[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
[November 8, 1999]
[Pages 2014-2025]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks in an On-Line Townhall Meeting
November 8, 1999
The President. More than 60 years ago, at the dawn of another era of
great change, President Franklin Roosevelt told our Nation ``new
conditions impose new requirements on Government and those who conduct
Government.'' From that simple proposition, Roosevelt shaped the New
Deal, which helped to restore our Nation to prosperity and to define the
relationship between the American people and their Government for 50
years.
Now, as we move into the information age, we have reclaimed that
true legacy of Franklin Roosevelt by making a real commitment to bold
experimentation, to the idea that new times demand new approaches and a
different kind of Government.
This evening is a perfect example. As Al said, like FDR's fireside
chats and President Kennedy's live press conferences on television, the
first Presidential townhall meeting on the Internet taps the most modern
technology for old-fashioned communication between the American people
and their President.
Tonight's event is exciting not only because of the technology
involved in its execution but, on a larger scale, for the unbridled
potential it represents. You know, when I became President, in January
of 1993, the Internet was the province of scientists funded by
Government research projects. Back then, there were only 130 sites on
the Web, only 1.3 million computers connected to the Internet. Today,
over 56 million computers are connected to the Internet, and there are
3.6 million websites. And we're adding new pages at the rate of over
100,000 an hour.
Since 1993, our administration has worked hard to unleash the power
of information technology and to bridge the digital divide. Vice
President Gore and I set a goal of connecting every classroom and
library to the Internet, and we've come a long way. The number of
classrooms connected to the Internet has increased from 4 percent in
1994 to 51 percent in 1998 with the E-rate providing over $2 billion to
help connect all our schools and libraries to the Internet. That's just
the kind of thing Vice President Gore and I came to office to do, to
replace outmoded and failed ideas of the past with a new vision for the
role of Government in the 21st century.
In the early 1990's, long-neglected economic and social problems had
piled up. Unemployment and welfare were high. Crime was spiraling;
virtually no one believed it could be stopped. Poverty was growing. The
real wages of working families were steadily falling. There were
deficits as far as the eye could see. Our debt had quadrupled in just 12
years, and some experts were telling us that we couldn't really solve
our problems, that Government at best was useless and at worst was the
source of all of our problems.
Now, for too long, I felt that both our parties had put ideology
above ideas that actually worked. And the American people too often
[[Page 2015]]
were presented by Washington with false choices, choosing between work
and family, between growing the economy and cleaning up the environment,
between helping business and helping working people, between being safer
or maintaining freedom, between what makes us different as a people and
what makes us equal before the law and in the eyes of God. For too long
Government seemed to either try to solve all of our problems or to use
the failures of Government as an excuse to do nothing at all.
Now, it was in this environment that the New Democratic movement,
which had been developing for nearly a decade by 1992, or what has now
become known as the Third Way, began in earnest. We believe, like
Franklin Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson and Abraham
Lincoln before him, that new conditions demand a new approach to
Government. We said, in 1992, we want opportunity for all, but we also
want responsibility from all our citizens, in a community of all
Americans.
It was clear to Vice President Gore and to me that we couldn't meet
the challenges of our new century by returning to the past but that we
also had to overcome the great neglect of the 1980's. We also knew that
we needed a new kind of Government which focused not on neglect or
solving all the problems, but instead on giving our citizens the tools
and conditions they needed to make the most of their own lives. And at
the same time, we had to challenge our own citizens to take a far more
active role by serving in our communities and shaping our Nation's
future.
Because of our commitment to Third Way principles and the hard work
of the American people, our country has made a dramatic transformation.
Over the last 6\1/2\ years, the American people have created almost 20
million new jobs with rising wages, the longest peacetime expansion in
history, the highest homeownership ever, a 30-year low in unemployment,
a 32-year low in welfare, a 30-year low in the crime rate, the first
back-to-back balanced budgets in 42 years, with growing projected
surpluses for years to come. And all of this while we were shrinking and
reinventing the Government so that it is now the smallest it's been
since John Kennedy was here in the White House in 1962.
And I'm trying to continue that process by passing a budget that
honors our values and our commitment in the future, with 100,000 new
teachers for smaller classes, 50,000 new community police officers to
keep the crime rate coming down, stronger efforts to protect and
preserve our environment and to meet our responsibilities abroad.
The world is starting to take notice of what's happening here and
where we're headed. Now Third Way ideas are influencing governance in
Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Brazil, to name just a few.
In closing, let me say that now we have to use the progress we've
made and the new tools of Government and technology at our fingertips to
meet the big challenges of the 21st century: the aging of America; the
largest and most diverse group of schoolchildren we've ever known;
extending our prosperity to people in places who haven't felt it yet;
genuinely meeting the challenges of the new environment; making the most
of biotechnology; getting this country out of debt for the first time
since 1835; and continuing to be the world's major force for peace and
freedom and against technology that proliferates nuclear weapons and
biological and chemical weapons and against terrorism.
But more important than any of that, we have to find a way in this
most modern of worlds to use our new knowledge and our new technology as
forces for unity, not division. We have to usher in a new age of genuine
enlightenment where we are coming together as a people across all the
lines that divide us. That's why I've worked for things like the
employment nondiscrimination act and the hate crimes legislation; why
I've done as much as I could to end wars and killing and conflict based
on religious or racial or ethnic hatred around the world, from the
Balkans to the Middle East to Northern Ireland to Africa.
We believe that this can be a unifying age. We can celebrate our
diversity, all the differences. We can respect those genuine differences
of opinion as long as we understand that what unites us, our common
humanity, is the most important thing of all.
Now I'd like to turn it back to Al and get on
with the questions.
[Democratic Leadership Council President Al From,
who hosted the townhall discussion, read questions submitted on the
Internet]
[[Page 2016]]
Prescription Medication
Q. My wife and I are both disabled, with two teenaged children. Our
medication expenses take a very large amount of our monthly Social
Security income. Will Medicare ever pay for medications?
The President. Well, the answer to that is, I certainly hope so, and
I have proposed it.
As a part of our reform of the Medicare system, to deal with the
fact that we're going to double the number of people over 65 within 30
years and increasing numbers of people with disabilities will have
access to Medicare, I recommended a lot of changes that will actually
save some money in the system but also providing a prescription drug
option which would be completely voluntary.
Three-quarters of the disabled and seniors on Medicare don't have
access to an affordable, adequate prescription drug program. If we were
designing the program again today, given the role that prescription
medication has in our lives now, as compared with 34 years ago when
Medicare was established, we would certainly not even set it up without
prescription medication.
We should do it. We should do it as quickly as possible. And we can
afford to do it in the budget that I presented and still get the country
out of debt in 15 years.
So I hope that next year--Congress is--the Republican majority has
refused to deal with it this year. I certainly hope they'll deal with it
next year. And maybe the fact it's an election year will make them more
interested in doing so.
Health Care Reform
Q. What else can you do in your Presidential term to help the common
people to have health care reform before you leave office?
The President. Well, let me just mention two things very quickly.
First, we ought to pass the Patients' Bill of Rights to protect people
who are in HMO's with the quality of their health care, the right to see
a specialist, the right to the nearest emergency room. And we ought to
have privacy in medical records. We ought to have a requirement that--
and I think we'll get this, by the way--that people who are disabled who
get Medicaid can go to work and not lose their Government health
insurance. And we now have the funds available to sign up 5 million or
more children of lower income working people, working families, on
health care. We ought to try to do that.
Now one other thing we can do is to get more States to try to let
more and more working families buy into the Medicaid system. Tennessee
was the first State to do this, and they immediately got up over 90
percent of their people with health insurance. And we're working to try
to persuade more States to do this. Then we can provide the Medicaid
money, and you can work out, State-by-State, how much people pay for the
premiums.
Those are just some of the things that I think we can do in my term.
Now in the coming election season, I hope all the candidates will be
required to talk about this because, as you know, I think it's terrible
that America has so many people without health insurance who are working
for a living. And I said back in '94 that if we didn't do something
about it, the number would only increase, and that's exactly what's
happened.
So there are some things we can do now. Some things you'll probably
have to debate in the 2000 election.
Funding Higher Education
Q. How do you feel about the need for less expensive higher
education?
The President. Well, you've got to be for that. I mean, everybody's
for less expensive higher education. But what I'd like to emphasize is
what we have done, because I think that a lot of Americans do not know
that in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, we created something called the
HOPE scholarship, which is a $1,500 tax credit for the first 2 years of
college. We also have more generous Pell grants; we have better student
loan programs. You can now borrow money through a Government loan
program and pay it back at lower interest rates and as a percentage of
your income, no matter how much you borrow.
So college is, as a practical matter, less expensive than it has
been in many, many years because of the assistance programs that are out
there. And I would urge you to look and make sure you know about every
single one for which you might be eligible.
[The discussion continued.]
Gun Control Legislation
Q. What kind of laws would you like to see Congress pass concerning
gun control?
[[Page 2017]]
The President. Well, first, Greg, let me say that one of the first
laws I signed in 1993 was the Brady law, which requires background
checks for people who buy guns in gun stores. The NRA and the others who
opposed this said it wouldn't do any good, but now, in 1999, we've had
400,000 people who haven't been able to get guns because of their
criminal records or other problems. And the murder rate's at a 31-year
low.
So what else would I like to see? I would like to see us close the
loophole in the background check law by saying there will also be
background checks for guns sold at gun shows and at flea markets. I
would like to see more done to limit the importation of big ammunition
clips, because we banned assault weapons, but there are still loopholes
in that law. I think the Brady law ought to be extended to juveniles who
commit serious offenses. I don't think they ought to be able to get
handguns. And I think these are very important.
Now, you may know that in the Presidential election, I think both
the Democratic Presidential candidates, Vice President Gore and Senator Bradley,
have recommended that people who buy handguns at least have to get a
license like you get a driver's license, to show that you know how to
use the gun safely and that your background's been checked. And I think
there's some real merit to that, and that's something the American
people are going to have a chance to be heard on.
But we've got the lowest crime rate in 30 years. But we ought not to
quit until we're the safest big country in the world. And we won't be
until we have reasonable restrictions to keep guns out of the wrong
hands. They don't interfere with hunting or sport shooting. And there's
more we can do. I'm strongly committed to it, and I hope you will be,
too.
Funding for Research and Development
Q. Where do you see the Federal Government's role heading in funding
non-defense research in science and technology?
The President. Well, most of that is done at the National Institutes
of Health, at the Energy Department. It's done in universities through
Federal grants. And I believe we ought to see a dramatic increase of
that.
Essentially, if you look at the last few years, Congress has been
good about increasing funding for NIH, not so good about increasing
funding for environmental research and other non-defense areas. So good
on the health care, not so good on the rest. We need more on the rest.
[The discussion continued.]
The Digital Divide
Q. As Government makes it services available via the Internet, how
will this affect people who are not computer literate or connected? Will
the non-techies be accommodated?
The President. First of all, this is a good question because this
illustrates the problem of the so-called digital divide. And the answer
to your question is: Number one, we will continue to provide services in
non-computer options; and number two, we'll continue to do things to
bridge the digital divide. We're trying to hook up all the classrooms
and libraries to the Internet by the year 2000. We have community
computer centers that we are establishing around the country, where
we're trying to make access to computers more universal.
But I will say this: I think we should also be trying to get people
who aren't computer literate to be computer literate and then to have
access to the technology, because I believe if we have the same density
of computer and Internet access that we have of telephone access, that
would dramatically improve the economic prospects for a lot of Americans
and, I might add, a lot of people around the world.
So we have to keep providing the services in non-Internet, non-
computer ways. But I think we also ought to try to get more people
hooked up. And we're doing both.
[The discussion continued.]
The President. Let me just make one other point before we go on to
another question, to go back to my point that we ought to try not only
to provide the services for people who aren't computer literate or
connected in ways they can access--of course, we have to do that--but
why we should try to get more people connected and more people computer
literate.
I was out in Silicon Valley in the last few weeks where the number
of people from eBay, which all of you know is a remarkable trading
company--I learned that in addition to the employees of eBay, some
20,000 people now make a living on eBay just trading. That's the way
they make a living. And a lot of them used to be on welfare. So this
technology is getting
[[Page 2018]]
more and more user-friendly. And I think that if we continue to work
toward making it more and more universal, you will create lots of more
economic opportunities which will be good for the overall economy and
good for people who, today, are kind of non-techies, to use your word.
Class Size
Q. Mr. President, how are you going to decrease the class sizes with
the vast shortage of teachers?
The President. I think the most important thing that the Federal
Government can do is to give the States the money to continue our class
size initiative. Last year the Congress approved a proposal of mine to
make a downpayment on putting 100,000 more teachers in our schools,
concentrated on reducing class size in the early grades, because we know
from lots of research that that increases educational achievement long
term. This year Congress is seeking to reverse that commitment, for
reasons I do not entirely understand. And I am fighting to keep it,
along with the Democrats in our caucus in the House and Senate. I'm
hoping that we'll have a successful resolution of this.
But you should know that--maybe you do know, since you asked the
question--We have the largest number of schoolchildren in our history,
the first group bigger than the baby boomers, over the last 2 years.
It's the most diverse group in our history. And about 2 million teachers
are going to retire over the next few years. So it's important right now
to get these teachers in there that are well-trained and to get them in
the early grades.
Now, there's a lot of flexibility in this program. So if class size
is already small, this money can be used to retrain teachers, to upgrade
their skills, and other things. But the most important thing that we can
do to reduce class size is to put 100,000 more teachers in the
classroom. That's the main thing I'm fighting for in the remaining
budget struggles here in Washington.
That's a good question.
Tax Relief
Q. I would like to know what programs are going to be cut to provide
for some of the much-needed tax relief, starting with the marriage
penalty.
The President. Well, what you have to do basically to provide tax
relief under our system, the rules that we operate up here, is to figure
out what it costs over 10 years and then to slow the rate of growth of
other programs. Now, what I did was to present a budget to the Congress
which would allocate, as I recall, about $250 billion to tax relief over
a decade. And we slowed the rate of growth of everything else to
accommodate that, including defense, where we still were going to have
real increases.
Congress passed a $792 billion tax program, and I vetoed that
because I said we couldn't pay for it. And then they proceeded to spend
more money than I recommended in this year's budget, in different ways
but more money.
So the truth is, you don't have to have any big cuts to pay for,
let's say, marriage penalty relief or something like that, that is
clearly affordable. All you have to do is to make a decision now that
you will manage the rate of growth of all the other expenditures to
accommodate the tax relief.
And I still think we ought to have modest tax relief package. I will
try again next to pass one, and I will be flexible in working with the
Congress on what the contents of the package are. But we just have to
make sure that it's something we can afford and still pay down the debt,
save Social Security and Medicare, and continue to invest in education
and the environment and in research and technology.
Young People and Politics
Q. Mr. President, what would you recommend to high school students
who want to get involved in the political process?
The President. Well, I think I would recommend two or three things.
First of all, I would recommend that you get involved in the 2000
election. You know, with all the technology and all the television ads
and all the money that's raised and spent in elections, candidates still
need volunteers. And I think you ought to pick someone who is running,
either for President or Governor or Senator or maybe a local office,
maybe mayor in your hometown, that you believe in and show up and
volunteer and learn everything you can about how the electoral process
works, what the issues are, and you'll also learn about different kinds
of people and human nature. Secondly, I think you ought to pick an issue
you care about in your school and get involved in that. And then the
third thing that I would strongly recommend is that you try to make sure
you're as well-informed as possible, by accessing information on the
[[Page 2019]]
Internet or your local newspaper or however else you want to do it.
But I think that those three things, together, will give you a
chance to really get started. And it's not too soon for you to get
started, to start working in politics. And I thank you for your
interest.
[The discussion continued.]
Livability Agenda
The President. If I could just say, Al, the mayor said a lot of good
things, but one of the things he said that I'd like to highlight is that
they're using computer technology to help manage traffic patterns and
alleviate congestion. That is one of the elements in Vice President
Gore's livability agenda we're trying to
pass through Congress, not just preserving more green space in urban
areas but actually using the most up-to-date technology to give people
some freedom, give them back some of their time by minimizing traffic
congestion and waiting.
I mean, it's becoming a bigger and bigger issue for Americans both
in their cars on the street and, unfortunately, in their airports and in
their airplanes. So I think anything we can do to give people back time
is enhancing their freedom dramatically. And I think that more and more
public officials will have to focus on this.
Y2K Readiness
Q. Mr. President, if you were an ordinary citizen, would you save a
little food for Y2K? [Laughter]
The President. You know, we've had so many jokes about that, about
taking our pickups to Arizona and all. The answer is, no. America is--
[laughter]--I wouldn't, because I think America is in good shape. We
have worked very, very hard on this. I want to thank the Vice
President and John Koskinen, who's helped us. I want to thank all the big--the
financial institutions, the utilities, the other big sectors in our
economy that have gotten Y2K-ready.
The only problems left in the United States that we're aware of are
with some of our small businesses who basically haven't yet made sure
that they're Y2K compliant. But the United States is doing fine, and I
wouldn't hoard food, and I wouldn't hide. I would be trusting, because I
think we're going to make it fine.
Internet and E-Commerce
Q. How can citizens be assured that the Internet will not become
another political ploy that is harmed rather than helped by politicians?
The President. It's a good question. What we're trying to do, I can
tell you, is to protect E-commerce, because it's growing so fast. And I
signed legislation that would prohibit taxation on Internet transactions
for several years. And I think we need to continue to work. So the first
thing you can do as a citizen is to try to protect E-commerce, to let it
grow, to let it flourish, to let all the jobs be created, the businesses
be created, because of this incredible thing.
Then I think, in terms of objectionable material on the Internet,
how do you keep the freedom and the creativity of the Internet without
having children too exposed? I think the answer to that is to support
the efforts that are being made by many in the industry now to give
parents appropriate screening and other technologies, so that you
continue to have creativity and growth on the Internet and parents can
still do their jobs. I think those are the two most important things.
[The discussion continued.]
Presidential Term Limits
Q. Mr. President, would you like to serve another term in office,
like you can in the U.K.? Maybe you ought to talk to Tony Blair about
that. [Laughter]
The President. Well, I love the job, and I would continue to do it
if I could. But we've had a two-term system here ever since President
Truman's time, and I respect it, and I honor it. And so I'll try to find
some way to be useful to my country and to the causes I believe in
around the world when I leave the White House. But I love it, and I
would not willingly give up any day of the opportunity to serve as
President.
AmeriCorps
Q. Will future administrations be able to continue the support for
the AmeriCorps program?
The President. You know, for people who are on this hookup who don't
know what AmeriCorps is, we ought to say first what it is. It is a
national service program of local community efforts so that young people
and sometimes not-so-young people of all ages can give
[[Page 2020]]
a year and with the option of giving the second year of community
service in an AmeriCorps-affiliated program. And we have community
groups; we have church groups and other religious groups; we have all
kinds of groups who are doing good things in their community. And in the
process, they earn credit for college tuition.
So many young people actually do it and use the funds they get from
working in AmeriCorps over and above their living stipend to go on to
school. And we've had 150,000 young Americans serve in 6 years. To give
you some basis for comparison, it took the Peace Corps 20 years to get
100,000 volunteers.
So AmeriCorps is changing America for the better. I believe it has
broad bipartisan support and, therefore, I think future administrations
will be able to continue to support it. I would like to see us get up to
where we have at least 250,000 people a year in it, because I think you
could get that many people who want to serve. But at least insofar as
funding become available, I'd like to see it continue to expand. It's a
wonderful, wonderful thing.
[The discussion continued.]
The President. Before we go on, I'd just like to reiterate for the
people who are interested in this subject, that thanks to Kathleen
Kennedy Townsend, Maryland is the
only State in America which presently requires young people to engage in
community service as a part of their course study. In order to get a
high school diploma, you've got to do some community service. Now, some
of us know of specific schools that require that, but Maryland is the
only State that requires it.
Twelve years ago the former Republican Governor of New Jersey Tom
Kean and I were on a middle school study task force
for the Carnegie Corporation, and we recommended that community service
ought to be a requirement, an academic requirement. It's part of
learning to be a good citizen. It's part of an education. And I'd like
to see most States follow Maryland's lead.
[The discussion continued.]
School Safety and Youth Violence
Q. I attend a public high school. Considering the events of the past
few years, how can you ensure my safety at school?
The President. Well, first of all, I understand why you're concerned
about it. We've had all these terrible incidents of school shootings.
But I think you should know that, on balance, we have the lowest murder
rate in our country in 31 years and that schools are the safest places
kids can be.
Now what we have to do to ensure that all our schools are safe, are,
number one, have a strict, zero tolerance for weapons in schools. I've
announced a zero tolerance for guns policy several years ago out in
California. We're trying to get every school to adopt it. We had several
thousand young people who were sent home last year and expelled because
they brought guns to school.
Number two, we need a system in every school that identifies kids
who are troubled, who might cause trouble and get some help before they
commit violent acts, whether they're being reported to the authorities,
part of a peer mediation group, getting mental health or other
counseling. I think you have to have a system in which all the kids are
involved in trying to identify people who might be disturbed and might
cause these kinds of problems.
And I think, number three, we have to try to make sure that the
schools that are in high-crime areas, that there is adequate security
there.
So there are lots of things that can be done, but on balance, you
should not believe that you're in more trouble at school than you are
someplace else, because for almost all of our children, they're safer at
school than they would be on their streets or in their neighborhood.
[The discussion continued.]
The President. If I could just say one other thing to Joshua, who
asked this question, and to others who--particularly young people who
might be listening, there. I had a White House Conference on Youth
Violence, and then we set up a national effort on youth violence. If you
or anybody else that's part of this press conference tonight have any
ideas, I want you to send them in. And I can assure you that we will
carefully review them. We will do our best to see whether, if they're
working in someplace, they can be made to work everywhere. If you have
some new ideas, send them to us, because there is hardly anything more
important in the whole country than giving our children
[[Page 2021]]
the safety and security that they and their families need.
So please, we're still working on this. We have a highly
concentrated effort, and we'd like to have your ideas.
[The discussion continued.]
Post-Presidential Plans
Q. Mr. President, what are your plans after you leave the White
House, beside supporting the First Lady for a possible Senate run?
The President. Well, I will certainly support her in any way that I can, and I'm looking forward to
that. But I want to build my library and my public policy center at home
in Arkansas. And then I want to be a useful citizen. I'll do what I can
to support other people, if they ask me to, who are running for office
or when they're in office. But I want to use that public policy center
and the educational programs there to bring in people who are interested
in public service and to advance a lot of these issues I'm interested
in, that I think will have great significance in the future.
For example, how can you maximize the use of technology to bring
educational opportunities to poor people in poor areas in America and
around the world? How can you grow the economy and improve the
environment? How can you use new technologies to prove that we can clean
up the environment, reduce greenhouse gases, and create more jobs? How
can we minimize racial and religious and ethnic and other tensions, both
in our society and around the world?
These things, these big issues I've worked on as President, I want
to find a way to continue to work on at my library and center in a way
that doesn't get in the way of the next President. I don't want to do
that, but I do think I can be a good citizen and help solve a lot of
these problems and continue to move us forward.
Mr. From. Mr. President, do you think the people
who are sending these questions think we're humorless? Because they have
a line on here that says, ``Laughing is permitted.''
The President. I don't know what that means, but I've already been
laughing, so thank you for permission. I never knew we had to give
people permission to laugh, but I'm glad to have it. [Laughter]
Child Care
Q. What are you going to do about the rising cost of child care?
The President. Let me say, this is a huge issue. If you want to
balance work and family in America, you have to have adequate family
leave laws, and then affordable quality child care. And given the fact
that most parents work and the percentage will go up, one of the most
significant issues we have to resolve as a people is how to make people
successful at the same time at home and at work because if you have to
choose between one or the other, the country's going to be badly hurt.
We had a question earlier about an affordable tax cut. One of the
things that I asked the Congress to do was to increase the tax credit
for child care so that we could embrace more people. I've also asked the
Congress to appropriate more money, because right now, we only serve
with Federal subsidies about 10 percent of the working parents who are
eligible for child care help.
So the answer to your question is, we have--at the national level
and at the State level, we ought to be doing more with both tax credits
and with direct subsidies to child care centers to help lower income and
middle income people who otherwise can't find affordable quality child
care. It's a huge issue out there that I don't believe has gotten the
attention it deserves yet. I hope this, too, we'll make progress on,
both next year in Congress and in the Presidential election. I'd like to
see it heavily debated.
[The discussion continued.]
On-Line Townhall Meeting
Q. I commend you, Mr. President, for using the available new
technology to stay in touch with the people. It gives anyone the chance
to speak to the President, truly a shining example of freedom.
[The discussion continued.]
Class Size
Q. What do you think about the fact that in other countries,
classrooms have many more children per teacher, yet they are ranked
higher than the U.S. in education?
The President. Well, I think you have to, first of all, look at what
the differences in those countries and the United States are. Let me
also say, the United States is doing better in
[[Page 2022]]
these international exams. And among the schools that have set high
standards and measure in tests for them, they're doing quite well,
indeed.
But if you look at the countries which can have larger classes and
have higher achievement levels in the early grades, what you will find
is two things. You will find that they are not as diverse as we are,
racially and ethnically and linguistically. And secondly, you will find
that they don't have the same income and other social variations that
you have in American classrooms.
So there is no country in the world with anything like the kind of
diversity we have in the classroom, that has much bigger class sizes and
higher performance. If the kids are more similar, obviously they would
tend to have more similar learning patterns, and you can do things that
sort of routinize the educational system more in the early grades. If
the kids are vastly dissimilar, in terms of family circumstances and,
literally, even language, you need more individual attention in the
early grades.
And all I can say to you is that the American context--we have lots
and lots and lots of research that well-trained teachers and smaller
classes give not only immediate but permanent learning gains. And that's
why I favor doing that.
[The discussion continued.]
Staying in Touch With the People
The President. Mayor, I want
to thank you for that. You know, when I came here in 1993, one of the
things that I promised myself I would do is to try to keep in touch with
the American people, to try to avoid getting out of touch. And I now,
having been President for nearly 7 years, I understand why Presidents
get out of touch, how easy it is to happen. And I do think that this
technology will help more and more Presidents to kind of be accountable
to the American people, stay in touch with them, even in those weeks and
sometimes months when they can't be out of Washington in the States and
communities very much because of the workload here. So this is very,
very hopeful, and I appreciate what you said.
Free and Fair Trade
Q. Do you believe in more open trade between our two countries,* or
are you and your party committed to protectionism more than open trade?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Canada and the United States.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The President. Well, the short answer is, I believe in more open
trade between our two countries. Our two countries have a huge bilateral
trading relationship, the biggest in the world; and it's benefited
Canada; it's benefited the United States. Both of us have among the
highest growth rates in the developed world now. We're both doing real
well.
I would say two things about the trade issue. First of all, it is
true that there are still some people in the Democratic Party who do not
believe that we grow the economy and benefit people through expanding
trade. And that is a difference of opinion we're still having. I will
say this: There is a New Democratic majority, a big one, for almost
every other issue on how to manage the economy, the importance of paying
off the debt, what our education policy ought to be, what our crime
policy ought to be, what our welfare policy ought to be. We don't have,
in my judgment, the right consensus on trade yet, but we're moving in
the right direction. And let me just give you two examples, if I might,
of what we are concerned about with trade.
First of all, the United States, even though we've got a budget
surplus and we're paying down our debt, has, by far, the biggest trade
deficit in the world, because we've tried to keep our markets open. We
think they help us to maintain low inflation and to be sharp and to be
competitive. But if the competition is unfair, if countries can do
things in our markets we can't do in theirs, then we're going to have a
distortion of the trading system, and Americans who shouldn't lose their
jobs will do so. I don't think that's right.
And so, I believe in open trade, but it ought to be fair. I'll give
you just one example. We've won two cases in the World Trade
Organization against the Europeans, one on beef and one on bananas, and
we still can't get any satisfaction. We won the banana case three times.
So it's going to be impossible to sustain support
[[Page 2023]]
for an open trading system if the rules and the rulings are ignored.
Now, the second point I want to make is that we have got to put a
human face on the global economy. As we expand trade, ordinary people
have to benefit and they have to believe we're not destroying the
environment. So I have concluded that we should do more to open up the
trading system to labor and environmental groups, let them be a part of
the development of trading rules and regulations, and have certain
standards for the environment and for labor in these trade agreements. I
think in the end, that's the best way to do it.
We've got to succeed in putting a human face on the global economy
if you want to have broadbased support for it.
[The discussion continued.]
The President. When the Asian financial crisis hit in 1997, we had
been increasing our manufacturing employment, including in steel. But in
the 1980's and early nineties, we lost 60 percent of our employment in
steel. Then we modernized, and we were competitive globally. And other
countries started dumping steel on our markets and throwing people out
of work who were competitive on the global economy. In other words, they
weren't playing by the rules.
So we had antidumping actions, and we worked hard to reverse that
and to restore the imports back to their pre-crisis levels. That doesn't
mean I'm against free trade, but I had to fight for those jobs. And I
can tell you, there are a lot of people out there who don't think we did
enough to do that.
So there will always be difficult questions. But on balance, America
has 4 percent of the world's people, with 22 percent of the world's
income; we've got to sell something to the other 96 percent of the
world. And you don't have to be a mathematical genius to figure out,
therefore, we should be in favor of expanding trade.
[The discussion continued.]
Seattle Round and the Environment
Q. During the WTO summit in Seattle this month, will President
Clinton propose to strengthen environmental safeguards?
The President. Yes. Yes, and in addition to that, the involvement of
environmental groups in the whole World Trade Organization process.
We've got to open this process up.
One of the reasons you're going to have thousands of demonstrators
in Seattle telling everybody that this world trading system is some sort
of dark conspiracy to destroy the environment and keep down ordinary
working families is that they use funny language, and they have big,
secret rules, and they meet too much in secret in Switzerland. And I
think we've got to open this process up. This is not complicated. If
some people produce some things better than others and the more we can
work together and lift the fortunes of people everywhere, the better
wealthier countries will do. This is not complicated.
But I think it's very--I'm actually kind of glad all these
demonstrators are coming to Seattle, even though it may be kind of
messy, because we ought to have a big global debate on this. And the
people who feel like they've been shut out ought to be brought in and
listened to, not just the environmentalists but the others as well.
Middle East Peace Process
Q. What do you feel are the chances that there will be any real
progress in the talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis before
you leave office?
The President. Oh, I think they're quite good. For one thing, there
already has been real progress. Keep in mind, it was back in 1993 that
we signed the Israel-PLO accord. We now have the Palestinians with their
land in the West Bank and in Gaza. There's a high level of security
cooperation between the two. And Prime Minister Barak and Chairman Arafat reaffirmed
their commitment to the peace process in Oslo when we went last week to
honor the late Prime Minister Rabin. And they are now on, literally,
about a 100-day timetable to finish a final framework agreement.
Now I don't want to kid you. The issues are very, very tough. But I
think the chances of success are better than 50-50. And with a lot of
prayers and a lot of pushing, maybe we'll make it. I feel hopeful.
Education On-Line
Q. How does the President feel about supporting on-line education to
serve the increasing number of students?
The President. I'd be for that. And we'll have more of that anyway.
That's going to happen.
[[Page 2024]]
You want to take these two and then come back?
Q. Yes, we'll do that. What I like is a micromanager. [Laughter]
The President. At my age, I'm just glad I can read that. [Laughter]
National Defense in the New Millennium
Q. Taking into consideration the fact that the Chinese have
developed an ICBM capable of reaching American shores, what is your
position on the missile defense system for the United States?
The President. Well, if we can develop a missile defense that will
actually work to block incoming missiles that could have nuclear,
chemical, or biological warheads, it would be irresponsible not to
develop it, assuming we can do so consistent with our obligations under
treaties.
However, I don't think the Chinese will be the biggest problem.
China does have 20 such missiles; we have 6,000 such missiles. I think
the real problem is the danger that in the future, rogue states and
terrorist groups might, themselves, get missile technology that could
pierce America's traditional defenses. So we're working on missile
defense, and we're also working with the Russians to see if we can agree
to make some amendments to the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty so that we
can put the missile defense up if we can develop it, and they can share
the benefits of it.
Now, let me also say to all of you, not to be unnecessarily
alarmist, but I think we need to be realistic here. I think in the
future, future Presidents will have to tell you that we'll also have to
worry about defenses from miniaturized nuclear, chemical, and biological
weapons in the hands of terrorists who won't need missiles to try to
deliver them.
So it will be a whole new world out there, and there's a lot of
blessings from the end of the cold war, but we'll have to deal with more
and different threats. And I would favor doing whatever is responsible
to enhance the national security of the United States, including
deploying the right kind of missile defense system.
Federal Involvement in Education
Q. Can you explain to me why you feel the Federal Government needs
to get involved in education and why this can't be left to State and
local government?
The President. Well, yes I can. First of all, the Federal Government
has been involved in education for over 30 years now and in very
discrete ways: in higher education, to help more people afford the costs
of college, because that's something most States don't have massive
resources to do; in preschool education like Head Start, to help more
poor children get started. In public schools, the Federal Government's
role traditionally has--first of all, it's always been less than 10
percent of the total budget of the public schools. It's basically
designed to give poor children or children whose first language is not
English or children with special education needs the access to the best
possible education they can have, and then designed to meet discrete
needs, like after Sputnik we spent more money to train teachers in math
and science.
So what I have proposed is consistent with our historic mission:
100,000 teachers, because we have more kids and more teachers retiring,
and we now have evidence that smaller classes work; a policy to end
social promotion but to dramatically increase the number of after-school
and summer school programs and funds to help failing schools turn around
or shut down; and then a big DLC favorite, more charter schools. When I
became President, we had one; there are now 1,700. We want 3,000 of
these schools that are set up and chartered by teachers or parents; that
are free of a lot of the redtape of local school districts and are
judged and stay in business only on their results.
These, I think, are appropriate roles for the Federal Government.
They are limited. We don't tell the States how to achieve excellence in
education. We tell them there ought to be standards; here are things
that work. If you want to do these things, we'll help you fund them.
President's Legacy
Q. Mr. President, what kind of legacy do you think the American
people will remember about your administration?
The President. I think they will see it as a time of dramatic
transformation and change; where we restored economic prosperity; where
we widened the circle of opportunity to include people who'd been left
out; where we deepened the bonds of freedom and community in this
country, by helping to solve social problems and bridge a lot of the
divisions in our society; and when we essentially assumed the leadership
of
[[Page 2025]]
the post-cold-war world, whether it's in expanding NATO or fighting
against ethnic cleansing in the Balkans or working to deal with the
challenges of terrorism in the 21st century. So I think it will be seen
as a time of transformation, of hope, of genuine opportunity, and
genuine community in America.
So I'm very grateful for the chance I've had to serve. And I'm very
grateful for the results that the approach that Al From and I have been
working on for 15 years now has had in the lives of the American people.
I think it's, by and large, a tribute to the public and the citizens of
this country. But for whatever role I've been able to play, I am
profoundly grateful. And I believe that the legacy will be
transformation, movement, the restoration of prosperity and hope.
[The discussion continued.]
The President. Let me say, first of all, I want to thank you,
Al, again for giving us all this opportunity and for
always being a visionary and thinking about the future. I want to thank
the other elected officials who have shared this press conference with
me tonight, and commend you and those like you who have taken our New
Democratic ideas and actually used them to change the lives of our
people for the better.
And finally, let me say to all the people who have been a part of
this, I'm not running for anything anymore. I'm doing this because I
believe in the enterprise of Government and in the work and impact of
citizenship. And if we can use technology to chip away at cynicism and
increase participation and give--empower citizens to feel that they're
holding their elected officials accountable and they're helping them to
do their jobs, that will be a very great thing, indeed.
So I would urge you to keep the E-mails coming into the White House,
keep the E-mails coming into the DLC. If you have questions that weren't
answered or ideas you want to share, keep pouring them in there.
But let me tell you something. There's a reason this country's been
around here for more than 200 years, and there's a reason we're enjoying
this enormous level of economic prosperity with our social conditions
improving and our leadership in the world unquestioned. America is a
great country founded on a great set of ideas, capable of permanent
renewal. And the technology of the moment has made it more exciting than
ever before. But it still requires, more than anything else, even more
than good leaders, good citizens.
Those of you who have been part of this tonight have been good
citizens. I thank you, and I want to urge you on because our country's
best days lie ahead in the new century.
Note: The President spoke at 7:14 p.m. in the Marvin Center Auditorium
at George Washington University. In his remarks, he referred to John A.
Koskinen, Chairman, President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion; Prime
Minister Ehud Barak of Israel; Chairman Yasser Arafat of the Palestinian
Authority; and Democratic Presidential candidate former Senator Bill
Bradley. The discussion, which was sponsored by the Democratic
Leadership Council, included the following participants: Marc
Andreessen, founder, Netscape; Gov. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire;
Mayor Donald T. Cunningham, Jr., of Bethlehem, PA; Lt. Gov. Kathleen
Kennedy Townsend of Maryland; and Wisconsin State Assemblyman Antonio
Riley, chairman, Democratic Leadership Council State Legislative
Advisory Board. On-line participants used first names only.