[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 29, Number 47 (Monday, November 29, 1993)]
[Pages 2422-2423]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks and an Exchange With Reporters Prior to a Luncheon With APEC 
Leaders in Seattle

 November 20, 1993

Penny-Kasich Amendment

    The President. Ladies and gentlemen, as you know I'm supposed to be 
hosting a lunch in there, so I can't stay long. But there's one thing 
going on back in Washington I wanted to comment on today, and that is 
the debate over further budget reduction measures and specifically the 
Penny-Kasich amendment. I want to make a couple of points.
    First of all, we have not only passed the biggest deficit reduction 
program in history, which has produced very low interest rates and 
stable growth, we have presented the Congress with another package of 
cuts that includes a procurement reform bill that could save us up to 
$20 billion. I have started the process of appointing an entitlement 
commission which could look at the entitlements of this country where 
the real growth in Federal spending is. We are going to offer

[[Page 2423]]

an amendment which will strengthen our own budget reduction measure to 
take it up to $30 billion. And that's what I think we ought to do, we 
ought to focus on those things.
    The Penny-Kasich amendment has a number of problems, but let me just 
emphasize two. First of all, it clearly would take cuts in Medicare and 
Medicaid that we have allocated for health care reform in a way that 
would make national health reform impossible this year. It would take 
away the possibility of getting a comprehensive national health reform 
bill. And secondly, it would run the risk of having further cuts in the 
defense budget that, in my judgment, has already been cut certainly as 
much as it possibly can be, if not a little beyond.
    So because it would cut defense and because it would remove the 
possibility of health care reform and because we have gotten interest 
rates down very low with what we have already done and there is an 
alternative the Congress can embrace--the further cuts we've 
recommended, the procurement reform, and the entitlement commission--I 
hope that that amendment will be defeated and that our approach will be 
embraced. I think it is a far more disciplined approach, far more likely 
to produce good economic results and to leave open the possibility of 
health care reform and to be far more responsible in terms of national 
defense. So that's what I hope will happen today.

Brady Bill

    Q. Mr. President, in addition, back in Washington there's also 
been--[inaudible]--on the Brady bill. Could you tell us what is your 
understanding of where the Brady bill stands this evening? And would you 
be willing to accept the compromise, the latest compromise that's put 
forth by the Republicans?
    The President. Well, I'm having an analysis sent to me. I think that 
the Republicans must be very uncomfortable with having once again 
thwarted the will of the majority of the Senate and now over 80 percent 
of the American people. Actually, I'm just surprised. So I want to see 
what changes they want to make. I'm not for watering down the Brady 
bill. The Brady bill is important. Perhaps they have some change that is 
procedural that from their point of view makes it less onerous, that 
doesn't change the substance of it. But I would want to see it and have 
a chance to have it evaluated before I made any comment.
    I think that the American people would think a lot more of the 
Congress if the Brady bill passed both Houses before they left. I am 
genuinely surprised. I can't believe that the Republicans in the Senate 
really want to filibuster this bill to death. I think that surely that 
won't happen. So we'll just have to wait and see.
    Q. So you don't think it's dead?
    The President. Oh, no, no. Not dead for this session, this session 
meaning early next year, too? You mean between now and when they go out? 
I think it depends on when they go out and what else can be offered. 
They may be prepared to hold up the bill over Christmas until early next 
year. I don't know. I'm surprised by this. I have to say I am surprised. 
I thought after the bill passed the House, especially by such a healthy 
margin, that the majority rule would prevail in the Senate. And we'll 
just have to see. We've still got a few hours, and let's just see 
whether something can be broken. We're working on it.
    Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 1:10 p.m. on Blake Island.