[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 11 (Monday, March 18, 1996)]
[Pages 460-462]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

March 9, 1996

    Good morning. Today I want to talk about our economy and about the 
progress we're making, and how to keep our economy moving forward.
    When I ran for President I said we could create 8 million new jobs 
over the next 4 years if we followed the right strategy, if we followed 
the strategy of giving all Americans a shot at the American dream by 
reducing the deficit and investing in the education and training of our 
people, in the new technologies of the future, in our communities, and 
in our commitment to open markets with more fair and free trade.

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    Well, we've followed that strategy for 3 years now, and yesterday we 
had some terrific news. Last month America came roaring back from 
January's blizzard to create over 700,000 new jobs. That's the best 
single month of job creation we've had since 1983, in the middle of 
President Reagan's first term. That means that in just 3 years and 1 
month, America has created 8.4 million new jobs, even better than I 
predicted back in 1992.
    Unemployment is down to 5.5 percent. It's been under 6 percent now 
for 18 months in a row. Four years ago America was only creating an 
average of 27,000 private sector jobs a month. Now we've averaged 
211,000 a month since I became President. I'm proud of that, but this is 
America's achievement, and all Americans should be proud of it.
    Our administration has helped by pursuing our economic strategy. We 
fought for tough, serious deficit cutting. Four years ago the deficit 
was $290 billion and heading higher. Today it's down to $164 billion. 
It's the smallest percentage of any major economy in the world, and that 
means lower interest rates for business loans, for home mortgages, for 
car and credit card payments. That's one of the reasons we've had a 
record number of new small businesses in each of the last 3 years, and 
we're at a 15-year high in home ownership.
    We've worked overtime to expand trade, giving American businesses 
access to millions of new buyers around the globe with 200 separate 
trade agreements. For the first time in years American exports to 
consumers around the world are growing faster than imports to this 
country. In fact, our exports are at an all-time high.
    We've invested in America's workers so they can learn the skills 
they need to get and keep the high-paying jobs of the information age. 
And we've invested in the education of our children and our young 
adults, in the new technologies we need to grow the economy and help our 
defense industries to transform, and protect the environment while we 
create jobs. And we've invested in our communities that have been left 
behind in the mark of economic progress. We've also been able to give 
tax cuts to a significant number of working families--17 million of them 
with incomes up to $28,000 a year.
    This strategy is working. But we still have more to do. We have to 
build on the progress we've made and keep this economy moving forward. 
And the very first thing we need to do is to finish the job we started 
back in 1993. Let's eliminate the deficit completely and balance the 
budget over the next 7 years in a way that upholds our values and 
advances our economy.
    I have proposed a detailed plan to balance the budget, to provide a 
modest tax cut to working families, and to keep our commitments to 
Medicare, to Medicaid, to education, and the environment. In the last 
few months the congressional leadership and I have spent hours and hours 
negotiating together. There are now enough cuts common to both 
Republican and Democratic plans that we could balance the budget 
tomorrow. It is time for Congress to put politics aside and get this 
balanced budget done.
    Meanwhile we need to pass the rest of this year's budget and restore 
the deep cuts in education and the environment that Congress has made in 
the continuing resolutions it has passed after the two previous 
Government shutdowns.
    I have shown Congress a way to restore the investments for education 
and the environment and still keep cutting spending in this year's 
budget. But in a new twist, some in Congress have offered to reduce 
their cuts in education for our children and the protection of our 
environment this year if I will agree to even harsher cuts on health 
care for the elderly and for poor children. Now we don't need to cut any 
of those efforts beyond the hundreds of millions of dollars in savings 
we've already both identified.
    These savings this year permit us to avoid harsh cuts in education 
and the environment on the one hand, and in health care for the elderly 
and for poor children on the other. A deal to trade education spending 
for Medicare cuts is no deal at all. It's wrong to choose between our 
parents and our children, leaving hard-pressed working families squeezed 
in the middle and undermining our economy through reduced investments in 
education.
    I want to work with Congress, but we don't need to do things which 
will undermine our

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ability to support our families through Medicare and Medicaid, or 
undermine our ability to protect the environment, or undermine our 
ability to grow our economy and raise the incomes of all Americans 
through investments in education. And there should be no threat--let me 
say again--there should be no threat of another Government shutdown. It 
was wrong the first time. It was wrong the second time. And three wrongs 
certainly don't make a right.
    I know we can balance the budget in 7 years, provide a tax cut to 
the families who need it, and uphold America's values by honoring our 
commitment to each other. We can support work and family, we can have 
more opportunity and more responsibility if we will work together.
    Now let's get on with it. The American job engine is in high gear. 
It's not time to slam on the brakes or make the same old wrong turns. 
Let's do the right thing for the American people and keep our economy 
moving forward. That's why we're here.
    Thanks for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 12:57 p.m. on March 8 in the briefing 
room at Harman International Industries in Los Angeles, CA, for 
broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on March 9.