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Creating Opportunity, Demanding
Responsibility, and Strengthening
Community

I worked with the last Congress to ensure that as many as 25 million Americans no longer have to fear that they will lose their access to health insurance if they lose their jobs or change jobs; that people no longer will be denied coverage because they have preexisting medical conditions; that insurance companies will sell coverage to small employer groups and to individuals who lose group coverage; and that self-employed people will find it easier and cheaper to get health insurance. Now, I want to strengthen both Medicare and Medicaid to ensure that they continue to serve the tens of millions of Americans who rely on them, to expand health care coverage to help the growing numbers of American children and families who lack insurance, and to promote public health. My budget invests more in biomedical research, in programs to combat infectious diseases, in the Ryan White AIDS program that provides potentially life-extending drug therapies to many people with AIDS, and in community health centers and Indian Health Service facilities that serve critically underserved populations.

We have to ensure that every American has the skills and education needed to win in the new economy, and we can do that only if every American is ready for a lifetime of continuous learning. My budget expands Head Start, increases our investments in Federal elementary and secondary education programs, launches a new effort to jumpstart needed school renovation and construction, and provides funds for America Reads to ensure that all children can read well and independently by the end of third grade. To expand higher education and training to all Americans, I propose HOPE scholarship tax credits of up to $1,500 for two years, tax deductions of up to $10,000, the largest increase in Pell Grant scholarships in two decades, lower student loan fees and interest rates, and the G.I. Bill for America's Workers so they can choose where to get the best job training available.

We do not have to choose between a stronger economy and a cleaner environment.

Over the last four years, we have produced both. Now, we want to go further. In this budget, I am proposing the funds to speed up toxic waste clean-ups, to redevelop abandoned and contaminated sites known as "brownfields," to improve the facilities at our national parks, to advance our salmon recovery efforts, to invest in energy efficiency and renewable energy, to further our environmental efforts overseas, and to expand our work with States, localities, private groups, and others to restore such sensitive ecosystems as the South Florida Everglades and California's Bay-Delta area between San Francisco and Sacramento.

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We must maintain our leadership in research, the results of which have so greatly improved our health and well-being. Federal research, in concert with the private sector, creates new knowledge, trains our workers, generates new jobs and industries, solves many of our health care challenges, strengthour ability to address environmental issues, enables us to teach our children better, and ensures that we can maintain a strong, capable national defense. I am proposing to increase our investments in basic research in health sciences at the National Institutes of Health, in basic research and education at the National Science Foundation, in research at other agencies that depend on science and technology, and in cooperative ventures with industry, such as through the successful Advanced Technology Program and Manufacturing Extension Partnerships.

I want to build on our efforts to fight crime, curb the scourge of illegal drugs, and secure the Nation's borders. Crime is falling all across America. And, under the Brady Bill that I fought so hard to achieve, we have prevented over 100,000 felons, fugitives, and stalkers from obtaining guns. Now, I want to make further progress and, in particular, target juvenile crime and violence. My budget continues our progress toward putting 100,000 more police on the street. It renews our efforts to fight drug abuse, particularly by focusing on youth prevention programs to reverse the recent trends of softening attitudes toward drugs and more drug use by young Americans. It also strengthens our efforts to control illegal immigration by stopping those who want to enter illegally,

quickly removing those who slipped by, and making it harder for illegal immigrants to get jobs.

Because some American communities have grown disconnected from the opportunity and prosperity that most of us enjoy, I want to help communities attract private investment to spur their revitalization. Because permanent solutions must come from the community level, my budget proposes to create opportunities and offer incentives for individuals and businesses to participate directly in addressing local problems. I want to expand my national service program So that more Americans can volunteer and earn money for college. I want to expand Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities, making more and more communities eligible for the tax incentives and other support that can spur a return of business and jobs. I also want to expand the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund to enhance credit and other services to distressed areas. In addition, the Nation's capital, which suffers from a unique set of challenges, would benefit greatly from the groundbreaking proposal that I have previously outlined.

I am pleased that, today, 2.1 million fewer Americans are on welfare than the day I took office, both because of a strong economy and because I have helped States to test innovative ways to move people from welfare to work and protect children. I am also pleased that I could sign last year's welfare reform legislation, because I believe it will promote my basic goals of work, family, and responsibility. I have directed my Administration to work closely with States so that we can make welfare reform succeed. Last year's law, however, also included excessive budget cuts, mainly affecting nutrition programs, legal immigrants, and children, that had nothing to do with welfare reform. In signing the bill, I said that I would seek legislation to address those problems. My budget does that.

Over the last four years, we have provided tax relief to millions of working Americans and to small businesses. But I want to go further by helping middle-income Americans raise their children, send them to college, and save for the future. For those Americans,

my tax plan offers a $500 per child tax credit for all children under 13, a $1,500a-year tax credit to help families send their children to college for two years, a $10,000 tax deduction for tuition and fees for higher education and training, and expanded Individual Retirement Accounts to encourage saving and enable families to cope with unforeseen problems. I am also proposing to ensure that homeowners do not have to pay capital gains taxes on 99 percent of all home sales. My tax plan would promote the hiring of long-term welfare recipients in order to help move people from welfare to work, restore the tax credit that encourages business research and development, and expand tax credits for Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities. And it would help finance my tax relief by eliminating unwarranted tax loopholes and preferences.

On the international front, we must continue to project our leadership abroad while we advance our national goals. With the Cold War over, we have a great opportunity to expand democracy overseas, but we will have a much better chance to succeed if we fulfill our international commitments. In this budget, I am proposing that we pay our arrears to the United Nations and other international organizations, so that our leadership is not undermined at this crucial time. But I will also insist that these institutions control their budgets and enact the reforms that our Government and others have called for. In addition, we must continue our support for Russia and the New Independent States of the Soviet Union as they make the difficult transition to free markets and democracy, and we must be prepared to do whatever we can to advance the difficult, but vital, peace process in the Middle East. A strong, coherent foreign policy also will help us further our progress in opening markets abroad, and my budget proposes strong, continued support for the Federal efforts that help to expand exports.

Finally, our goals both at home and abroad must rest on the firm foundation of a strong national defense. It is a strong defense that safeguards our interests, prevents conflict, and secures the peace. We must ensure that our armed forces are highly ready and armed with the best equipment that tech

nology can provide. They must be prepared and trained for the new threats to our security-from the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, to ethnic and regional conflicts, to terrorism and drug trafficking that directly threaten our free and open society. My budget continues to sustain and modernize the world's strongest and most ready military force, a force capable of prevailing in two nearly simultaneous regional conflicts. It fully funds our commitment to maintain the highest levels of training and readiness, and to equip our uniformed men and women with the most advanced technologies in the world. We must never fall short when it comes to defense.

Conclusion

Our policies are working. By dramatically cutting the deficit and investing in the future,

we have helped to spur four years of strong economic growth, providing vast new opportunities for millions of Americans. Jobs, incomes, savings, investment, exports, and homeownership are all up. Crime, poverty, teen pregnancy, and inequality are all down. Clearly, we are moving in the right direction.

But our work is not done. For too long, the Federal Government has spent much more than it received, creating deficits that cast doubt on both our our economic future and our ability to govern. In the last four years, we have made huge progress, cutting the deficit by nearly two-thirds. I urge Congress to help me finish the job and balance the budget by 2002-giving the American people the balanced budget they deserve.

February 6, 1997

WILLIAM J. CLINTON

II. BUILDING A BRIDGE TO THE 21ST CENTURY

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