Description:

Clinton Bill



Bill Clinton TLS Regarding Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, Written the Same Day the Bill Passed in the House of Representatives

 

1p TLS signed by sitting 42nd U.S. President Bill Clinton (born 1946) as "Bill" at bottom, with the words "You were great" added below in Clinton's hand. On cream watermarked stationery with embossed presidential seal at top, and "The White House / Washington" cobalt blue letterhead. Written in Washington, D.C. on May 27, 1993. A few isolated rust marks near top, and lightly wrinkled bottom edge, else near fine. 8.5" x 11".

 

President Clinton addressed this thank you note to Dan Rostenkowski (1928-2010), then Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and long-time Democratic Illinois Congressman.

 

"[typed] Dear Mr. Chairman:

 

I deeply appreciate your vote for our economic growth and deficit reduction plan. I know it wasn't easy to stand behind a plan that involved so many tough choices. That is what makes your vote such an important statement of courage and conviction.

 

Today, we began dealing with the financial deficit as well as the confidence deficit -- burdens which have been dragging down both our economy and our citizens' trust in government. I know this vote was difficult, but we all knew it had to be done.

 

I will do whatever I can to persuade and remind the American people that the tough choices we made were the right decisions. For years, we heard a lot of talk about the deficit; you decided to do something meaningful about it. Your vote will help ensure a more prosperous future for all Americans.

 

Thank you for your support.

 

Sincerely,

 

[signed] Bill

 

[inscribed] You were great."

 

"Today" was May 27, 1993, the very day Clinton's proposed economic plan, later known as the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, narrowly passed in the House of Representatives 219 to 213. The bill would later be passed by tiebreaking vote in the Senate. Approved by the 103rd Congress, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (or Public Law 103-66) was signed into law by President Clinton on August 10, 1993.

 

The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act had two objectives: to reduce the national deficit, and to galvanize the economy. On February 15, 1993, Clinton outlined his economic plan in a televised speech read in front of a joint session of Congress. He described the plan in the following terms:

 

"First, it shifts our emphasis in public and private spending from consumption to investment initially by jump-starting the economy in the short term and investing in our people, their jobs and their incomes over the long run. Second, it changes the rhetoric of the past into the actions of the present, by honoring work and families in every part of our public decision-making.  Third, it substantially reduces the Federal deficit, honestly and credibly, by using in the beginning the most conservative estimates of Government revenues, not as the Executive Branch has done so often in the past, using the most optimistic ones.  And finally, it seeks to earn the trust of the American people by paying for these plans first with cuts in Government waste and efficiency, second with cuts, not gimmicks, in Government spending, and by fairness, for a change, in the way additional burdens are borne."

 

The new law's immediate effects could be felt in adjusted individual and corporate tax rates, and increased taxes on Medicare, Social Security, and energy sources. Clinton had run on a tax-reducing campaign platform, and he was keenly aware that this new agenda seemed contradictory. Yet as he explained in his 2004 autobiography My Life, Clinton felt strongly that the economy could only be ameliorated by the passage of a strict law.

 

Clinton's correspondent was Dan Rostenowski, who had worked closely with Republican President Ronald Reagan and been appointed Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee in 1981. "Rosty" was one of the most influential politicians on Capitol Hill until the early 1990s, and one of Bill Clinton's biggest political supporters. On June 1, 1994, Rostenkowski was indicted by a federal grand jury on various counts including corruption, mail fraud, and obstruction of justice. In November of that year, he lost his congressional seat and was forced to retire. He later served a 15-month long prison sentence before he was officially pardoned by President Clinton on December 23, 2000.

 


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