June 28, 1999

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T H E W H I T E H O U S E

June 28, 1999

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PRESIDENT CLINTON AND VICE PRESIDENT GORE:
PROPOSING A FISCALLY SOUND BUDGET FRAMEWORK

“We have now cut up Washington's credit card. By 2015, this country can be entirely out of debt. This is a remarkable milestone, clearly within reach, if we do not squander the surplus by choosing short-term gain over long-term national goals.”: President Bill Clinton; June 28, 1999

Today, at the White House, President Clinton announced that this year's budget surplus will be $99 billion, $20 billion larger than earlier projected, and the largest surplus (as a percentage of the economy) since 1951. The President proposed a six-point plan on how to spend the surplus, which includes maintaining a balanced budget each year; ensuring the solvency of Social Security and Medicare; establishing a trust fund for children and education; providing targeted tax credits; and eliminating the national debt by 2015.

Announcing the Largest Budget Surplus in Nearly 50 Years. President Clinton today announced that, according to the results of the mid-session budget review, the surplus for 1999 will be $99 billion. This surplus, which is $20 billion larger than earlier projections, will be the largest ever in dollar terms, and as a percentage of the economy, the largest since 1951. This is the seventh consecutive year of improved fiscal balance --the longest such series in history.

Proposing a New Budget Framework. President Clinton's new budget framework has six key components:

balances the budget each year without using Social Security funds;
creates a new Social Security lockbox that keeps Social Security solvent until 2053;
keeps Medicare solvent for over 25 years while adding a new prescription drug benefit;
establishes a Children and Education Trust Fund, while protecting military readiness, education, environment, agriculture, veterans affairs and core government;
calls for USA Accounts – the largest and most progressive tax-relief plan for savings – and targeted tax credits for child care, long-term care, school construction, new markets investment, and aiding disabled Americans in the workplace; and
eliminates the national debt by 2015.

The President's plan is the first budget proposal to call for balancing the budget each year without using Social Security surpluses, while strengthening the solvency of Social Security and Medicare and still leaving resources for military readiness, key investments in people and communities, and significant tax relief.