    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book I)]
    [April 28, 1998]
    [Pages 632-635]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Receiving the Report of the Social Security and Medicare
    Trustees and an Exchange With Reporters
    April 28, 1998

        The President. Good afternoon. Five and a half years ago, America
    chose a new course of fiscal discipline and economic growth, balancing
    our budget and investing in our people. Holding fast to that course, our
    people have built the strongest economy in a generation.
        Success of this strategy cannot be cause for complacency, however.
    Instead, it offers us an opportunity and an obligation to act boldly to
    strengthen our Nation for the new century. Above all, we can harness our
    unsurpassed prosperity to uphold our duty to our parents, to our
    children, and to each other through Social Security and Medicare.
        I've just been briefed by the four Social Security and Medicare
    trustees for the administration: Secretaries Rubin, Shalala, Herman, and Social Security Commissioner Ken Apfel. The trustees have issued their annual report on
    the future financial health of these vital programs.
        The trustees have told us today that the Balanced Budget Act I
    signed into law last year has significantly improved the financial
    future for Medicare. The unprecedented reforms included in that law have
    cut the so-called 75-year deficit of Medicare in half, even as we have
    extended new preventive benefits, provided more health choices for
    Medicare beneficiaries, and instituted other reforms that extended the
    life of the Medicare Trust Fund for a decade.
        In fact, because of the bipartisan steps taken last year, the long-
    term prognosis for Medicare is stronger than it has been in over a
    decade. A bipartisan commission is now at work to craft further steps to
    strengthen the complex program into the 21st century. I look forward to
    their recommendations.
        The trustees also report that the strength of our economy has led to
    modest improvements in the outlook for Social Security. They project
    that economic growth today will extend the solvency of the Social
    Security Trust Fund by 3 more years, now to 2032.
        Today's report is encouraging. It shows we can honor our values and
    meet our most fundamental obligations, even as we balance the budget.
    However, these modest improvements only underscore the fundamental
    challenge we face. We must act to make certain that Social Security is
    as strong for our children as it has been for our parents.

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        Above all, let me say again, we must save every penny of any budget
    surplus, of any size, until we have strengthened Social Security. I've
    been heartened by the support this approach has received from lawmakers
    from both parties. But as estimates of the possible surplus have grown,
    the demand for new tax and spending initiatives that could upend our
    fiscal discipline have grown as well. Fiscal responsibility created our
    prosperity. Fiscal irresponsibility could undercut it. So I will resist
    any proposals that would squander the budget surplus, whether on new
    spending programs or new tax cuts, until Social Security is strengthened
    for the long-term. Once more I will insist that we save Social Security
    first.
        In the coming months we will work to build public awareness of the
    nature and scope of the challenge and to build public consensus for
    solutions. We must proceed with care, remembering that Social Security
    offers our people not only a guarantee of retirement security but also a
    life insurance and a disability insurance policy as well.
        Any changes we make now will be far easier than if we wait until the
    problems of Social Security are at hand. We will strengthen Social
    Security only if we reach across lines of party philosophy and
    generation, as we did when we drafted last year's balanced budget. And
    if we make this year a year of education on Social Security, I'm
    confident we will come together to take the necessary steps next year.
        Finally, let me say that as we continue to take the necessary steps
    to sustain the growth of our economy, we must look ahead to the
    challenges that remain. Today, once again, I have asked Congress to
    strengthen America's commitment to the International Monetary Fund and
    the U.N. In this new era, the health of our economy will be deeply
    affected by the health of the world economy, and the security of the
    United States is clearly affected by the security of the rest of the
    world. Failure to act on these matters will put at risk both global
    economic stability, which will affect our own, and the prosperity that
    has widened the opportunity that we have enjoyed in this country, the
    very prosperity which has made possible the progress on Social Security
    and Medicare that I announced today.
        We've got a real opportunity here, and a rare one, to act today to
    provide for our children's tomorrows. We should seize the moment, and
    I'm confident that we will.
        Thank you.

    Criticism From Speaker of the House

        Q. Mr. President, Newt Gingrich says your administration postures
    more and achieves less than any administration in American history. How
    do you respond?
        The President. Well, I think the achievements speak for themselves.
    And he said a lot of things last night that I don't think it would serve
    any useful purpose for me to respond to. There is enough negative
    political talk in Washington every single day without the President
    adding to it. I want to focus on the challenges facing our country, and
    that's what I intend to do.
        Q. Mr. President, he also said that you should tell your supporters
    to stop attacking the independent counsel, Ken Starr.
        The President. I don't have--I've already told you, Mr. Gingrich
    said a lot of things last night that I don't think deserve a response,
    and I think it would not serve the American public well for me to waste
    my time doing it. I think I need to be focused on the public issues that
    affect them, and that's what I intend to do.
        Q. Do you have any thought of firing Ken Starr? I mean, he made that suggestion.
        The President. Of hiring him?
        Q. Firing him, sir. [Laughter] He said, if you want, you could do it
    in the morning. I mean, have you ever thought of that?
        The President. First of all, that's not what the statute says.
        Q. I'm just quoting him, sir.
        The President. I know, but I don't want to respond to what he said.
        Q. [Inaudible]
        Q. Mr. President, are you threatening to veto any tax proposals
    beyond--say, tobacco?
        The President. Wait, wait, I'll take both, but--go ahead.

    Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien's Visit
    to Cuba

        Q. Are you concerned that the Canadian Prime Minister's visit to
    Cuba is undermining your efforts to isolate Castro?
        The President. Well, Canada and most other countries in the world do
    not agree with the extent of our embargo. But Canada has been a good,
    loyal ally in the cause of human rights. And I talked to the Prime
    Minister at some

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    length, both on the telephone and when I saw him, about the importance
    of advocating a human rights agenda, and I believe that he will do that.
    I think he will push for democracy and human rights in Cuba. And if he
    does that effectively and makes that case--the same case that President
    Cardoso of Brazil made when we
    were in Chile, when he said that it would be possible for Cuba to
    preserve its social contract in health care and education and still make
    the transition to democracy, and that's what they should be working on
    now--then it could serve our common goal. We can have different
    approaches to a common goal, and I think we do have a common goal.
        Go ahead, Helen [Helen Thomas, United Press International]. I'm
    sorry.

    Legislative Agenda and Social Security

        Q. I was asking, are you threatening a veto for any tax cuts--
    [inaudible]?
        The President. I tried to make it clear that I will do my best to
    stop any legislation that does not honor the principle of saving Social
    Security first.
        There are lots of good ideas out there that deserve to be evaluated
    in the coming months about what we should do to promote long-term
    security and stability for not only our parents but the younger
    generation, and secure Social Security, and they all ought to be
    debated. But when we move, we ought to move in the context of Social
    Security reform. Then after that's out of the way, we can see what the
    Treasury looks like and what else should be done.
        But I think we need to deal with Social Security first. And I still
    believe that a majority of Members of both Houses in Congress and both
    parties believe that. I hope they do, and I hope they'll stick with it.
        Q. Do you have any ideas of how to save it, yourself? I mean----
        The President. Well, sure I do. But as I said in the first forum--
    and I think I've been proved right--you see Senator Moynihan's got a proposal out there; Senator
    Kerrey's got a proposal out there; there
    are many proposals that have been offered by various Republican Members
    of the Congress. It is important for me to keep this process going and
    get these ideas out there. And if I were to actually take a position
    now, it would undermine debate and public education and immediately
    focus on the specific piece of legislation, which I think is the worst
    thing we can do.
        We know--every survey of American opinion shows that there's a far
    different level of understanding about this issue today even than there
    was a year ago. Nearly everybody knows that something substantial--
    really substantial--has to be done to reform the Social Security system
    to accommodate the baby boom generation and then, subsequent, the
    generations after that. And yet there is a dramatic difference of
    opinion across the age lines about what exactly should be done and what
    the facts are.
        So we have to--we really need to continue this effort we're making
    in this calendar year to educate the public and to get all the ideas out
    there and to encourage all the proposals to be viewed against the
    backdrop of how it fits into the overall scheme of things. And then I
    think what you'll see is--and what I certainly hope you'll see--is very
    rapid action early next year. I have a plan. We're going to end up in
    December with a conference here. We're going to meet with the leaders of
    both parties in Congress, and I'm going to do my best to hammer out a
    plan, which then will be a centerpiece of what I recommend to the
    American people and the Congress early next year.

    International Monetary Fund and United Nations Funding

        Q. Mr. President, on the Iraqi report at the U.N.----
        Q. May I ask on the U.N. and the IMF, sir? Despite what you said, it
    seems unlikely Congress will pass funding this year. Can you spell out
    in more detail what you think will happen if there's not funding? Do you
    have any other mechanism to give----
        The President. Well, let me just make it clear that Secretary
    Rubin has done a good job, I think, managing
    a difficult situation. But let's just look at Asia, for example. There's
    been a lot of talk about whether the IMF should be active in Asia, what
    it should be doing. The United States has had a good deal of success
    over the last 5 years by exercising economic leadership to open more
    markets to American products and services on terms that were fair not
    only to ourselves but to our trading partners. About a third of our
    economic growth has come as a result of that increase in trade. Just
    under a third of our exports are going to Asia. Now, I think, therefore,
    it is clear that it is in our

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    long-term interest for the IMF to be involved in trying to stabilize
    those Asian economies and help them to recover.
        In our personal interest--how can we expect to be the leader of the
    world and also to benefit personally, economically from a system that we
    won't contribute to and we won't pay our fair share on? I think
    virtually every American now believes--or at least a huge majority--when
    it comes to the United Nations, that in this interdependent world we
    should share responsibilities. I think people liked it when we shared
    responsibilities in Haiti, when we shared responsibilities in Bosnia.
        And we're saying to the world, ``Yes, we want to continue to lead
    the world toward peace and freedom. We understand this is an important
    part of our security and our prosperity, but we're having a little
    political spat in the United States, and we don't think we ought to pay
    our dues to the U.N. We think that different rules apply to us, and we
    have a right not to pay our way, so we can have this fight over an issue
    that is unrelated to our U.N. responsibilities or our IMF
    responsibilities.'' I don't think that is a responsible, mature message
    to send to the world by the leading country in the world.
        I think that if we want to lead, we ought to lead, and we ought to
    lead by example, by paying our way. That's what I believe, and I hope
    that I'll be able to prevail upon Congress to make some progress in that
    direction.
        Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 1:55 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to President Fernando Cardoso of
    Brazil.