[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 31 (Monday, August 8, 1994)]
[Pages 1586-1588]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

July 30, 1994

    Good morning. This was a good week for America, as we Americans were 
reminded again not just of our problems but of the immense possibilities 
of our times and our country.
    First, here at the White House, two brave leaders, King Hussein of 
Jordan and Prime Minister Rabin of Israel, put an end to their state of 
war and declared their intention to work together to promote lasting 
peace between their peoples.
    Meanwhile, President Boris Yeltsin announced this week that Russian 
troops would leave Estonia by August 31st. With this withdrawal, all 
Russian troops will be out of Central and Eastern Europe for the first 
time since the end of World War II, a major goal of our policy with 
Russia for the last 18 months.
    I'm proud of everything our country has done to further the march of 
hope over despair around the world. In times of historic change, America 
has always risen to great challenges at home as well as abroad.
    Yesterday it was announced that our economy grew 3.7 percent in the 
second quarter of this year. Jobless claims were down dramatically 
again. We've got strong growth with low inflation.
    In the last 18 months, we've begun the work of renewing the American 
dream. Our

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national economic strategy, with $255 billion of budget cuts, tax breaks 
for small business and 15 million working American families, new 
investments in education and training and expansion of trade, and a 
reduction in the Federal bureaucracy to its smallest level in 30 years, 
has produced 3 years of deficit reduction for the first time since Harry 
Truman was President, 3.8 million new jobs in our economy, the largest 
number of new businesses formed in any year since World War II, and a 
1\1/2\ percent drop in the unemployment rate. We're moving in the right 
direction.
    And this week, after 6 years of delay, congressional leaders finally 
reached agreement on the toughest, largest, smartest Federal attack on 
crime in the history of our country.
    I sought the Presidency because I was concerned about the direction 
of our Nation. I was concerned that we were losing the American dream 
for our children and that we had to restore the economy, rebuild our 
communities, and empower individuals to assume responsibilities for 
their future. To do that, we had to have a Government that worked for 
ordinary Americans. And none of that is possible as long as crime and 
violence threaten the safety of our streets, the sanctity of our homes 
and schools, and the innocence of our children. That's why the American 
people have demanded that we take action against crime.
    This crime bill will put 100,000 more police on our street, a 20 
percent increase. It will ban assault weapons. It will prohibit 
possession of handguns by minors. It will put violent career criminals 
behind bars by making ``three strikes and you're out'' the law of the 
land. And it answers the calls of hundreds of thousands of police 
officers who want big increases in crime prevention programs to give our 
young people something to say yes to as well as something to say no to.
    This month, we have learned that our children are more at risk from 
crime and violence than any other portion of the population. Children 
between the ages of 12 and 17 are 5 times more likely than the rest of 
us to suffer from violent crimes like rape and aggravated assault. This 
is madness, and we must stop it.
    The crime bill is about to reach a final vote in both Houses of the 
Congress. Unbelievably, there are still those who are trying to kill it 
with old debates about whether we ought to be going after criminals or 
guns, whether we ought to be tough or compassionate. Well, the law 
enforcement community has told us we have to do all these things, and we 
have to do it now.
    Tell your Senators and Representatives to pass the crime bill. I 
want it on my desk within 2 weeks. I want to sign it before our children 
go back to school. We owe them a future of hope, not fear.
    If 6 years is long enough to wait for a crime bill, then 60 years is 
certainly long enough to wait for health care coverage for every 
American. Now it's time for us to move forward to yet another historic 
front, one that seven Presidents of both parties have sought: 
guaranteeing every American health coverage that can never be taken 
away.
    Soon Congress will deliberate on bills to provide health security, 
the first time ever that such bills have even been voted out of 
congressional committees. We know from our experience only one way that 
really works, the way that works for the great majority of our families 
already, getting health insurance on the job.
    It's a way that's worked in Hawaii for 20 years, where health 
insurance is cheaper than it is in the rest of the country. It's the way 
that relies on the private sector, not government; that rewards work, 
not welfare; that builds on shared responsibilities between employers 
and employees.
    Many other partial reforms sound good and aren't as controversial to 
implement and have been tried elsewhere. But the experience is that 
often these more limited reforms actually reduce the number of people 
with health insurance and increase rates. In Hawaii, where everyone 
contributed so that everyone could be covered, insurance rates went down 
and coverage went up.
    Some in Congress are trying to kill health care reform altogether. 
If we don't act this year, 3 million more working Americans will lose 
their health coverage next year. Five million more Americans are 
uninsured now than were insured 5 years ago. The American people don't 
need more hemming and hawing.

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They need health care they can count on so they can get on with building 
their lives.
    Later today I'll be in Independence, Missouri, the home of President 
Harry Truman, to talk about health care. President Truman believed in 
the common sense and the common decency of the American people, and he 
tried very hard to get health care security for all Americans. It's time 
for us to fulfill Harry Truman's mission, to act with his vision and 
courage, to do what he always believed we should do: guarantee health 
security for all Americans.
    Let's continue to build a land of limitless hope and to remain an 
inspiration to the world.
    Thanks for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 11:47 a.m. on July 29 in the Roosevelt 
Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on July 30.