    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
    [November 13, 1999]
    [Pages 2086-2087]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's Radio Address
    November 13, 1999

        Good morning. In recent weeks, Congress and our administration have
    been engaged in final budget negotiations that will set the direction
    our Nation takes as we enter the new millennium. This week we made good
    progress. Today I want to talk to you about what we achieved, why I
    fought hard for priorities like better schools and safer streets, and
    what we still must do to finish a budget that prepares for the future,
    continues to pay down the debt, and honors our values.
        I wanted to make sure the very first budget of the 21st century puts
    education first. That's why I stood firm on our commitment to hire
    100,000 quality teachers to reduce class size in the early grades. We
    made this promise with Congress last year, and schools around the
    country already are hiring more than 29,000 teachers to give 1.7 million
    children the chance to learn in smaller classes.
        The research is clear on this. Students learn more in smaller
    classes where they get more attention. And as I said in the State of the
    Union Address, we not only need more teachers; we need better teachers.
    Under the plan we worked out with Congress this week, every teacher
    hired with these funds must be fully qualified and know the subjects he
    or she is hired to teach. School districts can also use some funds to
    better prepare their existing teachers to meet the needs of 21st century
    students. We need to stay on this path of hiring 100,000 quality
    teachers to reduce class size.
        The budget agreement also more than doubles our investment for
    after-school programs and increases funding for our efforts to connect
    all our schools to the Internet, for our GEAR UP program which provides
    mentors to prepare at-risk children for college, and for our Hispanic
    education initiatives. I am pleased Congress has put politics aside and
    put education first in this budget.
        We're making progress in other areas as well. We know America is
    safer. The crime rate is at a 25-year low. But it's not nearly as safe
    as it can and should be. We must keep the crime rate coming down. The
    budget agreement invests in the success of our COPS program which has
    already funded 100,000 community police officers, by providing the
    resources to hire up to 50,000 more of them over the next 5 years in
    neighborhoods where crime rates are still too high.
        We've made progress on the efforts that Vice President Gore and I
    have developed to set aside funds to preserve natural areas and to
    protect our environment for future generations. However, we've still got
    some work to do on this and we must oppose antienvironmental provisions
    that put special interest ahead of the public interest.
        With all this progress, our budget work isn't complete yet. And I'm
    committed to working with Congress to reach agreement before they recess
    this year on the issues that are still outstanding, from passing
    meaningful hate crimes

    [[Page 2087]]

    legislation to providing relief for families suffering under the impact
    of Hurricane Floyd, to paying our U.N. dues, to passing the work
    incentives improvement act so that people with disabilities can gain a
    job without losing their health care.
        In addition to the budget, I urge Congress to keep working on other
    critical issues: commonsense gun safety legislation to keep guns out of
    the wrong hands; a real Patients' Bill of Rights families have been
    waiting for for too long; a raise in the minimum wage, which shouldn't
    be held hostage to special interest tax cuts that aren't paid for and
    don't address national needs; and finally, measures to save Social
    Security and Medicare for the 21st century and modernize Medicare to
    include a voluntary prescription drug benefit. I urge Congress to work
    with me in meeting all these goals.
        This has been a good week for America. We're staying on the path
    that has brought us the longest peacetime expansion in history, the
    highest homeownership in history, nearly 20 million new jobs, a 30-year
    low in unemployment, a 20-year low in poverty rates, and the first back-
    to-back budget surpluses in 42 years. Now we've got the chance of a
    lifetime to shape the future of our dreams for our children. Let's
    finish the job.
        Thanks for listening.

    Note: The address was recorded at 3:15 p.m. on November 12 in the Oval
    Office at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on November 13.
    The transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary
    on November 12 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast.