Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Clinton meets the press Date: Fri, 13 Nov 92 15:11:15 EST Message-ID: \SE A;NATION \HD Clinton meets the press \BY THE WASHINGTON TIMES \DT LITTLE ROCK, Ark. LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The following are excerpts from President-elect Bill Clinton's press conference yesterday: I think that too often in the past president-elects have been in a rush to fill the Cabinet positions before they decided whether they wanted these departments to pursue a different mission than had been pursued in the past, and without considering perhaps how these departments should fit one with the other. . . . I campaigned on a theme of economic hope and creating jobs and increasing income. I also told the American people repeatedly we didn't get into this business overnight and we're not going to get out of it overnight. I think what I have to do is present an aggressive plan to the United States Congress and pass it, and to put together a world-class economic team and to take whatever steps that can be taken without new laws being enacted by Congress to revive this economy. I intend to propose a tax package that is consistent with what I recommended in the campaign. I have not made any decision to change it. . . . I think that there are some clear priorities that we have to pursue. We have to have a program for economic growth, job creation - short and long term. We have to have a clear plan for deficit reduction over the next four years. We have to have a plan to deal with the exploding cost of health care and the fact that 100,000 Americans a month are losing their coverage, something that is ballooning the Medicaid budgets of this state and virtually every other one in the country. And we have to have a plan for political reform, something I campaigned on and I believe in. And I'm going to do my best to pass a national service program. . . . What I want to do is come up with an appropriate response that will focus sharply on the fact that we do have people who are homosexuals who've served our country with distinction, who were never kicked out of the military . . . the issue ought to be conduct. Has anybody done anything which would disqualify them, whether it's Tailhook scandal or something else? And so, what I plan to do in an appropriate fashion, in a prompt fashion, is to put together a group of people and let them advise me about how we might best do this. But I'm not going to change my position on it. . . . I don't believe in the gag rule [regarding abortion] and I think it should be repealed. With regard to the Haitians, I think my position on that has been pretty clear all along. I believe that there is a legitimate distinction between political and economic refugees, but I think that we should have a process in which these Haitians get a chance to make their case. I think that the blanket - sending them back to Haiti under the circumstances which have prevailed for the last year was an error. And so, I will modify that process. . . . We will have at least two things in this plan which should create jobs in the short run, that is in this calendar year. First of all, I will ask the Congress to adopt an investment tax credit that I have been advocating for well over a year now to give the private sector incentives to go out and invest in new plant and equipment and to increase their capacity to hire. . . . The second thing that we will do is to try to accelerate the investment of our country in infrastructure in terms of road projects, water projects, other projects of that kind that are already on line with the plans here and ready to go in the first year with the commitment that I have to transfer defense cuts into domestic investment. So I want to try to increase transportation funding and those kinds of things to put people to work, and they'd have a lot of spinoff job creation. . . . [The presidency] is an enormous responsibility, but I asked for it, and it's an indulgence to feel overwhelmed by it. . . . I believe that what we have to do is to have a disciplined reduction in the debt so we send a clear signal to the markets to the home and abroad that we're going to bring this deficit down, but that we do it more gradually and within a framework which permits us to substantially increase investment. . . . Well, I'm glad Ms. [Elizabeth] Tamposi had to leave her job about six weeks early. I thought that was an appropriate thing to do. . . . I don't want to talk about what happened in the past. The election is over; we don't have a minute to waste looking at the past. I just want you to know that the State Department of this country is not going to be fooling with Bill Clinton's politics, and if I catch anybody doing it, I will fire them the next day. . . . I hope that someday the Korean people will be reunited in a democratic and free society. I hope that we can continue to be a force for the security of South Korea, and I hope very much that the North Koreans will not be successful in developing real nuclear capacity. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM