Bill Clinton: “Improvements Act of 1994 August 15, 1994 Thank you very much. Thank you, Senator Moynihan, Chairman Gibbons, Secretary…”

“Improvements Act of 1994 August 15, 1994 Thank you very much. Thank you, Senator Moynihan, Chairman Gibbons, Secretary Shalala. To all the distinguished Members of Congress who are here, especially Senators Mitchell and Dole and the Speaker and to one who is not here, Andy Jacobs, who worked so hard on this endeavor, let me thank you all. Let me especially thank Senator Moynihan, who identified the need to reestablish the Social Security Administration as an independent agency 11 years ago. I was sitting here thinking, when I saw him up here so full of pride that this day had finally come to pass, of two things. First of all, about 8 months ago, Senator Moynihan said to me, ``We have a lot of important business to do this year. And we'll have to fight like crazy on all of it. But if you will just come out and say you're for an independent Social Security agency, I think we can do this unanimously. And that would be a very good thing for Congress to do.'' [Laughter] And then I was wondering whether, if we waited 11 years we could be unanimous about every issue that comes before us. [Laughter] I want to thank Senator Moynihan for his persistence and guidance and all the others who have worked so hard on this legislation. When Franklin Roosevelt made a speech to the New York legislature in 1931, he said this: ``The success or failure of any government must be measured by the well-being of its citizens.'' That was the goal that moved him 59 years ago yesterday.…”