[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 45 (Monday, November 14, 1994)]
[Pages 2290-2292]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Interview With Cheryl Jennings of KGO Television, San Francisco, 
California

November 4, 1994

Midterm Elections

    Ms. Jennings. Mr. President, you are coming to California just 
before the November elections. Why are you choosing this State in 
particular?
    The President. Well, I, first of all, try to come often to 
California. As you know, I've done a lot of work to try to bring back 
the California economy, to try to help deal with the immigration 
problems, to try to help deal with the problems of defense conversion. 
And I feel that I have a big stake out there

[[Page 2291]]

in the success of California because the success of California 
determines, in some measure, the success of America.
    And there are important races there, Senator Feinstein's race, 
Kathleen Brown's race for Governor. Many of our Members of Congress are 
in tough races for re-election. And I want to do what I can to be as 
supportive of those who have supported the approach we've taken. We're 
moving America in the right direction. In 21 months we've gone a 
considerable way toward reversing the problems that brought us the 
economic difficulties of the last 12 years. And I want the voters of 
California to give us a chance to keep on moving into the future.

Defense Conversion

    Ms. Jennings. Two issues you brought up: military conversion, the 
defense issue, of course, and immigration. Let's start with military 
conversion. You're coming to an area in Alameda County first that's very 
heavily hit by that. What can you tell those folks? What can you offer 
them?
    The President. Well, I think most of the people there know that we 
have worked very hard, first of all, to invest significant sums of money 
in trying to help the places where bases have closed, in trying to put 
out new technology projects for the companies who have lost defense 
contracts. In the case of Alameda, we're doing what we can to move the 
port facilities over to the local community so they can be developed for 
commercial purposes.

Midterm Elections

    Ms. Jennings. You also talked--I heard you earlier on the radio 
today--about cutbacks, Social Security, for example, veterans benefits. 
And of course, since there are so many military bases in California, a 
lot of veterans are saying, ``Hey, the Government lied to me. I made a 
contract to serve my country, and now they're not going to support me or 
pay for my benefits for the rest of my life.''
    The President. Well, we are; the Democrats are. But the Republicans 
are running for Congress, trying to get control of the Senate and the 
House, based on a commitment to a contract which says they're going to 
give huge tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans; they're going to 
increase defense spending and bring back Star Wars; they're going to 
balance the budget in 5 years. That costs $1 trillion. The only way they 
can keep that promise is to cut Government spending across the board, 20 
percent cut in Social Security, veterans benefits, Medicare, everything. 
If they take Social Security out, then they have to cut everything else 
30 percent, Medicare, veterans benefits, all those things. There is no 
other way they can keep that promise.
    If they're kidding, if they have no intention of keeping the promise 
and they're just going to do the easy things, the tax cuts, the spending 
increases, then we're looking at an explosion in Government debt, 
shipping our jobs overseas, putting our economy in deep trouble, just as 
it was when I took office.
    So I hope that the American people, and particularly the people in 
California and those retired military folks, will see this contract for 
what it is, a bogus set of promises. I hope they'll reject it and vote 
for the people who are committed to continuing to move this country 
forward and to honoring our commitments to our veterans and to the 
Social Security recipients.

Immigration

    Ms. Jennings. Mr. President, before I lose you on the satellite, 
what about Proposition 187; that is the anti-illegal immigration issue.
    The President. Yes, I'm familiar with it. I have two things to say 
about it. First of all, I sympathize with the people of California. They 
have a problem. The Federal Government should do more to help to stop 
illegal immigration and to help California bear the cost of the illegal 
immigrants who are there. But secondly, I don't think Proposition 187 is 
the way to do it. It seems to be clearly unconstitutional. And if put 
into effect, its primary impact would be on children: keeping children 
out of health clinics, which could cause public health problems in the 
general population; kicking children out of schools, which could turn 
teachers into police officers and put kids on the street where they 
could get in trouble and cause trouble for others, rather than in 
school. We already have too many kids on the street in this country.

[[Page 2292]]

    So I think what we ought to do is to keep working on what we're 
doing, stiffening the Border Patrol, stiffening the sanctions on 
employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants, stiffening our ability 
to get illegal immigrants out of the work force, increasing our ability 
to deport people who have committed crimes who are illegal immigrants. 
And then the Federal Government simply must continue to do more to help 
California and other States deal with the corrections, the health, and 
the education costs of illegal immigration. I am committed to doing 
that. I don't think 187 is the way to do it.
    Ms. Jennings. All right. Mr. President, thank you so much for giving 
us some your time this morning.
    The President. Thank you, Cheryl.

Note: The interview began at 9:59 a.m. The President spoke by telephone 
from the Holiday Inn in Duluth, MN. This item was not received in time 
for publication in the appropriate issue.