[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 16 (Monday, February 10, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1189-S1190]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




THE ECONOMIC REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT--MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT--PM 12

  The PRESIDING OFFICER laid before the Senate the following message 
from the President of the United States, together with an accompanying 
report; which was referred to the Joint Economic Committee.

To the Congress of the United States:
  Four years ago, we began a journey to change the course of the 
American economy. We wanted this country to go into the 21st century as 
a Nation in which every American who was willing to work for it could 
have a chance--not a guarantee, but a real chance--at the American 
dream. We have worked hard to achieve that goal, and today our economy 
is stronger than it has been in decades.


                          the economic record

  The challenge we faced in January 1993 was to put the economy on a 
new course of fiscal responsibility while continuing to invest in our 
future. In the last 4 years, the unemployment rate has come down by 
nearly a third: from 7.5 percent to 5.4 percent. The economy has 
created 11.2 million new jobs, and over two-thirds of recent employment 
growth has been in industry/occupation groups paying above-median 
wages. Over the past 4 years inflation has averaged 2.8 percent, lower 
than in any Administration since John F. Kennedy was President. The 
combination of unemployment and inflation is the lowest it has been in 
three decades. And business investment has grown more than 11 percent 
per year--its fastest pace since the early 1960s.
  As the economy has grown, the fruits of that growth are being shared 
more equitably among all Americans. Between 1993 and 1995 the poverty 
rate fell from 15.1 percent to 13.8 percent--the largest 2-year drop in 
over 20 years. Poverty rates among the elderly and among African-
Americans are at the lowest level since these data were first collected 
in 1959. And real median family income has risen by $1,600--the largest 
growth rate since the Administration of President Johnson.


                          the economic agenda

  Our comprehensive economic agenda has helped put America's economy 
back on the right track. This agenda includes:
  Historic Deficit Reduction. Since the 1992 fiscal year, the Federal 
budget deficit has been cut by 63 percent--from $290 billion to $107 
billion in fiscal 1996. As a percentage of the Nation's gross domestic 
product, the deficit has fallen over the same period from 4.7 percent 
to 1.4 percent, and it is now the lowest it has been in more than 20 
years. In 1992 the budget deficit for all levels of government was 
larger in relation to our economy than those of Japan and Germany were 
to theirs. Now the deficit is smaller by that same measure than in any 
other major industrialized economy. And this Administration has

[[Page S1190]]

proposed a plan that balances the budget by 2002, while protecting 
critical investments in America's future.

  Investments in Education and Technology. Deficit reduction remains a 
priority, but it is not an end in itself. Balancing the budget by 
cutting investments in education, or by failing to give adequate 
support to science and technology, could actually slow economic growth. 
To succeed in the new global economy, our children must receive a 
world-class education. Every child in America should be able to read by 
the age of 8, log onto the Internet by the age of 12, and receive at 
least 14 years of quality education: 2 years of college should become 
as universal as high school is today. And we must make sure that every 
child who wants to go to college has the resources to do so.
  Expanding Markets. We have aggressively sought to expand exports and 
open markets abroad. In the past 4 years we have achieved two major 
trade agreements: the North American Free Trade Agreement and the 
Uruguay Round accord of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 
which established the World Trade Organization. Members of the Asia-
Pacific Economic Cooperation forum and the proposed Free Trade Area of 
the Americas have committed to establishing free trade among themselves 
by 2020 and 2005, respectively. And we have opened new markets abroad 
by signing more than 200 other important trade agreements. As a result, 
U.S. exports have bombed, which means higher wages for American workers 
in export industries--often 13 to 16 percent higher than the rest of 
the workforce.
  Reforming Government. The strength of the American economy lies in 
the energy, creativity, and determination of our citizens. Over the 
past 4 years we have worked hard to create an environment in which 
business can flourish. And as the private sector has expanded, the 
Federal Government has improved its efficiency and cost-effectiveness. 
We have energetically reformed regulations in key sectors of the 
economy, including telecommunications, electricity, and banking, as 
well as environmental regulation. And we have reduced the size of the 
Federal Government as a percentage of the workforce to the smallest it 
has been since the 1930s.


          continuing to create an economy for the 21st century

  America's workers are back at work and our factories are humming. 
Once again, America leads the world in automobile manufacturing. Our 
high-technology industries are the most competitive in the world. 
Poverty is down and real wages are at last beginning to rise. And we 
have laid the foundations for future long-term economic growth by 
reducing the deficit and investing in education.
  During the past 4 years, we have worked to prepare all Americans for 
the challenges and opportunities of the new global economy of the 21st 
century. We have worked to restore fiscal discipline in our government, 
to expand opportunities for education and training for our children and 
workers, to reform welfare and encourage work, and to expand the 
frontiers of free trade. But there is more work to be done. We must 
continue to provide our citizens with the tools to make the most of 
their own lives so that the American dream is within the reach of every 
American.
                                                  William J. Clinton.  
  The White House, February 10, 1997.

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