For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
July 19, 2003
President's Radio Address
Audio
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Next week, the United States
Treasury will begin printing and mailing more than 25 million child tax
credit checks, putting over $12 billion back into the hands of American
families. These rebates are the result of the Jobs and Growth Act I
recently signed into law, which increases the child tax credit from
$600 to $1,000 per child. And because this new law reduced income tax
rates, businesses earlier this month lowered tax withholding for worker
paychecks. Now, those workers and their families have a lighter tax
bill and more take-home pay.
With the child tax credit rebates and the lower tax rates taking
effect, America's families will have more of their own money to make
purchases, pay their bills, save for their children's education and
invest in a new home or business. There are hopeful signs that our
actions are contributing to economic growth. Individual investors are
showing greater confidence, leading to a significant rise in the stock
market. And thanks to our efforts to reduce taxes on stock dividends,
dozens of major companies have announced plans to either increase their
existing dividend payout, or pay dividends for the first time, putting
billions of dollars in cash into shareholder's pockets.
Earlier this week, I met with leading private economists, who see a
faster rate of economic growth in the coming year-and-a-half. The U.S.
housing market is robust, strengthened by low mortgage rates and rising
after-tax incomes. Inflation is low, retail sales have been rising,
and productivity growth, the most important indicator of economic
strength, remains high.
My administration remains focused on faster economic growth that
will translate into more jobs. Now that Americans can keep more of
what they earn, we can expect to see rising demand for goods and
services. And as demand increases, companies will need more workers to
meet it.
We will continue to take action on a broad agenda for more growth
and jobs. We are pressing the Senate to join the House of
Representatives in passing an energy bill to assure stable and
affordable energy supplies. And we're pressing the Senate on
litigation reform, so small businesses and manufacturers can focus on
creating jobs instead of fighting frivolous lawsuits. I'm asking both
houses of Congress to create re-employment accounts for those seeking
jobs, so they can pay for job training and child care and other costs
of finding work.
Faster economic growth will bring the added benefit of higher
revenues for our government. And those new revenues, combined with
spending discipline in Washington, D.C., are the surest way to bring
down the deficit. My budget for fiscal year 2004 calls for a modest
increase in discretionary spending of only 4 percent, or about the same
increase as the average American household budget. I urge Congress to
make spending discipline a priority, so that we can cut the deficit in
half over the next five years.
Government does not create prosperity. Government can, however,
create the conditions that make prosperity possible. The Jobs and
Growth Act of 2003 was based on the fundamental faith in the energy and
creativity of the American people. With hard work and daily
determination, entrepreneurs and workers are moving this economy
forward. The American economy is headed in the right direction, and we
can be confident of better days ahead.
Thank you.
END
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