[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book II)]
[October 27, 1995]
[Pages 1688-1690]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks in a Telephone Conversation With Democratic Congressional 
Leaders
October 27, 1995

    Senator Thomas A. Daschle. Hello, Mr. President.
    Representative Richard A. Gephardt. Hello, Mr. President.
    The President. How are you?
    Senator Daschle. Not good.
    The President. Tell me what's going on.
    Senator Daschle. Well, we're still working on our reconciliation 
bill. Democrats are offering a series of amendments that deal directly 
with each of the concerns that we have. But I must say it doesn't appear 
that there is any prospect of improving this bill. This bill is just as 
mean and as extreme as it was when it was introduced. It ends Medicare, 
it rewards the rich, and ravages the rest. And so I must tell you, I am 
very disappointed to report that every Democrat here in the Senate 
tonight at some point will be voting against this piece of legislation.
    The President. Tell them not to worry about it; I'm going to veto it 
anyway.
    Senator Daschle. Well, I applaud you for that because I must tell 
you it is a terrible piece of legislation. It's the wrong plan for the 
wrong reason, done the wrong way to help the wrong people. And I----
    The President. Otherwise you don't feel strongly about it. 
[Laughter] You know, this is one of those moments in our history when 
I'm grateful for the wisdom of the Founding Fathers. I mean, the 
Congress gets to propose, but the President has to sign or veto. And the 
Constitution gave me that authority, and one of the reasons for the veto 
is to prevent excess. And this is--we are willing to work with them in 
good faith to balance this budget. We believe in that. You saw what--and 
America saw earlier this week--what the Democrats did to bring the 
deficit from 290 billion down to 255, then to 205, then to 164, when we 
were all working together. And that approach has been rejected. So I 
will have no alternative but to veto it. It's excessive, and it's wrong 
for all the reasons you said.
    I just want to urge you to keep offering your amendments, standing 
up, make it clear what

[[Page 1689]]

you believe in, and tell everybody to just stay positive and just stand 
up there, stand for what we believe in.
    Senator Daschle. Mr. President, I've consulted with virtually every 
member of our caucus, and they have all indicated that if you veto it, 
we will have the votes and then some to sustain that veto.
    The President. Dick?
    Representative Gephardt. Mr. President, we have the very same 
situation in the House. We had a very united Democratic Party. As you 
know, yesterday, we had 203 votes against their plan. We even picked up 
10 Republicans who voted against the plan.
    The President. Brave souls.
    Representative Gephardt. So the phalanx is beginning to splinter a 
little bit. But they will stand behind you and sustain this veto. And I 
must tell you that I really believe the American people will be behind 
you as well.
    I was at Cambridge Hospital this morning with Joe Kennedy, and 
Hillary had been there I think about a year ago. This is a hospital, as 
you know, that has about 60 percent Medicare and Medicaid. It's a public 
hospital. And they really believe that if cuts of this magnitude go 
through, they'll have to close the hospital. And I met with the doctors 
and nurses and the staff there and told them that I believed you would 
veto this legislation if it got through and that we would stand behind 
that veto. And they applauded and applauded and applauded because it 
means whether or not there's going to be health care in that community 
and communities all over the country.
    So we're behind you, and we're going to stay there. And we 
appreciate what you're doing.
    Senator Daschle. Mr. President, I would say not only are we willing 
to support you in your position on vetoing this legislation, but I think 
it's also fair to say that every Democrat is prepared to go to work the 
day after you veto that bill to work in a constructive way to find 
alternatives and to work with Republicans to find some positive 
conclusion to this whole affair. It's important we learn to govern, that 
we work with Republicans in doing that. But obviously, they have 
concluded, as we have, that this veto is the only way that we're going 
to get it done. And so we look forward to working with you.
    The President. Well, we want to work with them, but we've got to 
stick with our principles, you know. They talk about their principles of 
balancing the budget and securing Medicare and having some kind of tax 
cut. And, you know, I accept that. I think we ought to balance the 
budget, secure Medicare, and I'm not opposed to a tax cut if it's 
properly targeted and emphasizes childrearing and education for middle 
class people.
    But I believe that the more important principles are the ones that 
have been rejected by them that we had to stand up for. I mean, here we 
are on the verge of the 21st century; no major American company would 
cut education and training and cut technology and cut research, but they 
do. We can't tolerate that.
    Nobody would--with any sense of fairness--would raise taxes on 
working families with children with incomes of $27,000 a year or less. 
That will discourage people moving from welfare to work. But that's what 
they do. Nobody who understands what the world is going to be like 10 
years from now would have the kind of cuts and crippling provisions 
related to the environment that they do.
    And of course we've been treated to a real education on Medicare and 
Medicaid which is the most grievous thing of all. I mean, we have 
obligations to our parents, to the poor children of this country, to the 
disabled people, and also to the hospitals and to the doctors and the 
others that are participating in these programs. It's just not right.
    And so we have our principles to stand for, and we'll stand for 
them. And I'm glad you're going to stand with me. And eventually America 
will be better for this. If we stand up for America and for the future 
and for the things we believe in, it's going to be all right.
    But as I said in this phone conversation, I'm probably more grateful 
today for the wisdom of the Founding Fathers than I have ever been in my 
life. They knew what they were doing, and we're going to use the 
Constitution they gave us to stand up for what's right.
    Senator Daschle. Well, thank you, Mr. President. We appreciate your 
leadership and look forward to working with you.
    The President. Thank you. Thank you, Dick.
    Representative Gephardt. Thank you, Mr. President. There's a lot of 
people that are glad you're there and glad you've got the veto pen 
today, believe me.
    The President. Well, just be of good cheer. Just go out there and 
debate these things and

[[Page 1690]]

tell them what we believe in, and it will all work out. We'll make it 
work out for America.
    Representative Gephardt. Great.
    Senator Daschle. Thank you.
    The President. Thanks.

Note: The President spoke at 4:23 p.m. from the Oval Office in the White 
House.