[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992, Book I)]
[March 11, 1992]
[Pages 425-428]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks to the American Society of Association Executives

March 11, 1992
    Chairman Fondren, fellow Texan, thank you for that introduction. May 
I salute President Taylor and all the award winners here today. I heard 
a story about how when Lyndon Baines Johnson moved from the House to the 
Senate, Jake Pickle and Gene Fondren, then Texas State legislators, 
flipped a coin to decide who'd run for office and go to Washington. 
Well, Congressman Pickle's been calling for a rematch ever since. 
[Laughter] And this organization is very fortunate to have as its 
chairman a man of this strength and a man of this conviction.
    Robert Frost once wrote that an idea is a feat of association. Well, 
association is an idea as old as the American dream itself. Actually, de 
Tocqueville 150 years ago, more than that, had much to say about you. He 
said, ``At the head of some new undertaking in the United States you 
will be sure to find an association.'' Well, since that time, 
associations have played a vital role in our country's progress, and 
they continue that mission today, defining new frontiers and exploring 
new territory.
    Before I spoke, President Taylor handed out the Associations Advance 
America Awards to salute those who've found a way to help, to be, in 
fact, Points of Light. We hear too often about what's wrong in America. 
Well, this is what's right about America, and I salute you for what you 
are doing to help your communities. And again, I single out the awardees 
here who have starred in all of this.
    Of course, it's an election year. Independent of the current 
preoccupation with the hype and spin of the campaigns, there will remain 
the issues, the big things, the core concerns of every American that 
transcend political party or philosophical ideology: jobs, family, 
peace. They hold us together as a society. They are more than issues we 
bring to the next election; they are the legacy we must give to the next 
generation.
    And really, that's what I want to talk to you about today, not just 
the issues but our mood as a Nation and how we must act now if we're to 
change America for the better. Today, weighing most heavily in the 
hearts and on the minds of Americans is the state of our economy: jobs, 
preserving jobs, creating jobs. You in this room know best, virtually 
every industry and every profession in America. I don't have to tell you 
that people are worried about the future.
    Frankly, we've had tough economic times before, with higher 
unemployment but less national alarm. There's something different about 
today's times, something that touches

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a nerve. It strikes at the heart of what drives this country forward, 
our very confidence. It challenges our belief in ourselves.
    Let me give it to you straight: Unemployment is, what, 7.3 percent, 
about 9 million people out of a total work force of 126 million. During 
the 1982 recession, 10 years ago, unemployment hit almost 11 percent, a 
level not experienced since the Great Depression. So we ask ourselves, 
why is confidence today lower than at the depth of the 1982 recession? 
I've heard a lot of theories. Some say those TV analysts are the 
problem, rejoicing in bad news. Others say, ``Well, it's the 
politicians.'' I myself have noted that in a political year candidates 
often shower the voters with a message so bleak and hopeless, and at the 
same time they promise the rainbow if they're elected. That steady 
drizzle on the people's shoulders can wear away confidence and can wash 
away hope. So, it's easy to suppose that the constant drumbeat about 
what's wrong in America is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
    There may be some truth to that. But I think there are other reasons 
for our country's mood. People are feeling the way they do because 
America's got some real problems. They're serious, stubborn, national 
problems. But I think it would be unfair and certainly untrue to suggest 
to the American people that we can't overcome these problems, to imply 
that the United States of America is a country in decline. So today I 
want to talk about what we must do to meet the economic challenge that 
is before us, how we can build economic vitality into our communities, 
how we must ensure that our children see a future that is an improvement 
over the present.
    Sometimes it helps to take some of these enormous issues and bring 
them down to the personal level. So, when I talk about America's 
economic problems, this is what I mean: They are the worries of parents 
who have worked all their lives to get their kids through college, and 
those kids can't find work. They are found in discouraged families who 
can't afford to pay off anything but the interest on their credit cards 
month after month after month. They are the doubts of young people who 
believe that times will never be as good for them as they were for their 
parents. Now, these are the things that dim our hope and drain our 
confidence.
    American workers can see that technology and competition are 
changing the workplace faster than ever before. They can feel the heat, 
both at home and abroad. They know American industry is being challenged 
to keep up or step aside. I'm going to talk further about that later in 
the week out in Detroit, Michigan. We live in a competitive world, and 
people worry about our ability to compete.
    American homeowners--that's almost 70 million people--worry that the 
biggest asset they will ever have, their home, will lose its worth 
because real estate values have declined. The same is true of any 
business, of association, or charitable organization that owns property; 
they're concerned, too.
    Finally, as I discussed earlier this week with the League of 
Cities--and this one is fundamental--the deterioration of the American 
family is very, very serious, a root problem with tremendous 
ramifications for our economic well-being as a Nation.
    These are the problems, but the picture is not all gloom and doom. 
America, we're now the only superpower in the world. Millions of 
immigrants still look to us as the land of opportunity because we are. 
We're the undisputed leader of the world that has a propensity for much 
more peace. And our economy is poised for recovery. Inflation is down; 
interest rates, low. Inventories are low; exports, at record highs. But 
this recovery will come sooner and stronger only if we in Government can 
come together and act now.
    In January, as most of you know, I sent a message to the Congress, a 
plan of action. I felt it was a straightforward set of initiatives based 
upon tried and true economic realities. I proposed incentives for 
business to buy equipment, upgrade their plants, and start hiring again. 
I proposed a shot in the arm to get the housing industry back on its 
feet, lead us into economic recovery this spring. I proposed a cut on 
the capital gains.
    And then I offered a broader plan of action to keep us strong and 
economically vigorous in the years ahead. And that in-

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cluded, as some of you all may remember, education reform, we call it 
America 2000, to bring the skills of our future workers up to a standard 
of excellence. It included a clampdown on excessive regulations that 
hurt our competitiveness and reform of our legal system, so that 
Americans can spend more time innovating and less time litigating. And I 
proposed record Federal support, research and development support, to 
keep our Nation on the cutting edge of new technologies, new incentives 
for business investment. I proposed a forward-looking trade policy that 
demands foreign markets open up to high-quality American goods and 
services. And I reiterated our determination to hold the line on 
Government spending and oppose new taxes.
    Well, big issues, big challenges. This is the plan I proposed, and I 
set a deadline for the Congress to act. And while the Congress didn't 
have a comprehensive plan of its own, it didn't like the notion of a 
deadline. Instead, with great and earnest deliberation, the Congress 
fixated on how much more to tax the American people. And they would hike 
taxes by $100 billion. And that plan, in my view, destroys jobs, whereas 
the plan, the incentives I've outlined here create jobs. The last thing 
that this economy needs now is a massive tax increase. Any economist 
worth his salt will tell you that. But this is not new. Congress refuses 
routinely to take action to stimulate the economy, but insists on these 
job-destroying increases in taxes.
    Everyone knows that Government is too big and spends too much. 
Everyone knows that. And there's something else everyone knows, too: Too 
often Congress spends the money of its customer, the taxpayer, the wrong 
way, inefficiently, ineffectively, without accountability, and frankly, 
without compassion. So again, I would like to call on the Congress to 
pass my plan by March 20 for the good of this economy and the good of 
the American people. Now, I realize this all may sound like simply an 
election year blast at the Congress controlled by the opposition party. 
But it is not. We really need a new way of looking at things.
    And I have made proposals to bring back responsibility and 
accountability to a system answerable to no one but itself. They are 
based on some fundamental principles: Rely on what works. And when 
possible, decentralize. Institute choice to force competition into the 
system. Give people more power to make the big decisions in their lives. 
Make the system accountable. And understand the new realities of 
America's global position, that we must become more competitive. We are 
not going to retreat into the failed policies of uninvolvement, 
disengagement, isolation, protectionism. We cannot do that. That would 
shrink markets and throw people out of work in this country. Staying 
involved, then, is the fundamental answer on international trade. These 
are the important ways to reform and change our country.
    Chairman Fondren once said that ``Leadership requires 
forthrightness. Hidden agendas rarely, if ever, lead to progress and 
very often succeed in spoiling the brew.'' Well, I've never been very 
good at hiding an agenda, and I'm not about to try to start that now.
    The agenda has really been to create jobs, protect the family, and 
promote world peace. Too many times I run up against a stone wall, a 
partisan guard more determined to take sides than to move the country 
forward. So, March 20th will be an important date. And if the Congress 
enacts my action plan on the economy by then, the real beneficiaries 
will be the American people. If the Congress cannot act, or if it sends 
to me a bill that it knows today that I cannot and will not sign, I will 
take this case to the American people and say: The problem is the 
Congress. Send a new Congress to Washington next November. But before 
that, I want to see us move something forward. I want to see us get 
something done.
    And it's tough in an election year. I know that; I'm involved right 
up to my neck, just recovering from eight of these darn things 
yesterday. So, I'm not being unrealistic, but I think we still have time 
to set aside the politics and try to pass something that most economists 
agree--I think all economists agree--would stimulate this economy and 
get this country back to work again. In the meantime, I will act on my 
own in the interests of the American people.

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    I drew a line in the sand, Gene referred to it, a little over a year 
ago in the Gulf. When you look back, that wasn't an easy decision. But 
we kept our word, and we liberated a tiny country. And in the process, 
we sent the world, the whole world, a message. And the message was: 
Aggression will not stand. And that message is clearly understood. And 
because that message is so clearly understood, we have a newfound 
credibility all around, all around the world. Travel abroad, and find 
out that we are the United States, second to none.
    And so now, in a figurative stance, I've drawn a line in the sand 
again, right here in our own backyard. And I will keep my word again, 
and if we all do our part, we can ensure that our economy and our 
country get back on the right track.
    In the meantime, keep up the wonderful work that these associations 
do. Government can do a lot. I know I've got to do it better. I know 
that Congress has to do its work better. But it can never replace that 
thing that de Tocqueville found so amazing about this country, 
association, the propensity of one American to help another.
    And when I talk about Points of Light, sometimes my critics say, 
``Well, he's simply forgoing his responsibility. He's simply trying to 
lay off on the back of private citizens the responsibility of a 
Government.'' That's the farthest thing from my mind when I commend you 
and thank you for being Points of Light. Government can help. Government 
must help. Government must reach out a hand to those that are hurting. 
But it is the Points of Lights, it is the private sector, it is the 
associations that are going to make a difference in the lives of the men 
and women and, especially, the children of this country.
    So, may God bless you for your work. And thank you for letting me 
come back.

                    Note: The President spoke at 1:10 p.m. at the 
                        Washington Convention Center. In his remarks, he 
                        referred to Gene Fondren and R. William Taylor, 
                        chairman and president of the American Society 
                        of Association Executives.