    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000, Book I)]
    [May 1, 2000]
    [Page 804]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 804]]

    Statement on Debt Reduction
    May 1, 2000

        Today the Department of the Treasury is announcing that the United
    States will pay off $216 billion of debt this year--the largest debt
    paydown in American history. This will be the third consecutive year of
    debt reduction, bringing the 3-year total to $355 billion.
        This important news offers yet more evidence that our strategy of
    fiscal discipline, investing in people, and opening markets abroad is
    working. The debt quadrupled in the 12 years before I came into office
    and was projected to rise still further. As a result of the 1993 and
    1997 budgets, and tough choices in each and every year, the debt is now
    $2.4 trillion lower than it was projected to be. As a result, interest
    rates are lower, leading to stronger investment and growth while saving
    money for American families.
        We should not jeopardize the longest economic expansion in history
    with risky tax cuts that threaten our fiscal discipline. We should take
    advantage of this historic opportunity to use the benefits of debt
    reduction to extend the life of Social Security and Medicare and pay off
    the entire national debt by 2013 for the first time since Andrew Jackson
    was President. Lifting the burden of debt from our children and
    grandchildren is one of the most important investments in the future we
    can make.