership. I applaud the leaders of the budget committee. I applaud
    all of them for the work that they did. This is the way our Government
    ought to work. We ought to be able to find common ground, and we ought
    to be able to do it and permit the day-to-day work of the United States
    and the American people to go forward.
        So from my point of view this is a very good thing, and a good and
    somewhat unexpected development on this Sunday evening.

    Budget Compromise

        Q. Are there any winners or losers in this, Mr. President----
        The President. Yes.
        Q. ----in the sense that you--you may be interpreted as a loser to
    the extent on the binding 7 years?
        The President. But nothing is binding unless everything is binding.
    And if you read the whole agreement, both paragraphs and the way it's
    written, essentially we agree to do something that I said we ought to
    agree to a long time ago. We ought to both say, we'll try to balance the
    budget. There's no magic to the timetable, but if we can do it, you
    know, as quickly--we ought to do it as quickly as we can, consistent
    with economic growth and the values of the American people that hold us
    together.
        So I would say that the real winners tonight are the American
    people. The American people have won in two ways: Number one, the
    Government will go back to work tomorrow, and the good Federal employees
    are real winners, too. And the real winners tonight are the American
    people because now we can have an open, honest, straightforward
    discussion about how best to balance the budget. So the victors tonight
    are the people that sent us all up here and that pay our salaries.
        Q. Mr. President, how optimistic are you you can reach a compromise
    by December 15th?
        The President. I don't know. All I know is that I can go to work.
    But you know what my--you know what my standards are, and you know what
    I'll do if we meet them and what I'll do if we won't. So we'll just go
    to work tomorrow and see if we can do it.

    Note: This President spoke at 7:33 p.m. in the Briefing Room at the
    White House.