[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 50 (Monday, December 20, 1999)]
[Pages 2610-2615]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Interview With Mark Knoller and Peter Maer of CBS Radio in Orlando, 
Florida

December 11, 1999

Domestic Challenges

    Q. President Clinton, thank you very much for joining us for this 
special interview with CBS News. Heading into the next century, beyond 
your immediate goals for the rest of your term, what do you think are 
the one or two top domestic challenges facing the country?
    The President. I think the aging of America and the children of the 
country. It's ironic that we seem to be growing at both ends. We're 
going to double the number of people over 65, and yet, we have the 
largest group of schoolchildren in our country's history in our schools, 
the first group bigger than the baby boomers, and they're much, much 
more diverse. They come from more different ethnic and racial and 
religious backgrounds. And I think that dealing with them are the two 
biggest things that ought to be on the front burner.
    I also believe that, related to that, obviously, as you've heard me 
say many times, is the challenge of continuing to grow the economy while 
reaching out into poor areas, continuing to improve the environment, and 
paying the debt off. I think those are the big, big challenges.

New Millennium

    Q. Mr. President, one of the things I've noticed about these 
celebrations that the White House, you, and the First Lady are planning 
is that it's propagating the myth that January 1st is the start of the 
new millennium and the new century. Are you guilty of creating that 
erroneous impression?
    The President.  Yes. I mean, I think basically, by common consent, 
everybody decided that we ought to celebrate the millennium on January 
1, 2000, even though most of the strict correctionists say that it's 
January 1, 2001.
    Q.  Well, they're right, aren't they?
    The President.  Well, apparently, that was the prevailing view among 
the experts, but the people have expressed a different wish, so we're 
going with the folks. We've got a democracy here, and that's the way 
we're going. It will be nice for me, maybe I can do it twice, and I'll 
be a President of two millennial changes.

Power of the Presidency

    Q.  Well, looking ahead into the next century, whenever it begins, 
where do you see the power of the Presidency itself evolving? Is it 
going to change?
    The President.  Oh, yes, it's always changing. But I think it will 
always--at least for the future that I can foresee--will continue to be 
an extremely important office. I think that a lot of the executive 
actions will be important, along with getting along with Congress. I 
think that building partnerships with the private sector will become 
more important. It will become more important to mobilize the American 
people and to organize them to meet the challenges in the future the way 
we've done.

[[Page 2611]]

    For example, maybe a good example would be the way we've worked on 
wiring the schools, where we did--the main Government thing we did was 
to change the law so that we have this E-rate now in poorer schools and 
hospitals.
    Q.  You mean wiring for the Internet?
    The President.  Yes, wiring for the Internet. Poorer schools and 
hospitals can get a discount rate. Then we go out and try to hustle up 
all the equipment and the Internet connections and get everybody to do 
that. So I think you'll see a lot more of that.
    The other thing I think you will see is, I believe the world is 
growing ever more interdependent, so I think the President, in order to 
effectively lead the world, will have to be an increasingly effective 
negotiator, conciliator, bringing people together, working people 
together. And I think it will be just as important 30 years from now for 
America to be involved in the rest of the world as it is now. But I 
think it will be an increasingly interdependent world that will require 
powers of persuasion and not just unilateral power.

Final Year of President's Term

    Q. Next year is also, as you well know, the final year of your 
Presidency. Do you find that in any way liberating to try and do things 
that you weren't able to do in the first years of your Presidency?
    The President. I don't know if I find it liberating. I find it--it's 
concentrated my attention and my energies and, obviously, since I'm not 
running, I could do things in an election year that might be difficult 
to do otherwise. But if you go back, I mean, we've taken a lot of 
controversial decisions. That's one of the reasons we lost the Congress 
in '94; we took on the gun lobby and the health care lobby and the 
deficit issue at the same time, and it was more than the system could 
bear, I think.
    But I do think that I am acutely mindful of the fact that I have 14 
months left, and that I need to be out there squeezing the most out of 
every day. And I need to get as much done as I can for the American 
people, to try to leave our country in the best possible shape so that 
the next President and the next Congress will be even freer than they 
are to basically look with a visionary eye to the future and take on the 
big issues. That's the theme that I had today in Florida; that's the 
theme that I try to echo everywhere.
    I believe that this really is the only time in my lifetime we've had 
so much prosperity, social cohesion, and national self-confidence, with 
the absence of internal crisis or external threat. I will get as much 
done on these big challenges as I can. But after I'm out of office and 
there is a new team in, I still think it's very important that they keep 
the American people focused on these big issues in the 21st century, 
because a society rarely has the luxury of having the tools and the 
space to deal with these long-term challenges that we now have. And I 
think it's very important that we seize it.

Gays in the Military

    Q. Let me ask you one specific, if I may, on the question of gays in 
the military. As you no doubt know, the First Lady this past week was 
critical of the ``don't ask, don't tell'' policy. She said it just 
doesn't work. You weren't going to institute that at the beginning of 
your Presidency, anyway. Why not use the last year of your Presidency to 
institute an end to discriminatory discharges against gays in the 
military? And what do you think of what the First Lady said this week?
    The President. First of all, I'm quite sympathetic with what she 
said. I think--that was the position that both of us brought to the 
White House. But I think there's one thing that may be not clearly 
understood. The reason that I went for ``don't ask, don't tell'' is that 
it's all I could do because I had a clear signal from the Congress that 
if I implemented my policy, they would reverse it by overwhelming 
majorities.
    I didn't implement ``don't ask, don't tell'' until the Senate voted 
68-32 against the policy that I wanted. So I think it's very important--
for me, what's important is that the policy, as implemented, does not 
work as I announced it and as the leaders of our military at that time 
in '93 pledged to implement it.
    I can only hope this last brutal beating death of a gay soldier will 
give some sobering impetus to a reexamination about how this

[[Page 2612]]

policy is implemented and whether we can do a better job of fulfilling 
its original intent.
    Let me remind you that the original intent was that people would not 
be rooted out; that they would not be questioned out; that this would be 
focused on people's conduct, and if they didn't violate the code of 
conduct, and they didn't tell, that their comings and goings, the mail 
they got, the associates they had, that those things would not be 
sufficient to kick them out of the military or certainly subject them to 
harassment.
    So what I would like to do is to focus on trying to make the policy 
that we announced back in '93 work the way it was intended to, because 
it's way--it's out of whack now, and I don't think any serious person 
can say it's not.
    Q. How are you going to do that, sir?
    The President. Well, we're working with the Pentagon now to do it. I 
mean, I think there's a greater awareness now that it's just not--it's 
not being implemented as it was announced and as it was intended.
    Now, as for--but I don't have any problem with what she says, 
because that's--after all, that's what I said back in '93, and if 
anybody--you know, if there's a sense in the Congress or in the next 
White House that that ought to be done, then maybe together they'll have 
enough votes to do it.

Middle East Peace Process

    Q. You mentioned earlier the importance of future Presidents 
becoming even more mediators and conciliators on the world scene. This 
coming week, of course, Syria and Israel are going to be at the White 
House. And I know you told us at the news conference you've taken a 
blood oath to avoid discussing details of those long-stalled talks, the 
renewal of them, but how do you plan--just in general, since you don't 
want to go into details--how do you plan to get this process moving and 
keep it moving when you get these gentlemen sitting down again?
    The President. Well, I want to get them together, let them talk, and 
get them to try to agree on an agenda and a timetable. They know what 
the issues are, and they know what the options are for resolving the 
issues. And my experience has been that competent people--and you're 
dealing with two highly competent people here; I mean, these people are 
good in what they do in representing the interests of their countries--
and that when--they don't go into these negotiations without some idea 
about where they want to finish and some idea about where they'll have 
to give, and whether the other person will give, and how it will all 
play out.
    So on the other hand, it is difficult, but not as complex, in my 
view, as the Palestinian negotiations with Israel. So I would like to 
see them get together, talk together, get to know each other a little 
better, and agree on an agenda and a timetable, and then take a couple 
of days off and go back and meet with their respective teams to decide 
where they're going to start and where they're going to stop, and come 
back here and just look to burn through it, just keep going until we get 
the thing done.
    Q. Why is the time right now?
    The President. I think because both leaders, for different reasons, 
finally have this sense of urgency, and I think they should have a sense 
of urgency. And I think they know that the enemies of the peace process 
are gearing up; they want to try to derail it, and not just for the 
Palestinians. I think that they know that there is a sense of hope and 
possibility now, and I think they believe that Prime Minister Barak is 
committed to trying to resolve all this, just like he said he was.

Russian Espionage

    Q. Mr. President, is there any doubt in your mind, sir, that Russia 
is responsible for the listening device that was discovered at the State 
Department? And to what extent are you disturbed by it? Don't we all do 
the same things, spy on each other?
    The President. I think when--we have always taken spying seriously 
and taken appropriate action, and I think they will take appropriate 
action in this regard. And I have no reason to believe that the press 
accounts on this are not accurate.
    Q. You must be concerned, though, about this big security breach in 
the State Department.
    The President. Well, I certainly wish it hadn't happened, but I 
think they learned something about this. I think now they'll figure out 
how to deal with this technology, and

[[Page 2613]]

it won't happen again. And I think we just have to--look, the 
consequences of all this, while certainly not good, are not as dire as 
they were in the dark days of the cold war when both of us were spying 
on each other in a much more sweeping way. And we had ways of dealing 
with it. And there's sort of an established protocol for dealing with 
this kind of thing, and I think we ought to do it. And the main thing we 
ought to do is learn whatever we can from the incident--how did they do 
this; how did they get away with it; how can we prevent it from 
happening again?
    Q. What effect will it have on American relations with Russia?
    The President. Based on what I now know, I think we should proceed 
where it's in our interest to do so in our relations with Russia; and 
where we have differences of opinion, we ought to proceed to articulate 
them. You can't let every spy case affect the larger national interests 
in the country.

Private Life/Public Record

    Q. Mr. President, a couple more reflective questions. Based on your 
own experiences over the years, going back to your first campaign, to 
what extent do you think a politician's private life should become part 
of the public record?
    The President. Oh, I don't know. I think I'll let the press and the 
people decide that. I think--let me say it in a different way--I think 
that what I have seen too often is that the politics of personal 
destruction become the preferred option only when people think they 
can't win the old-fashioned way; they can't win on the issues or 
whatever.
    Now, a person--I'm not talking about whether somebody's robbed a 
bank or something like that, but I think that the pendulum swung pretty 
far over in the last three or four elections, and I think it's swinging 
back now. And I think that's what the voters are saying, and they'll try 
to get it right. But something ought to be genuinely relevant, and we 
ought to not just target people for no good reason and just pound on 
them and use that because they couldn't win the old-fashioned way. I 
think that both the politicians and the press should be mindful of that.
    But it will get sorted out. These things come and go. You know, 
early in the 1800's, we had several years where this sort of thing was 
all the rage, completely dominated the political debate. And then it 
sort of faded away again. And these things come and go, and the 
underlying health of our democracy and the common sense of our people 
have always been enough to see us through, and I think they will be 
here.

Former Independent Counsel 
Kenneth Starr's Statement

    Q. What do you make of the recent statement by Ken Starr that he 
thinks you ought to get right with the law by admitting in a public way 
that you were not truthful in your statements under oath?
    The President. I'm not sure that I know what to make of Mr. Starr.
    Q. You know, he's giving interviews. He's doing talk shows.
    The President. No, but it's a free country.
    Q. Why do you think he's still pursuing this after he's resigned his 
office?
    The President. I just don't think I can serve any useful purpose by 
commenting on it now. Maybe I should follow his lead; when I don't have 
a job, I can comment on it more.

Post-Presidential Plans

    Q. Speaking of that, as we wind up here, besides getting your 
Presidential library off the ground, what is Bill Clinton going to do 
with the rest of his life?
    The President. Well, I hope I'll be a member of the Senate spouses 
club. That's one of the things I really hope I'll be. And I say that--
we're laughing, but I'm dead serious about that. I want to do what I can 
to help Hillary. And getting this library and public policy center up 
and going and having it continue the best missions of my Presidency I 
think will be quite time consuming.
    I hope I'll have a little more time for my family and my friends, 
but I still want to be a good citizen. I really admire what Jimmy 
Carter's done with his life. I wouldn't necessarily choose the same 
endeavors, although I've supported Habitat for Humanity, and I certainly 
believe that if someone needed me in the future to monitor an election 
or something like that, I ought to be willing to do it.

[[Page 2614]]

    But the main thing I want to say is that he has said--the life he 
has lived has been a life of service, and he said--he's also had a very 
interesting life. I mean, he's had time to go climb up to the base camp 
of Mount Everest; he goes fishing and does the things that he loves to 
do, he goes skiing. But he has lived a life of service. And he has 
recognized that it is an incredible gift to have the chance to be 
President and that, when you have this gift for 4 or 8 years, you learn 
things; you know things; you have a perspective that no one else has the 
chance to develop. And you can't just walk away from it and not at least 
make yourself available. If people don't want you to do anything, that's 
one thing. But at least you ought to be available for public service. 
And Jimmy Carter has lived a life of public service.
    I admire that, and I hope that when I leave here, I will be able to 
do a lot of the personal things I'm interested in but, fundamentally, 
help in a way. I don't want to be under foot for the next President. I 
don't want to get in anybody's way, but I do think there's a lot of good 
things I can do for the world and for our country, and I intend to try 
to do what I can.

Advice for Future Presidents

    Q. Finally, sir, I know it's 14 months away, but what advice do you 
have for your successor and your successors as the last President of 
this century? What thoughts do you have to pass on to them?
    The President. I think it's very important for a President to have a 
sense of history and a sense of the future. You have to know where your 
country is at this moment in our journey. You have to know what the 
lives of the American people are like. Then you have to have a vision of 
what you think it ought to be. And once you do that, once you're 
grounded in the facts and the history and you have a vision of what you 
think you ought to be, then you need to have a lot of ideas and a lot of 
energy and a lot of interpersonal skills, and you just need to go to 
work every day and never forget your mission, because all the pressures, 
in political life, on the Chief Executive is at the center of the vortex 
of--all of these things are designed to make you forget your mission. 
And those who remember their mission and stay on it tend to do very 
well, even under the most adverse circumstances.
    You know, Lincoln once said in the Civil War, he said, ``My policy 
is to have no policy; I am controlled by events.'' And to some extent 
that was true. He was being very flexible and the Government was a much 
more rudimentary enterprise than it is today. But to some extent, he was 
being disingenuous, because his policy was: ``I am going to save the 
Union; if I have to burn every wheat field in this country and if I have 
to give up my own life to do it, we will not be split.''
    Okay, so he knew where he was in history--you know, if you listened 
to him, he talked about George Washington a lot; he had this sense of--
he knew about the future. He signed the moral Land Grant Act. He was all 
for the railroads and the public improvements. He had a lot of 
imagination about the future, Lincoln did, and he said there won't be 
any future unless we hold together, no that's my policy, and I'm willing 
to try anything or anybody or any general to get it done.
    The thing that made him great was he never forgot what his mission 
was. He was grounded in history. He had the vision of the future. He 
used to say he kept regular office hours--my office in the White House 
on the second floor is in Lincoln's waiting room, which was later the 
Office of the President through Theodore Roosevelt. But Lincoln used to 
keep regular office hours with people that wanted a job in a post office 
or something, because he said he wanted to be reminded on a regular 
basis of what the daily concerns of people were, and he wanted the war 
to be over so everybody could be restored to pursuing those daily 
concerns.
    So anyway, that's one specific, very big example of what I think the 
general rule is. You've got to understand your country's history, have 
some idea of your country's future, have a vision of where you want it 
to go, come up with a set of ideas and a good team, and just pursue it 
with all the energy and focus you can and have a good time doing it. 
That's my advice. Don't forget the mission; don't forget who you work 
for.
    Q. We're honor bound to break this off, sir, but we're very grateful 
for your time.

[[Page 2615]]

    Q. Thank you very much for doing this.
    The President. I've enjoyed it. Thank you.

Note: The interview began at 11:25 a.m. in the Human Resources office at 
the Wyndham Palace Resort on December 11 but was embargoed for release 
until 12:01 a.m. on December 13. In his remarks, the President referred 
to Prime Minister Ehud Barak of Israel; and Minister of Foreign Affairs 
Farouk al-Shara of Syria. A tape was not available for verification of 
the content of this interview.