    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book II)]
    [September 29, 1997]
    [Pages 1267-1269]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on the Income and Poverty Report and an Exchange With Reporters
    September 29, 1997

        The President. I don't know if I can go on. [Laughter]
        Good morning. This Friday will mark the sixth anniversary of the day
    I announced my intention to run for President of the United States. On
    that day, I challenged America to embrace an urgent mission for the 21st
    century, to preserve the American dream, restore the hopes of the
    forgotten middle class, and reclaim the future for our children.
        As President, I have worked hard to set America on that track, to
    fulfill that mission, putting in place a bold strategy to shrink the
    deficit, invest in our people, and expand the sales of America's
    products and services abroad. I am pleased to announce today that we
    have more evidence that our economic strategy is succeeding.
        This morning the Census Bureau released its annual Survey of Income
    and Poverty in America. It shows that last year the typical family
    benefited from a significant increase in income for the third year in a
    row. Since we launched our economic plan in 1993, the typical family's
    annual income has risen by nearly $2,200 a year. That's an extra $2,200
    that hard-working families can put toward their children's education, a
    downpayment on a home, or even a much needed vacation. After years and
    years of stagnant family incomes, today's report proves that America's
    middle class, no longer forgotten, is rising fast.
        It should be noted that these figures do not reflect several other
    dividends of prosperity we have delivered for the American people. They
    don't reflect the $500-per-child tax credit, the $1,500 HOPE
    scholarship, the education IRA's, the real benefits of lower interest
    rates and mortgage costs worth $1,000 a year or more to millions of
    homeowners.
        And rising incomes are also lifting families out of poverty. The
    report shows that while there is clearly much more to be done, the
    African-American poverty rate has fallen to its lowest level ever. The
    income of the typical Hispanic household grew more last year than in any
    single year on record. The child poverty rate has dropped, in the past 3
    years, more than in any 3-year period since the 1960's. And the earned-
    income tax credit, which we have dramatically expanded and then fought
    hard to preserve, has raised more than 4 million people out of poverty
    last year.
        The report also shows we have more to do to extend opportunity to
    all Americans. Starting in the 1970's, income inequality rose sharply.
    Now it has stabilized. Since 1993, every income group has seen its
    income rise, with those in the lowest 20 percent showing the fastest
    gains, thanks in part to the minimum wage, to more jobs, and to the
    earned-income tax credit, which is not measured in the statistics. But
    we still have to do more to grow together in the 21st century.
        Let me say that this report also underscores another important
    challenge, one that I have been concerned about for a long time. Last
    year there were 800,000 more children without health insurance than the
    year before. However, thank goodness, many of these children will now be
    eligible for coverage under the balanced budget's historic $24 billion
    child health initiative, which takes effect this week.
        Two years ago we were fighting hard to save Medicaid's guarantee to
    4 million children. Now we're looking forward to extending child health
    insurance to another 5 million children. We have

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    to work together to encourage the States to take full advantage of this
    opportunity and to make sure that the funds are spent actually insuring
    children who do not have health insurance today.
        To ensure that all our people benefit from the growing economy, we
    also have to make sure that our people have access to the world's best
    education, with high standards in the basics. And we have to address the
    pressing issue of child care. That is another thing that would help to
    alleviate pressures on middle and lower income working families'
    households. The first-ever White House Conference on Child Care will be
    held later this fall. It will focus on how we can help parents to
    succeed at home and work through quality, affordable child care.
        In all these ways we can continue to fulfill what I started out to
    do 6 years ago, preserving the American dream, restoring the middle
    class, reclaiming the future for our children. But this is good news.
    And now, Janet Yellen and Gene Sperling will be able to answer questions
    about the details of the proposals.
        Thank you.

    Campaign Finance Reform

        Q. What do you think is the chance of getting campaign finance
    reform through this session this year?
        The President. Well, I hope it's good. It's certainly better than it
    was a month ago. Obviously, there is still strong opposition to it in
    the leadership of the Republican Party, and they're in the majority in
    Congress. But I've seen some encouraging signs in the Senate, and
    frankly, I've seen some encouraging signs in the House with some
    Republican Members willing to speak up and say that we ought to do
    something. So I'm quite hopeful that we will get something.
        I know this--if we just--the way these things work, if we can
    succeed in keeping the public spotlight on the debate, then the pressure
    will build to come out with something positive. And I have done what I
    could, and I'm very proud of our caucus in the Senate for doing what it
    has done. The Democrats have clearly come out unanimously for some--for
    campaign finance reform. And we've just got to keep the public spotlight
    on this and keep going until we get legislation.

    Welfare Reform

        Q. Mr. President, many States, California, Texas, Florida,
    acknowledge that they're going to fail the first real test of the new
    welfare law, the requirement that they have 75 percent of two-parent
    welfare families in jobs and job training by next week. Will HHS impose
    the fines that it is allowed to do on the States? And what--does it
    shake your confidence, this failure--shake your confidence in the new
    welfare law?
        The President. No, because, first of all--let me answer the second
    question first. It doesn't shake my confidence in the law, because we
    have succeeded, I think, beyond anybody's expectations, partly from the
    growing economy and partly from welfare reform efforts, in reducing the
    welfare rolls more than they have ever been reduced in a comparable time
    period, ever.
        We've had 20 years of immigration in our country at high levels,
    many of the immigrants coming here come without many resources, and they
    want to work their way into the American dream. So we've had a lot of
    people coming in here, and yet we've been successful in having the
    smallest percentage of our people on welfare since 1970.
        So my answer to you is, I want to keep high standards, and I want
    them enforced, because we block-granted the money to the States they
    asked for. After all, they supported the law. They said we could keep
    the Federal guarantee for health care and food stamps, nutrition, which
    I insisted on, but they pointed out that they already had the freedom to
    set different welfare reimbursement levels every month, so they wanted
    control of that pot of money so they would have more flexibility to move
    people from welfare to work. And in return, they agreed to these
    targets.
        So I think we just need to keep pushing ahead. In terms of what
    should be done, obviously I want to consult with our people at HHS and
    others to do what is best. But I think most States really are working
    hard and in good faith to try to do this. I think that they know that's
    what the voters want and, most importantly, that's what the people on
    welfare want. So we don't want to just forget about our high standards,
    especially when we've proven we can hire a lot more people than we ever
    thought we could.

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    Campaign Finance Reform

        Q. You mentioned Republicans in the House. This weekend Speaker
    Gingrich was unusually caustic, accusing your staff and your lawyers of
    blocking pursuit of the truth in law. Have you looked back at your
    records and the phone calls that you have made and come to any new
    conclusion about your own involvement?
        The President. First of all, I think--no, I have not come to any new
    conclusion. But I think the remarks this weekend were an attempt to
    divert the public attention from the fact that the leadership of the
    Republican Party in the House opposes campaign finance reform, and has
    consistently, and continues to do so.
        But I am encouraged that along with our Democrats who are supporting
    it, there are an increasingly vocal band of brave Republicans willing to
    stick up and be for it. And again, this is our chance to pass this bill,
    and I think we'd all be making a mistake to be diverted. I don't intend
    to be.
        Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:03 a.m. in the Briefing Room at the
    White House.