Emphasis on education links Miller, Clinton

Trude B. Feldman

Saturday, Feb. 8, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- On Tuesday afternoon, Gov.Bob Miller, chairman of the National Governors Association, closed the association's three-day annual winter meeting here. That evening, he was one of three governors seated with first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and Tipper Gore, the vice president's wife, in the executive gallery of the House of Representatives for the president's State of the Union address.

"That invitation was a rare privilege," Miller said. "And the president's address was extra special for me because of his emphasis on education -- the topic of my State of the State speech in Nevada last week."

On Sunday evening, the president and Mrs. Clinton hosted the White House's annual dinner for the governors, during which Miller was seated at the president's table and Mrs. Miller with Mrs. Clinton.

In his toast, Clinton said the NGA has been a unique and valuable institution for America because it gives the governors a chance, without regard to their regional and political differences, to reach common positions for the people of their states, and to bring those positions to life in their states and to Washington, D.C., where, too often, it is easy to forget about the real lives of real people.

"I know you will do that here," the president told the governors, "and I hope together we will be advancing those lives for four more years."

In his response to the toast, Miller touched on the "children theme" and saluted the president and Mrs. Clinton for raising "a bright, ambitious and confident daughter," a feat the governor suggested was all the more remarkable given the fact that politicians "sometimes forget we have the task of raising our own families."

Role models

The president and Mrs. Clinton were visibly touched as Miller praised them for demonstrating "leadership, both by example and policy for the nation's children."

At Monday morning's session in the East Room of the White House, Miller thanked the president and Vice President Gore for inviting the governors to "discuss the issues and concerns of the moment." He then teased: "We appreciated last night's dinner here, and the fact that we're back today indicates that you haven't completed the inventory on missing silverware."

Miller also thanked them for the "wonderful weather," noting that Nevada recently had the "worst floods in its history." In lauding the response from James Lee Witt, director of FEMA, Miller said, "I think FEMA is a landmark of what cooperation should be between federal agencies and state and local government. I also appreciated the personal call from the president, assuring me that he would build bridges for people to cross. However, I think we will be dry again before the 21st century."

Miller went on to say that the relationship between the states and the federal government has been re-examined carefully by the president and his administration in the last four years, and that many of the obstacles that faced the states four years ago are no longer as paramount as they were. He added that the improvement in the operations of FEMA is a premiere example.

The state executives' meeting was held at the J.W. Marriott in Washington, D.C., and their agenda included education, children, welfare reform and Medicaid. One of the speakers was John Walsh, host of Fox Television's "America's Most Wanted," who told the governors, "Criminals have all the rights, and victims have none whatsoever."

Miller described Walsh, whose 6-year-old son Adam was murdered in 1981, as one of his heroes. "My admiration for him is enormous," Miller said. "He proves that one person can make a difference. He was once a developer. Now he spends every minute explaining the need for a constitutional amendment for victims of crime."

During a brief interview with Walsh, he told me that Bob Miller was the reason for his appearance at the NGA and that he has had the greatest success with Nevada's Legislature.

"He is my champion for victims' rights," Walsh said. "We met in 1982 when he was the district attorney in Las Vegas, and, ever since, we have worked together on children's and victims' rights issues. Bob Miller is an honest politician and a wonderful human being."

Walsh added that Miller asked him to speak to the governors because they "need to be more aware" of the amendment to the Constitution on victims' rights.

Children's campaign

Another speaker, Rob Reiner, a producer and director at Castle Rock Entertainment, pointed out that a new "I Am Your Child" campaign would enable the public to learn about the importance of a child's development from birth to age 3.

Miller said Reiner had energized the governors to meet the challenge of providing the positive environment each young child must have.

As to what he views as the highlight of the meeting, Miller said, "Seeing my fellow governors take so much interest in the chairman's initiative for helping children from birth to age 3. New scientific research shows that proper health care, nurturing and learning stimulus are essential for our youngest children. Their futures depend, to a greater extent than we knew earlier, on what happens in the first three years. I am glad that the governors support a constitutional amendment for victims' rights. We have worked more than 20 years to provide more justice for crime victims. We have come a long way, but the governors now recognize that only a constitutional amendment can fully address this issue.

"I am also pleased to see the governors work in a bipartisan way for sound policies relating to Medicaid and welfare."

What most impressed Miller, he said, was the commitment of the governors to take full advantage of the responsibilities and authority handed down to the state level by Congress and the president.

"Responsibility for welfare, Medicaid and other formerly federally controlled programs now rests largely with the states, either through legislation or through waivers granted to the states," he said. "We asked for a greater role, and the governors are going full tilt to provide better service at lower cost."

Bipartisanship works

Asked how his chairmanship made a difference in the conference, Miller replied, "By my nature, I am not overly partisan. I always realized that the key to success is getting Democrats and Republicans to work together. I believe my fellow governors recognize that I truly believe in bipartisanship, and they generally respond in kind, whether they are Democrats or Republicans. NGA is fortunate that last year's chairman, Republican Tommy Thompson of Wisconsin, shares the bipartisan philosophy, as does my vice chairman, Gov. George Voinovich of Ohio, also a Republican."

He added that he has been a member of NGA for eight years and that that experience comes in handy when "we work for agreement on tough issues."

What is Miller's most important achievement for Nevada since he became an officer in NGA?

"Perhaps that came last year, over the Medicaid issue," he responded. "The proposal before Congress would have clobbered the growth states financially. The Medicaid-funding formula would have cost Nevada hundreds of millions of dollars because it did not account for population growth in a reasonable way. Democratic and Republican governors worked hundreds of hours, lobbying Congress to stop that bill. I was the Democrats' lead governor. We were successful, and the result for Nevada was averting a statewide disaster that would have busted our budget and jeopardized essential health care for the needy citizens of Nevada."

Miller cited two reasons for the success of the NGA meeting: "First, we met with the president, and he reaffirmed his support for the governors' goals and for the schools for young children and for sound reform of social programs," he said. "In addition, I also had the chance to discuss with him issues of concern to Nevadans, including education in Nevada, nuclear waste and gaming."

In conclusion, he quipped, "Every person I spoke with said that he or she really looks forward to coming to Las Vegas for our NGA meeting in July."

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