    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000, Book I)]
    [May 16, 2000]
    [Pages 940-946]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on a Prescription Drug Benefit for Military Retirees and an
    Exchange With Reporters
    May 16, 2000

    Helen Thomas of United Press International

         The President. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Before we
    start, I would just like to say a few words of appreciation and respect
    about Helen Thomas, who has decided today to leave UPI after 57 years.
        Presidents come and go, but Helen's been here for 40 years now,
    covering eight Presidents and, doubtless, showing the ropes to countless
    young reporters and, I might add, more than a few Press Secretaries. I
    hope this change will bring new rewards and new fulfillment to her.
    Whatever she decides to do, I know I'll feel a little better about my
    country if I know she'll still be spending some time around here at the
    White House. After all, without her saying, ``Thank you, Mr.
    President,'' at least some of us might never have ended our news
    conferences.

    Prescription Drug Benefit

        When I gave my State of the Union Address this year, I said that in
    good conscience we could not let another year pass without finding a way
    to offer voluntary prescription drug coverage to every older American. I
    think we're beginning to make progress toward that goal. And today I
    want to support one step in the right direction, a congressional
    proposal, scheduled for a vote this week in the House, to extend
    prescription drug coverage to all retired military personnel over 65.
        Keeping faith with men and women in America who have served in our
    Armed Forces is a sacred obligation for all of us. That's why we have
    raised military pay over 8 percent over the last 2 years, why we're
    working to provide our troops with better housing, and taking steps to
    improve access to medical care for all military personnel, families, and
    retirees. We asked them to risk their lives for freedom, and in return,
    we pledged our support.
        Part of that promise is a medical network that helps to provide
    prescription drugs at reasonable costs. Some senior retirees are able
    now to take advantage of that network. But they're out of reach for as
    many as three of four of them.
        This proposal would make sure that we meet our promise to more than
    one million older military retirees across the Nation, providing every
    single one of them with a prescription drug benefit, sharing with them
    the price discounts that the military negotiates with drug companies. At
    a time of unprecedented prosperity, there is no reason for military
    retirees to go without these prescription drugs that they need to live
    longer and healthier lives. We need to show them that they count, and
    they can count on us.
        This initiative is another step for finding a way to offer every
    older American voluntary prescription drug coverage and affordable
    prescription drugs. That ought to be our next goal, because today, more
    than three in five American

    [[Page 941]]

    seniors lack such coverage. Too many spend huge percentages of their
    income on prescription drugs. Too many have to choose every month
    between filling those prescriptions and filling grocery carts. Too many
    are simply not getting the medicine they need.
        If we were creating Medicare today, as I have said over and over and
    over again, we certainly would include a prescription drug benefit to
    give older Americans and people with disabilities access to the most
    cost-effective health care. Prescription drugs help to keep seniors
    mobile and healthy. They help to prevent expensive hospital stays and
    surgical procedures. They promote the dignity that every retired person
    is entitled to, the quality of life all of us want for our own parents.
    We should act this year to make sure all seniors have access to such
    coverage.
        In my budget, I proposed a comprehensive plan to provide a Medicare
    benefit that is optional, affordable, and available to all, based on
    price competition, not price controls; a plan to boost seniors'
    bargaining power to get the best prices possible, just as this military
    plan would; a plan that is part of an overall effort to strengthen and
    modernize Medicare so that we won't have to ask our children to shoulder
    the burden of the baby boomers' retirement.
        I'm glad there is growing bipartisan support for providing this
    coverage to all beneficiaries. Both sides say they want to get it done.
    Unfortunately, I still believe that the proposals put forward by the
    congressional majority will not achieve the goal. They'd provide no
    assistance to middle income seniors, nearly half of all those who now
    lack coverage. They'd subsidize private insurance plans that the
    industry itself says it will not offer. This will not get the job done.
        But the bipartisan spirit of this proposal for military retirees
    shows us the way forward for all retirees. In reaching out to extend
    coverage to older military retirees, Congress has recognized that high
    prescription drug costs are a burden for every senior and that we owe
    every military retiree a dignified and healthy retirement.
        Both parties now have agreed that prescription drug coverage should
    be available and affordable to older Americans. We can, surely, come to
    an agreement on the details of how to do this. We all want our seniors,
    all of them, to live longer, healthier lives. And I'm very glad that
    here, as so often before, our armed forces are leading the way.
        Thank you very much.
        Q.  Mr. President, on----
        Q.  Mr. President, you----
        The President.  I'll take them both. Go ahead.
        Q.  Mr. President, you seem to be having a prescription drug event
    each week, now. Is it safe for us to assume that this is the one piece
    of what would be historical legislation--historic legislation--that you
    would like to sign on behalf of your legacy?
        The President.  No. It's safe for you to assume that I think there's
    a fair chance we could pass this, and I think it's the right thing to do
    for America. The Congress will have a chance to cast any number of
    profoundly important votes, including the vote on China and the trade
    relations. And I hope they'll do the right thing on each and every one.
        But you know, my philosophy has always been the same in election
    years as in off-years. I think that we owe it to the American people to
    govern, to do as much together as we can in good conscience, secure in
    the knowledge that no matter how much we get done there will still be
    significant areas of disagreement between the two parties, beginning
    with our Presidential candidates and extending to the Senate and the House
    candidates, on which we can have a marvelous election and a rousing
    debate.
        So, do I want to get this done? Absolutely, I do. But I want to do
    it because we have the money to do it now and we know how to do it and
    because the people need it.
        Go ahead.

    Interest Rates

        Q.  Sir, on the economy, are you concerned that if the Fed
    Chairman's efforts to slow this economy down have the desired effect, it
    might negatively impact the Vice President's campaign going into the
    November election and really give the Republican challenger some
    ammunition to go after Mr. Gore with?
        The President.  No, because what we've done is to minimize inflation
    by paying down the debt and keeping our markets open. And I think that
    if anything, the Chairman of the Fed has made
    it clear that if you had a huge tax cut, it would cause even higher
    interest rate increases. So I think--you know, the Fed will do its job,
    and we will do ours. And I'm going to let them make whatever decision
    that Chairman Greenspan and the others think is warranted.

    [[Page 942]]

        But I think it should remind us all of the wisdom of continuing to
    pay down the debt, because the more we pay down the debt, the more we'll
    keep interest rates as low as they can, the more we'll keep inflation
    down. It's also a good argument for passing the normal trade relations
    with China and continuing to expand our trade.

    2000 Presidential Election

        Q.  Mr. President----
        Q.  Mr. President--excuse me--poll after poll continues to show that
    Governor Bush is ahead of Vice President Gore. Do you think his campaign
    strategy, the Vice President's, is working?
        The President.  I don't want to comment on the campaign. It's a long
    time before it's over, and I think that in these elections the
    fundamentals tend to take over, and the American people tend to take the
    measure of both the candidates, especially in the course of the debates. And you
    know, I trust them to make the decision. I don't have anything to
    comment about that.
        Q.  Sir, are you a registered voter in New York, sir?
        Q.  Mr. President, on----
        The President.  Go ahead, I'm sorry.

    Permanent Normal Trade Relations With China

        Q.  Mr. President, on the Chinese vote, how are you doing? And could
    you elaborate on your statements of the other day that China could still
    get WTO membership, and the U.S. would be hurt if the Congress doesn't
    pass it?
        The President.  Sure. China could get into the WTO and will get into
    the WTO, but the United States would not be able to claim the benefits
    of the agreement we negotiated. So all those big cuts in agricultural
    tariffs, all that right to sell automobiles in China without putting
    plants up there or transferring technology, all the access to what will
    clearly be the biggest telecommunications market in the world, all those
    benefits we negotiated will go to the Europeans, the Japanese, and
    others who will be in a position to take advantage of them.
        So that, it seems to me, is clear. You can't--if they go in, they
    have to be accepted on membership terms that apply to everyone else, and
    that's fair, because we expect them to follow the rules that apply to
    everyone else. And therefore, any nation that withholds those membership
    terms doesn't get the benefit of the agreement that was negotiated. And
    it would be quite significant.
        Q.  How hard are you finding this China trade fight? And when you
    meet one-on-one with Democrats, are they saying they're just facing
    terrific pressure from the labor unions? Are you losing some of those
    one-on-ones? And what's your prediction for the outcome?
        The President.  I'm losing some and getting some. My view is that in
    the end it will pass, not only because the economic benefits are clear
    and overwhelming but in a larger sense, because the national security
    interests are so clear.
        Let me just say again, I think it's quite interesting that for all
    the differences the Taiwanese and the Chinese have had, and the tensions
    between them, everyone, beginning with the President-elect of
    Taiwan, wants us to approve China going into
    the WTO. Why is that? They think it's good for them economically, but in
    a larger sense, they think it will reduce tensions along the Taiwan
    Straits and maximize the chance that the Chinese and the people of
    Taiwan will have a chance to work out their differences in a peaceful
    way, which is consistent with over 20 years of American policy. I think
    it's interesting that Martin Lee came all the way
    over here from Hong Kong, a man who cannot even legally go to China, who
    has never met the Premier of China, to say to us,
    we had to support this because China had to be brought into a system
    that extols the rule of law, and that was the beginning of liberty.
        I think it's interesting that Chinese dissidents in China, people
    who have been subject to abuses we would never tolerate in our country,
    whose phones have been tapped, who can't sponsor public events, still
    implore us to support this because they know it is the beginning of the
    rule of law and change in China, and ironic that the people in China who
    do not want us to vote for this are those that hope they will have a
    standoff with us and continuing control at home, the more reactionary
    elements in the military and in the state-owned industries.
        So I think the national security arguments are so overwhelming that,
    notwithstanding the pressures, and especially given the economic
    realities of this agreement, in the end that Congress will do the right
    thing. I believe they will.
        Q.  Mr. President, Charlie Rangel came out today and said he's going
    to go ahead and support normalizing trade relations with China. Can

    [[Page 943]]

    you tell us how you feel about that, and how it may affect other
    Democrats?
        The President.  Well, I think it's an enormously important decision
    by Mr. Rangel. If we're successful in the
    elections in November in the House, then he would become the chairman of
    the Ways and Means Committee. I think his decision will affect other
    Members on the Committee. And I think if we're fortunate enough to get a
    majority of Democrats on the Committee to vote for this, because of
    Charles Rangel's leadership and because some of the others are already
    come out, that surely will have an effect on our caucus, because they
    are in the best position to understand the economic issues involved
    here. And I think it's an immensely important thing.
        And I think if this passes, combined with the bill for Africa and
    Caribbean Basin trade which was passed with overwhelming majorities last
    week, this Congress will build quite a legacy for itself in this area,
    and one that would be well-deserved for members of both parties that
    vote for it.

    New York State Democratic Convention

        Q.  Mr. President, can you tell us how you came to the decision to
    go up to New York tonight, and any thoughts you have on seeing the First
    Lady nominated?
        The President.  I just decided I ought to be there. I mean, it's a
    big deal for her, a big night for
    her, and I want to be there with her. I just want to be there to support
    her. And I also--a secondary but important consideration for me is it's
    Senator Moynihan's, kind of his
    farewell address to the people in New York who have elevated him to the
    Senate and given him the chance to serve our country in a remarkable
    way. I'd like to hear what he has to say as well.
        But mostly, I just wanted to be with Hillary tonight. It's a big night for her, and I just started
    working on my schedule today to see if I could go.

    President's Voter Registration

        Q.  Are you yet registered to vote in New York, Mr. President?
        The President.  Excuse me?
        Q.  Are you yet registered to vote in New York?
        The President.  No. But I intend to register so I can vote for
    her in November.
        You know, this was a--Mark [Mark Knoller, CBS Radio], this was kind
    of a difficult issue. I just voted in the last school election in Little
    Rock a few days ago. And for me, it's hard, you know, on a personal
    basis. But this is a commitment that we made together. And it's
    something that she wanted to do and a lot of people in New York wanted
    her to do, and I want to support her in every way I can. And I certainly
    intend to vote for her. And since I'm a tax-paying resident of New York
    now, I'm entitled to vote, and I intend to take advantage of it.

    2000 Presidential Election

        Q.  Mr. President, on guns, I know you didn't want to talk about the
    campaign in general terms, but there are a lot of polls that shows Bush
    is doing as well or even better than Mr. Gore on the issue of guns. How
    can that be? What's your take on that?
        The President.  The people don't know what their respective
    positions are. You know, one of the things I said here on Sunday
    morning, before the Million Mom March, is that I think we'd lose,
    particularly in how people vote on this issue, if it gets muddled in
    rhetoric; and we win, if people know what the specifics are. And this
    just--and that's often true about issues in America.
        If you say, do you want more gun control or not, or you want the
    Government to control guns more, we'd probably win that, but it would be
    close. If you say, do you believe we should close the gun show loophole
    and ban large capacity ammunition clips from being imported and require
    child trigger locks, or should we have people who buy handguns get a
    photo ID license showing they passed the Brady background check and a
    safety course, then I think we win.
        And I think that it's really interesting--it's very instructive to
    compare this with automobiles. The NRA always talks about the right to
    keep and bear arms. Well, the Supreme Court says there's a
    constitutional right to travel, enshrined in and guaranteed by the
    Constitution. And when we have speed limits, seatbelt laws, child safety
    restraint laws, and drivers have to get licenses, nobody talks about car
    control in ominous terms. You don't hear all the ``there's a big threat
    of car control out there.'' Now, if I come get your car, park it in my
    backyard, that's car control. Otherwise, it's highway safety.

    [[Page 944]]

        And I have not proposed to confiscate the gun or take away the gun
    or the right to hunt or sport shoot or even to have a gun in self-
    defense for any law-abiding American. I have not made any proposals.
    Neither, to the best of my knowledge, has anyone else in Congress. So
    what we're talking about is gun safety legislation, to keep guns away
    from criminals and other people who shouldn't have them and out of the
    hands of kids.
        So my view is that as this debate unfolds and we have a chance to
    debate the specifics--and I hope we'll do it in a civilized fashion. I
    really enjoyed--I did one of the morning programs last week, and there
    were people on both sides of the issues there. And we actually had a
    chance to talk specifics, and some of them made a couple suggestions
    that I agreed with. And I think that surprised them.
        I think we need to get down to the specifics here and get away from
    the labeling, and I think it will turn out just fine. The American
    people will make the right decision on this if we give them a chance to.

    Social Security

        Q.  Sir, Senator Moynihan, who you mentioned, Senator Bob Kerrey,
    many of the Democrats from the DLC wing of the party, like yourself,
    have suggested changes to Social Security not unlike those outlined by
    Governor Bush. Yet the Vice President says the Governor would
    ``destroy'' the program. Would Democrats like those recommend changes
    that would destroy Social Security?
        The President.  Well, I'm not sure they are the same. And you know,
    I saw a headline in the paper today that said that the Governor's campaign had released more details on Social
    Security and Medicare, and I need the chance to study them before I do.
        I do think--I will say again, to get something done on this in the
    longer term, you need a bipartisan solution. And it's going to have to
    come out of the Congress. And I had hoped we could get it done this
    year.
        But let me just caution you. You have to see all this stuff
    together. I'll say--you know, one thing people all over America ask me
    is, ``What did you do different on the economy that changed America?''
    And I always say, only half-jokingly, ``We brought arithmetic back to
    Washington.''
        So what you need to do on this is, for purposes of analysis, is take
    the projected revenues over the next decade, when they get--you know,
    and they'll be written up some when the so-called midsession review
    comes out, because we've had more growth this year than was
    anticipated--subtract the size of both candidates' proposed tax cuts,
    take the Social Security program and see what the so-called transition
    costs are and then the other differences in spending in defense and
    education vouchers and what's inflation going to be, see what you've got
    left and whether you can pay for it, and then what do you think the
    chances are that we won't have this much robust revenue growth over the
    last 10 years, and don't you have to have some sort of guard against
    that, and then evaluate where it is.
        We need to--I think it's going to be a good thing that we'll have a
    Social Security debate. But keep in mind, the people who want these
    private accounts, they argue two things. One is, we ought to have a
    higher rate of return on Social Security because it's going to go broke
    in 2034. Two is, we ought to give more Americans a chance to share in
    the wealth of the country with private savings.
        Now, what I argued back is that if you take the interest savings
    that we get from paying down the debt because of the Social Security
    tax--just that that comes from the Social Security tax, so arguably
    that's a savings that you're entitled to as a payer of the Social
    Security tax--if you put that into the Trust Fund, you get it up to
    2054, for probably no more cost than the transition costs would be. That
    is, if you let the people start taking money out of the Trust Fund,
    obviously, and you guarantee the rights of the retirees that are here,
    you've got to put something back in from somewhere.
        Then what I suggested, that did not find favor with the Congress,
    was that we have some means of letting the Trust Fund as a whole benefit
    from the markets, up to about 15 percent of the Trust Fund. That would
    increase the rate of return. And then remember, the year before last I
    proposed a very ambitious program--and I proposed a more modified,
    income-limited program this year--that would have the Government support
    private savings and wealth creation outside the Social Security system
    by individual citizens. I still think that's the safer way to go, and we
    could easily get the Social Security Trust Fund out beyond the

    [[Page 945]]

    life of the baby boom generation just by doing that.
        So we've got a chance now to have a big debate. I haven't seen the
    Medicare proposals, but I think that we've got to be particularly
    careful with that. We've added 24 or 25 years to the life of the
    Medicare Trust Fund since I've been here, and we need to put some more
    time on that and do the drug issue. And there are some--I've proposed
    some structural reforms, but we need to be careful with that.
        But just--let me just say, there are four or five different
    variations that I've seen of people who have proposed various kinds of
    private accounts. So I think it's important--again, you've got to get
    behind the labels to the facts and see how everybody's proposal works.
    And that would be my advice on that. I think the way we're--the safer
    way is to take it the way we've done, and it would achieve the other two
    objectives. That is, you could get a higher rate of return on the Social
    Security Fund, and you could open savings and wealth-creation
    opportunities for individual Americans, without actually privatizing the
    fund itself and running some of the risks that are inherent in that.
        But that's a debate the American people will get a chance to
    resolve, if they get together and discuss it, and if they flesh out
    their ideas. I think it's an important debate to have.

    Tobacco Regulation

        Q.  Mr. President, what was your reaction to the first McCain
    tobacco regulation bill, that gives the FDA direct authority to regulate
    tobacco products?
        The President.  Well, you know, I think they should have that
    authority.

    Patients' Bill of Rights

        Q.  In your discussions with House Speaker Hastert last week on
    Patients' Bill of Rights, what assurances were you given that he's
    willing to support some form of coverage for everyone?
        The President.  He said that that was his position. And I must say, so far he's been as good as
    his word on everything he said.
        Now, we do have some differences there. You know, he admitted that we still don't have the liability issues
    worked out, and we've got some other issues to resolve. But I think he
    wants legislation to pass, in this area and in the new markets area,
    which is terribly important. Again, that's something that could change
    the face of America. It could give us a chance to bring free enterprise
    to poor areas in a way that we've never tried to do before as a nation
    and to go beyond, even, what we've done with the empowerment zones,
    which has been quite successful.
        So we were just talking, and that's what he said. And I've found
    that when he says something, he normally
    means it--or he always means it when he's talked to me.

    Prescription Drug Benefit

        Q.  Sir, on prescription drugs, isn't this similar to a measure that
    you told the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs
    that you couldn't afford to put into an already bulging FY 2001 defense
    budget? And how is it that that measure can be afforded now by Members
    of Congress?
        The President.  Well, for one thing, when they--no. What happened
    is, after I had already presented the budget, they asked me about it.
    And I pointed out that under our program all the military retirees would
    be covered by a system very similar to this legislation. But I'm
    certainly not opposed to the military retirees being covered.
        I think that the real question is, how can the Congress, in good
    conscience, provide this coverage in the same way--actually, the
    mechanism works just like what I want to do to cover all seniors. How
    can they do this and say they're not going to do it for people in the
    same situation in the rest of the country, the other senior population,
    when we can do it and do it with the same sort of mechanism that they
    provide here?
        So I'm fine for them to do this, and if they do it in this way and
    then they pass the other, then the cost of the other program will be
    diminished if--for the military retirees who stay in this program. In
    other words, they're not going to be in both programs buying the same
    drugs twice.
        So what I said was, I didn't--I had already presented the budget and
    that all military retirees would be covered in my program, along with
    all other seniors. But now that Congress is doing this, I think that
    this ought to be evidence that they understand, A, that people over 65
    need this coverage and, B, that this is a good kind of mechanism to
    guarantee that they get the medicine at affordable prices.
        Thank you.

    [[Page 946]]

    Colombia

        Q.  Mr. President, are you worried about Colombia aid? Mr.
    President, the aid to Colombia?
        The President.  Well, it's funny, I talked to General
    McCaffrey about it this morning,
    actually. At this time I'm not worried about it, but I think it's
    important, given the continuing difficulties and challenges the
    Government in Colombia is facing, that it pass as soon as possible. We
    need to send a signal to those people down there who are fighting for
    democracy, fighting for freedom, fighting for the rule of law, fighting
    against the narcotraffickers, fighting against terrorism, that we're on
    their side.
        And we also need to signal to them that there is an alternative
    economic way that the people can make a living who've been caught up in
    the drug trade kind of at the grassroots farmer level. And this bill
    does that, so that I think in the end, Congress will pass this bill. But
    I hope it can be put on some bill I'll get as quick as possible so we
    can send the right signal in a very timely fashion. I just don't want it
    dragged out another 3 or 4 months. I think it would be a really bad
    mistake in terms of our national security interests, not just in
    Colombia but throughout the Andean region. People are looking at us to
    see if we're really going to make a serious commitment.
        It also will help Colombia to get the other support it needs from
    the international institutions, from other countries, to make a stand
    there, and in the process, hopefully, to see victory there for a
    democratic government and the rule of law, a reduction in drug
    production and exports, and a stabilization of the democracies that
    surround Colombia in the Andean region.
        Thank you very much.

     Note:  The President spoke at 2:09 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to Gov. George W. Bush of Texas;
    President-elect Chen Shui-bian of Taiwan; Hong Kong Democratic Party
    Chair Martin Lee; and Prime Minister Zhu Rongji of China.