February 01,1999

Chairman Roth's Statement on Clinton Budget


WASHINGTON -- The following is the statement of Senate Finance Committee Chairman William V. Roth, Jr. (R-DE) on President Clinton's budget proposal, sent to Congress today:

"First, I agree with the President that we should set aside a large part of the surplus to save Social Security. I am also pleased that the President has proposed creating personal retirement accounts that are similar to legislation I proposed nearly a year ago. Both proposals allow workers to prepare for retirement by tapping into the country's economic growth with a portion of the surplus.

"However, I have some serious concerns about much of the rest of the President's budget. I am concerned that the President now wants to go on a spending spree just as we have balanced the budget. We didn't balance the budget so government could grow. Yet the President has asked Americans to go without a significant tax cut until at least the year 2015, so that he can spend hundreds of billions of dollars on big government. That is just plain wrong.
"Americans shouldn't have to wait 15 years for a tax cut. We have a multi-trillion dollar surplus because Americans have paid more taxes than are needed for the operation of the federal government. Federal budget surpluses should not be seen by Washington as a license to spend more money. We should first set aside what is needed to shore up Social Security, then pay down the debt and cut marginal tax rates across the board."