[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
[October 1, 1999]
[Pages 1645-1647]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks on the Nuclear Accident in Japan and Social Security and an
Exchange With Reporters
October 1, 1999
The President. Good morning. This morning before I leave for
California, I would like to talk about two issues briefly; first, the
tragic nuclear accident in Japan. I have just spoken with Prime Minister
Obuchi to express our sympathy to those who
have been affected, and our readiness to help in any way we can.
He told me the Japanese authorities have
been able to bring the situation under control, and he thanked me for
the outpouring of support from the United States. Over the last day
we've been providing information to Japan on our experiences in dealing
with similar incidents in the United States, and making available our
experts in atmospheric monitoring and any other areas that might be
useful.
Secretary Richardson has been meeting
with his counterparts in Russia and discussing ways we can all
coordinate our assistance with them. Japan has been our friend and our
ally, and we're ready to work together to address the situation and to
prevent future accidents.
I would also like to talk about a new important step we're taking to
help more Americans make their retirement years more secure. Through war
and peace, from recession to expansion, our Nation has always fulfilled
its obligation to older Americans. Thankfully, it's hard to remember the
time when growing old usually meant growing poor. It seems impossible to
believe, but in many cases, retirement before Social Security meant
being sent off to long, lonely years of dependence. The normal aches of
aging were accompanied by the unbearable pain of becoming a burden on
one's children. That's why Social Security means so much to the life of
our Nation. For almost 65 years now it's been an unshakable covenant
among generations, between workers and retirees, between the disabled
and the able bodied.
But too many Americans, when planning their retirement, take too
little account of Social Security. Of course it's hard to fully plan for
tomorrow if you don't know where you stand today. Most Americans receive
annual statements of their earnings, their savings, and their private
pensions. Until today, however, they've never received annual statements
on Social Security, the largest source of income for many, many elderly
Americans.
I am pleased to announce that today the Social Security
Administration is launching a new effort to help workers know what they
can plan on, what they can count on, and if need be, what they can rely
on during retirement. One hundred twenty-five million American can now
look forward to annual estimates of their Social Security benefits. The
first half million mailings go out today. This new Social Security
statement will help more Americans understand what Social Security means
to them. It will form a vital part of any family's financial planning
and help more Americans chart a course to retirement that is clear and
secure.
For many Americans Social Security, along with savings and pensions,
is the foundation of retirement security. It's a rock-solid guarantee.
In this time of prosperity we have our best chance yet to see that it
remains so. I hope we will do so and extend the life of the Social
Security Trust Fund. I will continue to do all I can, not only to
strengthen Social Security but also to strengthen and reform Medicare
for the next century, to fulfill our obligation not
[[Page 1646]]
only to our older Americans but to their children and their
grandchildren. Thank you very much.
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Q. Mr. President, do you believe the FBI is being operated
professionally, and what makes you think that?
The President. Well, do you already know the answer? [Laughter]
Q. You made a comment about it the other day.
The President. No, I think--I made a comment, I believe, in the
context of the Waco situation. And there is now a provision for Senator
Danforth to look into it. I think that was
the appropriate thing to do. That was, of course, agreed on by both the
Attorney General and Director of the FBI. And I think that is the way that it should proceed.
Several years ago, as you know, the FBI director was set up in a
different way by Congress, given a term of years, and essentially, I
think, it was designed to insulate it more from the executive branch
generally, although the Attorney General clearly still has supervisory
responsibilities there. And I think that under these circumstances what
I have said is all I should say. And I think that both Mr. Freeh and the Attorney General did
the right thing in asking for this independent review. I don't think
there is much more to say about it.
Republican Budget Proposal
Q. Mr. President, what do you make of Governor Bush's comments that
House Republican leaders should not balance the budget on the backs of
the proof?
The President. Well, I was delighted to see that he, or that any prominent Republican, finally had joined our
position on this. We've been saying this since the proposal was first
floated. What they propose to do is unconscionable, and basically,
instead of those people getting their tax returns on time like other
Americans do, they would get it once a month, and it would cost them a
lot of money not only in--they would actually lose some money and then
the rest of the money they would get much later in the year. I think
it's wrong, and I intend to do everything I can to stop it. And I
believe I can stop it.
But I will also say, as I said yesterday, that this is a difficult
thing for the Republicans because unlike us, they don't want to provide
reasonable offsets so that we can begin this year to segregate the
Social Security surplus from the general revenue surplus and not dip
into the Social Security surplus any more. That requires good, firm
decisions with reasonable offsets, and we've given them to the Congress.
And I hope that the reaction across the country to their idea to raise
taxes on the poor will provoke them to reconsider the offsets we have
offered.
Let me emphasize again, however, that this only underscores my
judgment that I did the right thing in vetoing their tax cut. They can't
even pay for this year's spending without getting into the Social
Security surplus. They certainly couldn't pay for this year's spending,
the spending it will necessitate in the years to come, and the tax cut
on top of that.
Japanese Nuclear Accident
Q. Mr. President, are you confident that the kind of accident that
happened in Japan can't happen here in America, or do you think that
some additional steps need to be taken?
The President. Well, I've asked our people to look at that, the
appropriate authorities, to take a look at that. We had a similar
incident in this country, I was informed yesterday, I think about 30
years ago. I think that's right. I wish I had the specifics. But we had
a general conversation about it, and I said that I thought that we ought
to have all of our people learn everything we could about what happened
there, analyze our systems here, and make sure we've done everything we
can to protect ourselves.
There was a pretty good level of confidence that we had done that,
yesterday. But I think that when something like this happens we realize
we live in a world where perfection eludes us, and we've got to keep
working on this. So that's what I've asked to be done.
I also think, by the way though if I could just reemphasize, that
this should again sensitize us to the importance of issues of nuclear
safety. And if I could just mention one; once again I'm in a dispute
with a majority of Members of Congress over this Yucca Mountain Facility
in Nevada. And my feeling that at the time it was selected, there was
some science in there but perhaps some politics, too, since Nevada is a
small State and I have wanted not to see this issue politicized but to
bend over backwards to make sure we do everything we can to deal
[[Page 1647]]
with the nuclear safety issue before we adopt this course. I still feel
that way.
I hope that generally all Americans will want to see us proceed in
every area where we're dealing with nuclear safety.
Social Security and Federal Spending
Q. Mr. President, given the political cross-fire over dipping into
the Social Security surplus fund why don't you take the lead and invite
GOP leaders down to the White House to discuss reasonable offsets and,
as a last resort if need be, agree to spend money together?
The President. Well, I am certainly willing to talk to them, and we
are, as I'm sure you know, we're trying to keep the lines of
communication open. And I hope that there will come a time when we can
get the leaders of both parties in Congress together and agree on a
future course. I think that is important.
But they have to be also willing to have that sort of discussion
first, and we're working on it. I'm very hopeful that they will decide
that, as is usually the case in the United States, that doing the right
thing for the American people is the best politics.
They have decided that the right thing to do is to spend money that
goes beyond the budget caps of '97, which is certainly understandable,
particularly in the Medicare area, that they are too tight and that it
would go beyond what the non-Social Security surplus is. As I said
yesterday, that has been the case at least since 1983 when the last
Social Security reform was done and the revenues of Social Security came
in, but no one really noticed it because we were always running a
deficit.
Then the Congress decided, and I agreed, that it would be a good
thing, since we now project surpluses, to segregate out these two.
That's a good thing. But they found out that they had committed to do it
a year before they could do that and meet their spending goals.
So, there are three choices here. Either really do harm to the
country by not making some of these investments, which they don't want
to do and I don't either; or cut some things that I think would be a big
mistake, like education or our responsibilities around the world; or
find reasonable offsets; or otherwise make a principled agreement and
tell the American people what we're doing; or look for the gimmicks.
And I think they've got to move away from the--they chose the third
alternative, gimmicks plus television ads, to try to blame us for doing
what they are, in fact, doing. And I just think that's a mistake. I am
perfectly willing to work with them and talk with them and tell the
American people, whatever decision we wind up making, what we did and
why if we can reach a principled agreement.
Yesterday, at least, it looked to me like they wanted to stick with
the course they're on. I think it's a big mistake, and I think
eventually we'll get where we need to go and do the right thing. And
they will find when we do, that politically it's almost always the best
politics to do the right by the country.
Florida A&M Bombings
Q. You've been sounding out against terrorism, and there is a quiet
story coming out of Florida, Florida A&M. Have you heard about the
bombings at Florida A&M? And there is supposedly a conclusion today to
that situation. What are your thoughts? There have been several bombings
at Florida A&M.
The President. Well, I would like to know more about the source of
them, whether they're racially motivated, whether they're politically
motivated. When I do, then I think I should make a statement. Obviously
we deplore violence of any kind and bombings, by their very nature, are
terroristic. But I would like to know more about what the roots of it
are or what we believe they are, and then I will be glad to say more.
Q. Were you made aware of the incidents before this week?
The President. Just in the general way that you've described them,
but no more.
Thank you.
Note: The President spoke at 9:59 a.m. on the South Lawn at the White
House prior to departure for Las Vegas, NV. In his remarks, he referred
to Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi of Japan; former Senator John C.
Danforth, Special Counsel investigating the Justice Department's role in
the 1993 siege in Waco, TX; and Gov. George W. Bush of Texas. A portion
of the exchange could not be verified because the tape was incomplete.