[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book I)]
[April 25, 1996]
[Pages 633-635]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks on the Legislative Agenda and an Exchange With Reporters
April 25, 1996

    The President. This is ``Take Your Daughter To Work'' Day. 
[Laughter]
    Q. How about you?
    The President. This is ``Take Your Parents To Work'' Day. [Laughter] 
They all brought you here. I'm glad you're here. I think it's a 
wonderful thing. I think it's terrific, and I'm glad to see you all.
    Good afternoon. The budget agreement which is now being voted on by 
Congress is good for the American people. It cuts billions of dollars in 
spending, cuts the deficit, keeps us on the path to balancing the 
budget. At the same time, the budget reflects our values by preserving 
our commitments to education, to the preservation of the environment, 
and to health care.
    The budget continues to put 100,000 police on the street. It will 
enable us to enforce antipollution laws. It gives me authority to block 
provisions that would put at risk our natural resources, our parks, and 
our environment. It protects our efforts in education to shrink class 
size, to improve teaching standards, to keep our children safe, and it 
funds AmeriCorps, the national service program.
    Today we are showing that we can work together to cut the budget and 
to honor our values. But our work is not done. Now we should summon this 
same bipartisan spirit and we should work together to finish the job of 
balancing the Federal budget in 7 years.
    The most important thing to happen today is simply this: We have 
shown that we can work together and that when we do we can get results 
that are good for the American people today and for our future. But when 
the leadership of Congress insists on going it alone, one party alone, 
we get gridlock, stalemate, vetoes, Government shutdowns.
    Today was a real victory for progress over partisanship. Both the 
Republicans and the Democrats in Congress deserve credit. Let's keep it 
going. The message to the Republicans in Congress today from me is 
simple. It is a line first used in a very different context by President 
Kennedy: Let us never fear to negotiate.
    Since I took office we've cut the budget deficit in half and more 
than half. Earlier this year I proposed to Congress a plan that the 
Congres-


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sional Budget Office has certified as balancing the budget in 7 years. 
And our plans have in common more than enough savings to balance that 
budget and to provide a modest tax cut. I truly believe we can convene a 
true mainstream coalition to continue this progress toward a balanced 
budget and that we can reach agreement pretty quickly because there are 
so many savings common to both plans.
    I want to meet with Members of Congress. I'll do it in a large group 
or a small one, or a one-on-one, but I want to finish the job. We have 
an opportunity; we can't let it slip from our grasp. We have seen now 
with this year's budget and the antiterrorism bill that we can do things 
together.
    We have other important work to finish as well. Congress should pass 
an increase in the minimum wage. I'm disappointed that the leaders of 
Congress have refused to schedule a vote on the minimum wage so far. As 
I have said so many times, you simply can't raise a family on $4.25 an 
hour, but millions of Americans are trying to do that. They don't want 
to be on welfare. They don't want to be dependent. They do want to be 
rewarded for their work, and they want to be able to raise their 
children in dignity. The increase in the minimum wage I have proposed 
will help them to do that.
    And Congress should also move forward to send me the Kassebaum-
Kennedy bill with no special interest amendments. Again, that bill, as 
proposed by Senator Kassebaum and Senator Kennedy, passed the United 
States Senate 100 to zero. That is a clear, unambiguous statement that 
it is beyond politics to say to the working people of America, ``You 
ought not to lose your health insurance when you change jobs, and you 
ought to be able to get it even if somebody in your family has been 
sick.''
    Let's don't litter this up with special interest amendments. Let's 
don't let this opportunity pass. Let's don't walk away from the plain, 
clear, unambiguous needs of millions of American families. Let's pass 
this bill unadorned, simple, good, and strong.
    Again I say that this agreement shows what we can do when we work 
together. Yesterday with the signing of the antiterrorism legislation, 
we showed what we can do when we work together. I look forward to 
joining with the Republican and the Democratic leaders in Congress to 
give the American people the balanced budget they deserve. I hope they 
will join with me. We show today that that's the way to get things done 
in the American system.
    Thank you.

Budget Agreement

    Q. Why do you think that happened? Why do you think there was a 
compromise or turning point after all these months?
    The President. I'm not sure. We would have happily accepted this 
budget last year. I think that the forces within the majority party in 
Congress who wanted to show some positive results prevailed. I think the 
spirit of principled compromise prevailed. I have shown a willingness to 
work with them and to compromise with them. And I have also shown that I 
am very anxious to reduce this deficit.
    Even though we still have some problems with our budget, I'd like to 
point out that it is the lowest deficit of any advanced economy in the 
world as a percentage of our income. This is going to--the more we keep 
driving the deficit down, the more we're going to get interest rates 
down, the more we're going to keep growth going, the sooner we'll be 
able to see American incomes going up. So I want to do this with them. I 
don't know what happened, but whatever it was, it was a very positive 
and good thing.
    I want to thank Mr. Panetta for the work that he did on this in 
negotiating on our behalf very strongly but also in a conciliatory 
spirit. And I want to thank the leaders in Congress who did the same. We 
can get this done in lots of other areas if we just keep working at it.

Bipartisan Cooperation

    Q. Are you worried that Republicans won't go along with a 7-year 
balanced budget because they're worried about making you look good 
before the election?
    The President. Well, I don't know. You see, I believe there's enough 
credit to go around when you do the right thing. Yesterday, when I asked 
the Members of Congress to stand out there, most of them Republicans who 
came, although we had a fair number of our Democrats who were there as 
well----
    Q. Senator Dole was way in the back, though.
    The President. Well, that was his choice. I think--I saw him--I saw 
him, in a generous gesture, make sure that the committee chairs,

[[Page 635]]

Senator Hatch and Mr. Hyde, got to go up front. He was just being 
generous to them.
    But I believe that when we do things together, the American people 
are not fooled. They know that I cannot claim full credit for a bill 
that goes through a Congress that is majority Republican, and they are 
more than happy to give credit to people who actually work together to 
build things.
    So I believe that--my argument is this: If we have an agreement that 
is within our grasp, that we know is good for the country, then the 
credit will take care of itself, and the credit will probably flow in 
appropriate proportions to everybody involved in it. Then there are 
still all these things that there is disagreement on, that you can have 
a legitimate, exciting, interesting campaign about, thrown into the 
future.
    My view is that, you know, we got into this budget mess because of 
profligate decisions that no one who was here in Washington during the 
time in either party is probably completely blameless from, between 1981 
and 1993. And I see passing this balanced budget amendment as a way of 
taking care of a past problem that we need to get rid of. Then we can 
debate this march into the future, which path are we going to take for 
the future.
    Everybody knows in the next 4 years we are walking right into the 
21st century. The answer is, which road are we going to take. That 
debate will still be out there. The American people can have that 
debate, make their judgments without being frustrated at the political 
system in Washington for not producing results today.
    So I think we can get these things done, and I hope we will.

Whitewater

    Q. The Justice Department is asking Judge Howard to keep your 
videotaped testimony off TV and out of political ads. Two questions: 
One, are you afraid of being embarrassed by the tape? And secondly, do 
you agree with a growing number of people who think that Kenneth Starr 
should step down?
    The President. Well, I'll just answer the question about my 
testimony, and I'll--I don't think I should answer the other question at 
this time. The facts are what they are, and they are plain for all to 
see now on the second question you asked me.
    On the first question, what I want to do is to--I was asked to 
testify. If I have any information that is helpful, I want to be able to 
give it. I think that the American people and the press should have 
access to my testimony but that it shouldn't be abused in any way.
    And so that is the position that I have taken. And I take it that is 
the position the Justice Department has taken, and they will have more 
to say about that as we go along.

Note: The President spoke at 4 p.m. in the Briefing Room at the White 
House. During the exchange, a reporter referred to U.S. District Judge 
George Howard, Jr.