[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 11 (Monday, March 20, 2000)]
[Pages 519-520]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

 March 11, 2000

    Good morning. In just a few days, Congress will begin to write the 
next year's budget. This is an important challenge we in Washington take 
up every year, with important consequences for the American people. 
Today I want to talk to you about the outcome I seek for our families 
and our future.
    I've always thought you could tell a lot about people's priorities 
by what they do first. For me, above all, that means maintaining the 
fiscal discipline that has brought us to this point of unprecedented 
prosperity, with 21 million new jobs, the lowest unemployment in 30 
years, the longest economic expansion in history. It means staying on 
the path to make America debt-free by 2013. It means saving Social 
Security, strengthening Medicare, modernizing it with a voluntary 
prescription drug benefit that so many of our seniors need and too few 
can afford. And it means continuing to put the education of our children 
first, with higher standards, more and better trained teachers, after-
school and summer school programs, modernizing our schools.
    These are my first priorities. I think they're most Americans' first 
priorities. But it seems the congressional majority has hardly given 
them a second thought. Before Republican leaders have put a single penny 
toward strengthening Social Security or Medicare; before they put a 
single penny toward a prescription drug benefit; before they put a 
single penny toward educating our children, they've allocated nearly 
half a trillion dollars to risky tax cuts. More than half our money 
already spent--and not a penny on our most pressing priorities.
    Unfortunately, the majority tried to take us down this road before. 
Last year, they went for one big tax cut with one big grab. This year, 
they're doing it piece by piece, one tax cut after another. Just this 
week, we saw Republican leaders attach special-interest tax breaks to 
what should have been a simple raise in the minimum wage. Now, all these 
cuts together add up to a serious threat to Social Security and 
Medicare. They would make it impossible to pay down the debt by 2013 or 
make vital investments in education, fighting crime, protecting public 
health and the environment, and other urgent national priorities.
    As the budget process begins, I urge Republican leaders to change 
their course and steer clear of a fiscal dead end. It's wrong for 
America. It was wrong last year, and it's wrong this year. Let's do 
first things first.
    I urge Congress to write a budget that puts aside enough funds from 
our hard-won surplus to eliminate the debt by 2013; to write a budget 
that strengthens and modernizes Medicare with a prescription drug 
benefit; to write a budget that extends the solvency of Social Security; 
one that invests in education, extends health coverage to more American 
families, and meets other pressing priorities.
    Of course, Congress still has plenty of time to get its work done 
right and get it done on time. I hope it will do so. If Congress takes 
care of first things first, we can also give targeted tax relief to 
America's families: a tax credit to help pay for college or save for 
retirement; a tax credit to help care for aging or ailing loved ones; a 
tax relief to reduce the marriage penalty; tax relief to reward work and 
family with an expanded earned-income tax credit; an increased tax 
credit for child care expenses.
    I will work with any Member of either party to get these things 
done. We can get them done, but only in the context of a realistic, 
responsible, balanced budget, one that maintains our fiscal discipline 
and makes the most of this great moment of prosperity. Now, that's a 
budget that makes sense. One that works for working Americans.
    Thanks for listening.

[[Page 520]]

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