THE WHITE HOUSE

                     Office of the Press Secretary
                       (Los Angeles, California)
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                   January 21, 2000

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

Today, we received further evidence that our economic strategy of fiscal discipline is working. The tough choices we made on deficit reduction have turned a deficit of $290 billion in 1992 into a surplus of $124 billion in 1999 -- the largest surplus in history and the second consecutive surplus in more than 40 years. The latest financial numbers from the Department of the Treasury indicate that we are on track this year to reach a third consecutive annual budget surplus. In the last two years, we have paid down more than $140 billion in debt and these numbers confirm that we are continuing to pay down even more debt. I remain committed to maintaining our strategy of fiscal discipline to keep our economy strong and pay down the debt by 2015 for the first time since Andrew Jackson was President.

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