    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 17 (Monday, April 29, 1996)]
    [Pages 723-725]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Remarks on the Legislative Agenda and an Exchange With Reporters

    April 25, 1996

        The President. This is ``Take Your Daughter To Work'' Day.
    [Laughter]
        Q. How about you?
        The President. This is ``Take Your Parents To Work'' Day. [Laughter]
    They all brought you here. I'm glad you're here. I think it's a
    wonderful thing. I think it's terrific, and I'm glad to see you all.
        Good afternoon. The budget agreement which is now being voted on by
    Congress is good for the American people. It cuts billions of dollars in
    spending, cuts the deficit, keeps us on the path to balancing the
    budget. At the same time, the budget reflects our values by preserving
    our commitments to education, to the preservation of the environment,
    and to health care.
        The budget continues to put 100,000 police on the street. It will
    enable us to enforce antipollution laws. It gives me authority to block
    provisions that would put at risk our natural resources, our parks, and
    our environment. It protects our efforts in education, to shrink class
    size, to improve teaching standards, to keep our children safe, and it
    funds AmeriCorps, the national service program.
        Today we are showing that we can work together to cut the budget and
    to honor our values. But our work is not done. Now we should summon this
    same bipartisan spirit, and we should work together to finish the job of
    balancing the Federal budget in 7 years.
        The most important thing to happen today is simply this: We have
    shown that we can work together and that when we do we can get results
    that are good for the American people today and for our future. But when
    the leadership of Congress insists on going it alone, one party alone,
    we get gridlock, stalemate, vetoes, Government shutdowns.
        Today was a real victory for progress over partisanship. Both the
    Republicans and the

    [[Page 724]]

    Democrats in Congress deserve credit. Let's keep it going. The message
    to the Republicans in Congress today from me is simple. It is a line
    first used in a very different context by President Kennedy: Let us
    never fear to negotiate.
        Since I took office we've cut the budget deficit in half and more
    than half. Earlier this year I proposed to Congress a plan that the
    Congressional Budget Office has certified as balancing the budget in 7
    years. And our plans have in common more than enough savings to balance
    that budget and to provide a modest tax cut. I truly believe we can
    convene a true, mainstream coalition to continue this progress toward a
    balanced budget and that we can reach agreement pretty quickly because
    there are so many savings common to both plans.
        I want to meet with Members of Congress. I'll do it in a large group
    or a small one, or a one-on-one, but I want to finish the job. We have
    an opportunity; we can't let it slip from our grasp. We have seen now
    with this year's budget and the antiterrorism bill that we can do things
    together.
        We have other important work to finish as well. Congress should pass
    an increase in the minimum wage. I'm disappointed that the leaders of
    Congress have refused to schedule a vote on the minimum wage so far. As
    I have said so many times, you simply can't raise a family on $4.25 an
    hour, but millions of Americans are trying to do that. They don't want
    to be on welfare. They don't want to be dependent. They do want to be
    rewarded for their work, and they want to be able to raise their
    children in dignity. The increase in the minimum wage I have proposed
    will help them to do that.
        And Congress should also move forward to send me the Kassebaum-
    Kennedy bill with no special interest amendments. Again, that bill, as
    proposed by Senator Kassebaum and Senator Kennedy, passed the United
    States Senate 100 to zero. That is a clear, unambiguous statement that
    it is beyond politics to say to the working people of America, ``You
    ought not to lose your health insurance when you change jobs, and you
    ought to be able to get it even if somebody in your family has been
    sick.''
        Let's don't litter this up with special interest amendments. Let's
    don't let this opportunity pass. Let's don't walk away from the plain,
    clear, unambiguous needs of millions of American families. Let's pass
    this bill unadorned, simple, good, and strong.
        Again I say that this agreement shows what we can do when we work
    together. Yesterday with the signing of the antiterrorism legislation,
    we showed what we can do when we work together. I look forward to
    joining with the Republican and the Democratic leaders in Congress to
    give the American people the balanced budget they deserve. I hope they
    will join with me. We show today that that's the way to get things done
    in the American system.
        Thank you.

    Budget Agreement

        Q. Why do you think that happened? Why do you think there was a
    compromise or turning point after all these months?
        The President. I'm not sure. We would have happily accepted this
    budget last year. I think that the forces within the majority party in
    Congress who wanted to show some positive results prevailed. I think the
    spirit of principled compromise prevailed. I have shown a willingness to
    work with them and to compromise with them. And I have also shown that I
    am very anxious to reduce this deficit.
        Even though we still have some problems with our budget, I'd like to
    point out that it is the lowest deficit of any advanced economy in the
    world as a percentage of our income. This is going to--the more we keep
    driving the deficit down, the more we're going to get interest rates
    down, the more we're going to keep growth going, the sooner we'll be
    able to see American incomes going up. So I want to do this with them. I
    don't know what happened, but whatever it was, it was a very positive
    and good thing.
        I want to thank Mr. Panetta for the work that he did on this in
    negotiating on our behalf very strongly but also in a conciliatory
    spirit. And I want to thank the leaders in Congress who did the same. We
    can get this done in lots of other areas if we just keep working at it.

    [[Page 725]]

    Bipartisan Cooperation

        Q. Are you worried that Republicans won't go along with a 7-year
    balanced budget because they're worried about making you look good
    before the election?
        The President. Well, I don't know. You see, I believe there's enough
    credit to go around when you do the right thing. Yesterday, when I asked
    the Members of Congress to stand out there, most of them Republicans who
    came, although we had a fair number of our Democrats who were there as
    well.
        Q. Senator Dole was way in the back, though.
        The President. Well, that was his choice. I think--I saw him--I saw
    him, in a generous gesture, make sure that the committee chairs, Senator
    Hatch, and Mr. Hyde got to go up front. He was just being generous to
    them.
        But I believe that when we do things together, the American people
    are not fooled. They know that I cannot claim full credit for a bill
    that goes through a Congress that is majority Republican, and they are
    more than happy to give credit to people who actually work together to
    build things.
        So I believe that--my argument is this: If we have an agreement that
    is within our grasp, that we know is good for the country, then the
    credit will take care of itself, and the credit will probably flow in
    appropriate proportions to everybody involved in it. Then there are
    still all these things that there is disagreement on, that you can have
    a legitimate, exciting, interesting campaign about, thrown into the
    future.
        My view is that, you know, we got into this budget mess because of
    profligate decisions that no one who was here in Washington during the
    time in either party is probably completely blameless from, between 1981
    and 1993. And I see passing this balanced budget amendment as a way of
    taking care of a past problem that we need to get rid of. Then we can
    debate this march into the future, which path are we going to take for
    the future.
        Everybody knows in the next 4 years we are walking right into the
    21st century. The answer is, which road are we going to take. That
    debate will still be out there. The American people can have that
    debate, make their judgments without being frustrated at the political
    system in Washington for not producing results today.
        So I think we can get these things done, and I hope we will.

    Whitewater

        Q. The Justice Department is asking Judge Howard to keep your
    videotaped testimony off TV and out of political ads. Two questions:
    One, are you afraid of being embarrassed by the tape? And secondly, do
    you agree with a growing number of people who think that Kenneth Starr
    should step down?
        The President. Well, I'll just answer the question about my
    testimony, and I'll--I don't think I should answer the other question at
    this time. The facts are what they are, and they are plain for all to
    see now on the second question you asked me.
        On the first question, what I want to do is to--I was asked to
    testify. If I have any information that is helpful, I want to be able to
    give it. I think that the American people and the press should have
    access to my testimony but that it shouldn't be abused in any way.
        And so that is the position that I have taken. And I take it that is
    the position the Justice Department has taken, and they will have more
    to say about that as we go along.

    Note: The President spoke at 4 p.m. in the Briefing Room at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to U.S. District Judge George Howard,
    Jr.