pd10ap95 Remarks at the United Nations Transition Ceremony in Port-au-Prince...

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Our security is threatened by the strains on families. And our security 
is threatened when families who work hard and do the right things by 
their children are mistreated and abused, and don't have the chances 
they need to support a better future.
    So I'd like to say to you in front of this library today, our 
country under Franklin Roosevelt began to create a safety net for the 
elderly. It was Social Security, and it included Medicare later. We 
developed a certain safety net for poor people. But in the future, if we 
are really going to become what we ought to be, we need a commitment to 
the middle class that will end this income stagnation, that will end 
this increasing inequality. That is a safety net for all Americans. And 
it is one word: education, education, education.
    Today the people who believe that everything the Government does is 
wrong want to cut everything, either to balance the budget or to give a 
tax cut. Well, I'm for doing both. We've reduced this deficit $600 
billion since I've been President. We're going to have 3 years of 
declining deficits for the first time since Harry Truman was President. 
I am for cutting unnecessary spending. We ought to do that.

[[Page 530]]

    And I believe we ought to cut taxes for people in ways that will 
raise their incomes today and tomorrow. That's why I think the best 
thing we could do is to give people a tax deduction for the cost of all 
their and their children's education expenses after high school.
    But let me say, Arkansas is not where it is today because we cut 
education. And if we'd started investing in education and improving 
education 10 or 20 years earlier than we did, we'd be further ahead 
today. There's not a person in this audience who doubts the truth of 
that statement. And therefore I say to you: You should say to all of us, 
``Get that deficit down. Get this economy going. Be fair to American 
taxpayers, but do not cut education.''
    In the last 2 years, we have expanded Head Start. We have given our 
schools the opportunity to meet national education goals and still have 
more flexibility than the Federal Government used to give them. We 
helped States to establish apprenticeship programs for young people who 
don't go on to college but who do want good jobs. And we have 
dramatically expanded the availability of affordable college loans with 
better repayment terms to the young people of this country. We have 
started the national service program to give young people the chance to 
earn money for college while working in their communities. And some of 
our volunteers are over here in the audience today. They've worked with 
migrant workers in Hope. They've helped to reduce school dropouts in 
Texarkana. They've done a lot of really wonderful things.
    And there are people today in Washington who think the answer to our 
problems is to restrict the availability of student loans, to cut Head 
Start, to reduce our commitment to the national education goals, to 
destroy the national service program, even, believe it or not, to cut 
the school lunch program or to eliminate the program to make our schools 
safer and more drug-free.
    My friends, this has never been a partisan political issue. When we 
were in Little Rock working on education, we had Republicans and 
Democrats working on it together. Last year and the year before, every 
piece of legislation we passed for education in Washington had the 
support of Democrats and Republicans. This has not been a partisan 
political issue, and we dare not let it become one. If we walk away from 
education when the 21st century depends upon what we know and what we 
can learn, it will be just as dangerous as it would have been for us to 
disarm in the middle of the cold war. We didn't do that, and we 
shouldn't do this.
    So let me say in closing, you know, I'm feeling a little sentimental 
today. I'm sitting here wishing I could focus on the hundreds of people 
I've already seen that I've walked so many roads with. Those of you who 
were working for me in 1982 in these 11 counties in northeast Arkansas 
know that if it hadn't been for you then, I wouldn't be here now as 
President.
    But let me say that in spite of all the sentiment and warm feelings 
I have, the main thing I want to say is when I look at you, I think you 
have good common sense. I think you love your communities, and you love 
your families, and you love this country. The people I know up here have 
spent a lifetime trying to make things better for their families and 
their communities and their future. And I am telling you that we can't 
afford sentiment today because we've got to make some tough decisions.
    Yes, we've got to cut unnecessary, wasteful, bloated Government. 
Yes, we have to get things under control in Washington. I've been 
working like crazy for 2 years to do it. But we dare not in the 
information age believe that the answer to America's growing insecurity 
about jobs and incomes is to undermine the very thing that will take us 
into the 21st century still the strongest country in the world, still 
the greatest country the world has ever known, still the home of the 
American dream that says no matter who you are or where you're from, if 
you work hard and play by the rules, you can live up to your God-given 
capacities and your wildest dreams. And that, my fellow Americans, is 
education.
    Now, the country needs that strategy. And I ask you to support your 
Members of Congress, to support the people here, and to remind everybody 
that this is not rocket science. This is basic. And this is America's 
future.

[[Page 531]]

    I am delighted to be here. I'm honored to have played a role in this 
library and all the other things that are here at ASU. But the most 
important thing that's here at ASU is the speaker who introduced me and 
all the other students. They are our future. And all of us had better 
decide that our first commitment is to do right by them. If we do, the 
rest of us will do just fine.
    Thank you, and God bless you all.

Note: The President spoke at 10:55 a.m. at the front of library. In his 
remarks, he referred to Molly Mayer, president, Arkansas State 
University student government; Eugene Smith, president, Arkansas State 
University; John Trout, Jr., editor and publisher, Jonesboro Sun; and 
Rodney Slater, Federal Highway Administrator.


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[Page 531]
 
Monday, April 10, 1995
 
Volume 31--Number 14
Pages 521-576
 
Week Ending Friday, April 7, 1995
 
Message to the Congress Transmitting a Report on Alaska's Mineral 
Resources

April 3, 1995

To the Congress of the United States:

    I transmit herewith the 1994 Annual Report on Alaska's Mineral 
Resources, as required by section 1011 of the Alaska National Interest 
Lands Conservation Act (Public Law 96-487; 16 U.S.C. 3151). This report 
contains pertinent public information relating to minerals in Alaska 
gathered by the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Bureau of Mines, and 
other Federal agencies.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
April 3, 1995.


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[Page 531-532]
 
Monday, April 10, 1995
 
Volume 31--Number 14
Pages 521-576
 
Week Ending Friday, April 7, 1995
 
Interview With Pat O'Brien, Mike Krzyzewski, and Quinn Buckner of CBS 
Sports

April 3, 1995

    Mr. O'Brien. Good evening, Mr. President. How are you?
    The President. Fine, Pat, how are you?
    Mr. O'Brien. I'm fine. It sounds like you're having a nice time back 
there watching the game.
    Your thoughts, sir, on the first half?
    The President. I can't hear you, I'm sorry.
    Mr. O'Brien. That's okay, that happens.
    Your thoughts, on the first half, sir?
    The President. Well, I think that it's a--I'm glad we're just one 
point behind. We made a lot of unforced errors, and as you were saying, 
UCLA had very quick hands. They played great defense, and I'm looking 
forward to an exciting second half.
    I think that our team and their team--it's a wonderful game so far. 
But you've got to give it to UCLA. They played great defense, and they 
got a lot of very good shots on offense. And I think that's why they're 
a point ahead.
    Mr. O'Brien. I know you've tried to watch a few of Arkansas' games 
this season. Do you have any fingernails left? The games have been such 
nail-biters throughout the tournament.
    The President. Yes, they always give us a lot of thrills. Basketball 
is exciting enough on its own, but they give us a little extra every 
game. We try to have a cardiologist at every watching party that we 
have. [Laughter]
    Mr. Buckner. Mr. President, Quinn Buckner. Did you fill out your 
brackets this year?
    The President. Did I what?
    Mr. Buckner. Did you get a chance to fill out the brackets at the 
beginning of the tournament?
    The President. No, I didn't, and I wish I had. But I would have been 
wrong on all accounts except I expected these two teams to be in the 
finals. Otherwise, there were a lot of surprises along the way.
    Mr. O'Brien. Mr. President, we know you're very athletic and earlier 
this week, on Friday I think, you were in Haiti. And we have some film, 
a tape of you shooting buckets out there on the grass with some of our 
good troops down there. And there you put up a bank shot. I don't know 
if you called it or not. [Laughter]
    The President. You've got to call that one. [Laughter]
    Mr. O'Brien. Then you shot around at Arkansas State with Arthur 
Agee, from the documentary film ``Hoop Dreams.'' And Mike Krzyzewski, 
who you rooted against last year, is going to go over your form on this. 
He's going to telestrate your form.

[[Page 532]]

    Mr. Krzyzewski. Well, if you don't mind----
    The President. This is his chance to get even. [Laughter]
    Mr. Krzyzewski. Mr. President, I'm sure you're accustomed to some 
criticism, so I'm going to critique you. [Laughter]
    Here's Mr. President in the lane. He's not worried about three 
seconds. Good form. But he doesn't want to show that he's just an inside 
player; he goes outside. [Laughter]
    And now he's in the outside. Watch that form. Take a look at his 
hand and the release. [Laughter]
    Mr. O'Brien. Very good, Mr. President.
    Mr. Krzyzewski. It's a very delicate release. And he puts it 
through.
    Mr. O'Brien. What do you think, Mr. President?
    Mr. Krzyzewski. That's not bad. What do you think?
    The President. I think the feet were on the floor. [Laughter]
    Mr. Krzyzewski. You know, quite honestly, sir, what did you take 
away from your visit with Arthur Agee today?
    The President. Well, he's a remarkable young man, you know. And I--
what I took away from it is, here's a young fellow that made up his mind 
he was going to make something of his life and try to live out his 
dream. He's committed to continuing his education until he gets his 
degree. He still wants to play pro basketball. But whatever happens to 
him, he's going to have a good life. And I hope that ``Hoop Dreams'' and 
I hope that Arthur Agee both, serve as a kind of an inspiration to kids 
all across this country who are growing up in very hard circumstances. 
They can make it. They can be something. And I'm very grateful that he 
came down to Arkansas to go to college. He's a terrific young man, and I 
wish him well.

Baseball strike

    Mr. O'Brien. Mr. President, I know you're also very grateful that 
the baseball season will begin here at the end of April. I know you 
followed it very closely.
    The President. You bet.
    Mr. O'Brien. Would you like to throw out the first pitch at the end 
of April?
    The President. I sure hope that I can do that. I'm looking forward 
to it. And I think it's going to be good for the country to get baseball 
back on track. I still hope they can get together and actually work out 
these differences. We don't need a cloud hanging over baseball for 
another whole season. And they ought to be able to do it. They're not 
that many people, and there's lots of money there. They can figure out 
how to divide it and give us the sport back.
    Mr. O'Brien. Well, with the Masters coming up, Mr. President, I have 
to ask you, how many mulligans do you get when you play golf with your 
friends? [Laughter]
    The President. Well, it depends, but I try not to take any anymore--
maybe one off the first tee. [Laughter]
    Mr. O'Brien. Okay, good for you. Good for you.
    Mr. President, thank you. It's always a pleasure to talk hoops with 
you. Thank you for watching. We'll see you down the road.
    The President. Thanks. Keep your fingers crossed. Bye-bye.

Note: The interview began at 8:34 p.m. The President spoke by satellite 
from Juanita's restaurant in Little Rock, AR.


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[Page 532-540]
 
Monday, April 10, 1995
 
Volume 31--Number 14
Pages 521-576
 
Week Ending Friday, April 7, 1995
 
The President's News Conference With Prime Minister John Major of the 
United Kingdom

April 4, 1995

    The President. Good afternoon. Please be seated. I am delighted to 
welcome Prime Minister Major back to the White House.
    Throughout this century, the United States and the United Kingdom 
have stood together on the great issues that have confronted our people. 
Our common cause has been at the heart of our success in two World Wars 
and, of course, in the cold war. In just the last 2 years British-
American cooperation has played an essential role in allowing us to 
reduce the threat of weapons of mass destruction, in promoting peace 
around the world, and certainly in expanding free trade.
    Today we have continued working in that tradition. We've had 
excellent discussions. We've covered a broad range of issues. We have, 
as always, found much to agree about.

[[Page 533]]

    On security issues, we agreed that the inevitable process of NATO 
expansion must proceed smoothly, gradually, and openly, without any 
surprises. This is essential for extending stability, democracy, and 
prosperity throughout Europe. We believe that, in parallel with the 
enlargement of NATO, the alliance must develop and maintain close ties 
with Russia.
    We affirmed our shared commitment to a political settlement in 

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