U.S. House of Representatives
WASHINGTON, DC 20515
January 1997
Dear Taxpayer:
You have a right to know how your family's
money is being spent and the federal government's "bottom line." As one of your elected
representatives in Washington, I thought you might find the following ledger of revenues and expenditures for
Fiscal Year (FY) 1996 a helpful analysis to track spending and a useful snapshot of our efforts to rein in the
size of government.
There have been some successes. As you can see,
the FY 1996 budget deficit of $107 billion marks a 34 percent decrease from 1995. This $56 billion decline
brought the deficit down to its lowest level since 1981. The improvement shown by these figures is due in part
to congressional action to eliminate government waste and reform federal programs over the past two years.
Unfortunately the $5.2 trillion national debt
costs the federal government $250 billion in annual interest payments. Clearly we all have more work to do on
behalf of the next generation to continue our pursuit of good government that costs less and balances the
budget in the process. And, we can do it without raising taxes! The less money we spend in Washington, the more
we return to you and your family to educate your kids, save for the future and encourage jobs in the private
sector.
While this annual report highlights the
progress we've made, it also illustrates the challenges we still face to protect our children and grandchildren
from inheriting a crushing mountain of government debt. I encourage you to look over this report, share it with
friends and let me know if you find it informative.
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