[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000, Book II)]
[June 27, 2000]
[Pages 1313-1315]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
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Remarks on the Unveiling of a Portrait of Former Secretary of the
Treasury Robert E. Rubin
June 27, 2000
The President. Secretary Summers,
you pulled that off without a hitch. [Laughter] If that won't keep
interest rates down, I don't know what will. [Laughter] In 7\1/2\ years,
that's the first public comment I ever made--[laughter]--and I only did
it to see which one of them would faint first. [Laughter]
Let me say--if I can't have a little fun now, when can I, right?
[Laughter] Judy and Gretchen, thank you for being here today. Secretary
Daley, Jack Lew,
Gene Sperling, all the members of the economic
team in the White House, and all of our former administration members
who are here, including Mickey Kantor and your old buddy Ken Brody back there, Mr. Strauss, we're
delighted to see you here today. We thank you for coming.
I'd like to acknowledge one person who can't be here today, who had
a lot to do with our early days together, Bob, and that is your
predecessor, Lloyd Bentsen. I'm glad that your
portraits will hang together, because you certainly hung together in the
early years of this administration and helped us get off to a good
start.
I thought it was kind of cruel the way Larry made fun of Bob not knowing about ``The X Files.''
[Laughter] ``The X Files''--Bob Rubin didn't know who B.B. King was.
[Laughter] He thought he made air guns. [Laughter] He thought Jimmy
Buffett was a caterer. [Laughter] Really, this man did not know who B.B.
King and Jimmy Buffett were when he came to work for us. [Laughter] And
so, yes, he gave us a good economy, but we've broadened his horizons in
return. [Laughter]
Unlike me, Rubin got mostly good press here. [Laughter] But he did
get the occasional dire assessment. Listen to this headline by one
prescient pundit--no offense, Andrea. Listen to this: ``Rubin is fading
from power and will resign from fatigue. He won't be around past March
of next year.'' That was written in December of 1993. [Laughter]
Well----
Robert E. Rubin. I think Judy wrote that. [Laughter]
The President. Yes. [Laughter] Actually, Judy didn't write it, but she does wish it had been true.
[Laughter] Well, anyway, you outlasted that prediction by more than 5
years, through impossibly long hours, a terribly tough commute, almost 7
years without a house and only a hotel room. We probably should hang a
second portrait of you in the lobby of the Jefferson Hotel. [Laughter]
You certainly did a lot to make sure their cash flow was steady.
[Laughter]
You know, Bob joined our team in 1992, and I never will forget the
first conversation I had with him in early '92, and the conversations
since. And I want to say just a few serious words. Here was a guy who
had done reasonably well on Wall Street. [Laughter] I used to joke that
Bob Rubin came to Washington to help me save the middle class, and by
the time he left, he'd be one of them. [Laughter] But he didn't think it
was very funny. [Laughter] The longer he stayed, the less money he got.
[Laughter]
But I wanted him because I knew he was committed at turning the
economy around; I knew he wanted the economy to work for ordinary
Americans; and I knew he cared very much about poor people in poor
places that are too often forgotten here in Washington. You all know
that he played a pivotal role in developing our initial economic
strategy of fiscal discipline, expanded trade, and investment in our
people and our future. Perhaps equally important, he made it possible to
implement that strategy by putting together the National Economic
Council, which we modeled on the National Security Council, and by being
its first leader.
He had the skills to build a genuine team, to be an honest broker,
to give every good idea and not so good idea a fair hearing, to bring
out the best in other people and make them feel secure in stating their
own opinions, and
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in every instance, to work for what was best for all the American
people.
One measure of his success, I think, is it's so easy to forget now
the feuds that divided previous administrations, the pitched, public
battles that were once an inescapable part of making economic policy in
Washington. But Bob changed all that. And that team produced the 1993
economic plan which was highly contentious but, clearly, struck a major
blow in bringing the deficit down and reversing the budgetary and fiscal
fortunes of this Government.
Five and a half years ago I asked him to be Secretary of the
Treasury, not only because he would be a worthy successor to Lloyd
Bentsen but because he would also be a worthy
successor to Alexander Hamilton. I might say, his portrait is right back
here. We walked out, and I said, ``Bob, look at Hamilton. He was a fine
looking fellow, wasn't he?'' He said, ``Yes, but they wouldn't let me
wear that outfit for my portrait.'' [Laughter]
Hamilton also insisted that the United States pay its debts and
practice prudence. Bob Rubin has established, both as our National
Economic Adviser and as a Secretary of Treasury, a standard of public
service that is the envy of every American who loves his or her country
and would like to serve.
I thank Larry Summers for carrying
it on today and for the work that he did. Bob used to say that Larry
thought up what they were going to do, and Bob presented it better. But
they were a great team. [Laughter] And Larry does a pretty good job of
presenting himself now.
We've had a wonderful run here because of your service. You know,
yesterday we announced that the budget surplus this year was going to be
$211 billion. When we leave office, we will have paid down nearly $400
billion of national debt. Over the next 10 years, we think the on-budget
surplus will be $1.9 trillion and that we'll be debt-free by 2012,
giving America, for a generation, lower interest rates, mortgage rates,
college loan rates, more businesses, and more jobs. It's a pretty good
legacy, Mr. Secretary, and we thank you.
Now, before you come up, I just want to say one other thing. Larry
said this, but it is true. We were having this meeting about the Mexican
debt crisis on your first night. And we had already checked Chairman
Greenspan's temperature about this.
[Laughter] And so in comes Rubin with this, you know, ``Gee, shucks,
golly. I mean, what do I know? I just made a gazillion dollars on Wall
Street, and you were some Governor of a small southern State. I mean,
what do I know?'' [Laughter] ``And I mean, so what if it's 81-15 against
us. You know, every now and then you've just got to step up.''
Actually, it was a no-brainer. We made the decision collectively in
about 5 minutes. And then we talked for another half hour to make it
look good, so it would be respectable when we had to write about it
later on in our memoirs. [Laughter] But it worked out okay. And then we
had, in a way, a more complex job when the financial contagion struck in
Asia in '97 and '98. But you worked really hard to make that work right.
And it did. So I'm very grateful for that, as well.
The last thing I'd like to say is, I think the important way we can
honor you is not to squander but to make the most of this moment. We
didn't get here by accident. We got here, in no small measure, because
of the strategy you devised. And I hope we can continue to honor it. I
think we ought to take the Medicare taxes off budget. I think we ought
to keep paying down the debt. I hope that we can make an agreement with
the Congress now for a good prescription drug program and appropriate
tax relief that leaves plenty of money left so they can debate it in
this campaign but nothing that will in any way affect our overall
commitment to fiscal discipline and paying down the debt.
And you have left us a legacy, Bob, that keeps on giving, just like
you keep on giving. We all love you, and we thank you.
Note: The President spoke at 10:54 a.m. at the U.S. Department of the
Treasury. In his remarks, he referred to Judy and Gretchen Rubin, wife
and daughter-in-law, respectively, of Mr. Rubin; former U.S. Trade
Representative and former Secretary of Commerce Michael (Mickey) Kantor;
former President and Chairman of the Export-Import Bank Kenneth D.
Brody; former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Robert Strauss; former Secretary
of the Treasury Lloyd Bentsen; and musicians B.B. King and Jimmy
Buffett. The transcript released by the Office of the Press Secretary
also included the remarks of Mr. Rubin.
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