[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 47 (Monday, November 27, 2000)]
[Pages 2904-2905]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

November 18, 2000

    Good morning. I'm speaking to you from Hanoi, Vietnam, where I'm 
working to fulfill America's commitment to the families of those still 
missing from the war and opening a hopeful new chapter in our 
relationship with Vietnam and its people. Today I want to talk to you, 
however, about the new steps we're taking at home to strengthen our 
working families.
    It may be hard to remember, but just 8 years ago many Americans were 
out of work, and Washington was out of ideas. Our economy was stagnant, 
burdened by a crushing debt and rising unemployment. I said I would work 
hard to turn the country around, to create a situation where everybody 
who was willing to work and take responsibility has the opportunity to 
live the American dream.
    Since then we've worked hard to restore the value of work, 
increasing the minimum wage, expanding the earned-income tax credit, 
helping more than 15 million Americans work their way out of poverty 
toward the middle class. Congress passed the family and medical leave 
law, which has given over 20 million Americans the chance to take time 
off from work to care for a newborn child or a sick loved one. And we 
passed welfare reform, ending welfare as we knew it, cutting the welfare 
rolls in half, to their lowest levels in 32 years, and helping millions 
of parents move into the work force.
    We were able to do this while protecting health care and nutrition 
for children, investing more in child care, transportation, and housing, 
to help parents go to work and to succeed at home and at work.
    By rewarding work and promoting responsibility, we've helped put the 
American family back on top again, with 22 million new jobs, the lowest 
poverty in 20 years, the lowest Hispanic- and African-American 
unemployment ever recorded, and the highest homeownership in history. 
While we have made great progress, no one who works hard every day 
should have trouble putting food on the table at night. And the fact is 
there are still too many hard-pressed families struggling to get ahead 
and to make the often difficult transition from welfare to work.
    Every day 17 million of our fellow Americans rely on food stamps for 
proper nourishment. These food stamps allow parents to give their 
children the necessities while getting their own feet on the ground. But 
as they return to work and struggle to make ends meet, many don't 
realize they're still eligible for food stamps. And in some States, 
parents who do sign up for food stamps have to fill out paperwork as 
often as once a

[[Page 2905]]

month, and leave the workplace in order to do so.
    Now, this simply should not be the case. So today I'm announcing new 
steps to remove some of the barriers facing working Americans and to 
help the families get the food they need.
    First, it would allow States to provide recipients with an automatic 
3-month food stamp benefit as they make the transition from welfare to 
work. This gives new workers stability in what can be a trying time. 
Second, we're eliminating unnecessary bureaucracies by allowing 
recipients up to 6 months to report income changes, reducing the amount 
of time they spend in food stamp offices. Third, if we want people to 
work, they need to be able to get to work. Today's action will make it 
easier for food stamp recipients to own a dependable car without having 
to sacrifice proper nutrition for their children. This builds on the 
steps we took in the Agriculture appropriation bill I signed last month. 
Finally, to ensure that the families who need assistance get it, we are 
requiring States to let recipients know that they're still eligible for 
food stamps when they start to work again.
    Supporting hard-pressed working families is the right policy for 
America. It's also the smart thing to do. It encourages millions of 
people to take responsibility to strengthen their families, as well as 
our economy. I urge our Nation's Governors to implement these steps so 
that all working families get the nutritional benefits they need and 
deserve. And again I call on Congress to restore food stamp benefits to 
hard-working legal immigrants and to raise the minimum wage for all 
working families this year. No family working full-time and playing by 
the rules should have to raise children in poverty. In the coming weeks, 
Congress still has the chance to honor and award work by raising the 
minimum wage for our hardest pressed working families.
    Thirty years ago Robert Kennedy reminded us that work is the meaning 
of what the country is all about. With the actions outlined today, we 
can create new opportunities for hard-working families and move our 
Nation closer to the time when everyone willing to work for it can 
achieve the American dream.
    Thanks for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 5 p.m., local time, on November 17 in 
the Briefing Suite at the Daewoo Hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam, for broadcast 
at 10:06 a.m., e.s.t., on November 18. Due to the 12-hour time 
difference, the radio address was broadcast after the President's 
schedule of activities in Vietnam for November 18 had been completed. 
The transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary 
on November 17 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast.