[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 29 (Monday, July 26, 1999)]
[Pages 1466-1467]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on House Action on a Republican Tax Plan

July 22, 1999

    Last night the Republicans went behind closed doors, not to 
strengthen Medicare and Social Security, but to provide political cover 
for their exploding tax cut. Today the Republicans charged ahead and 
passed a plan that threatens our ability to pay off the debt and 
strengthen Social Security and Medicare. The plain fact is that their 
tax plan is designed to explode to a $3 trillion cost at the very time 
that Medicare and Social Security come under strain. It would also force 
deep and devastating cuts in a broad range of domestic programs, 
including education, the environment, and law enforcement. If the 
Republicans send me a plan that undermines our ability to reform Social 
Security and Medicare and abandons the fiscal discipline that has helped 
to fuel our economic growth, I will send it straight back with a veto.

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