Seeking to focus on policy instead of scandal, President Clinton defended his domestic agenda yesterday. He accused the Republicans of irresponsible tax cuts and of trying to kill his "Patients' Bill of Rights" by stealth.
Speaking to an enthusiastic group of union workers, Mr Clinton did his best to shift the spotlight from his affair with former White House intern, Ms Monica Lewinsky, and the debate in Congress over whether to launch impeachment hearings against him.
Instead, the Democratic President pushed some elements of his stymied domestic agenda, which has made little headway in the Republican-controlled Congress that this year has been more concerned with the Lewinsky affair than passing legislation.
Mr Clinton sharply criticised a Republican election-year plan to cut taxes by $80 billion.
His aides also warned the Republicans that Mr Clinton would veto anything that drained the expected federal budget surplus, which Clinton argues should be used to reform the Social Security retirement income system.
Mr Clinton also censured Republicans in the Senate for their efforts to stymie debate on his Patient's Bill of Rights legislation, which would give broader consumer protections to people treated by Health Maintenance Organisations.
Majority Leader Trent Lott, a Republican from Mississippi, cut off debate in the Senate on Wednesday night to prevent the chamber from voting on the legislation.
"The Senate - they don't want to be recorded on this," Mr Clinton told a meeting of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union. "They want death by stealth."
Mr Clinton also announced that he planned to extend the bill's consumer protections to the more than 20 million people treated under managed care plans through the government's Medicaid health insurance programme for the poor.
If passed by Congress, the bill would extend protections to all Americans, allowing greater access to specialists, banning "gag" rules which prevent doctors from discussing all medical options and guaranteeing access to emergency room services.
It is popular especially among women because it would allow them direct access to gynaecologists and obstetricians without getting a referral or prior authorisation.
Mr Clinton's speech to the union workers, who greeted him with cheers, reflected a White House effort to show him as engaged in policy issues and to demonstrate that his political backing has not entirely drained away with the Lewinsky scandal.
Congress is now studying the 445-page report on the affair by independent counsel, Mr Kenneth Starr, which alleges the President committed 11 impeachable offences including perjury and obstruction of justice.
He got a strong endorsement yesterday from Mr John Sweeney, president of the influential AFLCIO union. "We've fought together, and we've won some together and we've lost some together, but we are still together," Mr Sweeney said.