[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
[September 4, 1999]
[Pages 1487-1488]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



The President's Radio Address
September 4, 1999

    Good morning. I'm speaking to you today from Waterman Elementary 
School in Skaneateles, New York, where children, like those all across 
America, are now getting back to the basics of reading, writing, and 
arithmetic.
    When we took office in 1993, Vice President Gore and I charted a new 
economic course for America that took Washington back to basics: budget 
discipline, expanded trade, investment in our people. Today we received 
more good news that this strategy is working. The latest economic report 
shows that unemployment has now dropped to 4.2 percent, the lowest rate 
since January of 1970. In the last 6\1/2\ years, we've created 19.4 
million new jobs, the longest peacetime expansion and the largest budget 
surplus in history. With this good news, it is more clear than ever that 
the course we've charted for the economy is right for America. Now we 
must use this moment of great promise to meet our large, long-term 
challenges: to increase opportunity and responsibility for our citizens 
and to strengthen our national community.
    Making the most of this moment requires us to meet the challenges of 
the aging of America by saving Social Security and strengthening and 
modernizing Medicare with a prescription drug coverage. It requires us 
to secure America's long-term prosperity by paying down our debt and 
getting new investment to areas still untouched by our recovery, and it 
requires us to continue to pursue an ambitious course to give

[[Page 1488]]

all our children a world-class education; more and better prepared 
teachers; modernized schools connected to the Internet; a new commitment 
to higher standards, to ending social promotion, to more after-school 
and summer school programs, to ending Federal subsidies for failure, and 
for supporting proven strategies for turning around schools that aren't 
working. That, too, is the right course for America.
    The risky tax plan passed by the majority in Congress is not the 
right course for America, and it would make it impossible to pursue 
these other objectives. I don't believe we should squander our surplus 
after being in debt for 30 years and quadrupling our national debt in 
just 12. I don't think we should do something that would imperil our 
prosperity or jeopardize our children's future--by forcing crippling 
cuts in education, by failing to add a single day to the life of Social 
Security and Medicare, by failing to seize this opportunity to get 
America out of debt for the first time since 1835--or to give more 
investment to those communities that need it so much: the cities, the 
small towns, the rural areas left behind.
    Instead, we can meet our most pressing national priorities and still 
have sensible tax cuts and extend our prosperity into the places it has 
yet to reach. That's the plan I have proposed. I believe that's what the 
American people want, and that's what I'll work with Congress, with 
members of both parties, to achieve.
    So as America goes back to school and Congress returns from its 
summer recess, our elected representatives have this big assignment and 
other important ones, as well. First, we must show we have learned the 
lessons of Littleton. To protect our children, Congress must pass 
commonsense measures to prevent youth violence and keep guns out of the 
wrong hands.
    Now, a full month has passed since House and Senate conferees met to 
work on this legislation; nearly 5 months since the shootings at 
Columbine. I'm still waiting, and America is still waiting for Congress 
to act. It shouldn't take another tragedy to shake them from the summer 
slumber.
    Today I'm sending a letter to the Republican leadership urging 
Congress to take immediate action to send me a balanced bipartisan 
juvenile crime bill that closes the gun show loophole, requires child 
safety locks for guns, and bans the importation of large-capacity 
ammunition clips. If Congress passes it, I'll sign it.
    To protect the 160 million Americans who rely on managed care, 
Congress should pass a strong, enforceable Patients' Bill of Rights. 
There's a bipartisan bill ready for action. The American Medical 
Association has endorsed it. So have more than 200 other medical and 
consumer organizations. It's high time for Congress to act, and if 
Congress passes it, I'll sign it.
    With the number of students at historic levels, Congress should make 
the investments in education our children deserve. Here again 
legislation is ready. As part of my balanced budget, I've proposed to 
build new schools and fix old ones across our land. Congress should pass 
the proposal and fulfill the commitment it made last year to hire 
100,000 well-prepared teachers to reduce class size in the early grades. 
Congress should also pass my proposal to stop social promotion and 
provide more funds for after-school and summer school programs and to 
turn around failing schools. If Congress passes these important 
educational measures, I'll sign them.
    Maintaining our prosperity, paying down the debt, saving Social 
Security and Medicare, protecting our children, protecting patients' 
rights, bringing success to struggling communities and to all our 
children--these are big assignments. But in every one of these areas, 
there is legislation ready for approval, ready for my signature, as soon 
as Congress proves it's ready to act.
    If we work together in the weeks and months ahead, we can make this 
season not only one of action but of real achievement for the American 
people.
    Thanks for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at noon on September 3 at Belle H. 
Waterman Elementary School in Skaneateles, NY, for broadcast at 10:06 
a.m. on September 4. The transcript was made available by the Office of 
the Press Secretary on September 3 but was embargoed for release until 
the broadcast.