The United States Federal Budget for Fiscal Year 1997, was a spending request

United States federal budget

The Budget of the United States Government is the President's proposal to the U.S. Congress which recommends funding levels for the next fiscal year, beginning October 1. Congressional decisions are governed by rules and legislation regarding the federal budget process...

 by President

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

 to fund government operations for October 1996-September 1997. Figures shown in the spending request do not reflect the actual appropriations for Fiscal Year 1997, which must be authorized by Congress

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

. The requested budget was submitted to Congress on February 5, 1996.

Overview

The stated objectives for President Clinton's FY1997 budget are to: (1) Balance the federal budget within seven years by making cuts in entitlements and discretionary spending while enacting modest tax cuts and (2) Maintaining growth while protecting senior citizens, middle-class families and children. The Clinton Administration projected a US$

United States dollar

The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

40 billion surplus by 2002.

A key aspect of the FY1997 budget is what was known as the "trigger". The trigger program essentially ensured that tax cuts after 2000 would end if the deficit was not at least US$20 billion below the Congressional Budget Office's estimate. Conversely, if the deficit was at least US$20 billion below CBO estimates then the tax cuts would continue and the money exceeding the US$20 estimate is used to reduce discretionary spending.

Total receipts

Estimated receipt

Receipt

A receipt is a written acknowledgment that a specified article or sum of money has been received as an exchange for goods or services. The receipt is evidence of purchase of the property or service obtained in the exchange.-Printed:...

s for fiscal year 1997 are $1.495 trillion, an increase of 4.6%.

• $645.1 billion - Individual income taxes
  Income tax in the United States
  In the United States, a tax is imposed on income by the Federal, most states, and many local governments. The income tax is determined by applying a tax rate, which may increase as income increases, to taxable income as defined. Individuals and corporations are directly taxable, and estates and...
  
  
• $536.2 billion - Social Security
  Social Security (United States)
  In the United States, Social Security refers to the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program.The original Social Security Act and the current version of the Act, as amended encompass several social welfare and social insurance programs...
  
   and other payroll tax
  Payroll tax
  Payroll tax generally refers to two different kinds of similar taxes. The first kind is a tax that employers are required to withhold from employees' wages, also known as withholding tax, pay-as-you-earn tax , or pay-as-you-go tax...
  
  
• $185 billion - Corporation income taxes
  Corporate tax in the United States
  Corporate tax is imposed in the United States at the Federal, most state, and some local levels on the income of entities treated for tax purposes as corporations. Federal tax rates on corporate taxable income vary from 15% to 35%. State and local taxes and rules vary by jurisdiction, though many...
  
  
• $59.6 billion - Excise taxes
• $20.5 billion - Customs
  Customs
  Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting and safeguarding customs duties and for controlling the flow of goods including animals, transports, personal effects and hazardous items in and out of a country...
  
   duties
  Duty (economics)
  In economics, a duty is a kind of tax, often associated with customs, a payment due to the revenue of a state, levied by force of law. It is a tax on certain items purchased abroad...
  
  
• $17.1 billion - Estate
  Inheritance tax
  An inheritance tax or estate tax is a levy paid by a person who inherits money or property or a tax on the estate of a person who has died...
  
   and gift tax
  Gift tax
  A gift tax is a tax imposed on the gratuitous transfer of ownership of property. The United States Internal Revenue Service says a gift is "Any transfer to an individual, either directly or indirectly, where full consideration is not received in return."When a taxable gift in the form of cash,...
  
  es
• $31.8 billion - Other

Total spending

The President's budget for FY1997 totals $1.635 trillion. Percentages in parentheses indicate estimated percentage change compared to 1996. This budget request is broken down by the following expenditures:

• Mandatory spending: $1.093 trillion (+XX.X%)
  • $364.8 billion (+X.X%) - Social Security
    Social Security (United States)
    In the United States, Social Security refers to the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program.The original Social Security Act and the current version of the Act, as amended encompass several social welfare and social insurance programs...
    
    
  • $187.4 billion (+X.X%) - Medicare
    Medicare (United States)
    Medicare is a social insurance program administered by the United States government, providing health insurance coverage to people who are aged 65 and over; to those who are under 65 and are permanently physically disabled or who have a congenital physical disability; or to those who meet other...
    
    
  • $105.6 billion (+XX.X%) - Medicaid
    Medicaid
    Medicaid is the United States health program for certain people and families with low incomes and resources. It is a means-tested program that is jointly funded by the state and federal governments, and is managed by the states. People served by Medicaid are U.S. citizens or legal permanent...
    
    
  • $103.9 billion (-XX%) - Means-tested entitlements
  • $-4.3 billion (-XX%) - Deposit Insurance
  • $138.1 billion (-X.X%) - Other mandatory programs
  • $-41 billion (+XX.X%) - Undistributed off-setting receipts
  • $238.5 billion (+XX.X%) - Interest on National Debt

• Discretionary spending: $542.3 billion (+1.1%)
  • $2.4 (0.1%)- Legislative Branch
  • $3.2 (0.3%) - The Judiciary
  • $0.2 (0.0%) - Executive Office of the President
  • $12.1 (-0.2%) - Presidential Appropriated Funds
  • $251.8 billion (-7.0%) - Department of Defense
    United States Department of Defense
    The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
    
     (including Overseas Contingency Operations)
  • $33.3 billion (+1.4%) - Department of Health and Human Services
    United States Department of Health and Human Services
    The United States Department of Health and Human Services is a Cabinet department of the United States government with the goal of protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is "Improving the health, safety, and well-being of America"...
    
    
  • $35.4 billion (-0.8%) - Department of Transportation
    United States Department of Transportation
    The United States Department of Transportation is a federal Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with transportation. It was established by an act of Congress on October 15, 1966, and began operation on April 1, 1967...
    
    
  • $19.1 billion (+0.4%) - Department of Veterans Affairs
    United States Department of Veterans Affairs
    The United States Department of Veterans Affairs is a government-run military veteran benefit system with Cabinet-level status. It is the United States government’s second largest department, after the United States Department of Defense...
    
    
  • $5.0 billion (0.0%) - Department of State
    United States Department of State
    The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
    
     and Other International Programs
  • $33.2 billion (+3.0%) - Department of Housing and Urban Development
    United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
    The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, also known as HUD, is a Cabinet department in the Executive branch of the United States federal government...
    
    
  • $25.0 billion (0.0%) - Department of Education
    United States Department of Education
    The United States Department of Education, also referred to as ED or the ED for Education Department, is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government...
    
    
  • $16.7 billion (-0.1%) - Department of Energy
    United States Department of Energy
    The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
    
    
  • $15.3 billion (-0.4%) - Department of Agriculture
    United States Department of Agriculture
    The United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...
    
    
  • $14.9 billion (+2.9%) - Department of Justice
    United States Department of Justice
    The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
    
    
  • $13.7 billion (-0.5%) - National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  • $4.1 billion (+0.2%) - Department of Commerce
    United States Department of Commerce
    The United States Department of Commerce is the Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with promoting economic growth. It was originally created as the United States Department of Commerce and Labor on February 14, 1903...
    
    
  • $10.2 billion (0.0%) - Department of Labor
    United States Department of Labor
    The United States Department of Labor is a Cabinet department of the United States government responsible for occupational safety, wage and hour standards, unemployment insurance benefits, re-employment services, and some economic statistics. Many U.S. states also have such departments. The...
    
    
  • $11.3 billion (+0.8%) - Department of the Treasury
    United States Department of the Treasury
    The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...
    
    
  • $7.3 billion (0.0%) - Department of the Interior
    United States Department of the Interior
    The United States Department of the Interior is the United States federal executive department of the U.S. government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land and natural resources, and the administration of programs relating to Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native...
    
    
  • $6.7 billion (+0.1%) - Environmental Protection Agency
    United States Environmental Protection Agency
    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...
    
    
  • $5.4 billion (+0.5%) - Social Security Administration
    Social Security Administration
    The United States Social Security Administration is an independent agency of the United States federal government that administers Social Security, a social insurance program consisting of retirement, disability, and survivors' benefits...
    
    
  • $0.8 billion (-0.2%) - Small Business Administration
  • $0.5 billion (+0.1%) - General Services Administration
  • $0.2 billion (0.0%) - Office of Personnel Management
  • $14.0 billion (0.0%) - Other Agencies
  • $0.5 billion - Other programs