    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
    [May 29, 1993]
    [Pages 778-779]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's Radio Address
    May 29, 1993

        Good morning. This weekend, in solemn ceremonies and joyful
    gatherings, families will honor the military personnel who have kept us
    free. In honoring these patriots we honor what is best in the American
    spirit.
        I'll be joining those families at West Point to pay tribute to the
    officers graduating from the military academy, at Arlington National
    Cemetery to lay a wreath and pray for the fallen, and at the remarkable
    memorial to the men and women who died in Vietnam whose names are
    engraved in its polished walls and whose memories are etched in the
    hearts of the American people. These are the heroes who have protected
    our borders, defended our interests, and preserved our values.
        Our military strength makes our freedom possible. But our military
    might depends on our economic strength. Just as our liberty cannot rest
    upon a hollow army, our strong military cannot rest upon a hollow
    economy. Our ability to remain strong abroad is founded on our ability
    to remain strong here at home. For too many years the people in
    Washington in both parties have permitted our strength to ebb.
    Government of gridlock and favoritism for the few has caused our economy
    to lose its historic promise in a time of intense global competition
    when we have to change and when the status quo isn't enough.
        Look at the results of the last several years: middle class families
    working longer hours for lower wages; economic growth in this recovery
    slowing to historically low levels; 9 million Americans out of work in
    the 25th month of what is supposed to be a recovery. Thirty-five million
    Americans go to bed every night facing a serious illness or injury which
    could bankrupt their families because they have no health insurance, and
    many, many millions more fear losing their health insurance if they have
    to change jobs and they have a sick person in their family or if their
    company goes down.
        In the midst of all of these challenges our National Government too
    long has given enormous tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans and special
    interests and, at the same time, reduced investments in areas essential
    to productivity and security of working families. And in our cities,
    small towns, and rural areas, look what's happened. In the last 12 years
    the Government's debt has grown from $1 trillion to $4 trillion, in just
    12 years. And what a burden and shackle it has become.
        The American economy is in the middle of the global marketplace,
    challenged by nations who have made wise investments in their people,
    their workers, and their technological edge, and who have disciplined
    their own spending on other things. If we don't start getting better, we
    can fall behind, and the American way of life will be denied to this
    generation and the next. This is the great struggle of our time. And it
    is a challenge I am determined our country will meet, a battle we will
    win.
        At stake is whether Washington will stop doing business as usual and
    put our own house in order and put our people first, whether we will be
    satisfied with the status quo and let the special interests continue to
    dictate our country's future, or whether we will expand American
    prosperity and preserve the American dream.
        Just this week, the House of Representatives stepped up to the plate
    and voted for change, for growth, for renewal. The House voted for an
    economic program that really reduces the deficit through specific
    spending cuts that will lead to economic growth. They voted for 200 cuts
    in old spending programs, $250 billion in

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    deficit reduction through spending cuts alone. We also asked the wealthy
    to pay their fair share because they are able to pay more and because in
    the last 12 years taxes have gone down on the wealthy as their incomes
    have gone up. Of the money we raise in taxes 75 percent of it comes from
    individuals with incomes above $100,000.
        The plan also asks the middle class to make a modest contribution
    through an energy tax. In 1994, a family making $40,000 a year will pay
    a dollar a month; the next year, $7 a month; the next year $17 a month
    when the energy tax is fully phased in.
        Our plan for economic growth is serious about deficit reduction, by
    asking all but the most meagerly supplied working families and the poor
    to make a contribution. We reduce our deficit by $500 billion. That puts
    our fiscal house in order. It pays down the deficit, and at the same
    time, it does something else we have to do: we make a down payment on
    future economic growth, investing in the work skills, the education
    standards, the technologies that our people need to be able to compete
    and win in global markets.
        This plan rewards full-time work instead of lifetime welfare. For
    the first time, this plan will make it possible for us to say to every
    American family, if you work 40 hours a week and you have children in
    the home, you won't be in poverty. That means that people will no longer
    have an incentive to prefer welfare to work. In fact, it will be the
    other way around.
        The House of Representatives deserves our special thanks for passing
    our plan. Now it's time for the Senators to do the right thing as well.
    But unfortunately, even well-intentioned and respected legislators are
    still clinging to the illusions of the past, that somehow there are easy
    ways out of this and no-pain decisions. Then other people in the Senate
    would actually pay for lower taxes on the very wealthy by cutting Social
    Security benefits for older Americans living barely above the poverty
    line. And for working Americans living barely above the poverty line,
    they'd be denied tax benefits so there could be more to upper-income
    people. If we were to protect interest groups from paying their fair
    share of taxes by cutting the earned-income tax credit for low-income
    working Americans, we'd just force millions of low-wage workers back
    into poverty and force many into welfare.
        These ideas would return us to the failed policies of the past,
    policies that increased our deficit, short-changed our future, and put
    narrow interests over national interests. But those days are over.
    Gridlock is out. Growth is in. It's time for the Senate to join the
    House and get with this program.
        This is not about politics. It's about America's future, about
    rebuilding the foundation of our prosperity, about restoring the
    confidence of our people in Washington's capacity to deal with our
    common problems. It's about being strong nationally and about our
    families being secure and strong in their homes and in their lives.
        We're making progress. We're turning things around. We're doing it
    together like a family. On Memorial Day, let's rededicate ourselves to
    our Armed Services who are fighting for our national security and to our
    common economic future which makes that national security possible.
        Thanks for listening.

    Note: The address was recorded at 1:27 p.m. on May 28 in the Wyndham
    Franklin Plaza Hotel in Philadelphia, PA, for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on
    May 29.