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Skriven 2006-06-24 23:34:52 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (060624) for Sat, 2006 Jun 24
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President's Radio Address
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
June 24, 2006

President's Radio Address


ÿÿÿÿÿ Audio ÿÿÿÿÿ In Focus: Jobs & Economy ÿÿÿÿÿ

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This past week I traveled to Austria and
Hungary, where I had productive meetings with our European allies. We
discussed the challenges and opportunities we share, including the
importance of spreading prosperity at home and around the world. It's good
to be back home, and I'm pleased to report that our economy is strong,
growing, and delivering prosperity to more of our people.

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Let me give you a few facts. In the first quarter of 2006, our economy grew
at an impressive annual rate of 5.3 percent. Since August of 2003, America
has created more than 5.3 million new jobs, more than all 25 nations of the
European Union combined. Productivity is growing, and wages are beginning
to rise. And because taxes are low, workers are keeping more of the money
they earn.

Our economy is heading into the summer on the fast track, and one of the
best ways to keep our momentum going is to restrain spending in Washington,
D.C. Earlier this month, Congress took an important step by passing an
emergency spending bill that stayed within the strict spending limits I
set. The bill included necessary funding for high priorities, such as
equipping our military and rebuilding the Gulf Coast, and it showed
discipline in other areas. Congress deserves credit for meeting my spending
limits, and I was pleased to sign the emergency spending bill into law.

As Members of Congress show restraint on spending bills, they also need to
make reforms in the spending process. Under the current system, many
lawmakers are able to insert funding for pet projects into large spending
bills. This process is called earmarking, and it often results in
unnecessary spending. For example, a bill to fund our military can be
loaded up with unjustified earmarks and other spending that may not add to
our national security.

This leaves Members of Congress with two bad options -- they can either
vote against the whole bill, including all the worthwhile spending, or they
have to accept the whole bill, including the wasteful spending. The
President is left with the same dilemma -- either he has to veto the entire
bill or sign the bill and approve the unnecessary spending.

There's a smarter way to handle taxpayer dollars, and it begins with
granting the President a tool called the line-item veto. A line-item veto
would allow the President to remove wasteful spending from a bill while
preserving the rest of the legislation. Forty-three of our Nation's 50
governors have line-item veto authority, and they have used that authority
to remove needless spending from otherwise good bills.

Ten years ago, Members of Congress from both parties voted to grant
President Clinton the line-item veto. However, the Supreme Court ruled that
version of the line-item veto unconstitutional because it took too much
spending authority away from the Congress. I proposed a new version of the
line-item veto that fixes the problem and gives the President a clear and
constitutional way to cut wasteful spending. Under my proposal, the
President would identify a list of unnecessary items that should be removed
from a larger spending bill. Congress would then be required to hold a
prompt up-or-down vote on the list.

A line-item veto would give the President a way to insist on greater
discipline in the budget. A line-item veto would reduce the incentive for
Congress to spend wastefully because when lawmakers know their pet projects
will be held up to public scrutiny, they will be less likely to suggest
them in the first place. Most importantly, a line-item veto would benefit
American taxpayers by ensuring greater respect for their hard-earned
dollars.

This past Thursday, the House of Representatives passed a bill granting
line-item-veto authority. This was a victory for the taxpayers and for
spending restraint. I call on the Senate to show a bipartisan commitment to
fiscal discipline by passing the line-item veto so we can work together to
cut wasteful spending, reduce the deficit, and save money for American
taxpayers.

Thank you for listening.

END

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