[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 38 (Monday, September 27, 1999)]
[Pages 1771-1772]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

September 18, 1999

    Good morning. This month millions of students across America are 
beginning the last school semester of the 20th century. Today I want to 
talk about our obligation to give them the education they deserve to 
succeed in the new century, for more than ever, in this information age, 
education is the key to individual opportunity and our share of 
prosperity.
    That's why, even though we've worked hard to cut spending to balance 
the budget, we've also nearly doubled our investment in education and 
training. Many people said we couldn't do it, but we proved them wrong.
    Today, we have the longest peacetime expansion in our history. After 
years and years of deficits, we now have budget surpluses for years 
ahead. More people have a chance to realize the American dream than ever 
before. More children have the chance to realize their full potential 
than ever before. We've laid a foundation to preserve our prosperity for 
future generations.
    Now, as the budget deadline rapidly approaches this year, we face 
many of the same tough choices again. And once again, I think the answer 
is clear: To build a strong nation in the new century, we must continue 
to invest in our future. That means we must strengthen Social Security, 
secure and modernize Medicare, pay off the national debt in 15 years, 
making America debt-free for the first time since 1835. And once again, 
it means we must invest in education, not sacrifice it.
    Months ago now, I sent Congress a responsible budget to maintain our 
fiscal discipline and honor our commitment to our children's education. 
So far, the Republicans in Congress haven't put forward a budget of 
their own. In fact, they're so busy trying to figure out how to pay for 
their irresponsible tax plan that they're in serious danger of not 
meeting their obligation to finish the budget by the end of the budget 
year. Even worse, they're preparing to pay for their own pet projects at 
the expense of our children's education.
    We know now that the Republicans' risky tax cut would force us to 
slash vital funding for education by as much as 50 percent over the next 
10 years. But what many people don't know is that next year alone, the 
Republican plan would cut the bill that funds education by nearly 20 
percent.
    Now, if carried out, this plan would lead to some of the worst cuts 
in education in our history. More than 5,000 teachers, hired as part of 
my class size initiative, could be laid off. Fifty thousand students 
could be turned away from after-school and summer school programs. More 
than 2 million of our poorest students in our poorest communities would 
have a smaller chance of success in school and in the workplaces of the 
future. These aren't just numbers on a balance sheet; they're vital 
investments in our children and our future.
    In a time when education is our top priority, Republicans in 
Congress are making it their lowest priority. So let me be clear: If the 
Republicans send me a bill that doesn't live up to our national 
commitment to education, I won't hesitate to veto it. If it undermines 
our efforts to hire high-quality teachers to reduce class size or to 
increase accountability in our public schools, I will veto it. If it 
fails to strengthen Head Start, after-school and summer school programs, 
I'll veto it. If it underfunds mentoring or college scholarship 
programs, I will veto it. If it sends

[[Page 1772]]

me a bill that turns its back on our children and their future, I'll 
send them back to the drawing board. I won't let Congress push through a 
budget that's paid for at the expense of our children and our future 
prosperity.
    So, again, I ask Congress to put partisanship aside and send me a 
bill that puts our children's education first. Let's use the last school 
semester of the 21st century to prepare our children and our Nation for 
excellence in the 21st century.
    Thanks for listening.

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