Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 26, 1994 TAG: 9401260248
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Long
Clinton declared the nation is basically sound and headed in the right direction once again but nonetheless needs fundamental reform of its health care and welfare systems. On health care, the centerpiece of his domestic agenda, Clinton sought to rekindle the sense of urgency that his strategists believe must be maintained for his comprehensive overhaul to win approval.
Clinton again offered to cooperate with Republicans on a health care bill, but he bluntly threatened to veto any health reform bill that does not meet his fundamental requirement.
"If you send me legislation that does not guarantee every American private health insurance that can never be taken away, you will force me to take this pen, veto that legislation and we'll come right back here and start all over again."
On a second issue of increasing public concern, Clinton said the epidemic of violence across the land must be addressed but acknowledged that the role of the federal government is limited and that many of the country's ills can only be handled by family, school, church and community.
Clinton took credit for an expanding economy and a shrinking federal budget deficit but said too many Americans remain unemployed and unprepared for the job market of the future. He said he would continue to press for new job-training programs, saying he wants to transform unemployment insurance plans into a re-employment program for displaced workers.
He cited the gun-control measure named after James Brady, former President Reagan's press secretary who was wounded in a 1981 assassination attempt, on his list of major legislative accomplishment. He also touted the smaller budget deficit, tax cuts for low-income workers, the trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, a national service program providing young Americans the opportunity to earn money for college by performing public service, family leave and the motor voter registration bill.
"All passed. All signed into law with no vetoes," Clinton said. "These accomplishments were all commitments I made when I sought this office and they were all passed by this Congress. But the real credit belongs to the people who sent us here, pay our salaries and hold our feet to the fire."
With an eye toward future legislative battles, Clinton took aim at the credibility of his Republican opponents - arguing that they were wrong about his economic plan and, by extension, cannot be trusted to be right about issues such as health care.
"The naysayers said our plan wouldn't work," Clinton said, referring to the budget bill passed last year. "Well, they were wrong." The budget deficit, Clinton said, had declined from a projected $300 billion to $180 billion and both inflation and interest rates are at historically low levels.
"If you will stick with our plan," he said, "we will post three consecutive years of declining deficits for the first time since Harry Truman lived in the White House. Once again, the buck stops here."
Clinton also sought to defuse the potential battle for priority between supporters of health care reform - who include most of his party's liberals - and backers of welfare reform, who by and large tend to be more conservative.
The two issues are not rivals, Clinton said, but are necessarily linked. A million people are on welfare because it is the only way to get health care coverage, he said.
Clinton specifically endorsed welfare reform proposals that would require minors receiving welfare to live with an adult, require absent parents not paying child support to perform public service work and limit public support payments to two years.
"And to all those who depend on welfare, we offer this simple compact: We will provide the support, the job training, the child care you need for up to two years. But after that, anyone who can work must work - in the private sector if possible, in community service if necessary. We will make welfare what it ought to be: a second chance, not a way of life."
White House aides began work on the speech shortly before Christmas. Clinton saw a first complete draft just before leaving for Europe in early January but did not devote serious attention to it until last week.
The president worked extensively on the sections on health care and welfare reform and rewrote the passages that linked the two, according to aides.
Clinton spent a considerable amount of time talking about the crime and violence that plague the nation's cities and towns.
"Violent crime and the fear it provokes are crippling our society, limiting personal freedom and fraying the ties that bind us," he said.
Clinton endorsed calls for a "three-strikes" law that would require life sentences for people convicted of three felonies. He also repeated his call for federal assistance to allow cities and towns to hire 100,000 more police officers across the nation.
At the same time, Clinton appealed to gun owners to join him in taking steps to reduce gun violence. "Hunters must always be free to hunt and law abiding adults should be free to own guns," Clinton said. But, he added, "there is no sporting purpose on Earth that should stop us from banishing the assault weapons that outgun our police and cut down our children."
"You didn't create this problem," Clinton said, addressing those who use guns for sport. "But we need your help to solve it."
Although most of Clinton's speech focused on domestic policy, he also sought to claim credit for the foreign policy successes of the last year, while avoiding mention of bleaker scenes in Bosnia, Haiti and Somalia.
Keywords:
INFOLINE
by CNB