    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
    [February 6, 1997]
    [Pages 127-129]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on the 1998 Budget
    February 6, 1997

        Good morning. In my State of the Union Address, I issued a call to
    action to prepare our people for the 21st century. I said that to do
    that we first had to finish the unfinished business of America,
    beginning with balancing the budget.
        Today I am submitting to Congress my plan to balance the budget by
    2002. It will spur economic growth, promote education and our other
    priorities, and eliminate the Federal deficit for the very first time in
    three decades. I am proud of this budget, and I want to thank the people
    here on the economic team who worked with me on it. Thank you.
        For too many years, it seemed as if our deficit would grow forever,
    that there was nothing we could do about it. As a result, our economy
    and our people suffered. Four years ago I took office with a plan to
    reduce the deficit in half in 4 years, as we invested in our people. In
    fact, the deficit has been cut by nearly two-thirds, from $290 billion
    in 1992 to $107 billion in 1996. That makes it, as a proportion of our
    economy, the smallest of any major nation in the world.
        Our economy, therefore, has gotten stronger. It's the strongest it's
    been in a generation. The American people have produced over 11 million

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    jobs--that's the most ever in a single Presidential term--along with
    record numbers of new businesses and rising incomes.
        Finishing this job of balancing the budget will not be easy, but it
    is vital for the continued health of our economy. Balancing the budget
    will free up billions of dollars in private investment. It will keep
    interest rates low, allowing our people to start new businesses, buy a
    home or a new car. It will prove that when we set our minds to it, we
    can make our Government live within its means.
        My plan balances the budget while maintaining the balance of our
    values.
        First, it eliminates the deficit by 2002 through detailed, difficult
    cuts in hundreds of Government programs.
        Second, it increases investment in education and training to $51
    billion in 1998, a 20 percent increase. It provides tax cuts to help
    families pay for college, increases Pell grant scholarships for
    deserving students, advances the America Reads initiative to help every
    8-year-old read independently, commits to helping connect every
    classroom to the Internet by the year 2000. As I said in the State of
    the Union, education is a key national security issue, and politics
    should stop at the schoolhouse door.
        Third, it provides targeted tax relief for the middle class, to pay
    for education, health care, to buy and sell a home. It provides a $500-
    per-child tax credit to help families raise their children.
        Fourth, it takes critical steps to extend health care to more
    Americans. It secures the Medicare Trust Fund for 10 years, making
    necessary reforms to help the program meet these budget targets and also
    to maintain its fundamental purpose. It will cover as many as 5 million
    presently uninsured children and help working people who are temporarily
    between jobs keep their health insurance. For the first time, it would
    fully cover annual mammograms for older women and provide some respite
    care support for the many families who are caring for a family member
    with Alzheimer's.
        Fifth, it advances our interests as the world's indispensable
    nation, reversing the downward spiral in international affairs spending,
    strengthening our ability to promote peace, and fighting global problems
    like drug trafficking, terrorism, and nuclear proliferation. And this
    budget meets our responsibilities to the community of nations by the
    concrete plan to promote reform, pay our bills, and put the United
    Nations back on sound financial footing.
        I support a balanced budget. I am proposing a balanced budget. I do
    not support a constitutional amendment to balance the budget for reasons
    I have already outlined. I think it is neither necessary or wise, and it
    could have numerous unwanted consequences. It could throw our budget
    into the courts. It could force judges to make decisions they would
    normally never make and that they know they should not be making. And
    all that it takes to balance the budget is discipline and action.
        I'd also like to say this. We believe our balanced budget plan will
    keep the budget more or less in balance. And I say that because it's
    impossible to predict everything that will happen. But based on the
    projections we now have, we believe we can maintain a balanced budget
    for more than two decades. So this is not going to be a one-time thing.
    And Director Raines will talk more about this when he goes through the
    details. But one of the things I think Americans have been afraid of is
    that even if we balance the budget, it will be a one-year blip, and then
    we'll go right back to the same problems we've had in the past,
    particularly as the baby boomers age and move into the retirement years.
    We do not believe that is going to happen with this budget. And
    Secretary Rubin and Mr. Raines can explain why, and I know you'll want
    to question them on that, but that is one of the most important findings
    of the work that we have been doing. We believe we can keep this budget
    in balance for a good long time.
        Finally, let me say this. It is obvious--and most of you have
    reported on this--that there are still differences between the parties
    about how we should do this, but I am convinced those differences can be
    bridged. I have reviewed them in general, at least. I have been very
    impressed by the cooperative attitude which has been expressed by the
    leaders of the Republican Party in Congress. Some of the differences we
    have are truly principle differences, and we'll have to work hard to
    have an honorable compromise. But I believe that we can do it as long as
    the Republicans and the Democrats agree that we have to achieve this
    goal.
        We've got the best chance in a generation to do it. The lion's share
    of the savings that we needed to make from the nightmarish projections
    we had 4 years ago have been put in place already, and it remains for us
    to take the

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    last steps. I am confident we will, and I intend to do everything I
    can--everything I can over the next few months to see that we achieve
    this goal.
        Now, I'd like to ask the Vice President to say a few words, and then
    we'll follow with Secretary Rubin, Mr. Raines, and however else they
    want to elucidate the budget.
        Mr. Vice President.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:58 a.m. in Room 450 of the Old Executive
    Office Building.