pd09fe98 Acts Approved by the President...

	Web GovRecords.org

enhance training and education in programs that provide Federal support 
for education and training.
    3. The NEC, in coordination with the Office of Management and 
Budget, the OSTP, and other appropriate Federal Government entities, 
shall develop a national strategy to promote high-quality education and 
training opportunities that can be offered in a manner that is 
efficient, affordable, and convenient. Industry, universities, labor 
unions, and other stakeholders should be consulted in the development of 
the strategy. The strategy shall be completed within 6 months of the 
date of this memorandum.
                                            William J. Clinton

Note: This item was not received in time for publication in the 
appropriate issue.


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


[Page 176-177]
 
Monday, February 9, 1998
 
Volume 34--Number 6
Pages 175-225
 
Week Ending Friday, February 6, 1998
 
Memorandum on Renewal of the China-United States Trade Agreement

January 30, 1998

Presidential Determination No. 98-13

Memorandum for the United States Trade Representative

Subject: Renewal of Trade Agreement with the People's Republic of China

    Pursuant to my authority under subsection 405(b)(1)(B) of the Trade 
Act of 1974 (19

[[Page 177]]

U.S.C. 2435(b)(1)(B)), I have determined that actual or foreseeable 
reductions in United States tariffs and nontariff barriers to trade 
resulting from multilateral negotiations are being satisfactorily 
reciprocated by the People's Republic of China. I have further found 
that a satisfactory balance of concessions in trade and services has 
been maintained during the life of the Agreement on Trade Relations 
between the United States of America and the People's Republic of China.
    You are authorized and directed to publish this determination in the 
Federal Register.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:36 a.m., February 3, 
1998]

Note: This memorandum was published in the Federal Register on February 
4. This item was not received in time for publication in the appropriate 
issue.


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


[Page 177-178]
 
Monday, February 9, 1998
 
Volume 34--Number 6
Pages 175-225
 
Week Ending Friday, February 6, 1998
 
The President's Radio Address

January 31, 1998

    Good morning. Today I'd like to talk to you about one of the ways we 
are strengthening our Nation for the 21st century: our bold new efforts 
to deal with the challenge of global climate change through the force of 
the market and the power of American innovation.
    The world's leading climate scientists have concluded, 
unequivocally, that if we don't reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases 
into the atmosphere all across the Earth, then the temperature of the 
Earth will heat up, seas will rise, and increasingly severe floods and 
droughts will occur, disrupting life in low coastal areas, disrupting 
agricultural production, and causing other difficulties for the 
generations of the 21st century. Fortunately, we can avert these dangers 
and do it while keeping our economy going strong.
    This past December, America led the world to reach a historic 
agreement committing nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through 
market forces, new technology and energy efficiency. We can do some 
things right here, right now, to show that America is doing its part. In 
my State of the Union Address, I called for an unprecedented commitment 
of $6 billion for research and tax incentives to mobilize cutting-edge 
technology in the fight against global warming. I'd like to explain just 
what that means to you.
    First, we want to help bring down the price of high-efficiency cars 
for every American. Earlier this month, Ford, GM, and Chrysler unveiled 
prototypes of advanced-technology cars that get more than twice the 
mileage of today's models with no sacrifice in comfort, safety, or 
performance. When cars like these begin to enter the showrooms in the 
year 2000, we'll give everyone who buys one a $3,000 tax credit to apply 
to every size car. When these cars become even more efficient, we'll 
increase the tax credit to $4,000. We're committed to making it not only 
wiser but actually cheaper to buy highly efficient cars.
    Second, we'll help you turn your home into a model of energy 
efficiency. We'll offer tax credits that will give you a discount of 20 
percent off the cost of energy-saving water heaters and air 
conditioners. And we'll also offer a tax credit--worth up to $2,000--to 
help you put solar panels on your roof or to help you buy an energy-
efficient home in the first place.
    Third, we will accelerate research on clean, renewable energy and 
energy-saving technologies. We'll help to develop energy-efficient 
lighting, refrigerators, and other appliances that will mean lower 
monthly bills for you and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. And we will 
work with industry to cut their energy use so that they can also protect 
the environment while enhancing the bottom line.
    Whenever we act to heal our environment, some always question 
whether it will hurt our economy. But today, our economy is the 
strongest in a generation and our environment, the cleanest in a 
generation. Whether the problem has been acid rain, deadly pesticides, 
polluted rivers, or the ozone hole, the ingenuity of the American people 
has always proved to carry the day--and we'll do it once again. Working 
together, we will overcome the challenge of global climate change and 
create new avenues of growth for our economy. And, most important, we'll 
honor our

[[Page 178]]

deepest responsibility to pass on this home, without harm, to our 
children, our grandchildren, and generations yet to come.
    Thanks for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 4:40 p.m. on January 30 in the 
Roosevelt Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on January 
31.


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


[Page 178]
 
Monday, February 9, 1998
 
Volume 34--Number 6
Pages 175-225
 
Week Ending Friday, February 6, 1998
 
Letter to Congressional Leaders on the Resource Conservation and 
Recovery Act

January 31, 1998

Dear Mr. Speaker:  (Dear Mr. President:)

    Consistent with section 6001(a) of the Resource Conservation and 
Recovery Act (RCRA) (the ``Act''), as amended, 42 U.S.C. 6961(a), 
notification is hereby given that on September 26, 1997, I issued 
Presidential Determination No. 97-35 (copy attached) and thereby 
exercised the authority to grant certain exemptions under section 
6001(a) of the Act.
    Presidential Determination No. 97-35 exempted the United States Air 
Force's operating location near Groom Lake, Nevada, from any Federal, 
State, interstate, or local hazardous or solid waste laws that might 
require the disclosure of classified information concerning that 
operating location to unauthorized persons. Information concerning 
activities at the operating location near Groom Lake has been properly 
determined to be classified, and its disclosure would be harmful to 
national security. Continued protection of this information is, 
therefore, in the paramount interest of the United States.
    The Determination was not intended to imply that in the absence of a 
Presidential exemption RCRA or any other provision of law permits or 
requires the disclosure of classified information to unauthorized 
persons, but rather to eliminate any potential uncertainty arising from 
a district court decision in pending litigation, Kasza v. Browner (D. 
Nev. CV-S-94-795-PMP), the relevant appeal which, was subsequently 
dismissed as moot (9th Cir. Nos. 96-15535 and 96-15537; decided January 
8, 1998). The Determination also was not intended to limit the 
applicability or enforcement of any requirement of law applicable to the 
Air Force's operating location near Groom Lake except those provisions, 
if any, that would require the disclosure of classified information.
    Sincerely,
                                            William J. Clinton

Note: Identical letters were sent to Newt Gingrich, Speaker of the House 
of Representatives, and Albert Gore, Jr., President of the Senate. This 
letter was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on February 2.


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


[Page 178-180]
 
Monday, February 9, 1998
 
Volume 34--Number 6
Pages 175-225
 
Week Ending Friday, February 6, 1998
 
Remarks on Submitting the 1999 Federal Budget

February 2, 1998

    Thank you very much for that warm welcome. Good morning. Thank you, 
Mr. Vice President, Mr. Bowles, members of our economic team, members of 
the Cabinet, and administration. And I thank the large numbers--large 
number of Members of Congress who have come here today, and others, all 
of you here, for the submission of the first balanced budget in 30 
years, one that will truly strengthen our Nation for the 21st century.
    This budget marks the end of an era, an end to decades of deficits 
that have shackled our economy, paralyzed our politics, and held our 
people back. It can mark the beginning of a new era of opportunity for a 
new ``American Century.''
    Consider what has been achieved in so short a time. In the 12 years 
before I took office, trickle-down economics led to an explosion in the 
Federal deficit which quadrupled our national debt in only 12 years. 
Government deficits soaked up trillions of dollars in capital that 
should have been used for productive investment. Massive deficits led to 
high interest rates that slowed growth. And massive deficits also 
paralyzed the Congress in their attempts to invest in our future, as we 
spent more and more and more of the taxpayers' dollars just to pay 
interest on the debt we had run up.
    The new economy was being held back by old political ideas and 
arrangements. The deficit was more than an economic reality; it was a 
powerful symbol that Government

[[Page 179]]

had simply failed to meet its most basic obligations. And doing 
something about the deficit was one of the reasons I ran for President 
in 1992.
    The day I took office, the deficit was projected to be about $300 
billion for that year. For 5 years, beginning in 1993, as the Vice 
President said, the Congress and the American people have worked 
tirelessly to put our economic house in order; we have worked hard here 
to put our fiscal house in order. The Government is the smallest it's 
been in 35 years. And deficit reduction has given us lower interest 
rates, higher investment, and, I might add, lower unemployment, more 
taxpayers, and more funds to invest in America's future.
    That is the gamble we took in 1993--a gamble now that I thought was 
not such a gamble at all. But it did, as the Vice President said, cost 
several Members of Congress their jobs. Wherever they are today--
wherever they are--I hope they know and remember that we passed that 
budget in '93 by one vote in the Senate and by one vote in the House; we 
did not have a vote to spare. And everybody that stood up, and 
especially those who lost their seats, can know they gave 14 million 
Americans jobs that would not have been there otherwise and a brighter 
future for all the American people, and I'm very grateful for that.
    I also want to point out, as the Vice President did, that the job to 
be finished and to eliminate the structural deficit came with the 
balanced budget agreement last year. And we should applaud all those in 
both parties who were part of that. Because it will not only enable us 
to achieve a balanced budget, it will enable us to maintain a balanced 
budget long into the future if we stay with the disciplined framework 
that was embraced last year by very large majorities in both Houses of 
both parties. And that is very important. It's one thing to get the 
deficit down, another thing to hold it there. And that balanced budget 
agreement will not only go from a much smaller deficit down to balance, 
but also will hold it there if we stay with the discipline. We have not 
done all this work to let it go.
    Now, I believe if we will stay with the plan, we can balance the 
budget without further cuts. Indeed, the balanced budget I submitted 
shows we can balance the budget and still hire 100,000 new teachers and 
modernize 5,000 schools. We can balance the budget and allow hundreds of 
thousands of middle-aged Americans who have no health insurance through 
no fault of their own to buy into Medicare. We can balance the budget 
and still extend child care to a million more children. And above all, 
we can balance the budget and save Social Security first.
    In other words, it is obvious that you can have a smaller Government 
but a more progressive one that gives you a stronger America. We've done 
more than simply balance the budget, more than just line up numbers on a 
ledger. We have restored the balance of values in our policy, restored 
the balance of confidence between Government and the public. Now, we'll 
have a balanced budget not only next year but as far as the eye can see.
    We have to use this opportunity to build a stronger America. And 
let's just talk about that. First and foremost, we project that the 
budget will not only balance, it will actually run a surplus of $9.5 
billion next year and over $200 billion over the next 5 years--fully $1 
trillion over the next 10 years. This budget reserves that surplus--I 
want to say it again--this budget reserves that surplus, saving it until 
we have taken the steps necessary to strengthen Social Security into the 
next century.
    One of the reasons that balancing the budget has been hard is that 
we have insisted on a balanced budget that honors our values. Finding a 
way to reduce red ink without shrinking the circle of opportunity has 
been at the heart of our efforts. And when we started, most people said 

Other Popular 1998 Presidential Documents Documents:

Other Documents:

1998 Presidential Documents Records and Documents