George H.W. Bush: “Well, what we're trying to do on a broad sense is to get Federal regulation under control. When you do that, you run…”

“Well, what we're trying to do on a broad sense is to get Federal regulation under control. When you do that, you run into the special interests, but we have gotten to be too regulatory. I headed a task force for President Reagan on deregulation, and we made some inroads. We have now frozen new regulations at the Federal level unless it can be shown that they're absolutely essential for somebody's health or something of that nature. So I think in a broad sense, the answer is, you've got to ask a person: Do you favor more regulation? Do you favor more control? Or, do you think that less regulation would mean more jobs? I am in the second camp. I believe less regulation means more jobs. I have an obligation at the Federal level to protect worker safety, for example. But we can overdo it. We can pass frivolous regulations. I have an obligation to guarantee health as best one can, I believe. But we can overdo it by frivolous regulation. And sometimes, in the environmental area, we get too regulatory. I've had to rule very recently on a case that came down in the favor of less regulation. I'll tell you when it gets to you as President, it's when you really have to sort out regulation and then the welfare of a family. I know there's a lot of spotted owl jokes around. But you go up to the Northwest; there are not many spotted owl jokes, because the question is: Do you protect this feathery little guy and go the extra mile if that means throwing 30,000 families out of work? I had to make a comedown the other day on a decision saying no. We've got to protect the environment. We've got to do better by the old growth forests. We've got to help preserve these species. But if you're asking me to choose between throwing 30,000 or 15,000 families out of work or the owl, I'm going to have to give an awful lot of emphasis to the families. When we get this economy growing and things moving, then maybe you lean a little more towards protection. But I find in this job you're always balancing these interests. It isn't always black or white, and there was a decision I cite because it's a tough one. Some of the people out here with their signs I'm sure would be 100 percent on the other side. At least I have it in my conscience here and down in Rio: Hey, American family matters. And a lot of them are hurting, and as President I am not going to go down here, sign something away, and then have on my conscience that a family doesn't have a job.”