[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book II)]
[October 11, 1998]
[Pages 1778-1780]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks During Education Budget Negotiations and an Exchange With 
Reporters
October 11, 1998

    The President. In only 447 days, the 21st century begins, a century 
in which the education of our Nation's children will matter more than 
ever before. Yet, far too many of our schools are not ready for that new 
century. We've all seen the news stories about teachers teaching classes 
in subjects they didn't major in in college, about schools so 
overcrowded they have trailers out back to handle the overflow, about 
classrooms with 35 or more students all vying for a minute of attention 
from the teachers, about schools so old they can't be connected to the 
Internet.
    This can be changed, but we cannot afford to wait. And we are 
waiting for the Republican majority in Congress to bring this year's 
education investment bill to the floor. The delay must end. On 
education, Congress must choose progress over partisanship. We need a 
strong bipartisan bill.
    Just a few days ago, I had the honor of signing into law such a bill 
to open the doors wider to higher education. And in just the last 2 
days, Republicans and Democrats have worked together to pass strong 
charter school and vocational education measures. And I'd like to thank 
Senator Jeffords, Senator Kennedy, Senator Coats, Congressmen Goodling 
and Clay and Roemer for that. Now it's time once again for Congress to 
cross party lines and send me an education budget that I can sign that 
is worthy of our children and their future.
    This bill must make the right investments in our children's future. 
It must include a strong downpayment on my request for 100,000 teachers 
for smaller classes in the early grades. It

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must invest in academically enriched after-school and summer school 
programs to keep kids in school and out of trouble. It must invest in 
modernized schools for our children; we cannot raise students up in 
buildings that are falling down. Any budget that does not do anything to 
help modernize our schools to give our children safe and clean places to 
learn does not fully prepare them for the 21st century.
    Tomorrow night the funding to keep the Government open expires 
again. Senator Daschle, Congressman Gephardt, their Democratic 
colleagues, and I will work with the Republican majority to do the right 
thing for our country. We must pass a budget that is fiscally 
responsible, that honors our values, that invests in the education of 
our children. That is the most important thing we can do in this long-
running Congress.
    Q. Mr. President, the Republican leaders were saying this morning 
that if you were serious about reaching this budget deal, that you would 
stay in Washington instead of going on to fundraisers tomorrow and the 
following day.
    The President. Well, let me first of all say that in the State of 
the Union in January, I sent a program to Congress to save the surplus 
until Social Security is fixed, to invest in education as I just 
described, to pass a Patients' Bill of Rights, to keep our economy going 
amidst all this economic turmoil in the world. In February I sent them a 
balanced budget with the same education program in it.
    This is the first Congress in 24 years that did not pass a budget--
in 24 years. Now they have turned their attention to this, and we are 
making progress. And I worked on it yesterday; I am prepared to do 
whatever it takes to work with them, now that they have turned their 
attention to this, to get the job done. But in the end, it is their 
votes. We are aggressively working with them to resolve this, but they 
have to decide that they will agree with us after this whole year that 
it is a priority, that we are going to do it, and that we're going to do 
it now.

Continuing Resolution Legislation

    Q. Mr. President, will you sign another continuing resolution if 
Congress passes one? Dick Armey said today that he felt one was needed.
    The President. You mean for a couple days?
    Q. That's right.
    The President. Well, sure, we're not going to shut the Government 
down if we're working on this, of course. No one is interested in doing 
that. I just want to get this job done.
    Representative Richard A. Gephardt. Mr. President, can I add an 
answer? This Congress has been here probably less than most Congresses, 
but what I'm worried about is not when they're not here. What I'm 
worried about is when they are here. They've killed campaign reform; 
they've killed the tobacco bill; they've killed all the education 
legislation the President has sent; they killed Patients' Bill of 
Rights; they tried to spend the surplus on a tax cut, rather than saving 
it for Social Security.
    They shouldn't be worried about whether the President is here or 
not. The President is here; the President sent the bills. I'm worried 
about what they do when they are here. They kill everything that the 
American people want. And that's what they've got to get to work on, to 
do the things people want done.

1998 Congressional Elections

    Q. Mr. President, you characterize this as a do-nothing Congress. Do 
you think, with the results of the upcoming election, will it be a 
referendum on your Presidency? You're going to run against this 
Congress. Do you think the election results will be a referendum on your 
Presidency?
    The President. Well, first of all, I'm not running. But what I do 
intend to do is to bring the issues to the American people. The American 
people will have to decide if they believe that Social Security should 
be saved before this surplus is spent for other things. The American 
people will have to decide whether they really want a Patients' Bill of 
Rights that guarantees people in HMO's the right to see a specialist or 
go to the nearest emergency room or have their medical records private 
or finish a treatment for chemotherapy or pregnancy before they can be 
forced to change doctors.
    These are the kinds of decisions the American people have to make 
about what they want for their future. What I'd like to see is this 
election to be about the American people and their future, not about 
Washington, DC--just as I think this last year could have been and 
should have been about the people in America and not about Washington, 
DC. That is the decision before them, and I trust them. I think they'll 
make the right decision.

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Note: The President spoke at 1 p.m. in the Cabinet Room at the White 
House. A tape was not available for verification of the content of these 
remarks.