Interview with Gene Burns of WOR Radio, New York City August 24

1710 Aug. 24 / Administration of William J. Clinton, 1994 friends and ask them to look at the real greeting and your important message. Thank world, instead of the kind of ideological box you again. that they have put themselves in, and do The President. Thank you very much, something that will work. Kent. Thank you. The main thing we must do is we must do something that will work. And it would NOTE: The President spoke at 3:40 p.m. from be better not to do anything at all than to Room 459 of the Old Executive Office Building. adopt a program that would actually increase costs of health care and reduce coverage. Interview With Gene Burns of WOR That's what we don't want to do. Radio, New York City August 24, 1994 Middle East Peace Process The President. Glad to be here, Gene. [Irving Silver, chairman of the B'nai B'rith Mr. Burns. Do you feel like Daniel in the Center for Public Policy, asked the President mouth of the lion's den? You and talk radio what the administration is doing to impress these days seem to have this running battle. upon Yasser Arafat and the PLO that their The President. We were talking before agreement with Israel can only succeed if we went on the air; I really have always en- they accept the spirit as well as the letter of joyed talk radio and I've done a lot of it, par- its provisions.] ticularly when I was Governor, and in my The President. Well, we're telling him campaign I did a lot. I find that there's a just what you said, and we're doing it on a certain immediacy to it that I like. I like the regular basis. The Secretary of State's in con- interviews and I like people being able to stant contact with Mr. Arafat. We are work- call in a question. ing with the PLO people. We understood all along that because they had never actually Administration Accomplishments and run a country before and operated a govern- Goals ment and all of its manifestations, with all Mr. Burns. George Stephanopoulos was of its problems, that there would be more here earlier, and he says in his viewÐand difficulties here, operational difficulties, in I assume he mirrors your ownÐyour accom- making the agreement actually work. But we plishments in your first almost 2 years as are working hard on that. And we're also try- President have not gotten through the screen ing to provide assistance and support as well of the media to the American people. Do as pressure when that will help to get them you feel any sense of isolation here in terms to do what they're supposed to do. of what you like, you've told us, that sort of We've also been very blessed in having a one-on-one relationship with constituents? group of Jewish-American and Arab-Amer- The President. Oh, yes. I think part of ican business people who are working to- it is the nature of the Presidency and the gether and are prepared to make some in- whole security bubble that's around the vestments in those areas if we can get the President. Part of it is the demanding nature PLO in a position where they can actually of the job and the fact that Washington, DC, effectively function and implement this. and its inner workings are a long way from So I believe that the biggest problem is the average life of most Americans. And part one of capacity. And I think the limited ca- of it is the way news is reported today. News pacity is undermining the question of will basically tends to beÐa lot of studies have from time to time. We just have to keep the shown that the way news is reported tends pressure on and also have to keep working to be more negative and more editorial, more practically to increase the capacity for this commentary rather than what's going on. agreement to be implemented by the PLO. A lot of the research shows that the Amer- Mr. Schiner. Again, Mr. President, on be- ican people are surprised to find out that in half of the half million people and members 1993, for example, I had more success in get- who affiliate with B'nai B'rith in 51 countries, ting a very big program through Congress, on 6 continents, we thank you for your warm with the economic program and NAFTA and VerDate 01-JUN-98 11:05 Jun 01, 1998 Jkt 010199 PO 00001 Frm 00018 Fmt 1244 Sfmt 1244 E:\TEMP\P34AU4.025 INET03 PsN: INET03 Administration of William J. Clinton, 1994 / Aug. 24 1711 family leave, the Brady bill, than any Presi- economy, to deal with crime, to deal with dent since the end of World War II except the breakdown of family, to promote welfare President Eisenhower's first year and Presi- reform, to deal with the health care crisis. dent Johnson's second year. But people still basically are very skeptical So we're doing well here, I think, in mov- about the Government's ability to do it. So ing forward in an extremely contentious envi- we want, in a way, a Government that is more ronment. And I just have to find ways to com- active but basically that is active in empower- municate better with the American people ing the private sector to do things, rather not only what we're doing wrongÐthe press than active in doing things directly. I think will tell them thatÐbut also what we're doing that's where the voters are. right and where we're going. And a lot of times that explains the appar- Mr. Burns. From your side of the table, ently contradictory feelings people have what's the nature of that contentious environ- about what we're doing here, that they want ment? I know that you, yourself, have point- us to be active and address the problems but ed to a deep cynicism on the part of the they don't necessarily trust the Government American people. You feel in some respects to do it. Or as we say at home, a lot of people the media drives that cynicism. But there think Government would mess up a one-car does seem to be a sense of social disconnect. parade. [Laughter] I mean, Jefferson said, Americans have the Mr. Burns. You're a student of history. power; from time to time they give it to folks Do you think that's because Camelot was il- like yourself to exercise for them. And the lusory in the last analysis, that it's a mythical first amendment ends with, ``and they'll al- thing and that people are disappointed with ways have a direct route for the redress of both the Congress and various holders of grievances.'' A lot of Americans don't think your office? Is that the problem? they have that direct route. The President. Oh, only partly. I think, The President. I agree with that. I was first of all, the American people have always, reading this morning, interestingly enough, always had a deep-seated skepticism about James Madison's ``Federalist Papers.'' And he government generally and especially their was arguing why a republican form of gov- National Government. I think that we've also ernment, meaning representative form of been told for years that government was bad. government, was better for big countries, And I think that we need a clearer definition; that you had to elect representatives and then this is partly my job. I've got to do a better they'd do what they thought was right. Then job of telling the American people in very they'd report back, be held accountable, and clear terms, often through a fog of people, be elected or defeated by the voters. you know, disagreeing with me or with my I think today there is so muchÐthere's a characterization of itÐI've got to do a better lot of information about what we're doing up job of saying, okay, look, here is what we can here, but I don't think there's a lot of basic do, here are our problems, here are our op- understanding that we impart. And I think portunities, here's what the National Govern- that voters know that too many decisions get ment should do and here's what we cannot made here on the basis of organized interest do, here's the partnership we have to have. which may or may not be the same as the That's what I called my new Democratic phi- public interest. losophy when I ran in 1992. And I think that at a time of real change, I share what I think is the feeling of a ma- when people are uncertain about where jority of our fellow citizens, that the govern- we're going, it's just easy for negative im- ment should be limited in many ways and pulses, for fears, for cynicism to overcome that government should do those things hopes in looking toward the future. which it is required to do but no more than I also believe, and many astute people in it is required to do. the press have pointed this out lately, that Mr. Burns. I mean, that's an excellent voters themselves feel a certain ambivalence. point.

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