WEEKLY COMPILATION OF PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS Published every Monday by the Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC 20408, the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents contains statements, messages, and other Presidential materials released by the White House during the preceding week. The Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents is published pursuant to the authority contained in the Federal Register Act (49 Stat. 500, as amended; 44 U.S.C. Ch. 15), under regulations prescribed by the Administrative Committee of the Federal Register, approved by the President (37 FR 23607; 1 CFR Part 10). Distribution is made only by the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402. The Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents will be furnished by mail to domestic subscribers for $58.00 per year ($96.00 for mailing first class) and to foreign subscribers for $68.75 per year, payable to the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402. The charge for a single copy is $2.00 ($2.50 for foreign mailing). There are no restrictions on the republication of material appearing in the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Docu ments. Week Ending Friday, December 24, 1993 Statement on Signing the Today I have signed into law S. 422, the "Government Securities Act Amendments of 1993." S. 422 permanently reauthorizes the Treasury Department's rulemaking authority under the Government Securities Act and extends important investor protections to the Government securities market. It also provides important new surveillance tools to the Department of the Treasury and the Securities and Exchange Commission. This legislation will help maintain the confidence of investors in the integrity of the Government securities market. It will thus ensure that the Treasury has access to an efficient and liquid market, which is vital to selling the Government's debt at the lowest possible cost. I am pleased that the legislative process achieved compromises acceptable to the many interested participants. I thank all involved for their hard work culminating in the enactment of this comprehensive and needed legislation. As a result of their efforts, the Federal Government now has the tools necessary to ensure the continuing integrity, efficiency, and liquidity of the Government securities market. The White House, December 17, 1993. William J. Clinton NOTE: S. 422, approved December 17, was assigned Public Law No. 103-202. This item was not received in time for publication in the appropriate issue. The President's Radio Address December 18, 1993 Good morning. On this last Saturday before Christmas I want to thank you for listening before you go shopping. And on behalf of America's retailers, I promise I won't keep you long today. I'd like to talk a little bit about our economic future. I don't mean next week's sales, as strong as I hope they'll be. I mean the future that you and your children will enjoy as families and as workers in the global economy that is taking shape around us. When I entered office, I pledged that economic renewal would be my highest mission. Our first order of business was to get our own economy in competitive trim. That's why we enacted an economic plan that reduces our deficit by half a trillion dollars over the next 5 years while making targeted investments in technology, education and training, and defense conversion to help those industries and people who have been hurt by defense cutbacks. Already, that plan is helping to earn important dividends. Interest rates are at historic lows. Inflation is down. We've had 4 straight months of rising housing starts, and last month there was a 19-year low in the number of people who were late in their home mortgage payments. Millions of people have refinanced their homes and businesses, and the country's created more private sector jobs this year alone than in the previous 4 years combined. Consumer confidence is up dramatically. Ordinary Americans are finally beginning to feel the impact of this recovery. But there is a lot more to do. First, while renewal must begin here at home, we also have to reach beyond our borders if we are to prosper over the long run. That's one message I have to leave with you today. We're in a time of enormous economic change. Old Communist economies are giving way to market forces. Information, ideas, and money speed around the planet at the speed of light. The new global economy is generating incredible prosperity but also an awful lot of uncertainty and dislocation. Americans are worried, rightly, about the security of their jobs, about the ability of their companies to stay afloat, about the flight of factories abroad and whether the people running their companies really care about them, about the opportunities all our children will have. It's understandable that so many Americans view the global economy as a threat. But we have to resist the impulse to withdraw behind our trade barriers. From the founding of our Republic to the settling of our broad prairies, it's always been in the American character to reach out and shape our own destiny. We must draw on that spirit for our Nation to thrive in this new age. Our workers in today's economy are more productive than ever. Fewer people are producing more and more goods and services. But in an environment like that, the only way to create more jobs and to raise incomes is to have more customers. And that means more exports. That's why, in this global economy, America must compete and not retreat. Since this summer, our administration has taken several important steps to do that. First, at a July summit in Tokyo, we reached agreement with our major trading partners in Europe, Japan, and Canada to open their markets in a number of sectors to our products. We also struck a new agreement with Japan that can begin to correct our unacceptable trade imbalance with them. Second, in November we secured congressional approval of the North American Free Trade Agreement. NAFTA creates the world's largest free trade area. For America, that means we can find new customers in Mexico, and that in turn means more jobs here at home. And NAFTA can lead to similar arrangements with emerging free market economies all across the Latin American area. Just after we passed NAFTA, I convened a first-ever meeting in Seattle with leaders. from the Asian-Pacific region, the fastest growing economy in the world. I made it clear that our Nation intends to share in the rising tide of Pacific prosperity. And just this week, we concluded the GATT world trade talks that began 7 years ago. This is a good, solid deal for our workers and our businesses. It cuts foreign tariffs on U.S. products in 8,000 different product areas by an average of a third. Once it's fully in place, it will add as much as $100 billion to $200 billion to our economy every year, and create hundreds of thousands of new and Proclamation 6642-Fifth good-paying American jobs. When you put that with the fact that we have removed export controls from over $35 billion in high-tech computers and telecommunications equipment, I'm proud of the strides our country has made toward opening our economy, generating more jobs from trade and renewal this year. Not since the end of World War II has the United States secured so many historic trade expansion agreements in so short a period. These efforts are making the world's economic changes work to our advantage, and they're reestablishing our leadership in global affairs. But none of this would have been possible without the work that you do every day to make our Nation stronger, to make our communities more vibrant, and our families more secure. This year, we've worked hard to help you in those daily strivings. We've put the economic interests of America's broad middle class back at the center of our policies at home with a fairer Tax Code, with a tax break to 15 million lower wage working families to encourage them to keep working and raising their children and to stay off welfare with passage of the family and medical leave law. And during the coming year, my administration will continue to work so that all Americans can benefit from this new global economy. That means we have to pass a dramatic retraining program, pass our school-to-work program to help with apprenticeships for non-college-bound young people, pass the safe schools act and our safe streets initiative to put 100,000 more police officers on your streets, and pass universal health care reform so that health care will be a security for American families and always be there. As we celebrate our blessings during this holiday season, let's remember that Americans have never cowered from change; we have always mastered it. That is something to be grateful for. And together, we're going to do it once again. Thanks for listening. NOTE: The President spoke at 10:06 a.m. from the Oval Office at the White House. Anniversary Day of Remembrance By the President of the United States A Proclamation This holiday season, while we gather with loved ones, it is important to remember those innocents who can no longer celebrate with their families because of a cruel and senseless act of terrorism. Four days before Christmas in 1988, a bomb exploded aboard Pan American Airways Flight 103, killing its 259 passengers and crew, along with 11 people on the ground in Lockerbie, Scotland. Among the passengers from 21 different nations were 189 Americans who were never to see their families again. Today, those responsible for this heinous act are still at large. We dare not forget the unsuspecting victims of Flight 103. Their tragedy reminds us that while our world is abounding with opportunities for peace and democracy, it is also filled with danger and uncertainty. The threat of terrorism, both at home and abroad, continues to loom as wars and instances of ethnic and religious turmoil imperil our vision for a safer world. We must remain ever vigilant if we are to combat merciless brutality and ensure the security of all of our citizens. My Administration is closely monitoring the terrorist threat in order to make the changes needed to create a secure future and to avert the kind of murderous tragedy that occurred in the skies over Scotland. In this holiday season, our hearts go out to all who lost loved ones in the bombing of Flight 103-for them, the loss is incalculable. We pledge to remember the victims of this outrage and to recommit ourselves to bringing the perpetrators to justice, so that we may truly create a safer, more peaceful world. Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim December 21, 1993, as the "Fifth Anniversary Day of Re |