[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.