pd03jy95 The President's Radio Address...

	Web GovRecords.org

subject of military bases. One of your political allies, Senator Boxer, 
has asked you to consider sparing some of the bases in California slated 
to be closed. At the same time, one of your political opponents, Pete 
Wilson, plans to attack the administration in a speech this evening in 
New Hampshire for what he says are artificially low target levels that 
OMB has given the Department of Defense, which has resulted in a need to 
close more military bases than necessary to meet the budget targets. I'm 
wondering first, on the political ally side, if there is any chance that 
you would spare any of the bases in California, and on the political 
opponent side, what you would say to that criticism by Governor Wilson?
    The President. Well, first of all, let's deal with the base issue. 
The way the base closings works is--the way the base closing process 
works is that the commission votes on which bases to close. Then they 
send it to me in a package, which they will do on July 1st. Then I have 
three options: I can accept it, in which case it goes to Congress, and 
unless Congress rejects it, it goes into law; the second option is I can 
reject it out of hand, in which case there are no base closings; the 
third option is that I can send it back to the commission with 
recommended changes. Are you still on?
    Ms. Yoachum. Yes, sir.
    The President. And I have to tell you that with regard to 
California, as you know, the McClellan Air Base was not on our list. And 
it was not on our list, basically--it was not on the Pentagon list for 
two reasons, both of which I thought were good reasons. One was that 
California had about 20 percent of the defense investment for the 
country, but it sustained 40 percent of the base cuts in the first two 
rounds. Before I became President I thought that was more than enough, 
and the law provides for economic impact to be considered. The other is 
that the Pentagon thought that a better way to deal with the problem of 
over-capacity in what is done at McClellan and down at Kelly Air Force 
Base in Texas was to shave some of the capacity off all five of the 
sites around the country and presented a plan to do that. So I'm 
concerned specifically--I'm concerned about the decision made by the 
Base Closing Commission there, but I have to be careful about further 
comment until they send them all to me.
    Now secondly, Governor Wilson is just wrong about what he said about 
defense. Basically, my defense numbers have been about the same as the 
Republicans of Congress have recommended and what the Pentagon has asked 
for. And the truth is that the Army

[[Page 1127]]

people--all the military people but particularly the Army--will tell you 
that we have brought the force structure down, we have reduced defense 
in real dollar terms about 40 percent since 1987 and we have reduced the 
size of the military by about 40 percent, and we've reduced our base 
structure, oh, about less than half that, considerably less than half 
that. So most of the military experts will tell you that the reduction 
of base structure in the United States and throughout the world has 
lagged far behind the reduction in numbers of people in the military.
    And I have tried to be very sensitive since I've been in office to 
the economic impact of this, to trying to give these bases a chance to 
do alternative things like help to develop a civilian mission as well as 
a military mission, and a lot of that work is being done at McClellan 
and in some other places as well in California and throughout the 
country.
    But it's just not true to say that inadequate budgets have led to 
the closing of more bases than were necessary. That's just absolutely 
untrue. We have, in fact, tried to keep more open than the strict, harsh 
numbers would dictate, given how much the size of our forces have been 
reduced. So that's just--it's just not true. I'm sure it's good politics 
for him to say that in New Hampshire or wherever else, but it's simply 
not true.
    Ms. Yoachum. Sir, one last question. That is----
    Deputy Press Secretary Ginny Terzano. Susan, we're going to have to 
stop this because we now have to depart for our next meeting.

Aid to California and 1996 Election

    Ms. Yoachum. Okay, I'm sorry. I was just going to ask the President 
if Governor Wilson really is the candidate he fears most and if there's 
any chance that McClellan will or may not open?
    The President. Well, first of all, let me just say those two 
questions are totally independent of one another. From the day I became 
President I worked hard to help California, and I think the people of 
California know that. We have given aid because of the earthquakes and 
the fires on more generous terms than had previously been the case. 
Thirty-three percent of our defense conversion money to develop new 
technologies from old defense technologies in the commercial sector have 
gone into California, a disproportionate amount. An enormous amount of 
investment has been put into the State because I was so concerned that 
the California economy had been overly hurt by the defense cutbacks 
before I showed up and by the global recession. I have also done far 
more than my two Republican predecessors did to try to combat illegal 
immigration. And so the record is clear and unambiguous and will not be 
subject to distortion by anybody between now and 1996.
    And in terms of who I fear most, the truth is I don't have a clue. I 
don't know who's going to win. And I have observed this process for 30 
years now at close hand, and one thing I'm absolutely convinced of is 
that you cannot predict who would be the strongest or the weakest 
candidate or what the dynamics are going to be. People think--and I 
don't waste any time thinking about it. I haven't given it 5 minutes 
thought. Because the Republicans have to pick their nominee, and then 
whomever is picked will be the nominee, and then I'll launch the 
election. And I also have to be nominated. So I'm just worrying about 
doing my job as President, doing the best I can, and we'll see who gets 
nominated.
    Ms. Terzano. Susan, thank you.
    Ms. Yoachum. Mr. President, thank you very much.
    The President. Goodbye.

Note: The President spoke at 11:10 a.m. by telephone while en route to 
Taylor Field. During the interview, Ms. Yoachum referred to Walter H. 
Shorenstein, chairman, U.N. 50 National Committee.


<DOC>
[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents]
 [frwais.access.gpo.gov]


[Page 1127-1128]
 
Monday, July 3, 1995
 
Volume 31--Number 26
Pages 1113-1179
 
Week Ending Friday, June 30, 1995
 
Interview with Gary Matthews of ESPN in Pine Bluff

June 24, 1995

    Mr. Matthews. Thank you very much, Mr. President. Thank you for 
coming in. I understand that you're a great amateur baseball fan. Did 
you have the opportunity to play when you were growing up here in 
Arkansas?

[[Page 1128]]

    The President. I did. Everybody did when I was a boy, but I was 
never as good as these guys are.
    Mr. Matthews. Well, I'm sure you, like other fans across the 
country--and having played major league baseball, myself--are happy that 
the strike is over. It's just so good to see so many fans here in Pine 
Bluff come out and support amateur sports.
    The President. It is. I was delighted when the strike was over. As 
you know, I did what I could to help bring it to an end, and I think it 
kind of keeps the spirits of baseball fans up all across America. But 
the real heart and soul of baseball in our country are people like this, 
all these fans out here in stands like this all over America today and 
all these young people that are doing it in this way. They build the 
spirit of baseball, and they make it possible for a few people like you 
to rise to the top and have the career that you had.
    Mr. Matthews. Well, thank you. I really appreciate that. I 
understand that you're the first President to come to Pine Bluff in over 
100 years. What took you so long?
    The President. I was here a lot before I became President. These 
people in this county were as good to me as any people in our entire 
State. They carried me on their shoulders through 12 years as Governor 
and I owed them a trip back here, and I'm honored to be here today.
    Mr. Matthews. Well, thank you, Mr. President. Enjoy the game today.
    The President. Thank you.

Note: The interview began at 1:21 p.m. at Taylor Field, where the 
President threw the first pitch at the National Amateur All Star 
Baseball Tournament. Gary Matthews is a former player for the Chicago 
Cubs baseball team. A tape was not available for verification of the 
content of this interview.


<DOC>
[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents]
 [frwais.access.gpo.gov]


[Page 1128-1130]
 
Monday, July 3, 1995
 
Volume 31--Number 26
Pages 1113-1179
 
Week Ending Friday, June 30, 1995
 
Remarks at the Dedication Ceremony for the Mahlon Martin Apartments in 
Little Rock, Arkansas

June 25, 1995

    Thank you very much, Mr. Grogan; Mr. Brimberry; my good friend Gary 
Smith; and all those who helped to make this day possible: Governor 
Tucker; Congressman Thornton; Mayor Dailey; Mayor Hays; Judge Villines; 
our secretary of state, Sharon Priest, and state treasurer, Jimmie Lou 
Fisher; prosecuting attorney Mark Stoler, who drove me in my first 
campaign 21 years ago; Senator Walker; to the fine young AmeriCorps 
volunteers here who are participating in this event.
    Let me say a word to all of you but especially to those who have 
come from Washington with me. This is a hometown event, all right, for 
my friend Mahlon Martin and his wonderful wife, Cheryl. A lot of us have 
come down here for it, the Federal Highway Administrator, Rodney Slater, 
and Mr. Lindsey and others. But this is an event of national 
significance because this is a concrete, specific example of what I have 
been trying to say to the American people now for 2\1/2\ years, which is 
there is nothing wrong with this country that cannot be solved with what 
is right with this country, that the best thing to do is not to have a 
big argument about whether the Government or the private sector ought to 
solve all our problems because neither can do it, and what we need is a 
partnership.
    I want to thank Mr. Lupberger. I see Mr. Brimberry up here with Mr. 
Smith--all the people who have been involved with all the banks and all 
the corporations who have helped in this endeavor. But before I go back 
to the programs, let me just remind you what this is going to do. These 
facilities are going to do two things. Most importantly, they are going 
to give homes to working people who don't have enough money to get by. 
The real heroes in American society today are the people who get up 
every day, work a full week, raise their kids the best they can, and do 
not have enough money to get by. And they deserve a place to live, 
health care for their kids, decent schools, and safe streets. And if we 
had it, this country would be in better shape.
    Now, that is what this is all about. People are going to be able to 
afford to live in these places who are out there working for somewhere 
between $15,000 and $18,000 a year and doing their best to raise their 
kids, give them a chance to be well-educated and safe and drug-free and 
have a future. And they deserve this kind of chance. And it happened

[[Page 1129]]

because practical people developed partnerships which made it possible. 
And that happens from programs, and it happens from people.
    The second thing I want to say is more personal. As a longtime 
citizen of this city, I used to run by this street almost every day of 
my life, by these two buildings. Every day, when laziness didn't get the 
better of me, I would run by these two buildings, and I would think how 
beautiful they were and what a shame it was that they weren't being used 
in a productive way.
    These buildings will give an example, a sense of pride, a sense of 
hope, a sense of possibility to other people. They will make people more 
proud. They will change the way people think about this neighborhood, 
this downtown area, and this city. And I want all the people who live 
here to make sure you take good care of them and to make people proud of 
them and to prove that this effort was worth doing.
    I thank you for the mention of the low-income housing tax credit. It 
was part of the economic development plan in 1993. The other thing we 
did in 1993 is to cut the income taxes of all the people who will live 
in this building who have children, because we don't believe people who 
work 40 hours a week and have kids in their homes should bring those 
children up in poverty. If you work full-time, your children ought to be 
able to live above the poverty line.
    We've done other things that make this partnership more possible. 
We've continued the community development block grants, and the city put 
about 20 percent of the money into this project because of the community 
development block grants. It's threatened today in Washington. I hope we 
can save it. We can cut a lot of spending back, but we're going to have 
to invest some money back in our people and their future.
    We also tried to improve the Community Reinvestment Act to give 
banks better incentives and better support in reinvesting in the 
community. And we tried to establish a whole national network of 
community development banks like the Elk Horn Bank in Arkadelphia which 
the First Lady and Mahlon and so many others, including the Rockefeller 
Foundation before Mahlon went there, had to do with establishing. We 
thank you for making Arkansas a national model in that, and we're trying 
to do that all around the country. We created over 100 empowerment zones 
and enterprise communities, of which Little Rock is one, to give people 
incentives for these kind of partnerships.
    Now, most voters can never remember the acronym of LISC, and if you 
told them what a local initiative support corporation was they wouldn't 
understand what that is either. But most Americans have enough common 
sense to know that we don't need to get into an ideological debate and 
you don't have to be a genius to understand that if people are working 
for a living and trying to raise their children, they ought to have a 
decent place to live. And the best way to do it is not to have a huge 
ideological debate in Washington about whether the Government ought to 
do it or the private sector ought to do it. The best way to do it is to 
roll up your sleeves, have a practical partnership, and empower people 
at the grassroots level to make the most of their own lives.
    But I also want to say it requires people. And this is the last 
point I will make in this brief address on a hot day. I'm not sure I 
would be President today if it weren't for Mahlon Martin. I remember 
once when I went to Montreal to give a speech to the international 
convention of city managers, a fellow from another State--Michigan, I 
think--came up to me and said, ``You know, Mahlon Martin when he was 
city manager of Little Rock was one of the 10 best city managers in the 
entire United States of America.'' Mahlon Martin once wanted to be a pro 
baseball player. He wound up going to Philander Smith and deferring that 
dream, and instead he spent his life helping the rest of us live out our 
dreams. In a way, I know he misses baseball and I know he was glad when 
the strike was settled, but I think that there are very few baseball 
players which will have helped as many people live out their dreams as 
Mahlon Martin has helped in our State, in this community.
    In 1983, when I persuaded him to become head of the department of 
finance and administration, we took office with the State broke, in an 
illegal financial condition. And the first thing that we had to do to 
make

[[Page 1130]]

Mahlon and the Governor immensely popular was to cut spending one 
percent across the board, for everything, just to come into compliance 
with the State law. It was a wonderful way to begin an administration. 
[Laughter]
    Then a couple of years later, Governor, in one budget period, Mahlon 
had to cut spending in one of our budget cycles six times during the 
recession of the eighties, six times cutting back on things that we 
desperately wanted to spend more money on, including education.
    I used to tell everybody that when I was Governor, Mahlon Martin was 
the government, and I made the speeches. I never saw a fellow who could 
tell people no and make them like it better than he did. [Laughter] And 
I think it's because they always knew he wanted to say yes and that he 

Other Popular 1995 Presidential Documents Documents:

Other Documents:

1995 Presidential Documents Records and Documents