    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book I)]
    [March 21, 1996]
    [Pages 484-485]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 484]]

    Remarks to the Independent Insurance Agents of America Legislative
    Conference and an Exchange With Reporters
    March 21, 1996

        The President. Thank you very much. First let me welcome the
    Independent Insurance Agents of America to the White House and thank
    President George Shaffer for the fine statement that he made.
        I want to say to the press here assembled that this is a big
    announcement out in America. Where Americans live, there are 300,000
    agents and their employees in independent insurance agencies all across
    this country, people who know and serve their friends and neighbors and
    are active in their community and are trusted for their judgment on many
    issues, not the least of which is health care. The fact that they have
    decided to come in here today and express their support for the
    Kassebaum-Kennedy bill is a remarkable act of statesmanship and good
    citizenship, and it will reverberate in every Main Street in the United
    States of America.
        It is a true bipartisan, almost a nonpartisan effort to make an
    honest endeavor to bring health care to millions of Americans who've
    been shut out of the market. These people know the folks who lose their
    jobs and can't get health insurance. These people see across a small
    desk in a modest room the people who can't get health insurance because
    someone in their family has a crippling condition or has once had a
    serious illness, even if they have overcome it. The Independent
    Insurance Agents are therefore, in some ways, about the most valuable
    partner America could have in shaping health care reform.
        I want to say again how grateful I am to President Shaffer and all
    the other members here; the incoming president, Ron Smith; my longtime
    friend from Arkansas George Frazier; and the people who work for the
    organization here in Washington. They've all done a wonderful job, and I
    want to thank them for this.
        As the Vice President said, this bill could help as many as 24
    million Americans. That's a lot of folks out there, working people,
    people that are working hard to make this country go, to keep our
    economy strong, and to keep our communities strong, and most important
    of all to raise their children and keep their families strong. In this
    new, more dynamic economy where we're creating more jobs than we have in
    a very long time but where people are also feeling the sting of change,
    it is more important than ever before to pass this legislation.
        From the beginning this proposal has had enormous bipartisan
    support. Besides the strong bipartisan support in the Senate, which
    includes 30 Democratic and 23 Republican cosponsors, this bill has been
    endorsed by groups representing doctors, consumer groups, businesses,
    manufacturing groups, and citizens. To have the support of the
    Independent Insurance Agents of America, and the fact that the bill has
    passed the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources unanimously,
    seems to me to virtually guarantee that before long, if Congress will
    proceed in good faith, this bill will be the law of the land, and
    millions and millions of American families will be better off and our
    whole country will be stronger because of it. I am very pleased that the
    Senate leadership has committed to move this bill expeditiously when the
    lawmakers return from recess. And I urge the Congress to pass it.
        Now, let me also say that I hope this will become a model for what
    we can do on other legislation. I am far from giving up on passing a
    balanced budget plan, on passing welfare reform, on passing strong
    antiterrorism legislation. If we can do this, we can do those other
    things as well. These are important national priorities, and we ought to
    be dealing with them this year. We shouldn't be deterred by the fact
    that it's an election year.
        Let me just make one other comment about an issue that has come up
    in the last couple of days that I think I need to make a statement
    about, and that is the proposal to repeal the assault weapons ban. That
    assault weapons ban was adopted after a very heated debate and a lot of
    controversy and a lot of pain in 1994. There were, clearly, Members of
    Congress who lost their seats because they voted to ban assault weapons
    and because they voted for the Brady bill.
        The ban covers 19 deadly kinds of assault weapons and their copies.
    It didn't take any guns away from anybody; it expressly protected

    [[Page 485]]

    hundreds of hunting and sporting weapons for the first time in Federal
    law. It was passed because America's law enforcement officials asked for
    it, every single law enforcement organization in the country.
        It was passed to try to help save the lives of law enforcement
    officials who have to go out on the streets and sometimes face gangs
    that are better armed than they are. It was passed to save the lives of
    innocent people who often get caught in crossfires. And I believe it
    would be deeply wrong for Congress to repeal this assault weapons ban
    and in essence to take the side of the Washington gun lobby over the
    interests of the law enforcement people of this country and the law-
    abiding citizens of this country. And I very much hope that it will not
    pass. It will endanger law enforcement officials if it does pass. It
    will cost more citizens their lives if it does pass. The only people
    that will be benefited are people who engage in illegal activity.
        I believe Congress should reject this extreme step. We ought to keep
    the assault weapons ban. And I would like to call upon the Republican
    leadership in the Congress to reconsider their decision to bring this to
    a vote. It doesn't need to be voted on in the House or the Senate, and
    if it is passed, I will veto it. They know I intend to do that. There is
    no point in distracting the American people or the Congress from the
    important work before us.
        Let me close by saying that this is what we ought to be doing more
    of, what we're doing here and what the Senate has done with the
    Kassebaum-Kennedy bill. Again, I say that it's--I rarely make
    announcements in this room or in this White House with people that are
    so reflective of Main Street America on an issue that would have such a
    profound impact on ordinary Americans as this Kassebaum-Kennedy bill.
        President Shaffer, and to all the rest of you, I thank you. You have
    done a good thing for your country today. Thank you very much.

    Legislative Agenda

        Q. Mr. President, how much do you think Presidential politics is
    going to enter into all these votes?
        The President. I hope not very much at all. It's a long time till
    the election; we don't need a work stoppage here. We need to just keep
    on working. We'll have several months for elections.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:38 a.m. in the Roosevelt Room at the
    White House. In his remarks, he referred to George Frazier, past
    president, Independent Insurance Agents of America.