We need a 21st Century revolution to reward work and strengthen families--
by giving every parent the tools to succeed at work and at the most
important work of all--raising their children. That means making sure that
every family has health care and the support to care for aging parents, the
tools to bring their children up right, and that no child grows up in
poverty.
From my first days as President, we have worked to give families better
access to better health care. In 1997, we passed the Children's Health
Insurance Program--CHIP--so that workers who don't have health care
coverage through their employers at least can get it for their children. So
far, we've enrolled 2 million children, and we're well on our way to our
goal of 5 million.
But there are still more than 40 million Americans without health
insurance, more than there were in 1993. Tonight I propose that we follow
Vice President Gore's suggestion to make low income parents eligible for
the insurance that covers their kids. Together with our children's
initiative, we can cover nearly one quarter of the uninsured in America.
Again, I ask you to let people between 55 and 65--the fastest growing
group of uninsured--buy into Medicare. And let's give them a tax credit to
make that choice an affordable one.
When the Baby Boomers retire, Medicare will be faced with caring for twice
as many of our citizens--and yet it is far from ready to do so. My
generation must not ask our children's generation to shoulder our burden.
We must strengthen and modernize Medicare now.
My budget includes a comprehensive plan to reform Medicare, to make it more
efficient and competitive. And it dedicates nearly $400 billion of our
budget surplus to keep Medicare solvent past 2025; and, at long last, to
give every senior a voluntary choice of affordable coverage for
prescription drugs.
Lifesaving drugs are an indispensable part of modern medicine. No one
creating a Medicare program today would even consider excluding coverage
for prescription drugs. Yet more than three in five seniors now lack
dependable drug coverage which can lengthen and enrich their lives.
Millions of older Americans who need prescription drugs the most pay the
highest prices for them.
In good conscience, we cannot let another year pass without extending to
all seniors the lifeline of affordable prescription drugs.
Record numbers of Americans are providing for aging or ailing loved ones at
home. Last year, I proposed a $1,000 tax credit for long-term care.
Frankly, that wasn't enough. This year, let's triple it to $3,000--and
this year, let's pass it.
And we must make needed investments to expand access to mental health care.
I want to thank the person who has led our efforts to break down the
barriers to the decent treatment of mental illness: Tipper Gore.
Taken together, these proposals would mark the largest investment in health
care in the 35 years since the creation of Medicare--a big step toward
assuring health care for all Americans, young and old.
We must also make investments that reward work and support families.
Nothing does that better than the Earned Income Tax Credit, the EITC. The
"E" in "EITC" is about earning; working; taking responsibility and being
rewarded for it. In my first Address to you, I asked Congress to greatly
expand this tax credit; and you did. As a result, in 1998 alone, the EITC
helped more than 4.3 million Americans work their way out of poverty and
toward the middle class--double the number in 1993.
Tonight, I propose another major expansion. We should reduce the marriage
penalty for the EITC, making sure it rewards marriage just as it rewards
work. And we should expand the tax credit for families with more than two
children to provide up to $1,100 more in tax relief.
We can't reward work and family unless men and women get equal pay for
equal work. The female unemployment rate is the lowest in 46 years. Yet
women still earn only about 75 cents for every dollar men earn. We must do
better by providing the resources to enforce present equal pay laws,
training more women for high-paying, high-tech jobs, and passing the
Paycheck Fairness Act.
Two-thirds of new jobs are in the suburbs, far away from many low-income
families. In the past two years, I have proposed and Congress has approved
110,000 new housing vouchers--rent subsidies to help working families live
closer to the workplace. This year, let us more than double that number. If
we want people to go to work, they have to be able to get to work.
Many working parents spend up to a quarter of their income on child care.
Last year, we helped parents provide child care for about two million
children. My child care initiative, along with funds already secured in
welfare reform, would make child care better, safer, and more affordable
for another 400,000 children.
For hard-pressed middle-income families, we should also expand the child
care tax credit. And we should take the next big step. We should make that
tax credit refundable for low-income families. For those making under
$30,000 a year, that could mean up to $2,400 for child-care costs. We all
say we're pro-work and pro-family. Passing this proposal would prove it.
Tens of millions of Americans live from paycheck to paycheck. As hard as
they work, they still don't have the opportunity to save. Too few can make
use of IRAs and 401-K retirement plans. We should do more to help working
families save and accumulate wealth. That's the idea behind so-called
Individual Development Accounts. Let's take that idea to a new level, with
Retirement Savings Accounts that enable every low- and moderate-income
family in America to save for retirement, a first home, a medical
emergency, or a college education. I propose to match their contributions,
however small, dollar for dollar, every year they save. And to give a major
new tax credit for any small business that provides a meaningful pension to
its workers.
Nearly one in three American children grows up in a home without a father.
These children are five times more likely to live in poverty than children
with both parents at home. Clearly, demanding and supporting responsible
fatherhood is critical to lifting all children out of poverty.
We have doubled child support collections since 1992, and I am proposing
tough new measures to hold still more fathers responsible. But we should
recognize that a lot of fathers want to do right by their children--and
need help to do it. Carlos Rosas of St. Paul, Minnesota, got that help. Now
he has a good job and he supports his son Ricardo. My budget will help
40,000 fathers make the choices Carlos did. And I thank him for being
here.
If there is any issue on which we can reach across party lines it is in our
common commitment to reward work and strengthen families. Thanks to
overwhelming bipartisan support from this Congress, we have improved foster
care, supported those who leave it when they turn eighteen, and
dramatically increased the number of foster children going to adoptive
homes. I thank you for that. Of course, I am especially grateful to the
person who has led our efforts from the beginning, and who has worked
tirelessly for children and families for thirty years now: my wife,
Hillary.
If we take all these steps, we will move a long way toward empowering
parents to succeed at home and at work and ensuring that no child is raised
in poverty. We can make these vital investments in health care, education
and support for working families--and still offer tax cuts to help pay for
college, for retirement, to care for aging parents and reduce the marriage
penalty--without forsaking the path of fiscal discipline that got us here.
Indeed, we must make these investments and tax cuts in the context of a
balanced budget that strengthens and extends the life of Social Security
and Medicare and pays down the national debt.