    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
    [November 8, 1999]
    [Pages 2014-2025]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks in an On-Line Townhall Meeting
    November 8, 1999

        The President. More than 60 years ago, at the dawn of another era of
    great change, President Franklin Roosevelt told our Nation ``new
    conditions impose new requirements on Government and those who conduct
    Government.'' From that simple proposition, Roosevelt shaped the New
    Deal, which helped to restore our Nation to prosperity and to define the
    relationship between the American people and their Government for 50
    years.
        Now, as we move into the information age, we have reclaimed that
    true legacy of Franklin Roosevelt by making a real commitment to bold
    experimentation, to the idea that new times demand new approaches and a
    different kind of Government.
        This evening is a perfect example. As Al said, like FDR's fireside
    chats and President Kennedy's live press conferences on television, the
    first Presidential townhall meeting on the Internet taps the most modern
    technology for old-fashioned communication between the American people
    and their President.
        Tonight's event is exciting not only because of the technology
    involved in its execution but, on a larger scale, for the unbridled
    potential it represents. You know, when I became President, in January
    of 1993, the Internet was the province of scientists funded by
    Government research projects. Back then, there were only 130 sites on
    the Web, only 1.3 million computers connected to the Internet. Today,
    over 56 million computers are connected to the Internet, and there are
    3.6 million websites. And we're adding new pages at the rate of over
    100,000 an hour.
        Since 1993, our administration has worked hard to unleash the power
    of information technology and to bridge the digital divide. Vice
    President Gore and I set a goal of connecting every classroom and
    library to the Internet, and we've come a long way. The number of
    classrooms connected to the Internet has increased from 4 percent in
    1994 to 51 percent in 1998 with the E-rate providing over $2 billion to
    help connect all our schools and libraries to the Internet. That's just
    the kind of thing Vice President Gore and I came to office to do, to
    replace outmoded and failed ideas of the past with a new vision for the
    role of Government in the 21st century.
        In the early 1990's, long-neglected economic and social problems had
    piled up. Unemployment and welfare were high. Crime was spiraling;
    virtually no one believed it could be stopped. Poverty was growing. The
    real wages of working families were steadily falling. There were
    deficits as far as the eye could see. Our debt had quadrupled in just 12
    years, and some experts were telling us that we couldn't really solve
    our problems, that Government at best was useless and at worst was the
    source of all of our problems.
        Now, for too long, I felt that both our parties had put ideology
    above ideas that actually worked. And the American people too often

    [[Page 2015]]

    were presented by Washington with false choices, choosing between work
    and family, between growing the economy and cleaning up the environment,
    between helping business and helping working people, between being safer
    or maintaining freedom, between what makes us different as a people and
    what makes us equal before the law and in the eyes of God. For too long
    Government seemed to either try to solve all of our problems or to use
    the failures of Government as an excuse to do nothing at all.
        Now, it was in this environment that the New Democratic movement,
    which had been developing for nearly a decade by 1992, or what has now
    become known as the Third Way, began in earnest. We believe, like
    Franklin Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson and Abraham
    Lincoln before him, that new conditions demand a new approach to
    Government. We said, in 1992, we want opportunity for all, but we also
    want responsibility from all our citizens, in a community of all
    Americans.
        It was clear to Vice President Gore and to me that we couldn't meet
    the challenges of our new century by returning to the past but that we
    also had to overcome the great neglect of the 1980's. We also knew that
    we needed a new kind of Government which focused not on neglect or
    solving all the problems, but instead on giving our citizens the tools
    and conditions they needed to make the most of their own lives. And at
    the same time, we had to challenge our own citizens to take a far more
    active role by serving in our communities and shaping our Nation's
    future.
        Because of our commitment to Third Way principles and the hard work
    of the American people, our country has made a dramatic transformation.
    Over the last 6\1/2\ years, the American people have created almost 20
    million new jobs with rising wages, the longest peacetime expansion in
    history, the highest homeownership ever, a 30-year low in unemployment,
    a 32-year low in welfare, a 30-year low in the crime rate, the first
    back-to-back balanced budgets in 42 years, with growing projected
    surpluses for years to come. And all of this while we were shrinking and
    reinventing the Government so that it is now the smallest it's been
    since John Kennedy was here in the White House in 1962.
        And I'm trying to continue that process by passing a budget that
    honors our values and our commitment in the future, with 100,000 new
    teachers for smaller classes, 50,000 new community police officers to
    keep the crime rate coming down, stronger efforts to protect and
    preserve our environment and to meet our responsibilities abroad.
        The world is starting to take notice of what's happening here and
    where we're headed. Now Third Way ideas are influencing governance in
    Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Brazil, to name just a few.
        In closing, let me say that now we have to use the progress we've
    made and the new tools of Government and technology at our fingertips to
    meet the big challenges of the 21st century: the aging of America; the
    largest and most diverse group of schoolchildren we've ever known;
    extending our prosperity to people in places who haven't felt it yet;
    genuinely meeting the challenges of the new environment; making the most
    of biotechnology; getting this country out of debt for the first time
    since 1835; and continuing to be the world's major force for peace and
    freedom and against technology that proliferates nuclear weapons and
    biological and chemical weapons and against terrorism.
        But more important than any of that, we have to find a way in this
    most modern of worlds to use our new knowledge and our new technology as
    forces for unity, not division. We have to usher in a new age of genuine
    enlightenment where we are coming together as a people across all the
    lines that divide us. That's why I've worked for things like the
    employment nondiscrimination act and the hate crimes legislation; why
    I've done as much as I could to end wars and killing and conflict based
    on religious or racial or ethnic hatred around the world, from the
    Balkans to the Middle East to Northern Ireland to Africa.
        We believe that this can be a unifying age. We can celebrate our
    diversity, all the differences. We can respect those genuine differences
    of opinion as long as we understand that what unites us, our common
    humanity, is the most important thing of all.
        Now I'd like to turn it back to Al and get on
    with the questions.

    [Democratic Leadership Council President Al From,
    who hosted the townhall discussion, read questions submitted on the
    Internet]

    [[Page 2016]]

    Prescription Medication

        Q. My wife and I are both disabled, with two teenaged children. Our
    medication expenses take a very large amount of our monthly Social
    Security income. Will Medicare ever pay for medications?
        The President. Well, the answer to that is, I certainly hope so, and
    I have proposed it.
        As a part of our reform of the Medicare system, to deal with the
    fact that we're going to double the number of people over 65 within 30
    years and increasing numbers of people with disabilities will have
    access to Medicare, I recommended a lot of changes that will actually
    save some money in the system but also providing a prescription drug
    option which would be completely voluntary.
        Three-quarters of the disabled and seniors on Medicare don't have
    access to an affordable, adequate prescription drug program. If we were
    designing the program again today, given the role that prescription
    medication has in our lives now, as compared with 34 years ago when
    Medicare was established, we would certainly not even set it up without
    prescription medication.
        We should do it. We should do it as quickly as possible. And we can
    afford to do it in the budget that I presented and still get the country
    out of debt in 15 years.
        So I hope that next year--Congress is--the Republican majority has
    refused to deal with it this year. I certainly hope they'll deal with it
    next year. And maybe the fact it's an election year will make them more
    interested in doing so.

    Health Care Reform

        Q. What else can you do in your Presidential term to help the common
    people to have health care reform before you leave office?
        The President. Well, let me just mention two things very quickly.
    First, we ought to pass the Patients' Bill of Rights to protect people
    who are in HMO's with the quality of their health care, the right to see
    a specialist, the right to the nearest emergency room. And we ought to
    have privacy in medical records. We ought to have a requirement that--
    and I think we'll get this, by the way--that people who are disabled who
    get Medicaid can go to work and not lose their Government health
    insurance. And we now have the funds available to sign up 5 million or
    more children of lower income working people, working families, on
    health care. We ought to try to do that.
        Now one other thing we can do is to get more States to try to let
    more and more working families buy into the Medicaid system. Tennessee
    was the first State to do this, and they immediately got up over 90
    percent of their people with health insurance. And we're working to try
    to persuade more States to do this. Then we can provide the Medicaid
    money, and you can work out, State-by-State, how much people pay for the
    premiums.
        Those are just some of the things that I think we can do in my term.
    Now in the coming election season, I hope all the candidates will be
    required to talk about this because, as you know, I think it's terrible
    that America has so many people without health insurance who are working
    for a living. And I said back in '94 that if we didn't do something
    about it, the number would only increase, and that's exactly what's
    happened.
        So there are some things we can do now. Some things you'll probably
    have to debate in the 2000 election.

    Funding Higher Education

        Q. How do you feel about the need for less expensive higher
    education?
        The President. Well, you've got to be for that. I mean, everybody's
    for less expensive higher education. But what I'd like to emphasize is
    what we have done, because I think that a lot of Americans do not know
    that in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, we created something called the
    HOPE scholarship, which is a $1,500 tax credit for the first 2 years of
    college. We also have more generous Pell grants; we have better student
    loan programs. You can now borrow money through a Government loan
    program and pay it back at lower interest rates and as a percentage of
    your income, no matter how much you borrow.
        So college is, as a practical matter, less expensive than it has
    been in many, many years because of the assistance programs that are out
    there. And I would urge you to look and make sure you know about every
    single one for which you might be eligible.

    [The discussion continued.]

    Gun Control Legislation

        Q. What kind of laws would you like to see Congress pass concerning
    gun control?

    [[Page 2017]]

        The President. Well, first, Greg, let me say that one of the first
    laws I signed in 1993 was the Brady law, which requires background
    checks for people who buy guns in gun stores. The NRA and the others who
    opposed this said it wouldn't do any good, but now, in 1999, we've had
    400,000 people who haven't been able to get guns because of their
    criminal records or other problems. And the murder rate's at a 31-year
    low.
        So what else would I like to see? I would like to see us close the
    loophole in the background check law by saying there will also be
    background checks for guns sold at gun shows and at flea markets. I
    would like to see more done to limit the importation of big ammunition
    clips, because we banned assault weapons, but there are still loopholes
    in that law. I think the Brady law ought to be extended to juveniles who
    commit serious offenses. I don't think they ought to be able to get
    handguns. And I think these are very important.
        Now, you may know that in the Presidential election, I think both
    the Democratic Presidential candidates, Vice President Gore and Senator Bradley,
    have recommended that people who buy handguns at least have to get a
    license like you get a driver's license, to show that you know how to
    use the gun safely and that your background's been checked. And I think
    there's some real merit to that, and that's something the American
    people are going to have a chance to be heard on.
        But we've got the lowest crime rate in 30 years. But we ought not to
    quit until we're the safest big country in the world. And we won't be
    until we have reasonable restrictions to keep guns out of the wrong
    hands. They don't interfere with hunting or sport shooting. And there's
    more we can do. I'm strongly committed to it, and I hope you will be,
    too.

    Funding for Research and Development

        Q. Where do you see the Federal Government's role heading in funding
    non-defense research in science and technology?
        The President. Well, most of that is done at the National Institutes
    of Health, at the Energy Department. It's done in universities through
    Federal grants. And I believe we ought to see a dramatic increase of
    that.
        Essentially, if you look at the last few years, Congress has been
    good about increasing funding for NIH, not so good about increasing
    funding for environmental research and other non-defense areas. So good
    on the health care, not so good on the rest. We need more on the rest.

    [The discussion continued.]

    The Digital Divide

        Q. As Government makes it services available via the Internet, how
    will this affect people who are not computer literate or connected? Will
    the non-techies be accommodated?
        The President. First of all, this is a good question because this
    illustrates the problem of the so-called digital divide. And the answer
    to your question is: Number one, we will continue to provide services in
    non-computer options; and number two, we'll continue to do things to
    bridge the digital divide. We're trying to hook up all the classrooms
    and libraries to the Internet by the year 2000. We have community
    computer centers that we are establishing around the country, where
    we're trying to make access to computers more universal.
        But I will say this: I think we should also be trying to get people
    who aren't computer literate to be computer literate and then to have
    access to the technology, because I believe if we have the same density
    of computer and Internet access that we have of telephone access, that
    would dramatically improve the economic prospects for a lot of Americans
    and, I might add, a lot of people around the world.
        So we have to keep providing the services in non-Internet, non-
    computer ways. But I think we also ought to try to get more people
    hooked up. And we're doing both.

    [The discussion continued.]

        The President. Let me just make one other point before we go on to
    another question, to go back to my point that we ought to try not only
    to provide the services for people who aren't computer literate or
    connected in ways they can access--of course, we have to do that--but
    why we should try to get more people connected and more people computer
    literate.
        I was out in Silicon Valley in the last few weeks where the number
    of people from eBay, which all of you know is a remarkable trading
    company--I learned that in addition to the employees of eBay, some
    20,000 people now make a living on eBay just trading. That's the way
    they make a living. And a lot of them used to be on welfare. So this
    technology is getting

    [[Page 2018]]

    more and more user-friendly. And I think that if we continue to work
    toward making it more and more universal, you will create lots of more
    economic opportunities which will be good for the overall economy and
    good for people who, today, are kind of non-techies, to use your word.

    Class Size

        Q. Mr. President, how are you going to decrease the class sizes with
    the vast shortage of teachers?
        The President. I think the most important thing that the Federal
    Government can do is to give the States the money to continue our class
    size initiative. Last year the Congress approved a proposal of mine to
    make a downpayment on putting 100,000 more teachers in our schools,
    concentrated on reducing class size in the early grades, because we know
    from lots of research that that increases educational achievement long
    term. This year Congress is seeking to reverse that commitment, for
    reasons I do not entirely understand. And I am fighting to keep it,
    along with the Democrats in our caucus in the House and Senate. I'm
    hoping that we'll have a successful resolution of this.
        But you should know that--maybe you do know, since you asked the
    question--We have the largest number of schoolchildren in our history,
    the first group bigger than the baby boomers, over the last 2 years.
    It's the most diverse group in our history. And about 2 million teachers
    are going to retire over the next few years. So it's important right now
    to get these teachers in there that are well-trained and to get them in
    the early grades.
        Now, there's a lot of flexibility in this program. So if class size
    is already small, this money can be used to retrain teachers, to upgrade
    their skills, and other things. But the most important thing that we can
    do to reduce class size is to put 100,000 more teachers in the
    classroom. That's the main thing I'm fighting for in the remaining
    budget struggles here in Washington.
        That's a good question.

    Tax Relief

        Q. I would like to know what programs are going to be cut to provide
    for some of the much-needed tax relief, starting with the marriage
    penalty.
        The President. Well, what you have to do basically to provide tax
    relief under our system, the rules that we operate up here, is to figure
    out what it costs over 10 years and then to slow the rate of growth of
    other programs. Now, what I did was to present a budget to the Congress
    which would allocate, as I recall, about $250 billion to tax relief over
    a decade. And we slowed the rate of growth of everything else to
    accommodate that, including defense, where we still were going to have
    real increases.
        Congress passed a $792 billion tax program, and I vetoed that
    because I said we couldn't pay for it. And then they proceeded to spend
    more money than I recommended in this year's budget, in different ways
    but more money.
        So the truth is, you don't have to have any big cuts to pay for,
    let's say, marriage penalty relief or something like that, that is
    clearly affordable. All you have to do is to make a decision now that
    you will manage the rate of growth of all the other expenditures to
    accommodate the tax relief.
        And I still think we ought to have modest tax relief package. I will
    try again next to pass one, and I will be flexible in working with the
    Congress on what the contents of the package are. But we just have to
    make sure that it's something we can afford and still pay down the debt,
    save Social Security and Medicare, and continue to invest in education
    and the environment and in research and technology.

    Young People and Politics

        Q. Mr. President, what would you recommend to high school students
    who want to get involved in the political process?
        The President. Well, I think I would recommend two or three things.
    First of all, I would recommend that you get involved in the 2000
    election. You know, with all the technology and all the television ads
    and all the money that's raised and spent in elections, candidates still
    need volunteers. And I think you ought to pick someone who is running,
    either for President or Governor or Senator or maybe a local office,
    maybe mayor in your hometown, that you believe in and show up and
    volunteer and learn everything you can about how the electoral process
    works, what the issues are, and you'll also learn about different kinds
    of people and human nature. Secondly, I think you ought to pick an issue
    you care about in your school and get involved in that. And then the
    third thing that I would strongly recommend is that you try to make sure
    you're as well-informed as possible, by accessing information on the

    [[Page 2019]]

    Internet or your local newspaper or however else you want to do it.
        But I think that those three things, together, will give you a
    chance to really get started. And it's not too soon for you to get
    started, to start working in politics. And I thank you for your
    interest.

    [The discussion continued.]

    Livability Agenda

        The President. If I could just say, Al, the mayor said a lot of good
    things, but one of the things he said that I'd like to highlight is that
    they're using computer technology to help manage traffic patterns and
    alleviate congestion. That is one of the elements in Vice President
    Gore's livability agenda we're trying to
    pass through Congress, not just preserving more green space in urban
    areas but actually using the most up-to-date technology to give people
    some freedom, give them back some of their time by minimizing traffic
    congestion and waiting.
        I mean, it's becoming a bigger and bigger issue for Americans both
    in their cars on the street and, unfortunately, in their airports and in
    their airplanes. So I think anything we can do to give people back time
    is enhancing their freedom dramatically. And I think that more and more
    public officials will have to focus on this.

    Y2K Readiness

        Q. Mr. President, if you were an ordinary citizen, would you save a
    little food for Y2K? [Laughter]
        The President. You know, we've had so many jokes about that, about
    taking our pickups to Arizona and all. The answer is, no. America is--
    [laughter]--I wouldn't, because I think America is in good shape. We
    have worked very, very hard on this. I want to thank the Vice
    President and John Koskinen, who's helped us. I want to thank all the big--the
    financial institutions, the utilities, the other big sectors in our
    economy that have gotten Y2K-ready.
        The only problems left in the United States that we're aware of are
    with some of our small businesses who basically haven't yet made sure
    that they're Y2K compliant. But the United States is doing fine, and I
    wouldn't hoard food, and I wouldn't hide. I would be trusting, because I
    think we're going to make it fine.

    Internet and E-Commerce

        Q. How can citizens be assured that the Internet will not become
    another political ploy that is harmed rather than helped by politicians?
        The President. It's a good question. What we're trying to do, I can
    tell you, is to protect E-commerce, because it's growing so fast. And I
    signed legislation that would prohibit taxation on Internet transactions
    for several years. And I think we need to continue to work. So the first
    thing you can do as a citizen is to try to protect E-commerce, to let it
    grow, to let it flourish, to let all the jobs be created, the businesses
    be created, because of this incredible thing.
        Then I think, in terms of objectionable material on the Internet,
    how do you keep the freedom and the creativity of the Internet without
    having children too exposed? I think the answer to that is to support
    the efforts that are being made by many in the industry now to give
    parents appropriate screening and other technologies, so that you
    continue to have creativity and growth on the Internet and parents can
    still do their jobs. I think those are the two most important things.

    [The discussion continued.]

    Presidential Term Limits

        Q. Mr. President, would you like to serve another term in office,
    like you can in the U.K.? Maybe you ought to talk to Tony Blair about
    that. [Laughter]
        The President. Well, I love the job, and I would continue to do it
    if I could. But we've had a two-term system here ever since President
    Truman's time, and I respect it, and I honor it. And so I'll try to find
    some way to be useful to my country and to the causes I believe in
    around the world when I leave the White House. But I love it, and I
    would not willingly give up any day of the opportunity to serve as
    President.

    AmeriCorps

        Q. Will future administrations be able to continue the support for
    the AmeriCorps program?
        The President. You know, for people who are on this hookup who don't
    know what AmeriCorps is, we ought to say first what it is. It is a
    national service program of local community efforts so that young people
    and sometimes not-so-young people of all ages can give

    [[Page 2020]]

    a year and with the option of giving the second year of community
    service in an AmeriCorps-affiliated program. And we have community
    groups; we have church groups and other religious groups; we have all
    kinds of groups who are doing good things in their community. And in the
    process, they earn credit for college tuition.
        So many young people actually do it and use the funds they get from
    working in AmeriCorps over and above their living stipend to go on to
    school. And we've had 150,000 young Americans serve in 6 years. To give
    you some basis for comparison, it took the Peace Corps 20 years to get
    100,000 volunteers.
        So AmeriCorps is changing America for the better. I believe it has
    broad bipartisan support and, therefore, I think future administrations
    will be able to continue to support it. I would like to see us get up to
    where we have at least 250,000 people a year in it, because I think you
    could get that many people who want to serve. But at least insofar as
    funding become available, I'd like to see it continue to expand. It's a
    wonderful, wonderful thing.

    [The discussion continued.]

        The President. Before we go on, I'd just like to reiterate for the
    people who are interested in this subject, that thanks to Kathleen
    Kennedy Townsend, Maryland is the
    only State in America which presently requires young people to engage in
    community service as a part of their course study. In order to get a
    high school diploma, you've got to do some community service. Now, some
    of us know of specific schools that require that, but Maryland is the
    only State that requires it.
        Twelve years ago the former Republican Governor of New Jersey Tom
    Kean and I were on a middle school study task force
    for the Carnegie Corporation, and we recommended that community service
    ought to be a requirement, an academic requirement. It's part of
    learning to be a good citizen. It's part of an education. And I'd like
    to see most States follow Maryland's lead.

    [The discussion continued.]

    School Safety and Youth Violence

        Q. I attend a public high school. Considering the events of the past
    few years, how can you ensure my safety at school?
        The President. Well, first of all, I understand why you're concerned
    about it. We've had all these terrible incidents of school shootings.
    But I think you should know that, on balance, we have the lowest murder
    rate in our country in 31 years and that schools are the safest places
    kids can be.
        Now what we have to do to ensure that all our schools are safe, are,
    number one, have a strict, zero tolerance for weapons in schools. I've
    announced a zero tolerance for guns policy several years ago out in
    California. We're trying to get every school to adopt it. We had several
    thousand young people who were sent home last year and expelled because
    they brought guns to school.
        Number two, we need a system in every school that identifies kids
    who are troubled, who might cause trouble and get some help before they
    commit violent acts, whether they're being reported to the authorities,
    part of a peer mediation group, getting mental health or other
    counseling. I think you have to have a system in which all the kids are
    involved in trying to identify people who might be disturbed and might
    cause these kinds of problems.
        And I think, number three, we have to try to make sure that the
    schools that are in high-crime areas, that there is adequate security
    there.
        So there are lots of things that can be done, but on balance, you
    should not believe that you're in more trouble at school than you are
    someplace else, because for almost all of our children, they're safer at
    school than they would be on their streets or in their neighborhood.

    [The discussion continued.]

        The President. If I could just say one other thing to Joshua, who
    asked this question, and to others who--particularly young people who
    might be listening, there. I had a White House Conference on Youth
    Violence, and then we set up a national effort on youth violence. If you
    or anybody else that's part of this press conference tonight have any
    ideas, I want you to send them in. And I can assure you that we will
    carefully review them. We will do our best to see whether, if they're
    working in someplace, they can be made to work everywhere. If you have
    some new ideas, send them to us, because there is hardly anything more
    important in the whole country than giving our children

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    the safety and security that they and their families need.
        So please, we're still working on this. We have a highly
    concentrated effort, and we'd like to have your ideas.

    [The discussion continued.]

    Post-Presidential Plans

        Q. Mr. President, what are your plans after you leave the White
    House, beside supporting the First Lady for a possible Senate run?
        The President. Well, I will certainly support her in any way that I can, and I'm looking forward to
    that. But I want to build my library and my public policy center at home
    in Arkansas. And then I want to be a useful citizen. I'll do what I can
    to support other people, if they ask me to, who are running for office
    or when they're in office. But I want to use that public policy center
    and the educational programs there to bring in people who are interested
    in public service and to advance a lot of these issues I'm interested
    in, that I think will have great significance in the future.
        For example, how can you maximize the use of technology to bring
    educational opportunities to poor people in poor areas in America and
    around the world? How can you grow the economy and improve the
    environment? How can you use new technologies to prove that we can clean
    up the environment, reduce greenhouse gases, and create more jobs? How
    can we minimize racial and religious and ethnic and other tensions, both
    in our society and around the world?
        These things, these big issues I've worked on as President, I want
    to find a way to continue to work on at my library and center in a way
    that doesn't get in the way of the next President. I don't want to do
    that, but I do think I can be a good citizen and help solve a lot of
    these problems and continue to move us forward.
        Mr. From. Mr. President, do you think the people
    who are sending these questions think we're humorless? Because they have
    a line on here that says, ``Laughing is permitted.''
        The President. I don't know what that means, but I've already been
    laughing, so thank you for permission. I never knew we had to give
    people permission to laugh, but I'm glad to have it. [Laughter]

    Child Care

        Q. What are you going to do about the rising cost of child care?
        The President. Let me say, this is a huge issue. If you want to
    balance work and family in America, you have to have adequate family
    leave laws, and then affordable quality child care. And given the fact
    that most parents work and the percentage will go up, one of the most
    significant issues we have to resolve as a people is how to make people
    successful at the same time at home and at work because if you have to
    choose between one or the other, the country's going to be badly hurt.
        We had a question earlier about an affordable tax cut. One of the
    things that I asked the Congress to do was to increase the tax credit
    for child care so that we could embrace more people. I've also asked the
    Congress to appropriate more money, because right now, we only serve
    with Federal subsidies about 10 percent of the working parents who are
    eligible for child care help.
        So the answer to your question is, we have--at the national level
    and at the State level, we ought to be doing more with both tax credits
    and with direct subsidies to child care centers to help lower income and
    middle income people who otherwise can't find affordable quality child
    care. It's a huge issue out there that I don't believe has gotten the
    attention it deserves yet. I hope this, too, we'll make progress on,
    both next year in Congress and in the Presidential election. I'd like to
    see it heavily debated.

    [The discussion continued.]

    On-Line Townhall Meeting

        Q. I commend you, Mr. President, for using the available new
    technology to stay in touch with the people. It gives anyone the chance
    to speak to the President, truly a shining example of freedom.

    [The discussion continued.]

    Class Size

        Q. What do you think about the fact that in other countries,
    classrooms have many more children per teacher, yet they are ranked
    higher than the U.S. in education?
        The President. Well, I think you have to, first of all, look at what
    the differences in those countries and the United States are. Let me
    also say, the United States is doing better in

    [[Page 2022]]

    these international exams. And among the schools that have set high
    standards and measure in tests for them, they're doing quite well,
    indeed.
        But if you look at the countries which can have larger classes and
    have higher achievement levels in the early grades, what you will find
    is two things. You will find that they are not as diverse as we are,
    racially and ethnically and linguistically. And secondly, you will find
    that they don't have the same income and other social variations that
    you have in American classrooms.
        So there is no country in the world with anything like the kind of
    diversity we have in the classroom, that has much bigger class sizes and
    higher performance. If the kids are more similar, obviously they would
    tend to have more similar learning patterns, and you can do things that
    sort of routinize the educational system more in the early grades. If
    the kids are vastly dissimilar, in terms of family circumstances and,
    literally, even language, you need more individual attention in the
    early grades.
        And all I can say to you is that the American context--we have lots
    and lots and lots of research that well-trained teachers and smaller
    classes give not only immediate but permanent learning gains. And that's
    why I favor doing that.

    [The discussion continued.]

    Staying in Touch With the People

        The President. Mayor, I want
    to thank you for that. You know, when I came here in 1993, one of the
    things that I promised myself I would do is to try to keep in touch with
    the American people, to try to avoid getting out of touch. And I now,
    having been President for nearly 7 years, I understand why Presidents
    get out of touch, how easy it is to happen. And I do think that this
    technology will help more and more Presidents to kind of be accountable
    to the American people, stay in touch with them, even in those weeks and
    sometimes months when they can't be out of Washington in the States and
    communities very much because of the workload here. So this is very,
    very hopeful, and I appreciate what you said.

    Free and Fair Trade

        Q. Do you believe in more open trade between our two countries,* or
    are you and your party committed to protectionism more than open trade?
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        *Canada and the United States.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        The President. Well, the short answer is, I believe in more open
    trade between our two countries. Our two countries have a huge bilateral
    trading relationship, the biggest in the world; and it's benefited
    Canada; it's benefited the United States. Both of us have among the
    highest growth rates in the developed world now. We're both doing real
    well.
        I would say two things about the trade issue. First of all, it is
    true that there are still some people in the Democratic Party who do not
    believe that we grow the economy and benefit people through expanding
    trade. And that is a difference of opinion we're still having. I will
    say this: There is a New Democratic majority, a big one, for almost
    every other issue on how to manage the economy, the importance of paying
    off the debt, what our education policy ought to be, what our crime
    policy ought to be, what our welfare policy ought to be. We don't have,
    in my judgment, the right consensus on trade yet, but we're moving in
    the right direction. And let me just give you two examples, if I might,
    of what we are concerned about with trade.
        First of all, the United States, even though we've got a budget
    surplus and we're paying down our debt, has, by far, the biggest trade
    deficit in the world, because we've tried to keep our markets open. We
    think they help us to maintain low inflation and to be sharp and to be
    competitive. But if the competition is unfair, if countries can do
    things in our markets we can't do in theirs, then we're going to have a
    distortion of the trading system, and Americans who shouldn't lose their
    jobs will do so. I don't think that's right.
        And so, I believe in open trade, but it ought to be fair. I'll give
    you just one example. We've won two cases in the World Trade
    Organization against the Europeans, one on beef and one on bananas, and
    we still can't get any satisfaction. We won the banana case three times.
    So it's going to be impossible to sustain support

    [[Page 2023]]

    for an open trading system if the rules and the rulings are ignored.
        Now, the second point I want to make is that we have got to put a
    human face on the global economy. As we expand trade, ordinary people
    have to benefit and they have to believe we're not destroying the
    environment. So I have concluded that we should do more to open up the
    trading system to labor and environmental groups, let them be a part of
    the development of trading rules and regulations, and have certain
    standards for the environment and for labor in these trade agreements. I
    think in the end, that's the best way to do it.
        We've got to succeed in putting a human face on the global economy
    if you want to have broadbased support for it.

    [The discussion continued.]

        The President. When the Asian financial crisis hit in 1997, we had
    been increasing our manufacturing employment, including in steel. But in
    the 1980's and early nineties, we lost 60 percent of our employment in
    steel. Then we modernized, and we were competitive globally. And other
    countries started dumping steel on our markets and throwing people out
    of work who were competitive on the global economy. In other words, they
    weren't playing by the rules.
        So we had antidumping actions, and we worked hard to reverse that
    and to restore the imports back to their pre-crisis levels. That doesn't
    mean I'm against free trade, but I had to fight for those jobs. And I
    can tell you, there are a lot of people out there who don't think we did
    enough to do that.
        So there will always be difficult questions. But on balance, America
    has 4 percent of the world's people, with 22 percent of the world's
    income; we've got to sell something to the other 96 percent of the
    world. And you don't have to be a mathematical genius to figure out,
    therefore, we should be in favor of expanding trade.

    [The discussion continued.]

    Seattle Round and the Environment

        Q. During the WTO summit in Seattle this month, will President
    Clinton propose to strengthen environmental safeguards?
        The President. Yes. Yes, and in addition to that, the involvement of
    environmental groups in the whole World Trade Organization process.
    We've got to open this process up.
        One of the reasons you're going to have thousands of demonstrators
    in Seattle telling everybody that this world trading system is some sort
    of dark conspiracy to destroy the environment and keep down ordinary
    working families is that they use funny language, and they have big,
    secret rules, and they meet too much in secret in Switzerland. And I
    think we've got to open this process up. This is not complicated. If
    some people produce some things better than others and the more we can
    work together and lift the fortunes of people everywhere, the better
    wealthier countries will do. This is not complicated.
        But I think it's very--I'm actually kind of glad all these
    demonstrators are coming to Seattle, even though it may be kind of
    messy, because we ought to have a big global debate on this. And the
    people who feel like they've been shut out ought to be brought in and
    listened to, not just the environmentalists but the others as well.

    Middle East Peace Process

        Q. What do you feel are the chances that there will be any real
    progress in the talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis before
    you leave office?
        The President. Oh, I think they're quite good. For one thing, there
    already has been real progress. Keep in mind, it was back in 1993 that
    we signed the Israel-PLO accord. We now have the Palestinians with their
    land in the West Bank and in Gaza. There's a high level of security
    cooperation between the two. And Prime Minister Barak and Chairman Arafat reaffirmed
    their commitment to the peace process in Oslo when we went last week to
    honor the late Prime Minister Rabin. And they are now on, literally,
    about a 100-day timetable to finish a final framework agreement.
        Now I don't want to kid you. The issues are very, very tough. But I
    think the chances of success are better than 50-50. And with a lot of
    prayers and a lot of pushing, maybe we'll make it. I feel hopeful.

    Education On-Line

        Q. How does the President feel about supporting on-line education to
    serve the increasing number of students?
        The President. I'd be for that. And we'll have more of that anyway.
    That's going to happen.

    [[Page 2024]]

        You want to take these two and then come back?
        Q. Yes, we'll do that. What I like is a micromanager. [Laughter]
        The President. At my age, I'm just glad I can read that. [Laughter]

    National Defense in the New Millennium

        Q. Taking into consideration the fact that the Chinese have
    developed an ICBM capable of reaching American shores, what is your
    position on the missile defense system for the United States?
        The President. Well, if we can develop a missile defense that will
    actually work to block incoming missiles that could have nuclear,
    chemical, or biological warheads, it would be irresponsible not to
    develop it, assuming we can do so consistent with our obligations under
    treaties.
        However, I don't think the Chinese will be the biggest problem.
    China does have 20 such missiles; we have 6,000 such missiles. I think
    the real problem is the danger that in the future, rogue states and
    terrorist groups might, themselves, get missile technology that could
    pierce America's traditional defenses. So we're working on missile
    defense, and we're also working with the Russians to see if we can agree
    to make some amendments to the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty so that we
    can put the missile defense up if we can develop it, and they can share
    the benefits of it.
        Now, let me also say to all of you, not to be unnecessarily
    alarmist, but I think we need to be realistic here. I think in the
    future, future Presidents will have to tell you that we'll also have to
    worry about defenses from miniaturized nuclear, chemical, and biological
    weapons in the hands of terrorists who won't need missiles to try to
    deliver them.
        So it will be a whole new world out there, and there's a lot of
    blessings from the end of the cold war, but we'll have to deal with more
    and different threats. And I would favor doing whatever is responsible
    to enhance the national security of the United States, including
    deploying the right kind of missile defense system.

    Federal Involvement in Education

        Q. Can you explain to me why you feel the Federal Government needs
    to get involved in education and why this can't be left to State and
    local government?
        The President. Well, yes I can. First of all, the Federal Government
    has been involved in education for over 30 years now and in very
    discrete ways: in higher education, to help more people afford the costs
    of college, because that's something most States don't have massive
    resources to do; in preschool education like Head Start, to help more
    poor children get started. In public schools, the Federal Government's
    role traditionally has--first of all, it's always been less than 10
    percent of the total budget of the public schools. It's basically
    designed to give poor children or children whose first language is not
    English or children with special education needs the access to the best
    possible education they can have, and then designed to meet discrete
    needs, like after Sputnik we spent more money to train teachers in math
    and science.
        So what I have proposed is consistent with our historic mission:
    100,000 teachers, because we have more kids and more teachers retiring,
    and we now have evidence that smaller classes work; a policy to end
    social promotion but to dramatically increase the number of after-school
    and summer school programs and funds to help failing schools turn around
    or shut down; and then a big DLC favorite, more charter schools. When I
    became President, we had one; there are now 1,700. We want 3,000 of
    these schools that are set up and chartered by teachers or parents; that
    are free of a lot of the redtape of local school districts and are
    judged and stay in business only on their results.
        These, I think, are appropriate roles for the Federal Government.
    They are limited. We don't tell the States how to achieve excellence in
    education. We tell them there ought to be standards; here are things
    that work. If you want to do these things, we'll help you fund them.

    President's Legacy

        Q. Mr. President, what kind of legacy do you think the American
    people will remember about your administration?
        The President. I think they will see it as a time of dramatic
    transformation and change; where we restored economic prosperity; where
    we widened the circle of opportunity to include people who'd been left
    out; where we deepened the bonds of freedom and community in this
    country, by helping to solve social problems and bridge a lot of the
    divisions in our society; and when we essentially assumed the leadership
    of

    [[Page 2025]]

    the post-cold-war world, whether it's in expanding NATO or fighting
    against ethnic cleansing in the Balkans or working to deal with the
    challenges of terrorism in the 21st century. So I think it will be seen
    as a time of transformation, of hope, of genuine opportunity, and
    genuine community in America.
        So I'm very grateful for the chance I've had to serve. And I'm very
    grateful for the results that the approach that Al From and I have been
    working on for 15 years now has had in the lives of the American people.
    I think it's, by and large, a tribute to the public and the citizens of
    this country. But for whatever role I've been able to play, I am
    profoundly grateful. And I believe that the legacy will be
    transformation, movement, the restoration of prosperity and hope.

    [The discussion continued.]

        The President. Let me say, first of all, I want to thank you,
    Al, again for giving us all this opportunity and for
    always being a visionary and thinking about the future. I want to thank
    the other elected officials who have shared this press conference with
    me tonight, and commend you and those like you who have taken our New
    Democratic ideas and actually used them to change the lives of our
    people for the better.
        And finally, let me say to all the people who have been a part of
    this, I'm not running for anything anymore. I'm doing this because I
    believe in the enterprise of Government and in the work and impact of
    citizenship. And if we can use technology to chip away at cynicism and
    increase participation and give--empower citizens to feel that they're
    holding their elected officials accountable and they're helping them to
    do their jobs, that will be a very great thing, indeed.
        So I would urge you to keep the E-mails coming into the White House,
    keep the E-mails coming into the DLC. If you have questions that weren't
    answered or ideas you want to share, keep pouring them in there.
        But let me tell you something. There's a reason this country's been
    around here for more than 200 years, and there's a reason we're enjoying
    this enormous level of economic prosperity with our social conditions
    improving and our leadership in the world unquestioned. America is a
    great country founded on a great set of ideas, capable of permanent
    renewal. And the technology of the moment has made it more exciting than
    ever before. But it still requires, more than anything else, even more
    than good leaders, good citizens.
        Those of you who have been part of this tonight have been good
    citizens. I thank you, and I want to urge you on because our country's
    best days lie ahead in the new century.

    Note: The President spoke at 7:14 p.m. in the Marvin Center Auditorium
    at George Washington University. In his remarks, he referred to John A.
    Koskinen, Chairman, President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion; Prime
    Minister Ehud Barak of Israel; Chairman Yasser Arafat of the Palestinian
    Authority; and Democratic Presidential candidate former Senator Bill
    Bradley. The discussion, which was sponsored by the Democratic
    Leadership Council, included the following participants: Marc
    Andreessen, founder, Netscape; Gov. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire;
    Mayor Donald T. Cunningham, Jr., of Bethlehem, PA; Lt. Gov. Kathleen
    Kennedy Townsend of Maryland; and Wisconsin State Assemblyman Antonio
    Riley, chairman, Democratic Leadership Council State Legislative
    Advisory Board. On-line participants used first names only.