    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1999, Book I)]
    [May 21, 1999]
    [Page 825]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 825]]

    Statement on the Budget Surplus
    May 21, 1999

        Today I am pleased to announce that we are on track to reach the
    largest annual budget surplus ever. Thanks to solid fiscal discipline,
    the surplus at this point in the fiscal year is $64.7 billion, the
    largest in history over a comparable period.
        When I came into office just over 6 years ago, we faced a deficit
    that had already risen to a staggering $290 billion and was projected to
    be over $400 billion in this fiscal year. The Vice President and I,
    working with Congress, set this country on a new course of fiscal
    discipline, enacting two strong budget packages in 1993 and 1997. As a
    result, we have begun to pay down the Nation's debt. In this quarter
    alone, we expect to pay down $116 billion of privately held marketable
    Federal debt, the largest sum ever in a single quarter.
        Reducing the debt lowers long-term interest rates for home mortgages
    and autos and lowers borrowing costs for businesses, fueling private
    sector investments for continued economic growth. Despite the good news,
    this is not a time for complacency. We must renew our commitment to this
    sound economic strategy by making responsible investments in our people,
    working for open markets, and maintaining the fiscal discipline that is
    beginning to lift the crushing burden of debt from our children and
    grandchildren. It is especially critical that we create a bipartisan
    consensus for saving the surplus and paying down our national debt in a
    way that strengthens the solvency of both Social Security and Medicare.