    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000, Book I)]
    [January 13, 2000]
    [Page 51]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Statement on the Treasury Department's Planned Use of Debt Buybacks
    January 13, 2000

        America has come a long way in the last 7 years. We moved from the
    largest deficit in history to the largest surplus in history. We have
    put this country on a path of fiscal discipline that has led to paying
    down $140 billion in debt over the past 2 years and put us on course to
    be debt-free by 2015 for the first time since Andrew Jackson was
    President.
        The announcement that the U.S. Treasury will use debt buybacks is a
    dramatic reminder of this progress on fiscal responsibility. This new
    tool for this unprecedented era of surpluses will, in effect, help
    refinance old debt and pay it down on the best terms possible. It
    represents our commitment to pay down our Federal debt in a way that
    best serves the interests of the taxpayers.