    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book I)]
    [January 3, 1996]
    [Pages 2-3]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on the Impact of the Budget Impasse and an Exchange With
    Reporters
    January 3, 1996

        The President. Good afternoon. I have just finished meeting with my
    Cabinet to receive an update on the consequences of the Government
    shutdown that Congress has imposed on the American people and on the
    hardworking public employees who are now working without pay and the
    many who want to work but are not permitted to return to work. Each day
    this shutdown continues, the consequences grow worse.
        Before I get into some of the specific things that came out of the
    Cabinet meeting, let me remind the American people that this shutdown is
    not caused by the fact that the congressional leaders and I have not yet
    reached agreement on a balanced budget plan or on all the appropriations
    for this year. In fact, it is part of an explicit strategy by
    Republicans to shut the Government down to get their way on budget and
    tax issues. This has never been done before. It is not a natural
    disaster. It is an unnatural disaster born of a cynical political
    strategy.
        It is long past time to reopen the Government. I am pleased that
    after 2 weeks of this shutdown, the Senate Republicans have voted to
    reopen the Government, putting the interest of our country ahead of
    politics. Our budget talks are proceeding seriously and in good faith. I
    have been impressed by the efforts made on all sides, including those by
    Senator Dole and by Speaker Gingrich and Leader Armey and Senator
    Daschle and Mr. Gephardt. We are working together in good faith. This
    shutdown is not speeding our talks. It is only casting a shadow over
    them.
        Let me report to you some of the specific examples of harm already
    caused by the shutdown. This week, the Meals on Wheels program for
    senior citizens will run out of money. Half the Head Start programs in
    the country will run out of money within the month. The Centers for
    Disease Control tracking system cannot accurately keep up with the flu
    outbreak in the Midwest. On an average day, 260 small businesses are
    being denied $40 million in capital, loans that would create new jobs
    for Americans. We are not able to enforce our trade laws to protect our
    workers and our products. We're not able to weatherize homes in this
    winter to protect the elderly from the cold.
        Yesterday, the Environmental Protection Agency shut down toxic waste
    cleanups at 32 sites across America. Every day, 240 calls to the
    Drinking Water Contamination Hotline now go unanswered. The EPA's
    efforts to prevent cryptosporidium from contaminating city water
    supplies, something that proved a deadly threat in the city of
    Milwaukee, have been badly delayed. EPA enforcement efforts have
    completely stopped.
        Medicare contractors who serve our elderly are not being paid. Many
    of them now are dip-

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    ping into their own pockets to keep health care coming, but they won't
    be able to do it for long. Ten States have run out of the funding they
    use to run our unemployment insurance program, and 15 more will soon do
    so.
        Ninety-five percent of all workplace safety activities have been
    shut down. All sweatshop enforcement has been stopped. And
    investigations into 3,500 potential cases of pension fraud have ground
    to a halt. Two weeks ago when a mill burned down in Massachusetts,
    workers received immediate assistance for child care, transportation,
    and job training. Last week when 2,000 workers lost their jobs from a
    Rhode Island factory, the Labor Department could not respond at all.
        Medicaid funding that goes to pay for nursing home care, pregnant
    women, the disabled, and poor children will be exhausted by the end of
    this month. Every day we are unable to process 2,500 applications for
    mortgage insurance; that means now a backlog of 20,000 people who are
    losing their home loans, many of them losing their chance to buy their
    new homes. Funds to pay for drugs, food, and supplies at veterans
    hospitals run out today, and 170,000 veterans did not receive their
    December educational benefits.
        At FEMA, an agency that has been universally praised by Republicans
    and Democrats alike, the emergency food and shelter program for people
    facing disasters has run out of funds. And according to Director James
    Lee Witt, some State emergency management agencies have actually had to
    shut their operations. We can only hope that they will not suffer a
    disaster while this occurs.
        The Secretary of State reports that this shutdown is adversely
    affecting the national security of the country. We are running the risk
    of not being able to maintain our diplomacy abroad. And this shutdown,
    frankly, is injuring the reputation of the United States around the
    world. People wonder what is going on.
        The shutdown has been especially devastating to hundreds of
    thousands of dedicated public servants who work for the American people
    through the Federal Government. Some of them have actually had their
    phones cut off or can no longer pay for child care because they are
    working without pay or because they are not permitted to work. Some of
    those are so dedicated to their mission that they've actually tried to
    go to work and had to be run off.
        It's time to stop holding the Federal workers hostage in this
    process. As the Secretary of State says, this is not how a great country
    behaves. And as I have said for months and months and every day since
    this shutdown occurred, this is not how to balance the budget; it is not
    influencing our talks; we ought to reopen the Government.
        Again, let me say I'm convinced both sides want to balance the
    budget. We have different philosophies about how to do so. Based on the
    hours and hours we've spent working together, I'm convinced we can do
    it. But it is wrong, it is deeply wrong to shut the Government down
    while we negotiate under the illusion that somehow that will affect the
    decisions that I would make on specific issues. As I said, this is only
    casting a shadow over our talks. I will continue to do everything I can
    in good faith to reach an agreement. But it is wrong to shut the
    Government down.
        Again, let me compliment the Senate on abandoning that process and
    voting to open the Government while we continue to work, and ask the
    House to follow suit.
        Thank you very much.
        Q. Mr. President, House leaders----
        Q. What about your role in this, Mr. President?
        Q. Is there anything you can do to bring the workers, some workers
    back?
        The President. Well, I have worked with our people, obviously, at
    OMB to explore every conceivable option to bring them back. And I will
    continue to do that. I have done everything that I have been told I can
    legally do, and we are exploring some other options. As other options
    come up, I will do whatever I can. I think this is very wrong.
        But they also deserve to be paid. And the American people need to
    know that those who are not working are not out there idle of their own
    choice. They want to be here. They want to be working, and we ought to
    give them a chance to do it.

    Note: The President spoke at 3:19 p.m. in the Briefing Room at the White
    House.