[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 12 (Monday, March 25, 1996)]
[Pages 529-530]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on the 1997 Budget and an Exchange With Reporters

March 19, 1996

    The President. I need a lot of help today. [Laughter] Please be 
seated. Good afternoon. Today I am presenting to Congress and the 
American people my budget for fiscal year 1997. This detailed budget 
plan invests in our people and balances the budget in 7 years.
    The budget continues the economic strategy that I put in place when 
I took office of President. Three years ago our economy was drifting and 
our deficit was exploding. In the 12 years before I became President the 
deficit had skyrocketed and the national debt had quadrupled. I was 
determined that our Nation must change course and once again provide 
growth and opportunity for the American people.
    So we cut the deficit. We invested in education and training. We 
opened foreign markets to our goods and services through tough trade 
agreement. We shrank and reformed our Government so that it now has the 
smallest work force in 30 years, but is still capable of performing 
essential functions necessary to the well-being and the growth of the 
American people.
    The American economy has turned around. It is now poised for 
sustained growth. Thanks to the ingenuity and hard work of the American 
people, our Nation has created 8.4 million jobs. We have the lowest 
combined rate of unemployment, inflation, and home mortgage rates in 27 
years. Exports are up dramatically, to an all-time high. Key industries 
from autos to semiconductors once again lead the world. And just 
yesterday the World Economic Forum said that for the third year in a row 
the American economy was the world's most productive. In addition to 
that, it's worth noting that in the last couple of years wages have 
started rising for the first time in a decade and as compared with 4 
years ago, when only 20 percent of the new jobs paid above average 
wages, in 1995 over 55 percent of the new jobs paid above average wages.
    But there is more to do. We must press on. The most important thing 
we can do to keep our economy growing is to finish the job of balancing 
the budget in a way that reflects our values. In 1992, I pledged to cut 
the deficit in half and to continue cutting it after that. We are 
cutting the deficit in half. I'm proud to say that my 1997 budget is the 
first budget presented by a President of either party in nearly two 
decades to come to

[[Page 530]]

balance using the numbers of both Congress and the executive branch.
    It cuts unnecessary spending in hundreds of Government programs. It 
reforms welfare, putting in place a system that ends welfare as we know 
it and moves more people from welfare to work. It honors our values by 
protecting Medicare and Medicaid and investing in our future through 
education and the environment. It closes corporate loopholes and cuts 
taxes for working families and small businesses. Most important, this is 
the second year of the plan I presented to the American people to 
balance the budget in 7 years. This budget underscores my personal 
determination. We will balance the budget. The best way for that to 
happen is for Congress and I to work together.
    In the coming weeks, we must seize the opportunity we now have to 
give the American people a moment of real bipartisan achievement. Over 
the last several months I have worked closely with the bipartisan 
congressional leadership. We have spent hours and hours together in 
serious and productive discussions. The congressional leaders and I have 
identified $700 billion in savings common to both our plans. That is 
more than enough to balance the budget in 7 years and to provide a tax 
cut.
    I am ready to work with the leaders of Congress to finish the job. 
Toward that end, I have invited the bipartisan congressional leadership 
to meet with me tomorrow at the White House. I will urge them to address 
our pressing national concerns: balancing the budget, welfare reform, 
the Kennedy-Kassebaum health care bill, the antiterrorism legislation. 
And we'll also discuss the prospects for progress on all these areas in 
the weeks ahead.
    We have to meet our common obligation to act on our urgent national 
priorities. We should enact a balanced budget and we should do it now, 
not after the November election, not after the political season, not 
later, but now. The American people deserve nothing less. It is the 
right thing to do.
    Now I'd like to call on the Vice President to discuss some of the 
priorities in the budget that we are pursuing consistent with our 
strategy. And then others will come forward to brief you on other 
aspects of the budget.
    Mr. Vice President.

[At this point, the Vice President made remarks.]

    Q. Mr. President, have you heard from the congressional leaders?
    The President. We're going to meet tomorrow.

Note: The President spoke at 2:07 p.m. in Room 450 of the Old Executive 
Office Building.