[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 32 (Monday, August 11, 1997)]
[Pages 1177-1178]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

August 2, 1997

    Good morning. This week we reached agreement on a bipartisan 
balanced budget that honors our values, invests in our people, and gives 
middle class families a well-deserved tax cut. With overwhelming 
bipartisan support in both Houses, the Congress has sent me this 
measure, and next week I will sign it into law. This is an historic 
achievement, a plan that will strengthen our economy and prepare our 
people for the challenges of the 21st century.
    There has been a lot of cheering here in Washington, but there has 
been cheering on Main Street as well, for the real impact of this budget 
will be in the lives, the dreams, and the futures of families all across 
America. Today I want to talk to you about how this balanced budget will 
affect millions of American families. I have asked some of them to join 
me here in the Oval Office today.
    For 4\1/2\ years, our goal has been to keep the American dream alive 
and to expand opportunity for all Americans who would work for it. In 
1993, when I took office, our economy was not creating that opportunity, 
and I vowed to change our Nation's course. We put in place a new 
economic approach, cutting the deficit to create the conditions for 
growth; investing in the education and health of our people, so that all 
Americans could reap the rewards of that growth; and opening foreign 
markets to American goods and services through tough trade agreements.
    That strategy relied on tough cuts and hard choices. It produced 4 
straight years of deficit cuts and slashed our deficit by 80 percent. We 
had well begun the work of putting our fiscal house in order before this 
budget agreement. And in a real sense, what was done back in 1993 made 
it possible. The low interest rates we've enjoyed have produced economic 
expansion as well as real benefits for the middle class in the form of 
lower car payments, mortgages, and credit card rates. Now, we learned 
yesterday that unemployment is at its lowest in 24 years. The economy 
created 316,000 new jobs last month alone. Investment is up, and 
inflation is low. And family incomes finally have begun to rise.
    Our new balanced budget law gives us a chance to make sure all 
Americans have the tools to prosper in the hopeful new century ahead. 
For parents who work at home, there is an increase in the home office 
deduction. For family farmers who buy their own health insurance, there 
is a provision allowing them to deduct their health costs, just like 
other small-business people. For parents whose children go to schools 
that are crumbling, this budget helps them and their communities to 
repair those schools or build new ones. Most important, in its core 
provisions, this balanced budget will help working families live up to 
their responsibilities to their children, their parents, and their 
communities.
    One family has three children. He's a carpenter; she cares for his 
mother who lives at home with them. The $1,500 a year they will receive 
from the children tax credit will be the biggest increase in take-home 
pay they have seen for some time. In another family, the mother wants to 
go back to school but can't afford to until her own children finish 
college. The new HOPE scholarship tax credit would make it possible for 
her to live out her dreams and return to school. Another mother works 
full time but has no health insurance for her two children, one of whom 
has a heart ailment. She was told she works too many hours to receive 
Medicaid. This budget invests $24 billion in children's health care, so 
that parents like her can have greater peace of mind, knowing their 
children can get health insurance.
    This balanced budget is a victory for every parent who wants a good 
education for his or her children, for every child in our hardest 
pressed households who needs health care,

[[Page 1178]]

for every family working to build a secure future. After years in which 
wages did not rise as fast as they should, this tax cut will clearly 
provide a direct increase in take-home pay for millions of families. It 
is the best investment we can make in America's future. It is the 
achievement of a generation, and all Americans should be proud.
    This is a moment of profound hope for our country. As the new 
century approaches, we've come together to conquer one of our most 
persistent problems, and we've done it in a way that benefits all our 
people and our future. I hope that's how we'll meet all our challenges 
in the years to come, because when Congress and the President put aside 
partisanship and find common ground, when they act together for the 
common good, America can meet any goal and master any challenge.
    Thanks for listening.

Note: The President spoke at 10:06 a.m. from the Oval Office at the 
White House.