UpDate - Vol. 12, No. 21, Page 4
February 25, 1993
Former U.S. president meets with media during visit

     Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter accepted the University of
Delaware's first Karl W. Boer Solar Energy Medal of Merit from University
President David P. Roselle Feb. 16 before some 3,500 persons who watched
the former president talk on the environment and solar energy.
     The medal, which carries with it a $40,000 cash prize, is named for
solar energy pioneer Karl W. Boer, founder of the University's Institute of
Energy Conversion. The Boer award honors an individual who has made
significant pioneering contributions to the promotion of solar energy as an
alternate source of energy through research, development or economic
enterprise.
     At a press conference before his public talk at the Bob Carpenter
Center, the former president offered advice and encouragement to President
Bill Clinton.

Asked about Clinton's preliminary budget address Feb. 15, he said:
     "I only saw the news media coverage of the speech and I told Rosalynn
that he (Clinton) laid some good groundwork for his more definitive talk
(on Feb.17). He has to be bold and aggressive and he has to level with the
American people. If he can present a sacrificial type of call to American
citizens that is obviously fair and balanced, then I believe the American
people will rally behind him.
     "He has got to increase revenue substantially and he's got to cut down
some of the programs that people have in the past taken for granted. There
has to be a combination. I hope he'll also reach out to the Republican
leadership in the House and the Senate to get as much of a bipartisan
flavor as he possibly can. It's all going to be unpleasant, both increasing
revenue and decreasing the benefits that people get from government.
     "I'd be happy to do my share and pay taxes on Social Security or
whatever he calls for."

Asked what he perceives as the role of a former president, Carter said:
     "We're all individuals and each one of us, when we finish in the White
House, if we survive the White House, we choose a different way to spend
the balance of our life. I was one of the younger presidents who have
survived the office and so I chose to embark on a fairly aggressive career,
not related to any commercial ventures that brought me financial benefits,
but to do things that I learned to care about when I was in the White House
and earlier. So, we work in Third World countries; we build homes for poor
people; we try to correct inner-city problems-things of that kind.
     "I have not had much of a relationship with the incumbent presidents
or their secretaries of state. My hope is that I'll have a much closer
relationship with Bill Clinton and Warren Christopher and others."

Asked his opinion of the line item veto, Carter joked:
     "If it could be restricted to Democratic presidents only, I would say
yes. But, I would not have wanted Presidents Reagan or Bush to have the
line item veto. I had the line item veto when I was governor, and I really
believe that is a little too much power for the president."

Asked what he would tell President Clinton to avoid, Carter said:
     "For several months, we had a very good relationship with Congress. I
got about 65 percent of what I proposed to Congress, about the same batting
average as John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. But we put a lot of things on
the agenda simultaneously that were very confusing and very challenging,
and every time we would get a success, it was always buried in the public
media. There were a few issues on which I felt very strongly on the
environment that really stepped on the toes of the most senior members of
Congress. They would come to Congress and put on a list a major dam to be
built in their district-which would be named after them and so forth-and
after 20 years, their dam would come to the top of the list. And, even
though it was no longer feasible or advisable, they wanted this dam to be
built. I vetoed all of those, and this was a very sensitive thing with the
Congress. I don't think I would advise Bill Clinton not to do that, but I
would advise him to be much more sparse than I was in the number of
proposals that he puts to the Congress at any one time.

Asked about press coverage of President Clinton's visit to a construction
site and his subsequent chiding of an aide, Carter said:
     "I would advise news reporters that if they pick up something like
that on a mike not to repeat it on the air."

Asked if he had ever had a similar experience, Carter admitted:
     "Yes, as matter of fact, I did. One time, I was in New Delhi, India,
and I was talking to my secretary of state about how obstinate or stubborn
the Indian prime minister was about a particular issue, and I didn't know
it, but one of the news reporters had stuck a long-handled microphone
between us and my comment was on all the Indian television and radio
stations that night. So, I had to spend two or three days in New Delhi
explaining to the prime minister the reasons why I said it. I couldn't deny
it; it was on TV.
     "I don't think Bill Clinton should have said it. He should be more
careful, but even when he does, why put it on a public broadcast? I would
hope that the press would be a little bit understanding about that."

Asked for his opinion on Middle East peace talks, Carter replied:
     "I have been very pleased that people have been talking, but just
giving the Palestinians and the Israelis and the Syrians and others a room
in which to meet and encouraging them to do so is not enough. I know from
experience that you've got to have a strong mediator go back and forth
between the disputing parties and try to offer them some compromises. I
would like to see the Middle East talks continued or rejuvenated, but have
the United States play a mediation role and be much more aggressive in
trying to bring about a final conclusion."

Asked to comment on Republicans referring to Clinton's economic package as
"another Democratic tax-and-spend program," Carter said:
     "The largest tax increases in the history of this nation were under
Ronald Reagan and George Bush. The greatest deficits in the history of the
world were under Ronald Reagan and George Bush. And so, I don't think the
Republicans are at all justified in saying this is another Democratic
tax-and-spend thing. The taxes that were increased during my administration
were miniscule, compared to what was done later on, under my successors.
     "I think that if Bill Clinton comes forward to the American people and
says, 'This is what I call upon you to do, whether you're in the $30,000
category or whether you're in the $130,000 category, I call on you to do
the right thing,' then he'll be all right. President Clinton said, I think,
the other night, that 70 percent of the increased revenue would be from
those who make over $100,000 a year. I know this troubles news reporters,
but it doesn't trouble peanut farmers all that much. Clinton's got good
political judgment."
                                        -Beth Thomas