    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book I)]
    [January 14, 1998]
    [Pages 50-53]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Supporting Health Care Bill of Rights Legislation and an
    Exchange With Reporters
    January 14, 1998

        The President. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Vice
    President. Thank you, Mr.
    Gephardt, Senator Daschle. Mr. Bowles, thanks
    for hanging around. That will minimize our health care bills around
    here, I can assure you. [Laughter] I thank the Members of Congress for
    being here, and Deputy Secretary Higgins and Secretary Shalala.
    I'd like to especially thank two Members who are here, Congressman
    Dingell and Congressman Stark, for their leadership on this vitally important
    issue.
        If I could, just very briefly, I'd like to put this issue into the
    larger context of what we're doing as a nation at this moment in
    history. If you look at the history of America, I think it's fair to say
    that we have not only survived, but prospered and grown increasingly
    stronger over 200 years because we have found a way, at every moment of
    challenge and change, to make the adjustments necessary to preserve our
    enduring values in a new set of circumstances. And we have done it by
    strengthening our Union and by applying the elemental principles of the
    Constitution and the fundamental values of the country to a new time.
    That's essentially what we're being called upon to do today.
        I have said for 6 years now that, to me, all of our policies should
    be able to be explained

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    in terms of three words: opportunity for all, responsibility from all,
    and a community that includes all Americans. Now, we know that because
    of the changes we're undergoing in the way people work and live and
    relate to each other and the rest of the world, the way all our major
    systems work because of globalization and the revolution in information
    and technology, that we are having to systematically reform virtually
    every major institution of society.
        We've dramatically reformed the way the Government works. It's as
    small as it was--now--when President Kennedy was here. I would argue
    it's doing more with greater impact in a positive way. We're in the
    process of trying to create a system of lifetime learning in America,
    opening doors of college to all Americans and raising the standards of
    our schools and trying some different things that have not been
    previously done before.
        We're trying to help people balance work and family. That's what the
    Family and Medical Leave Act was all about, and raising the minimum wage
    and the earned-income tax credit and all those things. We're trying to
    make sure we can preserve the economy--preserve the environment while we
    grow the economy. And I would argue that we've demonstrated with a
    different approach you can do both things quite well. But all of this
    requires, anyway, a sense of purpose, to make sure that nobody gets left
    behind and that we really do change our institutions that protect the
    public interest as circumstances change.
        That's basically what all these stories are about. I mean, the story
    that Mr. Gephardt told from the movie ``As Good as It Gets,'' that I
    remember very well, too, is basically a story of a hard-working woman
    who's doing everything she's been asked to do by this country, gets up
    every day, goes to work, doesn't make a lot of money, obeys the law,
    does her best to take care of her kid, has done what she thought was
    right to provide health insurance to her child, and the system is not
    working for her. That means that we have not succeeded in reform. Yes,
    we've made a lot of progress in health care reform, but we've got a long
    way to go.
        I think we were right to propose to extend Medicare coverage to
    people who can buy into it who are over 62 and have lost their health
    insurance or people who are over 55 who have been downsized or promised
    health care that they didn't get from their companies. I think that's
    important.
        But this is really important. Why? Because so many people are in
    managed care and there are so many stories like the one that Senator
    Daschle told. And again, I would say to you, to me this can--what we
    should do can be answered in terms of those three little words I've
    tried to drill into the American consciousness for 3 years. You say to
    managed care people, okay, we have to reorganize the health care market,
    and you want the opportunity to sell your policies. Okay, you have that
    opportunity. You now have the responsibility to make sure when you sell
    a policy to somebody, they get quality health care. And we have to have
    an American community that's as healthy as possible. So it hurts us all
    if people are shelling out money for health insurance policies and they
    and their children can't get the right kind of health care. We are all
    diminished by the story that Tom Daschle just told. That's not the
    America we want to live in. That's not the America we want to represent.
    That's not the America we want to lift up to the rest of the world. Now,
    that's what this is all about.
        So I know there will be objections to this, but there are objections
    to every time you want to make a fundamental change. You know, there
    were objections to our efforts to get the budget under control. The
    deficit was supposed to be $357 billion this year when I took office.
    It's going to be less than $23 billion, and next year we'll offer a
    balanced budget--I mean, I'll offer one this year for next year, and
    we'll have it. There are always objections to anything you do. But the
    point is, we couldn't go on doing what we were doing because it was
    unacceptable. It violated our notions of responsibility, we were
    depriving too many people of opportunity, and we were clearly
    undermining the future strength of our American community.
        That's the circumstance here. We simply cannot go on giving--we all
    know people who run managed care plans are under pressure--we know that
    we finally succeeded, thanks in some measure to managed care, in taming
    the inflation beast in health care for the last few years and that
    people that run these plans are under great pressures now. We understand
    that there may not be easy answers to all these things. But the bottom
    line is, you cannot justify putting people who pay their insurance
    premiums and are working hard and are trying to take care

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    of themselves and their children at the kind of risk that so many
    Americans are at risk of today because they don't have the consumer
    protections that ought to be elemental in a society like this. And we
    have to pass this bill because of the dramatic reorganization of health
    care relationships in America. And we're either going to do it and
    strengthen our sense of community and strengthen our future, or we're
    not.
        Now, do we all need to listen to what the practical problems are,
    should we have a good debate? Of course, we should. But the fundamental
    truth is everybody knows that this is a public interest issue, that the
    people who are in these plans cannot protect their own interest unless
    they band together as citizens and unless their elected representatives
    create a framework in which they can get the health care they deserve
    and that they're paying for. That's the fundamental truth. You can argue
    about the details until the cows come home, but we have to make this
    change because of the changes in the American health care market.
        And I have been very heartened by the fact that many members of the
    Republican Party have expressed support for similar actions, and I'm
    hoping that we can get a big bipartisan vote for this bill. But if you
    look throughout the 20th century, the mission of our party, from the
    beginning of this century, has been to push the changes that need to be
    made to preserve the basic values of this country in new circumstances.
    That has been our mission. And we are here today, together, to fulfill
    that mission.
        I believe we'll succeed. I hope we'll have as much Republican
    support as possible. But every person here and every person that will
    hear about this, in their heart of hearts--I don't care what they do for
    a living or what their position might be, their immediate financial
    interest--everybody knows there have been dramatic changes in the health
    care delivery system in America that require a change in the framework
    of protection for ordinary citizens. And we are determined to give it to
    them.
        Thank you very much.

    Situation in Iraq

        Q. Mr. President----
        Q. Mr. President----
        The President. Have we got a shouting contest here?
        Q. It's a shouting contest. Do you believe Iraq when it said that it
    is not experimenting with biological weapons on human beings?
        The President. Well, I don't know what the facts are, but I think
    Mr. Butler's concerns are clearly what
    justifies the inspection regime. In other words, no American has to
    decide whether he or she believes Iraq or not, and no American can
    possibly know whether Mr. Butler is right or not, because all he said is
    he wants to take a look-see.
        There is a framework for inspections. I am very encouraged, by the
    way, that we got a good statement out of the United Nations Security
    Council today. It is clear that the international community knows that
    Saddam Hussein is doing the wrong thing. And
    we have got to remain steadfast in our determination to continue the
    inspections process in a nonpolitical way where the leader of Iraq does
    not get to determine who, when, and what is going on in that inspections
    process.
        I don't know the answer to your question, but I do know that we
    ought to be able to find out. That's what the U.N. resolution says.
        Q. Tariq Aziz says it's a lie.
        Q. Mr. President, you're clearly in the better position, though,
    than most to assess the credibility of those allegations. How seriously
    should people view the possibility that Iraq could experiment on human
    beings?
        The President. Well, if Mr. Butler says
    that he believes that he's got enough to go on, we should view it
    seriously enough to insist that the inspections go forward.
        We don't want to do them like they've done us, like they did the
    head of the inspection team, the American head of the inspection team,
    where they accused him of being a spy. And we didn't--the United States Government doesn't even
    know who is on what team from a day-to-day basis. They're all picked by
    the United Nations. So we don't want to convict them in advance. But if
    there is enough evidence for Mr. Butler to say that, then he ought to be
    able to go look.
        I would remind you that in 1995, they admitted having stocks of
    chemical and biological weapons potential that were very troubling. That
    they admitted. So that's another reason we've got to keep going and
    continue these inspections. This is a case where the United Nations
    actually had it right. They've got a good framework, and we just need
    everybody to stiffen

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    their resolve now so we can go back and do our jobs. And we have to be
    absolutely resolute in insisting that it be done.
        Thank you very much.
        Q. Senator Lott says that you won't get tobacco legislation because
    it's your fault. [Laughter]
        The President. I've missed you. [Laughter]

    Note: The President spoke at 3:15 p.m. in the Grand Foyer at the White
    House following a meeting with Democratic congressional leaders. In his
    remarks, he referred to Richard Butler, Executive Chairman, United
    Nations Special Commission; President Saddam Hussein of Iraq; and United
    Nations weapons inspection team leader William Scott Ritter, Jr.