[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: GEORGE W. BUSH (2001, Book I)]
[April 5, 2001]
[Pages 370-372]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks at the United States Conference of Mayors National Summit on
Investment in the New American City
April 5, 2001
Brent, thank you very much for those kind
words. Mayor Morial, it's good to see you,
sir. Mayor Menino of the great city of Boston, I'm sure you're thrilled
with the Nomo no-hitter. [Laughter] I am pleased
to see my friend, the mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee; we went to college
together. Mayor Ashe, it's good to see you,
sir. Tom, thank you very much--Tom Cochran, who's worked hard for the mayors association. Mayor
Archer of the great city of Detroit is here
with us. Pat McCrory, it's good to see the
mayor of Charlotte.
I can't forget to say hello to my Mayor, the Mayor of Washington, DC, Mayor Williams. I tell you,
he is a--one of my first lunches was with the Mayor, and I'm impressed.
And I know the mayors who know him are impressed, as well. So Mayor,
thank you. There's a couple of potholes out back that I'd like to talk
to you about. [Laughter] I say that because I've always said the mayors
have one of the toughest jobs in America. After all, you are closest to
the people. You have to walk your neighborhoods and listen to the people
who you know say, ``Well, Mr. Mayor, it's good to see you; how about my
road?'' [Laughter] But Mayor, you're doing a great job.
I've got members of my team who are here: Cabinet Secretary
Mel Martinez--Mel, thank you, sir. Ruben
Barrales, who is running my Intergovernmental
Relations Office--thank you, Ruben. If Ruben doesn't return your phone
call, we've got an issue. [Laughter] He'll return them. And finally,
John DiIulio, who is running the Faith-Based
Office, and John, I appreciate your being here as well. And
Roy Bernardi--where's Roy? Hey, Roy, good to
see you. Thanks. Roy is the mayor of Syracuse, and he's coming here to
work in the administration.
I respect your work. You all are practical folks who solve problems,
and I'm honored
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that you're here. And thanks for bringing such good weather, too. I
think it's the most beautiful day we've had since I've been the
President of the United States, and the Rose Garden is a spectacular
place to welcome you. And it's my honor to do so.
Our cities are the testing ground for the American Dream. They're
places where young people go to begin their careers. They're places
where new immigrants arrive to look for work and a better life. They're
places where people of every background seek to fulfill the promise of
our country. When we look at our cities, we see our highest aspirations,
our incredible diversity, our greatest achievements, and our most
pressing challenges. Across America, in cities large and small, a
generation of bold and reforming mayors have restored safety to streets
and restored prosperity to our Nation's downtowns, and for that, our
country is grateful.
The continued renewal of our cities requires five commitments:
better education, broader homeownership, faster economic growth, easier
environmental cleanup, and stronger communities and charities. All of
these goals are reflected in the budget, which the Congress is now
debating.
Education gets the biggest percentage increase of any Department in
the budget that I submitted. My budget triples spending on school
reading programs in year one. We triple spending on preschool reading
programs in year one. Education reform costs money, and this
administration is willing to spend it. But money alone does not produce
reform, and that's why my plan emphasizes results and accountability.
Results matter to children; they matter to parents; and they should
matter to mayors. And I know they do.
Parents leave cities when they mistrust public schools. Parents stay
when they have confidence in the public school system. And a sure way
for a school to gain parents' confidence is to show them proven results
on a yearly test. We don't test to punish children; we test to help
them. In the same way, we don't test to punish urban schools; we test to
renew them. Our budget helps to bring high standards to every low-income
school in America. It focuses on early childhood programs. It increases
spending for Head Start, but it also encourages and invites innovation
so that no child is left behind.
Second, my budget promotes homeownership. We want to give as many
Americans as possible a stake in their neighborhood and a concern for
its future. Yet, the sad fact is 48 percent of Hispanic and African
American families--only 48 percent own their own homes. And we must do
better in our country. My administration has proposed a Renewing the
Dream tax credit to encourage investors to develop housing for low-
income families. This tax credit will help build 100,000 new homes in
low-income areas.
We also add to a new initiative called the American Dream
downpayment fund, to help low-income people with their downpayment on a
home of their own. We're putting $1 billion into the American Dream fund
over the next 5 years, and our goal is to make owners of 650,000 low-
income families. We'll bring the dignity and independence of
homeownership to more and more Americans.
Third, my budget is a growth budget for small business. It is the
dynamism of the entrepreneurs, many of them immigrants, that have
powered the revival of American cities. But entrepreneurs in urban
America, like entrepreneurs all over America, are generally
unincorporated businesses. They're generally Subchapter S's or sole
proprietorships and, therefore, pay taxes at the highest marginal rate.
As you know, I've submitted a plan that reduces all rates on all
taxpayers. And it's important for those in the United States Senate to
understand that when you drop the top rate, you encourage growth in
inner cities by encouraging entrepreneurial spirit to flourish. A drop
of the top rate really
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says to the urban enterprise, the small-business person in urban
America, you'll have more money to reinvest so you can employ more
people.
And then there's the issue of burdensome inheritance taxes. As
Robert Johnson of Black Entertainment Television argues, the death tax
and double taxation weighs heavily on minorities who are only beginning
to accumulate wealth. The Senate needs to hear that message. The Senate
needs to leave enough money in the proposed budget to not only reduce
all marginal rates but to eliminate the death tax, so that people who
build up assets are able to transfer them from one generation to the
next, regardless of a person's race.
Fourth, we must reform the laws that slow the cleanup of the
Nation's brownfields. As many as 450,000 industrial sites have been
abandoned. New users have been scared away by the threat of Superfund
regulation and litigation. It is time for new thinking. We will set high
environmental standards, and we will protect redevelopers who meet those
standards from Federal liability. We must cut the redtape that clogs the
brownfield cleanup revolving loan fund. And we'll permanently extend the
brownfield cleanup tax incentive that is scheduled to expire this year.
On the brownfields of yesterday, we will build the green industries of
tomorrow.
And finally, my budget aids community and faith-based groups that
help our cities take on the worst of our social problems. So I'm so
pleased that John DiIulio is here, who's
spearheading this effort. We support local efforts to fight illiteracy
and teen pregnancy and drug addiction. We promote mentoring programs,
especially for the large number of children with a parent in prison.
This summer I look forward to going to Philadelphia to join Mayor
John Street as he shows the Nation the
compassionate work his city's faith-based and community organizations
are doing. These organizations have a message of hope for all American
cities, and my budget has a message of hope for them. We will support
the caring acts of caring people and not turn them away because they are
inspired by the Bible or the Koran.
These are some of my priorities, and we fund them. We repay all the
available public debt in my budget. We establish a contingency fund for
future needs, and then we reduce taxes to accelerate our economy's
slowing growth. We reduce taxes, because we understand many in your
cities are struggling to get ahead. We must reduce taxes in order to
help pay for the high energy bills that many are now suffering. And we
must always remember that the Federal surplus is not the Government's
money. The Federal surplus is the people's money.
This is a budget that is reasonable, balanced, and sound. It's a
budget that is good for America's cities, which means it's a budget
that's good for America.
Thank you all for coming, and God bless.
Note: The President spoke at 3:18 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White
House. In his remarks, he referred to the following U.S. Conference of
Mayors officers: Mayor H. Brent Coles of Boise, ID, president; Mayor
Marc H. Morial of New Orleans, LA, vice president; Mayor Thomas M.
Menino of Boston, MA, advisory board chair; and J. Thomas Cochran,
executive director. He also referred to Boston Red Sox pitcher Hideo
Nomo; Mayor Victor H. Ashe of Knoxville, TN; Mayor Dennis W. Archer of
Detroit, MI; Mayor Patrick McCrory of Charlotte, NC; Mayor Anthony A.
Williams of Washington, DC; and Robert L. Johnson, chairman and chief
executive officer, BET Holdings, Inc.