U.S. Rings Up $70B Surplus

For the first time in 29 years, there is a federal budget surplus. President Clinton hailed the occasion Wednesday with a White House ceremony attended by members of Congress, cabinet members, and business leaders.

Mr. Clinton said the budget surplus for fiscal 1998, which ends on Wednesday, would be about $70 billion, compared with a deficit of $21.9 billion in 1997. He gave his administration much of the credit for the surplus, while at the same time urging continued fiscal restraint.

"Tonight at midnight, America puts an end to three decades of deficit and launches a new era of balanced budgets and surpluses," Mr. Clinton said.

"It is a landmark achievement, indeed not only for those in this room who played a role in it, but for all the American people. And it will be a gift-giving achievement for many generations to come," he said.

The president pointed to Republicans to resist the temptation and not spend the surplus on tax cuts. Mr. Clinton wants to use the money to save the Social Security system.

In a variation on the deficit clocks of an earlier generation, on the stage behind Mr. Clinton was a digital display with the word "surplus" flashing constantly.

Not to be politically outflanked, especially with a month before the election, Republicans quickly claimed credit for the surplus. Rep. Bill Archer, R.-Texas, said it was because of the Republican Congress that the nation has a balance budget.

In an interview Tuesday, House Speaker Newt Gingrich blamed Mr. Clinton for criticizing the GOP for proposing a tax cut, while, at the same time, the president is seeking billions in spending for security of overseas embassies and other emergencies that would also come from the surplus. Gingrich called it "pure demagogic dishonesty."

The last federal surplus was in 1969 and totaled $3 billion. The budget shortfalls peaked at $290 billion in 1992 but have fallen every year since.

Unless the nation slips into a recession, analysts foresee an uninterrupted string of surpluses for at least the next decade.