[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 29, Number 17 (Monday, May 3, 1993)]
[Pages 714-717]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at a Reception for the President's Health Care Task Force

 April 29, 1993

    The President. Thank you very much. Let me say how pleased I am that 
one of the things that even people who care about health care can't 
control, the weather, cooperated with us today. How delighted we are to 
have you here to just say a simple thank you for all the work you've 
done.
    I have a few other things I want to say, but I think I should begin 
by introducing the First Lady by way of saying that 10 years ago we 
tried this once before when I was Governor of our State. And it was 
obvious that we needed to dramatically overhaul our education system, 
and I asked her to chair this committee. And she looked at me as if I 
had lost my mind because we knew we had to make everybody in the State 
mad to do what needed to be done. And it turned out to be all right. We 
had to change a lot of things, but it was one of those remarkable 
moments in history when all the people were ahead of all the 
policymakers.
    I think we may be there again with health care. And I think that if 
all of this works I will be once again indebted to my wonderful wife and 
all of you. And I just want you to know that she has sung your praises 
to the Moon from the beginning of this. And so I hope that you think 
that she did as good a job as she thinks you did, because I think you 
were both pretty great. Thank you very much.


[[Page 715]]


[At this point, Hillary Clinton and Tipper Gore made statements 
welcoming the task force and commending their efforts.]

    The President. Thank you very much. You know, I wish there were 
something more I could do for all of you. I think you deserve a medal 
just for putting up with Ira's toll-gates. I can't believe Ira's hiding 
back there. He's probably sharpening darts or something. [Laughter]
    I want to say a special word of thanks to Tipper Gore for her 
involvement and for the work that she's done to personally sensitize me 
to a lot of the mental health issues that I think all Americans need to 
know more about.
    I want to say, too, that the Vice President is not here tonight 
because he is on an errand for our administration in Florida and could 
not be here. But he sat in all those meetings with me, that we had, long 
hours trying to make sure that we understood the implications of every 
issue and understood all the incredible work that all of you have done.
    I want to say a special word of thanks to Ira. Hillary and I have 
known Ira a long time. Ira and I were at Oxford together back in the 
late sixties, and we always used to say when Ira walked into a room he 
doubled the IQ of whoever was in there, however many people were in 
there. [Laughter] I don't know how many of his brain cells he has 
departed forever in this endeavor, but--[laughter]--I hope that part of 
this endeavor will lead some of you to encourage him to take more care 
of his health. I don't think he's had any sleep since this whole thing 
started. He's really been a champ, and Hillary and I are very grateful 
for his efforts.
    I want to say, too, that there are a lot of people who said, well--I 
mean, I never could believe this--for years and years and years we all 
complained of gridlock and do-nothing and nothing ever got done. And the 
last 5 days, I see all these articles complaining that I'm trying to do 
too much. [Laughter] I plead guilty to that.
    But the overwhelming focus of this administration has been on the 
economy, jobs, deficit reduction, and investment in our people and on 
health care. That's what we have focused on, the things that will lift 
this country up again and bring this country together again and give 
people some measure of security, even as they go out in the highly 
changed and charged world that we're moving toward.
    I wish I could write a book. I wish I could even remember all the 
incredible stories I heard along this last year and a half when we were 
out on the campaign trail, related to health care.
    I'll never forget the woman I met in Columbus, Ohio who had six or 
seven kids and had to give up a $50,000 a year job because one of her 
children was so sick, and the only way she could get any care was to 
become Medicaid eligible; the farmers that I met along the way who 
couldn't get health insurance, or if they did, it took up the whole 
profit from the farms in the average years; the small-business person I 
met who had only four employees and was chagrined because of the 
exploding cost of insurance in his small group, he had to go to a $2,500 
deductible, and how badly he felt for his own employees; the big 
businesses that told me about their inability to compete in a global 
economy because they had to spot their competitors so much; the doctors 
that I know who wanted to be good doctors and wanted to reach out to 
people who were spending more and more of their time and money on 
paperwork and regulation, and on and on and on.
    The human dimension of this issue is utterly enormous. The economic 
dimension is also very great. We're here, struggling to really be 
serious about reducing the Government's deficit, and under every 
scenario we can cut it quite a bit in the next 5 years, and then it 
starts to go right up again because of health care costs. So there has 
rarely been a time in the history of this country when an economic issue 
and a social issue, when an issue that affects all the big people and 
all the little people and all the people in between has been so tightly 
joined, as this health care issue.
    I know there are those who say, ``Well, we shouldn't try to deal 
with this. It ought to be enough just to have a fundamental budget that 
dramatically changes the priorities of America.'' But if you want to get 
rid of the deficit and have any money left to invest in your children 
and your education, your economy and your future, we have to do both.

[[Page 716]]

    And so I just want to reaffirm to you that all of your efforts have 
not been in vain, and I'm going to do my best to give us a health care 
reform package that can pass the Congress this year. And I'm going to do 
my best to fight for it, and I hope you will, too.
    It may be that we can only do one thing at a time in this town. That 
may be, but I'm not prepared to acknowledge that. Congress has worked 
out smaller bills, but they're all different. I mean, they've got an 
agreement on the family and medical leave, and now they're apparently 
going to send me the motor voter bill I've been working on. And today, 
they voted for a modified line-item veto in the House, which I thought 
was remarkable, the first bill we've had with real bipartisan support.
    I think we can do more than one thing. And I think if people 
understand that you have to do both of these things--have a new budget 
and a new direction and a new approach to health care to get control of 
our deficit and our financial future and to have something left to 
invest in our people, our economy, and our own future, I think we can do 
it.
    And I just have to ask all of you to be committed now to be agents 
of change. You've done all this work on this program. And you know, the 
final thing we come out with, none of you will agree with all of it. I 
won't agree with all of it. We're going to do the best we can to put 
something together that's good for America and that we can get through 
the United States Congress. And we're going to do our best to continue 
to reach out to both Democrats and Republicans as we have throughout 
this entire process, to try to make this an American effort, not a Bill 
Clinton effort, not a Democratic effort, not a Republican effort, but an 
American effort. America needs this.
    I'll say this: You know, when this group began to get together, I 
kept reading all this stuff about secrecy. And you know, shoot, I've 
read more about everything you've done in the press than anything else 
I've seen. [Laughter] If you can't keep a secret in Washington with two 
people, you sure can't keep a secret with 1,000. [Laughter]
    I think you've been great. I want to ask you to commit now to do 
what you can. A lot of you don't come from here. A lot of you live out 
in the country where a lot of these problems are being grappled with. 
When you go home, try to mobilize your friends to tell your Members of 
Congress that the time is now. The time is now to deal with this. And if 
you do live here and you have even more contacts on the Hill or with 
others that can influence this process, use your time now to pass it. 
Don't let all your work have been in vain. This is a magic moment in the 
history of this issue. People have been working for decades just to have 
the circumstances which exist now. And I hardly see anybody who doesn't 
admit that the time has come to do something, to do something bold and 
do something substantial, to do something we can live with from years to 
come that will really make our country better off, our people more 
secure, healthier, and happier.
    We're going to have enough insecurity as it is in America, and 
everybody is, with all the changes that are going on in this world. The 
least we can do is to join the mainstream of the world in taking care of 
our people better, providing a comprehensive, affordable, good, quality 
health care system. And it's good for the economy. If we can get that 
idea across, we can prevail.
    I need your help now to carry the fight to the floors of the 
Congress, both Chambers and both parties. And let's lift this issue up. 
Let's keep it high in America's mind and heart, and let's make sure that 
all this work you have done will be rewarded for generations to come.
    This is a real moment in the history of this country. You can be a 
part of it. Now the time has come to bring it home.
    Thank you very much.

Bosnia

    Q. Mr. President, does this reconvening of the peace talks take the 
pressure off you at all, sir?
    The President. Well, let's see what happens there. Let's see what 
happens. Let's see how serious they are. You know, they've said things 
before and not meant it. If they mean it now, so much the better. I'll 
see.
    Q. How are you going to know if they mean it, sir?

[[Page 717]]

    The President. We will know them by their deeds, not their words.

Note: The President spoke at 6:38 p.m. on the South Lawn at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Ira Magaziner, Senior Adviser to 
the President for Policy Development.