THE WHITE HOUSE
       
                     Office of the Press Secretary
       
       _____________________________________________________________
       For Immediate Release                       November 19, 1993
       
       
                            THE FIRST LADY
               AT THE JOINT ARMED FORCES WIVES' LUNCHEON
       
                MRS. CLINTON:  Thank you.  Thank you all so much. 
       Thank you.  This has been so much fun.  I don't usually get
       to say that when I go to events.
       
                I am very grateful for the invitation to be here,
       and I have certainly enjoyed my visits at lunch with a number
       of you, particularly at my table, and in the rest room.  And
       I also enjoyed my visit earlier in the day to the Pentagon,
       where I got to meet some of your husbands who were there, and
       had a chance to do a very quick, a much too quick, tour that
       I look forward to going back and expanding on.
       
                And I have really enjoyed the opportunity that I
       have been given in the last months to get to know some of you
       personally.  And I look forward to being able to build on
       some of those relationships and to expand them.
       
                This has been a remarkable year in my life, and I
       had the feeling, when I was asked to speak some months ago,
       that I would probably have more in common with this group
       than many groups with whom I would speak.
       
                Because, in many ways, those of us who are in
       positions that are committed to our country, that have no
       real set hours or even days or months it seems, who are on
       call twenty four hours a day often, who raise families and
       deal with the stresses and strains of everyday life from this
       kind of unusual perspective, maybe have some common
       experiences that can be very useful to share and to learn
       from.
       
                And I enjoyed, particularly, my involvement, over
       the years, with the Jacksonville Air Force Base that was down
       the road from Little Rock, and the opportunities that I had
       to attend some of the activities of the officers' wives' club
       there.  And then today, again, I was reminded about the ways
       that all of us have to become accustomed to supporting
       spouses who lead the kind of lives that yours do.
       
                I was struck, when I picked up and moved from
       Little Rock, that it was a very difficult move for my family,
       but you all do that two or three times a year.
       
                You pack up and you take off.  You make sacrifices
       that many of the rest of America cannot even really imagine,
       and you move your children and have to resettle them.  And I
       had to go through the same thing.  And for me it was a
       difficult transition, one that took some months to get used
       to.
       
                What I should have done is called and asked you to
       give me some lessons.  The idea that this would ever be easy
       -- and I've had the opportunity to hear some of the women at
       my table talk about how much they've enjoyed the challenge of
       a new place -- was very heartening to me, because in politics
       nothing is secure.  So, you know, I've got to learn these
       lessons and be ready to pick up and move nearly at any time.
       
                The kinds of changes that have gone on in my life
       are ones that I wanted to spend just a few minutes filling
       you in on, because they are not something that I usually talk
       about, but I feel very comfortable with all of you, and we
       have all of these things in common, I believe.  And many of
       you have asked me, since I have come over today, some of the
       questions that I would like to try to answer for everybody.
       
                The two most common questions that I'm asked, and
       they were asked today, are how is Chelsea and how is Socks. 
       That is what I am always asked, no matter what group I'm in,
       and Chelsea is fine, but it was a hard transition.  And I
       don't know, maybe there's a breakdown between moving under-
       13-year-old children and moving 13-year-old children and
       older.  Yes, I see lots of heads nodding.
       
                Again, you all need to publish a book about this,
       because it was a rocky transition, leaving friends, leaving
       home, leaving grandparents, leaving all of that, and moving
       to Washington.  But I knew that we had finally gotten over
       the hump when we were talking about Thanksgiving plans a few
       weeks ago, and we were in what I call our kitchen now.
       
                This is on the second floor of the White House, and
       it is what is a serving kitchen, or used to be.  Before the
       Kennedys, you had to eat all your meals downstairs.  And
       that's on the ground floor, either in the State Dining Room,
       or in a little room called the Family Dining Room.
       
                Now, the idea of having to dress for every single
       meal as though you might be photographed and have your image
       imprinted in the minds of your countrymen and women must have
       done the same thing to Mrs. Kennedy that it would have done
       to me.  So she took a bedroom, and she divided it, and she
       put up the second floor dining room, which is a lovely room,
       pretty formal, and then had a serving kitchen.
       
                And that's how then it went from the Kennedys until
       the Clintons.  So that you could eat on the second floor, but
       you had to eat in the formal dining room.  So we would get
       there for our meals, when we first got to the White House,
       and we would be sitting around, just the three of us, or
       maybe the three of us and our family members, and it was like
       being at a formal dinner, for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
       
                You'd get finger bowls.  (Laughter)  And Chelsea
       kind of looked around, and you could just see this look on
       her face like "I'll never be able to bring any new friends
       home here."
       
                So I sort of said,  you know, "That serving
       kitchen; it's got that great big butcher block in the middle. 
       Do you think we could pull that out and maybe put a table in,
       and actually have a kitchen?"
       
                I don't know what it's like when you have a
       question in the military that has never been asked before.  
       (Applause)  But I can tell you, there were probably more
       meetings about turning the serving pantry kitchen into a
       workable family kitchen than anything that's happened in this
       administration from its inception.
       
                We finally did.  I bought a table and chairs, and
       we put it in there.  And we actually began eating there as a
       family when it was just the three of us, or maybe my mother
       or somebody was there with us.  And it has made all the
       difference in the world.  And it made all the difference to
       her, that we could be a family, that we didn't have to sit
       there, straight, on our best behavior with each other, which
       is hard.
       
                And finally I knew we had it -- we were sitting in
       the kitchen, we were talking about Thanksgiving, and we were
       having dinner together, and I said, "Well, you know, should
       we ask Grandma and Ginger, which is what we call Bill's
       mother, and everybody to come up here, or should we go to
       Arkansas?"
       
                And Chelsea said, "Well, we can do either, but you
       know, I'm getting to like Washington."  And you know what
       that's like when you hear that as a mother.  It's like, "Oh,
       thank you, thank you, Lord."  I mean, it's just the most
       wonderful feeling.  So she's doing fine.
       
                Socks, there's a mixed report.  You know I was
       trying to explain to Lexalin and some of the others at the
       table -- she's a big cat lover, as I am -- that this has been
       the most traumatic part of the move for us.
       
                Because before, he could range freely and do
       anything.  And now he has to be confined, because we're
       worried if we let him loose, he might get cat-napped.  And
       this is a very serious concern.  I don't think I can get away
       with assigning secret service agents to watch Socks, so the
       alternative is that we have to kind of keep him on that
       leash, and those are terrible pictures, I know.
       
                You know, those of you who love cats, to see this
       beautiful cat, who is really descended from cat nobility
       going back to the Egyptians, on this leash.  But you will be
       -- I mean, even with cats, things finally get better.
       
                You will be happy to know he does finally have some
       friends.  And they are coming to visit him.  There are two
       gray cats, and they kind of hang out with him.  But it's a
       good thing that Socks doesn't read regularly.  It's a good
       thing that nobody in our family reads newspapers and
       magazines regularly, but particularly Socks.  (Applause)
       
                Because there was an article that I found just
       incredible, that was published in some magazine, which
       somebody clipped out for me, which said that this family that
       had been touring around the White House had counted 250 rats.
       
                Now, I've been outside the White House a lot, and
       I've walked around, and there are rats.  I don't think we can
       deny we do have some rats.  But there aren't that many.  But
       what I thought about, was think how Socks would feel.  Socks,
       who is this great hunter.
       
                If he knew that he was not fulfilling his most
       fundamental responsibility to our country, which is to keep
       the rats out of the White House.        So we've kept that from
       him, but he seems to be adjusting.  And I'm so grateful.
       
                And my husband, you can read about him.  He's doing
       great.  Every day it gets better and better and I'm so proud
       of him.  But, generally, we have made the transition.  But I
       could have used some advice.
       
                And so one of the things JAFOWL should really
       consider, and I think it would be a big, big moneymaker, are
       hints for moving and for adjusting and for transitions. 
       Because I certainly would have bought up the entire stock and
       passed them out to everybody who came with us.
       
                The biggest things that we have really enjoyed,
       though, are getting to know people, and particularly people
       from all walks of life and from different kinds of
       experiences.  And many of our most interesting and, for us,
       personally gratifying moments have been the times that we
       have spent getting to know some of your spouses, your
       husbands primarily, except for Bill, who is here.  And I
       think that deserves a big round of applause, Bill. 
       (Applause)
       
                The only thing that I was a little sad about was
       when the Coast Guard band started playing that wonderful
       music that made everybody want to dance, I couldn't figure
       out how we could organize it so that Bill could dance with
       all of us.  You know, sort of seriatim.  We'd line up, and
       he'd do a little spin, and we'd go on.
       
                But to get to know, and to really share with so
       many of you and your husbands the kind of common commitment
       that we have to this country.  And it is a commitment that
       has certainly withstood the test of history and challenge and
       all kinds of crises.  But it is one that in every generation
       has to be renewed and has to be put into a new context.
       
                The challenges facing us today are not the same as
       those that faced our parents and our grandparents.          There are
       common threads which run through them, that demand the best
       from us.  And the answers, I believe, are rooted in the same
       values and attitudes that really have created the climate of
       change that America has always been able to respond to.
       
                But in this time and at this moment in our history,
       we have some new and some different challenges.  And for
       those of you in the military, you know that the military
       mission is changing.  After we had the cold war come to that
       end, which it did, thank goodness, there were those who said,
       "Oh, my goodness, now we have such a great opportunity!"  And
       we do.
       
                But we also have some continuing and new dangers
       and new threats and new problems that we have to deal with. 
       So our time now today gives us the opportunity to shape what
       America's present and future will be like.  And if we look at
       every area of our life, we can see what is out there waiting
       for us, what are really the kind of generational challenges
       that we confront.
       
                We are, with the wonderful leadership of people
       like Retired General Powell, and now General Shalikashvili,
       and the others, we are shaping a new military in America.  We
       are figuring out how we can continue to be the best, and to
       continue to lead, and to know where to use our military
       strength, and where to partner it with economic and other
       kinds of opportunities.
       
                And on the domestic front, we see also what is
       clearly facing us as a people.  We know that we have to do
       better at dealing with some of the problems that are
       undermining our strength and productivity here at home.  We
       can't turn our backs on them.  
       
                And I often think, as my husband talks about the
       challenges, that they really do all fall under a broad rubric
       -- you might call it "Security and Responsibility" -- both on
       the domestic and the international front.  
       
                But we have to redefine what those words mean here
       at home.  And for me, security means that we have to rebuild
       the sense of security that Americans have, so that they can
       be equipped to deal with the challenges that confront them.
       
                It is very difficult to tell people who don't have
       some of the basics of their lives taken care of, that they
       should go out and be productive and future oriented and
       responsible.
       
                And there are three areas that are of particular
       concern.  One is economic security.  We have to a better job
       making it possible for people to have good jobs.  It used to
       be that, if you had a job, you could kind of count on it for
       the rest of your life if you did what you were supposed to
       do.  And we all know that's no longer the case.
       
                And so for many people, what they had thought they
       had worked for, or what they had taken for granted, is no
       longer there.  So we have to think about how do we make
       people economically secure?  How do we get jobs back into
       places where there aren't enough?  Or how do we try to
       provide opportunities for the people to move out of places to
       take jobs where they can be creative?
       
                How do we invest in making new jobs, so that we can
       begin to see wages rise again?  Because in the private
       sector, most wages for most working people have stayed
       stagnant now for fifteen years.  They've not had very many
       increases.  And for many people who have lost what were once
       good paying jobs, they find it difficult to match those wages
       in the job market.
       
                And many of the kinds of stories that you read
       about now, with layoffs and other things occurring, that is
       probably a necessary part of the changes that are going on. 
       But it's not enough to just say, "Fine, those people will
       find something else."  Unless we make some of the changes
       that we are making, that may not be the case.  So economic
       security is very important.
       
                Another kind of security which is critical is
       physical security.  It is not an accident that finally we are
       focusing on crime and violence, because it has gotten to such
       a point that none of us can ignore it any longer.  It has
       been a growing problem in many regions of our country,
       particularly in our inner cities, for a number of years.
       
                But it hadn't quite spilled over, so that it
       brought the attention of the entire country the way it has
       now.  And I think that much of the reason for its finally
       grabbing center stage is because of the number of children
       being killed, the number of innocent children being shot on
       playgrounds, shot in schools, being the victims of drive by
       shootings, and the number of children who are killing other
       children.
       
                Somehow that has pierced our consciousness unlike
       any of the rest of the violence that has been occurring.  And
       I am so grateful that finally it looks like we are on the
       brink of addressing that.  (Applause)  We are on the brink of
       finally saying, "Enough is enough."  The most basic duty of a
       society, and certainly of a government, is to provide for the
       safety of its citizens.
       
                That's what your husbands spend their lives doing,
       to protect us around the globe.  And yet we can't protect
       ourselves in our own country.  And I think that the
       combination of more police officers, which is very important. 
       You know, in the 1950s we had three police officers on the
       street for every serious crime.
       
                Today we have one police officer for every three
       serious crimes.  So increasing the number of police will make
       a difference.  Using different kinds of punishment --boot
       camps, which many of your husbands know a lot about, is
       something that, if we get young people early enough and we
       really give them the right combination of discipline and
       focus, can make a difference.
       
                The kinds of programs that General Powell worked on
       when he was at the Pentagon, to try to reach young people,
       particularly in their 13, 14 year period, and get them
       interested in Junior ROTC.  That's a symbolic effort that can
       be multiplied across the country if adults will take the time
       to go into some of these ravaged areas and work with these
       youngsters.
       
                And doing something about a different way of
       combatting the drug war.  Yes, doing everything we can to
       keep the drugs out, but beginning to focus more on the demand
       side.  Trying to get these people not to be addicted by using
       some of the treatments that we know work.  
       
                There's a drug court in Miami that has had a
       phenomenal success rate.  It takes drug offenders and it
       says, "We will postpone punishing you by sending you to jail
       if you will go into drug treatment."  And it's a little
       controversial because it uses acupuncture.  But it works.
       
                And so we need to be creative and try some things
       to break the cycle of drug addiction.
       
                And then finally, and this I am so grateful for,
       and I think all of us should be, we are finally beginning to
       do something about taking the guns off the streets of our
       cities.  (Applause)  So working on physical security so that
       we can all feel safe again.
       
                You know, this came through to me, as often these
       things do in personal ways, one day about a year and a half
       ago, when I was still in Arkansas.  And Chelsea came to me
       and she said, "Can I ride my bike with so-and-so up to the
       library?" 
       
                The library was only about eight blocks away, and
       we were a lot freer to get around in Arkansas than we are
       now, but I stopped and I said, "No, I'll drive you," because
       I was scared to let her get on a bike in the middle of the
       day, with a friend, and ride to the library.  
       
                And I thought about the countless days, when I
       would run into the house and I would yell, "Mom, we're going
       to the library.  We're going to the park.  We're going to the
       movie."  We'd get on our bikes, and she'd yell as we drove
       out the driveway, "Just be back in time for dinner."
       
                And she didn't worry, and we didn't worry.  And
       look what we have done to our children.  We have robbed them
       of their childhoods; we have taken away the opportunity for
       them to explore and to learn, that all of us took for
       granted.
       
                And the third area of security, which is one that I
       have worked on now for a number of months, is health
       security.  It is very hard to imagine what it is like for the
       millions of Americans who do not have the guarantee of health
       coverage.
       
                But even for those who do, it is hard for any of us
       to know for sure that we will have it next year at this time,
       because nobody is entitled to it in our country.  It depends
       upon what you can pay, and who you are, and where you live,
       and who you work for, and whether you've ever been sick.  And
       as I have travelled around the country, I have these
       indelible images stuck in my mind of the faces of people all
       over who have told me their stories.
       
                And every one that I hear convinces me even more
       that, until every American has health care security, none of
       us is secure.  And I know that for many people this whole
       health care debate seems very complicated.  But that's
       because it's a big, big issue.  It's one that has a lot of
       various aspects to it.
       
                But there are some simple, fundamental principles
       that I think everybody can agree on.  The first is that you
       ought to be able to get health care coverage, no matter who
       you are, as long as you're an American.  And that means, no
       matter where you live.  And that means, no matter whether
       you've had a pre-existing condition.
       
                And it ought to be health care coverage that takes
       care of you, not that disappears when you read the fine
       print, not that is not accessible to you.
       
                It's one thing -- and I know it's one of the
       complaints that I learned about as I studied the military and
       the VA systems -- is that sometime we say there's health
       care, but, in effect, we make it very difficult to access. 
       We tell people, "Oh it's there, but you're going to have to
       go through 900 hoops, and wait forever before you get it."
       
                That's in effect, for many people, being told it's
       not accessible to them.  And what we have tried to provide,
       in the President's plan, for everybody, is a series of plans
       that you can choose.  And this is going to be true, also, for
       military dependents and retirees and for VA-eligible people,
       because we want all of you to have choice that means
       something.
       
                And we're going to be creating networks of military
       and civilian health care providers, so that we can honestly
       tell you, "You not only have coverage, you can access that
       coverage."  And I think that will make a big difference to a
       lot of military dependents and retirees.
       
                So security is key, and every time I think that I
       have kind of hardened to the stories that I hear, I hear
       another one.  And last Friday I heard one that I can't get
       out of my mind.  I was at the Rainbow Babies and Children
       Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, which I think is a great name
       for a children's hospital.  All the doctors have little
       rainbows on their pockets, and it's a very happy place.
       
                And I was meeting with the families of chronically
       ill children, you know, the children with cystic fibrosis and
       cerebral palsy and diabetes and arthritis and leukemia and
       the kinds of things that make you have to go back to the
       doctor all the time.
       
                And there was a family, a mother and a father with
       their three children, their healthy son, and their two
       daughters who had cystic fibrosis.  And the mother was
       holding the younger of the two daughters on her lap.
       
                And she said, "I want you to know how hard my
       husband and I have tried to be able to buy insurance to take
       care of our daughters.  He's a small businessman.  We're more
       than willing to pay our fair share.  We have coverage for
       ourselves and our son, but we can't get insurance for our
       daughters."
       
                And she said, "I didn't realize how my family was
       viewed, really, until recently, when I sat across the table
       at an insurance company office, trying to work out a way to
       have some kind of insurance for these girls.  When finally
       this person across this table from me looked at me and said, 
       'I'm sorry, but we don't insure burning houses.'"
       
                And, you know, I was sitting there when this mother
       said it.  And she just said it in a way that just pierced my
       heart.  You know, I thought, "What if I were in that
       position, with my daughter?"  I don't know that I would be so
       calm.  I'm not sure I could tell my story one more time.
       
                And yet she wanted to, with the hope that we could
       do something for her and her family and the millions of
       families like her.  And I'm hoping that we can, too.
       
                I remember talking to some of your husbands a few
       months ago, when we were at an event at the White House.  And
       we were talking about health care, because I was excited
       about what we were proposing for DOD and VA, and they had
       been briefed, and they seemed very happy and satisfied about
       it.
       
                And one of them said to me, "You know, I never
       really stopped to think about this until I realized that of
       course we provide health security for our military members. 
       I mean, how could we send people off on missions or into
       battle if they weren't sure they'd be taken care of?  How
       could we do that?"
       
                And he said, "And I suddenly realized that
       everyday, in the civilian sector, most people don't know that
       they will be taken care of."  Some of them who are insured
       think they will, but you have such things like lifetime
       limits and other kinds of obstacles that all of a sudden pop
       up.  And then millions more who aren't."
       
                And I remember telling him about a family I had met
       who had told me that had finally had to tell their sons they
       had to quit sports, because they couldn't afford insurance,
       and they didn't want the boys taking a chance of being hurt.
       
                And that little story -- it wasn't about a tragic
       illness -- but that little story was as meaningful to me as
       the big stories that I hear.
       
                So trying to provide health security to everybody
       is absolutely fundamental.  So security and responsibility,
       two words that have meant a lot to you and your families and
       to your husbands over the years, are two words that need to
       mean a lot again to Americans.
       
                Yes, we want to provide better security, economic,
       physical, and health.  And, yes, we want people to begin to
       be more responsible for themselves and their families,
       particularly their children.  And that two-edged message, we
       have to get out, and talk about with everyone.
       
                And you have, in many ways, lived that.  You've
       demonstrated what it means to put yourselves on the line, to
       make sacrifices, to stand behind what you believe and what
       our country needs.  
       
                And as we approach Thanksgiving, I would not only
       just thank you for what you have done, but challenge you to
       also reach out to those beyond, those who also need to know
       what it means to be responsible in today's world.  And what
       kind of changes America must make if we are to remain strong
       and leading this extremely complicated planet that we find
       ourselves on.           
       
                I have every confidence that we are going to
       emerge, in the 21st century, stronger than ever, because
       we're going to live up to the challenges we face.  But it's
       going to take a lot of hard work and a lot of individual
       commitment to get us there.  And I salute all of you for
       symbolizing what I mean when I talk about that, and ask you
       to be part of helping us make the changes we know our country
       needs to have made.
       
                Thank you all very much.
       
                (Applause.)
       
                A PARTICIPANT:  Mrs. Clinton, we are so very, very,
       very honored that you're here, and I didn't have that written
       down.  We want to thank you for attending the 16th annual
       Joint Armed Forces Officers' Wives' Luncheon.  And the
       committee is pleased to present you with a small token of our
       appreciation.
       
                MRS. CLINTON:  Thank you very much.  Can I look?
       
       
                A PARTICIPANT:  Oh, certainly.  The committee is
       also pleased to donate this year's charitable contribution,
       as chosen by Mrs. Clinton, to Army Emergency Relief, Navy
       Marine Corps Relief Society, Air Force Aid Society, and Coast
       Guard Mutual Assistance.
       
                Again, thank you very much.
       
                MRS. CLINTON:  Thank you very much.  (Applause)
       
                A PARTICIPANT:  Mrs. Clinton, it became apparent
       from your first days in Washington that you would keep a
       hectic schedule, and so we are honored that you chose to
       spend a few hours with us today.        (Applause)
       
                We are grateful for this opportunity to get to know
       each other better and to hear about your interest in security
       and responsibility, a message that we promise to pass on to
       the others of our members who couldn't be here today.
       
                To our honored guests, we thank you for being here
       today too, and we appreciate your support of our 16th annual
       luncheon.
       
                To the officer wives of Washington, we are here
       today to celebrate the sisterhood of military wives.  All
       around the globe, 24 hours a day, our families live the life
       of service to country and sacrifice.  The two are
       inseparable, and that is what unites us.
       
                I hope all of you have had a chance to reach out
       and meet someone from another service.  That's part of what
       this day is all about.  We thank you for coming, and we look
       forward to being together again next year.
       
                I would now like to introduce Chris Oster, a marine
       wife, who will offer the benediction.  Following that, may I
       ask you to remain seated until the dining room doors have
       been opened, at which time you are welcome to leave.
       
                Mrs. Oster.
       
                MRS. OSTER:  Let us pray.  Heavenly Father, thank
       you for the men and women of the Army, Navy, Air Force,
       Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, who have faithfully served
       this great nation throughout history.  We are a chosen
       nation, we love our God.  We love and support those who
       defend our precious freedoms.
       
                Thank you, Lord, for providing us with families who
       sustain our servicemen and women as they perform difficult
       duties around the globe.  Thank you, Father, for the women
       here today, and for others like them, throughout the world,
       who make defending this nation a blessed and honorable task.
       
                Guide and direct us as we strive to uphold the
       moral values that you taught us are important.  And let us
       not become weary of doing good, for at the proper time we
       will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
       
                Even in this time of great change, we, as a family,
       represent a most powerful force for good.  Heavenly Father,
       we humbly pray that you work your perfect will in the lives
       of our leaders.  We pray especially for President Clinton and
       Mrs. Clinton and for our great nation.
       
                Help us always remember the psalmist, who wrote,
       "Blessed is the nation whose God is Lord.  The people He
       chose for His inheritance."
       
                We offer this prayer according to the tradition of
       our individual faith, and I pray in the name of Jesus.  Amen.
       
                           (End of proceedings.)
       
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