Accomplishments

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2000 State of the Union Address: Accomplishments

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Clinton-Gore Administration Accomplishments:
1993 – 2000

ECONOMY: Nearing the Longest Economic Expansion in U.S. History
Sustained the longest peacetime economic expansion in history creating over 20 million jobs and producing the lowest unemployment rate in 30 years, the lowest poverty rate in 20 years, and the highest homeownership rate on record. Read More.

BUDGET: Restoring Fiscal Discipline, Replacing Decades of Budget Deficits with Surpluses
Eliminated the $290 billion budget deficit, produced back to back surpluses and paid off over $140 billion of the national debt. This resulted in lower interest rates on mortgages and car loans – an effective tax cut of $2,000 for a family with a $100,000 mortgage. Read More.

GLOBAL AFFAIRS: Leading Global Efforts to Promote Peace, Democracy and Human Rights
Reversed ethnic cleansing in Kosovo by leading NATO alliance to victory and returning nearly 1 million refugees to their homes. The President also worked to broker peace in the Middle East, bring peace to Bosnia, restore democracy to Haiti, and end hostilities in Northern Ireland. Read More.

WELFARE: Moving Millions of Americans from Welfare to Work
President Clinton kept his promise to reform the welfare system by supporting work and responsibility, moving millions to work--1.3 million in 1998 alone, reducing the welfare rolls by more than half to the lowest level in 30 years, and nearly doubling child support collections. Read More.

CRIME: Reducing Crime Rates to the Lowest Level in a Generation
Passed the Brady Law to stop nearly half a million felons, fugitives, and domestic abusers from getting guns. Enacted a tough crime bill that funded 100,000 community police officers and banned assault weapons--helping to reduce the overall crime rate for the seventh year in a row, the longest consecutive decline ever recorded. Read More.

COLLEGE OPPORTUNITY: Enacting the Largest Expansion of College Opportunity Since the GI Bill
Created new options to pay for college, such as HOPE Scholarships and AmeriCorps, opening the doors of college to all Americans. Read More.

EDUCATION: Setting High Standards and Providing Historic New Investment Our Schools
The President enacted an initiative to hire 100,000 quality teachers to reduce class size; slots for 200,000 new Head Start students; after school and summer school programs; GEAR-UP college preparation opportunities; Internet connections for America's classrooms; and strong leadership that resulted in higher standards for practically every American student and school. Read More.

HEALTH CARE: Improving Our Nation's Health
Strengthened Medicare by adding preventive benefits, cracking down on fraud and waste and extending the life of the Trust Fund from 1999 to 2015. Enacted reforms to prevent people from losing their health insurance when changing jobs or being denied coverage due to pre-existing conditions, and to allow people with disabilities to work without losing their health coverage. Raised childhood immunization rates to all time high and provided health coverage to millions of uninsured children. Read More.

ENVIRONMENT: Proving You Can Grow the Economy and Protect Our Environment
Cleaned over 500 toxic waste dumps, improved air quality by setting the toughest smog and soot standards ever and protected tens of millions of acres of public lands. Read More.

WORKING FAMILIES: Helping Americans Balance Work and Family
Won important victories for children and families like passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act, targeted middle class tax cuts, an increase in the minimum wage and expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit. Read More.

TRADE: Expanding Trade to Create Jobs and Strengthen Our Economy
Concluded more than 270 market opening agreements. Opening foreign markets has contributed to the 62 percent increase in American exports since 1992. Read More.

REFORM: Doing all of This with a Smaller Government that Works Better for Less
Under the leadership of Vice President Gore's National Performance Review, this administration has eliminated over 16,000 pages of federal regulations and reduced the federal workforce by 375,000 federal employees since 1993. Read More.

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