From @lex-luthor.ai.mit.edu:hes@REAGAN.AI.MIT.EDU  Wed Jun  9 16:43:51 1993
Date: Wed, 9 Jun 1993 10:27-0400
From: The White House <75300.3115@compuserve.com>
To: Clinton-Speeches-Distribution@campaign92.org
Subject: President's Remarks to League of Women Voters  6.7.93

                           THE WHITE HOUSE

                    Office of the Press Secretary

_____________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                    June 7, 1993

	     
                       REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
                      TO LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS
	     
                           The Rose Garden

2:23 P.M. EDT

	     THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much, Becky, for that
wonderful introduction.  I want to thank you and Gracia (phonetic)
Hillman and all the leaders of the state and local chapters of the
League of Women Voters from around the country who are here.  I know
there are at least three members from my home state here.  (Laughter.)
I'm glad to see you all.  Karen Stevens, Bobbie Hill and Linda Polk, I
thank them for coming.
	     
	     This is your house.  And I'm glad to have you back here.  
When I ran for President, I did so with the conviction that we had to 
create a new season of opportunity and a new climate of 
responsibility in America so that together we could rebuild the 
American community.  
	     
	     And there were some very specific commitments that I 
made in that regard:  an economic program that would be 2good for 
America's families and working people; a health care program that 
would control cost and provide basic coverage to all Americans; a 
program of national service and reform of the student loan program to 
open the doors of college education to all Americans; a program to 
change the welfare system to move families from dependence to 
independence; and a program of political reform to open the system of 
this country so that ordinary Americans could pull the levers of 
power and have their voices heard.
	     
	     Your presence here today for the first time since 1980, 
after decades and decades, the League of Women Voters coming to the 
White House without regard to party, in a bipartisan fashion, coming 
back here for the first time since 1980, is a symbol of the 
importance of opening the political system to informed citizens to 
let them have influence over the decisions that are made affecting 
the lives of ordinary Americans.  and I welcome you here today.  
(Applause.)
	     
	     Not long ago, as Becky said, we gathered here to sign 
the motor voter bill -- again, a strong priority of the League of 
Women Voters, without regard to party, opening the franchise more to 
all Americans, and especially to many younger Americans who were so 
terribly interested in this issue.  That was a very, very important 
day for all of us.  It was not only good for voter registration, it 
was in a very fundamental sense a civil rights law and a real advance 
for all the people of the United States.
	     
	     Not long before that, I gathered here with other 
Americans to sign the family leave bill into law, which is a very 
important thing because it attempts to unite two of our most 
important values, work and family, guaranteeing ordinary citizens 
that if they have to take a little time off for a baby to be born or 
a parent to be cared for, they won't lose their jobs.  
	     
	     These are the kinds of things that government ought to 
do with the American people, not to just do things for people, but to 
empower people to take care of their own business.  That's what motor 
voter does; that's what family leave does; that's what we ought to be 
about in this country.
	     
	     Now, we are moving ahead in the Congress with the 
economic plan, soon to be followed by the health care plan.  And 
there is a very ambitious agenda of political reform before the 
Congress.  I know that's what you're here about, so I'd like to say 
just a word about that, if I might.
	     
	     There are actually two important political reform bills 
in the United States Congress today.  And I urge you to embrace them 
both.  The first one you know about, and that is the campaign finance 
reform bill in the United States Senate.  The bill does exactly what 
we ought to do -- it lowers the cost of campaign, reduces the 
influence of special interest groups, and opens the airwaves to more 
honest debates, so that incumbents are not unduly protected and 
wealth is not the primary determinant of whether a person can wage a 
credible campaign.  It is a very, very important advance.
	     
	     And we have proposed to -- you can clap for that, I like 
that.  (Applause.)  We have proposed to pay for this by repealing a 
tax deduction that is only 30 years old, and that is the tax 
deduction for lobbying.  (Applause.)  We've proposed to repeal it and 
pay for campaign finance reform.  (Applause.)
	     
	     No other money will go into campaign finance reform 
except that which is voluntarily contributed by the American 
taxpayers if this bill passes as it has been proposed.  So I urge you 
to go up there and plead with the United States Senate and talk to 
the House members while you're at it and say, give us a bill we can 
be proud of to give the election process back to the American people.  
(Applause.)
	     
	     One of the reasons more people voted in the presidential 
election in 1992 that hadn't voted in a long time is because of all 
the debates, all the town meetings, all the open forums, all the ways 
that people found to say this is your place, not the politicians' 
place.  This is your country.  This is your government, take it back.  
And campaign finance reform will help us to do that.  (Applause.)
	     
	     The second bill has already been passed by the Senate 
and is now in the House.  It is a bill long overdue, which will 
require all people who lobby the United States Congress to register 
and report and will require the reporting of virtually all funds 
expended on members of Congress by lobbyists.  It is a very important 
bill, and I urge you to support that.  (Applause.)
	     
	     Secondly, I appreciate your support for health care 
reform.  Let me say that the First Lady and the hundreds of people 
who worked on the task force and the people in the administration who 
are still reaching out over America to the health care providers and 
the health care consumers and the business community, the labor 
community, everybody affected by this, deserve a lot of credit.  They 
have done more complex, exhaustive work in less time than any other 
group like this, I think, in the entire history of the United States.  
And I'm very grateful to them for that.  And soon we will have a 
health care proposal that I believe will be self-evidently in the 
interest of the vast majority of the American people, not only to 
provide universal coverage, but to do it in a way which preserves 
what is best about American health care, and brings these costs down 
before we bankrupt the United States with health care costs and 
without universal coverage.  (Applause.)
	     
	     Let me say, before we do that, we have got to get the 
government's house in order.  In 12 years -- the 12 years you weren't 
here -- it may be because you weren't here. (Laughter and applause.)  
In the 12 years you weren't here, the debt of this country went from 
$1 trillion to $4 trillion.  Our national deficit was over $300 
billion this year.  We have got to do something about it.  But the 
most frustrating thing of all -- it's like health care; we spend 35 
percent more than anybody else in the world and do less with it.  
With our government's deficit soaring, with our debt exploding, we 
have reduced our investments in the things that make us a richer, 
stronger, more productive country and that offer our children the 
chance to seize the American Dream.  
	     
	     We have to put our house in order and reverse a lot of 
those practices -- practices that have, to be sure, the stamp of not 
only Republican presidents, but also Democratic Congresses --
practices born of taking the path of least resistance and telling 
people what they want to hear.  It is always more popular to cut 
people's taxes and send them more money and deplore the government 
every step of the way.  But in the end, you have to live with the 
consequences of what you have wrought.  And that is what we are doing 
today.  And we are determined in this administration to change those 
consequences.
	     
	     The House of Representatives acted very courageously to 
pass the largest deficit reduction program ever proposed by an 
administration.  At the same time they did it, I pledged to review 
the budget to ensure that we maximized our reliance on spending cuts, 
minimized our reliance on new taxes, and kept the burden on middle 
class working Americans as light as possible. 
	     
	     As we move into the Senate this week, we will fight for 
all the $250 billion in spending cuts contained in this program, 
including $100 billion in reduction in entitlements already in this 
program.  We will fight for the fairness of the program, which has 
over 60 percent of the new taxes coming from people with incomes 
above $200,000, over 74 percent coming above $100,000, which costs 
the average family with a $40,000 or $50,000 income $1 a month next 
year, $7 a month the year after, and $17 a month at a maximum rate; 
and which holds harmless working families under $30,000 a year; and 
which has the first incentive in the history of the United States of 
America to lift the working poor out of poverty by using the tax 
system to say if you work 40 hours a week and you have a child in the 
house, you will not be below the poverty line.  If you want welfare 
reform, that's it.  (Applause.)
	     
	     Now, later today I will meet with Senator Mitchell, the 
Senate Majority Leader, and Senator Moynihan, the Chairman of the 
Finance Committee, and I will tell them that I intend to designate 
the Treasury Secretary, Secretary Bentsen, to work with them to come 
up with a budget that the American people will accept and that the 
Congress will pass.  
	     
	     As we complete work on this growth plan, I intend to do 
everything I can to say I welcome additional cuts.  But I will fight 
to protect the most vulnerable people in this country.  And I will 
fight to protect our investments to create jobs.  (Applause.)  For in 
the end, this cannot be about passing budgets or reducing deficits.  
It certainly can't be about raising taxes or even cutting spending.  
What it is in the end is about giving us control over our destiny 
again; giving us the ability to create jobs and opportunity and 
increase incomes for the American people.  
	     
	     And let's not lose sight of what has been done.  This 
program, which cuts spending, raises revenues, cuts the deficit, and 
invests in jobs and technology for the future, has already by its 
advocacy and passing, dramatically contributed to bringing interest 
rates to their lowest point in 20 years; so that you've got a seven-
year high in home buying, unemployment below seven percent for the 
first time in a year and a half, and 755,000 new jobs in this economy 
in the last four months.  I think that's something to be proud of, 
and I don't understand why people are not glad that those 
consequences are flowing from these efforts.  (Applause.)
	     
	     I believe the American people want us to move in this 
direction.  Last week the Home Builders Association endorsed the 
economic program -- not a traditionally Democratic group.  
(Laughter.)  The Realtors Association has endorsed it.  More than 
half the 100 biggest companies in the United States have endorsed it 
along with the largest labor organizations in America.  This is a 
program that's good for jobs.  The Congressional Black Caucus voted 
for it unanimously because of the empowerment zones in the program 
which gives the private sector incentives to invest in putting people 
back to work in the most depressed areas in America.  The business 
community is please because of the incentives for starting new 
business and for helping small businesses.  
	     
	     If you will look at this program you will see it is no 
accident why the interest rates are down, the jobs are up, and 
investment is coming back into America.  If we can keep interest 
rates down, then all this debt that has piled up in the last 12 years 
at least can be refinanced in terms of home mortgages, business 
loans, college loans, consumer loans, car loans.  And all that lower 
interest rate will then free up money to invest.  That is what is 
creating these jobs now, and we cannot turn our backs on it.  
	     
	     So I say, let's move onto the Senate.  Let's pass the 
economic program, then let's move onto health care.  And let's never 
forget that it will all work better over the long run if we pass 
campaign finance reform and lobbying reform and continue to fight to 
open this system to the American people.
	     
	     Thank you very much.  (Applause.)
	     
                              * * * * *
	     
	     Q	  Mr. President, how close are you to a Supreme Court 
nomination?
	     
	     THE PRESIDENT:  Pretty close.  I have not made a 
decision yet, but I'm working on it, talking to people.  I expect a 
decision very soon.
	     
	     Q	     spoken to anyone about the decision --
	     
	     Q	  Why are you backing off of Babbitt?
	     
	     Q	     any of the potential nominees?
	     
	     THE PRESIDENT:  Stay tuned.
	     
	     Q	  Why are you backing off of Babbitt?  (Laughter.)
	     
	     THE PRESIDENT:  I'm not.  I've never --
	     
	     Q	  Babbitt's in the race?
	     
	     THE PRESIDENT:  I'm not backing off or on anybody.  I 
haven't made a decision yet.
	     
	     Q	  Is he in the race?
	     
	     THE PRESIDENT:  I haven't made a decision yet.  When I 
do, I'll tell you.  Thanks.
	     
	     Q	     give him a litmus test?
	     
	     Q	  Who's going to be Interior Secretary?

                                   END2:40 P.M. EDT