    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2001, Book II)]
    [August 29, 2001]
    [Pages 1052-1054]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 1052]]

    Remarks at the Dedication of the Mission San Jose Grist Mill in
    San Antonio
    August 29, 2001

        Thank you very much. Sientese. Looks like the Federal drought relief
    program is working. [Laughter] It's wonderful to be here in San Antonio.
    I want to thank Boo and
    Nancy for inviting Laura and me to come down
    for this event. I want the people of the country to be able to get a
    sense for the majesty and history and tradition of one of the Nation's
    greatest cities, and that's San Antonio, Texas. We're honored to be here
    to celebrate the opening of the grist mill at the Mission San Jose.
        Mr. Mayor, thank you for your
    hospitality. I appreciate you riding over from the convention center in
    the limousine, bringing me up to date on the good works that the people
    of San Antonio. I'm impressed, and obviously the voters of San Antonio
    were impressed, too, when they elected this young leader to a high
    office.
        I'm honored to be traveling today with the National Parks Director,
    Fran Mainella, who I promoted--I pulled
    her out of the clutches of the Governor of Florida.
    [Laughter] She's going to do a fabulous job for the parks system in
    America. She's a great leader. I don't know if you've had a chance to
    meet Fran yet, but Fran, why don't you stand up. [Applause]
        Steve Whitesell is--represents
    thousands of hard-working Government employees, who work hard to make
    our Park System the best in the world. Steve's assigned here in San
    Antonio. Fran tells me he's doing a heck
    of a good job. If she says he's doing a good job, that's good enough for
    me. But Steve, I want to thank you, and on behalf of the--literally
    hundreds of people that work hard to make our Park System accessible and
    available for all Americans, thanks for what you do.
        Archbishop Flores, it's great to see
    you, sir. Thank you very much. Again, the
    Loefflers and the Haussers and all of you who
    are involved with this worthwhile project, I appreciate very much the
    chance to come and herald a couple of points.
        One is that historic preservation is an important part of
    government, because it heralds our national heritage. It's important for
    people to know where we've come from, to understand where we're going.
    In order to understand Texas and San Antonio, it's important to
    understand the missions and the role they played in our State's history.
        The missions not only were outposts of religion, which is an
    incredibly important part of our country; they were also the outposts of
    aid and comfort and help, which must always be a part of the fabric of
    America. I just went to the American Legion. I reminded people that the
    greatness of America is not in the halls of Government; it's in the
    hearts of our citizens. We're a compassionate Nation because we're
    compassionate people. And to me, the church and the mission represents
    that compassion. And we must preserve that which is a part of our
    national heritage. And so I want to thank the citizens of San Antonio
    for doing just that.
        And the second thing to herald here today is the private-public
    partnership that exists with Los Compadres, who have raised over $2.5
    million to provide support for the Park System here in San Antonio, to
    preserve the unique legacy of the missions and what they meant to the
    people from all walks of life. And so I want to thank the good folks.
    Fran tells me that what she is attempting to do is to rally what they
    call friends groups, groups such as Los Compadres, all across the
    country, to say to people that have got a stake in the National Park
    System in their neighborhood, do something about it. Follow the example
    of Los Compadres. Raise money to support

    [[Page 1053]]

    the good people that are working to make the Park System the best it can
    possibly be.
        So Laura and I are here to thank the citizens who understand the
    value of our heritage, understand the value of the mission system in San
    Antonio, and thank you for your generosity and vision and good work, not
    only on behalf of the people of Texas but on behalf of the millions of
    visitors who come to Texas to be able to understand what our State has
    been all about.
        And finally, it's important to be here because it's important for
    America to know the American story has been written and spoken in
    different languages. That the unique thing about America is our ability
    to welcome people from different backgrounds into our Nation and to be
    able to assimilate around common values, values of family and faith,
    values of community and hard work. That's what America's really all
    about.
        I'm getting ready to meet with Vicente Fox
    for my first state dinner next week. As you know, we've been in
    Crawford, Texas, on what they call a working vacation. [Laughter] Part
    of our working vacation has been to travel the Nation to talk about the
    values of the heartland. And one of the values of the heartland is
    family and faith and the willingness of people to help each other in
    need. And those values aren't just a part of one ethnic group in
    America. They're a part of every ethnic group in our country. And I
    can't wait to share my enthusiasm about our neighbors and our relations
    with Mexico with Vicente Fox. And these missions remind me about the
    important role that Mexico has played in the history, not only of Texas
    but our Nation.
        And like the values of neighborliness, those values must extend
    beyond the Rio Bravo as well. It's important to be neighbor--friendly
    neighbors with people across the street. It's important to help a
    neighbor in need in America. But it's also important to live--understand
    we live in an international neighborhood. And Mexico is our neighbor,
    and we want Mexico to prosper. We want our neighbor to do well.
        If you're in a neighborhood, don't you want all the neighborhoods--
    the neighbors to be successful? I do. And we want Mexico to be a
    successful country. And so we're--as we say in Texas, we're pulling for
    President Fox to succeed. We want the
    marketplace to take hold. We want people to find work close to home. But
    we understand that if you can make a living in America and you can't
    find a job in Mexico, family values don't stop at the southern border.
    People who share a desire to provide for their families, that exists all
    across the country and in our hemisphere. And so people are coming to
    work to provide food for their families. And that's why we want Mexico
    to succeed. It's in our national interest. It's in our national interest
    that relations are strong with our neighbor. Those are values that are
    important, not only at home but internationally. And so I look forward
    to sharing my enthusiasm about our relationship with our neighbor to our
    south.
        These missions remind me of the visit this coming week. It's an
    important visit, because good foreign policy starts in your own
    neighborhood. And I'm pleased to report, we've got good foreign policy
    with our neighbor to the south. We've never had a better relationship,
    and we'll continue to work to make sure our relationship with our
    friends from Mexico are as strong as possible.
        And the reason why it's important to preserve heritage is because it
    reminds us of the close link we've had with Mexico and the Hispanic
    culture for a long period of time. America is richer as a result of that
    culture.
        I want to thank you all for giving us a chance to come. I'm looking
    forward to breaking the proverbial ribbon on the old grist mill.
    [Laughter] Again, I want to thank the
    Loefflers. I want to thank Boo. And I want to thank all the good citizens.

    [[Page 1054]]

    ``Thank you, Mr. President, for our tax refund.'' [Laughter] Thank you
    for holding that sign. [Laughter] If you're looking for something to do
    with your refund, you got a little extra money, give it to Los
    Compadres.
        We're sure glad to be back in Texas. Our batteries are charged, and
    Laura and I are looking forward to going back to work tomorrow, to the
    Nation's Capital. But even though we've changed addresses, Texas will
    always be home.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:43 a.m. in front of Mission San Jose. In
    his remarks, he referred to Albert F. ``Boo'' Hausser, chairman, Los
    Compadres, and his wife, Meta; former Representative Tom Loeffler and
    his wife, Nancy; Mayor Edward D. Garza of San Antonio; Gov. Jeb Bush of
    Florida; Stephen F. Whitesell, superintendent, San Antonio Missions
    National Historical Park; Archbishop Patrick F. Flores, Archdiocese of
    San Antonio; and President Vicente Fox of Mexico.