[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book II)]
[December 4, 1998]
[Pages 2125-2127]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks on the Earned-Income Tax Credit
December 4, 1998

    Amy's children are over there. And we also have Bernadette Hockaday 
and her children, and Rhonda Clarke and her children here. They're all 
here, and we thank them all for coming because they all have benefited 
from the earned-income tax credit.
    I'd like to thank Gene Sperling, who believed passionately in this 
when I first met him, well over 6 years ago now; Janet Yellen, the 
Council of Economic Advisers; Secretary Herman, who was here in the 
White House helping us to implement the earned-income tax credit in '93. 
I thank Congressman John Lewis and Congressman Bob Matsui, who are here, 
who have been passionate advocates; and all the other advocates in the 
room here--Bob Greenstein, Justin Dart,

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the others who are here--we thank you for your support.
    One of the main reasons that I ran for President in 1992 was that I 
believed that people like Amy could achieve real success if we could 
unstack the deck against them. I knew that when our Nation was taxing 
working families into poverty, that was wrong. I knew that when a mother 
rises at dawn, putting in an honest day's work, and still can't afford 
to buy the children's clothes, that's wrong. And I was determined to try 
to do something about it.
    I also knew that there was a little-known provision in the Tax Code 
which had been in for several years called the earned-income tax credit 
that had the potential, if it were actually expanded at an appropriate 
level, to lift all working families out of poverty. And that's how all 
this started.
    Again, let me say, I'm very grateful for everybody who has supported 
this. I think the important--one important thing I'd like to point out 
is that we have representatives here from the AFL-CIO, from AFSCME, from 
other unions, most of whose members do not get the earned-income tax 
credit, and they lobbied for it, too, because they thought it was right. 
And so, for all of you, I just say I'm very grateful.
    What we tried to do in 1993 was two things. First of all, we had to 
get the economy moving again, and secondly, we had to focus on the 
special needs of people who were working hard at lower wage levels. But 
first things first--we had to get the whole economy moving again. Middle 
class incomes have been stagnant for 20 years, and we could never have 
given lower income working people the chance to raise their incomes if 
it hadn't been for a policy promoting overall economic growth.
    Just this morning, we received more good news for America's families 
on our overall economic policies. Secretary Herman's Department reports 
that last month unemployment fell to 4.4 percent, while inflation 
remains low and stable. But for nearly a year and a half, the 
unemployment rate has remained below 5 percent, for the first time in 28 
years. And in November the economy added more than a quarter of a 
million jobs, which means now America has created about 17.3 million 
jobs in the last 6 years. That is a very good record of which the 
American people can be very proud.
    But let's go back to the main point. Even with all those new jobs, 
under the present circumstances, the way the economy works, millions and 
millions of those people would be working full-time and still be living 
in poverty. So what I wanted to do in 1993 was to create new incentives 
to help people climb the economic ladder and reach true independence, to 
enable people to succeed at work and at home, in raising their children.
    So we got the dramatic increase in the earned-income tax credit into 
the budget in 1993. And 2 years ago we fought for and won a substantial 
increase in the minimum wage, which I still believe we ought to increase 
again. Unemployment and inflation are low, and it still has not 
recovered its levels of 20 or 25 years ago, in real-dollar terms.
    Today we release a report prepared by the Council of Economic 
Advisers. It shows that the earned-income tax credit, as a family tax 
cut, has been a major factor in encouraging work among single mothers, 
which you heard Amy talk about. It has also been responsible for much of 
our strong progress in reducing child poverty. In fact, the report shows 
that of the 4.3 million people who have been lifted out of poverty since 
1993 by the earned-income tax credit, over half of them--well over half 
of them--have been lifted out because we basically doubled the program 
in 1993.
    And again, I want to say to Bob Matsui and John Lewis, we had--it 
was hard to raise the money to pay for that doubling. And there were a 
lot of people, even in our party, who were afraid to do it--and with 
some good reason, as it turned out. But it was the right thing to do, 
and I hope it is something that all of you will always be proud of.
    Now, since 1993, families with two children and one parent working 
full-time at the minimum wage, therefore, have seen their incomes rise 
by more than $2,700 because of the increase in the minimum wage and the 
earned-income tax credit. This has strengthened families; it's 
strengthened communities. It's helped to restore our compact of mutual 
responsibility that people who work hard and play by the rules ought to 
have a chance to be rewarded for it. And again, it helps us to promote 
both the values of family and work.
    So I feel very, very good about this. And I feel great about the 
overall economic news this morning. But let me also say to all of you, 
this is not a time for self-congratulation or a time to rest. We have 
more to do here at home

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and more to do to stabilize the global economy, if we expect economic 
growth to continue.
    We all know about the economic troubles in Asia; we all see sectors 
of America's steel industry being overwhelmed by imports at firesale 
prices. We have all read the headlines about Boeing's layoffs because of 
the inability of Asian airlines to pay for planes which they have 
already ordered. We see other problems in the global economy as well. 
Now we're working hard to reverse the problems in Asia, to limit their 
reach, to stabilize the long-term system under which so many Americans 
and so many hundreds of millions of people around the world have 
benefited. But it is a sobering thought to remind us that we have to 
continue to work on this.
    Finally, let me say, we have to continue to work on the conditions 
of working families here at home. Many people still cannot get 
affordable child care. The minimum wage should still be raised. We still 
have a great deal to do to stabilize the conditions of working families 
and to genuinely reward work in this country.
    In the last session of Congress we passed an expansion of our 
empowerment agenda to try to bring more jobs, more incomes, more 
investments into poor inner-city and rural areas. We still have a great 
deal to do there.
    So as you leave there today, and you think about Amy and these other 
two fine mothers and these beautiful children who are here, and the 
millions and millions of people whom they represent all across America, 
I hope you will always be proud of what you have done. But remember, 
this economy still is not working for everyone, and it is still living 
in a very turbulent international environment. So I ask you also to 
continue to support our efforts to deal with the challenges which still 
have to be met to keep the growth going, and to make sure that what we 
do here, so far from the lives of most Americans, actually helps them to 
make those lives better.
    Thank you very much, and God bless you all. Thank you, Congressman 
Rangel. It's good to see you.

Note: The President spoke at 10:12 a.m. in the Roosevelt Room at the 
White House. In his remarks, he referred to Amy Hillen, a job counselor 
who introduced the President; working mothers Bernadette Hockaday and 
Rhonda Clarke; Robert Greenstein, executive director, Center on Budget 
and Policy Priorities; and Justin Dart, Jr., advocate for the rights of 
disabled persons.