--------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 122 WHITE HOUSE Ref: F5G00189 Date: 04/27/98 From: DAVID MOUFARREGE Time: 04:01pm \/To: ALL (Read 0 times) Subj: 1998-04-24 Confirmation of Russian Prime16:01:0004/27/98 THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ________________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release April 24, 1998 STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY Confirmation of Sergey Kiriyenko as Russian Prime Minister Today, the Russian Parliament approved President Yeltsin's nominee for Prime Minister, Sergey Kiriyenko. We look forward to working with Prime Minister Kiriyenko and his government on the wide range of issues facing our two governments. The United States supports Russia's transition to a market-based democracy and will continue to work closely with Russia to further its integration into global economic and security institutions. The Vice President called to congratulate the new Prime Minister today. The Vice President and the Prime Minister agreed in their conversation to continue the work of the U.S.-Russian Joint Commission on Economic and Technological Cooperation. # # # --- * Origin: Kraut Haus * Rochester, New York (USA) (1:2613/404) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 122 WHITE HOUSE Ref: F5G00190 Date: 04/27/98 From: DAVID MOUFARREGE Time: 04:09pm \/To: ALL (Read 1 times) Subj: 1998-04-24 Statement by Foreign Affairs 16:09:0004/27/98 THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Vice President ________________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release April 24, 1998 Statement By Foreign Affairs Spokesman Jonathan Spalter In a telephone conversation earlier today, Vice President Al Gore congratulated the new Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Sergey Kiriyenko, on his confirmation by the State Duma, and expressed his commitment to work with the new Russian Prime Minister to enhance the relationship between the governments and citizens of the United States and the Russian Federation. The Vice President and Prime Minister Kiriyenko also agreed to reestablish the U.S.-Russia Commission on Economic and Technological Cooperation. The Commission, which will be co-chaired by the Vice President and Prime Minister Kiriyenko, was formed by Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin in 1993 in order to advance the cause of reform in Russia, and promote cooperation between the two countries in a broad range of economic, technological, and security areas. The Vice President and the Prime Minister agreed to hold their first meeting this summer. ### --- * Origin: Kraut Haus * Rochester, New York (USA) (1:2613/404) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 122 WHITE HOUSE Ref: F5G00191 Date: 04/27/98 From: DAVID MOUFARREGE Time: 04:16pm \/To: ALL (Read 0 times) Subj: 1998-04-24 President Clinton Declares Di16:16:0004/27/98 THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ________________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release April 24, 1998 PRESIDENT CLINTON DECLARES DISASTER IN ARKANSAS The President today declared an emergency exists in the State of Arkansas and ordered Federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the area struck by severe storms, tornadoes, and flooding on April 16, 1998. The President's action authorizes FEMA to provide assistance for temporary housing (provision of mobile homes) pursuant to subsection 502(a) (6) of the Stafford Act. FEMA will transport and donate the mobile homes to the State of Arkansas at time of delivery. This assistance will be provided to Mississippi County. -30-30-30- --- * Origin: Kraut Haus * Rochester, New York (USA) (1:2613/404) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 122 WHITE HOUSE Ref: F5G00192 Date: 04/27/98 From: DAVID MOUFARREGE Time: 04:25pm \/To: ALL (Read 0 times) Subj: 1998-04-25 Radio Address THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ________________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release April 25, 1998 RADIO ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT TO THE NATION The Oval Office 10:06 A.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This morning I'd like to talk to you about one way we are working to restore Americans' faith in our national government, in our efforts to shore up Social Security and other vital benefits by cracking down on fraud and abuse. For 60 years, Social Security has meant more than just an ID number on a tax form, even more than a monthly check in the mail. It has reflected our deepest values, the duties we owe to our parents, to each other, to our children and grandchildren, to those who misfortune strikes, to those who deserve a decent old age, to our ideal of one America. That's why I was so disturbed some time ago to discover that many prisoners who are, by law, barred from receiving most of these federal benefits, were actually collecting Social Security checks while locked up behind bars. Inmates were, in effect, under our law, getting away with fraud, primarily because it was so difficult to gather up-to-date information on criminals in our nation's more than 3,500 jails. But thanks to an unprecedented federal, state, and local cooperation, as well as new, innovative incentive programs, we're now finishing the job. The Social Security Administration has produced a continually updated database that now covers more than 99 percent of all prisoners, the most comprehensive list of our inmate population history. And more important, the Social Security Administration is using the list to great effect. By the end of last year we had suspended benefits to more than 70,000 prisoners. That means that over the next five years we will save taxpayers $2.5 billion -- that's $2.5 billion -- that will go toward serving our hard-working families. Now we're going to build on the Social Security Administration's success in saving taxpayers from inmate fraud. In just a few moments I will sign an executive memorandum that directs the Departments of Labor, Veterans Affairs, Justice, Education and Agriculture to use the Social Security Administration's expertise and high-tech tools to enhance their own efforts to weed out any inmate who is receiving veteran's benefits, food stamps, or any other form of federal benefit denied by law. We expect that these comprehensive sweeps by our agencies will save taxpayers millions upon millions of more dollars, in addition to the billions already saved from our crackdown on Social Security fraud. We will ensure that those who have committed crimes against society will not have an opportunity to commit crimes against taxpayers as well. The American people have a right to expect that their national government is always on guard against every type of waste, fraud and abuse. It is our duty to use every power and every tool to eliminate that kind of fraud. We owe it to the American people to ensure that their Social Security contributions and other tax dollars are benefiting only those who worked hard, played by the rules, and are, by law, eligible to receive them. That's exactly what we're trying to do. Thanks for listening. END 10:11 A.M. EDT --- * Origin: Kraut Haus * Rochester, New York (USA) (1:2613/404) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 122 WHITE HOUSE Ref: F5G00193 Date: 04/28/98 From: DAVID MOUFARREGE Time: 10:01am \/To: ALL (Read 3 times) Subj: 1998-04-25 Fact Sheet on Inmate Social S10:01:0004/28/98 THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ________________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release April 25, 1998 President Clinton's Radio Address Fact Sheet April 25, 1998 What the Social Security Administration Has Done to Crack Down on Fraud. The Social Security Administration must suspend Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits to prisoners. SSA has developed relationships with Federal, State, and local prisons to share information about incarcerated individuals. Under this Administration, SSA has initiated additional efforts to cut off benefits to prisoners. Sharing Data Saves Taxpayers $500 Million Each Year --$2.5 Billion Over the Next Five Years. As a result of this effort, SSA has data-sharing agreements with the Federal Bureau of Prisons, all State prisons, and the largest twenty-five local jail systems. In addition, SSA has forged agreements with over 3,500 local jails. Thanks to that effort, prisons and jails representing over 99 percent of the nation's inmate population are now reporting the names and Social Security numbers of incarcerated individuals to SSA. This initiative, together with other efforts with correctional facilities, saves SSA an estimated $500 million annually in reduced benefits --or $2.5 billion over the next five years. Other Agencies Need Up-to-Date, Comprehensive Data. Other Federal benefit programs also have the legal authority to reduce, suspend, or terminate benefits to prisoners. To ensure that inmates are not abusing these programs, these agencies need up-to-date, comprehensive data from correctional institutions. In the past, each agency has relied upon its own information to enforce its program criteria, with no systematic efforts to prevent the improper collection of benefits. The President's Initiative Expands Efforts to Stamp Out Fraud. Until now, no coordinated attempt has existed to share information among Federal agencies about incarcerated individuals. The Executive Memorandum the President signed today requires SSA to provide access to its computerized, up-to-date prisoner database to Federal agencies and the State and local governments that administer Federal benefit programs. Within A Year, Agencies Will Be Using SSA Database To Cut Fraud. By Nov. 1, 1998 this Executive Memorandum requires that SSA have its database prepared for access by the appropriate agencies. From that day, agencies will have six months to put in place systems to access SSA's information and match it to their benefits rosters to determine if prisoners are receiving benefits improperly. When they discover illegalities, agencies will then take immediate action to suspend, reduce, or terminate benefits. Reporting on Progress. The Commissioner of Social Security is required to report to the President within 180 days upon actions taken to implement this directive. This Initiative Will Save Taxpayers an Estimated $200 Million. Expanding access to SSA's database to other agencies will save an estimated $200 million from FY 1998 to 2002. --- * Origin: Kraut Haus * Rochester, New York (USA) (1:2613/404) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 122 WHITE HOUSE Ref: F5G00194 Date: 04/28/98 From: DAVID MOUFARREGE Time: 11:05am \/To: ALL (Read 0 times) Subj: 1998-04-27 Press Briefing by Mike McCurr11:05:0004/28/98 THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ________________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release April 27, 1998 PRESS BRIEFING BY MIKE MCCURRY The Briefing Room 2:50 P.M. EDT Q Not a lot of interest today. MR. MCCURRY: Well, that's good. All right, we'll dispense with this in short order then. Anybody got anything for today? First of all, before I start, on behalf of the President and the White House Press Office staff, and other members of the White House staff, thank you to you and your association for an enjoyable dinner Saturday night. We appreciate your hospitality. Had a good time. Thank you to all of you. Q The new President, Mr. Powell, is here. MR. MCCURRY: And thank you to Mr. McQuillan, who looks like he took the day off. But Mr. McQuillan and the board members are to be congratulated for a very splendid evening of entertainment. Q Did the President enjoy himself? MR. MCCURRY: Yes, he had a good time. Enjoyed himself. Mr. Hunt. Q Last January, when the First Lady -- January, I guess, '97, when she testified before the grand jury, the White House was happy to say that she answered all the questions that were put before her. Can you say that when -- on Saturday, when she took a deposition, did she answer all the questions or did she reserve any -- MR. MCCURRY: Well, she was not appearing before a grand jury, but at the same time, I am not familiar with the proceeding that she underwent on Saturday. So you'd have to direct that question to her attorney, Mr. Kendall. My guess is he's probably not going to comment beyond the statement that was already made. Q Well, do you know if she asserted any privilege? MR. MCCURRY: I do not know. Do not know. Yes, sir. It's a slow day, so you're on. (Laughter.) Q Thank you. Mr. McCurry, in your professional analysis of media impact on the presidency, do you believe that Saturday nights booing and heckling of Ms. Jones and the standing ovation for the President has as much impact as Sunday morning's Broder column, "Don't Write Off Character," Doonesbury's column on "Arkansas Ladies," and Elizabeth Ward Grason's confession? MR. MCCURRY: I have absolutely no idea. I'm not familiar with the circumstances. Q I mean you do analyze the -- MR. MCCURRY: I wasn't there Saturday night when Ms. Jones arrived, so I am not familiar with -- Q You read the paper on Sunday. MR. MCCURRY: I barely did, but I didn't -- (laughter.) Q Mike, the President and the administration are coming out against this bilingual referendum in California. What effect do you think the President's opposition to that will have on the voters on June 2nd, and what does the President plan to do while he's in California to raise that issue -- MR. MCCURRY: Well, several points on that. It is rare, as you all know, for the White House to take a position on a ballot initiative that presents itself at a state level. We have done so on rare occasions, when the President and White House deems the issue of such significance that it could have an impact on overall national policy. We've done that, frankly, in some cases with respect to measures on the ballot in California because California, as our nation's largest state, does very often serve a trend-setting function, just as we did on Proposition 209, where the President both spoke against and campaigned against that measure. The Department of Education, who made the recommendation to the President on the initiative, felt that it is important to take the posture that with bilingual education, we need to help those who are English-language deficient make the transition into all-English environments, which is the purpose of the bilingual education programs that the federal government supports. There's some reason to believe that federal bilingual education programs are at some risk because of measures pending in Congress that would cut funding for those programs. We recommend, as some of you know, a slight increase --about a 17-percent increase in current funding levels in our FY '99 budget proposal. They are designed principally to help local school districts and state education agencies hire teachers who are proficient in helping foreign language students learn English, or at least improve their English language skills. And those programs we believe are important. They're important because local communities and states need to make decisions about how to help their affected populations make this transition. And you cannot adopt either nationally or statewide in a state as large as California a one-size-fits-all conclusion. So for all those reasons, and because of the value of these programs in helping people get into learning situations in which they could use English as the President believes they should, as their principal tool for learning, the President is concerned about the impact of that state ballot initiative. Q What will the President do, then, to do better than he did when he came out against 187? MR. MCCURRY: Well, we understand the public sentiment in California and one can easily say we are flying in the face of whatever the conventional wisdom is in California about the popularity of that measure. At the same time, the President thinks you can make a good argument that communities need to make these decisions based on what's best for their public school population and that trying to adopt a single model of how this should work is not useful. In any event, the President will proceed with the measures that have been outlined by the Department of Education today, believing that students who -- language needs some skills in English language proficiency over a period of three years ought to be able to graduate out of those programs and into settings in which they use English as their learning language. Q Mike, last week the message in the Rose Garden was that the House Republicans seemed to be mouthpieces for tobacco, and today it was a much more bipartisan emphasis. Why the shift in tone? MR. MCCURRY: I think we made the point sufficiently that we need more bipartisanship and less catering to the preferences of the industry. And I think that we see on Capitol Hill -- maybe not yet in the ranks of the leadership of the Republican majority, but certainly in the ranks of the Republican caucus -- a great willingness to work with the President to adopt comprehensive tobacco legislation. We continued extensive consultations on Capitol Hill with the Majority Leader, the Speaker and a range of other members on the other side of the aisle who we think will be critical in helping the administration and Democrats who are supportive of this legislation move forward with a truly historic piece of legislation, and we remain optimistic we can get the job done. Certainly, the statistics from the Surgeon General's report today give us yet more evidence of why we need to do so. Q Mike, there seems to be a problem still -- on another subject -- there still seems to be a problem of General McCaffrey and the Congressional Black Caucus. Is the President going to be like a big father and sit both sides down -- they're fighting like children over this needle exchange -- is he planning on sitting them down anytime soon to talk it out? MR. MCCURRY: He asked the Chief of Staff to make sure that we keep things orderly and the Chief of Staff has had a good conversation with General McCaffrey last week, and we expect that we can go about the business of building support. I know that there were some things said today, but I think that was by way of trying to explain what some of the controversy was about last week. And we believe it's possible for those who believe in protecting kids, especially minority kids, from the dangers of drugs and, as we were talking about today, from the dangers of other addictive substances, that we can all work together towards a common goal and a common strategy. Q Those two groups seem to have to work together closely, and for them to have that kind of friction, and you have pretty much the whole body of the CBC saying "McCaffrey, leave, step down now." Isn't that a pretty bad reflection on McCaffrey -- MR. MCCURRY: I've heard Congresswoman Waters -- she was very careful to explain that she had endorsed a recommendation that was made by Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton. We have said, here's why we think General McCaffrey is providing very valuable and important leadership and we think all these sides can come together to work on the things that they clearly all believe need to be done. They have some disagreements as to tactics, but we think we can work through those and we think we can continue to have an effective working relationship both with the Caucus and with all of its members. Q Mike, you said the White House has been working with the Majority Leader in the Senate. Today he said that all you've offered on the tobacco bill is lots of rhetoric, lots of talk, and no real courage, in terms of what should be done. Can you respond to that and will the White House promote its -- MR. MCCURRY: Well, I can easily respond to that. It's impossible to name any other President of the United States of America who has been as forthcoming and demonstrated as much leadership when it comes to the issue of tobacco. This is the President who took on the tobacco lobby, took on this issue, began the process of asserting a federal regulatory role, took on the political costs of saying no to the --- * Origin: Kraut Haus * Rochester, New York (USA) (1:2613/404) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 122 WHITE HOUSE Ref: F5G00195 Date: 04/28/98 From: DAVID MOUFARREGE Time: 11:05am \/To: ALL (Read 0 times) Subj: 02:1998-04-27 Press Briefing by Mike McC11:05:0004/28/98 interests that for so long were dominant here in Washington. I believe the Majority Leader, it's safe to say, recognizes that. We're at a point now where the legislation requires some deft handling on the part of the White House; that's what we're doing. The Chief of Staff has worked very closely with the Majority Leader himself. More importantly, he's worked closely with the chief Senate sponsor of the legislation, Senator McCain, to talk about the specific ways in which we can move this legislation forward, as Senator McCain, himself, indicated this weekend. So we're very much involved in the work now of bringing this legislation to what we think is a very good and likelihood of passage. And remember that at the moment the Republican leadership in Congress has elected to be outside that process. So the fact that they're taking a few shots is not too surprising to us, but we're going to continue to work in a bipartisan way to try to build support necessary to pass the bill. Q Do you envision anytime in the near-term where the President would lay down specifics, or is the plan still to stick with the broad principles and let the legislative process -- MR. MCCURRY: We are working with those who are now moving this legislation through the legislative process, dealing in very specific ways in which we can both improve, from our perspective, the Senate committee-passed version of the bill and then move it on through the full Senate and hopefully to the House. Q I mean publicly, though. MR. MCCURRY: Well, we're making progress doing what we're doing, which is consulting closely with the chief sponsors, working on specific legislative provisions in a fairly technical way. And I think we have no complaints about the ways in which the administration views have been reflected in some of the work that's being done on the Hill. So what we're doing, the process that we have now is working. Q Mike, in opening Senate debate on NATO expansion, Senator Helms said today that the ratification resolution will contain a condition that the administration has accepted that Russia will have neither a voice, nor a veto in NATO affairs, and that the joint Russia-NATO council will not have a consultative role with Moscow, but will nearly inform the Russians of decisions taken by NATO. Now, this goes counter to what the President has said all along that the Russians would have a voice. How do you square these three things? MR. MCCURRY: We see those provisions as being directly consistent with what the White House stated in May of 1997, when we first announced the charter. We said at the time that even under the foreseen charter arrangement between the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the Russian Federation, NATO would retain its full prerogatives, and while Russia will work closely with NATO, it will not work within NATO. The Founding Act of the Council itself makes clear that Russia has no veto over Alliance decisions, and NATO retains the right to act independently when it so chooses. Our view is that if it's reflected in the Senate consideration of the instrument of ratification, that that is consistent with what the administration has identified as the purposes of the partnership. Q Wait a minute. At the time and since then, while the administration has made it clear and NATO has made it clear that Russia was not going to get a veto, nevertheless, Russia was going to get a voice through the joint partnership council to discuss ahead of time with NATO decisions that NATO might take. And Senator Helms' point in terms of the condition that is attached to the ratification resolution is that Russia now won't even get to a point of discussing with NATO about its interest in European security. MR. MCCURRY: Our views of that condition is consistent with Section IV of the Founding Act of the joint NATO-Russian Federation Council. It is not meant to supercede what already occurs through the Partnership for Peace program, a fact which pre-dates the discussion of NATO expansion through the North Atlantic Coordination Council, the NACC, which was long the vehicle for that type of consultation. There have even been, as you know, important military-to-military consultations with the Russian Federation as we have engaged in some joint deployments -- witness Russian participation in the deployment in Bosnia. So the degree to which there is consultation and conversation on those types of issues, of course, that's all consistent with what we already take to be the mechanism for collaboration and coordination under the Founding Act. Q Well, did Senator Helms misspeak? MR. MCCURRY: No, he's making it clear that the condition that the Senate will apparently insist upon is consistent -- we will take the view that it is consistent with exactly what we've said are the full prerogatives that NATO retains and must retain as a treaty alliance. Q What do you know about the Russians helping India with missile technology? MR. MCCURRY: Well, all we have established, since we watch these matters extraordinarily carefully, is that we have made no determination at this point that any cooperation that we've detected is a violation of MTCR guidelines -- Mission Technology Control Regime guidelines. We watch that very carefully. As you know, there are sanctions that arise when we see any type of export activity that is in controvention of MTCR guidelines, and we have not made that determination or finding, nor have we imposed any sanctions. Q Have you discussed the issue? MR. MCCURRY: We have had very high-level conversations with the Russian Federation reflecting a broad range of our proliferation concerns, and this matter in particular has been discussed. Q With the Supreme Court taking up the line item veto issue today, is the President having any second thoughts to the way it's actually being implemented? Is he disappointed, is he happy, is he surprised at some of the ways it's actually working out? MR. MCCURRY: No, I think he's satisfied that he's protected American taxpayers from over a billion dollars worth of wasteful spending, and done so in a way that is constitutional. And that was so argued by the Solicitor General today. Q Did the President have a role in the drafting of the arguments that were made on behalf of defending the line item veto? MR. MCCURRY: To my knowledge, there have been some conversation between the Justice Department and the Counsel's Office about the nature of the briefs that are filed. Today, of course, was just an oral argument consistent with those briefs. But as to the detail of law, I don't know if the President has been that actively involved. Part of the discussion today, as you know, in front of the court was about judicial standing, and I think the President probably elected not to be that involved in the detail of that conversation. But certainly the broad constitutional principle, which is the constitutionality of the line item veto similar to what many governors including when he was governor of Arkansas, and the executive power they have, I think he's familiar with those arguments to be sure. Q Mike, the Ohio Democratic Party recently filed suit against the Federal Election Commission and it's arguing, as I understand it, that it has no authority, the FEC has no authority to regulate soft money when the state parties are involved. Is that a breakaway action by the Ohio party, or does the President support what the party is doing? MR. MCCURRY: No, we take a contrary view, as you know, because we have petitioned the Federal Election Commission to take that regulatory stance and to prohibit nonfederal funds. But state parties, by their bylaws of the Democratic National Committee, can act independently on an issue of that nature. Q With Richard Butler releasing his report on Iraq's compliance with the weapons inspections, is the administration prepared to take some steps to ease the sanctions against Iraq? MR. MCCURRY: Well, we have been very skeptical about sanctions relief lacking the full compliance that we expect from the government of Iraq, growing out to the post-Gulf War-U.N. Security Council resolutions. There's one narrow area involving nuclear weapons programs that have been reviewed carefully by the International Atomic Energy Agency; we're recommending that the IAEA continue to work carefully to determine whether there's been full compliance. And part of that, as you know, involves the availability of facilities for inspections at the request of both the IAEA and the U.N. Special Commission when it involves other weapons of mass destruction programs. But aside from that one narrow area, we think that the conditions that would be necessary for broad-based sanctions relief don't present themselves because Saddam Hussein has not fully complied with the requirements the international community placed on him. Q -- sanctions relief then? MR. MCCURRY: We have been very skeptical and dubious about the case for sanctions relief. Q So, in other words, they have to comply on everything before there's any easing of sanctions, or can there be some piecemeal compliance and piecemeal easing of the sanctions? Q I identified one narrow area, where there's been discussion about adjusting the file in one of the four areas, and that's nuclear weapons program, but nothing sufficient to make a case for overall sanctions relief. Q Mike, when was the last time the President was in direct contact with any of the parties in the Middle East, any of the leaders? MR. MCCURRY: I'd have to check. I recall one time fairly recently. But, of course, the Vice President will be in a position to see them later this week when we have our special -- his special envoy, Ambassador Ross, is in the region meeting with the --- * Origin: Kraut Haus * Rochester, New York (USA) (1:2613/404) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 122 WHITE HOUSE Ref: F5G00196 Date: 04/28/98 From: DAVID MOUFARREGE Time: 11:05am \/To: ALL (Read 0 times) Subj: 03:1998-04-27 Press Briefing by Mike McC11:05:0004/28/98 parties now and reporting directly on his conversations. And we await the outcome of the meetings that we previously announced on May 4th that the Secretary of State will be having. Q Are you saying that the Gore trip goes beyond just the ceremonial niceties of this anniversary that's coming up? MR. MCCURRY: Well, I think given the process itself and the arguments we're making to the parties about the need for them to really focus on some serious decisions that have to be taken at this point, it does go beyond ceremony. Although he will not -- the work the Vice President will do will be consistent with what we hope the purpose and outcome of the May 4th meetings will be. Q At what point, Mike, does the President personally once again get involved? MR. MCCURRY: Well, this President has never been reluctant to play a direct role in this process when there's a reason to believe that we can achieve a significant outcome. There's no reason at this moment to believe that. But that's one of the reasons why we are pressing the parties hard to make the kinds of decisions that need to be made if we're going to move ahead on the four-part agenda that we've identified, and make progress on the other kinds of multilateral economic issues that have been a part of the discussions that others, including the European Union, have had with the parties. Q Is it felt that the Canadian Prime Minister's visit to Cuba today is helpful or hurtful to the cause of human rights in Cuba? And perhaps you can characterize your earlier reaction to Castro's remarks comparing the embargo to genocide. MR. MCCURRY: Well, we believe that Prime Minister Chretien's visit will ultimately be helpful, because one thing that he will surely do is to remind Fidel Castro of the insistent desire of the international community to see peaceful change occur in Cuba, to see respect for human rights and democracy. Now we have, as you know, a disagreement as to tactics with the government of Canada, but no disagreement, whatsoever, as to what we want history to write, which is the chapter of change that needs to come and come soon to Cuba so that the people of Cuba can enjoy the freedoms, the liberties, the economic prosperity that we believe will flow naturally from democracy and from market institutions, which are woefully lacking in Cuba and have been for quite some time. A measure of how out of step Fidel Castro is with the truth of history is this astonishing argument he made about genocide, which in no way, shape, or form can you make with any degree of logic. You can make an easy argument, which is command and control economics matched with totalitarian political forums have ruined the lives of millions and millions of people in this world. In most places in this world, the yoke of communism has been thrown off. And, unfortunately, in the Americas, Cuba is the lone remaining country that has not chosen to be on the right side of history. Q Mr. McCurry, it's my understanding -- and I know you'll correct me if I'm inaccurate -- that the President is a close friend of Baltimore's Mayor Schmoke. Is that correct? MR. MCCURRY: He's a valued ally of the President. I don't know -- friends -- I'm sure he would consider the Mayor a friend. Q Well, will the President support the Mayor in his well-publicized and furious battle with the Governor. And does your affirmation that General McCaffrey is a valuable and important part of leadership repudiate Delegate Norton's description of him as, "a skunk"? MR. MCCURRY: The President, often, even with friends, can have disagreements as to things they might do or say. Q You said this morning you'd say some more about the IRS probe. MR. MCCURRY: I was awaiting the outline of the steps that the Treasury has now made. I can't add much to what they have already said at Treasury about some of the things they're going to do. Commissioner Rossotti I think has been very forthcoming in addressing what they believe are the need to ensure the integrity of the Criminal Investigations Division. And the White House is supportive of what Treasury has indicated they're going to do with respect to some of the practices they will now examine more carefully. Q Mike, with respect to Maryland, is it a disagreement or has he just taken no position on that? MR. MCCURRY: I don't believe he's taken a position in what is a dispute between Democrats who see things differently. Q Any administration reaction to the killing of the bishop in Guatemala? MR. MCCURRY: I think that the State Department was doing something on that. We can check -- NSC can check with you and see if -- my understanding is they were going to issue something. Q Mike, it wasn't quite clear from your answer to Stu's earlier question on bilingual -- when the President is in California this weekend, will he speak out publicly against that ballot initiative? MR. MCCURRY: There is some discussion about how the President could reiterate things that Secretary Riley said today. Whether or not he does so when he's in California remains to be seen at this point. I wouldn't rule it out. Q Mike, at an appeals court hearing a couple of weeks ago, White House lawyers said that you were trying to redact information so the press could get some information on the executive privilege dispute. It's now been about five weeks since the first hearing -- or, actually, the last hearing took place on that subject. Do you have any update for us on how the effort to parse that information so we can get some of it? MR. MCCURRY: I don't. You may want to check with Mr. Kennedy. I was not aware that the court had rendered any ruling on the motion that was argued at that point. If they have, that would be news to me. But you may want to check with Mr. Kennedy further. Q Mike, Senator Hatch and other Republicans have said for a comprehensive tobacco bill to be workable there has to be some degree of industry cooperation -- the advertising provisions are not challenged. Is there any sympathy here at the White House at all for that argument? MR. MCCURRY: Yes. I mean, I think that's not an ill-begotten argument. I mean, in order for this program to work and to protect kids, the active cooperation of the industry it would be far preferable from their defiance in courts. We've said that much the same with respect to the issue of FDA regulation, where we've always indicated that we'd prefer to see an environment in which the industry accepted its responsibilities under the program envisioned as opposed to seeing it challenged endlessly in court, as they challenged the truth that we now have seen revealed for years and years and years. Q But isn't the White House really going in the opposite direction by seeking to strengthen the McCain bill which they oppose, and also lambasting people for being in bed with the industry? MR. MCCURRY: Well, we make a reasoned judgment that given the kind of support we think exists in the Congress reflecting the will of the American people, that this industry, which has evidenced such a pathetic record over time, would see it in its interests to change course and to do something to help protect kids from what we know is the number one leading cause of endangerment to the health of children, to all Americans. So our view is that the industry is going to want to get with this program and that as we build sufficient, strong bipartisan support for legislation, they may do some rethinking and recalibration on where they've been on some of these issues. Q That's what your strategy is, to wait for them to come back to the bill they've walked away from? MR. MCCURRY: No, no, manifestly not. We're proceeding full speed ahead with the bill and continue to work hard on -- Q I understand that, but are you doing anything to try and obtain their cooperation in advance so that they don't challenge the marketing restrictions? MR. MCCURRY: We think that may have a very powerful effect, if the industry sees that that's the direction it's going, that an effort to put a roadblock up in front of the bill is to no avail, that they may wish at some point to change course and see if they can't be a part of the solution. Q Mike, Japan's finance ministry has reprimanded about 112 of its officials, including its top minister for international affairs. Does the White House -- given the fact that the Ministry of Finance is the organization that controls Japan's economy, is this a cause for concern of the administration? MR. MCCURRY: When the President recently addressed the status and health of the Japanese economy, he did so at some length. He talked about the important role that bureaucracies play in being supportive of programs articulated by governments. You know what we have said about the stimulus package that's been unveiled by the Prime Minister. I think you know what the President said about the functioning role that the powerful ministries play within the Japanese government. I think I'd refer you to what the President has already said on the record as being indicative of what his concern is. Q Could you talk about what he would be willing to support in terms of bilingual education? MR. MCCURRY: We did a little bit of that already. As the Department of Education indicated today, we see three years as being a useful general role model of -- general model of the amount of time it ought to take someone who is language deficient in English to move through the kinds of bilingual education programs that exist at the local level and move into settings in which they can use English as their primary learning language. And our role will be to continue to support those programs that we think are valuable and critical in helping children --- * Origin: Kraut Haus * Rochester, New York (USA) (1:2613/404) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 122 WHITE HOUSE Ref: F5G00197 Date: 04/28/98 From: DAVID MOUFARREGE Time: 11:05am \/To: ALL (Read 0 times) Subj: 04:1998-04-27 Press Briefing by Mike McC11:05:0004/28/98 learn the English language skills they need to be successful in school. Q Is the President doing anything tomorrow other than going to New York for that fundraiser? And he makes a statement on Thursday -- can you shed any light about that? MR. MCCURRY: Tomorrow we are considering a statement on a domestic matter here in Washington, before he goes up to New York. I'm not aware that he's planning anything else in connection with his New York schedule tomorrow. On Thursday, I can't shed anything on his plans for a public statement yet, but we should be able to let you know by Wednesday or so. Q Can you give us a hint? Q So if you would let us know a day ahead -- MR. MCCURRY: Protecting the long-term retirement income security of the American people. Q Mike, can you talk a little bit about the timing of the Treasury Department's announcement of its IRS probe? Is it an attempt to deflect attention from or preempt this week's -- MR. MCCURRY: Depends on whether it works or not. I don't know. (Laughter.) No, I think there's been an ongoing effort at the Treasury Department and at the Internal Revenue Service, particularly since the arrival of the new commissioner, to address these shortcomings at the IRS, and they're moving aggressively to correct the deficiencies and to make sure that they have a customer-friendly, taxpayer-friendly Internal Revenue Service. And the fact that they would want to talk about that before what are likely to be incendiary hearings on Capitol Hill is no surprise. There has been some concern that our allies on the Hill have been expressing about the form and substance of those hearings, and I'll leave that debate for those on Capitol Hill. But I think it's an equally important -- or it makes more important the argument to remind people of all the work the administration is already doing to improve the IRS. Q How worried is the President about the recent rash of shootings by students, and what can be done about it? MR. MCCURRY: Very concerned. And as you know, he, after the Jonesboro incident, had asked a group of experts to come together. They had a session here the other day that pointed to some of the things that communities need to do to avert the kinds of incidents that tragically we saw again over the weekend. So the President believes that we need to think very long and hard about what experts can tell us, what science tells us, what sociologists can tell us about the cause, the root cause, of some of these incidents, and to see if there is anything that suggests itself in a role that leaders can play or that government can play. But it's very clear that we also need to see more involvement by communities and parents in addressing what perhaps are some of the underlying causes of what are now just seen to be isolated events. Q Were there any recommendations at that meeting the other day? MR. MCCURRY: There were some ideas that are not -- it would be moving them to far forward to say that they were recommendations -- some ideas that grow out of that conversation that need to be worked further. And the President instructed some of those participating to do additional work to see if they might lead to some specific policy recommendations. It was not a decision-making meeting; it was more of an informational meeting. But some work is going to result as a byproduct of the conversation that they had. THE PRESS: Thank you. END 3:20 P.M. EDT #493-04/27 --- * Origin: Kraut Haus * Rochester, New York (USA) (1:2613/404) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 122 WHITE HOUSE Ref: F5G00198 Date: 04/28/98 From: DAVID MOUFARREGE Time: 11:19am \/To: ALL (Read 0 times) Subj: 1998-04-22 Remarks at Millennium Lecture11:19:0004/28/98 THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ________________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release April 22, 1998 REMARKS AT MILLENNIUM LECTURE SERIES The East Room 7:30 P.M. EDT MS. LOVELL: Welcome to the third Millennium Evening at the White House. We are glad to know that outside this room, so full of anticipation, are thousands of Americans who are watching, listening and having your own discussion. We begin this evening with a short film in which our Librarian of Congress tells us about the Poet Laureate Consultant Program, and the three most recent Poets Laureate speak about their work as writers, but also as voices of poetry. At the same time, we are here to honor all of you, poets of the world, listeners, readers, you whose curiosity and love of language is alive. Where the voice that is in us makes a true response; where the voice that is great within us rises up. (A film is shown.) MRS. CLINTON: Who can remember back to the first poets, the greatest ones, greater even than Orpheus? No one has remembered that far back, or now considers among the artifacts and bones and cantilevered inference the past is made of, those first and greatest poets, so lofty and disdainful of renown, they left us not a name to know them by. They were the ones that, in whatever tongue worded the world, that were the first to say, star, water, stone; that said the visible and made it bring invisibles to view in wind and time and change. And in the mind itself, that mind of the hitherto idiot world, and spoke the speechless world, and sang the towers of the city into the astonished sky. They were the first great listeners, attuned to interval relationship and scale; the first to say, above, beneath, beyond. Congerers with love, death, sleep, with bread and wine; who, having uttered, vanished from the world leaving no memory but the marvelous, magical elements -- the breathing shapes and stops of breaths we build our babbles of. To you, who speak the speechless world, and to the great listeners who hear it, we are honored to welcome you to the White House. Just like Howard Nemerov in "The Makers," we are here on this Millennium Evening to celebrate the timeless power of poetry and poets as our American memory, our purveyors of insight and culture, our eyes and ears who silence the white noise around us and express the very heart of what connects us, plagues us, and makes us fully human. I want to thank everyone who has made this celebration possible -- especially Ellen Lovell, the Director of the White House Millennium Council; our Poets Laureate, Robert Pinsky, Rita Dove, Bob Hass, Anthony Hecht, and William Meredith. What better way to commemorate National Poetry Month than by gathering our nation's poetry and poets in our nation's home. When Stephen Hawking gave the second Millennium Lecture here, I'd said that there had never been more physicists in the White House. I don't believe there have ever been more poets in the White House than this evening. (Laughter.) I hope you will also get a chance to visit the foyer and see some of the extraordinary works that capture America's role in poetry and poetry's role in America. For that exhibit and so much more, we owe a huge debt of gratitude to Dr. James Billington, the center for the book, the curators, and the entire Library of Congress. Let me also thank Bill Ferris and the National Endowment for the Humanities, state humanities councils, the Howard Gilman Foundation, Phi Theta Kappa, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and Sun Microsystems for bringing this event to people throughout our nation and the world, first via satellite to more than 200 sites in 44 states, and also via the Internet on the White House web site and the Sun Microsystems site. This is the third of many Millennium Evenings we will be holding with scholars, artists, scientists, and other creative individuals to help our nation explore who we are, who we want to be as we enter the next century. The goal of all of our White House Millennium activities is to honor the past and imagine the future, and that is what we are doing tonight, with both poetry and prose, with cutting-edge technology and the torn pages of old books. Like many of you, I suppose my first real introduction to poetry took place in a classroom. I remember standing before what looked to be a sea of other children and reciting poems I'd memorized by saying them out loud at the kitchen table on the way to school before going to sleep, over and over again. That is how I and so many learned to feel the music and rhythm and inspiration of poetry, to understand its window onto our experiences as Americans, individuals and communities. Whether we sang the Star-Spangled Banner or recited in Emma Lazurus' words inscribed in the Statue of Liberty, or asked Langston Hughes' haunting question, what happens to a dream deferred, we were being influenced by poetry. We know that happens every day, not just while we're still in school -- when we fall in love or see loved ones die, when our hopes are realized or dashed; we tuck our children into bed, perhaps to a favorite rhyme or walk through a garden. In every moment of our lives the poems we read or write or remember speak to us, often transforming us, comforting us. And we pass that love for them down from generation to generation. It's important that we touch not just the lives of the few through poetry, but the everyday life of all of us. That's what the Poet Laureate Joseph Brodsky was talking about when he said that, an anthology of American poetry should be found in the drawer in every room in every motel in the land. Seven years later, we see that dream being fulfilled in truck stops, supermarkets and train stations, where thousands of copies of 101 Great Poems are being handed out by his American Poetry and Literacy Project every April. This afternoon, we saw poetry in action at Johnson Junior High School in Southeast Washington. We saw students who were practicing for a poetry slam taking place tonight. Now, for those of you who have never seen a slam, it's a high-speed, high-spirited competition where students face off against each other, reading their own poems and receiving scores like at the Olympics from a group of judges. Using their voices as an instrument and their souls as a library, these students read poems about the beauty of their names, the plight of a homeless man, the contributions of Duke Ellington, their pride, and their pains. And they talked about how poetry had helped put their anger on paper, instead of acting it out; how it had opened up thoughts they never knew existed and given them confidence. One young man stood up and said as part of his poem, I'm so musical that when I write a song you sing it for the rest of your life. (Laughter.) No one has worked harder to ensure that children and young people and all of us throughout America sing poetry for the rest of our lives than our two former and current Poets Laureate. Whether by promoting literacy and celebrating our environment, or by bringing poetry to everyone and putting everyday life into poetry, they have been on the front lines. We are also very grateful that Robert Pinsky has created a program for recording poems, the poems that help define us as individuals and as a nation. And just this morning I was pleased to announce that the National Endowment for the Arts is awarding $500,000 to support the Favorite Poem Project. So tonight it is my great honor to introduce three of Howard Nemerov's "makers" who will speak the speechless world and bring it to all of us -- in other words, their own version of the poetry slam -- our Poets Laureate, Bob Hass, Rita Dove and Robert Pinsky, who will start things off with a few comments. Please welcome them. (Applause.) MR. PINSKY: We're here to honor our ancestors -- not our literal ancestors, but our ancestors in poetry -- and to imagine ways that we can give the gift that they gave to us to the young. I'll start with just a few lines from Harriet Converse's 19th century translation of an Iroquois Thanksgiving Song: We give thanks that the voice of the Great Spirit can still be heard through the words of ganay-oh-day-ho. We thank the Great Spirit that we have the privilege of this pleasant occasion. We give thanks for the persons who can sing the Great Spirit's music and hope that they will be privileged to continue in his faith. We thank the Great Spirit for all the persons who perform the ceremonies on this occasion. We're going to try to give a fast, representative reading from the great heritage of American poetry. And the place to begin seems to be with the poet who embodies the sweep and embrace and cultural appetite of American art and American life at its best. I'll read a few lines from the opening from "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry," by Walt Whitman, and then my friends will continue in that vein. Crowds of men and women attired in the usual costumes, how curious you are to me. On the ferry boats, the hundreds and hundreds that cross, returning home, are more curious to me than you suppose. And you that shall cross from shore to shore years hence are more to me, and more in my meditation than you might suppose. The others that are to follow me, the ties between me and them, the certainty of others, the life, love, sight, hearing of others. Others will enter the gates of the --- * Origin: Kraut Haus * Rochester, New York (USA) (1:2613/404)