    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2001, Book II)]
    [August 26, 2001]
    [Pages 1044-1046]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 1044]]

    Remarks at a Steelworkers Picnic in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania
    August 26, 2001

        The President. Thank you all very much. Governor, you don't look a day over 60. [Laughter]
        I appreciate my friend Tom Ridge. I really
    care for him a lot. He's a really decent man, and I know the people of
    Pennsylvania are going to miss him when he retires from the Governor's
    office. He's done a good job--a good, evenhanded fellow who, like me,
    married really well. [Laughter]
        I'm thrilled that my wife has traveled with
    me today. We came up from Crawford, Texas. I was wondering what that wet
    stuff coming out of the air was for a while. [Laughter]
        But I can't tell you how proud I am of Laura.
    When I married her, she was a public school librarian. [Applause]
    There's always one in every crowd. [Laughter] But like that public
    school librarian, she not only loves books; she loves children. And one
    of the things she is going to work with me on is to make sure that every
    child--I mean every child--in America gets a first-rate education by
    starting with making sure every child in America learns to read.
        Thank you for coming, Laura.
        We both grew up in Midland, Texas. She remembers me--I think
    she remembers me as a Little League baseball
    player, so she is somewhat in shock over the fact that I'll be inducted
    into the Little League Hall of Fame this evening. [Laughter]
        It's an honor to be here in Pennsylvania. I'm proud that two of my
    Cabinet officials are here. My longtime friend from Texas Don Evans--one thing about old Don, and even
    Leo will admit this, he'll answer the phone
    call from the people who work in the steel industry. When you call,
    he'll be on the other end of the line.
        Audience member. [Inaudible]
        The President. Come on.
        And Elaine Chao, I'm proud of her
    representing the working people of America in my Cabinet. She's smart;
    she's capable; and she brings a lot of dignity to her office as well.
    Thank you for being here, Elaine.
        I've enjoyed working with Senator Santorum
    and Melissa Hart and Bob Ney from Ohio. Every time I see them, they say, ``Steel--Mr.
    President, you must understand steel and its woes.'' You've got three
    great advocates for the steel industry and its workers in those three
    elected officials who took time out of their day to be here. Congress is
    on vacation; the country has never run better. [Laughter] But I
    appreciate them coming over to say hello.
        I want to thank Tom Usher and
    congratulate the folks at U.S. Steel for 100 years of productivity for
    America. I want to thank Leo. I was sitting
    there watching during the speeches; Leo was sitting there working the
    Secretary of Commerce the whole time.
    [Laughter] He never misses a moment to say what's on his mind, and I
    appreciate a straightforward fellow, a fellow who you know where he
    stands. And I was asking the folks at the table I was at, ``How is
    Leo doing?'' They said, ``We like him. He
    represents us well.'' And I appreciate your service, Leo, and we look
    forward to working with you to do what's right for the steelworkers and
    the steel industry of America.
        I got to say something about Ross. Where
    are you, Ross? There he is. He's my table host. Ross made sure I got
    through the line in a record time, 45 minutes. [Laughter] It's not that
    he stopped and ate every dish along the way, but he was gracious in
    letting me say hello to as many people as I could.
        I love people, and I love the American citizens. It doesn't matter
    whether you're Republican, Democrat--don't care about political parties.
    I love representing this

    [[Page 1045]]

    great country because it's a people full of good and decent, honorable
    folks.
        Ross told me he's been in power for 30
    years. Tell me how you do it, Ross. It's not because of your looks.
    [Laughter]
        Well, at any rate, thank you all for coming. I have been on what
    they call a working vacation. I've been at our place in Crawford, Texas,
    and then I've been traveling out of the place to go to what I call a
    heartland tour, which is really a way for me to herald the great values
    of our country.
        See, Washington passes laws, but it doesn't pass values legislation.
    Values exist in the hearts and souls of our citizens. And I am here to
    trumpet one of the great values of America. That's the enterprise of the
    American worker, the hard-working American citizens who make this
    economy go. And those are the steelworkers of America. I appreciate what
    you do for our country.
        I've had the honor of traveling the world. We're the envy of the
    world in many ways, and one reason why is because of our work ethic.
    People work hard in America, and they're not afraid to do so. And one of
    the reasons we're as strong as we are is because of the productivity
    based upon the hard-working American citizen. And I appreciate you for
    your work.
        There's another value I herald when I travel the country, and that's
    the value of family. I want to thank all the families who are here, the
    moms and dads who have brought their children out. I love the American
    family. And I understand how important family is to our country. I like
    to remind our fellow citizens, if you're a mom or a dad, the most
    important job you'll ever have is not going to take place inside this
    building; the most important job you'll ever have is to tell your
    children you love them with all your heart and show them you love them
    with all your mind and all your soul.
        We're a great land because of the values we hold dear. And there's
    another reason to get outside of Washington, because there's a lot of
    common sense outside of the Nation's Capital. And it makes common sense
    to be secure. One of my jobs as the Commander in Chief is to make sure
    our defenses are strong, and the Nation is secure. It's common sense to
    make sure that we have an energy policy that becomes less reliant upon
    foreign sources of energy. I want to appreciate and thank the U.S. Steel
    and its workers for a good conservation policy. That's part of a good
    energy policy. But the other part is to make sure we've got ample coal
    and natural gas, found right here in our own hemisphere, to fuel our own
    plants so our workers can have jobs, and we can have good product for
    the American people.
        It also makes sense not to be reliant--if you're the Commander in
    Chief, it makes sense, common sense, not to be heavily reliant upon
    materials such as steel. If you're worried about the security of the
    country and you become over-reliant upon foreign sources of steel, it
    can easily affect the capacity of our military to be well supplied.
    Steel is an important job issue; it's also an important national
    security issue. And that is why we took the actions we took in this
    administration.
        I'm upbeat, and my spirits are high. But I must confess I'm worried
    about the fact that our manufacturing sector in our economy is a lot
    slower than I would hope. As a matter of fact, our economy has grown at
    a paltry one percent for the last 12 months, and that worries me. It
    worries me, first and foremost, for the effect that's going to have on
    the families all across America. I worry about--I worry about our
    citizens who work. And we're taking action.
        We're paying down record amounts of debt to ease the pressure on
    interest rates. We've got a trade policy that's going to have a level
    playing field as its component. And the other thing we've done at the
    administrative level is we sent money back to the people who pay the
    bills in America.

    [[Page 1046]]

        We said that there's obviously a role for the Federal Government,
    and let's fund our priorities. Educating our children is a priority;
    national defense is a priority; helping people who cannot help
    themselves is a priority. But folks, when the economy slows down, it's
    time to understand how to get it started again. And one way to help is
    to give people their own money back.
        You see, there's a big debate in Washington about the money in
    Washington. Sometimes, folks up there lose sight about whose money it
    is. That money is not the Government's money; it's the people's money.
    And we did the right thing with sharing that money with the people who
    pay the bills.
        We've taken action. As you can see, this is an administration that,
    when we see a problem, we move. We don't stick our finger in the air
    trying to figure out which way the wind is blowing. I don't need a poll
    or focus group to tell me what to think. I do what I think is right for
    the American people. And we'll just let the political chips fall where
    they may. And the right thing to do was to cut the taxes.
        But really, the right thing for me to do is to travel our land, come
    to places like the Mon Valley, and thank you all very much for what you
    do. Thank you for your hard work. Thank you for loving your families.
    Thank you for helping a neighbor in need--thank you from the bottom of
    my heart for walking across the street when you see somebody in your
    neighborhood who needs a helping hand. Thank you for going to your
    places of worship and rallying the good faith and good charity inherent
    in programs all aimed at helping somebody help themselves.
        Now, this is a great land. It's a great land because we're blessed
    with the greatest people on the face of the Earth. It's my honor to be
    amongst such people today. Thank you for having me. May God bless you
    all, and may God bless America. Thank you all.

    Note: The President spoke at 3:05 p.m. at the Irvin Plant facility of
    U.S. Steel's Mon Valley Works. In his remarks, he referred to Gov. Tom
    Ridge of Pennsylvania; Leo W. Gerard, international president, and Ross
    McLellan, Local 2227 president, United Steelworkers of America; and
    Thomas J. Usher, chairman and chief executive officer, USX Corp.