[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 49 (Monday, December 12, 1994)]
[Pages 2467-2468]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on the Resignation of Lloyd Bentsen and Nomination of Robert 
Rubin as Secretary of the Treasury

December 6, 1994

    The President. Good morning, everyone. Today, with deep regret, I 
accept the resignation of the senior member of our economic team, 
Secretary of the Treasury Lloyd Bentsen.
    I first began to think about asking Lloyd Bentsen to join our 
administration and to be a part of our economic efforts to restore 
economic opportunity in America, to restore the fortunes of the middle 
class, to give poor Americans a chance to work their way into the middle 
class when we talked on a bus going through Texas in 1992. I had known 
and respected him for many years, but we'd never really had a long and 
detailed discussion about what was happening in America, about the 
number of people who were working hard and still falling behind, about 
the growing inequality in our country among hard-working people. He made 
a profound impression on me that day and in all the days since. And I 
thank him for his outstanding service for a job very, very well done.
    Lloyd Bentsen likes to say that you can serve your fellow men and 
women in many ways, as a healer, a teacher, a preacher, but you can 
never touch as many lives as in public service. He has given more than 
half a century of his life to public service, as a pilot in the Army Air 
Corps in World War II flying combat missions over Europe, as a county 
judge, as a Congressman, as a businessman, a United States Senator and 
distinguished chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, a contender for 
President, our party's nominee for Vice President, and finally as a very 
outstanding Secretary of the Treasury. He has served in every capacity 
with dignity and distinction. By any stead, he ranks as one of the 
outstanding economic policymakers in this country since World War II.
    As Secretary of the Treasury, his work has touched nearly every 
field of accomplishment of this administration: making our economy work 
again for ordinary Americans, restoring discipline to our budget, 
helping private enterprise create new jobs, expanding trade, passing the 
Interstate Banking Act which saved billions in regulatory costs, 
ensuring greater tax fairness in our Tax Code through giving a tax break 
to 15 million hard-working American parents. And he's also made the 
Treasury Department a full partner in our fight against crime and drugs.
    The results are there for all to see: the biggest deficit reduction 
in history, the biggest expansion of trade in a generation, over 5 
million new jobs in this economy on this Christmas than there were two 
Christmases ago, and this year more high-wage jobs into this economy 
than in the previous 5 years combined. The earned-income tax credit has 
given 50 million Americans who live in hard-working families with modest 
incomes more money in their pocket and a greater chance to have a fair 
deal in America.
    Beyond all this, however, I also have to say that I have valued 
Secretary Bentsen's

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good counsel and his unfailing good spirits. He represents the best 
tradition of American public service and of Americans working together 
for the common good. He fights hard for what he believes in. He treats 
his adversaries with respect, something all would do well to follow. And 
at the end of the day, he has worked hard to find common ground for the 
common good.
    If you know very much about Lloyd Bentsen you know that the word 
``retire'' sounds like an oxymoron in his vocabulary. He's not saying 
farewell to active life. He is going home to Texas, to the private 
sector that he loves and knows is the heart and soul of our economy. He 
wants to spend more time with B.A. and with his family, including his 
three children and his seven grandchildren, whom the latest was born 
just last month.
    He has promised me that he would come back here on a regular basis 
to be part of a seasoned kitchen cabinet to try to help steer this 
administration through the challenges and seize the opportunities of the 
next 2 years. And I appreciate that very, very much. But I want you to 
know, Mr. Secretary, I loved having you here every day, and I'm really 
going to miss you.
    Thank you.

[At this point, Secretary Bentsen made brief remarks.]

    The President. Well, as Secretary Bentsen implied, I have now taken 
both his and Bob Rubin's advice on who should be the Secretary of the 
Treasury. Before joining our administration, Bob built a brilliant 
career at Goldman, Sachs and Company where he manifested a concern for 
the well-being of all Americans, including those who live in our great 
cities who yearn for more opportunity than they have.
    He has helped our administration to do something that had never been 
done before, to have an economic team that really works together as a 
team, with talent and with discipline and with a common vision. Forty-
seven years ago, President Truman created the National Security Council 
so that officials in foreign policy and defense could work together. 
With Bob Rubin's leadership, we have created a National Economic Council 
so that our economic policymakers can work together for the good of the 
American people. He's the consummate honest broker who brings economic 
wisdom, common sense, and common decency to every one of our challenges.
    To borrow a famous phrase from the Treasury Secretary, I know Lloyd 
Bentsen. Lloyd Bentsen is a friend of mine. And Bob Rubin will be a 
worthy successor to Lloyd Bentsen.

[At this point, Secretary-designate Rubin made brief remarks.]

    The President. Thank you very much. Let me just say that during the 
period of time between Secretary Bentsen's leaving and when Bob is 
finally confirmed as Secretary of the Treasury, Frank Newman will be our 
Acting Secretary of the Treasury. He has been a distinguished member of 
Lloyd Bentsen's team. He put together a very distinguished career in 
banking before joining the Treasury Department as Under Secretary for 
Domestic Finance, and I thank him for his willingness to serve.
    In closing, let me also just say a special word of thanks to the 
families of these two people, to Judy Rubin, to B.A. Bentsen, and to 
their families for the extraordinary sacrifice that public service 
entails today. This is in many ways a sad farewell, but it is also a 
celebration, a celebration of the success of the leadership of Lloyd 
Bentsen, the success of the idea of a national economic partnership and 
a team, and the success of our continued commitment to move forward with 
Bob Rubin's leadership until we finish our job, until we have really 
opened up the doors of opportunity to the American middle class, to 
those who are working hard and deserve it and deserve a better future.
    Thank you all, and good-bye.

Note: The President spoke at 11:17 a.m. in the Rose Garden at the White 
House.