    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
    [July 29, 1999]
    [Pages 1345-1346]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on the National Economy and Appropriations Legislation
    July 29, 1999

        Good morning. Before I leave for Sarajevo, I'd like to say just a
    word about our country's continuing prosperity and what we have to do to
    keep it going.
        It was 6 years ago this summer that America made a visionary
    decision to set a new course for our economy; to abandon the large
    deficits and high unemployment of the previous 12 years; and to pursue
    an economic strategy of fiscal discipline, investing in our people, and
    expanding trade in American goods and services abroad. The strategy is
    working and has lifted our Nation to an unprecedented level of
    prosperity.
        Now we have nearly 19 million new jobs, the lowest unemployment rate
    in 29 years, the highest homeownership ever. From a $290 billion deficit
    in 1993, we're moving toward a record high surplus of $99 billion in
    1999.
        The Senate is about to make a pivotal choice--whether to move
    forward with a sound strategy that led us to this point, or to return to
    the reckless policies that threw our Nation into stagnation and economic
    decline. Congress must decide whether to invest our surplus, to honor
    our obligations to the future--saving Social Security and Medicare,
    continuing to invest in education, and paying down the debt--or to
    squander the surplus on a shortsighted, irresponsible, overlarge tax
    plan.
        The right choice for me is clear, putting first things first. First,
    we must maintain our strategy of fiscal discipline and seize this moment
    to address the large, long-term challenges of the Nation. We must
    dedicate the bulk of the surplus to saving Social Security and to
    strengthening Medicare and modernizing its benefits with a prescription
    drug package. I have proposed a balanced budget that honors these
    values. It upholds our commitments to educating our children, protecting
    our environment, promoting biomedical research, strengthening defense,
    and fighting crime.

    [[Page 1346]]

        The Republican majority, it appears, is determined, however, to pass
    this large and risky tax cut. It would exhaust our surplus without: one,
    devoting a penny to lengthening the life of the Social Security Trust
    Fund; two, devoting a penny to lengthening the life of the Medicare
    Trust Fund; three, it would force huge cuts in education, agriculture,
    the environment, defense, biomedical research, indeed, everything we are
    doing to strengthen our country if we are going to stay on a balanced
    budget.
        If those cuts are not made, it would cause us to revert to the dark,
    old days of huge deficits, high interest rates, low economic growth, and
    stagnation. We tried it that way for 12 years, and it didn't work.
        As the Federal Reserve Chairman, Alan Greenspan, told the Senate yesterday, this tax cut will cut into
    the surplus and, quote, ``risk a great deal of good to the economy.''
        So I say to Congress, if you send me a tax cut that shortchanges
    America's priorities and our children's future, I will veto it. Let me
    be clear again: I do strongly support tax cuts, but not if they are so
    large they undermine our strength and they undermine our ability to save
    Social Security, to strengthen and modernize Medicare, and to get this
    country out of debt for the first time since 1835.
        My balanced budget contains targeted tax cuts to help ordinary
    families with retirement savings, child care costs, long-term care
    costs. It is responsible in size. This debate is not about whether we
    should have tax cuts; it's about how big they should be and what else
    this country has to do and whether we want to go back to a failed
    economic strategy after being so richly rewarded for doing the right
    thing for our children and our future.
        I hope, again that we can get a bipartisan agreement that will save
    Social Security, save and reform Medicare, continue to invest in
    education, and get this country out of debt. If we do those big things
    first, there's still money left for a good size tax cut. But what is
    being done now is wrong.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 8:05 a.m. on the South Lawn at the White
    House prior to departure for Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina.