From @lex-luthor.ai.mit.edu:jcma@REAGAN.AI.MIT.EDU  Thu May 20 23:56:33 1993
Date: Thu, 20 May 1993 22:14-0400
From: The White House <75300.3115@compuserve.com>
To: Clinton-News-Distribution@campaign92.org
Subject: Remarks by President in Photo Op Chief Executive Officers 5.20.93

 Remarks by President Clinton in Photo Op During Lunch with
Chief Executive Officers
 To: National Desk
 Contact: White House Office of the Press Secretary, 202-456-2100

   WASHINGTON, May 20 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Following is a transcript
of remarks by President Clinton during a photo opportunity with
chief executive officers at the White House May 19:

 12:23 P.M. EDT

        Q       Mr. President, do you think you can persuade these
business leaders that your energy tax is a good tax, and that you have
enough spending cuts in the budget?

        THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I hope so.  Several of them endorsed this
program yesterday -- Mr. Chee on behalf of the Realtors did, and Mr.
Armstrong -- he's aircraft -- Mr. Wolf did.  So I think we're making a
real good dent.  I think the main reason is that the business leaders
who are familiar with what is actually in the program know that there's
$100 billion in entitlement cuts there; know that the energy tax is
going to work as an important part of getting the interest rates down
and having credibility in the markets.  So I think we've got a real shot
at it.

        Q       What about an entitlement cap, as some people on the
Hill want?  Wouldn't that help?

        THE PRESIDENT:  Well, it has to be done in the right way.  My
view is -- and this is a good place to discuss this -- the United States
government has already contributed to the rising costs of health care
for employers by squeezing Medicare and Medicaid and forcing those costs
off onto private employers.

        So if we have a cap on health care spending, which I'm not
opposed to, and it should be done in a right way.  It should be done in
connection with the health care plan so that we're helping everybody.
If we did it without doing it on the health care -- if we did it now --
it would run the risk of two or three years from now having another big
increase in their costs, undermining their ability to hire American
workers and to keep America competitive.

        So if we're going to do a health care cap, let's do it with
health care.  That's the way it should be done.

                            END             12:25 P.M. EDT

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 /U.S. Newswire  202-347-2770/