    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
    [October 6, 1999]
    [Pages 1689-1690]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on the Legislative Agenda
    October 6, 1999

        Good afternoon. I want to say a few brief words about three critical
    issues now pending before Congress. There have been major developments
    on all of them in the last 24 hours that demand our attention and the
    attention of the American people.
        First, yesterday's defeat of Ronnie White's nomination for the Federal district court judgeship in
    Missouri was a disgraceful act of partisan politics. Once again, this
    creates a real doubt about the Senate's ability to fairly perform its
    constitutional duty to advise and consent.
        Unfortunately, by voting down the first African-American
    judge, who was already serving--the first
    African-American judge to serve on the Missouri State Supreme Court, the
    Republican-

    [[Page 1690]]

    controlled Senate is adding credence to the perceptions that they treat
    minority and women judicial nominees unfairly and unequally.
        I would just point out that that strict party-line vote included
    Republicans who had previously voted in the Judiciary Committee to
    recommend him to the full Senate.
        I hope the Senate leadership will reverse this course and begin to
    provide timely and fair consideration of all judicial nominees. In
    particular, I ask the Senate to act on the nominations of Marsha
    Berzon and Richard Paez, who has been held up for years now. They're both excellent
    candidates for the ninth circuit and have been waiting for quite some
    time to receive a vote from the Senate.
        Meanwhile, I will continue to fulfill my obligations to nominate and
    press for the confirmation of the most qualified candidates possible for
    the Federal bench.
        The second thing I want to talk about is congressional action on the
    Patients' Bill of Rights. Today was supposed to be the day the American
    people have long waited for, the day a bipartisan majority passed a
    strong Patients' Bill of Rights. Now, the Republican leadership knows
    there is a majority for that bill. But unfortunately, as a result of an
    11th hour appeal by the insurance industry lobbyists, which all of you
    reported on yesterday, once again it appears that the will of the
    American people will be thwarted.
        In the dead of the night last night the House leaders concocted a
    process filled with enough poison pills and legislative sleights of hand
    to practically guarantee the defeat of this bill. This is a travesty.
    It's the sort of thing they did to kill commonsense gun legislation in
    the aftermath of Littleton. The American people want something; there is
    a bipartisan majority for it; the leadership makes a deal with the
    special interest and figures out some procedural way to tie everything
    up in knots to keep it from passing.
        Now, a bipartisan majority is poised to pass this bill. But now they
    are being blocked by legislative tactics concocted by the leadership
    that blatantly put special interests ahead of the interests of the
    American people.
        What is the result of this? The Republican leadership would ensure
    that the American people will have to wait for the right to see a
    specialist, wait for the right to have access to the nearest emergency
    room care, wait for the right to stay with their health care provider
    throughout a course of cancer treatment or pregnancy, wait for the right
    to hold their health plan accountable for harmful decisions.
        Again, I ask the bipartisan majority who favor the Patients' Bill of
    Rights: Don't make them wait. Reject these tactics. Insist that the
    leadership allow a fair up or down vote on the Norwood-Dingell bill.
    Insist on an up or down vote on a bill that is comprehensive,
    enforceable, and paid for. Don't let this 11th hour gimmick kill 2 years
    of hard work for something the overwhelming majority of Americans of all
    political persuasions know we need to do.
        The American people deserve more than partisan posturing and
    legislative gamesmanship on an issue this vital. The people who think
    it's the wrong thing to do ought to just stand up on the floor and vote
    against it. But they know they're in the minority; they shouldn't be
    able to pull some 11th hour deal that keeps the vote from coming out the
    way a majority want it to come out.
        Let me say, finally, we also should proceed with our actions to
    protect Americans from the threat of nuclear weapons. Later this
    afternoon, I'll meet here at the White House with Nobel laureates,
    former Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and others on the
    Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. I fervently believe, as all of you know,
    that this treaty will restrain the spread of nuclear weapons, while
    enabling us to maintain the effectiveness of our nuclear arsenal.
        As you know, there are discussions between Republicans and Democrats
    on the Hill about a better process for deliberating on this important
    treaty. After 2 long years of inaction, one week is very little time for
    considered action. The Chemical Weapons Convention, for example, that we
    ratified in 1997, had 14 full days of hearings in the Senate Foreign
    Relations Committee after a long process of negotiations. But for now,
    the vote is scheduled for Tuesday, and I will continue to aggressively
    argue to the Senate and to the American people that this is in our
    national interests.
        And I will have a little more to say about this later today at the
    other event.

    Note: The President spoke at 12:10 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White
    House.