[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book II)]
[December 15, 1995]
[Pages 1892-1893]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks on the Budget Negotiations
December 15, 1995

    As all of you know, today the Republicans in Congress broke off our 
negotiations on how best to balance the budget in 7 years. They said 
they would not even continue to talk unless we agreed right now to make 
deep and unconscionable cuts in Medicare and Medicaid. That's 
unacceptable. The cuts they propose would deprive millions of people of 
health care: poor children, pregnant women, the disabled, seniors in 
nursing homes. They would let Medicare wither on the vine into a second-
class system. And these things simply are not necessary to balance the 
budget.
    You know, I don't agree with their very large tax cuts for wealthy 
Americans and for all the special interests that get help in their bill, 
but I did not require them to drop those provisions as a condition of 
just talking. But they wanted us to agree to big cuts in Medicare and 
Medicaid simply to talk.
    Last week, before these talks even began, I forwarded to Congress a 
detailed plan to balance the budget in 7 years without violating our 
values. That plan contained a large amount of deficit reduction over and 
above our original proposal. Today we made yet another good-faith effort 
to resolve our differences. I have sought reasonable discussions and 
honest compromise to balance the budget.
    Now the Republicans in Congress are not only refusing to talk; once 
again they're threatening to shut the Government down if I do not accept 
their deep cuts in health care, education, the environment, and their 
tax increases on working families. I would not give in to such a threat 
last month, and I will not give in today.
    I would remind you when we signed the last resolution, we said we 
would work in good faith to balance the budget in 7 years without 
harmful cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, education, the environment, 
agriculture, veterans benefits, and without raising taxes on working 
families.
    So let me say again--and all Americans must understand this--the 
decision by the Republican congressional majority to shut the Government 
down has nothing, nothing, to do with the discussion over the 7-year 
balanced budget plan. Congress has simply refused to pass this year's 
budgets and has forced the Government to operate on a series of 
temporary approvals so that they can use the threat of a shutdown to 
pressure me and the congressional Democrats into approving long-term 
reductions in Medicare, Medicaid, education, and the environment that we 
believe strongly are not good for America.
    It is wrong, it is simply wrong, for the congressional Republicans 
to insist that I make deep cuts in Medicare and Medicaid or they will 
not even talk, and furthermore, they will shut the Government down again 
just before Christmas.
    The Congress should simply pass straightforward legislation to keep 
the Government open. And then our negotiators should return to the table 
without threats, without ultimatums, to discuss how we can find common 
ground on balancing the budget. That is what we ought to do. That is 
what I am willing to do. And the idea that we should abandon the 
commitment we made and they agreed to just a few

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days ago in not having unacceptable cuts in Medicare and Medicaid as a 
condition of talking is wrong, is wrong, and we should not do that.
    Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 5:39 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House.