[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 5 (Monday, February 7, 2000)]
[Pages 196-197]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Paying Down the National Debt

January 31, 2000

    Today we received further evidence that our economic strategy of 
fiscal discipline is

[[Page 197]]

working. By making the tough choices necessary to turn record deficits 
into record surpluses, we are now in a position to start paying down the 
debt. According to the latest numbers from the Department of the 
Treasury, we will pay down $152 billion in debt in the 3 months from 
April to June--the largest debt pay down in our Nation's history. By the 
end of this fiscal year, we will have repaid approximately $300 billion 
in debt. If we continue on this path of fiscal discipline, we can pay 
off our national debt for the first time since Andrew Jackson was 
President. This will keep interest rates low and investment high and 
lead to savings on everything from mortgages to student loans for 
working families across America.