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Subject: Americans 'Want the Finger-Pointing and Blame-Placing to Stop'<Reuter=
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 92 04:42:00 EST
Message-ID: <42.1992Nov20.044200@AmeriCast.com>

Americans 'Want the Finger-Pointing and Blame-Placing to
Stop'<Reuter=

Thank you very much. I want to thank the speaker for hosting this
lunch and I thank Senator (George J.) Mitchell (D-Maine) for
hosting breakfast, and I want to thank them and (House) Majority
Leader (Richard A.) Gephardt (D-Mo.) for coming to Arkansas last
Sunday and for being part of our breakfast and luncheon meetings
today. I'd like to say a very special word of thanks to Senator
(Robert J.) Dole (R-Kan.) and to Congressman (Robert H.) Michel
(R-Ill.) and to their Republican colleagues who joined us today
at lunch.  And I want to say to you what I said to them: A lot of
our problems are unprecedented. They grow out of the fact that in
the era after the Cold War we have to be preoccupied with how we
stack up and, in some cases, don't stack up in the global econo-
my. We have to pursue a difficult course of growing this economy,
creating more jobs, raising incomes and having a disciplined plan
to reduce the deficit. And I think that, if we work hard at it,
we can have bipartisan cooperation.

And I pledge to them an open door, regular communications and ir-
regular communications as I feel the need to contact them or they
feel the need to contact me.

I also would remind all of you - some of you were on Georgia Ave-
nue with me yesterday - but the sense I get from the American
people, which I got again yesterday from the thousands of people
that were there on the street, is they don't expect miracles of
us, but they do expect progress and they do want us to work. They
want us to work together.  They want the finger-pointing and the
blame-placing to stop, and there's plenty of credit to go around.
And I don't really care who gets the credit for this if we can
actually make some headway on these profound challenges that we
face.

I think we're off to a good start. I'm excited about it. And
again, I want to thank the leadership in both parties in both
houses for giving us a chance to come together and to work to-
gether. . . .

Of course, you're going to have to prove you can lead Congress.
You're also going to have to prove that you have the strength to
say no to a lot of demands. What do you think Congress has to
prove?

I think what Congress has to prove, if you will -  I think it's
obvious what I have to prove. I have to present a credible pro-
gram and work with them and meet them halfway. I think what
Congress has to prove, that as a big institution with 535 members
in both houses and people with deeply held views, that we're ca-
pable of decision-making, of coming to closure on the difficult
issues of the day.

I think we'll do it. I hope that, as you know, we'll do that in
the form of an economic growth program, a deficit reduction pro-
gram, a health care cost-control and coverage program, the na-
tional service program and a program for political reform.

I think we can do these things, and I think the American people
will be impressed.

I would ask everyone to remember that some of these matters are
of mind-bending complexity and represent problems that have
developed over well over a decade.  But I'm very optimistic about
it.

You talked about the end of the Cold War.  You're going to be
meeting with General (Colin L.) Powell (chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff). He has concerns not only about the issues of
gays in the military but about the pace of reduction of the armed
forces, the troop strength, how you're going to pay for all the
weapons systems that you have endorsed, including the (inaudible)
and some others that the Pentagon doesn't want, and still not
reduce troop strength that quickly. What issues (will you dis-
cuss), and will you offer him a Cabinet post?

I've never had a meeting with General Powell about anything. My
admiration for him is immense, but it's all from afar. And I
asked for this meeting to discuss a wide range of issues in the
defense area, in the foreign policy area, and I'm really looking
forward to it.

As you know, the defense budget that I presented did involve
greater troop cuts in Europe than had been recommended by this
administration, including by General Powell, but more investment
in some weapons systems. That reflects my philosophy. I want to
hear what he's got to say. We'll have a wonderful conversation, I
think and hope.

Would you consider him for a Cabinet post?

There's been no discussion of that. I've never even met him. I
think he's a very eminent American who's capable of doing nearly
any job in this country, including the one that I've just been
elected to, but I've had no conversations with him about anything
like that.

Governor Clinton, the amount of legislative priorities - what can
the American people see first from a Clinton administration? And
also, the issue of D.C. statehood. I know you put the issue in
the hands of Congress, but where would that priority be now that
-

I didn't put it in the hands of Congress. That's what the Consti-
tution does. The Congress would have to act. But I believe in it
and I support it, and I assume a bill will be introduced and I
expect to support it.  Partially inaudible question about policy
toward Haitian refugees.)<

Well, I have always said I thought the Bush policy was over-broad
and should be changed. I have also always said, from day one, I
thought the distinction between economic and political refugees
was a legitimate one and if you wipe it away altogether you do
violence to our immigration laws and you basically treat very un-
fairly all the people who filed to come into the country and have
just been waiting patiently all these years.

So I've tried to send out a clear signal to the Haitians who are
here in America and to those who are still in Haiti that I think
it would be very unwise for anybody to think that I'm going to
articulate a policy that would promote mass migration. Without
question, that is not what this is about. This is about giving
Haitians the chance to make a case that they should be granted
asylum in this country temporarily until we can see a democrati-
cally elected government restored to Haiti. And I expect to make
that policy clear and far more specific before I ever take of-
fice.

Partially inaudible question about the North American Free Trade
Agreement.)<

We did not discuss that today, but yes, it is a priority and I
expect it will have to be because of the time frame for con-
sideration of the treaty by the Congress and for the president's
authority to negotiate with Mexico. But as you know, I think
there are some other things that have to be done before the
treaty should be implemented by congressional legislation. But I
look forward to working with (Mexican) President (Carlos) Salinas
(de Gortari) on that and I think we will.

Will you stop the sale of arms from this country around the world
(inaudible) to the CIA? It just seems to foment wars around the
world. It's been a Bush policy.

Well, let me say this. I expect to review our arms sales policy
and to take it up with the other major arms sellers of the world
as a part of a long-term effort to reduce the proliferation of
weapons of destruction in the hands of people who might use them
in very destructive ways.

And you didn't ask this question, but let me tack this on, be-
cause I want to lay this marker down for the rest of the world. I
believe that one of our great challenges as a nation that is the
world's leading nation still, in promoting peace and democracy,
will be to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruc-
tion and the building of massive armaments in the hands of people
who are prepared to use them. Not just nuclear, but also biologi-
cal and chemical. This is going to be in my opinion a challenge
every month for the president for the next four years, and I'm
going to do my best to meet the challenge.

Senator Mitchell said . . .  that (the Bush administration's)
China policy is immoral. Do you expect Senator Mitchell to intro-
duce bills to condition the most-favored-nation (trade status) to
China again or do you think . . . this is not necessary?  Senator
Mitchell and I have not had a discussion about that. I will say
this.  As you know, I supported some restrictions on MFN status
to China, pending some changes in the human rights and trade
area. And I noted with satisfaction in the last several months
when the Bush administration, for whatever reason - maybe because
of the changing political climate - took a tougher line on goods
made with prison labor, on unfair trade practices, we began to
have more moderation. China now has a $15 billion-a-year trade
surplus with us. I know we create a lot of jobs with trade with
China, but they've got a $15 billion surplus. They have a big
stake in that. We have a big stake in not isolating China, in
seeing that China continues to develop a market economy. But we
also have to insist, I believe, on progress in human rights and
human decency. And I think there are indications in the last few
months that a firm hand by our government can help to achieve
that.

And Senator Mitchell and I have not discussed the specifics of
implementing that policy, but I stick by the values that are ar-
ticulated in the campaign.

Governor, some of the people at the breakfast this morning were
kicking around a $30 billion, a $50 billion price tag on a
stimulus package. Will you give us your price tag or whether you
discussed the timetable with the leaders, particularly whether
with Senator Dole or Leader Michel? Were there any disagreements
over economic policy that you need to address head on?

What you say surprises me somewhat since there were no dollar
figures discussed this morning at the breakfast. What I did say
to them is that I would attempt to close the loops on the details
of our policy in advance of my being sworn in so that I could
work on with the leadership of the Congress, with the appropriate
committee staffs, any wrinkles, any problems in an attempt to
give a State of the Union address and articulate a program,
which, insofar as I could, reflected the consensus of where we
ought to go. I'm going to do my best to do that, knowing that
that will give you folks more to chew on (inaudible) we'll have
to reveal it. But I'm going to try.

Partially inaudible question about economic trade with Latin
America.)

I would expect to be more aggressive. I think that - I hope we
can get a trade agreement with Chile. I'm very encouraged by
what's going on in Argentina now. I had a good talk with
President (Carlos Saul) Menem. And I hope we can do more trade
with Argentina. I think that a major part of our economic future
rests with building up strong two-way trade with Latin America,
which requires Latin America to resume growth rates at more or
less the level they were in the mid-'70s. If they were there to-
day, our trade deficit would be about 20 percent lower and our
unemployment rate would be lower in America.

Partially inaudible question about details of a health-care pro-
posal.)

 . . . I think that there's no way in a system like the one we've
got, there's no way you can get health care cost controls if you
don't also have strong market incentives. But the government has
to set the framework. I mean, there are some minimum things I
think we have to do. We need to set those budget targets. You
need to mandate some insurance reforms that will permit small-
business people, self-employed people and farmers to buy into
large pools so they can get insurance on the same terms as people
who work for the federal government or for larger employers.

There need to be a whole range of other cost controls, which I've
talked about in great detail elsewhere. But I think there is
broad consensus. Let me say, the one thing that I think came out
of this bipartisan lunch today is, no one seriously believes that
we will ever get the deficit under control until we adopt a sys-
tem which brings health-care costs under control that are both
privately and publicly funded. It has never happened in any other
country. It is not about to happen in this country. So I think
that that awareness gives us the chance, at least, to come up
with a bipartisan proposal that will provide cost controls and a
basic system for phasing in coverage for all Americans. The
speaker says I have to stop. Thanks.02:32 11-20C9999-----

Copyright 1992, The Washington Post.  This story is from the
Washington Post's Capitol Edition On-Line and is not to be ar-
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