    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
    [September 23, 1999]
    [Pages 1575-1576]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Returning Without Approval to the House of Representatives
    Legislation on Taxpayer Relief
    September 23, 1999

        Good morning. Thank you. Thank you very much. Please be seated.
    Thank you, and good morning. As all of you know, Congress has sent me
    the tax bill I have repeatedly pledged to veto. In a moment, I will do
    that because, at a time when America is moving in the right direction,
    this bill would turn us back to the failed policies of the past.
        In the 12 years before I became President, irresponsible policies in
    Washington piled deficit upon deficit, quadrupling the national debt,
    leading to high interest rates, eventually bringing us the worst
    recession since the Great Depression. Interest rates and unemployment
    were to high; wages were stagnant; growth was slow.
        Vice President Gore and I came into office determined to change all
    that with a new economic strategy focused on fiscal discipline, expanded
    trade, investment in our people. The strategy has worked. In the past
    6\1/2\ years, it has produced lower interest rates and ushered in the
    longest peacetime expansion in our history, with more than 19 million
    new jobs, rising wages, the lowest unemployment in a generation, and
    recordbreaking levels of homeownership. And by balancing the budget for
    the first time in a generation, we have changed red ink to black,
    turning a deficit of $290 billion into a budget surplus of $99 billion
    this year, with growing surpluses projected for years to come.
        The American people understand that these are not simply numbers on
    charts. The progress we've made is something they see and feel every day
    in more jobs, higher paychecks, HOPE scholarships that help send their
    children to college, lower interest rates for owning a home and buying a
    car. This is the right course for our people and our Nation. It is
    making a difference in the lives of Americans. And they want us to stay
    on it.
        Our hard-won prosperity gives us, also, the chance to do something
    few people ever have, the chance to invest our surplus to meet the long-
    term challenges of America. We can lift the burden of debt from the
    shoulders of the next generation. We can secure the future of Social
    Security and Medicare. We can ensure

    [[Page 1576]]

    a first-rate education and modern schools for our children.
        Unfortunately, the tax bill Congress has sent me would deny those
    opportunities to the American people. The bill is too big, too bloated,
    places too great a burden on America's economy. It would force drastic
    cuts in education, health care, and other vital areas. It would cripple
    our ability to pay down the debt. It would not add a day to the Social
    Security Trust Fund. It would not add a day to the Medicare Trust Fund
    or modernize Medicare with prescription drug coverage. Nearly a trillion
    dollars in tax cuts, but not one dollar for Medicare. I will veto this
    bill because it is wrong for Medicare, wrong for Social Security, wrong
    for education, and wrong for the economy.
        Now, in the face of my determination to do this, many in Congress
    seem ready to throw in the towel. That would be a disservice to the
    American people. They sent us all here to get things done. And we have
    proved in the past, with the welfare reform bill of 1996 and the
    Balanced Budget Act of 1997, that we can work together to get things
    done and bring good results to our country. So, instead, I ask Congress
    not to go home until we have worked together once again in a good-faith
    effort to meet the long-term challenges our people face.
        First, let's reach a bipartisan agreement to save Social Security.
    The congressional majority's current plan and its so-called lockbox
    would fail to protect the Social Security surplus from being spent, and
    it would not add a day to the Social Security Trust Fund. Instead of
    this weak lockbox and no additions to the Trust Fund, I ask Congress to
    work with me to construct a real lockbox that would keep Social Security
    solvent until the year 2050.
        Second, let's work together to save Medicare. With Medicare facing
    insolvency in just 16 years and with three out of four seniors lacking
    dependable, affordable prescription drug coverage, we know we must not
    put off this challenge. Months ago, I put forth a detailed plan for
    Medicare that would reform and modernize it with a voluntary
    prescription drug benefit. It would address the immediate, critical
    needs of teaching hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and other
    priorities, while extending Medicare's solvency to the year 2027.
        Now, I don't expect the Republican majority to agree with me on
    every detail of my plan. I never thought that would be the case. But I
    do expect, and the American people have a right to expect, that we will
    work together in good faith to meet these long-term objectives.
        Third, we should fulfill our obligations to the future by producing
    a real budget that pays down the debt, brings down interest rates, and
    makes vital investments in education, the environment, national
    security, biomedical research, health care, and other areas so vital to
    our future.
        If we do this, within the framework I have outlined, we can not only
    invest in our future; we can pay down America's debt over the next 15
    years and make our country debt-free for the first time since Andrew
    Jackson was here and planted that big magnolia tree in 1835.
        So I say again, let's do first things first: pay down the debt; save
    Social Security; save and modernize Medicare; invest in education.
        In the days ahead, I will ask the Republican majority to work with
    me to fulfill these fundamental obligations we have to our children and
    to our future. If we can work together to meet these objectives, we can
    also work together to pass tax relief we can afford, affordable, middle
    class tax relief that reflects the priorities of both parties and the
    values of the American people. That would be a good bill I would happily
    sign.
        Every generation of Americans is called upon to meet the challenges
    of its time. But few have the unprecedented opportunity we have to meet
    the challenges not only of our time but the great challenges of our
    future. We must seize that opportunity.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:10 a.m. in the Rose Garden at the White
    House.