[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book II)]
[December 10, 1995]
[Pages 1870-1875]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Teleconference Remarks to the Florida State Democratic Convention
December 10, 1995

    The President. Thank you. Thank you for that warm and rousing 
welcome. I've enjoyed listening through my earphone here to what's going 
on down there. I see that Senator Dodd has almost lost his voice in the 
enthusiasm and so has your State party chair, Terry Brady. But I want to 
thank both of them for their leadership and for what they have done and 
for stirring everybody up and getting you excited over the election 
we're about to have and the stakes there.
    I want to say hello to attorney general Bob Butterworth. I'd also 
like to send kind greetings to all of my friends down there, especially 
to Governor Chiles, Lieutenant Governor MacKay, Senator Bob Graham.
    I am very pleased to be able to speak with you today at this very 
important convention. As we move into the Presidential campaign season, 
you know, I can't help but recall that it was almost 4 years ago to the 
day that Florida and the Florida Democrats, at this meeting, put our 
campaign on the map when you helped me to win a decisive straw poll 
victory on December 15th, 1991. I remember that day so well, for that 
victory convinced me that the American people were serious about wanting 
new leadership in Washington and a new direction for our country.
    You know, I have many things I want to say, but the most important 
thing I can do is to say a simple thank you. Thank you for helping me 
and Al Gore to the White House, to give us a chance to advance the 
economy and to honor the values that are critical to moving our country 
forward into the 21st century. So, even though we have to talk a lot 
today about the future, let me say one more time: Thank you for your 
faith in me and in Vice President Gore; thank you for your support for 
these past 3 years.
    Today, my fellow Americans, I come to you with a simple and 
straightforward message. We live in a great country in a time of very 
great change. We are moving forward from the industrial age to an age of 
technology. We are moving away from the cold-war era into the era of the 
global village. We know that. I ran for President to change things in 
this country, to take advantage of this time of absolutely enormous, 
enormous possibility so that we could make the most of the lives of 
every American and give all Americans back their future and so that we 
would make sure that our country would still be able to lead the world 
toward peace and freedom and prosperity. We have done that.
    Our country is in better shape today than it was 3 years ago. Our 
economy is stronger, we are coming back to our basic values, and we are 
leading the world toward peace. But to continue to be true to those 
values, we have to have a clear vision of the future, and we have to 
stick with it. You know that.
    When I ran for President in 1992, I was committed to restoring the 
American dream for all our people and to make absolutely sure that 
America would go into the next century still the most powerful country 
in the world, the

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greatest force for peace and freedom and prosperity the world had ever 
known. I said we would do it by having an economic policy that produced 
jobs and growth, that expanded the middle class and shrinks the under 
class by giving us a modern Government that is smaller and less 
bureaucratic and more entrepreneurial, and most important of all, by 
being true to old-fashioned American values at a new time: 
responsibility from all and opportunity for all; the value of work; the 
understanding that we have to help families stay strong and stick 
together; and a sense of community that we're all stronger when we work 
together and we're all in this fight to the future together; also, the 
strong sense that we do have obligations to our parents, to our 
children, to one another, and to those who, through no fault of their 
own, need some help to make the most of their own lives. Let me say 
again: This country is in better shape than it was 3 years ago. We still 
have challenges, and we have to keep going in the right direction. But 
America is on the move.
    We've reduced the deficit in 3 consecutive years of this 
administration. It's now been cut in half. Over 7 years, that works out 
to about $15,000 of reduced Federal debt for every family of four in 
Florida. In the past 3 years, we've also seen more than 7\1/2\ million 
new jobs created, more than 590,000 of them right there in Florida. 
We've got a record number of new businesses, 2\1/2\ million more 
homeowners. Homebuilding in the State of Florida has increased 6 percent 
a year after dropping 4 percent a year during the previous 12 years.
    And America is safer and stronger today than we were 3 years ago. 
For the very first time since the dawn of the nuclear age, there is not 
a single Russian missile pointed at an American child. And American 
leadership is opening the door to peace and reconciliation all over the 
world, from Northern Ireland to the Middle East to Haiti and to Bosnia.
    The United States is leading the world toward a more peaceful 
future. We've got a chance to end the misery in Bosnia for good. It was 
our diplomacy, backed by NATO's resolve, that brought the leaders of the 
Balkans to the peace table in Dayton, OH. And now they have made a 
commitment to peace.
    Our responsibility truly begins now. If we walk away from their 
request to us to help them preserve their peace, our allies will do the 
same, and the peace will fail. The slaughter will begin again, and that 
conflict could spread like poison throughout the region, drawing us in, 
in much greater risk to our own soldiers. NATO, the alliance of 
democracies that has preserved our security for half a century by 
working with our strong European allies, would be shaken to its core if 
we walked away from their request to help preserve the peace in Bosnia. 
And American leadership, not only in Europe but all around this world, 
will pay a terrible, terrible price. For all of those reasons, we must 
help to preserve the peace.
    This Bosnian peace mission is clearly defined. It has realistic 
goals to be reached in a definite period of time. Our force will be 
strong, and they will have strong rules of engagement so that they can 
protect themselves and pursue the mission. I am convinced that the risks 
to our troops have been minimized to the maximum extent possible. After 
all, we're not going to fight a war but to wage a peace. We do it for 
the people of Bosnia, for the stability of Europe, for American 
leadership, and for the values we hold dear.
     We also have a special interest in promoting peace and democracy in 
two nations just off your shore, in Haiti and in Cuba. Just over one 
year ago, our diplomacy, backed by military muscle, forced a brutal 
military regime in Haiti to surrender its power. We gave democracy there 
another chance. You know better than people in any other State that this 
has been good for America and good for Haiti. The tide of refugees from 
Haiti, which stood at about 16,000 in the months prior to the 
intervention, has been dramatically reduced. The people of Haiti, with 
help from the international community, are slowly building a democracy 
and a working economy. And President Aristide, as he said he would, has 
been a force for reconciliation.
    Now, all of this takes time, and there may be setbacks along the 
way. But just a week from now, Haiti will hold Presidential elections 
which will freely transfer power from one democratically elected 
President to another for the very first time in the nation's history. 
This is an extraordinary achievement. America, and particularly 
Floridians, where so many Haitians live, should be proud that we helped 
to restore democracy to Haiti.
    Cuba, of course, is still a different story. It's now the only 
country in our hemisphere which

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continues to resist the powerful trend toward democracy. Our 
administration is working to encourage its peaceful transition to a free 
and open society. We will continue to do everything we can to promote 
peaceful change, protect human rights, and move Cuba into the camp of 
democracy.
    With all of the progress we've made, both here at home and abroad, 
the thing that I am most proud of, I think, is the tangible evidence 
that our country is coming back together around our core values. Because 
we not only have economic progress, we not only have the lowest rates of 
unemployment and inflation in 27 years, but in almost every State in 
America and almost every major community, the crime rate is down, the 
murder rate is down, the food stamp rolls are down, the welfare rolls 
are down. For 2 years, the teen pregnancy rate has dropped, and the 
poverty rate is down. We are coming back together, and we're moving 
forward together.
    And as you know, I believe we can only move forward if we do it 
together. We're moving in the right direction, but now we have to make 
some decisions that will keep us on that track. That really is what this 
big budget debate in Washington is all about. It isn't just about 
dollars and cents, it goes to the heart of who we are as a people, what 
we believe, what we stand for, what kind of America we want our children 
and grandchildren to inherit in the 21st century.
    Last Wednesday, using the pen that was used to sign Medicare and 
Medicaid into law in 1965, I vetoed the Republican budget. I did it to 
preserve our commitment to our parents, to protect opportunity for our 
children, to defend our public health and environment, and to stop a tax 
increase that undercuts the value of work for the hardest pressed 
working families and their children in this country. The very next day, 
I gave Congress a budget that does balance in 7 years without their 
devastating cuts in Medicare and Medicaid, in education and the 
environment, and one that does not raise taxes on working families.
    Let me tell you again why I vetoed their budget. Americans have 
always believed we owe a duty to our parents. The Republican budget that 
I vetoed would turn Medicare into a second-class system. The Medicare 
system that has served older Americans so well for 30 years would be 
over, and I'm not going to let that happen.
    My 7-year balanced budget secures the Medicare Trust Fund into the 
future without imposing new costs on hard-pressed seniors. And it 
preserves Medicaid's guarantee of quality health care for poor children, 
pregnant women, disabled Americans, and older Americans.
    There are many differences between the Republican budget that I 
vetoed and the one I presented last week. But perhaps the starkest one 
of all is the different treatment of Medicaid. As I told Governor Chiles 
in a White House meeting with Governors on Friday, the Republican budget 
would be a disaster for States like Florida that depend on Medicaid. 
Medicaid is a guarantee not only to seniors who might need nursing home 
care, it's also a guarantee to their families against having their 
financial security threatened if an older parent falls seriously ill. 
This Republican plan would change all that. Families tomorrow could find 
themselves forced to pay large sums for quality nursing home care that 
Medicaid guarantees today. It would force those working families to 
choose between quality nursing home care for their parents and quality 
education and health care for their own children. We shouldn't force our 
working families to have to make that type of choice.
    Now, I want to work with the Republican Congress. I want to work to 
get a balanced budget. But I will not--I will not permit the repeal of 
guaranteed medical coverage for senior citizens, for disabled people, 
for poor children, for pregnant women, for people with AIDS. That would 
violate our values. It would undermine our families and, therefore, even 
weaken our economy. And what's more, it's not necessary. So if they 
continue to make this a part of their budget, I'll veto it again and 
again and again.
    My fellow Democrats, we're going to win this battle; we have to. 
Nothing less than the heart and soul of our Nation are at stake. That's 
why I'm asking for your continued support now more than ever. All of us 
who share the same values, whether we're Democrats, Republicans, or 
independents, all of us who share the same vision for our country and 
our future, we have got to stand together now for the American people. 
We need to stand together on behalf of the elderly, the disabled, the 
pregnant women, and poor children to protect Medicare and Medicaid. We 
need to stand together on behalf of the millions and millions of young 
people in this country who would be denied the chance

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for a better education if the Republicans are successful in slashing 
Head Start, slashing the college loan options, slashing the college 
scholarships.
    We need to stand together to reward hard-working families by 
providing the child care mothers need to move from welfare to work and 
by refusing to raise taxes on 8 million working families. We have to 
build on the successes of the last 3 years. But we must not turn back 
the clock.
    Some Republicans in Congress have made clear their strategy of 
trying to force through harmful health care, education, and 
environmental cuts, that would be very damaging to Florida, by 
threatening to shut our Government down once again. They did it a month 
ago, but the threat failed.
    Now, as the holidays approach, I sincerely hope that there will be a 
spirit in the Congress that will make it possible for us to bring good 
faith to our negotiations. We are now engaged in negotiations on how 
best to balance the budget consistent with our values. And I proposed 
the 7-year balanced budget and even proposed a specific compromise so 
that we could finish our work on this year's budget and keep the 
Government open.
    We have serious differences on Medicare, Medicaid, education, and 
the environment, on tax fairness and also on research and technology 
that I know are critical to our future. But we ought to be able to agree 
on this: Nobody, nobody, should threaten to shut the Government down 
right before Christmas.
    Let me close by reminding all of you how far we've come and what I 
hope you will do in the year ahead. Remind your fellow citizens in 
Florida that America is in better shape than we were 3 years ago and 
Florida is in better shape than it was 3 years ago. We do have a 27-year 
low in the combined rates of unemployment and inflation. We do have 
progress in crime and welfare reform, in reducing many of the social 
problems that still continue to plague us. We do have progress in making 
the world a more peaceful place.
    And Florida has received the attention it deserved from our 
administration. The Southern Command is moving to Florida. The Summit of 
the Americas was held in Florida. The defense budgets of the country 
have been kept strong in a way that has preserved the military presence 
in Florida that will help us to be secure in the future. Our trade 
policies, our technology policies have helped Florida.
    But if you look to the future and you think of America and what you 
want it to be like 10, 20, 30 years from now, you know we still have a 
long way to go. The answer is to redouble our efforts in the direction 
we are heading, not to derail this train of America's progress. We have 
to have a vision, and we have to have policies that prepare our children 
for the vast challenges and opportunities of the 21st century; vision 
and policy that promote lifelong learning so our workers can meet the 
demands of change; a vision and a policy that empowers communities to 
solve their own problems, that ensures the safety of our citizens on our 
streets, in our schools, and in our homes, that helps us to come 
together as a country and as one big American community. That's the 
vision we all share for America.
    America is now in the best position to lead the world into the 21st 
century as well. And you know, with our common security threats, of the 
proliferation of dangerous nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, 
with the problems we have with terrorism and drug-trafficking and 
organized crime, you know we have to put our values into action around 
the world and come together in that same spirit.
    I want you to promise yourself that when you walk out of this room 
today and for the next year, you are going to walk up to your fellow 
Americans in every possible venue, and talk about these fundamental 
values, these fundamental issues, this shared vision that you and I have 
for our future and for our children. If we will do that, if we will 
bring the same enthusiasm I heard from you today into our daily lives, 
into our daily contacts with the kind of people who never have the 
opportunity to be in a convention hall, we will prevail. But far, far 
more important, America will have the future that our children deserve.
    Thank you, and God bless you all.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!

[At this point, the moderator thanked the President and introduced a 
convention participant who asked how proposed budget cuts would affect 
Medicare and Medicaid.]

    The President. Well, first of all, I thank you for the way you asked 
the question, because I do think a lot of Americans think that it's

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just bickering and may be just another political fight. But that isn't 
right.
    There is an argument in Washington over the fundamental 
responsibility of our National Government in the area of health care and 
whether we do have an obligation to preserve Medicare as it has worked 
for our seniors for the last 30 years and to preserve, through the 
Medicaid program, a guarantee of health care for the elderly, for the 
disabled, for poor children and pregnant women.
    Now, let's talk about the facts on Medicare. On Medicare, we do have 
to find a way to strengthen the Medicare Trust Fund. I've been saying 
that for sometime now. But the Republican cuts in Medicare are more than 
twice as great as are necessary to secure the Medicare Trust Fund well 
into the next century.
    What they're doing is a number of things. Let me try to be as 
specific as I can so you'll understand. They say they want to encourage 
more seniors to take their Medicare benefits in managed care plans. I'm 
all for giving people the incentive to do that. But I am against forcing 
people into managed care plans.
    If you look at their budget, what they do is, they charge elderly 
people much more, not just in premiums but in copays and deductibles, to 
stay in Medicare. And they fund the traditional Medicare program at such 
a lower level that they're going to wind up trying to force seniors to 
pay more for less medical care in managed care plans. And the way the 
plan is now drafted, it is actually toughest on the oldest, the poorest, 
and the sickest seniors in the country. It is unconscionable, and it is 
wrong.
    If you look at the Medicaid program, what they do is to cut the 
Medicaid program so much and to put the States under so much pressure, 
especially a State like Florida, that we think it is clear that millions 
of people will lose Medicaid coverage, hundreds of thousands of seniors 
who now get Medicaid help to stay in nursing homes would be denied it, 
millions of poor children will lose their coverage, and we will have, in 
a State like Florida especially, where you have a lot of poor children 
needing Medicaid coverage and a lot of seniors who are entitled to it, 
an unbearable burden placed on the States and a lot of human suffering. 
And it is unnecessary to balance the budget.
    So I guess the facts in short are, number one, we need to save the 
Medicare Trust Fund, but they're doing too much and it's going to hurt 
too much and it's going to really turn Medicare as we know it into a 
second-class system. Number two, the Medicaid program would be 
devastated. And number three, and this is the most important thing of 
all, it is not necessary to do this to balance the budget.
    I just want to remind the Democrats there that we cut the deficit in 
half in 3 years with only Democratic votes. We didn't get a single, 
solitary Republican vote in the Congress to do it. When we passed our 
program in 1993, they said it wouldn't reduce the deficit; they said it 
would bring on a recession. And they were wrong. They were wrong. The 
Republicans say they're against big Government. I want to remind you of 
something else. Since I've been in office, we're reduced the size of the 
Federal Government by 200,000. It's now the smallest it's been since 
John Kennedy was President, and as a percentage of our civilian work 
force, it's the smallest it's been since 1933. The Democrats did that. 
We did it by treating our Federal employees humanely, giving them good 
retirement and severance packages. We did it by increasing the 
productivity of the fine Federal employees that are left. We reduced the 
burden of big Government. We're eliminating 16,000 pages of Federal 
regulation. Those were Democratic reforms.
    This is not about the problems of big Government. They want to strip 
the National Government of its ability to protect and advance the 
interests of the elderly and the children and the disabled people of 
this country. That is what is going on here.

[Another participant asked what the President had done to give children 
a better education and a brighter future.]

    The President. To answer your question in the way you posed it, the 
most important thing we have done is to give this country a 
comprehensive education policy focused not only on greater educational 
opportunities but on higher standards and higher quality education. And 
I'd like to give you some specific examples.
    We have increased the number of our young people in Head Start 
programs by tens of thousands. For the public schools, we have written 
into law the national education goals and said to every State: We will 
give you extra help if you will commit to try to reach these goals and 
if you will commit to a system which holds you accountable so that we 
can see whether you're

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making progress toward reaching these goals. We will give you extra 
help, and we will give special help to districts that are poor or that 
have a lot of poor children, but we all have to have the same high 
standards and we all have to be willing to be held accountable.
    For young people who aren't going to college, we have launched a 
national school-to-work program to help every State give young people 
good training so they can get good jobs even if they don't have 4-year 
college degrees. Then, for young people who are going to college, we've 
launched a new direct student loan program that has lower cost college 
loans available to more kids with better terms of repayment.
    One of the most successful things we've done--I've talked about it a 
lot in Florida--we have dramatically increased the number of student 
loans and the possibility of earning money through college through our 
national service program, AmeriCorps. Every single one of those things 
is at risk in the Republican budget, and I am fighting for every single 
one of them.
    But we have a comprehensive education strategy based on national 
standards and grassroots reforms and more opportunity. That is what I 
think we ought to be pushing for. No company in the world and no country 
in the world would go into the 21st century by cutting its investment in 
education and technology and research. But this budget cuts our 
investment in education, technology, and research. It is a prescription 
for bad economics. That's the other thing I want to say to people: This 
Republican budget is not just bad in human terms, it's going to be bad 
for the economy. It will undermine the economic strategy that we have 
pursued that has given us the world's strongest economy again. And I 
want you to stick with us on the education issue.

Note: The President spoke by satellite at 10:17 a.m. from the Dempsey 
Thomas Film Studio in Little Rock, AR, to the convention meeting in 
Miami Beach, FL. In his remarks, he referred to Gov. Lawton Chiles and 
Lt. Gov. Buddy MacKay of Florida, and President Jean-Bertrand Aristide 
of Haiti.