Frank Lautenberg: “on Monday morning just past, President Clinton submitted his annual budget to the Congress, but unlike prior…”

“on Monday morning just past, President Clinton submitted his annual budget to the Congress, but unlike prior submissions, this budget is much more than a plan for a single fiscal year; this is a long-term blueprint for the 21st century. It prepares for the impending retirement of the baby boomers. It ensures that younger Americans will enjoy the security of Social Security and Medicare. And it provides a $500 billion tax cut to promote savings by ordinary Americans. Now, importantly, it achieves these goals while increasing national savings and dramatically reducing our public debt. Mr. President, the Clinton budget is a historic one. It begins a new era in budget policymaking and promises to shape our Nation's future for years, for even decades, to come. The Federal Government at long last has put its fiscal house in order. Last year was the first year since 1969 that we ran a budget surplus--a unified budget surplus, I point out. This year that surplus will be even larger. And many analysts see budget surpluses continuing for years to come. Our Government is the smallest that it has been, on a relative basis, in a quarter century, and we have improved our fiscal condition for 7 years in a row--the best record in U.S. history. Much of the credit for this success goes to President Clinton and the congressional Democrats, but I hasten to point out that much of the impetus that brought us to the point that we are came because we did this in a bipartisan fashion.”