[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: GEORGE W. BUSH (2001, Book I)]
[March 1, 2001]
[Pages 174-177]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at a Leadership Forum in Atlanta
March 1, 2001

    The President. Bill, thank you very much. And 
Lydia, thank you for the tour. This is a 
hospital, but it's also--it's a place full of love. And I was most 
touched by meeting the parents and the kids and the nurses and the docs, 
all of whom are working hard to save lives. I want to thank the moms who 
are here. Jim, thank you very much for your 
hospitality. And Tommy, I'll get to you in a 
minute. [Laughter]
    There's a lot of talk about budgets right now, and I'm here to talk 
about the budget. My job as the President is to submit a budget to the 
Congress and to set priorities, and one of the priorities that we've 
talked about is making sure the health care systems are funded. And Dr. 
Woods talked about our commitment--and it's a 
joint commitment--it's a commitment I'm confident the Congress will make 
with me to double the NIH funding by the year 2003.

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That's an important commitment of the Federal Government. You know more 
than me about how effective those dollars can be, and it's a wise use of 
Federal taxpayers' money. It means that the budget will be increased to 
28 billion a year by the year 2003.
    Secondly, I want to talk about two other aspects of health care 
before I get into how this all works. One is, we're going to double 
Medicare over the next 10 years from $216 billion to $549 billion. It's 
a significant increase of expenditures. It's $159 billion in new 
Medicare spending, above and beyond that which was projected. It means 
that our country is going to make a firm commitment to those who rely 
upon Medicare dollars, the elderly, the teaching hospitals. It is an 
important Federal commitment.
    By the way, with the expenditure of Medicare money, we also have got 
to have the courage to reform Medicare to make it a program where 
seniors have got more choices and more options from which to choose to 
match their particular needs. And all the reforms must insist that 
prescription drug coverage becomes an integral part of the Medicare 
package.
    And finally, an interesting opportunity we have in the country, as 
far as I'm concerned, is to increase funding for community health 
centers. I'd like to increase the number of community health centers 
from 3,000 to 4,200 over the next 5 years, doubling the number of people 
who will be served. Community health centers are good opportunities to 
take pressure off of hospital emergency rooms, for starters. They're 
opportunities for people to get primary care who are indigent poor, 
maybe newly arrived to America. It is a wise expenditure of taxpayers' 
money.
    A point I'm trying to make to the people of Georgia and will make 
around the country is, the first job of a President is to set 
priorities. Not only are these, the items I just talked about, 
priorities, so is public schools. It's a priority. As a matter of fact, 
the largest increase in my budget is for public education.
    However, I'm mindful of the fact that the Federal Government is only 
a partial provider of funds and should never run the schools. I strongly 
advocate and strongly will fight for local control of schools. One size 
does not fit all when it comes to the education of children.
    As an aside, one of the interesting reforms that I hope we get 
through the Congress says two things: One, we're going to provide 
flexibility to local folks to run the schools; and secondly, if you 
receive Federal money, you must measure. You must show us whether or not 
children are learning to read and write and add and subtract and, if 
not, correct.
    This is an interesting place to talk about diagnosing problems, 
right here in a hospital. Well, we need to do the same thing in 
education, particularly in the early years. We must diagnose whether or 
not a child has deficiencies in reading, for example, and solve them 
early--and solve them early. And that's the whole spirit of reform that 
we're proposing.
    I want to pay the military more, folks. In my budget, we increase 
military pay by a billion dollars over the current pay. But having met 
all these--and set aside all the payroll taxes for Social Security--
that's what we do, 2.6 trillion over 10 years will only be spent on 
Social Security. Now, that sounds like a lot of money, and it is, except 
we've got much more money than that available to figure out what to do 
with. And so $2 trillion will be spent to pay down debt over the next 10 
years.
    And people say, ``Well, you need--why not more? Why not 800 billion 
more, or maybe a trillion more?'' And the reason why is, because the 
debt doesn't come due over--the amount of debt that comes due in a 10-
year period is 2 trillion. There is no need to pay a premium to retire 
debt early. It would cost taxpayers more money, and that doesn't make 
any sense.

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    We still have money left. We've got pretty good cashflows at the 
Federal level. And what I want to do is set aside a trillion dollars for 
contingencies and with the remaining money, which amounts to 1.6 
trillion over 10 years, remember who paid the money in the first place.
    The point I want to make in this haven of love, a place of deep 
concern about children's health, is that we can fund priorities. If 
we're wise about how we budget money, we can set aside important 
priorities, and we can give people some money back. And I think that's 
really important. I know it's important at this moment in today's--in 
history, because, one, our economy is sputtering. And the money--if we 
can accelerate a tax relief plan to people like Tommy and Cynthia and everybody 
else up here, it will put more money in people's pockets, which will 
cause them to spend, which will cause the economy to get a second wind, 
we hope.
    Secondly, there are a lot of people paying higher energy bills than 
they paid in the past. It's like a tax. And I think it's wise--if we're 
able to prioritize and realize we have more money--to help people manage 
their own personal accounts, their own balance sheets. A lot of people 
have got consumer debt that they're worried about. And there's a lot of 
focus on national debt; I focus on the people's balance sheets, as well.
    And so I'm confident that not only can we meet our priorities but 
make sure a guy like Tommy Winfield and his 
family, who pay $1,380 of Federal income taxes, gets relief. In his 
case, he will end up paying no Federal income taxes under this plan. His 
tax burden will go from $1,380 to zero. Now, there are some 
sophisticates who will say that's not very much money, but it's plenty 
for him.
    Tommy Winfield. Mr. President, let them 
ask me.
    The President. Let the record note, this was not rehearsed. 
[Laughter]
    At any rate, I appreciate the chance to come and make my case for 
the budget--for the budget. And we had a great rally in De Kalb County, 
and it gave me an opportunity to remind people that if you're concerned 
about the budget and you want there to be fiscal sanity in Washington 
with priorities set and funded, write your Senators and your 
Congressmen.
    I have great faith in the people of America. And coming to this 
hospital and seeing and feeling the love on the floor we were on, 
knowing there's dedicated doctors, loving nurses, spending a lot of time 
trying to help kids, renews my faith in the greatness of America. I told 
the people earlier, the great strength of this country is not because of 
our Government; it is because of our people. And this hospital is a 
living example of what I'm talking about.
    So Dr. Woods, thank you for giving me a 
chance to come, and I'm looking forward to hearing from our other 
panelists.

[At this point, the forum proceeded.]

    The President. Thanks, Tommy, I 
appreciate you saying that. You triggered something in my mind when you 
said that. Again, I want everybody to understand we've set priorities 
and funded them. There's a fundamental issue at stake here. And that is, 
do you trust Tommy to spend his own money? 
That's really one of the issues, if you think about it.
    And I want the people of Georgia to hear loud and clear my plan 
trusts the Tommys of the world to make the decisions. You see, I think 
he--you can best decide what's best for your family, better than I can 
decide what's best for your family. And I shouldn't be trying to decide 
what's best for your family, after we meet some common needs in the 
country. Defense is a common need; health care, health research is a 
common need. Education is a common need.
    Again, I just want to repeat, please don't hope that the Federal 
Government is going to wave a magic wand and there will be

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educational excellence. As a matter of fact, it's less likely there will 
be educational excellence if there's power in Washington, DC, because 
the schools in Georgia are different in many ways from the issues that 
face Texas schools. And so we should not try to federalize education, 
but there are some things we can do by spending money wisely and 
insisting upon local control of schools and accountability.
    After those needs are met, you're the person I want spending your 
own money. As a matter of fact, it's not the Government's money; it's 
yours to begin with. And that's kind of what I'm trying to get changed, 
the whole attitude about the people's money. As a matter of fact, we're 
not giving you any money back. As a matter of fact, I am trying to 
advocate that we're not going to take it in the first place, so you get 
to keep it. You know, we're spending on tax cuts. Well, that's kind of 
contradictory language, because it's your money. And anyway, it's a 
mindset that I'm trying to get--trying to impress upon the people.
    And the best way to get this done, in my opinion, is to rally the 
will of the people. I've got great faith in the American people, and 
that's what this is all about. And so I'm so honored that you all are 
giving me a chance. It's an educational experience for me. It's a 
heartening experience for me, and it's a chance for me to move around 
the country, to get outside of Washington and sit face to face with real 
Americans who are working hard for their families, love their kids, love 
their country.
    And so it's an honor to be here, Bill. And 
thank you all very much, Lydia. Thanks 
to the moms. I thank you for your courage and your love, and God bless 
you all.
    Participant. Thank you, Mr. President. God bless America.
    The President. Thank you. Thanks for coming.

Note: The President spoke at 3:17 p.m. in the auditorium of Children's 
Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston. In his remarks, he referred to Bill 
Woods, chief medical officer, Lydia Gonzalez Ryan, clinical director, 
and Tommy Winfield, staff member, AFLAC Cancer and Blood Disorders 
Program, and Jim Tally, president and chief executive officer, 
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta; and Cynthia DeWild, whose son Joseph 
was a patient in the program.