pd03jy95 The President's Radio Address...

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believe that he is unfit for any public office ever because he performed 
a few legal abortions, and therefore, he should never be considered for 
any public service and if the people who wanted to be President in the 
other party knew what was good for them, they would vote no. And since 
we had enough votes to confirm him, they could not even let him come to 
a vote.
    Now, here's a guy, unlike the rest of--most of the rest of us--who's 
actually done something to try to reduce teen pregnancy, to try to 
reduce the number of abortions, and to try to tell kids on a consistent, 
disciplined way, who don't have other role models to tell them, that 
they should not have sex before they're married. Here's a guy who's 
actually gone out and organized a program that was recognized not by me 
but by my predecessor, President Bush, in an organized, disciplined 
fashion to tell young people, ``I don't care what kind of problems 
you've got, I don't care what your peer pressures are. I don't care what 
you're going through. You have no business having sex. You cannot 
promote teen pregnancy, and you ought not to do it to your life. You 
ought to stay off drugs, stay in school, and do a good job with your 
life.'' Here's a guy who's ridden country dusty roads in Alabama and 
brought health care to people that they never could have gotten 
otherwise. Here's a man who's delivered thousands of babies, and had at 
least one of his former patients stand up and publicly say, ``I was 
going to have an abortion, and he talked me out of it. He talked me out 
of it.''
    In other words, here's a guy who has actually lived what other folks 
say they believe in. But in this sort of new world that's taken hold up 
here, he wasn't politically correct and pure enough to serve as Surgeon 
General, even though he had actually done the things they say they wish 
to do. This is a profound debate. And so they were even willing to abuse 
the filibuster process.
    Clarence Thomas could have been kept off the Supreme Court if the 
Democrats had said, ``Well, we don't have enough votes to beat him, but 
we sure got enough votes to keep him from coming to a vote.'' But they 
said, ``No, that would be morally wrong. The President has a right to 
make an appointment. The committee has a right to make the 
recommendation. And the Senate ought to vote.'' But not in this new 
world. In this new world that are no rules except winning and losing, 
because one side is all good, and the other side is all bad. If we had 
had that attitude for the last 219 years, we wouldn't be here today. We 
wouldn't be here today.
    So what is to become of us as a people? I ran for this job because I 
wanted to do two things, two big things: I wanted to restore the 
American dream. I wanted to get the economy going. I wanted to lift 
stagnant wages and get the jobs coming back into the economy and fix the 
education system so people could actually get out of this awful two-
decade slump we've been in where even when the economic numbers get 
better, nobody ever gets a raise. But I also wanted to bring the country 
together.
    Now, the second issue is even more important than the first. And it 
can be a very good thing that we are having these big debates over 
fundamental questions. But I want you to understand just how deep and 
fundamental these debates are.
    If you look at the budget debate here, I applaud the Republicans for 
being for a balanced budget, and I hope all the Democrats will be, for 
the reasons I just explained. It is not right for our country to have a 
permanent deficit. I wasn't for the amendment because we ought to have 
the right to borrow when we need to. But we shouldn't be in a system of 
permanent deficits.
    But my budget reflects what I just talked to you about. My budget 
reflects the idea that we need to keep going forward. So I believe that 
I'm right. I think we should balance the budget but increase our 
investment in education. I think we have to cut the rate at which we're 
increasing health expenditures but not so much that we're going to close 
down rural hospitals or urban hospitals

[[Page 1120]]

and not so much that we're going to burden elderly people who don't have 
enough to live on as it is and can't afford to pay a whole lot more for 
their health care and shouldn't be asked to give up health care. I 
believe that we ought to cut spending on welfare but not so much that we 
don't invest in child care and basic training so we can actually move 
people from welfare to work instead of just throwing poor kids in the 
street. The objective of welfare reform should be to help people, again, 
become good workers and good parents, not just to save money.
    I believe any tax cut we have should be so small it doesn't require 
us to cut these other things and should be focused on the people who 
need it to help them raise their kids and educate them. That's why I 
proposed a tax deduction for the cost of education after high school. I 
think that's important.
    And I know if you cut the tax cut back and focus it on education and 
child rearing and take 10 years instead of 7 to balance the budget, then 
you don't have to cut education, and you don't have to imperil Medicare 
and Medicaid and you don't have to go from a welfare reform plan that 
should be tough on work but good to children to one that doesn't have 
any work and sticks it to kids. It moves us ahead. But it's not an 
ideologically extreme position. It says we have two things we want to 
do: balance the budget and bring our country together and raise incomes 
and move forward. And we can do them both. And that's what's going on up 
there now. These are big, fundamental questions.
    I just want to say, in closing, that a lot of what's happened to you 
here, a lot of the outrageous, outrageous things that have been said 
about our State and a lot of the lickin' that you've taken is a product 
of the confusion and the disorientation of the times and the idea that 
there are no rules and people just sort of flailing around trying to win 
another one to get to tomorrow. That is not what made this country 
great. That is not what made this country great, and it's not what you 
taught me to do here.
    And I just want you to know, the greatest thing that ever happens to 
me is when I get to be all of you. Hillary and I were in Ukraine for the 
50th anniversary of the end of World War II. And I gave a speech at the 
university there, and there were, I don't know, 60,000 people or 
something in the streets. And then everywhere we drove, they were four 
or five deep waving American flags. And I met all these old veterans 
from World War II who fought with the Americans then, telling me 
everything they did and showing me all their medals, you know. They 
weren't waving at me, they were waving at America. They were waving at 
America.
    You know, everything the Vice President said--I'm glad I have a 
chance to play a major role in what we're doing in the Middle East and 
what we're doing in Northern Ireland and what's happening in Haiti and 
the deneutralization of the world--I'm glad about all that. But the only 
reason I had that chance is because for a little while in our country's 
history I get to become all of us, the United States. And I am telling 
you I've been there.
    There is no country in the world as well positioned as we are for 
the next century. There is no country--[applause]--because we do have a 
limited Government that allows the private sector to flourish and 
entrepreneurs to do well, but we have enough ability to work together to 
solve common problems that we can do that. We have the potential for the 
right balance and the right flexibility.
    There is no country that is any better positioned because of our 
terrific geographic and economic and racial, ethnic and religious 
diversity. But unless we learn to how to recover both the sense of 
personal responsibility and a sense of appreciation for people who are 
different from us, unless we learn how to resolve our differences 
without demonizing people and how to look toward the long run, we could 
squander the most colossal opportunity our country has ever had.
    Because of the way technology works in the 21st century, Arkansas 
can not only have a lower unemployment rate than the rest of the 
country, our people can actually enjoy a standard of living equal to 
that of any people in the world. And that can happen everywhere. But it 
depends upon whether we can go back to these first principles and go 
forward with a sense of balance and mutual respect.

[[Page 1121]]

    At the end of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln said, ``We cannot be 
enemies. We must be friends.'' That is what I say to you. And when you 
get angry about things you think are happening and when things happen 
you don't understand, just remember, this is still the greatest country 
in the world. It is still the greatest country in the world.
    Stand up and fight for what you believe in. But fight against people 
who want to throw this country way off the track. And fight for the idea 
that we can pull together. After that Oklahoma City bombing, America was 
shaken to its very core. But it threw some of the meanness out of all of 
us. And it made all of us reexamine where we are. And our sort of heart 
and our common sense were reasserted. After that wonderful young Air 
Force Captain Scott O'Grady survived 6 hideous days in Bosnia and was 
rescued by a brilliant American operation, we were all exhilarated, and 
that put some of the energy back in all of us.
    What I want you to know is to get to tomorrow, we have to have the 
heart and the openness to other people that we found in the tragedy of 
Oklahoma City and the self-confidence and energy that we had when that 
boy came home. And if we do that, we're going to be just fine.
    That is the issue in 1996. That is what you're investing in. It's my 
last election. I'll never run for anything else. [Laughter] You'll never 
have to come to one of these again. You'll never be dunned again. 
[Laughter] You'll never have to stand in line again if you don't want 
to. But just know this time, this time, the stakes are the highest they 
have ever been, higher than they were in '92 because of where we have 
moved and where we can go. It is worth the fight. And I can't make it 
without you, but together I think we will.
    God bless you, and thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 1:35 p.m. in the William J. Clinton 
Ballroom at the Excelsior Hotel. In his remarks, he referred to Maurice 
Mitchell, legal counsel, Arkansas Democratic Party; luncheon organizers 
James L. ``Skip'' Rutherford, Jay Dunn, Doug Hatterman, Merle Peterson, 
and Jimmy Red Jones; and Gov. Jim Guy Tucker of Arkansas and his wife, 
Betty. This item was not received in time for publication in the 
appropriate issue.


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[Page 1121]
 
Monday, July 3, 1995
 
Volume 31--Number 26
Pages 1113-1179
 
Week Ending Friday, June 30, 1995
 
Statement on the Death of Jonas Salk

June 23, 1995

    Hillary and I want to extend our deepest sympathies to the family 
and friends of Dr. Jonas Salk, a man whose indefatigable pursuit of 
solutions made this world a better place to live. The victory of this 
medical pioneer over a dreaded disease continues to touch many, from the 
students who study his work to the countless individuals whose lives 
have been saved by his efforts. His polio vaccine opened the door to a 
society in which good health was taken for granted. And, over the last 
decade, his efforts to find a cure for AIDS gave us all hope. He was a 
true leader, and we will miss him greatly.

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[Page 1121-1122]
 
Monday, July 3, 1995
 
Volume 31--Number 26
Pages 1113-1179
 
Week Ending Friday, June 30, 1995
 
Memorandum on Jordan

June 23, 1995

Presidential Determination No. 95-27

Memorandum for the Secretary of State

Subject: Certification of Jordan Under Section 130(c) of the 
International Security and Development Cooperation Act of 1985

    Pursuant to section 130(c) of the International Security and 
Development Cooperation Act of 1985 (Public Law 99-83), I hereby certify 
that Jordan is publicly committed to the recognition of Israel and to 
negotiate promptly and directly with Israel under basic tenets of United 
Nations Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338.
    You are authorized and directed to report this certification, 
together with the attached justification, to the Speaker of the House of 
Representatives and the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations 
Committee. You are further authorized and directed to publish this 
determination, together with the attached justification, in the Federal 
Register.
                                            William J. Clinton

[[Page 1122]]

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[Page 1122-1123]
 
Monday, July 3, 1995
 
Volume 31--Number 26
Pages 1113-1179
 
Week Ending Friday, June 30, 1995
 
The President's Radio Address

June 24, 1995

    Good morning. Today I'm talking to you from the Convention Center in 
Pine Bluff, Arkansas. The Arkansas firefighters are meeting here, and 
I'm the first sitting President ever to visit Pine Bluff. Zachary Taylor 
planned to come in 1849, but he had to cancel. It's a record I'm proud 
to set. I'm also proud to be here with Dr. Henry Foster, who was born 
here and grew up here.
    Just under 5 months ago, I nominated this fine man to be our Surgeon 
General. And this week, a majority of the United States Senate was 
clearly prepared to confirm him as Surgeon General. But he wasn't 
confirmed. He wasn't confirmed because the Senate was never even allowed 
to vote on his confirmation, because they were blocked by a group, a 
minority group, of willful Senators who abused the procedure to keep his 
nomination from coming to a vote for their own political ends.
    Let me tell you a little bit about Dr. Foster. He's been a doctor 
for 38 years, including 3 years in the United States Air Force. He has 
delivered thousands of babies and trained hundreds of young doctors. 
He's ridden dusty country roads in Alabama to bring health care to 
people who never would have gotten it otherwise. He has labored to 
reduce teen pregnancy, to reduce the number of abortions, to tell young 
people without other role models, in a disciplined, organized way: you 
shouldn't have sex before you're married; you should stay off drugs; you 
should stay in school and do a good job with your life. His efforts to 
give a future to young people without one were recognized first not by 
me but by my Republican predecessor, President Bush.
    Let me tell you something: If more people in America lived their 
lives like Henry Foster, there would be fewer kids on drugs, fewer teen 
pregnancies, fewer abortions, fewer broken families. This is a man our 
country should be proud to call our own.
    So why was a group of Senators determined to stop Dr. Foster? A 
minority of the Senate blocked a vote on him in a calculated move to 
showcase their desire to take away a woman's right to choose. Dr. Foster 
has faithfully performed his duties as a doctor for 38 years. Although 

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