Bill Clinton: “Senator Mitchell is my ultimate authority on that. We're working our way through these amendments now, and we just had…”

“Senator Mitchell is my ultimate authority on that. We're working our way through these amendments now, and we just had, as I understand it, Senators Harkin, Metzenbaum, and Wellstone just announced their support for the package, pursuant to an agreement to reduce the size of the Medicaid cuts. There are still about $10 billion Medicaid cuts over and above what the House put in, which was about $50 billion. So that will help, and that puts us three votes closer. And I just don't--I can't say for sure. We're going to have a whole series of amendments which go through today. And then at the end of the day we may find ourselves in a position where some Members want some things which can only come out of the conference, and they may have to just decide whether to let the bill go to conference or not. The House Members had to make the same sort of decision. But I'm hopeful. That's all I can tell you. I'm hopeful. We're working hard, and I'm hopeful.”