John Sarbanes: “I want to support the very perceptive statement of the distinguished Senator from California about the reduction in the…”

“I want to support the very perceptive statement of the distinguished Senator from California about the reduction in the deficit subsequent to the enactment of the 1993 budget, which, as the Senator pointed out, was passed on the tie-breaking vote of the Vice President. In 1992, the deficit was $290 billion. We have brought it down 4 years in a row. It is now at $107 billion. Four years in a row we have had a steady decline in the deficit. We brought it down from $290 billion to $107 billion, and, as a percent of our gross product, the deficit has dropped from 4.9 percent in 1992 to 1.4 percent in 1996. The last time the deficit was this low as a percent of our gross domestic product was in 1973. This is the best performance in 23 years in reducing the deficit as a percent of our gross domestic product. This is a very good record. We are going to continue the progress. We are going to continue to bring the deficit down, both in absolute terms and as a percentage of our GDP. Let me show you a chart which compares what we have succeeded in doing in this country and what is happening in the other major industrial countries. The United States is now at 1.4 percent. Here is Japan, 3.1; Germany 3.35; Canada 4.2; France 5; the United Kingdom 5.1; Italy 7.2. We have the best performance of any of the major industrial countries. We have an economy now with 5.4 percent unemployment, the best unemployment in 20 years.”