11.   Projections are for the surpluses to grow this year.

12.   Republicans used the occasion to hammer Clinton for proposing a federal tax increase when taxes already are too high and a surplus is growing.

13.   Subtract hundreds of billions more for that purpose, and the surplus grows steadily smaller.

14.   The dollar climbed against most leading currencies after Japan said its trade surplus grew less than expected in August, reducing worries about trade strife.

15.   The surplus has grown rapidly in recent years despite several Chinese market-opening initiatives.

16.   Top U.S. officials, including Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, have also warned Japan not to let its trade surplus grow to buoy its fragile economy.

17.   Aides said that if the federal budget surplus grows even more than projected, McCain would increase the income range a proportional amount.

18.   Both imports and exports fell in December but the surplus grew because imports fell faster, the ministry said.

19.   But Greenspan said the last budget forecasts left by the Clinton administration underscored how big the surplus has grown.

20.   But Republicans argued that the surplus has grown too large to ignore tax law inequities such as the marriage penalty.