pd15jy96 Remarks on Senate Action on Minimum Wage Legislation and an Exchange...

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


[Page i-ii]
 
Monday, July 15, 1996
 
Volume 32--Number 28
Pages 1201-1240
 
Contents

[[Page i]]

Weekly Compilation of

Presidential

Documents



[[Page ii]]

  
Addresses and Remarks

    Church Arson Prevention Act of 1996--1221
    North Carolina
        Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte--1231
        NAACP convention in Charlotte--1222
    Radio address--1201
    School reconstruction initiative--1236
    Senate action on minimum wage legislation--1217
    Youth crime gun interdiction initiative--1204

Communications to Congress

    Coastal Zone Management, message transmitting report--1221
    Corporation for Public Broadcasting, message transmitting report--
        1221
    Iraq, letter reporting--1206

Communications to Federal Agencies

    Youth crime gun interdiction initiative, memorandum--1205

Interviews With the News Media

    Exchanges with reporters
        Oval Office--1202, 1208

Interviews With the News Media--Continued

        Rose Garden--1217
    News conference with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel, July 9 (No. 
        127)--1209

Letters and Messages

    Bosnia, letter to the women of Srebrenica on the anniversary of the 
        fall--1237

Meetings With Foreign Leaders

    Israel, Prime Minister Netanyahu--1208, 1209
    Poland, President Kwasniewski--1202

Statements by the President

    Bosnian Federation, training and equipping--1220
    Cigarette vending machines, action to eliminate from A&P stores--
        1235

Supplementary Materials

    Acts approved by the President--1240
    Checklist of White House press releases--1239
    Digest of other White House announcements--1238
    Nominations submitted to the Senate--1238



              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
Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402. The Weekly Compilation of 
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There are no restrictions on the republication of material appearing in 
the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents.





[[Page 1201]]




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[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents]
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[Page 1201-1202]
 
Monday, July 15, 1996
 
Volume 32--Number 28
Pages 1201-1240
 
Week Ending Friday, July 12, 1996
 
The President's Radio Address


July 6, 1996

    Good morning. This holiday weekend we celebrate America's birthday 
and the values that hold us together as a community and a country. It's 
a time for family and fun, for games and fireworks and backyard 
barbecues. Tonight, smoke will curl over homes on nearly every block as 
millions of families gather around the grill for the most American of 
meals: hamburgers and hotdogs and barbecued chicken.
    Today I want to talk to you about the steps we're taking to make 
sure the food we cook in backyard barbecues is safe and wholesome. Our 
families have every right to expect the food they serve their children 
is safe. They have every right to expect the world's most bountiful food 
supply will also be the world's safest. And, in fact, our food is very 
safe.
    Nearly a century ago, after muckrakers exposed dirty conditions in 
meat-packing plants, we made a national commitment to protect the public 
from unsafe food. It was one of the first ways we came together to meet 
the challenges of that new industrial age. Last year, we put in place 
new safety precautions for seafood. And in recent years, we've learned 
that we all must continue to be vigilant on meat and poultry safety, and 
we learned it the hard way. For every year, scores of Americans still 
die and tens of thousands become sick from eating meat or poultry that 
is contaminated with harmful bacteria.
    We all remember how in 1993 tragedy struck hundreds of families in 
the Western United States. Undercooked hamburgers served in a fast food 
restaurant were contaminated with a deadly strain of E. coli bacteria. 
Five hundred people became ill and four children died.
    The parents of many of the E. coli victims turned their grief into a 
determination to help others. Some of them are here with me today. In 
the face of this unspeakable tragedy, they had one insistent question: 
How could this have happened? I asked that question too, and I asked my 
administration, what can we do to prevent it from happening again?
    Now, sometimes food makes us sick because it's undercooked. But 
sometimes, families have been exposed to illnesses because some meat and 
poultry shipped to our supermarket shelves contained invisible and 
deadly bacteria. The reason was shocking and simple: For all our 
technological advances, the way we inspect meat and poultry had not 
changed in 90 years. Even though we know that killers such as salmonella 
can only be seen with a microscope, inspectors were still checking on 
meat and poultry by look, touch, smell. We relied on an overworked cadre 
of Government inspectors, rather than working with the industry and 
challenging it to keep food safe.
    Under the direction of Vice President Gore and Secretary Glickman, 
the United States Department of Agriculture has worked with industry, 
scientists, farmers, parents, and consumers to completely revamp our 
meat and poultry inspection system, to revolutionize the way our Nation 
protects food safety. This morning, I want to announce the major changes 
that the U.S. Department of Agriculture will take to keep food safe and 
to protect our children from deadly bacteria.
    First, we're challenging every meat-packing plant in America to do 
scientific tests or take other safety precautions at every step of 
production. Each company must design and put in place its own tough 
plan. We're not imposing a detailed list of do's and don'ts. We're 
working with industry as partners, challenging them to find ways to make 
our meat the safest it can be. Each plant will be held accountable for 
meeting high standards at every step of the process. Second, we're 
insisting that every slaughterhouse begin to

[[Page 1202]]

conduct rigorous scientific tests to make sure the meat is not 
contaminated with deadly strains of E. coli and salmonella bacteria. 
Third, companies will have to improve their sanitation procedures. All 
too often, food is contaminated because simple sanitary rules are not 
followed.
    All these changes will be phased in over the coming months to make 
sure they are done right. These new meat and poultry contamination 
safeguards will be the strongest ever. They are flexible, and they do 
challenge the private sector to take responsibility. They also use the 
most up-to-date science to track down invisible threats. They protect 
the public without tangling business in redtape.
    Parents should know that when they serve a chicken dinner they're 
not putting their children at risk. Parents should know that when a 
teenager borrows the car to get a fast food hamburger, the hamburger 
should be the least of their worries. Our new food safety initiative 
will give families the security to know that the food they eat is as 
safe as it can be.
    To be sure, parents will also still have to take responsibility. 
There is no way to make food entirely free from risk; nature simply 
won't let us. So everyone should follow warning labels, be careful how 
you handle raw meat and poultry, and make sure it's well cooked before 
you serve it to your family.
    These days families have enough to worry about. They shouldn't have 
to fear the food they eat is unsafe. With the tough steps we're taking 
today, America's parents should be able to breathe a little easier.
    Have a safe and happy Fourth of July weekend.

Note: The President spoke at 10:06 a.m. from the Oval Office at the 
White House.


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[Page 1202-1203]
 
Monday, July 15, 1996
 
Volume 32--Number 28
Pages 1201-1240
 
Week Ending Friday, July 12, 1996
 
Remarks Prior to Discussions With President Aleksander Kwasniewski of 
Poland and an Exchange With Reporters

July 8, 1996

    President Clinton. Let me begin by saying I'm delighted to welcome 
President Kwasniewski to Washington and to the Oval Office, and I want 
to thank him for the hospitality that he extended to the First Lady a 
few days ago.
    The United States and Poland have established a strong partnership. 
We've worked together in the Partnership For Peace. Our troops are 
serving together in Bosnia. We are the number one foreign investor in 
Poland. And I am very pleased with the state of our relations and the 
aggressive leadership that the President is giving to his nation.
    We're going to discuss a lot of issues that are affecting our future 
relations and the future of Poland, including the question of NATO 
enlargement, which has been a disciplined, open process since 1994, now, 
since the United States initiated it. And I want to reiterate my 
conviction that the process will continue and will bear fruit in the way 
that we have done it. I think that we are doing it in the right way, and 
that's the way I think we should continue to do it.
    But I'm looking forward to our discussion. I've wanted to meet him 
for some time, and I got a great report on Poland from Hillary the other 
night, so I'm looking forward to it.

NATO Expansion

    Q. Mr. President, will you talk about the timing? As you say, this 
has been going on since 1994. Will you talk about the timing of NATO 
expansion?
    President Clinton. We will. Certainly we will. We'll talk about what 
is planned for the December ministerial and what will happen after that.
    Q. Senator Dole has talked about 1998. Are you willing to be as 
precise as that?
    President Clinton. Well, first of all, I'm glad that he supports the 
expansion of NATO. And secondly, I think it's important for me as 
President to adhere in all my public comments to the things that we've 
agreed among our NATO Allies to do. Keep in mind, this is a process that 
has to proceed by consensus, and we have to have the support of all the 
Allies to do what we wish to do. So, I will continue to say what I have 
said all along. But you should make no mistake about it, NATO will 
expand.

[[Page 1203]]

Former Governor Richard Lamm of Colorado

    Q. President Clinton, it looks like here in the United States, 
Governor Lamm is going--former Governor Lamm is going to enter the 
Presidential race. I wonder what your sense of that is and whether 
you're worried that it might erode some of your support?
    President Clinton. I just don't know. I've known him a long time. I 
like him. And I hope if that happens--hope his wife will do what she 
said she was going to do. [Laughter] Did you see what she said?
    Q. Which was what?
    President Clinton. That she'd be for me if she thought it would 
undermine our position in the election. [Laughter] I like him very much, 

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