    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book II)]
    [August 5, 1997]
    [Pages 1051-1052]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Signing the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 and the Taxpayer
    Relief Act of 1997
    August 5, 1997

        Thank you very much. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Senator
    Lautenberg, Members of Congress, ladies and gentlemen. We come here
    today, Democrats and Republicans, Congress and President, Americans of
    good will from all points of view and all walks of life, to celebrate a
    true milestone for our Nation. In a few moments I will sign into law the
    first balanced budget in a generation, a balanced budget that honors our
    values, puts our fiscal house in order, expands vistas of opportunity
    for all our people, and fashions a new Government to lead in a new era.
        Like every generation of Americans before us, we have been called
    upon to renew our Nation and to restore its promise. For too long, huge,
    persistent, and growing budget deficits threatened to choke the
    opportunity that should be every American's birthright. For too long, it
    seemed as if America would not be ready for the new century, that we
    would be too divided, too wedded to old arrangements and ideas. It's
    hard to believe now, but it wasn't so very long ago that some people
    looked at our Nation and saw a setting Sun.
        When I became President, I determined that we must believe and make
    sure that America's best days were still ahead. After years in which the
    deficit drained our economy and dampened our spirit, in which our
    ability to lead the world was diminished by our inability to put our own
    house in order, after years in which too many people doubted whether our
    Nation would ever come together again to address this problem, we set
    off on a new economic course to cut the deficit, to create the
    conditions in which business could thrive, to open more foreign markets
    to our goods and services, to invest in our people so that all Americans
    would have the tools they need to make the most of their own lives.
        Today, our budget deficit has been cut by more than 80 percent. It
    is now among the smallest in the industrialized world, as a percentage
    of our economy. Our businesses once again lead in world markets, now
    made more open, more free, more fair than ever before through our
    efforts. Our workers are clearly the most competitive on Earth, and we
    have recast our old Government so that a new one can take shape that
    does give our people the tools to make the most of their God-given
    abilities.
        This year we, Democrats and Republicans alike, were given the
    opportunity and the responsibility to finish the job of balancing the
    budget for the first time in almost 30 years and to do it in a way that
    prepares Americans to enter the next century stronger than ever. By
    large bipartisan majorities in both Houses, we have risen to that
    challenge.
        The balanced budget I sign into law today will continue our
    successful economic strategy. It reflects the most fundamental values
    that brought us together. It will spur growth and spread opportunity.
    Even after we pay for tax cuts penny by penny, there will still be $900
    billion in savings, including half a trillion dollars in entitlement
    savings over the next 10 years. It opens the doors of college to a new
    generation, with the largest investment in higher education since the GI
    bill 50 years ago. It makes it possible for the 13th and 14th years of
    college to become as universal as high school is today. It strengthens
    our families with the largest expansion in health care for children
    since the Medicaid program 32 years ago. It modernizes Medicare and
    extends the life of the trust fund

    [[Page 1052]]

    for a decade. It helps our communities to rebuild, to move a million
    more people from welfare to work, to bring the spark of private
    enterprise back to our most isolated inner-city neighborhoods. It
    provides the largest tax relief to help families raise their children,
    save for the future, and pass on their home and a dream to the next
    generation. These tax cuts are the equivalent of a $1,000 raise in take-
    home pay for the average family with two children.
        For so many Americans, what goes on here in Washington often seems
    abstract and remote, unrelated to their daily concerns. Well, this
    balanced budget deals with the big issues of the deficit and long-term
    economic growth in ways that respond to the practical challenges
    ordinary American citizens face every single day.
        Because we have acted, millions of children all across this country
    will be able to get medicine and have their sight and hearing tested and
    see dentists and doctors for the first time. Millions of young Americans
    will be able to go on to college. Millions of Americans not so young
    will be able to go back to school to get the education and training they
    need to succeed in life. Millions of families will have more to spend on
    their own children's needs and upbringing. This budget is an investment
    in their future and in America's.
        Today it should be clear to all of us, without regard to our party
    or our differences, that, in common, we were able to transform this era
    of challenge into an era of unparalleled possibility for the American
    people. I hope we can tap this spirit of cooperation and use it to meet
    and master the many challenges that remain before us.
        I want to thank, in closing, the many people whose work made this
    day possible. I want to thank Speaker Gingrich and Senator Lott, Mr.
    Armey and the other members of the House and Senate leadership,
    especially Senator Domenici and Senator Kasich. And let me thank
    Chairman Archer and Chairman Roth and the other leaders of the House and
    Senate committees. They were dedicated partners. They fought hard for
    their priorities. I want to thank Senator Daschle and Congressman Bonior
    and Congressman Fazio and Congressman Hoyer and the other members of the
    House Democratic leadership who worked with us.
        I want to thank especially Congressman Spratt and Senator
    Lautenberg, Congressman Rangel and the other members of the House and
    Senate Democratic minority leaders in the committees for the work that
    they did. I thank all the Members of the Congress who are here present
    and the many whom they represent who are already back home, who could
    not be. All of them deserve our thanks, and I would like to ask the
    Members of the Congress who are here today to stand and be recognized
    and appreciated by the crowd. [Applause]
        I'd like to thank the members of our budget team: Erskine Bowles,
    Secretary Rubin, John Hilley, OMB Director Raines, Gene Sperling, Janet
    Yellen, Rahm Emanuel, Jack Lew, Larry Summers, Chris Jennings, and many
    others, especially those who work in our legislative shop, too numerous
    to mention, for the enormous work that they did on this agreement.
        I would like to thank the First Lady, Mrs. Gore, the Vice President
    for their concern for the health of our children, for the mental health
    of the American people, and the Vice President, especially, who led the
    fight to protect our urban initiatives and our environmental program and
    the interests of legal immigrants in America. We owe to them a great
    deal.
        Again, I say to all, I thank you. I believe that together we have
    fulfilled the responsibility of our generation to guarantee opportunity
    to the next generation, the responsibility of our generation to take
    America into a new century, where there is opportunity for all who are
    responsible enough to work for it, where we have a chance to come
    together across all of our differences as a great American community,
    where we will be able to continue to lead the world toward peace and
    freedom and prosperity. That is worthy work, and you have all
    contributed doing it.
        We can say with pride and certainty that those who saw the Sun
    setting on America were wrong. The Sun is rising on America again. And I
    thank you all.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:33 a.m. on the South Lawn at the White
    House. H.R. 2015, the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, approved August 5,
    was assigned Public Law No. 105-33. H.R. 2014, the Taxpayer Relief Act
    of 1997, approved August 5, was assigned Public Law No. 105-34.