    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
    [October 18, 1999]
    [Pages 1808-1811]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Budget Negotiations and an Exchange With Reporters
    October 18, 1999

        The President. Good morning. I have just completed a meeting with my
    economic team to see what we can do to reach overall budget agreement
    with the congressional leadership. In just 4 days the resolution that
    temporarily funds the Government will expire, and yet Congress still has
    not sent me a budget that maintains our fiscal discipline, pays down
    Social Security,

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    reforms Medicare, and honors the priorities of the American people,
    especially including education and including 50,000 more community
    police for our children, for our streets, and a steadfast commitment to
    preserve and protect our environment.
        Now, there is an overwhelming consensus across our country, and even
    here in Washington, that we face no challenge more critical than the
    education of our children. When our children graduate, they will be the
    largest and most diverse group of graduates in our history. They will be
    in a vastly more global and complex and information-dominated economy
    than ever before. For their sake, and the sake of our continued
    prosperity, we have wisely made--as a people--education our number one
    priority.
        That means shrinking class size while increasing quality by
    fulfilling our commitment to put 100,000 teachers in the classroom,
    something the Republicans in Congress supported last year. It means
    making sure our children are ready for the year 2000 by ensuring that
    every one of them has access to computers in their classrooms. It means
    keeping schools open after school and during the summer. It means
    expanding mentoring and Head Start. It means having strategies that
    impose high standards and accountability, give schools funds to turn
    around themselves if they're failing, but shuts them down if they can't
    turn around. It means more funds for charter schools.
        Now, if we're going to make these critical investments and maintain
    our fiscal discipline to keep our economy strong, we're going to have to
    make tough choices, and we're going to have to make them together. There
    are 4 days until the continuing resolution expires. Inaction is not an
    option. I will do everything I can to meet our priorities in a
    responsible way.
        As I have said repeatedly in recent weeks, indeed, for years, my
    door is open to members of both parties who are willing to work with us.
    If we're going to finish the job the American people sent us here to
    do--reach real results in educating our children, fighting crime,
    protecting our environment--then we have to put politics aside and seek
    common ground.
        In that spirit, I am inviting the congressional leadership to come
    here and meet with me and our economic team at the White House, to see
    if we can agree on an overall budget framework. Yes, there are
    differences of opinion. But I don't think they're so great that we can't
    make progress by working together in a genuine bipartisan spirit. I'm
    committed to doing so and to resolving the remaining differences. If the
    congressional leadership will join me, we can make this a season of real
    progress for our people.
        Thank you.
        Q. Sir, what about the spending caps on Social Security money? Are
    you willing to say before the congressional leadership comes here that
    you'll negotiate lifting the caps?
        The President. Well, first of all, they've already been lifted. I
    mean, they have--they're into spending the Social Security surplus, and
    everyone but them--everybody else has acknowledged it. I mean, their own
    Congressional Budget Office says that. I have given them offsets. I will
    work with them with further offsets. I would like to see them do better
    on that.
        But we can't not fund these critical education priorities. We can't
    not have an adequate environmental budget. And we can't not fulfill our
    responsibilities to the rest of the world. You know, I vetoed the
    foreign operations bill this morning because it seems to me to be the
    next big chapter in the new American isolationism, right after the
    Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. There's no money to fund the Wye peace
    accord for peace in the Middle East, no money to fund our continuing
    work with the Russians to reduce their nuclear threat, no money to help
    us with debt relief to the poorest countries in Latin America and Asia,
    and several other problems.
        So I think that--but on the other hand, according to Congressional
    Budget Office, they've already spent billions of dollars that are in the
    nongeneral revenue, or the Social Security revenue, portion of the
    surplus. I will work with them on offsets; I will work with them on
    getting a balanced budget out of here that meets all of our Nation's
    priorities.
        But we need to sit down and do it together. You know, we can
    continue this standoff, and I will fight for what I believe in, as I
    have ever since they took over Congress in 1995. But in the years where
    we have worked together--in '96 and '97 and '98--we've produced good
    results for the American people. And we ought to do that in 1999, and
    that's my commitment.
        Q. Is it inevitable that another continuing resolution will be
    necessary?

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        The President. I think probably, but it ought to be short. And you
    know, what I want to do is to put all these bills together and see what
    the real critical differences are. I know they're not going to do 100
    percent of what I want them to do. But there are certain bottom lines
    for the American people that I have, that I have to fight for. And we
    need to see how all this spending works together and then do our best to
    agree on a responsible way to pay for it. And that's what I'd like to
    do.
        And I'm not interested in being able to walk out of here and win a
    battle on whether they spent the Social Security surplus or not. As a
    matter of fact, they have, and it's been acknowledged for months, but
    that's not the point. The point is, we need a responsible budget here.
        We're on a path to paying down America's debt. Because the tax cut
    was rejected, vetoed, we can still get America out of debt over the next
    15 years; we can still extend the life of the Social Security Trust Fund
    beyond the lifecycle of the baby boomers; and we can still have the
    funds to reform and modernize Medicare and meet these other priorities.
        If you look over the 5-year period, if you look over the horizon
    here, this country is moving in the right direction, and we shouldn't
    allow these momentary difficulties to deter us from doing what is right
    now, so we can keep on the right path.

    Pakistan

        Q. Mr. President, on Pakistan, what's your reaction to General
    Musharraf's speech yesterday? There's no indication of any timetable for
    moving toward elections or for democracy.
        The President. Well, a lot of what he
    said on the substance, including the conciliatory tone he took towards
    India, I thought was quite good. But I was quite disappointed that there
    was no commitment to a timetable to move toward democracy. And I
    certainly hope that will be forthcoming.

    Carol Moseley-Braun's Nomination for
    Ambassador

        Q. What do you think about Senator Helms' blocking Carol Moseley-
    Braun's nomination--reported obstruction?
        The President. Well, I hope he won't do
    that. You know, again, there has been an unprecedented amount of playing
    politics with Ambassadors, here. And again, it sends a signal to the
    rest of the world that there is a new isolationism in the country, that
    we don't really care whether we have Ambassadors in other places. We've
    got a hold on four other Ambassadors that--no one has questioned
    anything about their qualifications--for totally irrelevant reasons. And
    I think these things are not good for America.
        So I would hope that Senator Moseley-Braun and the other Ambassadors
    would be quickly confirmed. And I will work as hard as I can to see
    that's done.

    Support for Vice President Gore's Campaign

        Q. Does it bother you, sir, that Vice President Gore says he may
    decide he doesn't need your help in the campaign?
        The President. No.
        Q. Why not?
        The President. Because he has to. I agree with him. I think he ought
    to make that decision at the time, based on the--for one thing, no one
    can help anyone else in the campaign beyond a certain point. You can
    make phone calls; you can go door-to-door; you can volunteer; you can
    call your friends.
        But when I was Governor, I remember one of the best elections I ever
    had was in 1984, when President Reagan--who was at his all-time peak of
    popularity in 1984 and got 62 percent of the vote, I think, running for
    reelection--came to my State to campaign against me, and I got the same
    vote he did.
        And so, people are--elections--the American people know that in a
    representative form of government, they give the people that they vote
    for certain responsibilities. And then at election time, they're back in
    the driver's seat. So I think that that's a decision that we ought to
    make--or he ought to make at an appropriate time, just--I agree with
    what he said about it.
        And I also think that it won't matter who says it, as much as it
    matters what is said. I just want the American people to make this
    judgment based on what's best for them. Who is the most likely to
    continue to change this country in the right direction? Who's the most
    likely to save Social Security and Medicare? Who's the most likely to
    advance childhood education? Who's the most likely to grow the economy
    and protect the environment? Who's the most likely to get this country
    out of debt for the first time since 1835? That's the only thing that
    matters.

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        This election is not about all the players that get written about in
    Washington. This election is about the American people. And they are
    perfectly happy to make the decision that is theirs every 4 years. And
    they will make it for themselves. And the candidates will be the major
    players; everybody else, to a greater or lesser degree, is in a
    subordinate role, as they always have been.
        Press Secretary Joe Lockhart. Thank you,
    pool. Thank you.

    Relationship With Republican Congress

        Q.  [Inaudible]--with the Republican leadership heading into this
    budget showdown?
        The President. Well, you know, I have always had a very cordial
    relationship with Senator Lott and with Mr.
    Hastert since he's been there, the
    Speaker. And you know, even Mr. DeLay came up here
    the other day for this adoption event, and we had a good visit. I
    wouldn't--you know, I don't agree with them on the substance of a lot of
    this.
        But I don't--I've said this a hundred times. Let me say it one more
    time. I have never, to the best of my knowledge, let political
    conflicts, even ones that had deeply personal overtones, get in the way
    of working with people who were also sent here. They were sent here,
    just like I was, by the American people.
        And this is not an emotional issue. This is a job. We've got a job
    to do for the American people. We were hired to do it, and we need to do
    it. And so I feel good about it. And I hope that they'll come down here,
    and I hope we can work together and work something out. I'll do my best.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:15 a.m. in the Cabinet Room at the White
    House following a meeting with the economic team. In his remarks, he
    referred to Pakistani Gen. Pervez Musharraf, army chief of staff, who
    led a coup d'etat in Pakistan on October 12. A tape was not available
    for verification of the content of these remarks.