[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 23 (Monday, June 10, 1996)]
[Pages 1008-1011]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on the National Economy and an Exchange With Reporters

June 7, 1996

    The President. Good morning. Today we have been given fresh evidence 
that the American economy is growing steady and strong. What the job 
report today shows is that when we make tough choices, there is 
absolutely no limit to what the American people can do to create jobs 
and opportunity.

[[Page 1009]]

    This report says that in the past 2 months the American economy has 
created half a million jobs, and that for 21 months in a row now, the 
unemployment rate has been under 6 percent, that real wages for hard-
working Americans are finally on the rise because of their growing 
productivity.
    When I took office our Nation faced a very different economic 
picture. Four years ago unemployment was 7.6 percent and rising, the 
deficit was skyrocketing, job growth was very, very slow. We put into 
place a comprehensive and tough economic package to create growth and to 
generate jobs. We cut the deficit in half, expanded trade to record 
levels, and invested in our people and their future. The result has been 
sustained economic growth, based on sound principles. Inflation is low; 
investment is up; a higher percentage of new jobs are private sector 
jobs than at any time since the 1920's.
    When we put this strategy into place it was bitterly opposed by many 
people. They warned it would hurt the economy. They did everything they 
could to derail it, and it survived by the barest of margins in the 
Congress. Well, 3\1/2\ years later, it is now clear that the tough 
choices produced good results for the American people.
    I said we would cut the deficit in half; the deficit will be cut by 
more than half in 4 years. I said this plan would create 8 million jobs; 
the latest job figures, including the annual revision of the Bureau of 
Labor Statistics, indicate that the economy in 3\1/2\ years has produced 
9.7 million new jobs for the American people. That is growth, and growth 
without inflation.
    We should not turn from an economic strategy that is working. We 
should finish the job of balancing the budget, of reforming welfare, and 
of extending the benefits of economic growth to all Americans by passing 
the Kassebaum-Kennedy bill, by raising the minimum wage, by providing 
for the portability of pensions, and by extending guaranteed education 
to the 13th and 14th years. These are the things we should do, building 
on this strategy, not departing from it.
    Thank you.
    Q. Mr. President----
    Q. Mr. President, Willie Brown said you shouldn't come to----
    Q. The markets are already dropping----
    The President. Wait, wait. One at a time, one at a time. What?

Stock Market

    Q. The markets are already dropping because of this news. What do 
you say to that?
    The President. Well, let me remind you that the stock market is a 
lot better than it was when I took office. It was--it's up about 2,000 
points, I think--more than 2,000. Whenever we have really robust job 
numbers--and we had 348,000 this month and then I think about 160,000 
last month--there is the fear of inflation and that always has an impact 
in the market.
    But if you look at the conditions, I think as the market has a 
chance to go through this day and the days ahead, there is no evidence 
of inflation in this economy. These jobs are being created by the 
productivity of American businesses and the American work force. That's 
why we're finally seeing some real wage gains now for American workers.
    And keep in mind, the manufacturing sector has been arguing for 
years that we can grown more rapidly, we can create more jobs without 
inflation because of productivity and because of the competition to 
which we're subject from other countries.
    So I think that this thing will work itself out. Over the long 
period, the market follows the strength of the economy, and that's why 
the market today is so much higher than it was 3\1/2\ years ago.
    Go ahead, Helen [Helen Thomas, United Press International].
    Q. Aren't you concerned that higher interest rates will drive--

President's Visit to San Francisco

    Q. Mr. President, Willie Brown says you should not come to San 
Francisco because of gay protests against your stand on same-sex 
marriage and so forth. Are you going? What do you think of that?
    The President. Well, I think that Willie Brown is a great mayor, but 
I believe that I should not cancel my trip to San Francisco. I promised 
Senator Feinstein and her husband I would come to their home. I have a 
long-standing commitment to go by and see

[[Page 1010]]

the Presidio and see what we've been trying to do there to help the 
people of California.
    And on the issue, let me just say I believe the record is clear. I 
don't think any President has ever been more sensitive to the 
fundamental human concerns or the legitimate interests of gay Americans 
than I have. And I have been roundly criticized for it in many quarters.
    But from the time I ran for office in 1992, I expressed my position 
on the whole concept of marriage in the law. That is--it's been my 
position all along. I can't change that position. I have no intention of 
changing it. I have also said I have no intention of being a party to 
letting this legislation moving through Congress become an excuse for 
diverting and dividing the American people and getting into a round of 
gay-bashing. I am bitterly opposed to that. I will not participate in 
it. But I have no intention of canceling my travel plans.
    Yes, go ahead Wolf [Wolf Blitzer, CNN].

Legislative Agenda

    Q. Mr. President, do you think--what do you think of Senator Dole's 
latest effort to finesse the Republican Party platform on the issue of 
abortion rights? And do you think--as a follow-up, do you think it would 
be right for you and Senator Dole to sit down during these final days of 
his in the Senate?
    The President. Well, I'd be happy to do that. As I said, there is 
this one issue, this Kassebaum-Kennedy bill that we both agree on, and I 
would do anything I could to work with him on it and to let him leave 
his many years in the Senate with a good, positive memory that this was 
something that was done for the American people.
    I have always said that elections would be decided based on the 
honest differences between candidates, but we should not waste one 
single day preventing something from being done when we have areas of 
common agreement. And if I could do anything to work with Senator Dole 
to help achieve that and to leave him with a good, positive, lasting 
accomplishment for the American people as he leaves the Senate, I would 
be more than happy to do it.

Republican Platform on Abortion

    Q. What about the abortion rights platform position of Senator Dole?
    The President. Oh, I'm sorry. Well, I think it is a good thing for 
anyone to urge that we lower the rhetoric and stop lobbying these verbal 
bombs at one another. But when you lower the rhetoric, the stark 
difference in our policies remains there. He is in favor of a 
constitutional amendment to ban abortion, and I am not. So there is a 
real difference there that I don't think can be papered over. But I 
think anything that restores civility to this debate is a positive 
thing, and I applaud him for saying that.

Economic Growth and the Federal Reserve

    Q. Do you believe that today's unemployment and employment report is 
a sign or a signal that economic growth can be higher and faster than 
the Federal Reserve seems to think it should be?
    The President. Well, I believe it is a sign that we can grow the 
economy without inflation if our workers and our businesses are 
productive. But I would remind you that what Chairman Greenspan has said 
in the past is that at least he has no preconceived notions of how fast 
the economy can grow. And the Fed will now have a month to evaluate 
this: they don't meet until next month some time. And if they see that 
we are producing this level of job growth with no inflation, then I 
would think the interest rates should stay down, not only the Fed rates 
but the rates that the market set.
    This is a terrific commentary not only on the actions we took early 
to get the interest rates down and opening markets which helps to create 
higher wage jobs for Americans but also in the increasing productivity 
of the American work force, which will only be accelerated if we can 
increase the education level of our workers.
    Peter [Peter Maer, NBC Mutual Radio].

Airline Tragedy in Croatia

    Q. Mr. President, you've been briefed, we know, on the circumstances 
that led up to the plane crash that killed Commerce Secretary Brown. 
What are your personal reflections on what you were told, and what 
assur- 

[[Page 1011]]

ances have you been given that steps are being taken to prevent this 
from happening again on future VIP trips?
    The President. Let me say, first of all, I had an extensive briefing 
yesterday by the Commanding General of the Air Force and by the general 
whom he put in charge of the review. And as you might imagine, for me it 
was a very painful personal experience because of my relationship with 
Secretary Brown and because of the people that were on that plane that I 
knew and those business leaders that we relied on and that relied on us.
    But I have to tell you, I felt a great sense of respect for General 
Fogleman that the Air Force was completely thorough and prompt and 
brutally honest in its evaluation of what went on. And some steps have 
already been taken to avert the possibility that any of these errors 
could be made again. and I am convinced, absolutely convinced, that 
others will be taken.
    I also would tell you that if you had sat through the briefing as I 
did--I kept thinking that this peculiar mix of circumstances, if only 
one or two little things had happened the crash might not have occurred. 
That whole unit over there was working so hard to do so much different 
kind of work, but that this is why--because the risks are always there, 
this is why the procedures, the rules that the Air Force puts in place, 
are so important to be followed.
    And so I would say that the American people should feel reassured 
that the top leadership of the Air Force got to the bottom of this, did 
it in a hurry, and was completely honest, with no back-covering at all 
in its straightforward report on this accident.

Burning of Black Churches

    Q. Sir, there was another fire at a Black southern church last 
night, sir. Do you think there is a national conspiracy or a resurgence 
in racism in America?
    The President. Well, I'm going to have more to say about that 
tomorrow at my radio address. All I can tell you right now is we are 
working very hard to get to the bottom of this. When I was in Louisiana 
last week, where several of these bombings--these burnings have 
occurred, I spoke personally to the United States Attorney about it to 
get a personal report on what the status was in Louisiana of those cases 
and to reaffirm my determination to do everything we could to get to the 
bottom of it. So I'll have some more to say about it tomorrow. We will 
be doing everything we can.

Meeting With Senator Bob Dole

    Q. Mr. President, to follow up on Wolf's question, you have just a 
few days left before Senator Dole leaves the Senate. Would you like to 
invite him here at this moment?
    The President. Well, we have had some indirect communication back 
and forth about how we ought to proceed from here on out. I don't think 
we should discuss it in a press conference.
    I do want to say again how much I feel, along with all Americans, 
that I thank him for his years of service in the Senate. I do believe he 
is trying to pass this Kennedy-Kassebaum bill. I'd like to try to help 
him do it. And I would like for him to feel that he is leaving the 
Senate on a positive note.
    I can't say that I have the same good wishes about the next 5 
months, but I would like to do that. And so I hope we can work it out.
    Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 9:50 a.m. in the Rose Garden at the White 
House.