[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 30 (Monday, August 2, 1999)]
[Page 1524]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Senate Action on Tax Cut Legislation

July 30, 1999

    The Senate made the wrong choice for America's future today. By 
pushing through a tax plan that is too big and too bloated, the majority 
party has pushed aside our vital national priorities.
    The Republican tax cut is so large it would undo our fiscal 
discipline and imperil our prosperity. It would crowd out our 
commitments to pay down the debt, to save Social Security, and to 
strengthen and modernize Medicare with a long-overdue prescription drug 
benefit. And it would demand drastic cuts in defense, education, law 
enforcement, agriculture, and the environment.
    Let's be clear on what exactly this fight is about and what it 
isn't. It's not about whether to cut taxes. It's about whether to have 
tax cuts that save Social Security and Medicare, or tax cuts that 
undermine them; tax cuts in the national interest, or tax cuts for 
special interests.
    I will not sign a tax plan that shortchanges our seniors and our 
young people. I will not sign a plan that signs away our future. If 
Congress passes that kind of plan, I will veto it.
    We should put first things first. We should pay down the debt, save 
Social Security, strengthen and modernize Medicare, and keep our crucial 
national commitments. We can do these things and still have the right 
kind of tax cuts. I urge the Congress to put aside plans that are 
plainly wrong for America and to work with me for what's right.