pd04my98 Remarks at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner...

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Remarks on Receiving the Surgeon General's Report on Tobacco Use Among 
Minority Groups

April 27, 1998

    Thank you very much, Dr. Satcher, for the exceptional report. I 
thank all those who worked on it. Mr. Vice President, Secretary Shalala, 
thank you for your long and constant fidelity to this cause. Thank you, 
Senator Frist, for being here, for demonstrating that it is a medical, 
not a political issue, and an American, not a partisan issue. You gave 
us a ``two-fer'' today, and we thank you for that. You were great. 
[Applause] Thank you.
    I also thank Senator Hatch and Senator Chafee for being here, all 
the Members of the House of Representatives. I thank the leaders of the 
Native American tribes who are here. I especially thank the attorneys 
general who are here. They had a lot to do with beginning this long 
struggle to free our children from tobacco, and they deserve a lot of 
the credit for the efforts that are now going on. And I'd like to thank 
the young people who are standing behind me and those whom they 
represent, all across America, in the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Youth. 
They represent the future we are trying to preserve.
    This report gives us fresh evidence that those of us in this society 
who are adults, and especially those of us who are parents, are not 
doing our jobs very well. Any of us who have ever been parents know that 
our most profound and instinctive urge is to protect our children from 
danger so that they can grow up healthy, safe, and secure.
    Just today I was talking before I came in here with a Member of the 
House who was at our previous event, and he was talking about a young 
staff member of his who was dealing with a serious health problem. And 
he choked up; he couldn't even finish the conversation. And he's a good 
person with a good heart, but that reflects the natural human response 
we have to protect our own children, and all those who are of the 
younger generation from whatever dangers we can, in the hope that they 
will have the opportunity to live full, good lives.
    Well, we've done a good job over the years of strapping our kids 
into seatbelts in cars,

[[Page 724]]

in safety seats. We do a pretty good job of bundling up children against 
the winter cold; not many of them die of pneumonia anymore. We make sure 
that they get to school safely each day. But we haven't done what we 
should in wrapping the protective arm of parents and other adults in our 
society as a whole around them when it comes to resisting advertising, 
peer pressure, or whatever other forces get young people into smoking, 
even though it's illegal to sell cigarettes to children in every State 
in the United States.
    We know that today about a third of our children are smoking. The 
report issued by Dr. Satcher shows that more and more are becoming 
hooked on cigarettes. Smoking rates are up among teens of all 
backgrounds, but now we see especially among Hispanics, Native 
Americans, Asians and Pacific Islanders, and especially, and most 
dramatically, among African-Americans, where the rates used to be 
dramatically lower than the average.
    These are children just starting out in life; they've got enough 
challenges as it is. We ought to do more to clear the way, to assure 
them the best possible chance at the future of their dreams. Instead, 
they are still becoming the targets of highly sophisticated marketing 
campaigns. They are the ``replacement smokers'' of the advertisers' 
strategy. But they are our children, and we can't replace them.
    The call to action should be getting louder. Congress has a very 
important opportunity to build on the work done by the attorneys 
general, the representatives of individuals who have been harmed in 
smoking, and others--the work of the FDA--to pass a comprehensive, 
bipartisan tobacco bill that will cut teen smoking by raising the price 
of cigarettes, putting into place tough restrictions on advertising and 
access, imposing strong penalties on those who continue to sell 
cigarettes to children, ensuring the FDA has the authority it needs to 
regulate tobacco products, protecting farmers and farming communities, 
and yes, doing what Dr. Satcher says we still need to do, continuing to 
invest more in research to find out the answers that we don't have yet 
in this regard.
    A bill sponsored by Senator McCain and voted out of the committee 
with all but one vote--a unanimous vote save one--is a good step in that 
direction, because it explicitly changes the rules of the game to make 
it much harder for the tobacco industry to profit at the expense of our 
children's health.
    I want to say a special word of thanks, too, to Senator Frist, 
because he's worked so hard to make sure that the bill provides the FDA 
with the authority it needs to continue to cover tobacco products.
    Now, folks, the Surgeon General has just issued his first report. 
It's a fine report. It's a compelling report. It is obviously compelling 
to the leaders of the groups from whom these children come, because they 
have come here. We know what the danger is. We know what the remedy is. 
They're just kids; we're the grown-ups. Now, if we know what the danger 
is and we know what the remedy is, are we going to do what it takes to 
save their lives and their health and their future, or not? It is as 
simple as that. This is not rocket science.
    I have been profoundly moved by the extent to which this really has 
become an issue about health, not politics, an issue about our children, 
not partisan differences. Every step along the way we have been able to 
reach across party lines; we've been able to put aside rhetoric; we've 
been able to try to look to the health issue of our children.
    Now, I know there are some complexities surrounding this issue. 
There are complexities: How much money should be raised? How should it 
be spent? How should we assure the continuing jurisdiction of the FDA? 
Exactly what are the nature of the advertising restrictions? There are 
complicated questions. But my experience now, after many, many years in 
public life, is that all the complicated questions get much simpler if 
you focus on the big issue.
    The big issue is that the children behind us deserve to have a 
future, and we know that unless we do something to stop them from being 
treated as replacement smokers, their future will be restricted. That is 
the big issue. We know what the problem is; we know what to do about it. 
I suggest that these children--you look at them, look at all those they 
represent, look at those who don't yet have the good sense to put their 
tee shirts on and join their crusades--and it becomes

[[Page 725]]

pretty clear that we need to take this very first report by our latest 
distinguished Surgeon General and do the right thing with the report and 
for our children.
    Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 2 p.m. on the South Lawn at the White 
House. The report was entitled, ``Tobacco Use Among U.S. Racial/Ethnic 
Minority Groups.''


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[Page 725]
 
Monday, May 4, 1998
 
Volume 34--Number 18
Pages 711-754
 
Week Ending Friday, May 1, 1998
 
Memorandum on the Combined Federal Campaign of the National Capital Area

April 27, 1998

Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies

Subject: 1998 Combined Federal Campaign of the National Capital Area

    I am delighted that Rodney E. Slater, Secretary of Transportation, 
has agreed to again serve as the Chair of the 1998 Combined Federal 
Campaign of the National Capital Area. I ask you to support the campaign 
by personally chairing the campaign in your agency and appointing a top 
official as your vice chair.
    The Combined Federal Campaign is an important way for Federal 
employees to support many worthy charities. This year our goal is to 
again raise more than $38 million. Public servants not only contribute 
to the campaign but assume leadership roles to ensure its success.
    Your personal support and enthusiasm will help guarantee another 
successful campaign this year.
                                            William J. Clinton

Note: This memorandum was released by the Office of the Press Secretary 
on April 28.


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[Page 725-728]
 
Monday, May 4, 1998
 
Volume 34--Number 18
Pages 711-754
 
Week Ending Friday, May 1, 1998
 
Remarks on Receiving the Report of the Social Security and Medicare 
Trustees and an Exchange With Reporters

April 28, 1998

    The President. Good afternoon. Five and a half years ago, America 
chose a new course of fiscal discipline and economic growth, balancing 
our budget and investing in our people. Holding fast to that course, our 
people have built the strongest economy in a generation.
    Success of this strategy cannot be cause for complacency, however. 
Instead, it offers us an opportunity and an obligation to act boldly to 
strengthen our Nation for the new century. Above all, we can harness our 
unsurpassed prosperity to uphold our duty to our parents, to our 
children, and to each other through Social Security and Medicare.
    I've just been briefed by the four Social Security and Medicare 
trustees for the administration: Secretaries Rubin, Shalala, Herman, and 
Social Security Commissioner Ken Apfel. The trustees have issued their 
annual report on the future financial health of these vital programs.
    The trustees have told us today that the Balanced Budget Act I 
signed into law last year has significantly improved the financial 
future for Medicare. The unprecedented reforms included in that law have 
cut the so-called 75-year deficit of Medicare in half, even as we have 
extended new preventive benefits, provided more health choices for 
Medicare beneficiaries, and instituted other reforms that extended the 
life of the Medicare Trust Fund for a decade.
    In fact, because of the bipartisan steps taken last year, the long-
term prognosis for Medicare is stronger than it has been in over a 
decade. A bipartisan commission is now at work to craft further steps to 
strengthen the complex program into the 21st century. I look forward to 
their recommendations.
    The trustees also report that the strength of our economy has led to 
modest improvements in the outlook for Social Security. They project 
that economic growth today will extend the solvency of the Social 
Security Trust Fund by 3 more years, now to 2032.
    Today's report is encouraging. It shows we can honor our values and 
meet our most fundamental obligations, even as we balance the budget. 
However, these modest improvements only underscore the fundamental 
challenge we face. We must act to make certain that Social Security is 
as strong for our children as it has been for our parents.

[[Page 726]]

    Above all, let me say again, we must save every penny of any budget 
surplus, of any size, until we have strengthened Social Security. I've 
been heartened by the support this approach has received from lawmakers 
from both parties. But as estimates of the possible surplus have grown, 
the demand for new tax and spending initiatives that could upend our 
fiscal discipline have grown as well. Fiscal responsibility created our 
prosperity. Fiscal irresponsibility could undercut it. So I will resist 
any proposals that would squander the budget surplus, whether on new 
spending programs or new tax cuts, until Social Security is strengthened 
for the long-term. Once more I will insist that we save Social Security 
first.
    In the coming months we will work to build public awareness of the 
nature and scope of the challenge and to build public consensus for 
solutions. We must proceed with care, remembering that Social Security 
offers our people not only a guarantee of retirement security but also a 
life insurance and a disability insurance policy as well.
    Any changes we make now will be far easier than if we wait until the 
problems of Social Security are at hand. We will strengthen Social 
Security only if we reach across lines of party philosophy and 
generation, as we did when we drafted last year's balanced budget. And 
if we make this year a year of education on Social Security, I'm 
confident we will come together to take the necessary steps next year.
    Finally, let me say that as we continue to take the necessary steps 
to sustain the growth of our economy, we must look ahead to the 
challenges that remain. Today, once again, I have asked Congress to 
strengthen America's commitment to the International Monetary Fund and 
the U.N. In this new era, the health of our economy will be deeply 
affected by the health of the world economy, and the security of the 
United States is clearly affected by the security of the rest of the 
world. Failure to act on these matters will put at risk both global 
economic stability, which will affect our own, and the prosperity that 
has widened the opportunity that we have enjoyed in this country, the 
very prosperity which has made possible the progress on Social Security 
and Medicare that I announced today.
    We've got a real opportunity here, and a rare one, to act today to 
provide for our children's tomorrows. We should seize the moment, and 
I'm confident that we will.
    Thank you.

Speaker Newt Gingrich

    Q. Mr. President, Newt Gingrich says your administration postures 
more and achieves less than any administration in American history. How 
do you respond?
    The President. Well, I think the achievements speak for themselves. 
And he said a lot of things last night that I don't think it would serve 
any useful purpose for me to respond to. There is enough negative 
political talk in Washington every single day without the President 
adding to it. I want to focus on the challenges facing our country, and 
that's what I intend to do.
    Q. Mr. President, he also said that you should tell your supporters 
to stop attacking the independent counsel, Ken Starr.
    The President. I don't have--I've already told you, Mr. Gingrich 
said a lot of things last night that I don't think deserve a response, 
and I think it would not serve the American public well for me to waste 
my time doing it. I think I need to be focused on the public issues that 
affect them, and that's what I intend to do.

Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr

    Q. Do you have any thought of firing Ken Starr? I mean, he made that 
suggestion.
    The President. Of hiring him?
    Q. Firing him, sir. [Laughter] He said, if you want, you could do it 
in the morning. I mean, have you ever thought of that?
    The President. First of all, that's not what the statute says.
    Q. I'm just quoting him, sir.
    The President. I know, but I don't want to respond to what he said.

Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien's Visit to Cuba

    Q. [Inaudible]
    Q. Mr. President, are you threatening to veto any tax proposals 
beyond--say, tobacco?
    The President. Wait, wait, I'll take both, but--go ahead.

[[Page 727]]

    Q. Are you concerned that the Canadian Prime Minister's visit to 
Cuba is undermining your efforts to isolate Castro?
    The President. Well, Canada and most other countries in the world do 
not agree with the extent of our embargo. But Canada has been a good, 
loyal ally in the cause of human rights. And I talked to the Prime 
Minister at some length, both on the telephone and when I saw him, about 

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