The Clinton Record
CREATING ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY AND SECURITY FOR ALL AMERICANS
* Signed the Economic Package, August 10, 1993.
* The economy created 7.7 million new jobs in the first 34 months of this Administration.
* Passed the largest deficit-cutting plan in history -- saving more than $1 trillion over seven years.
* On track for three consecutive years of deficit reduction -- for the first time since Harry Truman.
* Cut federal spending by $255 billion over 5 years.
* Made new tax cuts available to over 90% of small businesses.
* Unemployment has fallen from 7% when President Clinton took office to its current rate of 5.6%
* Lowest combined rate of unemployment and inflation since 1968.
* 1994 real GDP growth was the highest in a decade.
* Proposed a plan to balance the budget while protecting critical investments in education.
PROMOTING A FUTURE OF OPPORTUNITY
* Increased Head Start funding by almost $760 million.
* Passed the Student Loan Reform Act, August 10, 1993.
* Implemented the National Service Act, September 21, 1993.
* Signed the Goals 2000: Educate America Act, March 31, 1994.
* Enacted the School-to-Work Opportunities Act on May 4, 1994.
* Signed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act Reauthorization
MAKING COMMUNITIES AND SCHOOLS SAFE FOR OUR FAMILIES
* Passed the toughest most comprehensive Crime Bill ever, September 13, 1994
* Signed the Brady Bill, November 30, 1993.
* Enacted the Assault Weapons Ban as part of the Crime Bill.
* Put 100,000 new police on the street -- nearly 31,000 more officers have been funded.
* Signed the Violence Against Women Act as part of the Crime Bill.
* Signed the Safe and Drug-Free Schools Act, October 20, 1994.
* Issued Presidential Directive enforcing a "Zero Tolerance" gun policy in schools, October 22, 1994
* Submitted and fought for the most comprehensive Drug Control budget ever.
MAKING GOVERNMENT WORK BETTER AND COST LESS
* Already cut the Federal Workforce by over 200,000 -- on the way to lowest level in 30 years.
* Abolishing 16,000 pages of obsolete regulations and rewriting 31,000 more pages.
* $58 billion in savings are already in the bank. $46 billion in savings are still to come.
* Over 180 new recommendations will save $70 billion. Eliminated 284 federal advisory committees.
* Developed government-wide Customer Service Standards for the first time.
* Appointed the most diverse Cabinet and Administration in history.
* Signed the most important federal procurement act ever to streamline government purchasing.
* Reformed Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation to protect 8.5 million pensions.
* Signed the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act, March 22, 1995.
CREATING OPPORTUNITY IN AMERICA'S COMMUNITIES
* Created nine Economic Empowerment Zones and 95 Enterprise Communities.
* Signed the Community Development Banking Financial Institutions Act, Sept. 23, 1994.
* Signed the Interstate Banking Bill, September 29, 1994.
* Instituted the Defense Reinvestment and Conversion Initiative.
* Reformed the Community Reinvestment Act to focus on performance rather than paperwork.
* Made the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and Mortgage Revenue Bond Program permanent.
PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT AND OUR PUBLIC HEALTH
* Issued a new executive order to require polluters to disclose information to the public and expanded the public's right-to-know about toxic releases.
* Launched "reinventing environmental regulation" to cut red tape and better protect public health.
* Issued a new standard to cut pollution from chemical plants 90% by 1997.
* Signed executive orders to increase recycling and cut pollution in federal buildings.
* Signed the California Desert Protection Act, October 31, 1994.
* Issued a new standard to cut pollution from incinerators 95%.
* Introduced comprehensive Safe Drinking Water and Superfund reforms.
* Developed a plan to restore Florida's Everglades.
* Ended decades of conflict over the allocation of California Bay-Delta water.
PROMOTING HEALTH CARE FOR ALL AMERICANS
* Passed the Family and Medical Leave Act, February 5, 1993.
* Signed a comprehensive Child Immunization Plan.
* Revoked the Reagan/Bush restrictions on abortion counseling ("the gag rule"), abortions in military hospitals, "Mexico City" policy and RU-486 imports.
* Increased Ryan White CARE Act funding for outpatient AIDS care over 100% in first 3 budgets.
* Put the Women, Infants and Children Program (WIC) on a full-funding path.
* Increased funding 65% for breast cancer research.
* As part of the balanced budget plan, introduced health care reform initiative which strengthens Medicare and expands coverage.
* Proposed a $1.3 billion increase in veterans' benefits -- of which $1 billion will be directed to the VA health system to provide treatment for 43,000 more veterans.
PRESERVING AND STRENGTHENING OUR FAMILIES
* Expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit providing tax relief for 15 million working families.
* Introduced the Work and Responsibility Act - comprehensive welfare reform.
* Passed the Family Support and Preservation Program.
* Passed major funding increases for homeless programs in both Houses.
* Approved 35 waivers to states permitting comprehensive welfare reform demonstrations.
* Collected a record $10 billion in child support through enforcement in 1994.
* Signed the Social Security Independent Agency Act.
* Increased adoption and foster care funds by almost $600 million from 1994-1995.
RESTORING TRUST IN OUR GOVERNMENT
* Signed the National Voter Registration Act (Motor-Voter), May 20, 1993.
* Eliminated the tax deduction for lobbying expenses.
* Imposed strictest Administration ethics guidelines in history.
* Barred top officials from becoming foreign lobbyists after leaving government.
* Signed the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 -- the first overhaul of lobbying rules in 50 years.
* Fought for passage of and signed into law the Congressional Accountability Act, January 22, 1995.
* Fought for passage of line-item veto and campaign finance.
OPENING FOREIGN MARKETS TO AMERICAN GOODS
* Signed NAFTA into law, December 8, 1993, which will create hundreds of thousands of US jobs.
* Signed GATT into law, December 8, 1994, the largest trade agreement in history.
* Secured free-trade commitments from Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders.
* Hosted Summit of the Americas and agreed to negotiate a Free Trade Area of the Americas by 2005
* Developed National Export Strategy, eliminating outdated export controls on $35 billion in exports.
* Opened 15 different market sectors in Japan ranging from telecommunications procurement to rice.
* Reached historic agreement with Japan on opening its automotive market to billions of dollars worth of American cars and parts.
* Reached agreement with China to provide intellectual property rights protection for billions of dollars worth of U.S. exports.
AMERICAN LEADERSHIP
* Helped Israel and Jordan achieve an historic peace treaty and Israel and the Palestinians fulfill their historic accord.
* Contributed to an historic cease-fire in Northern Ireland.
* Restored democratically elected Haitian President Aristide to power; will continue to stop the flow of refugees to Florida.
* Undertook, with NATO allies and UN, military and diplomatic actions to alleviate the suffering and lead the effort to broker a comprehensive peace agreement in Bosnia.
* Russian nuclear missiles are no longer pointed at our cities.
* Persuaded Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan to give up the nuclear weapons left on their land when the Soviet Union collapsed.
* Agreed to framework with North Korea that freezes and leads to the eventual elimination of North Korea s dangerous nuclear program.
* Led the international effort to secure the indefinite and unconditional extension of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) further reducing the danger of nuclear proliferation around the world.
* Working to prevent nuclear weapons from ending up in the hands of terrorists or international criminals.
* Air-lifted more than half a ton of vulnerable, highly enriched uranium, enough to make dozens of nuclear bombs, from Kazakhstan to safe storage.
* Assisted South Africa's transition to democracy, providing support for elections and development.
* Bringing the nations of Europe closer:
-- Modernizing NATO;
-- Working with Russia;
-- Reforming the former Soviet Union economies
* Waging a tough counter-terrorism campaign with stronger laws and more training for law enforcement.
* Maintaining strong sanctions against states that sponsor terrorism and defy the rule of rule, such as Iran, Iraq, Libya and Sudan.
* Sent our planes, ships and troops to turn back a new Iraqi threat to the Persian Gulf.