Bill Clinton: “Well, we have worked hard through the executive branch to resolve other labor disputes, as you know, including the one…”

“Well, we have worked hard through the executive branch to resolve other labor disputes, as you know, including the one involving the airlines recently. So I am not averse to that. But if you'll remember, at the time I said that there was an actual strike in place that was of significant duration for a company, Caterpillar, that is very important to this whole country. A lot of you may not know this: Caterpillar has as much as 80 percent of the Japanese market for some of its products. It's a very, very important company. And so, I guess what I have to tell you is if the strike occurs and if it is of significant duration and if there is something that I think we can do about it, I would be glad to look into that. But what I have tried to do on all labor disputes is not to prematurely intervene--there is no strike at this moment--not to prematurely intervene and to take it on a case by case basis depending on what the national interest is and whether or not there is a positive role we could play. In the case of the airlines, there was; and one or two other cases--a railroad issue, and several others--there has been something we could do. And if it happens, you can be sure that I will look into very closely. [A participant asked the President to grade the performance of columnists and editorial writers in covering his administration and Whitewater.]”