[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
[April 15, 1997]
[Pages 442-443]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Exchange With Reporters in Queens, New York
April 15, 1997

Jackie Robinson Commemorative Coins

    The President. Mark [Mark Knoller, CBS Radio], did you give out any 
autographs today over at the school?
    Q. Thank you, sir, that was very kind of you.
    The President. It's a great school, isn't it? Very impressive.
    You all know this is the design for the Jackie Robinson coin. And 
Mrs. Robinson and her family consulted on it--do you want to just tell 
them?
    Rachel Robinson. Yes. The gold coin represents the total man, and we 
wanted that because we have been trying to impress people with Jack's 
life in its totality. And we think that's going to be a very rare piece. 
We're very excited about it. We love the design, and we love the 
concept, and we're very happy to have it. The silver coin will represent 
the baseball period and that, of course, he's had an illustrious career. 
So of course we're proud of that. But we wanted to commemorate both 
aspects of him--or total aspects of him. And we will sell out. 
[Laughter] We are already marketing and----
    The President. We're hawking the coin. Anybody in our press corps 
would like to buy one, we can make one available. [Laughter]
    Q. What denomination is it? How much money is it worth? What is the 
face value of it?
    The President. What's the sale price?
    Mrs. Robinson. The final price hasn't been determined. It's around 
$250 on the gold and about $35 on the silver. And the Jackie Robinson 
Foundation will receive surcharges from the coins, which we will invest 
in our permanent endowment fund.

1996 Campaign Financing

    Q. Mr. President, what do you think of all the attacks on your 
Attorney General? What do you think of all the attacks on your Attorney 
General for the decision she made yesterday on the independent counsel? 
Newt Gingrich said today he likened that position to something that John 
Mitchell would do.
    The President. That cries out for an answer, I guess. Let me say, I 
think that--I don't have anything to add to what I've already said. She 
had to make a legal decision on a legal question. And as I understand 
it, she consulted her career staff people there and made a decision. And 
that's all I know. So I don't have any other comment about it. It should 
not be a political matter; it should be a legal matter. And that's the 
way everybody ought to leave it.
    Q. Thank you.

Jackie Robinson 50th Anniversary Cap

    Mrs. Robinson. On behalf of the Jackie Robinson Foundation, we would 
like to present you with our anniversary cap, since we know that you 
wear caps----
    The President. I do.
    Mrs. Robinson. ----we hope to see this on your head. [Laughter]
    The President. I hope you see me running and playing golf.

Note: The President spoke at approximately 6:40 p.m. at Shea Stadium 
during a meeting with Rachel Robinson, widow of Jackie Robinson, and 
other family members. A tape was not available for verification of the 
content of this exchange.

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