During fiscal year 2000, the government reduced its publicly held debt by $223 billion - the largest one-year debt pay down in American history. FY 2001 was the fourth consecutive year of debt reduction, bringing the four-year total to $453 billion. The public debt was $2.9 trillion lower in 2001 than was projected in 1993. Debt reduction brings real benefits for the American people because less borrowing by the federal government means lower interest rates for other borrowers. Thanks to lower interest rates, in 1999, for example, a family with a home mortgage of $100,000 paid roughly $2,000 per year less in mortgage payments, as well as reduced payments on car loans and student loans. Under President Clinton’s plan, the U.S. was on track to eliminate the nation’s publicly held debt by 2012 for the first time since Andrew Jackson was President.