William R. Richardson: “President Clinton's budget shows that he kept his word. He is making deep and painful spending cuts. These cuts stretch…”

“President Clinton's budget shows that he kept his word. He is making deep and painful spending cuts. These cuts stretch over all programs including in my State of New Mexico. But we must support his efforts to reduce the deficit. Because of the President's policies, the deficit is shrinking. Projections show the 1995 budget deficit to be $176.1 billion. As a percentage of GNP, that is the lowest the deficit has been since 1979, a year before the 12 years of Reagan-Bush record deficit spending. President Clinton makes real cuts. More than 300 programs are cut below the 1994 enacted levels and 115 programs are terminated. Most important, the President's policies are working. In the first year of his presidency, nearly 2 million jobs were created. Interest rates are low and more than 5 million homeowners are saving hundreds of dollars a month by refinancing. Mr. Speaker, President Clinton is doing what the American people elected him to do. It is time for the opposition to cease their partisan bellyaching and work with the President to serve the county.”