[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book II)]
[November 14, 1995]
[Pages 1755-1757]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks on the Federal Government Shutdown
November 14, 1995

    Good afternoon. Today, as of noon, almost half of the Federal 
Government employees are idle. The Government is partially shutting down 
because Congress has failed to pass the straightforward legislation 
necessary to keep the Government running without imposing sharp hikes in 
Medicare premiums and deep cuts in education and the environment.
    It is particularly unfortunate that the Republican Congress has 
brought us to this juncture because, after all, we share a central goal, 
balancing the Federal budget. We must lift the burden of debt that 
threatens the future of our

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children and grandchildren. And we must free up money so that the 
private sector can invest, create jobs, and our economy can continue its 
healthy growth.
    Since I took office, we have cut the Federal deficit nearly in half. 
It is important that the people of the United States know that the 
United States now has proportionately the lowest Government budget 
deficit of any large industrial nation. We have eliminated 200,000 
positions from the Federal bureaucracy since I took office. Our Federal 
Government is now the smallest percentage of the civilian work force it 
has been since 1933, before the New Deal. We have made enormous 
progress, and now we must finish the job.
    Let me be clear: We must balance the budget. I proposed to Congress 
a balanced budget, but Congress refused to enact it. Congress has even 
refused to give me the line-item veto to help me achieve further deficit 
reduction. But we must balance this budget without resorting to their 
priorities, without their unwise cuts in Medicare and Medicaid, in 
education and the environment.
    Five months ago I proposed my balanced budget plan. It balances the 
budget in the right way. It cuts hundreds of wasteful and outdated 
programs. But it upholds our fundamental values to provide opportunity, 
to respect our obligations to our parents and our children, to 
strengthen families, and to strengthen America because it preserves 
Medicare and Medicaid, it invests in education and technology, it 
protects the environment, and it gives the tax cuts to working families 
for childrearing and for education.
    Unfortunately, Republican leaders in Washington have put ideology 
ahead of common sense and shared values in their pursuit of a budget 
plan. We can balance the budget without doing what they seek to do. We 
can balance the budget without the deep cuts in education, without the 
deep cuts in the environment, without letting Medicare wither on the 
vine, without imposing tax increases on the hardest pressed working 
families in America.
    I am fighting for a balanced budget that is good for America and 
consistent with our values. If they'll give me the tools, I'll balance 
the budget.
    I vetoed the spending bill sent to me by Congress last night because 
America can never accept under pressure what it would not accept in free 
and open debate. I strongly believe their budget plan is bad for 
America. I believe it will undermine opportunity, make it harder for 
families to do the work that they have to do, weaken our obligations to 
our parents and our children, and make our country more divided. So I 
will continue to fight for the right kind of balanced budget.
    Remember, the Republicans are following a very explicit strategy 
announced last April by Speaker Gingrich to use the threat of a 
Government shutdown to force America to accept their cuts in Medicare 
and Medicaid, to accept their cuts in education and technology and the 
environment. Yesterday they sent me legislation that said we will only 
keep the Government going and we will only let it pay its debts if, and 
only if, we accept their cuts in Medicare, their cuts in education, 
their cuts in the environment, and their repeal of 25 years of 
bipartisan commitments to protect the environment and public health.
    On behalf of the American people, I said no. If America has to close 
down access to education, to a clean environment, to affordable health 
care to keep our Government open, then the price is too high.
    My message to Congress is simple: You say you want to balance the 
budget, so let's say yes to balancing the budget. But let us together 
say no to these deep and unwise cuts in education, technology, the 
environment, Medicare, and Medicaid. Let's say no to raising taxes on 
the hardest pressed working families in America. These things are not 
necessary to balance the budget. Yes to balancing the budget; no to the 
cuts.
    I know the loss of Government service will cause disruption in the 
lives of millions of Americans. We will do our very best to minimize 
this hardship. But there is, after all, a simple solution to the 
problem. All Congress has to do is to pass a straightforward bill to let 
Government perform its duties and pay its debts. Then we can get back to 
work and resolve our differences over the budget in an open, honest, and 
straightforward manner.
    Before I conclude, I'd like to say a word to the hundreds of 
thousands of Federal employees who will be affected by this partial 
shutdown. I know, as your fellow citizens know, that the people who are 
affected by this shutdown are public servants. They're the people who 
process our Social Security applications,

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help our veterans apply for benefits, care for the national parks that 
are our natural heritage. They conduct the medical research that saves 
people's lives. They are important to America, and they deserve to be 
treated with dignity and respect. I will do everything I can to see that 
they receive back pay and that their families do not suffer because of 
this.
    But it is my solemn responsibility to stand against a budget plan 
that is bad for America and to stand up for a balanced budget that is 
good for America. And that is exactly what I intend to do.
    Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 2:38 p.m. in the Briefing Room at the White 
House.