    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000, Book I)]
    [January 29, 2000]
    [Pages 149-150]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's Radio Address
    January 29, 2000

        Good morning. Two nights ago, in my State of the Union Address, I
    asked the American people to heed the advice of President Theodore
    Roosevelt at the dawn of the last century and take ``the long look
    ahead''--the long look ahead to the great challenges we face and the
    great opportunities we can seize in the 21st century. That requires us
    to set new goals for our Nation and take the right first steps to
    achieve them.
        We must ensure that every child begins school ready to learn and
    graduates ready to succeed. We must help every family succeed at home
    and at work--and that no child is raised in poverty. We must make
    America the world's safest big country, lead the world toward shared
    peace and prosperity and to the far frontiers of science and technology.
    And we must do all this while maintaining the fiscal discipline that
    brought us to this rare and promising moment we enjoy.
        Seldom in our Nation's history, never in my lifetime, have we
    enjoyed so much prosperity and social progress with so little internal
    crisis or so few external threats, with 20 million new jobs, the fastest
    economic growth in 30 years, the lowest unemployment in 30 years, the
    lowest poverty rates in 20 years, the lowest minority unemployment rates
    on record, the first back-to-back surpluses in 42 years, and next month,
    the longest economic growth in our history.

    [[Page 150]]

        It's important to remember how this happened. It began in 1993 with
    a new economic plan that cut the deficit while making investments in our
    people and our future. When deficits fell, interest rates came down,
    mortgage payments came down, lower car and student loan payments
    resulted. There was greater business investment, more jobs, more
    economic growth. So this fiscal discipline has moved us from record
    budget deficits and high unemployment to record budget surpluses and
    unimagined economic strength. Now is not the time to change course.
        In the well of the House of Representatives 2 nights ago, I
    challenged Congress to move forward on important priorities without
    giving up this fiscal discipline. If we will stay this course, we can
    pay the country's debt off, for the first time since 1835, over the next
    few years.
        Today I am pleased to announce that congressional leaders from both
    parties and both houses of Congress have accepted my invitation to come
    to the White House next Tuesday to discuss how we can move forward
    together.
        Let me say again, first and foremost, I hope we can agree on my plan
    to pay down the debt entirely over the next 13 years and make America
    debt-free for the first time since Andrew Jackson was President in 1835,
    and then to use the benefits of debt reduction to preserve Social
    Security and Medicare and specifically to make a bipartisan downpayment
    on Social Security reform by crediting the interest savings from debt
    reduction to the Social Security Trust Fund. That'll keep it strong and
    sound for 50 years and take in the lifespan of the baby boom generation.
        We also ought to agree to reserve a third of the surplus to further
    reduce the debt so we have the resources in the future to protect
    Medicare. I want to dedicate nearly $400 billion of this projected
    surplus to keep Medicare solvent past 2025 and to add a voluntary
    prescription drug benefit.
        And as I said a couple of nights ago, we can't forget the unfinished
    business of the last Congress. They need, still, to pass a real
    Patients' Bill of Rights, commonsense gun safety legislation, campaign
    finance reform, hate crimes legislation, a raise in the minimum wage.
        The state of our Union is the strongest it's ever been. This gives
    us the opportunity and the responsibility of a lifetime to shape the
    future of our dreams for our children. Our chance to do good has never
    been so great. Let us join together to seize this moment.
        Thanks for listening.

    Note: The address was recorded at 2:41 p.m. on January 28 in Suite 180
    at the Granite Bank Gallery in Quincy, IL, for broadcast at 10:06 a.m.
    on January 29. The transcript was made available by the Office of the
    Press Secretary on January 28 but was embargoed for release until the
    broadcast.