FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Through hard work and ingenuity, Americans have created a booming economy that has produced an enormous budget surplus in Washington. It's the people's money, and we should get it back to them as quickly as possible.

Today we are proposing a tax cut for every taxpayer. This package is a pay raise for every working American. Four-person families earning $35,000 a year will no longer bear any federal income tax burden. Four-person families earning $50,000 will see their taxes cut in half. And four-person families earning $75,000 will see their tax burden reduced by 25 percent.

This tax relief package is sound fiscal and economic policy. It fits easily within our budget framework which walls off the Social Security surplus and continues to pay down the public debt in increasing amounts each year.

Despite the rhetoric of some, the President's tax relief plan increases the progressivity of our tax code. In 1998, the top 10 percent of income earners paid 65 percent of federal income taxes, while the bottom half of income earners paid 4.2 percent of the total federal income tax burden. After implementing the President's tax relief plan, the top 10 percent of income earners will pay 66 percent of all federal income taxes. More importantly, this tax bill reflects our optimism about America's future. Lowering income tax rates keeps the American Dream firmly within everyone's reach and helps people move up the economic ladder of success. We must have a tax code that encourages entrepreneurship and rewards hard work.

There is no downside to enacting this tax relief package. Today, Washington takes more from American taxpayers than it needs to run the government. That's not fair. And it isn't useful to pile up resources in Washington, where they will be spent to enlarge government. Individual Americans know better how to spend their money. The average family will keep $1,600 a year that they would otherwise have sent to Washington. That's enough for two monthly mortgage payments or a year of junior college tuition.

Evidence of an economic slowdown makes this tax relief all the more compelling. While the Fed has already acted to stem a downturn, I believe in a 'belts and suspenders' approach. Cutting income tax rates can help keep this downturn from taking root. If the economy does worsen, I don't want to look back and say "if only we had acted sooner." We have a surplus that should be returned to the American taxpayers. To the extent that getting it back to them sooner can help stave off a worsening of the economic slowdown, we should move forward immediately.

I look forward to working with Congress to give relief to every taxpayer, and to do it quickly.