    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
    [July 24, 1999]
    [Pages 1312-1313]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's Radio Address
    July 24, 1999

        Good morning. At this time of great progress and hope for our
    Nation, we have the chance of a lifetime to build an even stronger
    America in the 21st century by facing our great long-term challenges
    like saving Social Security and Medicare, paying off our national debt
    and bringing economic opportunity to people and places left behind in
    our recovery, giving all our children a world-class education--and the
    challenge I want to speak with you about today: fighting crime and
    making America the world's safest big nation.
        For too many years it looked as if the crime rate would rise
    forever. In too many places, families barricaded themselves behind
    barred doors and windows; children were afraid to walk to school; and
    once thriving communities became proving grounds for lawless gangs.
        I took office determined to change this. More than 6\1/2\ years ago,
    Vice President Gore and I put in place a tough, smart anticrime strategy
    of more police, better prevention, and tougher punishments; a strategy
    that took assault weapons off our streets and kept illegal guns out of
    the hands of criminals and away from our children; above all, an
    anticrime strategy that funded local solutions to local problems,
    spearheaded by Attorney General Janet Reno,
    herself a former prosecutor.
        This strategy, pioneered in our communities, has been taken
    nationwide by our 1994 crime bill. It has worked beyond all
    expectations. The murder rate is down to its lowest level in 30 years;
    overall crime, its lowest level in 26 years; violent crime has dropped
    by 27 percent in the last 6 years alone. And in many smaller ways,
    reducing crimes like vandalism that undermine our quality of life, we're
    beginning to restore civility to our everyday lives. Community policing
    has been central to our success. This May I was proud to announce that
    since I signed the crime bill in 1994, we've funded 100,000 community
    police officers to work with local citizens, identify problems, track
    criminals, and help bring people and life back to our streets.
        Today I'm pleased to announce 65 new grants to help communities
    around the country hire more than 800 new police officers, including 200
    community police officers right here in the District of Columbia. We'll
    also help the District hire 40 new community prosecutors to work closely
    with police and with residents on our streets, in our neighborhoods, to
    fight and prevent crime.
        Every major law enforcement organization supports our community
    policing program. I propose to put 50,000 more officers in our
    neighborhoods, those that still have too much crime. But our ability to
    continue to do this--indeed, our ability to meet many of our vital
    national needs--will be put at risk by the tax and budget plan now being
    pressed by Republican leaders in Congress. This week the Republicans in
    the House of Representatives passed a reckless plan that would cost $800
    billion in the next 10 years and a staggering $3 trillion over the next
    two decades. It is so large, and it balloons in size so dramatically in
    future years that it would make it impossible to invest our surplus to
    save Social Security, to save and strengthen Medicare with a
    prescription drug benefit, to pay off our national debt.
        Beyond that, the GOP tax cut is so large it would require dramatic
    cuts in vital areas, such as education, the environment, biomedical
    research, defense, and crime fighting. The Republican budget already
    cuts our successful community policing proposal in half. Their reckless
    tax plan would threaten law enforcement across the board, forcing
    reductions in the number of Federal agents and cutting deeply into
    support for State and local law enforcement.

    [[Page 1313]]

    To make matters worse, of course, the House Republicans are refusing to
    take steps to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, like closing the
    gun show loophole. Indeed, they want to weaken the existing laws with a
    pawnshop loophole. To keep the crime rate falling, we need more police
    on the street and fewer guns in the hands of criminals, not the reverse.
        We have a rare and fleeting chance to use the fruits of our
    prosperity today to build America for tomorrow. We can invest now to
    save Social Security and modernize Medicare for the 21st century with
    more prevention for cancer, osteoporosis, and other conditions and with
    that prescription drug benefit; to lift our children by improving their
    education; to pay off the national debt for the first time since 1835
    and give a generation lower interest rates for businesses, for home
    mortgages, for car, credit card, and college loan payments--that means
    more jobs and higher incomes; to bring economic opportunity through
    investment to our poorest areas that are left behind; to have an
    affordable tax cut for child care, long-term care, retirement savings,
    and other things Americans need; and to give our families the securities
    they deserve by keeping the crime rate coming down.
        We can do all these things and have an affordable tax cut, or we can
    squander our hard-won progress on short-term thinking.
        Just remember a few years ago--many people never thought we could
    balance the budget, but we did, and now we actually have a chance to pay
    off the national debt. Many never thought we could bring down crime
    rates, but we did, dramatically. Now we have a chance to achieve
    something that not too long ago would have seemed pure fantasy. In the
    early years of the new century, we can make America the safest big
    nation on Earth. We can do this, but only if we act now in the long-term
    interest of our Nation.
        So, again, I call on the Congress and all Americans to make this a
    season of progress. Let's keep thinking about tomorrow.
        Thanks for listening.

    Note: The address was recorded at 4:32 p.m. on July 23 in the Roosevelt
    Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on July 24. The
    transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on
    July 23 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast.