    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2001, Book II)]
    [August 15, 2001]
    [Pages 984-989]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 984]]

    Remarks at a Dinner Honoring Senator Pete V. Domenici in Albuquerque
    August 15, 2001

        Thank you all very much for that warm New Mexican welcome. Gosh,
    we've had a great day in Albuquerque, haven't we, Pete? We've had a
    great day. It's really fun to travel with such a decent man around your
    important city. I'm really glad I came. No better way to end it than to
    urge the good folks of New Mexico to send this good man back to the
    United States Senate.
        I appreciate Congresswoman Heather Wilson
    for being here. We need to send her back, too, by the way. She's plenty
    capable. So is my friend Joe Skeen. I'm honored
    that Joe came up and worked today with us as well. I want to thank your
    Lieutenant Governor and all the State
    officials who joined us today.
        I particularly want to thank Bill Keleher
    and John Dendahl for their leadership of our
    party. I want to thank my friend Ken. Where are
    you, Kenny? Thank you so much for your leadership on this event, and
    thank you for your friendship. You've done a great job. Sherolyn
    Smith, Rick Alvidrez, I want to thank you all for setting up this event. And I
    want to thank each and every one of you for contributing to Pete's
    reelection. It's really important that you've done so.
        Like you, I can't believe anybody would dare run against him.
    [Laughter] But somebody might be foolish enough to--in which case, we
    need to send the message that when you get a good, decent man
    representing an important State, send him back in Washington; keep him
    in Washington.
        The thing I've learned about Pete Domenici, he's a man of great
    passion. He's a passionate person. He's passionate about subjects that
    are dear to his heart. He's a national leader--along with his
    beautiful wife--in mental health. It's an
    important issue. And by the way, we both married pretty darn well.
    [Laughter] I'm sorry my wife isn't here. She's
    holding down the fort in Crawford, Texas. I like to tell people that I
    love my new address, but I also love my home. It's important never to
    forget where you came from. I came from Texas. I will serve my time in
    Washington, and I'll return back to Texas.
        Pete's passionate on research. He's passionate about research in New
    Mexican laboratories. Trust me. [Laughter] He's been to the Oval Office
    a lot. [Laughter] By the way, it's important to have a Senator who can
    come into the Oval Office representing your State. You want a Senator
    who will have the President return his phone calls. He talks about
    making sure New Mexico stays on the leading edge of important research,
    and you've got a President who's listening to him, by the way.
        Pete is passionate about the budget. He's brought fiscal sanity to
    Washington, DC. You see, the tendency in Washington is to want to
    overspend. Sometimes people forget up there, they're not spending the
    Government's money; they're spending the people's money. And Pete is a
    fiscal watchdog for the taxpayers' money.
        Pete is passionate about his family. It's important to have a person
    in Washington, DC, who loves his family. As a matter of fact, there's
    nothing more important for America than family. Pete personifies family.
    Pete loves the people of New Mexico. He's passionate about the people of
    New Mexico, like he's passionate about the State of New Mexico.
        It's important to have a passionate American representing your
    State, but he's also more than that. He's a man of enormous dignity and
    integrity. And this Nation needs more leaders that set good examples for
    our young, like Pete Domenici.
        I've got a selfish reason for getting him back up there. I need his
    help. [Laughter]

    [[Page 985]]

    We're working on some important agenda items for the American people,
    and we're making good progress, but there is more to do.
        You know, when I went up to Washington, I was a little disturbed at
    the tone that was taking place. I can remember sitting in Austin, Texas,
    being perplexed and disturbed by the rancor and the bitterness that
    seemed to have constantly gripped our Nation's Capital. And I made a
    determined effort to go change the tone. We can disagree in Washington,
    but we should do so in a respectful way. We need to respect each other
    more. We need to hold up the American people more than we hold up our
    own political parties, it seems like to me, to get some things done. And
    we're making good progress.
        One of the areas where we're making good progress is the budget--it
    is to say to the American people through our budget, ``We're going to be
    responsible with your money.'' As Pete mentioned, we've inherited some
    problems. But what the heck, I like to solve problems. That's my job.
    And one of the problems we inherited was an economy that was sputtering
    along and slowing down. And one way to make sure that we kick-start our
    economy is to give people their money back. And so we campaigned on,
    argued for, and I had the honor of signing in the White House the
    largest tax reduction in a generation. It was necessary. And it's the
    right thing to do.
        You'll hear them screaming up in Washington, ``Oh, we're running out
    of money.'' Well, that's because they want to spend every single dime
    that ever gets up there. You'll hear people say, ``Well, the surplus is
    going away because of the tax cut.'' No, folks, the economy is slowing
    down, which means we have less projected money, and that's why we needed
    tax relief, money back to people who are going to help kick-start this
    economy.
        And I want to remind you of something. We still have the largest
    surplus--second largest surplus in the Nation's history. And we're still
    paying down more debt than ever paid down before in our Nation's
    history. And the tax relief plan was eminently fair.
        See, it used to be up there in Washington they'd say, ``Well, we're
    going to pick and choose the winners and losers when it came to tax
    relief. You get tax relief. You don't get tax relief.'' The attitude of
    Senator Domenici and myself and the members of the congressional
    delegation who are here said, ``If we're going to have tax relief, let's
    provide tax relief for everybody who pays taxes.'' And that's the fair
    way to do it. It's a responsible, fair tax program.
        We also sent a clear message to small-business owners and farmers
    and ranchers when we said, ``We need to get rid of the death tax.'' The
    death tax is unfair to people who have built up a business. The death
    tax is unfair to the small-business owner who wants to leave a business
    to a son or a daughter. The death tax is unfair because we're taxing
    entrepreneurs and producers twice in America. The Tax Code not only
    reduced all rates and provided tax rebates, it also got rid of the
    onerous death tax, which is going to make the code more fair and more
    responsible.
        Now, we're going to have a fight over the budget coming up. And
    fortunately, we've got a good man named Domenici who is going help fight
    off the big spenders. They will push for more money here, and they'll
    push for more money there. But I want to remind you, the growth in the
    budget that Pete passed out of the Senate, and was concurred by both the
    Senate and the House, provides responsible growth in our budget. And I
    can assure you, Mr. Chairman--or I wish would be Mr. Chairman--
    [laughter]--should be Mr. Chairman, and will be Mr. Chairman after next
    2002--and I want the Members of Congress to hear that once we set a
    budget we're going to stick by it. And if not, I'm going to use the veto
    pen of the President

    [[Page 986]]

    of the United States to keep fiscal sanity in Washington, DC.
        Today we had the pleasure of going to an elementary school, first
    day of school. Gosh, it was exhilarating to shake hands with the first
    graders and the second graders that were just showing up. Their mothers
    and dads were thrilled to get them back in school, it seemed like.
    [Laughter] The teachers were great. They were all excited. And my
    message to the folks assembled there was this: that education is a
    domestic priority of mine. I know it's one of Pete's, as well. It's so
    important we get it right in America that every child gets educated.
        We passed a good bill out of the House and a good bill out of the
    Senate. And I hope they don't play politics with it. They need to get
    the conference committee, get the bill resolved, and get it on my desk.
    And let me explain to you some of the principles involved in the
    education bill.
        First, it trusts the local folks to run the schools. I strongly
    believe in local control of our schools. I believe we need to pass more
    power and flexibility and authority out of Washington to the folks in
    Albuquerque, New Mexico. The bill does that.
        There's some wonderful programs in the bill. One of them is a
    reading initiative that my wife is all involved in, and I'm passionate
    about. I'll never forget the phrase of Phyllis Hunter in Houston, Texas.
    She stood up in front of a large crowd of people, and she said, ``You
    know, Governor''--and I was Governor then--she said, ``Governor, reading
    is the new civil right.'' I believe that. I believe reading is a civil
    right. I believe when you can learn to read, then you can learn, and
    then you can access the American Dream.
        The sad thing is, too many of our children can't read. And I intend
    to do something about it. Not only have we targeted money for diagnostic
    tools to make sure we determine whether or not young children have got
    problems that we correct early, before it's too late, we've got teacher-
    training money; we've got intervention money. But the core of the
    education bill is accountability. The core of the education bill says
    that if you receive any taxpayer's money, you must measure. You must
    show us whether or not children are reading and writing and adding and
    subtracting.
        Now, I know there's a lot of--oh, you hear all kinds of arguments
    about whether or not that should take place. Some will say, ``Well, you
    can't measure because it means there's too much Government.'' My
    attitude about that is, is that if we're spending taxpayers' money, it
    seems like we want to know whether or not it's working. It seems like it
    makes sense to ask the question, what are the results? And there's no
    more important place to ask, what are the results, than whether or not
    the children of the United States can read or write or add and subtract.
        And then there are those who say, on the accountability system, it
    is racist to test. Folks, I'm going to tell you as plainly as I can,
    it's racist not to test, because guess who gets left behind in a system
    where there's no accountability? It is so easy to quit on a child whose
    parents do not speak English as a first language. It's so easy to walk
    into a classroom full of the so-called hard-to-educate and say, ``Let's
    don't test. Let's just move people through.''
        We cannot have a system that doesn't hold each child as precious.
    And so the cornerstone of reform coming out of Washington, DC, is more
    money, focused money, but as well, the demand for strong accountability,
    so that we can praise the teachers and principals and superintendents
    who are getting it right but, as importantly, blow the whistle on
    failure when we find children trapped in schools that won't teach and
    won't change. There are no second-rate children in America and no
    second-rate dreams.
        Pete mentioned we're making progress in bringing some sanity to
    America when it comes to an energy policy. This country has drifted
    along without an energy policy. And we laid out a good, constructive
    plan.

    [[Page 987]]

    It's a plan that says, we can do a better job of conserving our
    resources. And the Federal Government is beginning to take a role. We're
    making sure that we purchase vampire-defeating devices. A vampire is a
    device like a charger for a telephone. When you plug it in a wall and
    your phone may not be in there but the charger is, it still eats a lot
    of electricity--or more than it should. Some entrepreneurs came along
    and invented a device that uses 7 times less energy. So we're going to
    start using those devices to set the example that we can do a better job
    of using technology to save.
        But California is the State that's got the best conservation record
    in the country, and yet, they ran out of energy. [Laughter] Now, one of
    the things they're doing is, they're building 12 more powerplants. And
    that's great, and our Government has helped them. We've expedited the
    permitting of the plants. Those plants are going to require natural gas
    to power them, and we've got to get the gas from somewhere. And so, on
    the one hand, we need better conservation. On the other hand, we need
    more exploration for the resources. I'd like us to be less dependent on
    foreign sources of energy. I think it's going to make our foreign policy
    a lot more--[applause].
        Washington has been struggling with what they call Patients' Bill of
    Rights for the last couple of sessions. I made up my mind we're going to
    get a good Patients' Bill of Rights out of the Congress, one that
    heralds the relationship between patient and doctor but one that doesn't
    encourage frivolous and junk lawsuits that will cause people to lose
    their health insurance. We got a good bill out of the House, a not-so-
    good bill out of the Senate. And I'm hopeful we can get--finally get a
    good Patients' Bill of Rights to begin meaningful reform of our health
    care system in America.
        The Vice President and I spent a lot of time in the campaign--and by
    the way, he's doing great. And what a heck of a selection I made. As he
    likes to put it, ``Who said those three electoral votes in Wyoming don't
    matter?'' [Laughter] What really matters, he's a steady hand. He's
    capable.
        We said we're going to make sure that our military remains strong
    and ready. In one of my trips overseas, I went to Kosovo, and I signed
    another pay raise for the troops. It's important to make sure those who
    wear the uniform are well paid, well housed, and well treated. We're
    doing a much better job in America of treating our folks right. We've
    got big budget increases in defense.
        But I also want you to know that ours is an administration that
    believes in vision, that there's got to be a plan. So I've asked
    Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld to develop
    a strategic vision for what our military ought to look like today and
    what it ought to look like tomorrow to keep the peace; how we can remain
    strong and ready this moment and, as importantly, how we can use
    technologies to devise a military that will be harder to find, more
    lethal when it moves, easier to move, and that will incorporate the new
    technologies so that we don't waste taxpayers' money when it comes to
    building the weapons systems of the future.
        One of the things that--as you've probably read about, is that I
    believe that, as we go into the 21st century, we need to have new
    strategic relations with some of our old enemies. I had some fascinating
    meetings with Vladimir Putin, the President
    of Russia. I told him in plain terms--I said, ``Mr. President, you don't
    have anything to fear from the United States. We're a peaceful nation.
    We don't view you as our enemy. The true threats facing the United
    States are threats from terrorist nations, nations that they call rogue
    nations, nations that are developing weapons of mass destruction that
    may be pointed at us, may be pointed at our friends the Israelis or
    other allies we have, to hold us hostage, conduct international
    blackmail. That's the

    [[Page 988]]

    true threat, Mr. Putin. And therefore, we need to get rid of those
    ancient treaties, codified during a time when we hated each other, so
    that America can develop the technologies and the defenses necessary to
    protect ourselves and our allies from the true threats of the 21st
    century.''
        The ABM Treaty is outmoded, outdated. It codified a hateful
    relationship that no longer exists. We need to move beyond the days of
    the cold war and free this great freedom-loving people to provide
    protections for freedom-loving people from all around the world by
    getting rid of the ABM Treaty once and for all.
        We have told our friends and allies around the world we will consult
    with them, and we will. And I told Mr. Putin,
    ``Come along with us.'' It's a chance to set up a new strategic
    relationship. And we'll see how it goes. I think we're making pretty
    good progress. My point to you is that we'll remain strong when it comes
    to our military and wise when it comes to our planning and ready when it
    comes to the true threats that face the American people as we head into
    the 21st century.
        And finally, I had a fantastic meeting today with members of the
    faith community here in New Mexico. Archbishop, thank you for being here today, sir. And I want to thank
    Pete for inviting folks to come and to hear me discuss the philosophy
    behind a Faith-Based/Community-Based Initiative.
        We're moving beyond the old welfare paradigm in America. I gave a
    speech at Notre Dame and talked about the fact that another Texas
    President gave a graduation speech and talked about a welfare help plan,
    and that was Lyndon Johnson, and the Great Society began. And then there
    was welfare reform signed by my predecessor that said, ``People must be
    independent in America, and you've got to work.'' And it had some
    successes; it really did. A lot of folks went from welfare to work, but
    there's still more work to do. There's a lot of people in our society
    who hurt, a lot of people who really have no hope. Gosh, I remember one
    of the times I was at a juvenile justice facility in Texas, and I was
    talking about the American Dream. A little fellow who had been
    incarcerated said, ``What does that mean? What is an American Dream?''
    He doesn't understand dreaming. He doesn't understand setting goals.
        There's a lot of hopelessness, lot of addiction, lot of people lost.
    And we've got to do something about it in America. We're too good a
    people to allow that to continue. But what Government cannot do is
    change hearts. Government can't inspire. We're good for law. We can
    spend money, but money isn't the only answer. In many cases, the lost
    soul needs somebody to say, ``I love you,'' or to put your arm around
    you and say, ``America is meant for you.'' We need mentors all across
    America saying to young children whose parents may be in prison, for
    example, ``I care about you. I want you to understand somebody cares.''
        And so one of the most important initiatives that we're discussing
    in Washington is how do we unleash the great passion and compassion of
    America. How do we unleash those who have heard the call to love a
    neighbor like they'd like to be loved themselves, those not inspired by
    Government necessarily but inspired by a higher calling. The people of
    faith who live in every neighborhood across America must not be feared
    by our Government, but energized and welcomed when it comes to healing
    those lost souls. It's a powerful initiative because it taps the great
    strength of America. And the great strength of America lies in the
    hearts and souls of our citizenry.
        I can't tell you what an honor it is to represent the people of this
    country. My dream is for us to be a more responsible nation, a nation
    when the moms and dads of the world understand their most important job
    is not their day job but the job of loving the children they happen to
    have

    [[Page 989]]

    brought into this world, and love them with all their hearts and all
    their souls.
        But a responsible nation also requires corporate America to be
    responsible. It requires all of us to be responsible to shepherd our
    resources well. And as importantly, it requires all of us to ask the
    question, if we see a neighbor in need, shall we not--shall we make sure
    we don't cross to the other side of the road? Shouldn't we as a
    responsible citizen help a neighbor and not expect Government to do so?
    Shouldn't we find out areas where we can help somebody who's crying out
    for help? And the answer is, in this country, absolutely. But
    responsible societies begin with responsible leaders.
        And that's why I'm so proud to support Pete Domenici for the United
    States Senate again. He understands responsibility. He lives it every
    single day. And my hope is that the good people of New Mexico don't make
    a terrible error. My hope is the good people of New Mexico send this
    good man back to Washington, DC, with a resounding victory.
        Thank you all for having me.

    Note: The President spoke at 6:05 p.m. at the Sheraton Old Town Hotel.
    In his remarks, he referred to Lt. Gov. Walter Bradley of New Mexico;
    Bill Keleher, campaign chairman, People for Pete Domenici; John Dendahl,
    chairman, Sherolyn Smith DeSantis, second vice chairman, and Ken
    Zangara, Bernalillo County chairman, Republican Party of New Mexico;
    Rick Alvidrez, board of directors member, Greater Albuquerque Chamber of
    Commerce; Nancy Domenici, wife of Senator Domenici; Archbishop Michael
    J. Sheehan, Archdiocese of Santa Fe, who gave the invocation; and
    Phyllis Hunter, consultant, Texas Reading Initiative.