    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book II)]
    [October 8, 1997]
    [Pages 1308-1310]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 1308]]

    Remarks on Welfare Reform and an Exchange With Reporters
    October 8, 1997

        The President. Good morning. I ran for President with a challenge to
    our country to replace the broken welfare system with one that expands
    opportunity, demands responsibility, and reflects our values of faith,
    work, and families.
        Since I took office, we've worked hard to make this vision a
    reality, first by working with 43 States to launch innovative
    experiments in welfare reform, and then by enacting a welfare reform law
    that challenged all our States and all people involved in the system to
    do far more to move from welfare to work.
        Today we received yet another piece of evidence that welfare reform
    is working far better than anyone had predicted it would. We learned
    that welfare rolls have continued their unprecedented decline, dropping
    by another 250,000 people in the most recent month alone, one of the
    largest monthly drops ever. Altogether, we have seen our welfare rolls
    shrink by more than 1.7 million people since I signed the welfare reform
    law and by more than 3.6 million people, or 26 percent, since I took
    office.
        This is a truly historic achievement for America. It shows that we
    can accomplish great things when our policies promote work and reflect
    our values. We're building an America where all families have the chance
    to center their lives around work, family, and responsibility.
        But we have more to do to ensure that all those who can work are
    able to work. The private sector here must do more to take the lead. The
    balanced budget law I signed last August not only repealed unfair cuts
    that targeted legal immigrants but also created a $3 billion welfare-to-
    work program and increased incentives for businesses to hire former
    welfare recipients.
        For our part, we've set a goal of hiring 10,000 people off the
    welfare rolls to fill existing jobs in the Federal Government. Later
    today the Vice President, who has led this initiative, will report on
    our progress in doing our part.
        We are working hard here to change lives to empower all Americans to
    seize the new opportunity of a new century. I am very encouraged by
    these welfare numbers. We now have the smallest percentage of our people
    on welfare in about three decades after the biggest drop in the welfare
    rolls in history. This proves that this system can work. But to get to
    the rest of the people, we have to have more help in creating these
    jobs, the businesses have to take advantage of the tax credits, and the
    municipal governments and others have to take advantage of the $3
    billion fund. But this is great news for America today, and I must say I
    am very, very pleased.
        Wolf [Wolf Blitzer, Cable News Network].

    1996 Campaign Finance Inquiry

        Q. Mr. President, Senator Thompson says that it's time for you to
    take personal responsibility for the campaign finance irregularities and
    relieve Janet Reno of her responsibility and simply ask for an
    independent counsel on your own. How do you respond to Senator Thompson
    on that?
        The President. Well, I think that, first of all, I have assumed
    responsibility. We set up a system that has given Senator Thompson
    100,000 pages of documents. And I was surprised that these films had
    been subpoenaed and not turned over. I think there is a logical reason
    for it. I'm frustrated whenever there has not been absolutely full
    compliance, but I think it's in everyone's interest that the films be
    turned over, and I would urge you to watch them if you haven't. I think
    they will reinforce the fact that no one has done anything wrong here.
    So I would just urge--there's been a lot of talk about these films;
    everybody ought to watch them and see what they show. That's what
    they're for.
        The other thing I would say is, again, I'd say that question is a
    legal question, notwithstanding the best efforts of some to turn it into
    a political question. And I don't think there is any lack of evidence
    that the Attorney General, when she thought it was warranted, has asked
    for special counsels.
        Q. Mr. President, what about Senator Thompson's charge that you and
    your administration are just trying to run out the clock since his
    hearing mandate expires at the end of the year and that you've delayed,
    stonewalled, and otherwise put barriers in the way of the investigation?
        The President. He knows better than that. I think he may be
    disappointed in the results of the hearings. He now has more evidence.
    If he wants to have more hearings, he's got

    [[Page 1309]]

    them. But let Senator Thompson comment on what's in those films. He has
    100,000 pages of documents. They have the evidence. If there is any
    more, we'll do our best to get it to them. They have the films. Let them
    discuss what's on the films.
        Q. Mr. President, do you worry about the credibility of your
    administration in view of these mistakes, and do you think that you have
    hurt the Vice President in all of this campaign fundraising frenzy
    that's resulted in this?
        The President. No. I don't worry about our credibility. You know,
    it's interesting that we have come to this point after all these
    hearings, and they're not talking about any wrongdoing by the President
    or the Vice President as uncovered in the hearings, they're talking
    about why they didn't have access to films which reinforce the fact that
    we didn't do anything wrong. What I hope--the only thing I ever hope in
    this is that we get through the smoke to the facts.
        Now, I have said--and it's interesting that we're discussing this--I
    have said all along and now for nearly 5 years that the campaigns have
    become too costly and require too much time to raise money and require
    too much money to be raised and that, inevitably, will raise some
    questions. And the only answer is to reform the campaign finance system.
        Yesterday there was yet one more attempt to kill any campaign
    finance reform. That is the real story there lurking in the weeds. I
    actually think it's probably pretty good strategy for those who are
    trying to kill campaign finance reform to try to talk about these films
    of events in the White House which were legal and which I want everybody
    to watch.
        I think it's in everybody's interest to get whatever evidence is
    relevant out here. But once we get all the relevant evidence out, we
    need to really look at what's going on here. And what's going on here is
    that under the smokescreen about all these films, which everybody can
    now freely watch, there was yet one more attempt yesterday, which I hope
    won't be successful, to deal the death blow to campaign finance reform.
    And they've done it every year in the Senate; they've done it every year
    with a filibuster. This year, they're prepared to use a filibuster and
    two or three other tactics because they raised more money, more big
    money, and more money from other sources than the Democrats. But both
    parties are going to have problems and questions raised, and raise too
    much money and spend too much time raising it, until we reform the
    campaign finance laws.
        The big story yesterday was, one more time, they're doing their very
    best to kill it, and they're hoping that they can stir up all this
    business, I think, about these films. Now, I'm not defending the fact
    the films should have been turned over. But I think you've been given, I
    think, a pretty good background on what happened. I think there is a
    logical explanation. I don't like it; I'm frustrated when there's not
    complete compliance. But when we gave 100,000 pages of documents to
    Senator Thompson's committee, I think that's pretty good evidence of our
    good faith. We have tried to do no inappropriate things to resist his
    need to discover evidence. We want him to know the facts.
        Yes, go ahead.

    Middle East Peace Process

        Q. Mr. President, yesterday there was the first meeting in 8 months
    between Prime Minister Netanyahu and Chairman Arafat. No statements were
    made. What have you heard about that meeting, and how do you see it in
    light of the latest events in the Middle East?
        The President. The most important thing is that it occurred, and it
    occurred not a moment too soon. We've had some difficult developments in
    the Middle East. I am pleased that Ambassador Ross was able to put it
    together. As I said with President Weizman yesterday, it may be that the
    developments of the last few days have been so troubling and so
    difficult that it has gotten the attention of both sides and clarified
    the necessity for them to get back to talking with each other and to get
    this peace process back on track. I hope--I hope that is what happened.
    That is certainly what I have tried to do, certainly what Ambassador
    Ross is trying to do there. So the fact that they met is encouraging. I
    think it would be better for me at this moment to let them characterize
    the nature and results of the discussions they had.
        Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 9:10 a.m. on the South Lawn at the White
    House, prior to his departure for Newark, NJ. In his remarks, he
    referred to Ambassador Dennis B. Ross, Special

    [[Page 1310]]

    Middle East Coordinator; President Ezer Weizman and Prime Minister
    Binyamin Netanyahu of Israel; and Chairman Yasser Arafat of the
    Palestinian Authority.