THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release January 19, 1995
PRESIDENT CLINTON'S RECORD OF ACCOMPLISHMENT ON THE TWO YEAR
ANNIVERSARY OF HIS INAUGURATION
(Part 1)
As our country approaches the two year anniversary of President Clinton's inauguration and the mid-point of the President's first term, Americans can feel proud of the progress we have made under President Clinton. These accomplishments are a direct result of the President's commitment to carry through on the ambitious agenda he presented to the American people during the 1992 Presidential campaign.
In response to press inquiries to the White House about the progress of the Administration in meeting commitments proposed during the campaign, we have prepared materials that we hope will be helpful in analyzing the Administration's record to date. We have analyzed two existing written documents: 1) the 162 campaign promises listed by The Washington Post on January 20, 1993, and 2) the 58 major policies proposed in the June 22, 1992 campaign pamphlet Putting People First.
Of the 162 promises from The Washington Post list, action was taken on 155 (96%) of the promises, with 123 (76%) of the policy pledges either substantially or partially accomplished. Of the 58 major policies mentioned in Putting People First, action was taken on 57 (98%) of the promises, while there has been substantial or partial accomplishment on 45 (78%) of the policies.
"When President Clinton campaigned for office he laid out an ambitious agenda to improve the lives of hard-working Americans. He has kept those commitments with a vigilance unequalled by any President in recent memory," said White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta. "This is not just a list. This is an unrivaled record of accomplishment with substantial benefits for millions of American families."
The first materials attached are short summaries of the major domestic and national security accomplishments, as well as the top legislative victories, of the President's first two years. Following that are summary tables and charts of the progress the Administration has made in accomplishing the promises contained in both the Washington Post list and Putting People First.
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CLINTON ADMINISTRATION ACCOMPLISHMENTS
ECONOMY:
EDUCATION:
CRIME:
REINVENTING GOVERNMENT:
COMMUNITY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT:
ENVIRONMENT:
and protect old-growth forests.
HEALTH CARE:
FAMILIES AND CHILDREN:
POLITICAL REFORM:
FREE TRADE:
SECURITY CHALLENGES/PROMOTING PEACE
PROMOTING DEMOCRACY:
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CLINTON ADMINISTRATION LEGISLATIVE ACCOMPLISHMENTS
MAJOR LEGISLATIVE VICTORIES:
Below is a list of some of the most important legislation the Clinton Administration has passed:
This is an historic effort to allow working Americans unpaid time off work to care for themselves, a sick family member or a new child. Over 42 million workers are covered by the new law and it is estimated that as many as 2.5 million workers will take advantage of it annually.
Evenly balanced between spending cuts and revenue increases, the President's five-year deficit reduction plan is largely responsible for reducing the deficit by $708.4 billion -- $500 billion from policy changes and the rest from strengthening the economy and technical improvements. The greater economic security has caused interest rates to drop, stimulating the economic recovery. One of the largest deficit reduction plans ever, the Clinton deficit reduction will halve the deficit as a percentage of GDP by 1995.
The new direct student loan program will enable 20 million borrowers to consolidate their guaranteed loans into direct loans. Borrowers will benefit from lower fees and the option of income contingent repayment -- taxpayers will save at least $4.3 billion over five years.
After a decade of failed attempts, President Clinton championed the passage of this legislation, which uses tax incentives and flexible grants to promote economic empowerment and private-sector job creation in 104 distressed communities across America. Over 500 communities took up the "EZ" challenge, developing comprehensive strategies and forging unprecedented partnerships for community renewal that made all applicants winners.
In 1994, 20,000 AmeriCorps members (more than served during the largest year of the Peace Corps) tutored students, immunized children, reclaimed parks and patrolled streets -- and in return received education awards that make college or job training more affordable. AmeriCorps is scheduled to increase to 33,000 members in FY1995, with a total over the first three years of 100,000 Americans serving our country.
The Administration secured $3.3 billion in the FY1994 and FY1995 foreign operations appropriations bills for the denuclearization and marketization process in the NIS.
The Administration included $800 million for denuclearization of NIS in the Department of Defense appropriations bills for FY1994 and FY1995.
After stalling for several years in Congress, the Brady Bill became law under the leadership of President Clinton. The Act requires a five-day waiting period during which all potential handgun purchasers are required to submit to a background check. $100 million has been appropriated for implementation in FY1995 and another $25 million is authorized for the next fiscal year.
The Administration forged a bipartisan coalition to pass NAFTA, after concluding tough negotiations on side agreements covering workers' rights, the environment and import surges. Exports to Mexico rose 23% in the first 11 months of 1994.
As a component of the National Performance Review, this act is part of a process that will help streamline the federal government and improve the quality of federal government services. When the President and Vice President's plan to reinvent government is fully implemented, the federal workforce will have been reduced by over 272,000 workers and will be at its lowest level since the Kennedy Administration.
The Goals 2000 bill codifies the National Education Goals and offers grants to states that commit themselves to specific plans for systemic reform of K-12 education. Already 41 states and territories have received federal grants. Funding for Goals 2000 in FY1995 will be $403 million.
A crucial element of the Administration's lifelong learning agenda, this landmark legislation is providing venture capital to spark a nationwide system for moving America's young people smoothly from the classroom to a job with a future. In 1994, all states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, received funds for planning their school-to-work programs, and eight states, 15 localities and 21 urban/rural high poverty areas won competitive grants to implement their programs.
The Crime Bill attacks crime by adding 100,000 police officers, funding comprehensive prevention programs and building more prisons. The legislation also includes strong punishment for criminals by expanding the number of offenses eligible for the death penalty and implementing "three-strikes-and-you're-out" for repeat violent offenders.
President Clinton successfully challenged gun interests to ban 19 specific types of deadly assault weapons while simultaneously protecting hunters rights by exempting over 650 hunting rifles.
The legislation creates a national network of non-traditional grassroots community lending institutions and will inject $4.8 billion of capital into economically distressed urban and rural areas.
This legislation, which had been languishing in Congress for more than a decade before the Clinton Administration made it a priority, will eliminate most of the remaining barriers to efficient nationwide banking. By allowing banks to locate branches across state boundaries, it will make banking more efficient and increase the convenience of banking for private consumers.
President Clinton forged a bi-partisan coalition to pass this agreement, which lowers tariffs worldwide by $744 billion over ten years -- the largest international tax cut in history. It also cuts foreign tariffs on manufactured products by more than one-third overall and eliminates tariffs in major markets in a number of sectors in which the U.S. is particularly competitive. When fully implemented in 2004, the Uruguay Round agreement will add $100 to $200 billion per year to the U.S. GDP.
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CLINTON CAMPAIGN PROMISES PROGRESS REPORT
Promises from the Washington Post
Of the 162 Total Promises:
Action taken: 96% No Action: 4%
Substantial or
Partial Accomplishment: 76% Action Pending: 7% Action Proposed: 12% No Action: 4%
Promises from Putting People First
Of the 58 Total Promises:
Action Taken: 98% No Action: 2%
Substantial or
Partial Accomplishment: 78% Action Pending: 5% Action Proposed: 12% No Action: 2%
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CLINTON CAMPAIGN PROMISES
FROM THE WASHINGTON POST
The Clinton campaign promises below were printed by the Washington Post on President Clinton's inauguration day, January 20, 1993.
***PROMISE: ABORTION - Pass the Freedom of Choice Act that protects abortion rights but allows some state restrictions, such as parental notification.
STATUS: PROPOSED
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: Freedom of Choice Act did not pass in Congress.
***PROMISE: ABORTION - Overturn laws prohibiting federal abortion funding.
STATUS: PARTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: Federal law requires Medicaid to pay for abortions for poor women in cases of rape or incest. Congress added rape and incest authorization to life of the woman abortion funding.
***PROMISE: ABORTION - Repeal Bush administration rules restricting abortion counseling in clinics that receive federal funds.
STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: Repealed by Presidential Memorandum January 22, 1993.
***PROMISE: ABORTION - Protect women seeking abortions and health care workers from antiabortion protesters.
STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: Signed and enforcing Clinic Access Law.
***PROMISE: ABORTION - Reauthorize federal family planning programs.
STATUS: PROPOSED
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: Reauthorization is up for consideration in 1995.
***PROMISE: ABORTION - Allow testing of RU-486 abortion pill.
STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: Clinical testing of RU-486 is now in progress in the U.S.
***PROMISE: AGRICULTURE - Open new markets for U.S. products, particularly in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet republics.
STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT:
***PROMISE: AGRICULTURE - Expand international food aid programs.
STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT:
***PROMISE: AIDS - Increase funding for research, treatment and prevention.
STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT:
***PROMISE: AIDS - Appoint a policy coordinator to enact recommendations of the National Commission on AIDS.
STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT:
***PROMISE: AIDS - Speed up federal drug approval process.
STATUS: PARTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT:
***PROMISE: AIDS - Fully fund the Ryan White CARE Act.
STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT:
***PROMISE: AIDS - Launch education and prevention program and support local awareness and prevention efforts to distribute condoms in schools.
STATUS: PARTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT:
***PROMISE: AIDS - End AIDS-related immigration and travel restrictions.
STATUS:NO ACTION
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: Congress has mandated continuation of this policy.
***PROMISE: ARMS CONTROL - Ratify START I and START II treaties.
STATUS: PARTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT:
***PROMISE: ARMS CONTROL - Use sanctions to seek stronger export controls from countries with technologies for nuclear and other arms.
STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT:
***PROMISE: ARMS CONTROL - Prevent foreign governments from using agricultural and other non-military aid on weapons.
STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: Vigorously enforced prohibition on using non-military aid for military purposes. No pending non-compliance cases.
***PROMISE: ARMS CONTROL - Enable the International Atomic Energy Agency to conduct more inspections to stop nuclear proliferation.
STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT:
***PROMISE: ARMS CONTROL - Press countries to join the Missile Technology Control Regime.
STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: Concluded agreements with Russia,Ukraine, and China to abide by MTCR guidelines. Hungary and Argentina have joined the MTCR and Brazil has committed itself publicly to adhere to the MTCR guidelines.
***PROMISE: ARMS CONTROL - Seek Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and an international agreement banning chemical weapons.
STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: Suspended nuclear testing and began work with other governments to achieve a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty by 1996. Obtained Senate approval for Open Skies Treaty and sent to Senate the Chemical Weapons Convention, which would ban an entire class of weapons of mass destruction.
***PROMISE: ARTS - Oppose restrictions on grants from the National Endowment for the Arts based on content.
STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: No content restrictions on NEA grants have been imposed.
***PROMISE: BUDGET - Halve the annual federal budget deficit in four years, from the $323 billion gap first projected by the Congressional Budget Office for 1993 to $141 billion in 1996.
STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: President Clinton signed into law the largest deficit reduction plan in history August 10, 1993.
Under the plan:
***PROMISE: BUDGET - Seek a line-item veto to cut wasteful spending.
STATUS: PENDING
LATEST POLICY/RESULT:
***PROMISE: CITIES - Offer tax and regulatory incentives to businesses that create jobs in urban enterprise zones.
STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: President Clinton proposed and signed into law legislation for empowerment zones in August 1993 that will award $3.5 billion to 104 empowerment zones and enterprise communities. President Clinton announced in December 1994 which communities will be designated Empowerment Zones in 1995: (1) 6 urban communities will each receive $100 million in block grants and business tax breaks; and (2) 3 rural communities will receive $40 million in assistance and block grants.
***PROMISE: CITIES - Provide funding and block grants to improve infrastructure.
STATUS: PARTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT:
***PROMISE: CITIES - Create a network of 100 community development banks to aid low-income entrepreneurs and homeowners.
STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: President Clinton proposed and signed into law the Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act in August 1994 which authorizes $500 million to encourage a network of new and existing Community Development Banks and Financial Institutions (CDFIs) across the country. The Treasury Department projects that the act will:
***PROMISE: CITIES - Revise local reinvestment requirements for commercial banks.
STATUS: PENDING
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: The federal banking regulatory agencies, at the request of the Clinton Administration, are in the process of approving final regulations which will:
***PROMISE: CITIES - Allow cities to spend 15 percent of their federal aid on local priorities.
STATUS: PENDING
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: The Reinventing Government plan would give local governments more flexibility in how they spend federal aid.
***PROMISE: CIVIL RIGHTS - Oppose racial quotas
STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: Continue to oppose racial quotas.
***PROMISE: CIVIL RIGHTS - Support and seek passage of an Equal Rights Amendment and federal civil rights laws for homosexuals that exempts religious organizations.
STATUS: PROPOSED
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: Testified on behalf of Senate legislation in the 103rd Congress.
***PROMISE: CIVIL RIGHTS - Raise caps on damages in workplace discrimination cases.
STATUS: PROPOSED
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: Endorsed House and Senate bills in the 103rd Congress.
***PROMISE: CRIME AND DRUGS - Put 100,000 new police officers to work and expand community policing.
STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: The President proposed and signed the Crime Bill, which will:
***PROMISE: CRIME AND DRUGS - Create a National Police Corps to put military personnel and unemployed veterans to work in law enforcement.
STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: The Crime Bill created a police corps to give young people money for college and train them in community policing. A total of $100 million has been authorized for the Police Corps program and $100 million has been authorized for in-service law enforcement scholarships.
***PROMISE: CRIME AND DRUGS - Have first-time, nonviolent offenders serve out their sentences in community boot camps.
STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: The Crime Bill includes a grant program for state corrections agencies to build correctional facilities, including boot camps to insure that additional space will be available to put - and keep - violent offenders incarcerated.
***PROMISE: CRIME AND DRUGS - Enact tough penalties for assaults against women and children to deter domestic violence.
STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: The Crime Bill includes formula and competitive grant programs which will:
The Crime Bill also provides for:
***PROMISE: CRIME AND DRUGS - Increase federal funding for school- based and community drug education programs and treatment clinics.
STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: The Crime Bill authorizes funding for:
***PROMISE: CRIME AND DRUGS - Provide federal matching funds for crime prevention in hard-hit communities.
STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: The Crime Bill authorizes funding for:
***PROMISE: CRIME AND DRUGS - Impose a five-day waiting period on handgun purchases,ban assault weapons with no legitimate hunting purpose, and limit access to multiple-round clips.
STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: Signed the Brady Bill into law on November 30, 1993. The Crime Bill also provides for the following:
CRIME AND DRUGS: Seek jail terms for serious white-collar criminals in "real prisons, not high-tech summer camps."
STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: The Crime Bill prohibits favoritism for white-collar criminals when making prison assignments.
***PROMISE: CRIME AND DRUGS - Crack down on hate crimes.
STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: The Crime Bill includes an increase of tough penalties for federal hate crimes. Hate crime violators will now be sentenced to an additional 12 to 15 months in prison.
***PROMISE: DEFENSE - Save $100 billion in defense spending over 5 years, or $60 billion more than the Bush administration proposed.
STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: The $1.241 trillion military spending plan for FY94-98 matched this pledge, as measured against the revised $1.365 trillion Bush defense budget for the same years.
***PROMISE: DEFENSE - Cut military personnel by offering
voluntary early retirement and pro-rated pensions for those who
have served 15 to 20 years.
STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: Offered such benefits to certain personnel classes.
***PROMISE: DEFENSE - Pay retiring personnel for a year of retraining. 3
STATUS: PARTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: Several retraining programs have been implemented since January 1993.
***PROMISE: DEFENSE - Build fleet of C-17 cargo planes to expand sea- and air-lift capabilities and enhance rapid-deployment forces.
STATUS: PARTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT:Worked to ensure that C-17 manufacturers address all outstanding business issues and performance specifications; requested funds for 6 aircraft in FY95. 26 C-17S now under contract.
***PROMISE: DEFENSE - Reduce U.S. forces in Europe to 75,000-100,000 troops but maintain commitment to NATO.
STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT:
***PROMISE: DEFENSE - Maintain U.S. military presence in Korea.
STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: 37,000 American troops remain in Korean theater. Patriot missiles were sent in 1994 when crisis loomed.
***PROMISE: DEFENSE - Maintain 10 carrier battlegroups instead of 12.
STATUS: NO ACTION
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: As a result of Bottom-Up Review, decided 11.5 carriers were required.
***PROMISE: DEFENSE - Develop short- and medium-range missile defenses and continue research on limited long-range missile defenses.
STATUS: PARTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: Requesting over $2 billion in FY95 funds to continue research on national missile defense and to develop highly effective theater missile defenses.
***PROMISE: DEFENSE - Cut spending on large, space-based missile defenses.
STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: Reduced funding for space-based lasers and missiles. Eliminated SDIO and created Ballistic Missile Defense Organizations in its place.
***PROMISE: DEFENSE - Reverse ban on homosexuals in the military.
STATUS: PARTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: New, more tolerant policy took effect February 28, 1994.
***PROMISE: ECONOMY AND JOBS - Create a National Economic Council.
STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: Executive Order 12835 established the NEC on January 25, 1993.
***PROMISE: ECONOMY AND JOBS - End tax incentives that encourage companies to export plants and jobs.
STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: Two Clinton Administration initiatives have advanced this pledge:
***PROMISE: ECONOMY AND JOBS - Provide investment tax credits to companies that invest in U.S.- based plant sand American-made equipment.
STATUS: PARTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT:
***PROMISE: ECONOMY AND JOBS - Make foreign companies with businesses in the United States pay the same taxes as U.S. companies.
STATUS: PARTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: July 1994 the Treasury issued final regulations governing transfer pricing. These rules, backed by severe penalties, are expected to ensure that an accurate amount of multinational company profits are subject to tax in the United States.In addition:
***PROMISE: ECONOMY AND JOBS - Offer a 50 percent tax exclusion to those who make long-term investments in new businesses.
STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: The Administration enacted, as part of its Economic Plan 1993, a 50% capital gains tax exclusion targeted at investments in small businesses. The provision allows investors who buy newly issued stock in small businesses and hold that stock for more than 5 years to receive a 50 percent cut in the capital gains tax on the profit from the sale of the stock.
***PROMISE: ECONOMY AND JOBS - Create a $20 billion-a-year fund for spending on transportation and roads, communications and information networks, and environmental technology.
STATUS: PARTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT:
***PROMISE: ECONOMY AND JOBS - Make business tax credits for research and development permanent.
STATUS: PARTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: The Administration secured a three-year extension of the Research & Development tax credit, retroactive to June 30, 1992 and effective through June 30, 1995.
***PROMISE: ECONOMY AND JOBS - Develop new commercial technologies through a new civilian research and development agency.
STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT:The President has refocused defense R&D on "dual-use" technologies:
***PROMISE: ECONOMY AND JOBS - Raise the minimum wage to keep pace with inflation.
STATUS: PENDING
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: The National Economic Council is in the process of making a recommendation to the President.
***PROMISE: ECONOMY AND JOBS - Limit deductions for executive pay.
STATUS: SUBSTANTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT
LATEST POLICY/RESULT: As part of his Economic Plan, President Clinton signed legislation that denies a deduction to any publicly held corporation for compensation exceeding $1 million paid to CEOs or certain other high-ranked officers. Some forms of compensation, such as qualified retirement plan contributions and performance based awards approved by shareholders, is exempt from the cap.
***PROMISE: ECONOMY AND JOBS - Allow businesses to deduct bonus and severance packages for executives only if other employees are offered similar packages.
STATUS: NO ACTION