Economy: the Strongest Economy in a Generation
Balanced the Federal Budget -- in 1992, the budget deficit was $290 billion, a
record dollar high. This year, the budget will be in surplus for the first time in 30
years.
Nearly 17 Million New Jobs -- more new jobs in 5 ½ years than were created
during the entire 8 years of the Reagan Administration (16.7 million under Pres.
Clinton vs. 16.0 million under Pres. Reagan).
Fastest Real Wage Growth In More Than Two Decades -- after adjusting for
inflation, wages have increased 2.5 percent in the past 12 months -- the fastest real
wage growth in more than two decades.
Lowest Unemployment in Nearly Thirty Years -- down from 7.5% in 1992 to
4.6% today.
Highest Home Ownership Rate in History -- there are more than 6.5 million
new homeowners since the President took office.
Families: Strengthening America's Working Families
$500 Per-Child Tax Credit -- 26 million families with 40 million children will
receive the $500 per-child tax credit.
Tax Cuts for Working Families -- 15 million working families receive tax relief
through the President's expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit.
Largest Four-Year Drop in Child Poverty Since 1960s -- Under President
Clinton, the child poverty rate has declined from 22.7 percent to 19.9 percent --
that's the biggest four-year drop in nearly 30 years (1965-1969).
Increased the Minimum Wage from $4.25 to $5.15 per hour -- increasing wages
for 10 million.
Protecting Families -- Family Medical Leave allows workers to take up to 12
weeks of unpaid leave to care for family members without fear of losing their jobs.
Millions of workers have already benefited from FMLA since its enactment.
Signed Landmark Adoption and Safe Families Act -- this law will help
thousands of children waiting in foster care move more quickly into safe and
permanent homes.
Putting Families First -- put in place first-ever plan to protect our children from
tobacco. Required the installation of V-chips in all new televisions. Encouraged
schools to adopt school uniform policies to deter school violence and promote
discipline. Produced guidelines on religious expression in public schools.
Education: Largest Investment in Education in 30 Years
Making 13th & 14th Grades as Universal As High School -- making the first
two years of college universally available with $1500 HOPE Scholarship credits.
Expanding College Opportunity with Tuition Tax Credits, Education IRAs,
and Largest Increase in Pell Grants in 20 Years -- 20% tax credit helps offset
tuition costs for college or lifetime learning. The expanded IRA allows penalty and
tax-free withdrawals for education. Nearly 4 million students will receive a Pell Grant
of up to $3,000, 30% larger than when the President took office.
Making College More Affordable -- cut student fees and interest rates on all
loans, expanded repayment options including income contingent repayment, and
improved service through the Direct Loan Program.
Paying for College Through Community Service -- this year, nearly 50,000
young people will take advantage of the opportunity to pay for college (or repay
student loans) by performing community service through AmeriCorps.
Teaching Every Child to Read by the 3rd Grade -- more than 1000 colleges
have committed work-study students to tutor children in reading, and thousands of
AmeriCorps members and senior volunteers are organizing volunteer reading
campaigns. In addition, the President is working to enact an early literacy bill such as
the America Reads Initiative that will provide more tutors after school, improve the
teaching of reading in our schools, and help parents help their children learn to read.
Striving for Excellence with National Education Standards -- Seeking high
national standards for all students, the President has proposed a first-ever national
test in 4th grade reading and 8th grade math.
Preparing for the 21st Century with Greater Education Technology -- created
the Technology Literacy Challenge Fund to help connect every classroom to the
Internet by the year 2000, increase the number of multimedia computers in the
classroom, provide teachers with technology training, and promote the development
of high-quality educational software. Secured an e-rate (discounts worth over $2.5
billion every year) for schools, libraries, rural health clinics and hospitals to connect
to the Internet.
Expanding Choice and Accountability in Public School -- supported increase of
public charter schools, from only one charter school in the nation in 1993 to more
than 1,000 charter schools this year.
Providing Early Education to More than 830,000 Children with Head Start --
now reaching more kids than at any time since its creation in 1965 and 200,000
more children than in 1992.
Crime and Drugs: Lowest Crime Rates in Nearly 25 Years
Putting 100,000 New Police on the Street -- resulting in a nearly 20% increase in
our nation's police force. At this time, almost 80,000 new officers have been funded
.
250,000 Felons, Fugitives and Stalkers Denied Handguns -- since the
President signed the Brady Bill into law.
Banned 19 of the Deadliest Assault Weapons and Their Copies -- keeping
assault weapons off our streets.
Developed Comprehensive Anti-Drug Strategy Including $195 Million
Anti-Drug Youth Media Campaign -- appointed four-star General Barry
McCaffrey to be the nation's Drug Czar. Strengthening and expanding the Safe and
Drug-Free Schools program.
Health Care: Increasing Access for Millions of Americans
Protected Medicare -- protected, modernized and extended the Medicare trust
fund for at least a decade while offering new options for patient choice and
preventive care.
Enacted Single Largest Investment in Health Care for Children since 1965
-- the $24 billion Children's Health Care Initiative will provide health care coverage
for five million children.
Passed Meaningful Health Insurance Reform -- signed the
Kassebaum/Kennedy Health Care Bill which limits exclusions for pre-existing
conditions, makes coverage portable and helps individuals who lose jobs maintain
coverage.
Raised Immunization Rates to All Time High -- 90% of toddlers in 1996
received the most critical doses of each of the routinely recommended vaccines --
surpassing the President's 1993 goal.
Ensuring Safe Food for America's Families --making food safety a priority.
Issued new standards to reduce and prevent contamination of meat, poultry, and
seafood; signed the Food Quality Protection Act with special safeguards for kids;
issued new regulations that improve the safety of fruit and vegetable juices; and
created a President's Council on Food Safety which will develop a comprehensive
food safety strategic plan for federal agencies.
Welfare Reform and Community Empowerment: Largest Drop in the Welfare
Rolls in History
5.7 Million People Are Off Welfare Today -- a more than 40% decrease from
1992 and the largest decline in the welfare rolls in history. Between 1996 and 1997,
the number of people who were on welfare in one year and working in the next year
increased 30% to 1.7 million people. The President signed the landmark welfare
reform law to require work, impose time limits, and dramatically expand child care
spending.
Nearly 70% Increase in Child Support Collections -- signed into law the
toughest child support crackdown in history.
New Incentives to Move People from Welfare to Work -- the Balanced
Budget includes a tax credit for employers and $3 billion to move long-term welfare
recipients into jobs.
Expanded Investment in Urban and Rural Areas -- by creating over 120
Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities and expanding access to capital.
Environment: New Standards to Protect Our Environment for the Future
Issued Toughest New Air Quality Standards in a Generation -- issued new air
quality standards for smog and soot that will prevent 15,000 premature deaths a
year and improve the lives of millions of Americans who suffer from respiratory
illnesses.
Cleaning Up Toxic Waste Sites and Redeveloping Brownfields -- cleaned up
twice as many Superfund sites in less than six years as previous administrations did in
twelve. The Brownfields tax incentives have leveraged nearly $1 billion for
redevelopment of industrial sites and created over 2,000 jobs.
Providing Safe Drinking Water -- proposed and signed legislation to strengthen
the Safe Drinking Water Act to ensure that our families have healthy, clean tap
water.
Reducing the Threat of Global Warming -- negotiated an international treaty to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions in an environmentally strong and economically
sound way. Proposed a five-year $6.3 billion package of tax incentives and research
investments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency and clean
energy technologies.
Protecting Our Natural Treasures -- protected or enhanced nearly 150 million
acres of public and private lands, from the red rock canyons of Utah to the Florida
Everglades. Reached agreements to protect Yellowstone from mining and save the
ancient redwoods of California's Headwaters Forest.
Foreign Policy: World's Strongest Force for Peace, Freedom and Prosperity
Ratified NATO Enlargement -- ensuring a more stable, democratic Europe and a
fully-integrated Russia.
Brokered Peace In Northern Ireland -- ending decades of bloodshed.
Secured Peace In Bosnia -- by brokering the Dayton Peace accords, sending
peacekeepers to the region, supporting democractic institutions, providing for
refugees and bringing war criminals to justice.
Restored Democracy in Haiti -- ending military dictatorship and stopping the flow
of refugees to the United States.
Protecting Americans from Weapons of Mass Destruction -- by dramatically
reducing Russian and U.S. nuclear arsenals through START treaties; ridding
Ukraine, Belarus and Khazakstan of nuclear weapons; extending indefinitely the
Non-Proliferation Treaty; and signing the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
Combatting Terrorism -- by striking at terrorists in Afghanistan and Sudan,
increasing international cooperation and giving law enforcement new and stronger
tools.
Opening Markets Abroad to Create Jobs at Home -- by negotiationg over 240
free-trade agreements, including NAFTA and GATT.
Secured Ratification of the Chemical Weapons Convention -- banning the
production, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons.
Led Efforts to Rid the World of Land Mines -- eliminating non-self-destructing
mines from our arsenals, seeking alternatives to self-destructing mines by 2006 and
devoting more resources to removing existing mines than the rest of the world
combined.
Addressing New Threats to National Security -- from biological weapons and
cyber-terrorism by protecting our critical infrastructure, strengthening our ability to
respond to attacks and enforcing international treaties.
Developed International Crime Control Strategy -- to combat money
launderers and catch drug traffickers.
Strengthened Relations with China -- engaging its leaders in ground-breaking
human rights dialogue.
Containing Saddam Hussein -- through diplomacy backed by force.
Persuaded North Korea To Freeze Its Dangerous Nuclear Weapons
Program.
Leading International Efforts To Address Global Economic Crisis -- and
stimulate worldwide growth.
Leading Force For Peace In The Middle East -- in mediating the Oslo peace
process.
Saved Mexico From Economic Disaster -- by providing financial relief.
Improved Partnerships With Africa -- through historic Presidential trip to Ghana,
Uganda, Rwanda, South Africa, Botswana and Senegal.
Science and Technology: Leading America into the Next Millennium
Historic Investments in Biomedical Research -- increased funding for the
National Institutes of Health (NIH) in critical research areas, such as cancer, the
Human Genome Project, HIV/AIDS and heart disease.
Building the Next Generation Internet -- now connecting more than 100
universities at speeds that are 100 to 1,000 times faster than today's Internet and
developing the next generation of applications, such as telemedicine.
Ensuring U.S. Leadership in Space, Science and Technology -- increasing
investments in science and technology for five years in a row, while bringing down
the deficit. Continuing to support exploration of space including the Mars Pathfinder
mission.
Ensuring the Nation's Security -- Instituted a science-based program to maintain
the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear deterrent without the need for nuclear
testing, enabling the President to be the first world leader to sign the Comprehensive
Test Ban Treaty.
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