[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992, Book I)]
[May 27, 1992]
[Pages 827-833]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 827]]

Remarks and a Question-and-Answer Session With the Mount Paran Christian 
School Community in Marietta

May 27, 1992
    The President. May I simply start off by thanking you, sir, Pastor 
Rice. And Dr. Walker, of course, Dr. Heyman, Principal Susan King. And I 
understand there's a little overflow in the sanctuary; we'll greet them 
wherever they may be. And thank you for this warm welcome to this 
wonderful, wonderfully warm school environment. I know a little poster 
action went on over Memorial Day, and I see the tip of the iceberg. But 
thank you for the welcome.
    I would like to say to Pastor Rice, we are trying. We are trying, 
because we are committed to making American education the best in the 
world. And it's not there yet. We're not close to that yet, so we've got 
to keep on trying. I left the two great Bush family experts on education 
behind, regrettably. Barbara Bush, I think, is doing a superb job 
encouraging people to read to their kids, and that is fundamental. And 
we have an author in the family, our dog Millie. [Laughter] You may have 
read my tax returns, and you can tell who the breadwinner is in that 
family. The dog made 5 times as much as the President of the United 
States. [Laughter] I might point out that all of that money that Millie 
made in her book goes to Barbara's foundation on literacy, which I hope 
will benefit children across this country. I'm sure it will.
    Our America 2000 education crusade is not built on finding the 
answers in Washington, DC. It is built on encouraging a revolutionary 
approach to education, and that is where local communities put forward 
excellence. We believe that's right. We believe in parental choice. We 
believe that people should be free to choose public, private, religious 
schools. And our whole system, our whole approach to education is built 
on a concept of choice and actually revolution, not tinkering at the 
edges but revolutionizing American education at the public school level. 
You see, we've got the best college education in the world. When Yale's 
president announced his departure from Yale yesterday to go into some 
concepts similar to what we're talking about nationally, he pointed out 
that at the college level, choice makes State schools better and makes 
private schools better. The same thing will be true if this concept 
catches on nationally.
    Another point that we want to make is that one of the reasons I 
wanted to come here is to point up for the rest of the country what 
excellent teachers mean and what parental involvement in kids' education 
mean. I'm told by Dr. Walker and your able principal that parents are 
involved and that they care and that they read to the kids and that they 
see that the homework is done. So I would salute this school for some 
way inculcating into the parent this concept of what they do is vital to 
American education.
    The teachers, I'm told, here are excellent. I would recognize that 
your system here encourages that interaction between the kids and the 
teachers, not just in the classroom but by bringing in the parents for 
what some would call PTA activities or whatever. So I salute you for 
that, and I think you're setting a good example for other countries as 
well.
    Some parents are out there checking homework and turning off the TV. 
Well, that's a good thing because tomorrow there will be a new study 
announced by our Department of Education. And I might say I have great 
confidence in our Secretary of Education, Lamar Alexander. But this is 
the NAEP, the National Assessment of Education Progress. It's coming out 
with conclusions that will not be a surprise to the teachers, the 
officials, the administration, and the parents in this school.
    But the point explains that American students across the board spend 
too little time reading for pleasure or as part of their school work, 
that they rarely visit the library, and that they watch television on 
average more than 3 hours a day. Now, I think that these conclusions in 
this report 
will resonate around the country, and

[[Page 828]]

people are going to begin to say, ``Wait a minute, let's try it a 
different way. Maybe let's try it the Mount Paran way where we're going 
to have less of that and a little more homework emphasis.''
    But in any event, I came here to take a few questions and hopefully 
to get an answer or two. My dad, who was in politics many years ago, 
always liked the guy that got up at the forum like this and said, ``For 
your information, I'd like to ask this question.'' [Laughter] Well, I 
could use a little information, so don't be concerned if your question 
sounds a little bit like a lecture. So with no further ado, other than 
to once again say thank you from this grateful heart, I'd like to take 
your questions.
    The last point I will make, and I promise it's the last: From the 
minute I walked in here I get the distinct feeling that this place has a 
real sense of what we call family values. I think that sets a good 
example for the rest of the country as well.
    So, who's first?

Vouchers for Private Schools

    Q. Mr. President, in an effort to improve the quality of education 
in America, do you support any Government funding of private education?
    The President. Yes, I do believe that our system which calls for 
vouchers for private, public, or religious schools is the way to go. And 
I think it, incidentally, I think that will improve the school that is 
not chosen. That comes under what we call a concept of school choice, 
and I think that it will help those schools that are left behind. I 
think Minnesota will tell you that that's what happens when a school is 
chosen.
    I might point out as one who benefited from the GI bill a thousand 
years ago when I got out of the Navy in nineteen-forty--what the heck 
was it--[laughter]--1945, they said, ``Here's the GI bill. You can 
choose where you want to go. You can choose a private school. You can 
choose a State school.'' And no great damage was done to the 
Constitution. I think that same principle will inure to the benefit of 
the schools that are chosen and those that aren't. So yes, I do support 
that concept. Therein I have a big difference with the Court.
    You guys right in the middle, go ahead. You've got a question? Scoot 
right up here. While you're coming up, let's see.

Advice to Youth

    Q. What can a fifth grader do to help keep our country free and the 
greatest country in the world?
    The President. What kind of what?
    Q. What can a fifth grader do to keep----
    The President. A fifth grader? A fifth grader can study. I know 
you're not going to like the answer too much. [Laughter] A fifth grader 
can watch less than the national average of kids watching television. 
You can learn. You can listen to those around you who are helping you 
with your value structure, and I think you then find that through your 
studies and through your environment, you have the values that will help 
keep this country strong.
    I am an old-fashioned kind of guy. I think it's good when the people 
are patriotic and salute the flag and stand for the Pledge of Allegiance 
and say we are ``one Nation under God.'' I think a fifth grader learns 
those things and shares them with her schoolmates, and then it's a part 
of your life as you get older. You'll be standing for something; you 
believe in something, something good.
    What's your friend got? Are you a friend of hers?
    Q. Yes.
    The President. Are you?

Balanced Budget Amendment

    Q. Yes. I have a question. If God can run the world on 10 percent, 
why can't Government run the country on 30 percent? [Laughter]
    The President. That's a good question. You're talking about tithing? 
[Laughter] Well, that's a good question, and the answer is it's slightly 
more complicated than the question. [Laughter] But you know, there are 
some people--I assume that that's a pitch for 10 percent in taxes, but 
there are some that frankly can't afford it. I think under our system 
others manage to pitch in to help those who literally can't afford to 
pay a dime.
    But I take your point. I think there's a

[[Page 829]]

point behind the question, and that is that we've got to get our 
spending of our Government under control. Frankly, I think one way to do 
that is to now pass the balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. 
The liberals don't like it. The liberals do not like it, and they keep 
throwing up what I call the Washington Monument syndrome. That means if 
you have to cut somewhere, they'll point out, well, the first thing 
you've got to do is take down the Washington Monument or go after 
programs that everybody likes. That isn't what happens to get a balanced 
budget.
    What we need to do without getting too technical here is to control 
the growth of the mandatory programs. You don't have to cut them, but 
you have to control the growth of that part of the budget that's running 
out of control. I believe we can do it. I think a balanced budget 
amendment would discipline the Congress, and I think it would discipline 
the executive branch. It's an idea I've been for for a long, long time. 
I believe it's going to pass the Congress now. The people are not 
listening to these sophisticated arguments. They're saying, ``Do not 
saddle these young kids with more and more debt.'' And so we're going to 
try it.
    The guys in the back of the bus are getting not equal opportunity on 
these questions. So you might have to just come up to the front, or just 
if you put your hand up and you've got a loud voice, we'll try some back 
there. Go ahead.

Vouchers for Private Schools

    Q. Mr. President, when if ever can private school and Christian 
school parents ever expect to see some type of tax credit?
    The President. Well, I think what--we're frankly having a little 
difficulty getting this idea of vouchers, which is essentially a credit, 
through the Congress. But we're going to keep on because it is part of 
our America 2000 program. I think there's less resistance to it. But 
I'll be honest with you; I just don't know the answer as to when it's 
going to happen. I think our administration with our six education goals 
and our America 2000 program are on the right track in this regard. I'm 
going to keep pushing for it because I think it makes good sense.
    Anyway, yes, ma'am, way in the back.

School Choice

    Q. [Inaudible]
    The President. Where it's been tried, choice has been tried, I think 
the record shows that the school that is not chosen improves itself. 
That's the point that Benno Schmidt--I made this to a group earlier on--
who's leaving Yale University--I still think it's a great university, 
not just because I went there--but nevertheless, he's leaving to go into 
what I would call a model school program. His point was that choice 
makes those schools, private schools in higher education better, and the 
State schools are better as well because of the competition.
    So I don't look at it as a program that should diminish the quality 
of education in our very important public school system. We think the 
competition will enhance the--especially if we can strive to achieve our 
six education goals.
    So, that's the answer I would give you.

President's Domestic Agenda

    Q. What will you do after you win your election?
    The President. After I win? Well, you mean the very first thing? 
[Laughter] Take a little time off. [Laughter] No, but what I'll do is--
and I think I'll win; I really think so. It's funny out there right now. 
But there is so much we need to do in the country, and this is one of 
the prime things, better education. I feel strongly about it.
    You know--what grade are you in? Fifth grader. Well, it wasn't long 
ago that every fifth grader in this country went to bed from time to 
time very much concerned about what? Nuclear war. Now, thank God, 
because of my predecessor I think gets credit; other Presidents get 
credit; I hope I'll get a little; we've helped change the world. The 
changes are dramatic. There no longer is a Communist monolithic enemy. 
You don't probably worry about it. You don't have drills where you have 
to hide under your desk, wondering what would happen if there was a 
nuclear war. We've got a lot of blessings. We can thank our God for the 
blessings, the changes toward world peace.

[[Page 830]]

    So that's been some good that's happened. You don't hear much good 
these days, but that's something very good. What I'd like to do now is 
to take that energy and that emphasis that helped bring about that kind 
of change, after, you say after I'm elected, and then try to move 
forward in the field of anticrime; move forward in the field of 
education; move forward in the field of health reform--not to put in a 
socialized medicine program but to--where everyone has access to 
insurance through pooling and through various ways of doing it. I'd like 
to work for a society where we love each other more and sue each other 
less, and that means putting some caps on these liability claims.
    But there is so much to do as President. There are so many things to 
work on and so much to do. But those are just some of the priorities 
that I would try to work very hard on if I'm lucky enough to win.

Religion in Public Schools

    Q. Can there be Bible in public schools?
    The President. The answer to that is, I don't think so. I still 
favor voluntary prayer in the public schools. I believe in that, and I 
think there will be. [Inaudible]--in the Constitution. But prayer in 
school on a voluntary basis, I simply can't understand why it's not 
permitted. In the Senate, and heaven knows they need it--[laughter]--but 
in the Senate and in the House, they open with prayer every single day, 
and nobody complains about that.
    So my position is well-known, and I say this.
    Way up in the balcony. Yes, sir. You. I can hear you.

Abortion

    Q. I want to thank President Bush on behalf of the--[applause]. I'd 
like to know if you have any plans to eliminate abortion?
    The President. Well, yes, because we're--well, of course, this is a 
matter that is enshrined in law. My position is, as you say, is publicly 
stated. And I think the matter now is in the courts. And I do, I worry 
very much about the mounting numbers of abortions. One of the cases 
before the Supreme Court now relates to whether a parent should be 
notified if a child, 13-year-old kid, for example, is going to have an 
abortion. I feel, of course, a parent should be involved. But that 
matter is being adjudicated in the courts right now.
    But my position is clear. I think it's correct. And there's room for 
a lively debate out there; you get plenty of argument on it. But I come 
down on the--err, if you're going to err, err on the side of life. And 
that's the way I feel.

Local Control of Education

    Q. Mr. President, as an educator for 21 years, what can you do to 
help us to eliminate the enormous amount of paperwork involved in 
education so that we who want to be good and positive role models for 
kids can get on about that business?
    The President. Well, you touched a real nerve because we have now 
just redoubled our efforts to cut down on the regulatory burden, not 
just paperwork, which is enormous and where we've got to do better, but 
on a lot of excessive Government regulation that stifles many small 
businesses, for example.
    I know educators feel that they are swamped when you're dealing with 
Government funds on paperwork. But one of our approaches is to get away 
from these mandated programs where some subcommittee chairman, some old 
curmudgeon that might have been there forever, has some idea about the 
way it used to work 40 years ago and insists on saying, if you want 
Federal money--happens to be your money--but if you want Federal money, 
you've got to follow these certain guidelines and fill out 23 reports.
    Our whole approach on America 2000 is to let the decisions be made 
at the local level. And some schools might say, ``We want 8 hours a 
day;'' another might say ``6 days a week''; another might say ``11 
months a year''; another might say, ``Let's try the other way; back off 
and have less school time, more required homework.'' But let the 
American people decide that in their communities, as close to home as 
possible. That will take care of the problem you asked.
    What's this guy, what have you got?

[[Page 831]]

Family Values

    Q. President Bush, where do you stand on the issue of the 
traditional family unit?
    The President. The traditional family? Well, I guess everybody looks 
at his or her own experience. Barbara Bush and I have been blessed with 
growing up in what you might call a traditional family, a family where a 
mother and dad are there, and they give love to a child. So I am, I 
guess, what you call a family values man.
    But where you don't have that, where a kid, a little child comes 
into the world and doesn't have the father--the father may have run 
away, not even there to know the name of the child--somehow we then have 
to help that little kid. I told it earlier, every kid ought to have 
somebody that knows his name. It should be the parent, should be two 
parents. If not two parents, it ought to be one parent. If it can't be 
that, there's got to be a mentor. There's got to be somebody who cares, 
somebody who loves that child.
    And on traditional family values where you can have the welfare 
system so it does not encourage a husband and wife to live apart. We've 
got to change it. We've got to make it so these kinds of traditional 
values have a chance to work in this troubled society of ours.
    So I'm not ashamed about talking about family values and traditions 
of that nature. We'll keep on doing it, and I think it's beginning to 
resonate. Because as I told Dr. Walker and some others earlier, when the 
mayors of these cities, a lot of cities, came to see me, including Mayor 
Bradley of now-troubled Los Angeles, they said, ``The thing that 
concerns us most about trouble in the cities, the most single cause is 
the decline or defamation of the American family.'' We've got to find 
ways to strengthen it.

Haitian Migrants

    Q. Good evening, President Bush. My question is a little different 
from what we have been talking about this evening, about family values 
and education. It has to do with the fact that, as we educate our 
daughter here at Mount Paran, one of the things we try to do as parents 
is to try to also educate our daughter in light of what is going on in 
the world in terms of what she's being taught.
    My question has to do with the Haitian refugee situation. Earlier 
this week the Government announced a policy of repatriating Haitians 
back to Haiti. On the surface, Mr. President, that policy seems to run 
contrary to what America has stood for over the past couple hundred 
years, in that Americans opened their arms to all ethnic groups and 
different classes who sought to free themselves here in America from 
oppression in their homeland. Could you please explain why a policy was 
warranted to repatriate those Haitians?
    The President. Absolutely. And it's a very good question. The answer 
is this: Yes, the Statue of Liberty still stands, and we still open our 
arms to people that are politically oppressed. We cannot and, as long as 
the laws are on the book, I will not, because I've sworn to uphold the 
Constitution, open the doors to economic refugees all over the world. We 
can't do that.
    We're having a border crossing coming in from Mexico in 
unprecedented numbers. We're trying to, not to be mean about it, but 
we're trying to say, ``Listen, we've got to live by the laws of this 
land.''
    It is my understanding that the vast majority of the refugees--and 
they're being screened; they're now going to be screened at the Embassy; 
they were being screened at Guantanamo--are economic refugees. There was 
one guy that was thrown out twice and vowed as he left the Coast Guard 
cutter the second time, ``I'll be back in a week.'' There are merchants 
in Haiti today advertising almost like bounty, ``Pay us $500 and you can 
climb into my unsafe boat and set out across the ocean,'' knowing that 
out of compassion the United States Coast Guard would save them.
    We have to control our own immigration policy. We've got to do it 
with compassion. We've got to do it under the law, though. So what I'm 
saying to you is, we are not repatriating willfully people that are 
fleeing political oppression. Part of our policy on Haiti, and we're 
taking a leadership role in the OAS, is to return Mr. Aristide, who was 
democratically elected, to Haiti. We want him back there. And if we 
don't do that--I would 
say this, add this peripherally--if we

[[Page 832]]

don't do that, that sends a bad signal to those who might be plotting 
coups in other parts of our hemisphere, which, thank God, is almost 
totally democratic today.
    So our policy is, I think, the right policy. I think we do have to 
control--some accuse it, incidentally, of being a racist policy. I would 
vehemently deny, that is not the case, because these people have every 
right to be screened. We've accompanied this program now, so we will not 
be faced with the numbers of leaky boats, with giving additional food 
aid to Haiti. We will continue with our sanction program, and we will 
continue to try to get Mr. Aristide returned.
    Frankly, the numbers as of yesterday were down of the people 
fleeing. I still worry about it because some will get by and some will 
die on the sea because they are being--it's like a magnet to them, these 
advertisements that ``we'll get you to Guantanamo'' or ``we'll get you 
to Florida.'' We're bound by our laws to screen people properly, to 
protect people's rights. But we are not bound to have an open policy 
where everybody in economic deprivation around the world can come to the 
United States. I don't think that should be our policy, and it's not.
    So I worry about it. I worry about the appearance of it to some. But 
I'm glad you raised it because it's the first chance I've had since the 
new order to fully explain it. I am convinced that the people in Haiti 
are not being physically oppressed. We've got all kinds of ways to 
monitor that situation there. A returnee, for example, a guy that's 
taken from Guantanamo and sent back, I would not want on my conscience 
that that person having fled oppression, anyone that was fleeing 
oppression, would be victimized upon return.
    So I think I can say to you they're not being oppressed. Political 
refugees, where they're caught up in this political turmoil, are being 
screened and have been admitted and will continue to be admitted to the 
United States under our laws. But under the other part of our laws, 
economic refugees will have to come in under the quotas designated under 
the law.
    So there it is.

North American Free Trade Agreement

    Q. Mr. President, I'm an eighth grader, and my dad is concerned that 
American jobs will be going to Mexico and South America as a result of 
the American free trade policy. Will this happen?
    The President. Well, I think your dad, with all respect, and don't 
tell him this, is wrong. I happen to believe that a fair trade agreement 
will result in more American jobs. I happen to think--we're talking here 
about compassion and economics--I happen to think that if the free trade 
agreement helps Mexico, as well as helping the United States, it's a 
good thing.
    I don't believe in protection. I believe in fair trade. I believe 
the NAFTA, the North American free trade agreement, will result in 
better jobs and more jobs for the United States of America. If we're 
successful in this NAFTA agreement that your dad asked about and Canada 
stays in the deal, which I'm sure they will, we're talking about a $5 
trillion market. And this is enormous. And that means prosperity for 
lots of families.
    So please tell your father that we are not talking about exporting 
American jobs. We're talking about creating new American jobs. If in the 
process we create a more prosperous Mexico that can do more about its 
environment, can do more about its standard of living, so much the 
better. Mexico has a wonderful new President, Carlos Salinas, and he has 
done wonders with Mexico. I believe that this fair trade agreement not 
only is in his interest, but what I've got to look after, is it the 
interests of the United States of America. I am absolutely convinced 
that it is, because free trade is far better than turning inward to some 
kind of protection.
    I wish I had it on the tip of my tongue the numbers of jobs in 
Georgia that depend on American exports. It is enormous. And we ought to 
keep opening, knocking down barriers, like our GATT agreement and 
getting a successful conclusion to the Uruguay round, knocking down 
barriers to American trade that will come with the North American free 
trade agreement.
    So I am a free but fair trader. I think protection shrinks markets, 
and I think our policy will increase jobs and markets.

[[Page 833]]

    Listen, thank you all very, very much.

                    Note: The President spoke at 5:46 p.m. in the school 
                        gymnasium. In his remarks, he referred to Pastor 
                        Darrell Rice, chairman, Mount Paran Christian 
                        School Board, who acted as moderator for the 
                        session. A tape was not available for 
                        verification of the content of these remarks.