THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary


For Immediate Release January 27, 2000



BUILDING ON RECORD OF FISCAL DISCIPLINE, PRESIDENT CLINTON ANNOUNCES 2001 BUDGET WILL PAY DOWN DEBT BY 2013 -- TWO YEARS EARLIER THAN PLANNED

President Clinton has announced that his budget for 2001 would put America in a position to pay off the $3.6 trillion debt by 2013 -- 2 years earlier than planned. The President emphasized that this debt reduction would be accomplished by protecting Social Security funds -- and dedicating the interest savings to Social Security, allowing the Social Security solvency to be extended past 2050. In contrast, the Republican lockbox plans in Congress fail to extend the life of Social Security by even one day. The President also announced that his budget will make Medicare secure through at least 2025.

This Plan Builds on Largest Budget Surplus In History and the Largest Pay Down of Debt in History. In 1993, President Clinton put in place a three-part economic strategy of fiscal discipline, investing in people, and opening markets abroad. The latest data provides even more evidence that this strategy is working:

Largest UNIFIED Surplus Ever

LARGEST DEBT REDUCTION EVER

Spending Restraint Helped Usher in an Era of Surpluses

What Fiscal Discipline Means For America

Under the President's Framework to Strengthen Social Security and Medicare, the Debt Held by the Public Is Projected to be Eliminated by 2013.


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