No, it means that the budget surplus in the years there was one was not applied to paying down the debt.
There are 2 parts to the National Debt. Public Debt and Intergovernmental Debt.
Public Debt + Intergovernmental Debt = National Debt
During the Clinton/Republican Congress years, there WAS a decrease in the PUBLIC Debt.
Public Debt represents the Treasuries that individuals and countries have purchased.
The excess Social Security payments(for example) are invested in special NON-NEGOTIABLE Treasuries. Once invested they become part of the intergovernmental debt.
OK, if the budget surplus was not applied to reducing debt as you are saying, where did it go? I am assuming the only other place it went was spent somehow. If true how can they claim a budget surplus when it was not used to reduce debt?