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<DOC>
[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents]
[frwais.access.gpo.gov]
[Page i-ii]
Monday, September 5, 1994
Volume 30--Number 35
Pages 1721-1731
Contents
[[Page i]]
Weekly Compilation of
Presidential
Documents
[[Page ii]]
Addresses and Remarks
Crime legislation, teleconference with mayors--1721
Peace process in Northern Ireland, Martha's Vineyard, MA--1730
Radio address--1725
Appointments and Nominations
See also Letters and Messages
President's Committee on Mental Retardation, member--1725
Bill Signings
Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and
Related Agencies Appropriations Act, statement--1724
Hazardous Materials Transportation Authorization Act of 1994,
statement--1723
Communications to Congress
Revised pay schedule for Federal employees, letter--1729
Executive Orders
Establishing an Emergency Board To Investigate a Dispute Between the
Soo Line Railroad Company and Certain of Its Employees
Represented by the United Transportation Union--1727
Interviews With the News Media
Exchange with reporters, Oval Office--1721
Letters and Messages
See also Communications to Congress
Labor Day, message--1730
Presidential Emergency Board No. 225, letter on appointments--1728
Statements by the President
See also Appointments and Nominations; Bill Signings
Death of Drug Enforcement Administration agents--1727
Peace process in Northern Ireland--1728
Withdrawal of Russian forces from Eastern Europe--1728
Supplementary Materials
Acts approved by the President--1731
Checklist of White House press releases--1731
Digest of other White House announcements--1731
Nominations submitted to the Senate--1731
WEEKLY COMPILATION OF
------------------------------
PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS
Published every Monday by the Office of the Federal Register, National
Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC 20408, the Weekly
Compilation of Presidential Documents contains statements, messages, and
other Presidential materials released by the White House during the
preceding week.
The Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents is published pursuant to
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Distribution is made only by the Superintendent of Documents, Government
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There are no restrictions on the republication of material appearing in
the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents.
[[Page 1721]]
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[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents]
[frwais.access.gpo.gov]
[Page 1721-1723]
Monday, September 5, 1994
Volume 30--Number 35
Pages 1721-1731
Week Ending Friday, September 2, 1994
Teleconference With Mayors on Crime Legislation and an Exchange With Reporters
August 26, 1994
The President. Hello? I'm just listening to your war stories; you
sound good. I think they did help, all those calls you mentioned. They
made all the difference.
The Attorney General and I are here on the phone, and we want to
begin by just thanking you for everything you have done. I think, you
know, it's obvious that this was a very tough battle in the House and in
the Senate, that the outcome was often in doubt, and you guys hung in
there tough. And you made a huge difference, and we are very, very
grateful to you.
I know that you know well that among the things that this crime bill
does is to create 100,000 new police officers, a 20 percent increase in
police on the beat in the United States in communities all over this
country. And in just a few minutes, I'm going to sign an appropriations
bill here that makes available the first round of resources to make the
crime bill a reality next year. We've already put some new police
officers on the street through the funds we provided last year as a
downpayment on the crime bill. The bill I'm about to sign will provide
funds to train and hire 15,000 more police within the next 12 months. I
know that some of you put police officers on the streets with last
year's funds, but you probably all know that we received 10 times, 10
times as many applications for police hiring as we could afford,
including many that were well-qualified. That is a real rebuke to those
who say that there's no real need for this police funding. In the next 2
months alone, we're going to give you the resources to hire 2,500 more
police officers in cities that were only turned down last year and this
year because we didn't have enough money.
Let me emphasize, too, that this appropriations bill, consistent
with the crime bill, provides significant money to fight violence
against women, to lock up criminal aliens, for prisons, and for boot
camps and drug courts and the other prevention programs that we believe
so strongly in and also to help enforce the Brady bill. This is the
downpayment. We're looking forward to seeing you all here when we sign
the crime bill and celebrate it, but now I think we all know that the
responsibility is on those of us who fought so hard for this to make
sure the money is well spent, to make sure the implementation works, and
to make sure that we make people safer and more secure on our streets.
General Reno, would you like to say something?
[Attorney General Reno expressed her appreciation to the mayors for
their hard work and stated that she looks forward to working with them
to implement the bill. However, during her remarks one of the mayors
indicated they were not receiving the transmission. When the problem was
resolved, the President resumed.]
The President. Mayor Giuliani, are you on? Go ahead, Mayor.
[Mayor Rudolph Giuliani of New York City, commended the President and
the other mayors on their efforts on the crime bill.]
The President. Thank you, Mayor. I have to say, I think the fact
that you and Mayor Riordan and some of the other Republican mayors were
willing to stand up and be counted on this made it easier for the House
and the Senate Members of your party who wanted to join in this endeavor
to stay with it. And I can't thank you enough for that.
I think, you know, we have got to find a way to do the public's
business on issues that affect all Americans without regard to their
party. And there is nothing more profoundly significant than this. I
just--I can't say
[[Page 1722]]
enough to thank you. We tried to take this crime bill beyond the debates
of the past, beyond what I like to call the false choices that have been
imposed too often on political debates.
This bill has got prevention and prisons and punishment and police
in it, and I think will help to empower communities to make their
streets safer. And as the Attorney General said, that's what, to me, was
the compelling attraction of this bill. And as the days and weeks ahead
unfold, the American people will learn more and more about what's in
this bill, and I think they will like it even better than they do. And
you will always, I think, be very proud of what you did.
Mayor Daley.
[Mayors Richard Daley of Chicago, IL, Norman Rice of Seattle, WA,
Richard Riordan of Los Angeles, CA, and Emanuel Cleaver II of Kansas
City, MO, each made brief remarks praising the President's efforts on
the crime bill. Mayor Cleaver then stated that he hoped the President
would be able to take his vacation.]
The President. Well, I'm going to oblige you later today. Are you
still running, Mayor?
Mayor Cleaver. Yes.
The President. You've gotten so thin you're making me look bad.
[Laughter] Stay after it.
Mayor Cleaver. All right.
The President. Mayor Rendell, I just want to say before you speak
that I think you and Mayor Daley and Mayor Giuliani and the other mayors
who are former prosecutors, were able to make a unique contribution to
this debate because we tried to keep always in the public mind and in
the minds of the Members of Congress that the law enforcement concerns
were driving this bill and that even the prevention programs, as the
Attorney General said repeatedly, were pushed and inserted into the bill
with the insistence of people who had been in law enforcement who knew
that they were a critical part of this strategy. So I want to thank you
for that especially because your conviction here was rooted in your
experience as is the case of the mayors--the other mayors who are former
prosecutors.
[Mayor Edward Rendell of Philadelphia, PA, thanked the President for not
backing down on the key components of the bill though it must have been
difficult.]
The President. Just another day in paradise here. [Laughter]
[Mayor Rendell discussed the importance of crime prevention programs and
the provision to prevent Federal courts from controlling the number of
prisoners placed in State or local prisons.]
The President. Well, I can tell you, as a former Governor, that's
one provision I wanted in there in the worst way, because I went through
all those lawsuits as an attorney general and Governor; I know what it's
like. I spent millions and millions of dollars of our taxpayers' money
at home building prisons. I didn't begrudge that, but I also thought a
lot of those requirements on spacing and population were excessive. And
this is a very good piece of legislation on that. I thank you for that.
Mayor Abramson, I think you get the prize for making the most
telephone calls. You must have a cauliflower ear; they tell me you made
over 200 calls on this bill.
[Mayor Jerry Abramson of Louisville, KY, thanked the President for
allowing mayors and police chiefs to help develop a balanced bill.]
The President. Thank you very much. General, do you want to say
anything? I think they can all hear you now.
Attorney General Reno. They just did a wonderful job from the very
beginning, and I think the bill is strong because of them.
The President. Thank you so much.
The Mayors. Thank you, Mr. President. Have a good vacation.
The President. Let's go to work on this thing now and implement it
right.
The Mayors. All right, we'll do that.
The President. Goodbye.
[At this point, the teleconference ended, and the President then took
questions from reporters.]
Health Care Reform
Q. Mr. President, Senator Mitchell all but said today that he's not
going to be able to
[[Page 1723]]
get comprehensive health care reform through and that he'll spend the
recess looking for ways to make progress on health care. Is that
acceptable to you? Is there any point at which you would accept, or
which you would take off your veto threat?
The President. Well, he's coming over here to see me today, and I
think I better talk to him. I have talked to, oh, four or five other
Senators in the last day or so since the crime bill passed last night.
And a number of them who are strong supporters of health reform think
that we ought to give this break a few days to occur and give Senator
Mitchell and Senator Chafee and a couple of others a chance to talk
before we make any decision.
I certainly don't want to embrace an approach that will do more harm
than good and that won't achieve our objectives. But let's see what
they're doing; let's see what people are feeling like after they get a
night's sleep or two. These folks went through an awful lot here the
last couple of weeks, and it may be that the long road they had to walk
through--crime--was in part made longer by people who were working the
timetable.
But they did it, and they deserve a lot of credit. And one of the
things that this crime bill shows--this is a big, sweeping, complex
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