Thank you for that introduction. I'd like to say a few words about the overall economy and the importance of boosting savings both for individuals and for the country at large.

The United States continues to enjoy what many consider to be the best economic conditions in recent memory -- the longest peacetime economic expansion in our history, a very high rate of job creation, the lowest unemployment rate in decades, and real increases in income across all income strata. The most likely scenario in the U.S. economy continues to be solid growth and low inflation, subject to the usual ups and downs. The essential strength of our economy has helped insulate us from the international financial crisis, now well into its second year, although there have been some sectoral effects from the crisis, both from increased imports and decreased exports.

Many factors have contributed to this success -- including the private sector's restoration of competitiveness in a broad array of industries. But in my view, the key and indispensable factor has been a sound economic strategy grounded in investing in people, opening markets, and especially fiscal responsibility, beginning with the deficit reduction act of 1993.

Despite this progress, we still face difficult challenges in promoting the productivity gains that are critical to long-term prosperity. There are several priorities we must address to achieve that goal -- we must invest in education, and address the conditions in the inner cities and other economically distressed areas, for example. But today I want to focus on three: maintaining our leadership on the issues of the global economy; continuing the policy of fiscal discipline, and finally, raising our savings rate, which I would note is close related to the issue of fiscal discipline.

First, we must maintain our leadership on the issues of the global economy and our traditional commitment to open markets at home and abroad. There is no doubt increased trade has played a significant role in the strong economy this country has enjoyed for the last six years, what many have called the strongest economy in a generation. Today there is the almost universal tendency to extol the benefit of exports, and to ignore the benefit of imports or even disparage them. That leads to distorted trade policy. Imports reduce prices and increase choice for consumers; reduce prices and increase choice for producers, which should lead to greater job creation and higher wages; increase competition and productivity; and, for all these reasons, reduce inflation and presumably reduce market interest rates.

Having said that, one consequence of the current global economic situation is that the United States has a large and growing trade deficit and with the business problems and job losses to some that are the cost of the benefits of imports to many, we face increased domestic pressures to close our markets. I believe that we must strongly resist those pressures. What we must not do is pull away from the global economy, and the greatest threat to that right now is by restricting access to our markets. The adverse effects of imports are concentrated, and the voices of those adversely affected are loud. But the benefits of trade openness are more widely dispersed -- indeed, those who benefit are often unaware that they are doing so -- and the result is fewer, fainter voices for open markets. All of us need to work together to make the case that open markets here and opening markets abroad are critical to business profitability, job growth, and increased standards of living. And business is uniquely situated with the understanding, the interests, and the means to make that case.

The second major challenge we face in this country is to continue to promote fiscal discipline and thereby national savings, even though that means forgoing broad-based tax cuts or spending we might prefer in the short run. Its worth stopping for a moment to see how far we have come on fiscal discipline, because we do tend to forget. Between 1980 and 1992, the Federal debt had quadrupled, and in 1992 the deficit was $290 billion and projected to continue growing. Now -- beginning with the deficit program of 1993 -- we have moved from an era of endless budget deficits, to an era of budget surpluses.

The consequence of that, I believe, is an historic opportunity to position our nation for the decades ahead, and President Clinton has put forth a sound plan to seize that opportunity. His plan would achieve two basic goals. First, it preserves the preponderance of the surplus to pay down the publicly held debt of the Federal Government rather than eliminating the surplus through consumption-oriented tax cuts or spending. This can be looked at as increasing national savings, or reducing the Federal Government's use of our national savings. In either case, there is more capital available for the private sector -- the reverse of doing what used to be called crowding out private credit. Over fifteen years, the publicly held debt would be reduced by two- thirds, to the lowest percent of GDP since before World War I. Second, it greatly promotes retirement security by strengthening Social Security and Medicare. Using the surplus for tax cuts or spending may be more popular, but in our view promoting fiscal responsibility and national savings is the right path for our future.

The final challenge I wish to discuss is the importance of making it easier for families to save. Our personal savings rate is still too low in this country. Last year, it averaged less than one percent of after-tax personal income, ranking with Canada as the lowest by far of the G-7 countries, and lower than many developing countries. Increasing that rate has been a high priority for President Clinton. We have instituted pension reforms to make pensions portable for workers and simplified the pension laws for businesses; expanded access to Individual Retirement Accounts; and introduced inflation indexed securities. In addition, the President has recently presented a proposal for Universal Savings Accounts, designed to provide additional incentives for American workers to save.

We have also made Savings Bonds easier to understand -- and easier to buy. Last November, we introduced our new EasySaver Plan for Savings Bonds, to make buying savings bonds easier for the more than 100 million Americans who don't have access to payroll savings plans where they work. Initial response to the plan has been strong.

We have also made Savings Bonds more attractive as investments. Last July, Vice President Gore introduced the new inflation-indexed savings bond. Now Americans have a safe way to save that guarantees the purchasing power of their principal and offers them a fixed, real rate of return over and above inflation. Since they went on sale last September, American have invested more than $220 million in these bonds. The average bond sold has been more than $850, more than 8 time the average for EE bonds, showing the burgeoning popularity of the I Bonds. I encourage all of you to help us get the word out about the I Bond.

One of the most important ways we can raise savings, of course, is through payroll savings campaigns in which all of you here play such an important role. Clearly, there is a cultural phenomenon in this country that resists saving. Having said that, studies have shown that workers who receive education about savings are far more likely to save than those who don't. That is why payroll savings campaigns are so important. They offer a convenient way for your employees to save, especially for low and middle income workers, for whom Savings Bonds can offer an affordable way to save, or younger employees. For many young people just starting out, saving for retirement is seen as a luxury they can little afford, and don't need to worry about yet anyway. But, of course, the earlier one starts saving, the easier it is to save and the more substantial the savings in the long run. Americans of all ages and income levels face a bewildering choice of investment opportunities these days and education about the benefits of Savings Bonds is key. That is why the work you do is so critical in helping Americans save and prepare for the future.

To reiterate, all of the issues I mentioned -- leadership in the global economy, fiscal discipline, and raising the savings rate -- are critical to the increasing productivity and fostering long term growth in this country. And if we meet these challenges -- which will require hard work in both the private and public sectors -- we can have higher growth and foster strong economic conditions for years and decades to come. Thank you very much.