pd08no99 Joint Statement by President Clinton and Prime Minister Kjell Bondevik...

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Republican Congress bring to our future? Will it bring back this tax cut 
I vetoed? Does it mean the NRA will continue to control the gun debate? 
Or will we have somebody trying to have sensible gun restraint 
mechanisms? Does it mean we'll never get a Patients' Bill of Rights 
because the health insurance companies don't want it? There are all 
these issues that I think will become quite clear--maybe not even until 
next August--but in August, September, and October, you're going to see 
a very vigorous debate that will shape not only the next 4 years but 
maybe the next 10 or 15 years of America's new century.
    Mr. Gumbel. Before I leave the subject of Governor Bush, what's your 
take on the demarkation line he's drawing on past drug use for his 
personal life?
    The President.  I'm going to leave that to--that's up to the public 
really. The people are in the driver's seat now. And the press will 
express their views and do what they think is right, and the politicians 
will express their views and do what they think is right. But in the 
end, the public has to be the judge of that.
    Mr. Gumbel. Let me rephrase. In your opinion, do you believe 
previous cocaine use should disqualify someone from sitting in this 
office?
    The President. My opinion is that the public will make a decision. 
That if--most people think they ought to know if there is some serious 
problem in someone's background, and if so, how that person has dealt 
with it. The American people tend to be forgiving about many things, but 
there are some things they want to know and then there are other things 
they don't want to know. And they may change their mind from time to 
time. Maybe they think it depends upon how long ago it was. Maybe they 
think it depends upon how it was treated.
    But I think that if I get in the middle of this debate, it will 
interfere with having a debate that's free of distraction, that is, my 
opinion would only be a distraction given the way--the kind of treatment 
I got from '91 forward from the Republicans and their allies. And I 
think I should stay out of it and let the people make the right 
decision.
    Mr. Gumbel. New York Times Magazine cover, as I think you probably 
saw, had a cover a week and a half ago of ``Slam, Bam Sham,'' suggesting 
that modern culture generates Presidential candidates whose lone 
qualifications are fame and a degree of celebrity. Do you see that as a 
disturbing trend?
    The President. Well, I certainly didn't have any fame or celebrity 
when I ran. In President Bush's terms, I was the Governor of a small 
Southern State.
    Mr. Gumbel. I think the headline was aimed at those who are courting 
the Reform Party at this point.
    The President. Oh, I know. But no, I don't. You know, Governor Bush 
is in part of the position he's in because his father was President. But 
in the end, the voters will judge him, I think, based on his own merits
    The Kennedys have spawned, now, two generations, and it won't be 
long before there will be a third generation, of young people who 
present themselves for public service. They're aided in the beginning 
because of their name, but in the end, their judged on their own merits.
    And I don't think someone should be disqualified for seeking public 
office because they've been in entertainment, or business, or athletics. 
But sooner or later, the voters look at them and they say, ``Well, can 
this person perform?'' So I don't see it as a bad thing. I basically 
trust the voters on this. As long as they've got time enough to make a 
good decision, I think they normally make it. That's why we're still 
around here after 200 years.
    And the more--the bigger the country gets, the more people will have 
an advantage, who for some reason or another, are already known by a lot 
of people. On the other hand, if somebody really good and is known by no 
one has a chance to start, the same mass media can make you famous in a 
hurry. So I'm not particularly worried about this.

Post-Presidential Plans

    Mr. Gumbel.  Are you going to miss being President?

[[Page 2217]]

    The President,  I think so, yes. I think I will because I love the 
job. You know, just today I got up--I do what I did Sunday afternoon, 
every Sunday afternoon. I went through all my work for the last week 
that I hadn't done, and all the plans for the next week. I love this 
job. I've worked at it, and I've loved it, and it's been an honor to 
serve. So yes, I will miss it.
    On the other hand, I'm so focused, almost to the point of obsession, 
on what we can still get done here. And I'm genuinely looking forward to 
what I'm going to do when I'm not President anymore.
    Mr. Gumbel.  And that would be?
    The President.  Well, I'm going to set up my library and public 
policy center. And I'm going to try to be a very good citizen without 
getting in the way of the next President.
    Mr. Gumbel.  What kind of odds would you quote on you ever running 
for office again, any office?
    The President. Oh, I think they would be pretty long. Although, you 
know, I used to joke that I might run for the school board someday. I 
don't know. I certainly have no plans to run for office. And I'm going 
to have to get out here and earn a little money and try to make sure 
that my wife and daughter are okay. Maybe something could happen someday 
and I would want to run. I just don't know.

President's Legacy

    Mr. Gumbel. Presidents generally get one line in the history, if 
they get one line. JFK was shot. Nixon had Watergate. Reagan beat 
communism. Clinton?
    The President. Turned the economy around and prepared America for a 
new century.
    Mr. Gumbel. You would be satisfied if your legacy was erasing the 
Nation's red ink?
    The President. I think that's one of my legacies. But I think the 
real legacy is--America is genuinely transformed from where it was 7 
years ago. Look at where we were in `92. We had economic distress. We 
had social divisions, as embodied in the riot in Los Angeles. We were in 
political drift; government was completely discredited. And I said, 
``Look, give me a chance. I've got some new ideas to create opportunity, 
to increase responsibility among our citizens, to build a community of 
America.'' And we set about changing. Meanwhile, America was changing.
    The day I took office as President there were only 50 websites on 
the Internet in the whole world, 50. That's how much we've changed. So 
yes, we've got the strongest economy in history. And yes, we're paying 
off the debt instead of being in debt. But we also have cut our welfare 
rolls in half. We've got the lowest crime rate in 30 years. We've got 
the lowest poverty rate in 30 years. We've reversed this wage 
inequality. All groups are growing. A couple of million children have 
been moved out of poverty. The air is cleaner. The water is cleaner. We 
set aside more land to protect it than any other administration except 
those of Franklin and Theodore Roosevelt.
    So the whole Nation has been transformed. We literally have prepared 
the country for another century. If you compare it from now to then; 
instead of a distressed economy, you've got a booming economy. Instead 
of a divided society, you've got the social problems being solved. And 
instead of political drift and discrediting of government, we've got the 
smallest Government in 37 years, and it's actually doing things for 
people, empowering people.
    So I think that I have been fortunate enough to serve as President 
at a time of dramatic transformation, when we really have--in the 
metaphor I used in 1996--built a bridge to the future. And now the 
American people are going to have to decide how they want to walk over 
it.

President's New York Residence

    Mr. Gumbel. Final note. If my research is correct, you sign papers 
next week, final papers, on the house in Chappaqua. Do you happen to 
know what's the closest golf course to your house in Chappaqua?
    The President. I don't, no.
    Mr. Gumbel. Whippoorwill Country Club in Armonk. Do you know who is 
a member there?
    The President. Are you?
    Mr. Gumbel. Yes, sir.
    The President. I would be happy to be your guest any time. I'm easy 
about that.

[[Page 2218]]

    Mr. Gumbel. Mr. President, safe travels.
    The President. Thanks.

Note: The interview began at 4:08 p.m. in Oval Office at the White House 
and was videotaped for broadcast on November 1. In his remarks, the 
President referred to President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt; Prime Minister 
Ehud Barak of Israel; Chairman Yasser Arafat of the Palestinian 
Authority; Philadelphia mayoral candidate John F. Street; and former 
Senators Bill Bradley and Bob Dole. A portion of this interview could 
not be verified because the tape was incomplete.


<DOC>
[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents]
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[Page 2218-2220]
 
Monday, November 8, 1999
 
Volume 35--Number 44
Pages 2199-2266
 
Week Ending Friday, November 5, 1999
 
Remarks on Departure for Oslo, Norway, and an Exchange With Reporters

October 31, 1999

EgyptAir Flight 990 Aircraft Tragedy

    The President. Good afternoon. Before I leave for Oslo, I would like 
to make a few comments. First, I want to say, as I did earlier today, 
how deeply saddened I am over the disappearance of EgyptAir Flight 990 
early this morning off the coast of Massachusetts.
    We know there has been a loss of life. The Coast Guard, supported by 
the Navy, is conducting extensive search and rescue operations in the 
area. The effort will continue for as long as necessary. We are also 
working with Egyptian authorities, and I spoke earlier with President 
Mubarak of Egypt today to express my condolences and to assure him that 
we would be working together closely until this matter is resolved.
    We do not know what caused this tragedy, but we will devote every 
necessary resource so that we can understand exactly what happened. At 
this moment, the thoughts and prayers of all our people should be with 
the families of the passengers and crew of Flight 990 from the United 
States and other places throughout the world.
    In a few minutes, I will leave for Norway, where leaders will gather 
to honor the memory of one of the great heroes of this century, Israeli 
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. We will honor him by not only remembering 
his life but by pursuing his vision of a peaceful Middle East.
    I will meet with Prime Minister Barak and Chairman Arafat, who are 
moving forward on an ambitious agenda to reach a comprehensive peace 
agreement. There are tremendous challenges ahead. I will do everything I 
can to help, because peace in the Middle East is strongly in the 
interest of the American people. And we have been working on it on a 
bipartisan basis for several years now.
    Now, before I leave, I also want to say just a few words about the 
budget debate here in Washington and how that debate may affect another 
matter of great interest to our people, the education of our children.
    This is now the seventh budget season I have been through as 
President. Each and every time, the Vice President and I have insisted 
that Congress produce budgets that live within our means while living up 
to the values of the American people. There is no greater value than 
education, especially in this information age. So even as we have 
reduced the size of Government to its smallest size in 37 years, we have 
nearly doubled our investment in education and training.
    We have turned deficits into surpluses. We have sparked an economic 
expansion because of it, that come February will be the longest in 
American history. But we have not stopped increasing our investment and 
targeting our investment to higher standards and higher quality 
education.
    Last fall we took another very important step. We reached an 
agreement with Congress to help States and school districts begin to 
hire 100,000 new teachers, new high-quality teachers that were well 
trained, to reduce class size in the early grades. The need for this was 
obvious. School enrollments are exploding; they are already the largest 
in history. And record numbers of our teachers soon will be retiring. 
Moreover, the research is clear that students learn more in classes with 
smaller, quality teachers.
    Today we've learned about a new report indicating that our class 
reduction initiative already is producing results. Moments ago, I was 
briefed by the gentleman here to my left, Mike Casserly, the executive 
director of the Council of Great City Schools, on the council's just 
completed survey of 40 of the Nation's largest school districts.

[[Page 2219]]

    The survey shows that our class size reduction initiative has so far 
done precisely what we said it would. It has put more teachers in the 
classroom and increased training for those already there, with a minimum 
of red-tape and bureaucracy. The report shows that these school 
districts have not only hired over 3,500 well trained teachers, but they 
have hired them for hard to fill positions that add the greatest impact, 
including teaching reading, math, and special education.
    I'm not surprised by these results. Every time I've visited a school 
in recent months, teachers, principals, parents, administrators all have 
complimented, even raved about our class size reduction initiative.
    This report confirms that this targeted effort to hire more teachers 
is what local schools need and want. Last fall the congressional 
Republicans agreed to support this proposal. Many of them went home in 
the election seasons and enthusiastically shared the credit for it, 
which they were then entitled to do. I know that some of them even ran 
ads touting this idea as they embraced it.
    Now, suddenly, the Republican majority has changed its mind. And 
this week Congress will consider a labor and education budget bill that 
doesn't commit to hiring 100,000 new quality teachers. In fact, it 
reverses the targeted funding for the first installment of 30,000 that 
we passed last time. Nor does it put a dime into our effort to demand 
accountability for results by helping States and school districts to 
turn around or shut down their lowest performing schools.
    Moreover, it makes mindless across-the-board cuts in everything from 
education to health to safety. If that bill passes, I will veto it. I 
don't think the proper response to our education challenge is fewer 
teachers, no accountability, and across-the-board cuts in education.
    I want to hire 100,000 more teachers, 50,000 more community police 
to build on the effort that has given us the lowest crime rate in 30 
years. I want to protect the environment and invest in education 
strategies that work.
    Let me also reemphasize something. Many of those who say they don't 
want to target this money for hiring more teachers, say the money is 
needed to improve the quality of the existing teaching force. These 40 
school districts I just mentioned not only hired over 3,500 new 
teachers; they gave professional development to over 22,000 teachers to 
improve their skills in the classroom.
    Our bill provides that money can be used to train existing teachers, 
and money can be used for recruitment as well as for salaries. In other 
words, this fund is flexible where it needs to be flexible but targeted 
where it needs to be targeted. This report shows conclusively that what 
we did in 1998, as Republicans and Democrats alike, was right. It shows 
that the Members of Congress in the Republican Party who ran ads in 1998 
complimenting themselves for the 100,000 teacher initiative were right 
then, and they shouldn't be changing their mind now.
    So once again, I ask Congress to put partisanship aside, read this 
report, and work with me to reduce class size, increase quality in 
teaching, and increase performance in our schools. We should be funding 
education strategies that work.
    Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Casserly.

Middle East Peace Process

    Q. Mr. President, are you optimistic about Oslo?
    The President.  Well, yes I am, based on the work that Prime 
Minister Barak and Chairman Arafat have done already. You know, they've 
now opened the safe passage between the West Bank and Gaza. They're 
working very closely together on security arrangements.
    But when the Oslo accords were made at the end--the very, very end 
of 1992--the people who put them together and the leaders who ratified 
them were quite smart. They left certain issues to be decided at the 
end, the so-called final status issues. They left them to the end 
because they're the hardest.
    And so now it's come time to make the hard decisions. This will be 
difficult for both sides. But I believe that they're well aware of what 

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