[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 31, Number 8 (Monday, February 27, 1995)]
[Pages 305-311]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's News Conference With Prime Minister Jean Chretien of 
Canada in Ottawa

February 24, 1995

    Prime Minister Chretien. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes a 
great meeting between the President of the United States and myself, 
members of his Cabinet, and members of my Cabinet. As I had the occasion 
to say many times, the relations between our two countries is an example 
to the world. We have some problems, but we are able to work on them and 
find solutions.
    I'm delighted, Mr. President, that the Canadians appreciate very 
much the relations between Canada and the United States at this moment. 
It was some years ago only 25 percent were happy with the quality of our 
relations. Now 53 percent are happy. So it's probably more because of 
you than of me, but--[laughter]--I just want to say to you that it's 
been, for my wife and I, a great occasion to receive your wife and you. 
And the bond between our two nations, I'm sure, are better because you 
came here.

[At this point, the Prime Minister spoke in French, and his remarks were 
translated by an interpreter.]

    It is always for us a great pleasure to welcome our neighbors to the 
south. We share a continent. We share history. If there have been 
difficulties between the United States and Canada a century and a half 
ago, today we are able to sit down together and to find solutions that 
bring about a better understanding between two neighbors where mutual 
respect resides and neighbors who understand that it is in working 
together that we can go forward.

[The Prime Minister resumed speaking in English.]

    The last 15 months that I have been the Prime Minister I have had 
many occasions to meet with the President. It's probably the ninth time 
that we are together, and we speak on the phone. But I can see the 
influence that the Americans have on the world scene at this moment. And 
it's extremely important to keep the leadership in the world. In my 
traveling in Latin America, in my traveling in Asia the last few months, 
I realize that we've made some fantastic progress.
    For me to see that all these countries in Asia want to be part of 
APEC and now of a free trade arrangement by the year 2010, and they want 
to work in a market economy and break down barriers and specialize and 
take share of the market in the best way, the way that we have developed 
in America and Canada over the last century is fantastic. But probably, 
the most significant thing that I've lived was when I was in Latin 
America and I saw this democracy, as I said this morning, getting better 
now and all these leaders very

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anxious to develop our values in the era of dictatorships in these areas 
and talk and be open about trade, but mostly about democracy and about 
human rights was a great satisfaction.
    And they all were telling me to tell you that they need America to 
be involved. And it's why I'm happy to say that publicly at this moment, 
because, Mr. President, you are respected by the leaders of the world, 
and they want the United States of America to remain the champion of 
democracy and human rights and economic and social progress.
    Thank you.
    The President. This morning the Prime Minister and I had a fine and 
wide-ranging discussion with many members of his Cabinet and members of 
our administration. I want to begin by thanking again Prime Minister 
Chretien and Mrs. Chretien and all the Canadian people for making 
Hillary and me and all of our group feel so welcome here in Canada. We 
have had a wonderful trip. Everything we've done has been immensely 
enjoyable and productive. And I'm very grateful for the chance that we 
all had to come here and have this meeting.
    I thank the Prime Minister for the statement he made about the role 
of the United States in the world. There are many debates now going on 
in our country about what we should be doing. It is clear to me that my 
ability as President to work with our people to open up economic 
opportunity and to give all Americans the chance to be rewarded for 
their labors and to solve their own problems and to have a good life for 
themselves and their children as we move into this next century requires 
an aggressive leadership on our part, prudent, to be sure; restrained, 
to be sure; but still American leadership involved in the world and 
working with real partners like the Canadians on a whole range of 
issues. And I thank him for that.
    I'd like to say a special word of appreciation, too, about the 
agreement we have just signed to open the skies between our two 
countries. It will strengthen our partnership. It will create thousands 
of new jobs and billions of dollars of economic activity. As I said this 
morning, the only losers in this will be the people who have been piling 
up frequent flier miles; they'll be a little short because now it will 
be a lot easier to get back and forth between Canada and the United 
States. Nearly as I can figure, everybody else involved in this 
agreement comes out way ahead. And non-stop flights from many major 
cities in the United States to places like Montreal and Toronto and 
Vancouver are now going to be more available. And I am very encouraged 
because today we've agreed to throw out the 30-year old rules that have 
suffocated business and wasted time and money for millions of travelers.
    The travel time on many major routes will now be cut in half because 
of this agreement. Passengers on both sides of the borders can look 
towards dramatically expanded services at more competitive prices. 
Canadian and American airlines will now be able to actually advertise 
and be telling the truth when they say, you can get there from here. 
[Laughter]
    Letting market demand, not Government regulation, determine the 
number and destination of flights between our two nations is a big step 
forward. It's consistent with what we've being doing in NAFTA, which has 
led to a big increase in bilateral trade in just the last year alone. 
And I believe it's consistent with the larger vision that Prime Minister 
Chretien and I have shared and worked for with NAFTA, with the GATT 
agreement, with the agreement with the Asian-Pacific nations, with the 
agreement at the Summit of the Americas to open those markets.
    I want to say a special word of thanks to the Transportation 
Minister of Canada, Doug Young, and our Transportation Secretary, 
Federico Pena, for what they have done here.
    Finally, let me say, Mr. Prime Minister, I'm looking forward to 
coming back to Halifax this summer. We have a lot of work to do to 
examine the questions that you and I put forcefully on the table in 
Italy last year. Are the institutions which were established at the end 
of the Second World War to promote growth and developing trade, are they 
adequate to meet the challenges of this new age? When so many people in 
the world are struggling for democracy and are struggling to support 
enterprise, are they going to be rewarded for those efforts? And if 
they're going to be rewarded for those efforts, what do we have to do to 
make sure that the movement to democracy and the movement to en- 

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terprise, that that is not derailed with the inevitable kinds of crises 
that will arise from time to time, such as the recent one in Mexico?
    I am confident that we can meet that challenge, and I'm glad we're 
coming back to Halifax because you've been such a leader in that regard. 
And I thank you, sir.
    Thank you all very much, and we'd be glad to answer questions. Thank 
you.
    Q. Mr. President, you've said some admirable things about Canada, 
Mr. President. Can I ask you----
    Prime Minister Chretien. No, no. You know that family--French and 
English. So I will use my privilege to----

[The Prime Minister concluded his remarks in French, and no translation 
was provided. The next question was then asked in French, and a 
translation was provided by an interpreter.]

Canadian Unity

    Q. Mr. Chretien, I would like to ask you if you're satisfied with 
the winks in favor of Canadian unity from the President?
    Prime Minister Chretien. Is it to me or to him?
    Q. Both.
    Q. First, Mr. Clinton, you said yesterday that Canada's future was 
for Canadians to decide. After having met with Lucien Bouchard, can you 
tell us if you consider it--if the Quebeckers were to vote yes in the 
upcoming referendum--in favor of pulling out from Canada, would you 
consider this from an American perspective as a minor or a major 
disturbance or no disturbance at all?
    The President. You already said I winked yesterday. I was never 
consciously aware of having winked at Prime Minister Chretien. That 
will, doubtless, be a story at home. [Laughter] Look, I came here to 
celebrate, not to speculate. I'm celebrating the relationship we now 
have. I said everything I had to say yesterday, and I think that most 
reasonable people reading or hearing my words knew what I said and 
process it accordingly. And I don't think that I have anything to add to 
what I said yesterday about this.
    Q. Can you just help us with this interpretation? Since you said so 
many admirable things about Canada, can one assume that you would like 
to see it stay united, that would be your preference?
    The President. You can assume that I meant what I said yesterday. 
[Laughter]

Affirmative Action

    Q. Mr. President, is it true that you have ordered a review of 
affirmative action programs? And does it mean that you are backing off 
from giving a leg up to disadvantaged from past eras?
    The President. No, it's not true that I'm backing off--it's not true 
that I'm backing off from giving a leg up. It is true, as I have said 
publicly now for some time, that I believe that we should not permit 
this affirmative action issue to degenerate into exactly what is 
happening--just another political wedge issue to divide the American 
people.
    I believe that every American would acknowledge that there are 
affirmative action programs which have made a great deal of difference 
to the lives of Americans who have been disadvantaged and who in turn 
have made our country stronger. The best examples of all, I believe, are 
the people who have served in the United States military, who, because 
of the efforts that have been made to deal with disadvantaged minorities 
who had not been given a change to rise as high as their abilities could 
take them. In education, training, leadership, development, the military 
today is a model; it looks like America, and it works.
    I, furthermore, think that it is time to look at all these programs 
which have developed over the last 20 to 25 years and ask ourselves: Do 
they work? Are they fair? Do they achieve the desired objectives? That 
is very different from trying to use this issue as a political wedge one 
way or the other. I think it would be a great mistake.
    So we have been talking for, oh, months now with people about this 
issue, people who have participated in these programs, people who are 
knowledgeable about them, people who have both philosophical and 
practical convictions about them. I think we need to have a national 
conversation not only about affirmative action but about what our 
obligations are to make sure every American has a chance to make it. And 
I'm going to do my dead-level best--and some of you may

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try to get in the way of it, but I'm going to try to stop this from 
becoming another cheap, political, emotional wedge issue. This country--
our country has been divided too often by issues that, substantively, 
were not as important as the political benefit that the dividers got. 
And that----
    Q. You don't think that we have equality in our country, do you?
    The President. I absolutely do not, and I think we--we don't have 
equality. We may never have total equality. But we need--and we don't 
have--we don't even guarantee equality of results. What we need to 
guarantee is genuine equality of opportunity. That's what the 
affirmative action concept is designed to do. And I'm convinced that 
most Americans want us to continue to do that in the appropriate way. 
But we shouldn't be defending things that we can't defend. So it's time 
to review it, discuss it, and be straightforward about it.

The Prime Minister

    Q. Mr. Prime Minister, during the election you talked about not 
wanting to go fishing with the President of the United States in case 
you looked like the fish and things like that. [Laughter] Can I ask you, 
your relationship has been pretty close during this visit. Are you 
referring to the President by his first name, or is it still Mr. 
President? How would you describe your relationship?
    Prime Minister Chretien. You know, he is Mr. President when there is 
another person in the room. And when we're alone, I don't call him 
William J., I call him Bill. [Laughter]
    The President. Thank you.
    Q. Mr. President----
    The President. I'd be honored to put the bait on his pole if he 
wanted to go fishing. [Laughter]

Balanced Budget Amendment

    Q. Mr. President, back home the balanced budget drive is picking up 
steam. Two more Democratic Senators came out in favor of it. Is this an 
idea whose time has come, or are you going to try to stop this or get on 
the bandwagon? What's your position on it now?
    The President. Well, my position on it is the same thing it was last 
year. I don't think it is a good idea. And I don't think it's a good 
idea in part because of the judicial review provisions which means that, 
basically, we're allowing--it's ironic to me that the Republicans, who 
have lambasted the Federal courts and lambasted the courts running our 
lives for years, are now willing to let the Federal budget be determined 
in Federal court. I find that astonishing, first of all. Secondly, we 
don't need this balanced budget amendment to reduce the deficit. And 
what it really does is give the minority the power to decide what's in 
the budget and maybe to increase the deficit. Thirdly, the Republicans 
still don't want to give us the right to know. They dance around Social 
Security; they dance around the other details. I think they have given 
us a little right to know with the rescission package they've presented, 
which is basically making war on the kids of the country. So I hope that 
it will be--that the Congress will not go along.
    And I have talked to some Senators; I intend to talk to some more. 
But this is a decision most of them will make based on their own 
convictions, I think. We do need to keep bringing this deficit down; I 
am committed to doing that. I don't think this is the right way to do 
it. That's my position.

[The following question was asked and answered in French, and a 
translation was provided by an interpreter.]

    Q. Prime Minister, are you sensitive to President Clinton's 
budgetary intent, that is, to give the middle class a break? I'd also 
like to hear the President. Has he tried to convince you that a fiscal 
break for the middle class of Canada is a good thing?
    Prime Minister Chretien. Obviously, everyone wants a taxation system 
that is beneficial to the middle class. But we haven't really discussed 
this problem between us. We had other questions to deal with, the 
President and I. So we did not deal with our respective budgets. But 
both of us, no doubt, want to provide very good administration to our 
respective countries and balance the books at some point.

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Middle Class

    Q. Yesterday, a number of House subcommittees proposed cuts in 
housing and rental assistance and EPA water projects and your own 
national service program. With all of this coming at once, what's your 
strategy to oppose these cuts? And isn't there something to what was 
said by one of the local newspapers, that, in a way, because of what's 
going on in Congress, you come here almost more as a titular head of 
government than as a real chief of state?
    The President. Well, near as I can tell, ma'am, we've been here 50 
days under this new regime, and they've only sent me one bill and I was 
proud to sign it. I mean, congressional committees can vote whatever 
they want; the House can pass whatever it wants. Unless I missed my 
guess, a bill doesn't become law unless I sign it or it passes over my 
veto. [Laughter] Now, last time I checked the Constitution, that was the 
rule.
    What they're doing is showing what I tried to tell the American 
people last October and in September. What they should--look at their 
rescission package. What they want to do is to make war on the kids of 
this country to pay for a capital gains tax cut. That's what's going on. 
And the people will figure that out, and I think the Senate will figure 
it out. And I still believe we can make some real progress here. And 
meanwhile, I'm going to pursue my agenda and get done as much as I can.
    I still believe we can make some real progress. But I do not think 
the American people expect nor support these radical right-wing measures 
that are coming out of these House committees. And we'll just see 
whether they do or not. We've got a constitutional system, and we've got 
a chance to see it work. I hope they can send me some more bills that is 
good conscience I can sign. I'm still waiting for the unfunded mandates, 
the line-item veto, all these things that will help us control 
unnecessary spending. But their definition of unnecessary spending 
apparently is the Women Infant and Children program and Head Start and 
all these programs. I disagree with that, but we knew that to start 
with.
    We've got to go through the Senate and go through conference. So I 
don't consider myself a titular head of state, and until there is some 
evidence to the contrary, you shouldn't either. [Laughter]

Value of the American Dollar

    Q. Thank you, Prime Minister. President Clinton, in terms of North 
American free trade and, as usual on visits like this, a lot was said 
about trade. Are you concerned about the value of the Canadian dollar 
being about 71 cents, the decline of the peso--who knows what it is 
today, and at what point does your administration lose patience with 
this and at what point do you have concerns that your many friends in 
Congress will say, we're at the losing end of this because of the value 
of the dollar?
    The President. You mean because when the value of your currency goes 
down it changes the trade relationship? Well, the truth is that all of 
us have not something less than 100 percent control over the value of 
our currency. And the Prime Minister and I are dealing in part with the 
accumulated problems that we found when we took office. That is, I was 
stunned last year when the value of the American dollar went down. When 
we were having 4 percent growth, the best economic year in 10 years, we 
had the lowest combined inflation and unemployment rate in almost 30 
years, the value of the dollar is dropping. Why? Because we had to 
borrow a lot of money to finance the accumulated debt of the years 
before I took office.
    So these are problems that we have to work through. But I am not 
concerned about it. I did what I thought was right in Mexico. I knew it 
wasn't popular, but I thought it was right because I think, long term, 
Mexico's on the right path. They are committed to democracy and 
enterprise. And I don't see how anybody could look at Canada today and 
believe that it was not--that this country is not a country of massive 
potential, moving in the right direction, one of the most successful 
countries in the world by any measure.
    And you're going to have these fluctuations in the currency. They're 
going to happen, and often they're happening because of market forces 
that were rooted in developments before we showed up. So I'm not 
impatient.

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We're just going to work together and work through these things and make 
the best of the situation and seize the opportunities that are out 
there.

House Speaker Newt Gingrich

    Q. Speaker Gingrich gave a speech in Washington this morning. He 
said on ethics, he's a victim of a systematic smear campaign. He said 
Democrats are the guys who smear mud. Republicans are the guys who pass 
legislation. [Laughter] Your reaction, please.
    The President. I think the laughs in the audience are a better 
reaction than anything I can say about that. I don't have any comment 
about that. We had--the record was largely lost, I think, on the public, 
but the fact is that in the previous 2 years, more constructive bills 
were passed in more areas to get more done than in any time in the 
previous 30 years.
    After 2 years of talking about what wasn't happening, I noticed in 
one of the news magazines a tiny chart after the elections were over 
that said, ``Oh, by the way, we neglected to say this before, but this 
was the third Congress since World War II that passed more than 80 
percent of a President's proposals in both years.'' So I think our 
record for passing laws is pretty good.
    And secondly--I mean, on the other deal, I hardly know what to say. 
I think that it would be better, since I hope we can work together to 
pass some laws that are good for the American people, it would be better 
if I didn't say too much about that.

Canadian Unity

    Q. Prime Minister, could you tell us, please, if you think that 
anything that President Clinton has said during this trip has helped 
your cause of promoting national unity in Canada? And if I might also 
ask the President, when Lucien Bouchard said that he wanted to meet with 
you, he said that one of the things he hoped to achieve was to let you 
meet a separatist in flesh and blood. So what were your impressions of 
him, and do you feel he was a good ambassador of separatism?
    Prime Minister Chretien. I will reply first. You know, the President 
has stated the obvious, that Canada is a great example to the world. So 
there it is--it was a statement of fact. And I was very disappointed 
when you talk about the values of moderation and sharing and compassion 
and the ability to live together with our differences, that it could not 
be applied to the Bloc Quebecois because I know that the Quebeckers 
share these values and they want--that it's very dear to them. That is 
my comment about what the President said. I was not present at the 
meeting between Mr. Bouchard and the President--that was another 
Chretien there. [Laughter]
    The President. My answer to you, sir, is that, as you know, I'm 
sure, whenever I go abroad as President, I meet with opposition leaders. 
I do that quite frequently in democratic parliamentary countries. I have 
very often done that.
    I met with Mr. Bouchard because he was the leader of the opposition. 
He happens to be a separatist, and he stated his case clearly and 
articulately. I think the people who agree with him would have been 
pleased with the clarity with which he expressed his position.

Funding for Social Programs

    Q. Some of the Republicans on Capitol Hill who are involved in 
legislation about which you spoke say that, contrary to being cut, the 
child nutrition programs, about which you and members of your 
administration have spoken so strongly in recent days, that funding for 
those programs will actually be increased, though not at as great a rate 
as had previously been anticipated. In light of that, sir, I wonder if 
you might think that ``war on children,'' and some of the other phrases 
have been perhaps a bit extreme?
    The President. Well, it's my understanding, Brit [Brit Hume, ABC 
News], that they wanted to block-grant the school lunch program and, 
therefore, flat-fund it for 5 years. If that's not what they want to do 
then I'll--then I need to know what the facts are. My understanding is 
that they wanted to flat fund it. And my understanding is that in their 
rescission package, they have proposed to reduce funding already 
approved for WIC. They proposed, it's my understanding, to eliminate the 
summer jobs for children, which will make our streets a little steamier 
in the summer for the next 2 years, and to

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do a number of other things that are cuts from the budget that is 
already approved. If I'm wrong about that, then I'm wrong. But I don't 
believe I am wrong; I believe that's what they want to do.
    Prime Minister Chretien. Merci beaucoup. Thank you very much.

Note: The President's 86th news conference began at 12 p.m. in the 
Reading Room at the Parliament.