[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 499]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   FISCAL YEAR 2003 BUDGET OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT--MESSAGE FROM THE 
          PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (H. DOC. NO. 107-159)

  The SPEAKER pro tempore laid before the House the following message 
from the President of the United States; which was read and, together 
with the accompanying papers, without objection, referred to the 
Committee on Appropriations and ordered to be printed:

To the Congress of the United States:
  Americans will never forget the murderous events of September 11, 
2001. They are for us what Pearl harbor was to an earlier generation of 
Americans: a terrible wrong and a call to action.
  With courage, unity, and purpose, we met the challenges of 2001. The 
budget for 2003 recognizes the new realities confronting our nation, 
and funds the war against terrorism and the defense of our homeland.
  The budget for 2003 is much more than a tabulation of numbers. It is 
a plan to fight a war we did not seek--but a war we are determined to 
win.
  In this war, our first priority must be the security of our homeland. 
My budget provides the resources to combat terrorism at home, to 
protect our people, and preserve our constitutional freedoms. Our new 
Office of Homeland Security will coordinate the efforts of the federal 
government, the 50 states, the territories, the District of Columbia, 
and hundreds of local governments: all to produce a comprehensive and 
far-reaching plan for securing America against terrorist attack.
  Next, America's military--which has fought so boldly and decisively 
in Afghanistan--must be strengthened still further, so it can act still 
more effectively to find, pursue, and destroy our enemies. The 2003 
Budget requests the biggest increase in defense spending in 20 years, 
to pay the cost of war and the price of transforming our Cold War 
military into a new 21st Century fighting force.
  We have priorities at home as well--restoring health to our economy 
above all. Our economy had begun to weaken over a year before September 
11th, but the terrorist attack dealt it another severe blow. This 
budget advances a bipartisan economic recovery plan that provides much 
more than greater unemployment benefits: it is a plan to speed the 
return of strong economic growth, to generate jobs, and to give 
unemployed Americans the dignity and security of a paycheck instead of 
an unemployment check.
  The plan also calls for maintaining low tax rates, freer trade, 
restraint in government spending, regulatory and tort reform, promoting 
a sound energy policy, and funding key priorities in education, health, 
and compassionate social programs.
  It is a bold plan--and it is matched by a bold agenda for government 
reform. From the beginning of my Administration, I have called for 
better management of the federal government. Now, with all the new 
demands on our resources, better management is needed more sorely than 
ever. Just as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 asks each local 
school to measure the education of our children, we must measure 
performance and demand results in federal government programs.
  Where government programs are succeeding, their efforts should be 
reinforced--and the 2003 Budget provides resources to do that. And when 
objective measures reveal that government programs are not succeeding, 
those programs should be reinvented, redirected, or retired.
  By curtailing unsuccessful programs and moderating the growth of 
spending in the rest of government, we can well afford to fight 
terrorism, take action to restore economic growth, and offer 
substantial increases in spending for improved performance at low-
income schools, key environmental programs, health care, science and 
technology research, and many other areas.
  We live in extraordinary times--but America is an extraordinary 
country. Americans have risen to every challenge they have faced in the 
past. Americans are rising again to the challenges of today. And once 
again, we will prevail.
                                                      George W. Bush.  
The White House, February 4, 2002.

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