    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book II)]
    [July 13, 1996]
    [Pages 1116-1117]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's Radio Address
    July 13, 1996

        Good morning. As we prepare to meet the demands of the 21st century,
    I believe our goal must be to offer opportunity to all Americans, to
    demand responsibility from all Americans, and to come together as a
    community to strengthen our shared values and to build a better future
    together. That is how we will meet our challenges.
        This past week, those values were at work on Capitol Hill. Democrats
    and Republicans produced a bipartisan breakthrough for those Americans
    working hard to make the most of their own lives. On Tuesday, the Senate
    voted to pass a 90-cent increase in the minimum wage.
        It's about time. You can't raise a family on $4.25 an hour, and if
    we don't raise it, the minimum wage will fall to a 40-year low this year
    in terms of what it will buy. So I congratulate the Republican Members
    of Congress who joined with the Democrats to honor work and family,
    opportunity and responsibility, by voting to give minimum wage workers a
    raise. They should send me the final legislation quickly, without delay.
    That will be a victory for both parties and, more important, for all
    working Americans.
        The passage of the minimum wage shows what can happen when we're
    united, when we reach across party lines, when we work together. This
    can signify a new spirit of cooperation coming from Capitol Hill. If we
    continue this spirit, we can meet our other challenges as well.
        No challenge is more important than replacing our broken welfare
    system. Throughout my Presidency I've been determined to enact reform
    that requires welfare recipients to work, provides child care, imposes
    time limits, strengthens child support enforcement by cracking down on
    deadbeat parents, requires teen mothers to stay in school as a condition
    of welfare. When necessary, I've acted without Congress. Our
    administration has approved 67 separate welfare reform experiments in 40
    States to move people from welfare to work. Fully three-quarters of all
    welfare recipients are living under new rules right now. The New York
    Times has called it a quiet revolution in welfare. Today, 1.3 million
    fewer people are on welfare than the day I took office, and child
    support collections are up 40 percent.
        For 3\1/2\ years I've worked with Congress to craft legislation that
    replaces welfare with work. For months, the Republicans insisted that
    welfare reform be attached to a plan I strongly feel is misguided, to
    repeal Medicaid's guarantee of quality health care for elderly
    Americans, poor children, pregnant women, and people with disabilities.
    I'm determined to make welfare reform the law of the land, but I've also
    made it clear that I will not allow Medicaid to be destroyed, and I
    don't care what bill it's attached to.
        This week the Republican leaders in Congress announced that they are
    ready to work with me to pass a straightforward welfare reform bill that
    I can sign into law, instead of sending me legislation they know I'll
    veto. This can be a real breakthrough, a genuine turning point. We

    [[Page 1117]]

    are very close to replacing a broken welfare system with one that
    requires work, offers opportunity, and demands responsibility. If we
    work hard and work together we should now be able to pass real welfare
    reform and do it very soon.
        Already bipartisan legislation has been proposed in the Senate by
    Democrat John Breaux and Republican John Chafee and in the House by
    Republican Mike Castle and Democrat John Tanner. These are good, strong
    bills. They would end welfare as we know it. They should be the basis
    for quick agreement between the parties. And I look forward to having a
    bipartisan welfare reform bill within the next month.
        We should also extend this same spirit to our other pressing
    challenges as well. We should pass the Kassebaum-Kennedy health
    insurance reform bill which could benefit 25 million Americans by saying
    that you don't lose your health insurance when you change jobs or just
    because someone in your family has been sick. In its strongest form,
    this bill passed the Senate unanimously. But for months it slowed to a
    crawl as Republicans insisted on an untested and unlimited proposal for
    so-called medical savings accounts that have nothing to do with the
    fundamental purposes of Kennedy-Kassebaum reforms. So I urge them to
    reject the political games, and let's come to a quick agreement.
        We should also reform our illegal immigration laws. I support
    legislation that builds on our efforts to restore the rule of law to our
    borders, ensures that American jobs are reserved for legal workers, and
    boosts deportation of criminal aliens. But some insist on kicking the
    children of illegal immigrants out of school. Every major law
    enforcement organization says this could lead to more crime. So let's
    put aside this punitive measure and reform our illegal immigration laws
    now.
        It's no secret that this is a political year. And there will be
    plenty of time to discuss our differences in the months to come. But our
    Nation faces challenges that cannot wait until November: real welfare
    reform, a minimum wage increase, access to health insurance, stronger
    immigration laws. We can achieve all these things now if we work
    together.
        I look forward to working with Majority Leader Lott, Speaker
    Gingrich, and the Democratic leaders of Congress to do the people's
    business in the coming weeks. If we're willing to put our differences
    aside for the sake of the American people, we can make this a time of
    genuine achievement for our Nation. It would not only be good for both
    parties, it would be very good for America.
        Thanks for listening.

    Note: The address was recorded at 6:52 p.m. on July 12 in the Roosevelt
    Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on July 13.