[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 29, Number 20 (Monday, May 24, 1993)]
[Pages 872-874]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

 May 15, 1993

    Good morning. As we all rejoice in this magnificent spring and the 
promise of renewal that it brings, we should also feel renewed as 
citizens, renewed by the progress that is being made in Washington, the 
progress we are making in strengthening the American economy to help us 
be more competitive, to grow, to work for the middle class again. 
Gridlock is on the way out, and our plan to rebuild the economy and 
restore opportunity for all Americans is moving through Congress.
    Look at the progress. Just 3 months ago, I submitted to Congress a 
balanced economic plan that asked everyone to work together to invest a 
little more in deficit reduction today, so that we can all enjoy better 
jobs and higher incomes tomorrow. It says we can do what no generation 
has ever been

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called upon to do before, that we can reduce our deficit sharply and 
still increase investment wisely in jobs and education and new 
technology, because we must do both to be a competitive America, to 
create more jobs and economic growth.
    We began by forcing real discipline on the big spenders by making 
deep and enforceable cuts in the Federal Government in over 200 specific 
programs. And believe me, these cuts are real. We've taken on spending 
groups and interest groups that have never been taken on. We've made 
tough decisions, and now Congress is working with me to make them stick. 
It wasn't easy.
    We'd made major reductions in the so-called entitlement programs 
like medical care, agriculture, Federal retirement programs. Virtually 
no area of domestic spending was left untouched. And we're now on our 
way to the largest deficit reduction package in American history. And we 
will not raise taxes without knowing that these spending cuts are part 
of the project.
    These cuts are real, and our plan is fair. The nonpartisan 
Congressional Budget Office has concluded that 75 percent of all the 
taxes in this plan fall on the top 6 percent of Americans, those earning 
$100,000 a year or more. It asked those who got a tax break in the 
1980's to pay their fair share in the 1990's. These proposals which 
reduce the deficit and increase tax fairness were adopted by all the 
important House of Representatives committees last week.
    But I'm asking the Congress to go further. This week I proposed that 
when we cut programs, we lock the savings up in a deficit reduction 
trust fund so that you can trust that the money can only be used to 
reduce the Federal deficit. That's right. No taxes without spending cuts 
and the spending cuts and the taxes put into a deficit reduction trust 
fund so that the money must be used to reduce the deficit.
    In addition to cutting the spending deficit, the other essential 
goal of our plan is to create opportunity in our society where hard work 
is supported and initiative is rewarded. That's why there were important 
tax incentives added to this plan: increasing the small business 
expensing provision to $25,000 a year, a goal long sought by the 
American small business community; a new venture capital gains tax; big 
investment incentives for larger corporations to invest in new plant and 
equipment to create new jobs. These and other initiatives to ease the 
credit crunch and to keep these interest rates at historic lows will 
mean billions of dollars of new investment into our economy in the near 
future.
    Our economic plan includes also a proposal to create empowerment 
zones in our most depressed urban and rural communities. We offer 
significant incentives to those who will go into those neighborhoods and 
build a business because they will be giving people a chance who haven't 
had one in a long time. There's not enough Government money in a country 
to rebuild our cities or our distressed rural areas, but we can do it 
through free enterprise if we have enough incentive. The Government in 
the empowerment zones will be the best partner the free enterprise 
system could have.
    This plan also deals with another important problem. No one in 
America should work hard at a full-time job with children in the home 
and still live in poverty. But millions of Americans do. Because our 
economy and our tax system hasn't been working, millions and millions of 
responsible people are among the working poor who still live below the 
poverty line. That's the wrong signal to send. That's an incentive to 
get on welfare, not to get off welfare.
    Our plan includes an earned income tax credit that puts into law 
this basic principle: If you work 40 hours a week and you have a child 
at home, you will not be in poverty. This important proposal also is 
proceeding quickly to congressional approval. The Tax Code was also 
changed to protect those with incomes of under $30,000 from the impact 
of the proposed BTU or energy tax, and to phase that tax in so that the 
average family will pay about a dollar a month next year and about $5 a 
month the year after, with the full impact of the tax for people with 
incomes of $40,000 a year or above triggering in at about $16 to $17 a 
month in 1996.
    Just days after we offered our new approach to make college loans 
available to every qualified American student, regardless of income, 
this plan was also approved by the House Education and Labor Committee.

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This is a very important thing. It will save lots of money to taxpayers 
and make college loans available at lower interest rates and better 
repayment terms with mandatory repayment to all students in the United 
States. This is a change that we're working on, cutting wasteful 
spending, increasing taxes fairly, driving down the deficit while 
increasing the investment we make through private sector incentives and 
in education training and technology.
    These are the ideas which will make our economy strong and 
competitive. For every new dollar of investment in America and the 
American people, there are $3 in spending cuts. This is the right way to 
go. All told, we've come a long, long distance in the last 3 months, to 
restoring our economy and reaffirming the values of the middle class and 
to opening up our democracy again.
    I'm especially gratified that just this week we've passed the motor 
voter bill which will make it easier for people to register and vote. 
And I fervently hope it will bring more young people into the democratic 
process. It was the young Americans all across this country who 
convinced me to redouble my efforts to work hard to pass this bill.
    The United States Senate has just passed a lobbying reform bill 
which will require all of our lobbyists to register for a change and 
require them to report any gifts beyond a very small amount that they 
give to any Member of Congress. And I've introduced the toughest 
campaign finance reform law ever, to lower the cost of campaigns, reduce 
the influence of political action committees, and open the airwaves to 
honest debate, all paid for by lobbyists, by repealing the lobbyist tax 
deduction.
    This is a bright and a hopeful day. We've come together not to 
better one group or one cause but to work together in the common cause 
of a reinvigorated America. We've been able to bring deep discipline to 
our budget, positive purpose to our spending, and created the sea change 
the American people voted for in November, or at least the beginning of 
that sea change. Now we've got to see through it all the way to the end. 
The rest of the road won't be easy, just as the last 3 months have not 
been. But we can do it, and then we'll have something to really 
celebrate when we've passed the budget, an economic plan, and gotten 
this country turned around.
    Even as we celebrate these changes, let's also remember why we're 
free enough to make them. May the 15th is Armed Forces Day. And I would 
like to conclude by honoring those who serve, whose bravery and 
sacrifice and devotion to country has preserved our liberties and made 
America the custodian of freedom's dream for the entire world.
    I speak for all in my administration in expressing gratitude and 
profound respect for each member of our Armed Forces, for their 
supportive families and for their mission. From my first months in 
office, I can assure you that America has the strongest, best trained, 
and most faithful Armed Forces in the world, men and women so worthy of 
the great responsibilities borne by them in our Nation. May God protect 
them and guide the United States.

Note: The address was recorded at 8 a.m. on May 14 in the Map Room at 
the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on May 15.