Software Vault: The Gold Collection/Software Vault - The Gold Collection (American Databankers) (1993).ISO/cdr11/wh930425.zip/4-25C.TXT

Internet Message Format | 1993-06-05 | 9KB

From @lex-luthor.ai.mit.edu:[e-mail] Sun Apr 25 23:50:18 1993
Date: Sun, 25 Apr 1993 22:18-0400
From: The White House <[e-mail]>
Subject: RADIO ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT 4.24.93
To: [e-mail]

                           THE WHITE HOUSE

                    Office of the Press Secretary
______________________________________________________________
For Release 10:06 A.M. EDT
Saturday, April 24, 1993


                    RADIO ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT

                    Old Executive Office Building



         THE PRESIDENT:  Good morning.

         It's been said that to learn about democracy you can
take a break from Plato and take the bus.  I know firsthand that's
good advice.  It was on our bus tour last year that I met so many of
the Americans who helped to chart our course toward tomorrow --
fathers and mothers and children, citizens whose concerns are
everyday concerns; the kind that, unfortunately, have been ignored
for too long in this Capitol City.

         I heard worry in some of those voices; and hope
everywhere that new leadership could change our country for the
better.  That strengthened my resolve to beat back the status quo, to
fight against special interest and politics as usual, to fight for
the people who work hard and play by the rules.  You put your faith
in us so that we could put you, the American people, first.  And
that's what I try to do every day.  In every battle I fight, I just
try to keep you and your needs and the future of our great nation in
mind.

         Even today I'm reminded of the work still to be done
here.  For many Americans the weekend is a time to unwind a bit, see
friends, catch up with the family, do the shopping and other chores.
Maybe some of you are out in the yard gardening, or washing a car, or
tossing a softball or a frisbee.

         I know there's been some good news lately.  After about
100 days as President we've begun to change the direction of America.
Our economic program has been adopted in its broad outlines by
Congress.  That's brought an end to trickle-down economics.  The
stock market is at an all-time high, and interest rates are very,
very low -- mortgages at a 20-year low.  Many of you have already
saved a lot of money just since the November election on these lower
interest rates, with refinancing your home mortgages or getting car
loans or consumer credit or perhaps business loans at lower rates.

         That's going to put billions and billions of dollars
back into this economy, which will create jobs and opportunities for
people for years to come.  I'm excited about that.  We're also
lowering the deficit with over 200 specific cuts in government
spending and tax increases, almost all of which are coming on people
with incomes above $100,000.

         We're doing some other things, like taking steps to make
more credit available to businesses and farms; supporting working
families with children; developing a proposal to clean up our
environment in a way that creates jobs rather than costs jobs; and
working to invest for new jobs for those people who have been laid
off by defense cuts.

         These developments will all help to turn our country
around and move us in the right direction.  But still, for many
Americans, this is just another day without a job and a cruel
reminder that without gainful employment even the basics in life,
including self-esteem, are hard to come by.

         For those Americans I'll never stop fighting, because
for all Americans the stakes go up whenever unemployment refuses to
go down.  Think about this:  For 16 straight months the national
unemployment rate has been seven percent or higher.  Just this week
we saw the latest figures for unemployment claims, and it still
wasn't good.  There were 359,000 claims -- an increase of 26,000.

         And some say we're in a recovery.  Well, the majority of
the officials you elected to represent you in Washington know this is
a serious situation.  They know that every industrial nation in the
world is having a big problem creating jobs.  Most people understand
we need action and bold changes to ensure that we get out of this
cycle of job loss.  How can anybody with a lick of sense think that
we don't need more jobs?

         Yet, still, this past week, a minority of the United
States Senate -- 43 senators -- played parliamentary games with our
people's lives.  They blocked an attempt to even vote on our plan to
put Americans back to work.  Instead of giving the majority the
chance they wanted to pass the jobs bill, which would have put
hundreds of thousands of Americans to work, they decided we should
spend your tax dollars only to extend unemployment benefits.

         I could think they don't understand.  The 16 million
Americans who want full-time jobs don't just want more handouts to
get from week to week, they want work so they can support themselves
and be independent and pay taxes, instead of spending tax dollars.

         The bill I proposed didn't create Democratic jobs or
Republican jobs.  And it certainly didn't create make-work jobs.  It
was a bill to create jobs building the fundamentals for long-term
economic growth.  It funded highway and mass transit constructions.
It would have enabled inner-city and rural kids to get off the
streets and go to work.  It would have permitted hard-pressed
communities to rehire as many as 10,000 police officers to enlist
them in the fight against street crime.

         And these investments were paid for, by more than 200
real spending cuts contained in the budget that Congress has already
passed.

         Of course, the best program is one that will help to
generate jobs.  That's the social program we really need.  Think of
it:  If everybody in America who wanted a job had one we wouldn't
just be a more productive nation, we'd be a freer people -- free of
many of the problems in our society.

         That's why I went the extra mile on this jobs program.
I offered a compromise; I offered another compromise that met our
opponents more than halfway, and why I still want to work with
Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, to pass the details of our
economic program and to create jobs.

         Look what happened in the Senate.  When the economy is
looking weak, when the recovery isn't producing jobs, when you, the
American people, are asking lawmakers to cut out the gridlock, the
opponents of our program filibustered and literally prevented even a
vote so that the majority could have worked its will.  Well, a lot of
those people think they've scored a victory by killing a chance to
put nearly a half million Americans to work.  I don't think that's
much of a victory.  I think that's letting the American people down.
And I'm going to do my best not to let you down.

         I've just been here in Washington a short time.  We've
made some big strides.  Our budget blueprint has been approved by
Congress in record time, and that's led to a record reduction in
interest rates.  As I said earlier, a lot of you have already
benefited from that and that's going to release tens of billions of
dollars to invest in this economy.

         We're not going to play business as usual here.  We're
going to shift the course of this economy from consumption and waste
to investment and growth.  We're taking on some of the hardest
problems facing America -- such as changing the health care system to
make it work for you, and trying to drive special interest out of
politics through campaign finance and lobbying reform.  We're asking
everyone to take more responsibility by reforming welfare so it's a
second chance, not a way of life; by making our education system live
up to strong national standards; by offering students a chance to go
to college in exchange for community service; by forcing federal
agencies to do more with a lot less of your money.

         These are big changes.  We all know they won't happen
overnight.  But we're on our way, thanks to the support you've given
us.  I want our debate on key issues like creating jobs to rise above
politics, to rise above party and up to the level of the American
people.  Our only agenda should be your needs, the kind of needs
you've been telling us about for a long time.

         I'm still listening to you.  And I'll keep on doing it.
But all the people here in Washington are going to have to get on the
bus.  We can't miss the bus this time.  We've got to be out there
working for you to make this country what it ought to be.

         Thank you.

                                 END