    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2001, Book II)]
    [August 29, 2001]
    [Pages 1048-1051]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 1048]]

    Remarks at the American Legion Convention in San Antonio, Texas
    August 29, 2001

        Thank you all very much for that warm welcome. It's my honor to
    welcome you to my home State. We need the rain, so I appreciate you
    bringing it from all around the country. I want you to know, you're in a
    military town. The people of this city are always proud to honor those
    who serve and those who wear the uniform today.
        Mr. Mayor, thank you for your
    hospitality. I know on behalf of all the folks who have come to this
    convention, they thank you and your able staff, the good folks of San
    Antonio, for being such great hosts to this wonderful convention.
        It's an honor for San Antonio to host you. And it's a high honor for
    me to stand before my fellow Legionnaires as the Commander in Chief of
    the United States Military. And it was a higher honor to escort to this
    podium the Legion Auxiliary's Woman of the Year.
    You couldn't have made a finer choice.
        I want to thank Ray Smith, the national
    commander, for giving me a chance to come. And I want to thank him for
    his service. I want to thank Kristine West for
    her service, as well. I want to thank Bob Spanogle, the national adjutant. I want to thank the man who
    runs your Washington, DC, office, John Sommer, for working so closely with my administration. I want to
    welcome members of my Cabinet who are here, Tony Principi, Elaine Chao. And I
    understand that Henry Bonilla, the Congressman
    from this area, is here, and I want to say hello to Henry and his wife,
    Deborah.
        And finally, I want to introduce you all, if you haven't met him
    yet, to a fine man who's making a great Governor for Texas, my friend,
    the 47th Governor of the State of Texas, Rick Perry. Rick, you need to know, we've just come in from
    Crawford, Texas, and a lot of folks down there can't wait to vote for
    you.
        The American Legion was chartered in the years after World War I,
    just about the time that Dwight Eisenhower was a junior officer, living
    right here in San Antonio, Texas, at Fort Sam. You've seen wars and
    their aftermath. You've received millions into your ranks. You've seen
    our culture change for better and sometimes for worse. And yet, from
    that founding day in 1919 to this very day, the American Legion has
    never compromised its principles. As General Douglas MacArthur said at
    your 1951 convention, ``The American Legion has been invincibly faithful
    to God and to country.''
        Those of us honored to serve in high office have commitments of our
    own to our Nation's veterans. I made my own commitments last year, when
    we met in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Those commitments are now becoming
    policies. And the needs of our veterans are once again priorities of our
    Government.
        If you've worn the uniform, you know just how efficiently Government
    can sometimes work. When Government needed your services, it moved
    pretty fast. There weren't many delays, and that's exactly how
    Government ought to operate in repaying you for your service, in giving
    you the benefits you earned.
        Some of you are among the thousands of veterans whose claims have
    been delayed or, sadly enough, lost in the bureaucracy. At my direction,
    the Department of Veterans Affairs has begun to change the way it does
    business. And I put a good man in charge, my friend and your friend,
    Tony Principi. Tony is conducting a top-
    to-bottom review of the VA claims processing.
        Reform has begun, and we're starting where the need is greatest. At
    present, there are more than 600,000 pending applications. A full 53,000
    of them have been pending for more than a year. And many

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    were filed by veterans over the age of 70. Think about that: Here are
    thousands of men who served their country in Korea and World War II, or
    both. The last thing they need to hear from any Federal office are more
    routine excuses. That's wrong, and this administration is going to get
    it right. Under Secretary Principi,
    these claims are being given the highest priority. They will be brought
    to a fair resolution without excuses and without delay.
        I've also set the goal of improving cooperation between the VA and
    the Pentagon in providing care to those who served. By Executive order,
    I have created a task force to recommend major reforms in the delivery
    of health care to veterans and military retirees.
        Two distinguished Americans will lead the task force, Dr. Gail
    Wilensky, one of the Nation's leading
    authorities on health policy, and former Congressman Gerry
    Solomon, a long-time veterans advocate who
    served our Nation as a marine in the Korean conflict. I'm pleased to
    announce that Bob Spanogle of the American
    Legion has agreed and will serve on this task force to represent the
    American Legion.
        My administration is also serious about implementing the Veteran's
    Millennium Health Care Act, to ensure high-quality care. In my first
    budget, I asked Congress for an additional $1 billion for veteran
    benefits and services. And Secretary Principi recently announced 6 new centers for Parkinson's disease
    research and care and 41 new outpatient clinics in 28 States, all the
    better to serve our Nation's veterans.
        In the budget I submitted, veterans are a priority. My budgets will
    also discharge in full the most basic responsibility for the President,
    to provide for the security of the United States. In that
    responsibility, a President needs capable partners, and I have chosen
    well. I receive outstanding policy advice from Dr. Condoleezza
    Rice, Secretary of State Colin
    Powell. I'm so pleased that Don
    Rumsfeld is back for a second tour at the
    Pentagon. And the Nation has never had a finer Vice President than Dick
    Cheney. Well, maybe it's a tie.
        Last week in Crawford, I had the honor of selecting a new Chairman
    for the Joint Chiefs of Staff to replace a good and honorable man who
    served our Nation well, and that's General Hugh Shelton. I picked a native of Kansas City, Missouri, Air Force
    General Richard Myers, and as Vice
    Chairman, I picked the first marine ever, Pete Pace. I have assured both men and every man and woman serving
    today that the services will receive the support and means they need to
    operate.
        I recently signed a bill allocating over $2 billion in supplemental
    appropriations for military pay, benefits, and health care. In order to
    boost the morale of our military, it starts with taking care of our
    people.
        But there's more. This budget I submitted to Congress makes national
    defense a priority. I've asked Congress to provide the largest increase
    in military spending since Ronald Reagan was the President and Commander
    in Chief of the United States.
        And to meet any dangers, our administration will begin building the
    military of the future. We must and we will make major investments in
    research and development. And we are committed to defending America and
    our allies against ballistic missile attacks, against weapons of mass
    destruction held by rogue leaders in rogue nations that hate America,
    hate our values, and hate what we stand for.
        We have a clear eye on foreign policy. We recognize it's a dangerous
    world. I know this Nation still has enemies, and we cannot expect them
    to be idle. And that's why security is my first responsibility. And I
    will not permit any course that leaves America undefended.
        In all of these efforts, I hope to have the support of the good
    people in this room. The American Legion is one of the most respected
    institutions in our Nation and one of the most familiar. After all, on
    the main streets all across America, the Legion hall itself is a center
    of civic life, a

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    place where speeches, sometimes too long--[laughter]--are heard; it's
    where the Scout troops meet; it's where special events are celebrated.
        I recently had the honor of welcoming the leaders of tomorrow, those
    of Boys and Girls Nation, to the White House. And I applaud you for your
    efforts at promoting character in our young. And I also can't thank you
    enough for promoting baseball as the American pastime.
        With nearly 15,000 posts and close to 3 million members, the Legion
    helps make America better every single day. You're recognized not merely
    as an organization of interests but, as importantly, an organization of
    values. You represent an ethic of service. When you teach the values of
    honor and patriotism and personal responsibility, you teach by example.
    And when you speak of the American flag and the legal protection it
    deserves, you speak with authority. And you are right.
        You may have heard recently, this past month I've been outside of
    Washington. I set up a Western White House right up the road in
    Crawford, Texas. But I've been spending a lot of time traveling the
    heartland of America. And I'll do more traveling this fall, speaking
    about my agenda and the values behind it.
        I plan to speak about the values of service and good citizenship
    that sustains our country. That's where the greatness of America shines
    through, not in the halls of Government but in the character of our
    citizens.
        One of the important goals of my administration is to invigorate the
    spirit and involvement of our citizens, to make sure no one is left out
    of the great American Dream. I've created an Office of Faith-Based and
    Community Initiatives in the White House. And I'm asking Congress to
    join me in my efforts. It's time to bring new support and new resources
    to institutions that help people in need. When people of faith provide
    social services and the love that is needed, Government must welcome
    them with open arms and not discriminate faith-based programs in
    America.
        Oh, there's a lot we've got to get done this fall, and I'm looking
    forward to getting back to work. In the coming weeks, Congress will be
    going to what they call a conference committee on a Patients' Bill of
    Rights. I support a good bill that's already passed the House, one that
    serves patients first and doctors but one that will not encourage
    frivolous or junk lawsuits that could conceivably throw people off their
    health care insurance. I'm hopeful they'll move quickly and get a good
    bill on my desk.
        On Medicare, I've laid out commonsense principles for strengthening
    the program, including overdue--long-overdue coverage for prescription
    drugs in Medicare.
        As parents, grandparents, concerned citizens, all of you are
    concerned about the quality of our public schools, and I appreciate your
    involvement. We want the best for our children, and no question it
    begins with making sure every child is educated and making sure our
    public schools not only teach how to read and write and add and subtract
    but teach our children the values that have been sustained over a long
    period of time, the values necessary to become good citizens.
        There's a bill that passed the House; there's a bill that passed the
    Senate. When they get back, I hope they don't play politics with the
    education bill. They need to get it to my desk quickly, so I can sign it
    and reform the public schools all across America.
        And of course the Members will be coming back to consider the pieces
    of legislation as well as to make necessary spending decisions. So far
    this year, the signs have been pretty good about how they're going to
    spend your money. We got a bipartisan budget passed. That's an important
    guideline as how best to spend taxpayers' money.
        In record time, as well, Congress passed, I signed, and the mailman
    is now delivering the largest tax cut in a generation. Our economy began
    slowing down last year, and

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    that's bad news. And I'm deeply worried about the working families all
    across the country. According to today's GDP figures, the recovery is
    very slow in coming. But with the tax reduction already in place,
    Americans will have more of their own money to spend, to save and
    invest, the very things that make our economy grow. Tax relief is
    exactly the right time--thing, the right prescription at the right time
    for the American economy.
        Now, there are some who are second-guessing tax relief. You hear the
    voices beginning to filter out of their home States. I presume those who
    now oppose tax relief are for raising your taxes. That would tie an
    anchor on our economy, and I can assure you I won't allow it.
        In the next few weeks, Congress will face some critical choices and
    some old temptations. I'm asking them to let go of some of the old ways
    of doing business in Washington, DC. Most of you have been around long
    enough to know how the process works. Often the important things are put
    off to the last, and in the meantime, lots of new spending gets thrown
    in. Near the end of the process, suddenly we hear that Congress is about
    to go over the budget, so the items that have been saved for last are
    the ones most likely to get cut.
        And guess which--guess what usually has been saved for the last? The
    defense bill, leaving our national security at the mercy of budget games
    and last-minute cuts. This year, we might even see our administration's
    two highest priorities, education and national defense, being played off
    against each other.
        That's the old way of doing business, and it's time to stop it. We
    may have different agendas in Washington, but we all have the same basic
    obligations. We must start with the things that matter most to the
    future and security of our country. This time, and from this time
    forward, let us put education and national defense at the first of the
    line, not at the last.
        I return to Washington tomorrow, ready to make my case and ready to
    work with folks on both sides of the aisle. Dick Cheney and I didn't
    seek our offices so we could just settle in and mark time. We didn't
    come to rubber stamp the status quo. We came to challenge old
    assumptions and to provide new directions. We came to get something done
    for the country and to change the tone in our national discourse.
        I'm proud of the progress we have been making, yet there's a lot to
    do. And I realize the American people are counting on us. You have given
    me a perfect sendoff. I leave honored by your support and grateful for
    your service to our great land.
        Thank you all very much. May God bless.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:26 a.m. at the Henry B. Gonzalez
    Convention Center. In his remarks, he referred to Mayor Edward D. Garza
    of San Antonio; First Lady Laura Bush, 2001 recipient of the American
    Legion Auxiliary's Woman of the Year Award; Ray G. Smith, national
    commander, Bob Spanogle, national adjutant, and John F. Sommer,
    executive director, Washington office, the American Legion; Kristine
    West, national president, the American Legion Auxiliary; and Gov. Rick
    Perry of Texas. He also referred to Public Law No. 106-117, the Veterans
    Millennium Health Care and Benefits Act. The Executive order of May 28
    on the President's Task Force To Improve Health Care Delivery for Our
    Nation's Veterans was published in the Federal Register at 66 FR 29447.