    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 31, Number 21 (Monday, May 29, 1995)]
    [Pages 900-901]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Remarks Following a Meeting With Surgeon General-Designate Henry Foster
    and an Exchange With Reporters

    May 25, 1995

    Surgeon General Nomination

        The President. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Doctor Foster and
    I have just had coffee. We discussed some of the issues we always
    discuss in terms of the health challenges our country faces. And of
    course, we discussed the upcoming vote in the Senate committee on the
    question of his confirmation. I want to say again, he has my strong
    support. I believe that he should be voted out of the committee and he
    certainly should be confirmed by the United States Senate.
        In the hearings, he clearly demonstrated his qualifications to be
    America's doctor. And as I have said repeatedly, I hope the American
    people will never forget the group of young people who came up from his
    home State and his home town to talk about the work he had personally
    done to urge them to live upright and healthy and productive lives and
    the work that he had done to rescue them from difficult circumstances.
    If he is not qualified to be America's doctor, it's hard to imagine who
    would be.
        There have been a lot of politics and a lot of talk back and forth
    on this nomination, but now the time has come to do the right thing. And
    I trust that the committee and, ultimately, the Senate will do the right
    thing and confirm Dr. Foster as Surgeon General.
        Q. Do you think they will--the committee and the Senate?
        The President. I believe they will.
        Q. What do you base your optimism on?
        The President. Well, I base my optimism on the fact that, usually in
    this country, right prevails over political pressure over the long run.
    They have--we have dragged this thing out. You known, Dr. Foster was
    never a political football before--President Bush thought enough of him
    to make him one of the Points of Light--and because we had a hearing,
    and he demonstrated in the hearing why he should be a Surgeon General
    and he answered all the questions.
        Q. Do you think you can overcome the filibuster, sir?
        The President. Let's get out of committee first. I think you've got
    to get out of the committee, and then I think he certainly should be.
    We'll have lots of arguments to make about that in the appropriate time.
    I think, if the majority of the United States Senate is for him, he
    should certainly be confirmed.

    Budget Proposals

        Q. Mr. President, it looks like the rescission bill is going to pass
    today. Do you still intend to veto it? And what happens next?
        The President. Well, the answer to your question is yes, if it
    passes in this form.
        I want to emphasize, first of all, I am for a rescission bill that
    cuts this much spending. I have sent a bill to the Congress that cuts
    even more from the deficit. I have been very specific about it.
        My objection is that having--after I negotiated with the Senate on
    spending reductions, we got politics as usual. Congress went behind
    closed doors and cut a lot of education and training out and put some
    pork in the bill for specific Congressmen and specific congressional
    districts and States. That's the old politics. What we're doing here now
    is new and different, and we can't continue to do it.
        So if the bill comes to me in the same form, without the restoration
    of the education and training, yes, I will veto it. Well, what happens
    next? Then--well, they have a bill right now which they could vote on
    today and send to me before they go on recess, which would cut the
    spending, restore

    [[Page 901]]

    the education by not protecting the pork. Now, that's my position. And
    that's what I think should be done.
        If instead I get the bill and there's a veto and they go home for
    their break, then when they come back, we ought to get together and
    restore the education and the training funds, reduce the deficit by as
    much or even more than is in this present bill, and then let them send
    it to me, and I will sign it. I am for making a down payment on the
    deficit reduction in this rescission bill.
        I certainly want to get the money out to Oklahoma City, to finish
    our obligations in the California earthquake, to deal with the floods in
    the South, and of course we've got some other problems in other parts of
    the country, to fulfill the commitment of the United States on the
    Jordan issue as part of our Middle East peace process. I want to do all
    of that--to cut the spending and to get that money out there. But if
    we're going to be cutting around here, we cannot afford pork protection,
    politics as usual. We have to do what we're going to do in the open, not
    go behind closed doors and change all the priorities. We need to do this
    in a disciplined, good way.
        So that is my position. It is very clear, and it has nothing to do
    with deficit reduction. I am for as much--I will support more spending
    reduction, but not in this form.

    Bosnia

        Q. Do you support, sir--do you support NATO air strikes around
    Sarajevo today?
        The President. Well, my position is that NATO should be prepared to
    react when our commanders on the ground need them. And you know, I've
    been--of all of our NATO allies, the United States has been the most
    vigorous proponent of the use of NATO airstrikes in all appropriate
    circumstances. And we've laid those out repeatedly.
        Thank you.

    White House Security

        Q. Mr. President, after still one more attack on the White House,
    are you starting to think, ``Why me?''
        The President. No. [Laughter] I do think--first of all, the American
    people should know that the system here worked and the Secret Service
    did a terrific job. And the two agents in question immediately put
    themselves in harm's way to do their job. And the system worked exactly
    as it is supposed to work. And the whole rest of the system worked. It
    was amazing. It worked. It worked quickly. And it's something that every
    citizen of this country can be very proud of.
        I--to answer your other question, I don't, no. I just think that in
    a couple of cases, we've had people who for their own personal reasons
    have seen this as a symbol of something that they could attach
    themselves to in some way or another.
        I do--I will say again that in our country today, we all need to try
    to reach out to each other and to talk and to reach across our divides
    when a lot of people out there may be like this gentleman, in trouble,
    and maybe can be brought back just by people reaching out to them and by
    trying to avoid letting things get to that point. And certainly I think
    that about the political rhetoric and dialog.
        So I hope that we'll take another opportunity to reexamine, all of
    us, how we might make this country work better and have more thoughtful
    words and try to keep people from getting to extreme positions in their
    lives. But in this case, I don't feel badly at all. The Secret Service
    did a terrific job, and I'm very proud of them.
        Thank you.
        Q. So you have no fears?
        The President. No.

    Note: The President spoke at 8:54 a.m. in the Rose Garden at the White
    House.