> > THE FOLLOWING IS EXCERPTED. PORTIONS THAT DO NOT REFER > TO HEALTH-CARE REFORM HAVE BEEN OMITTED. > > > THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ________________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release August 6, 1994 RADIO ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT TO THE NATION The Roosevelt Room THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. [...] Today I want to talk with you about two other historic decisions that call on us to break through partisan barriers and political rhetoric again. For, very soon, Congress will vote on both health care reform and the crime bill -- two issues crucial to our mission of renewing the American Dream. I want to talk to you about two young Americans whose stories are the best arguments I've heard for why we have to fix what's wrong with our health care system and make our country safer again for all Americans. One of those young people is Amanda Stewart from Keyes, Oklahoma. This week, I gave awards to four young people who have done heroic deeds or performed remarkable public service. Amanda was one of them. She was injured in a car wreck in 1990 and paralyzed from the chest down. This wonderful young lady could have given up on life. Instead of becoming bitter or defeated, she's devoted herself to educating other young people not to drink and drive, not to ride with people who do, and to always use seat belts. She's helping others to avoid what happened to her. I met Amanda's family. Her father is a hard-working farmer in western Oklahoma. She has a lovely mother and a wonderful younger sister. She hasn't had any significant medical costs since just after her accident four years ago. The Stewarts have been paying $3,400 a year for a limited health insurance policy with a high deductible. But recently they were told that this month their insurance premiums were going to be raised to $9,600 a year. Now, Amanda's father happens to be not only a farmer, but a Republican. He's in a different party from me and he made it clear to me that he doesn't want the national government to give him anything. But he's got a family to raise and he has no idea how he's going to keep paying for their health insurance. He said to me that if he couldn't take care of his family as hard as he was working, something was wrong in this country. People like Amanda and her family are the reason we have to guarantee private, not government, health insurance for every American. Insurance that's always there. It's time to do what's right by those people. We're going in the wrong direction now. There are five million Americans just like Amanda's family who had insurance five years ago who don't have it today. Almost every one of them are working people and their children. We can do better, and we must. [... SECTION REGARDING THE CRIME BILL OMITTED ...] For Amanda Stewart and her fine family, [...] for every American child and for all of their families and their futures, let's stop playing games with these two important issues. Let's get the job done. Thanks for listening. END