President Bill Clinton:
Meeting America's Challenge of Reforming Our
Political System and Making Government
Work for People
"Our seventh challenge is really America's challenge to
those of us in this hallowed hall tonight: to reinvent our government
and make our democracy work..."
President Clinton, State of the Union Address
January 23, 1996
A Record of Accomplishment:
Reforming Our Political System
- Made voting easier for more than 11 million Americans by creating
more accessible voter registration locations. The Motor-Voter
law has already created the greatest expansion in the
voter registration rolls sin ce the 19th century.
- Fought for and signed into law the first major overhaul of lobbying
rules in 50 years. This bill requires lobbyists to
disclose who they work for and eliminated
loopholes that allowed lobbying organizations to avoid
disclosure. (Lobbying Disclosure Act)
- Eliminated the tax deductibility of the cost of lobbying
expenses for corporations.
- Imposed the strictest Administration ethics
guidelines ever, including a five-year ban on top officials
Lobbying their former agencies and a lifetime ban against lobbying for
foreign governments.
- Ensured that the same laws apply to Congress as to
the rest of America. (Congressional Accountability Act)
Making Government Work Better and Cost Less
- Cut the federal civilian workforce by nearly 240,000
positions -- the size of the federal government is now at its
lowest level in 30 years.
- Eliminating 16,000 pages of obsolete regulations
affecting the public and rewriting 31,000 more. Agencies are cutting
half of their internal regulations. This is saving millions in
administrative duties and allowing employees to devote more time to
their customers, the American public.
- The Vice President's Reinventing Government efforts
have already saved $58 billion by cutting wasteful
government practices and spending. Additional recommendations will save
another $116 billion.
- Reducing regulatory and administrative burdens on
the public by $28 billion.
- Prohibited Congress from imposing new requirements on state and
local governments without paying for them. (Unfunded Mandates Reform Act)
- Fought for and signed into law line-item veto
legislation to change the way Washington works by cutting
spending on wasteful special-interest projects.
The Challenges ahead:
President Clinton will continue to challenge government to reward
performance -- to make the laws more attentive to all Americans, not
just Washington special interests. This government can, once again,
become a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.
That is why President Clinton is challenging Congress and government
agencies to:
- Pass the first truly bipartisan campaign finance reform
bill in a generation that will limit campaign spending and open
the airwaves to all candidates.
- Forge new relationships with communities by
creating performance partnerships. Together the federal, state
and local governments will set goals and the communities will
decide how best to meet them.
- Establish single points of contact for communities
with more than 150,000 residents. The single point of contact will
facilitate the resolution of problems these communities have that may
involve agencies of the federal government.
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Introduction