[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 15 (Monday, April 17, 2000)]
[Pages 774-775]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

April 8, 2000

    Good morning. In less than a week, Members of Congress will adjourn 
for spring recess, leaving behind a great deal of unfinished business. 
Today I'd like to speak with you about some of the pressing priorities 
that are languishing in Congress and the real consequence of this delay 
on people's lives.
    First, we've waited far too long for a strong and enforceable 
Patients' Bill of Rights. Last October the House passed the bipartisan 
Norwood-Dingell Patients' Bill of Rights by an overwhelming margin. I 
would sign that bill tomorrow. Unfortunately, the Senate passed a much 
weaker bill. Now both bills have been gathering dust on a shelf for more 
than 5 months.
    Delay may be easy for the congressional majority, but it's proving 
very hard on our families. According to a new analysis of physician 
reports, every single day the Congress sits on this legislation, 
thousands of patients experience serious declines in health as a direct 
result of bottom-line-driven managed care decisions.
    At this time of great change in our health care system, patients 
need a guarantee that they can see a specialist and go to the nearest 
emergency room, a guarantee that their doctor can discuss the best 
treatment options, not just the cheapest, a guarantee to an internal and 
external appeals process, and a guarantee that they can hold a health 
plan accountable if it causes them great harm. They need a strong 
Patients' Bill of Rights. And they need it now.
    Second, we've waited too long for an increase in the minimum wage. 
Last year we introduced legislation to give a well-deserved raise to 10 
million working families by lifting the minimum wage by a dollar an 
hour. A dollar an hour--it may not sound like much, but in the 7 months 
that have gone by since our legislation would have gone into effect, 
families have lost more than $600 in income. That's enough to pay for 2 
months of groceries or almost a semester of community college. For these 
hard-pressed families, the cost of congressional delay can be measured 
not just by the day but literally by the hour.
    Third, we've waited too long for Congress to fund our supplemental 
budget--budget priorities like helping the victims of Hurricane Floyd, 
aiding families struggling with high energy prices, supporting our 
troops and our peacekeeping efforts to build stability in Kosovo, 
providing debt relief to the poorest nations, and combating drug 
traffickers in Colombia. Now, delays in this funding could jeopardize 
military readiness, undermine international support for Colombia's 
democracy and its antidrug efforts that directly protect our people 
here, and leave many hurricane victims in temporary shelter for the 
second straight winter.
    Finally, we've waited too long for commonsense gun safety 
legislation. Last year, with a tie-breaking vote by Vice President Gore, 
the Senate passed a bill that would require child safety locks for every 
handgun sold, ban the importation of large ammunition clips, and close 
the loophole that allows criminals to buy firearms at gun shows. 
Unfortunately, the House failed to pass similar measures. And even more 
disturbing, 9 months now have gone by, and the Congress has taken almost 
no action to complete a bill for me to sign.
    Every day we wait, 89 Americans--12 of them young people--are killed 
by gunfire. Of course, no legislation can prevent every act of gun 
violence or every gun accident. But when there are simple safety 
measures we can take, measures that will save lives. There is absolutely 
no excuse for sitting on our hands. Two days ago Senators from both 
parties voted to push congressional negotiators to produce a final gun 
bill by April the 20th, the anniversary of Columbine. That's the very 
least we can do.
    With only a week to go before recess, I ask the congressional 
leaders to think about these daily tallies: 12 children dying from 
gunfire; thousands of managed care patients

[[Page 775]]

suffering unnecessary declines in health; millions of working families 
missing out on a long-overdue raise. These are just some of the everyday 
costs of failing to do the people's business. So let's get back on 
track. Let's work together to protect the health, the safety, the 
welfare of the American people. Let's safeguard their financial 
security, and in so doing, our national security. And let's do it now.
    Thanks for listening.

 Note: The address was recorded at 3:00 p.m. on April 7 in the Oval 
Office at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on April 8. The 
transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
April 8 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast.