THE WHITE HOUSE                    Office of the Press Secretary                     (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) ______________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release                         April 17, 1993       	                          INTERVIEW OF THE PRESIDENT                       BY MICHAEL WHITELY OF                     KDKA-AM RADIO, PITTSBURGH 	                       Pittsburgh International Airport                      Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania        10:40 A.M. EDT 	      	      	     Q	  For everyone listening on KDKA Radio, I'm Mike  Whitely, KDKA Radio News.  We're here at the Pittsburgh  International Airport and with me is the President of the United  States Bill Clinton. 	      	     And I'd like to welcome you to the area and to KDKA. 	      	     THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, Mike.  Glad to be here. 	      	     Q	  There are a lot of things we'd like to talk  about in the brief amount of time we have, but some news is just  breaking from Los Angeles.  I guess the entire country has been  kind of holding their breath, wondering what's going to happen in  the trial of the four Los Angeles police officers.  We just heard  that two of those officers, the sergeant, Sergeant Koon and  Officer Powell have been found guilty, and two officers have been  found not guilty. 	      	     It's a situation that's been building for over a  year since the first trial and now this trial and this verdict.   And I wonder what your thoughts are this morning on how you see  the situation in Los Angeles in connection with your  administration and what you're trying to do. 	      	     THE PRESIDENT:  Well, first of all, I think the  American people should know that this trial, in my judgment, is a  tribute to the work and judgment of the jury, as well as to the  efforts of the federal government in developing the case. 	      	     The law under which the officers were tried is a  complex one; the standards of proof are complicated.  The jury  decided that they would convict the sergeant who was responsible  for supervising the officers and the officer who on the film did  most of the beating.  The jury acquitted an officer who kicked  Rodney King, but also plainly tried to shield him from some  blows, and another officer who was a rookie. 	      	     No one knows exactly why they did what they did, but  it appears that they really tried to do justice here.  They  acknowledged that his civil rights were violated.  And I think  that the American people should take a lot of pride in that.  But  I hope now we can begin to look ahead and focus on three things:   first of all, the importance of trying to bring this country  together and not violate the civil rights of any American;  secondly, the importance of renewing our fight against crime.   	      	     I think it's important to recognize that in the  poorest areas of Los Angeles and many other cities in this  country, people may be worried about police abuse, but they're  even more worried about crime.  It's time that we renewed our  efforts to go to community policing -- put 100,000 more police  officers on the street; pass the Brady Bill that would require a  waiting period before people could buy a handgun, and do some  other things to reduce the vulnerability of our people to  violence and drugs. 	      	     And the last point I'd like to make is it seems to  me that we have got to rededicate ourselves to the economic  revitalization of our cities and other economically-distressed  areas.  If you just think about it -- if everybody in Los Angeles  who wanted a job had one, I don't think we'd have quite as many  problems as we do.   	      	     And I laid out a very ambitious program in the  campaign to try to bring private investment and public investment  to bear in our cities.  I have dispatched the Commerce Secretary,  Ron Brown, to California to try to come up with some strategies  for that state, because it's our biggest state with our highest  unemployment rate -- which could then be applied around the  country.  I want to talk to him and to the Attorney General, to  the new head of the NAACP, to Reverend Jackson, and to several  other people, and then I'll decide where to go from here with  regard to Los Angeles and the other cities of the country. 	      	     Q	  Let's talk about what brings you to the  Pittsburgh area today.  There have been -- I guess there's been a  lot of discussion on Capitol Hill about your stimulus package.   You've been locked in a battle with the GOP.  Yesterday, as you  said earlier in your radio address, you made some moves to break  that gridlock.  What brings you to Pittsburgh, in particular to  Allegheny County, in particular to Pennsylvania, with that  battle? 	      	     THE PRESIDENT:  Well, there are two reasons.  First  of all, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County and Pennsylvania supported  me in the last election because they wanted a new direction in  economic policy.  We have passed our overall economic plan; it  gives the country a very different budget for the next five years  than we've had in the previous 12.  We reduced the deficit and,  at the same time, increased investment in jobs and education and  health care, in the things that will make us a stronger country. 	      	     But in addition to that, I asked the Congress in the  short run to spend a little more money, a modest amount of money  to create another half-million jobs in the next year and a half;  to try to cut the unemployment rate by a half a percent; but also  to try to spark job creation in the private sector more.  The  plan passed the House.  It has the support of a majority of the  Senate.  At the present time, all the Republican   senators as a  bloc are filibustering the bill.  That is, they won't let it come  to a vote. 	      	     I believe that Senator Specter would like to vote  for the bill.  And I believe that Senator Dole, the Republican  leader, has put a lot of pressure on a lot of the Republicans to  stay hitched.  And they're all saying that this bill increases  the deficit.  It doesn't.  This bill is well below the spending  targets that Congress approved, including the Republicans, for  this year.  This bill is paid for by budget cuts in the next five  years.  This bill is designed to give a jump-start to the  economy.  And I must say, a lot of the Republican senators that  are holding it up, when Mr. Bush was President, voted for  billions of dollars of emergency spending of just this kind -- much of it was totally unrelated to creating jobs. 	      	     So what I'm trying to do is to break this logjam.   I've held out an olive branch, I've offered a compromise.  But I  think that we ought to try to put some more Americans to work  right now to show that we're changing the direction of the  country.  And that's the purpose of the bill. 	      	     Q	  Have you been in touch with Senator Specter or  his office lately? 	      	     THE PRESIDENT:  Well, we've been trying to talk  regularly to -- through my White House Congressional Liaison  operation to the senators that we think are open to this -- Senator Specter, Senator D'Amato from New York, Senator Jeffords  from Vermont, Senator Hatfield from Oregon, and five or six  others whom we believe know we need more jobs in this economy and  know that we are paying for this with budget cuts over the life  of the budget I presented. 	      	     You know, it has a lot of appeal to say, well, we've  got a big deficit, we shouldn't increase it more.  But the truth  is that we are paying for this with budget cuts in the whole life  of the budget over the next few years.  And more importantly, we  have this program well below the spending targets that Congress  has already approved for this year.  And they've done this for  years, with the Republicans voting for it -- many Republicans  voting for it -- for things that weren't nearly as important as  putting the American people back to work.   	      	     So I just hope that this doesn't become a political  issue.  It ought to just be about the people of this country and  the need for jobs. 	      	     Q	  I have some questions from people who supported  you, and some people who are skeptical about your administration.   It has to do with their hopes, and also with their fears.  A lot  of people who supported you and voted for you in Pennsylvania --I  think some of them are now saying, we're glad we got him in the  White House, but now look at this incredible process he has to go  through.  Look at these problems.  Look at this gridlock.  And  they're beginning to wonder, is this going to work; can you pull  it off?  And, of course, your skeptics are saying, well, I knew  it was going to be like this. 	      	     THE PRESIDENT:  Well, what I would -- I'd ask  people, first of all, to remember that we are, frankly, moving  very fast.  The budget resolution that the Congress passed is the  fastest they have ever passed a budget resolution -- ever -- in  history, setting out the next five-year budget targets.  So we  are moving really rapidly.  And we've got them working on  political reform, welfare reform, health care reform, a whole  wide range of things.   	      	     But it's a big operation.  You can't expect to turn  it around overnight.  It took 12 years to produce the conditions  which led to the victory I received from the people in November,  and we can't turn it around in 90 days.  But I think we're making  real, real progress.   	      	     I would urge the people not to get discouraged.   We're not going to win every battle, and not everything is going  to happen overnight.  But we are definitely moving and changing  things. 	      	     Q	  Thank you very much.   	      	     The President of the United States, Bill Clinton,  here live at Pittsburgh International Airport.  I'm Mike Whitely,  KDKA News.