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From Mail-Server@lex-luthor.ai.mit.edu Fri Aug 6 20:23:11 1993
To: Clinton-News-Distribution@campaign92.org
Date: Fri, 6 Aug 1993 17:58-0400
From: The White House <75300.3115@compuserve.com>
Subject: Press Briefing by Dee Dee Myers 8/6/93
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
_____________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release August 6, 1993
PRESS BRIEFING
BY DEE DEE MYERS
The Briefing Room
1:50 P.M. EDT
Q What does Senator Kerrey want?
Q What is he going to get?
Q Give us both examples. First, what he wants, what
he's asked for, then what he's going to get, okay?
Q have a meeting with --
MS. MYERS: As you know, the President met with Senator
Kerrey this morning in the Residence.
Q Some of us learned that.
MS. MYERS: Some of you learned that -- his care was in
the driveway for quite some time.
Q When you say the Residence, where in the Residence?
MS. MYERS: I don't know what room.
Q Was he invited?
MS. MYERS: Yes, sure.
Q room --
MS. MYERS: They met in Senator Kerrey's room.
(Laughter.)
Q the Lincoln Bedroom --
MS. MYERS: Former known as -- (laughter). No, the
meeting lasted --
Q The President called up Kerrey and said will you
come over?
MS. MYERS: The meeting was arranged last night.
Senator Kerrey came over this morning. The meeting lasted about 90
minutes. The Vice President was there for a portion of it, but it
was largely just the President and Senator Kerrey. No staff sat in.
And the conversation is ongoing today.
Q So he did not get a commitment?
MS. MYERS: The conversation is ongoing.
Q So the President let Bob Kerrey out of here without
getting a commitment?
MS. MYERS: At this time, the conversation is ongoing.
Q He didn't handcuff him or put him in the --
Q When you say the conversation is ongoing, do you
mean to indicate that there is more that they have to settle before
the Senator is prepared to pledge his vote to this historic plan?
MS. MYERS: That the Senator -- yes, the discussion is
ongoing with the administration. He has not yet said one way or
another what he intends to do or is not yet ready to make that clear.
And so we'll see where things go today.
Q Is the White House now working to see if they can
accommodate something he brought up at the meeting?
MS. MYERS: I think, again, all I'm prepared to say at
this point is the conversation is ongoing and we'll see what happens
through the course of the day.
Q find out when he votes, or do you expect that he
might relay --
MS. MYERS: We'll just have to wait and see.
Q What is he looking for?
MS. MYERS: I would refer you to him on that question.
Q Is he the crucial vote, win or lose?
MS. MYERS: Well, he's certainly an undecided vote who
we hope to be for us by the end of the day.
Q Is there any other undecided vote you are pursuing
with equal vigor?
MS. MYERS: I don't know that there are any other
undecided votes, period.
Q You have ruled out Nunn as --
MS. MYERS: I think Senator Nunn made his position
fairly clear in his statement last night.
Q Can you characterize the tone of the meeting?
MS. MYERS: It was a positive meeting. I think it was
-- I think they had a very good discussion. The President felt good
about it. It was friendly, and I think it's --
Q Who did most of the talking?
MS. MYERS: No, I think it was a good conversation.
Q Can you talk about some things that they might have
covered?
MS. MYERS: No, I'm not prepared to talk at all about
what went on in the meeting other than to sort of characterize it as
a very good meeting. And again, it's ongoing. We'll continue to
work on this throughout the day.
Q Can you say that Senator Kerrey is not seeking
anything as some other members have that would be specifically for
his state?
MS. MYERS: I'm just not going to characterize the
conversation.
Q When you say ongoing, do you mean he's still
talking to him on the telephone?
MS. MYERS: I don't know that -- I wouldn't rule out
another conversation sometime today. I think on a staff level there
have been some conversations. I think Senator Kerrey will probably
consult with other people in Congress.
Q Are there any other senators previously declared
whom you think might go with the White House if it were necessary?
MS. MYERS: We'll just have to wait and see. I'm just
not --
Q Is it really now all on Bob Kerrey?
MS. MYERS: Well, he is the last undecided vote. I
think that much is obvious. And we hope -- obviously, we hope that
by the end of the day that he'll vote with the President for this
package.
Q But you wouldn't want to put it all on him and make
him feel bad, would you?
MS. MYERS: We just look forward to the rest of this day
and we hope that he'll be for us.
Q If he doesn't support the President, is it your
opinion that the budget will go down?
MS. MYERS: I can't say for sure. We'll have to wait
and see. The vote hasn't been cast. We'll see.
Q Did Kerry say, commit to the President, when he
would inform the President as to his vote, or do we all have to watch
it on TV?
MS. MYERS: No, he didn't -- I mean, I don't think we're
prepared to announce any kind of time line today. I think we'll just
have to wait and see.
Q But is he going to call the President beforehand
with a decision, yea or nay?
MS. MYERS: If he makes a decision. I mean, we'll just
have to wait and see.
Q What did the President tell Fortune Magazine about
the value-added tax?
MS. MYERS: Fortune Magazine put out a press release
which some of you may have seen over the weekend, which basically
said the President discussed the value-added tax, as he has in the
past. He essentially said he was not considering it in the context
certainly of this budget or of the health care reform plan, but it's
something that other members of Congress have raised, that it's
something that he expects will be debated; and if it were ever to be
implemented, which would be something in the future, it would have to
be done in a way that was progressive and was a substitute for other
taxes, not as an addition. It's nothing that he hasn't said on this
before.
Q What is your impression of what he said to USA
Today regarding the lack of need for anymore taxes during his term?
MS. MYERS: Well, I think his statement pretty much
spoke for itself. I mean, the economic plan is clearly the biggest
piece of legislation we put forward so far. It includes, as we've
said, a number of spending cuts. But there are a number of things
that we're pursuing in addition, which include the reinventing
government task force, other government reforms, health care reform,
which will bring down the deficit, allow us to achieve greater
deficit reduction without any additional taxes. And we'll just have
to see how it goes.
Q Is there a possibility of a cigarette tax on the
health care?
MS. MYERS: I think that that's something that's been
discussed, but we haven't made final decisions on how that package is
going to look.
Q I know that, but I mean, there is a possibility of
another tax.
MS. MYERS: I mean, it's certainly something that's been
discussed in the context of health care. And beyond that, I just
can't say how that package is going to look.
Q Dee Dee, Senator Hatfield -- has the President
talked to him? Any chance of --
MS. MYERS: Again, we'd love to have a Republican. I'm
not holding any hope that that's going to happen.
Q When the President first mentioned the notion of a
value-added tax, I think it was in Chillicothe, or whatever, you at
the time followed up by saying, well -- basically said what you said
right here a moment ago. But you also added that you didn't think it
was anything he was serious considering, it was something maybe 10 to
15 years down the line.
MS. MYERS: Yes, I don't think that that has --
Q So, is it still in that timeframe that he's talking
about, not during any of his term?
MS. MYERS: Yes. Nothing has changed in his opinion
about the value-added tax. He, again, mentioned that a lot of our
competitors use a value-added tax, that it would allow
competitiveness. That's one of the things members of Congress who
think it's interesting like about it. But he certainly has no
timetable for implementation.
Q Will the President come out tonight after the vote?
MS. MYERS: It depends. I don't think we have a very
good sense of when the vote might occur. I'm not sure debate
actually started. I guess it was around 9:30 a.m.
Q Are you looking at a signing ceremony tomorrow?
MS. MYERS: I don't think there will be a signing
ceremony, but if the vote happens late, I think you can expect a
statement tomorrow morning as opposed to tonight. I think a signing
ceremony, should it pass, would be sometime early next week.
Q How late is late?
MS. MYERS: Well, we did it last night about -- a little
before 11:00 p.m. I think if it -- it's hard to say. If it happens
after midnight, I think we'd probably wait until Saturday.
Q On this retroactive thing, I'm not sure Mr. Altman
really answered the question. One was constitutionality. And no
matter what percentage of the public it affects, the constitutional
question is still valid. On the second question, my question to you
is, is the White House argument that because Clinton said he was
going to do this as part of a campaign discussion or at the time
during which after he was elected that that served as advance notice,
and therefore it's not retroactive?
MS. MYERS: No, I think he just meant that people aren't
-- most people aren't surprised by this. I think accountants had
been preparing it and advising their clients in a certain way. But
in terms of constitutionality, obviously if somebody wants to
challenge that constitutionality, that will have to be adjudicated in
court. But there have been at least 13 retroactive taxes, many of
which we supported by Senator Dole. In fact, I think several of them
were proposed by Senator Dole when he was chairman of the Finance
Committee in the United States Senate.
I think it's interesting how the bar has moved around a
little. But first he said this was the first retroactive tax in the
history of this country. And I think that they're now saying it's
the first -- that it's retroactive beyond the time when a new
president took office, which I think is a fairly interesting
distinction. But he supported a retroactive -- a 10 or 11 month
retroactive tax on unemployment benefits and a number of other things
that hit not the 1.2 wealthiest taxpayers in this country, but people
without jobs. So I find it interesting that he's now criticizing the
President's plan.
Q Dee Dee, how does the President figure that the
narrow vote last night gave him -- was a mandate for this program?
MS. MYERS: Because I think it was debated. It was --
obviously this is a process that was well participated in. And when
push came to shove, the House representatives supported it. And it
will, if it passes the Senate, become the law of the land.
Q So the President defines a mandate as 50.00001
percent?
MS. MYERS: I think it was a victory no matter how you
slice it. And we're very happy about -- and grateful to the House
for the work they did last night.
Q Speaker Foley said this morning that there were
several members who voted no who were willing to vote yes if it meant
the difference between victory and defeat. Do you have the same
situation in the Senate, where some of the senators who had planned
to vote no will vote yes if it means -- the difference between
passing and failing?
MS. MYERS: I think that we're very hopeful that this
will pass.
Q Senator Kerrey is quoted as saying -- likening his
meeting with the President as to what happened earlier this week with
Nolan Ryan -- he felt like his head was in a vice and he was being
pounded. How would you characterize that?
MS. MYERS: I will leave it to Senator Kerrey to --
Q He said he was -- and Bill Clinton was Nolan Ryan
--
MS. MYERS: Does that mean -- I mean, Nolan Ryan's a
Hall of Fame pitcher, one of the greatest ever to take the mound.
Q What is he doing for the rest of the day?
MS. MYERS: He will spend the rest of the day, I think,
working -- he's make some phone calls to the Hill if that's
necessary, working on this. He also has a couple of other things --
minor, minor things.
Q (inaudible)
MS. MYERS: No.
Q Is he have a meeting on Bosnia?
MS. MYERS: No, nothing scheduled.
Q Did he -- into Aspin, Powell?
MS. MYERS: No.
Q Dee Dee, will he be meeting a Cuban dissident
today?
MS. MYERS: Yes, he will. He's got a brief meeting with
Mario Chanes de Armas around 4:00 p.m.
Q Open photo?
MS. MYERS: No, it's not.
Q Could we get a photo of him on the phone or
whatever --
MS. MYERS: Yes, we'll sometime this afternoon if we
can't arrange like we did yesterday some kind of photo of what's
happening.
Q Who is he calling?
MS. MYERS: Different people. (Laughter.)
Q But you say really that everything hinges -- you
didn't say it, but on theory that -- he's the only one who's --
MS. MYERS: Yes, he's talking to some folks up on the
Hill and seeing what he can do to just make sure that we move this
package along.
Q Is there any wrinkle in the criteria on Bosnia as
to whether the bombers will actually fly? You made some criteria
clear earlier in the week, but now there are reports that the allies
are going to hold back the bombing unless the Bosnian government gets
serious about the peace talks -- in other words, not let them use the
bombing to withdraw from the peace talks.
MS. MYERS: No, I think we've made it clear that the
objective of the additional action that we've agreed to is twofold.
One, is obviously to do what we can to support the negotiations in
Geneva. And the other is to prevent the strangulation of Sarajevo.
And I think that those are the criteria, and we're moving forward
with plans.
Q So if preventing the siege of Sarajevo hurts the
talks in Geneva, then what do you do, do you go ahead with the
bombing if you have to?
MS. MYERS: I certainly don't want to set up any cause
and effect, but I think it's fairly clear that those are two
criteria, both of them incredibly important, and both of them agreed
upon by NATO.
Q Who crafts the legislation for the President? Who
advises him on it? The reason I ask this question is because some of
the congressmen said yesterday they could get along with the
President a lot better than they could with the Democratic leaders in
the House. Do the leaders in the House tell him what they think
ought to be in these bills, or do they craft them, or does he have
someone in the White House who helps him?
MS. MYERS: It works both ways. The President can send
up -- I mean, the final responsibility lies with the Congress, but
the President sends up legislation. So I think it works both ways.
Some of it is drafted here; some of it's drafted by Congress in
consultation with the White House if it's something the President
wants to do; and most of it's drafted by Congress.
Q Dee Dee, there's supposed to be a NSC principals
meeting today --
MS. MYERS: It was this morning.
Q What did they accomplish, if anything? What did
they talk about?
MS. MYERS: They talked about Bosnia. But beyond that,
I'm not going to comment on the content of the meeting.
Q Did the President attend or drop by?
MS. MYERS: He did not. And this, I would just point
out, is a -- part of an occasionally scheduled meeting. It's been on
the agenda for some time. But the topic was Bosnia.
Q make any decisions --
MS. MYERS: No, it's been scheduled for a while.
Q But to do what, to just review the situation?
MS. MYERS: Yes, it's part of the continuing review of
the Bosnia policy.
Q But were they reviewing targets?
MS. MYERS: I can't comment on what they discussed.
Q Dee Dee, could I get a clarification on Bosnia?
Then are you saying -- are the reports that the U.S. and its allies
are saying to the Bosnian muslims, NATO will not take any action, any
air strikes unless you get back to that table and negotiate? Is that
correct or not correct?
MS. MYERS: No, I again would emphasize what we have
been very clear as to the mission -- as to our objectives in this.
One is to do what we can to support the negotiations, to which
obviously we're concerned about, since we believe that a negotiated
settlement is the only way to stop the violence. At the same time,
we believe -- we want to stop the deterioration of conditions in
Bosnia and particularly the siege of Sarajevo.
Q But that's not really answering the question. I
mean is the U.S. --
MS. MYERS: Well, I think it is. I mean, it's -- we
have -- our objectives are very clear.
Q So that you want the muslims to go back to the
negotiating table, otherwise --
MS. MYERS: Well, I mean, that's certainly -- that's a
factor in -- as the decisions are made about what to do there. It's
not the only factor.
Q Is it a quid pro quo?
MS. MYERS: It's a factor, it's not the only factor. As
decisions are made about how and when to take action, it's a factor
but not the only factor. I mean, obviously we want to do what we can
to reinforce progress. But we are also very concerned about the
situation on the ground and what's happening there.
Q? Do you see any additional signs of progress there
in terms of the Serbs easing their siege?
MS. MYERS: So far the signs -- they talked -- they
talked, but we're going to wait and see if they walk the walk. I
mean, we need more than words from them. We need some concrete
action on the ground that suggests they're going to back off the high
ground.
Q What is the White House reaction to the official
election of Hosokawa as the Prime Minister of Japan? It happened
last night.
MS. MYERS: I believe it has to be -- before it's
completely final has to be approved by the Emperor. But we look
forward to working with the new Prime Minister. We have a lot of
both regional, bilateral and security issues that are ongoing. We
look forward to a continued good relationship. And as the President
has said many times it's as important as any relationship we have in
the world.
Q Does the President have any intention or hopes to
meet with Hosokawa in the near future?
MS. MYERS: No concrete plans, but I'm sure at some
point the President will meet with the new Prime Minister.
Q Dee Dee, what is your response to the criticism of
some of the deals that were cut to get votes yesterday?
MS. MYERS: I think that the President's principles in
this have been -- remained -- have been preserved remarkably in tact.
I think we've gotten at least 80 percent of what we stared out with,
which by any measure is a remarkable accomplishment in this process.
The legislative process is one that entails some compromise. But on
the big issues -- deficit reduction and investment incentives to
create jobs -- the President got what he wanted.
Q I'm talking about what the congressmen got.
MS. MYERS: I understand that but, I mean, it's part of
the legislative process. I think that the big picture -- the overall
package is a good package and it's something -- and, again, it
preserves the President's principles. The legislative process
requires some sort of give and take. But overall, this is a package
that the President believes will decrease the deficit and improve the
economy.
Q Besides the possible Saturday morning ceremony to
celebrate a victory, is there anything else that's going to happen
this weekend?
MS. MYERS: The radio address will be live tomorrow at
10:06 a.m.
Q Is it on this topic?
MS. MYERS: I would expect that it will be on the budget
one way or another.
Q Is the trip on Monday --
Q And so you're saying on the budget that as long as
his principles are met, he doesn't much care what else goes in?
MS. MYERS: No, but I think that he's glad that his
principles have been preserved.
Q nothing that's been put in crosses the line in
terms of what he thinks is --
MS. MYERS: The President still thinks it's a good
package.
Q contingent upon victory?
MS. MYERS: No, I think we'll go to -- it is Charleston,
West Virginia. It will be an event around noontime. And we're still
working on the final details. But we will --
Q What kind of an event?
MS. MYERS: It's sort of like a -- probably like a
rally. We haven't locked down the site yet.
Q If he doesn't win, will he then rethink his August?
MS. MYERS: I guess we'll have to have that conversation
--
Q interview that he put a chain around the
Capitol. I mean, that means staying in the --
MS. MYERS: If we don't -- in the unlikely chance this
doesn't happen tonight, we'll discuss it then. But we don't have any
contingency plans at this point.
Q Could you explain why Charleston was chosen?
MS. MYERS: We haven't been to West Virginia yet. It's,
I think -- it's close. I think that was part of it. (Laughter.)
It's -- we didn't want to disrupt you guys too much, make you get up
early. We're so thoughtful. But I think it was -- it's a city
that's a middle-size city, or small- to middle-size city that I think
is -- represents some of the things that we're looking to -- we just
want to go someplace where we can talk to Americans who -- just
regular old Americans.
Q Byrd --
MS. MYERS: No, no, no. It wasn't -- that wasn't it.
Q Could you tell us about the changes -- you briefly
told us the other day about some guidance for vacation. We
understand there are some changes --
MS. MYERS: I don't have any specifics. I think -- the
question was have there been changes in vacation.
Q Is Jackson out?
MS. MYERS: I don't -- the answer is I don't know. I
mean, I think it's possible that it could either be changed or
shortened, with someplace else added. But I just -- the decision
hasn't been made.
Q Dee Dee, several members said -- well, at least two
members said yesterday -- that they received calls from Hillary
Clinton. To what extent was she involved in lobbying for this
package? And how was it determined which members ended up on her
call list?
MS. MYERS: I think she made some calls -- she hasn't
been particularly involved in the -- she hasn't been very involved in
it at all, actually. But she does have personal relationships with
some members -- or issue relationships where something that they're
concerned about happens to be an area of her expertise. I don't know
how many members she called. I don't think it was very many.
Q Hillary -- the President has been making these
promises -- I can't hear you. If you started with someone up there,
I apologize.
MS. MYERS: That's okay. Go ahead, Sarah.
Q The President has been making these promises about
having action taken in the fall on these entitlements and other
phases of the bill. He's been making those promises to congressmen
for 24 hours, at least. How come he waited until the very last
minute to call that 3-M woman in Pennsylvania? (Laughter.)
MS. MYERS: I think certainly the administration has a
relationship with Representative 3-M and -- (laughter) -- and I think
that she had some concerns about the package throughout the process,
but decided that she would vote for it, that she thought it was
better than the alternative, which is gridlock. And so she voted for
it and the President is grateful.
Q that was the last minute and that was -- he was
lucky. (Laughter.)
MS. MYERS: No, he was good. (Laughter.)
Q Is the White House going to send anyone up to that
meeting with the Senate Armed Services Committee on Bosnia?
MS. MYERS: Not that I know of, but I'll take the
question. I don't know.
Q Do you expect the NEA nomination to go up today --
MS. MYERS: I don't know if that's ready or not. I'll
take that as well.
Q Is the President calling to thank any of these
people --
MS. MYERS: Yes. I think that's probable. I just don't
-- he may be doing it now, I just don't know who all he's called.
Q question?
MS. MYERS: The question is, will he call any members to
thank them. And I said I think that's probable.
Q When the administration originally proposed the
retroactive taxes to January, do you know was there a legal opinion
prepared --
MS. MYERS: I don't think so. I think there's precedent
though -- other retroactive taxes have been challenged in court,
although this one is slightly different --
THE PRESS: Thank you.
END 2:11 P.M. EDT
#106-08/06
