Current Shareware 1994 January/SHAR194.ISO/articles/wh930807.zip/8-7C.TXT

Internet Message Format | 1993-08-08 | 6KB

From [e-mail]  Sat Aug  7 01:06:32 1993
To: [e-mail],
Date: Fri, 6 Aug 1993 23:59-0400
From: The White House <[e-mail]>
Subject: President's Remarks After the Senate Vote  8/6/93



                           THE WHITE HOUSE

                    Office of the Press Secretary
______________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                             August 6, 1993


                       REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
                        ON THE SENATE PASSAGE
                        OF THE BUDGET PACKAGE

                          The North Portico

11:05 P.M. EDT

         THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.  (Applause.)  Thank you very
much.

         What we heard tonight at the other end of Pennsylvania
Avenue was the sound of gridlock breaking.  (Applause.)  It was the
sound of progress and change which can now resound throughout every
corner of our great and beloved nation.

         I want to thank the United States senators who voted for
change tonight, especially the Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell
for his untiring efforts, and all the others who worked so hard for
so long to see this night come about.  I want to thank the Vice
President for his unwavering contribution to the landslide.
(Applause.)

         I thank the economic team who worked so hard on this
from last November:  Leon Panetta, who is here; Secretary Bentsen;
Mr. Rubin, and all the people who work with them.  I thank Mr.
McLarty and all the members of the White House staff.  I thank Mr.
Altman and the war room for the work they did in the last several
weeks.  (Applause.)  I thank especially Howard Paster and Steve
Ricchetti and all those who worked for us in the Senate.  (Applause.)
I hope that they will get some well-deserved rest.

         After 12 long years, we can say to the American people
tonight we have laid the foundation for the renewal of the American
Dream.  The days of endless gridlock, rising deficits, and trickle-
down economics are over.  The days of economic growth and real
opportunity for the working families of this country have begun.

         This was not easy, but real change is never easy.  It is
always difficult.  It is always easier to sustain the status quo and
to talk as if you were changing.  But that is not why I was elected
President, nor is it why we were sent here.

         When we came here, our national debt had quadrupled in
12 years.  And the incomes of our forgotten working families had been
stagnant for nearly 20 years.  Our heritage of investment in our
people and our economy had been gradually forsaken and the people of
our nation questioned whether anyone here in this city would take
responsibility for our future, change the direction of our country,
and ensure a better life for them and their children.

         After a long season of denial and drift and decline, we
are seizing control of our economic destiny.  To be sure, as I have
said repeatedly, this is just the beginning -- just the first step in
our attempts to assert control over our financial affairs, to invest
in our future, and to grow our economy, to deal with the health care
problems, the welfare reform problems, the problems of crime in the
streets and the other things that deal with the daily fabric of life
for our people.  But make no mistake about it, this is a very, very
important beginning.

         The economic program that Congress passed tonight puts
$500 billion into a trust fund locked away for deficit reduction;
$255 billion in specific real, enforceable spending cuts; tax cuts
for 20 million working Americans with marginal incomes who are trying
to raise their children.  This will reward their desire to choose
work over welfare.  It is an important advance in the fabric of
opportunity and responsibility in this country.

         This new direction includes new opportunities for the
sons and daughters of middle class families to go to college because
it reforms the student loan programs in ways that make student loans
more accessible to more people and cuts the cost in the program
through waste reduction.

         It provides immunizations to give a healthy start to
millions of American children.  It provides significant new
incentives for small businesses to grow and expand.

         In this sharp departure from business as usual, this
program will create jobs, reduce the deficit and put the American
people first.

         In the lifetime of this country, the courage and wisdom
of the American people in difficulty have always prevailed when we
faced a challenge and needed a change.  Sometimes in the past they
have prevailed by the narrowest of margins in the beginning, but
always picking up steam, always marching confidently toward the
future.  That will be true in this time as well.

         We're determined not to let the American Dream founder.
We are determined to stop avoiding our problems and start facing
them, to embrace them as challenges, to turn them into opportunities,
to seize the future that rightfully belongs to every American willing
to work hard, play by the rules, and take care of their children.  We
are determined that the next generation of Americans will inherit a
brighter future than we have known, just as we did from our parents.

         For more than two centuries, that has been the promise
of the American Dream.  Tonight, because of the bold action taken by
courageous men and women in the House and the Senate, that dream will
not be deferred, but rather be fulfilled.

         I am profoundly grateful tonight for the opportunity to
stand here, not simply as President, but as an American citizen
seeing our nation once again roll up our sleeves together, tackle our
problems, and march to tomorrow.

         Thank you, and God bless you all.  (Applause.)

                                 END11:11 P.M. EDT