Bill Clinton: “Well, let me say first of all, the Act as it's presently written has an economic impact provision, which has not been…”

“Well, let me say first of all, the Act as it's presently written has an economic impact provision, which has not been used very often but which plainly can be used. Secretary Babbitt asked me before we commit to make any changes in that to give him the chance to work out the problems that the farmers had. As you know, we've had a drought for many years and the allocations this year, given the amount of water that's out there since the drought went away, has not satisfied a number of the farmers. And we know there are some other distributional issues. Some of them involve the Endangered Species Act, but Bruce Babbitt believes, anyway, that he can work out a fair treatment for the farmers without an amendment to the Act. And I think I ought to give him a chance to continue to work with the farmers before I commit to change it. So that's the position I'm going to take. I want to wait and see how he does with his negotiations with the farmers first and how they come out. Crime”