pd08ja96 Remarks on the Impact of the Budget Impasse and an Exchange With...

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[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents]
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[Page i-ii]
 
Monday, January 8, 1996
 
Volume 32--Number 1
Pages 1-19
 
Contents

[[Page i]]

Weekly Compilation of

Presidential

Documents



[[Page ii]]

  


Addresses and Remarks

    Adm. Arleigh A. Burke, funeral service--10
    Budget negotiations--3, 6
    Radio address--2
    St. Monica's Episcopal Church--14

Bill Signings

    District of Columbia appropriations legislation, statement--13
    ICC Termination Act of 1995, statement--1

Communications to Congress

    Cyprus, letter transmitting report--13
    Iraq, letter reporting--11
    Israeli loan guarantees, message transmitting report--5
    Libyan emergency, message on continuation--8
    Netherlands-U.S. tax protocol and report, message transmitting--9
    Romania, message on trade--9

Communications to Federal Agencies

    Palestine Liberation Organization, memorandum--14

Interviews With the News Media

    Exchanges with reporters
        Briefing Room--6
        Cabinet Room--3, 4
        Oval Office--6

Notices

    Continuation of Libyan emergency--8

Proclamations

    Death of Admiral Arleigh A. Burke--6

Statements by the President

    See also Bill Signings
    Death of Adm. Arleigh A. Burke--5

Supplementary Materials

    Acts approved by the President--19
    Checklist of White House press releases--18
    Digest of other White House announcements--17
    Nominations submitted to the Senate--18



              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
the authority contained in the Federal Register Act (49 Stat. 500, as 
amended; 44 U.S.C. Ch. 15), under regulations prescribed by the 
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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 1]]




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[Page 1i-2i]
 
Monday, January 8, 1996
 
Volume 32--Number 1
Pages 1-19
 
Week Ending Friday, January 5, 1996
 
Statement on Signing the ICC Termination Act of 1995


December 29, 1995

    I have today signed into law H.R. 2539, the ``ICC Termination Act of 
1995.'' In my State of the Union address this year, I called upon the 
Congress to terminate the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). I also 
called for further reductions in unnecessary regulations. This 
legislation is consistent with those goals, but it does not go far 
enough.
    The bill eliminates the ICC, transferring many of its functions to a 
new Surface Transportation Board (STB) located within the Department of 
Transportation (DOT). The bill reduces some ICC functions, including 
those that overlap with DOT with regard to overseeing safety and 
insurance requirements in the trucking industry. With the sunset of the 
ICC and the consolidation of motor carrier functions at DOT, the bill 
will produce moderate budget savings.
    The bill will also help provide a smooth transition now that 
appropriations for the ICC have been terminated. And the bill empowers 
the new STB to promote deregulation administratively on a case-by-case 
basis. I call upon the Board to use this authority to the fullest extent 
to benefit consumers and facilitate economic growth.
    I am also satisfied that the Congress addressed my Administration's 
strong objections to earlier versions of this legislation, which would 
have severely curtailed labor protection for railroad employees 
adversely affected by certain railroad transactions, including mergers. 
And I note that the final version of the bill continues intact the 
important rail reforms of 1980, which have helped improve rail service 
and bring the railroad industry back to profitability.
    Nevertheless, I am disappointed in this bill. While it eliminates 
the ICC, it creates a new independent agency, the STB, within the 
Transportation Department. Overall, the bill falls short of my 
Administration's much bolder proposal for extensive deregulation of 
transportation industries.
    Regulatory reform of the Nation's transportation industries has been 
an outstanding success. Beginning with air cargo deregulation in 1977 
and continuing with sweeping rail and trucking reforms over the past 15 
years, much of the stranglehold of government regulation has been 
broken. Today, only about 20 percent of all domestic freight 
transportation is regulated, compared with 75 percent 20 years ago. 
These reforms have reduced the cost of transporting everything we buy 
and use. They have also enabled U.S. producers and retailers to employ 
``just in time'' manufacturing and inventory systems to save many 
billions of dollars in warehousing and distribution costs.
    The Congress had an opportunity to build on this success but, 
instead, provided for only very modest reform. While this legislation 
eliminates a number of obsolete and unnecessary functions of the ICC, it 
still exempts transportation industries from many of the disciplines of 
competition. These exemptions are no longer justified in today's strong 
and competitive market economy.
    For example, the Nation's trucking industry has enjoyed antitrust 
immunity for collective ratemaking for the last 47 years. Continuation 
of this immunity reduces potential benefits to consumers and protects 
inefficient carriers. This bill also maintains special merger standards 
for railroads. The railroad industry should be subject to the same 
merger standards as other transportation industries.
    The bill vests the Chairman of the Surface Transportation Board with 
the authority to appoint ``officers and employees of the Board.'' The 
Appointments Clause of the Constitution, Art. II, sec. 2, cl. 2, permits 
the Congress to vest the appointment of inferior officers in the head of 
a department. Because the Board is ``established within the

[[Page 2]]

Department of Transportation,'' it is a bureau or component of a 
department, and cannot be a department unto itself for purposes of the 
Appointments Clause. Accordingly, it would be unconstitutional for the 
Chairman to appoint persons to serve as ``officers'' in the 
constitutional sense. Therefore, I am signing this bill with the 
understanding that it does not authorize the Chairman to appoint 
``officers'' in the constitutional sense.
    The bill provides for the authorization of appropriations for the 
Board to expire after 3 years. During this period, my Administration 
will monitor the regulatory activities of the Board to determine whether 
it should continue and whether further reforms would be beneficial. My 
Administration remains committed to continued deregulation of the 
transportation industry.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
December 29, 1995.

Note: H.R. 2539, approved December 29, was assigned Public Law No. 104-
88. This statement was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
December 30.


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[Page 2i-3i]
 
Monday, January 8, 1996
 
Volume 32--Number 1
Pages 1-19
 
Week Ending Friday, January 5, 1996
 
The President's Radio Address

December 30, 1995

    Good morning. Tomorrow is New Year's Eve, a time for celebration, 
friendship, and hope. Nineteen ninety-five has been a good year for our 
country, and the coming year can be even better.
    In Washington, we all know this has been a year of serious 
differences and profound debate over our Nation's future direction. But 
if we remain true to our values, we will prove once again that in 
America we can have serious differences without leaving deep divisions. 
We know our Nation is strongest when we're true to our fundamental 
values, giving every American the opportunity to make the most of their 
lives, remembering the duty we owe to our parents and our children, 
preserving our families and our communities, keeping America the 
strongest force for peace and freedom in the world.
    In our effort to advance these values, 1995 has been a time of real 
progress and concrete achievement. The key to our strength is economic 
opportunity for every American. In 1995, the ingenuity and hard work of 
our people has kept the economy growing, steady and strong. In the past 
12 months the economy created 1\3/4\ million new private sector jobs. In 
every month the unemployment rate has been below 6 percent. All told, 
since 1993, we Americans have created nearly 8 million new jobs. The 
stock market has broken every record. The deficit dropped for the third 
year in a row, for the first time since Mr. Truman was President. Long-
term interest rates continue to fall, bringing lower mortgage payments 
for working families and more affordable credit for small businesses and 
consumers.
    A growing economy and lower interest rates are why a million new 
Americans became homeowners for the very first time in 1995. There were 
more new businesses incorporated this year than in any previous year. 
And here in Washington, in spite of all of our differences, we made some 
real progress on an important issue, political reform. At long last, 
Congress passed a law which applies to themselves the same laws they 
impose on the private sector. And at long last, after 3 years of effort, 
the Congress passed lobby reform legislation, banning gifts to 
Congressmen and requiring extensive disclosure about the activities of 
lobbyists.
    Most important, our communities all over America are coming together 
around our values again. In city after city, in State after State, 
violent crime is down; the welfare and food stamp rolls are down; the 
poverty rate is down; even the divorce rate is down; and for 2 years in 
a row now, the teen pregnancy rate has dropped.
    It hasn't always been an easy year for America. There have been 
moments that tested our national community. In the wake of the terrible 
bombing in Oklahoma City, which took the lives of 169 people, our Nation 
reached out and recognized the bonds that hold us together. Out of the 
ashes of that tragedy a new sense of national spirit took hold. We 
affirmed once again that all Americans are in it together. We recognized 
once again that we can't love our country and hate our Government.

[[Page 3]]

    And a strong America has been the world's strongest force for 
freedom, peace, and democracy in 1995. Our brave men and women today are 
in the snows of Bosnia, helping to uphold the peace agreement to end the 
worst bloodshed in Europe since World War II. And from the cobblestone 
streets of Northern Ireland to the sands of the Middle East, a strong 
America has helped to bring peace to regions long torn by strife.
    Yes, 1995 has been a good year for America. Our people have 
accomplished a lot. And it goes without saying, we still have one major 
task to finish to top off the accomplishment of this year. We have to 
finish the job of balancing the budget and to do it in the right way.
    As you know, for the last 2 weeks the Congress has refused to pass 
legislation that would keep the Federal Government open to serve the 
American people. This has never happened before for this length of time 

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