    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2001, Book II)]
    [September 3, 2001]
    [Pages 1064-1067]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Departure From Green Bay, Wisconsin
    September 3, 2001

        Happy Labor Day. Thank you all for coming out to say hello. Every
    time I've come to Wisconsin, I've been greeted by the friendliest folks
    that I've ever met. I'm so honored that you would take time out of your
    Labor Day celebrations to come and say hello to Laura and me. I look
    forward to saying hello to you after I give you a couple of remarks.
        First, let me say something about your Governor. I appreciate so very much his hospitality. I know you
    appreciate his leadership. You've got a good one as Governor of
    Wisconsin, and make sure you send him back here in 2 years' time. And
    like me, he married well. [Laughter] We're honored to be here with the
    first lady of Wisconsin.
        And of course, I'm honored to be traveling with the First Lady of the United States. I'm really proud of the job that
    Laura is doing. She's spending a lot of time heralding literacy all
    across America. And she's also working on making sure we convince folks
    to spend time in the classroom. We need more teachers in America. We
    need to herald those who teach. We need to welcome new folks into the
    classrooms all across the country. And Laura's doing a great job of
    promoting the noble profession of teaching.
        I'm also here with your fantastic United States Congressmen. I can't
    tell you what a great job Mark Green is doing on
    behalf-- [applause]. We're also traveling today with Congressman Tom
    Petri, who is right south of here. I
    appreciate you reducing your immigration standards and letting him in.
    [Laughter]
        I put together a fabulous Cabinet. A President can't do the job
    alone; it requires putting together a good team. And I brought one of my
    Cabinet officials with me. After all, today we're celebrating Labor Day,
    and so the Secretary of Labor, Elaine Chao,
    is traveling with me. Please welcome Elaine Chao. [Applause]
        By the way, my Cabinet has got a good man from Wisconsin in it. Your
    former Governor is doing a fabulous job, and that's Tommy
    Thompson.
        Today is Labor Day. We had the honor of going down the road to meet
    with some carpenters and joiners, to thank them for their hard work, to
    remind our fellow

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    Americans that the strength of our country is the fact that we've got
    hard-working people all across our land, people who aren't afraid of
    labor, people who work hard to enhance their communities.
        Traveling with me today is a good, solid leader. He's the president
    of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, a man named Doug
    McCarron. I'm proud to call him friend;
    the Carpenters are proud to call him boss; and he's a good American.
    Doug, thank you for coming.
        I hope Coach Sherman noticed what kind of
    jacket I was wearing. A while ago, I had the honor of meeting Coach
    Sherman and members of the mighty Green Bay Packer team as they were
    working out at the stadium. He asked me if I was old enough to remember
    the Ice Bowl. I told him, ``Just barely.'' [Laughter] But
    Coach, I can't thank you enough for being here,
    and I want to thank Bob Harlan as well. I wish
    you all the best this season. You've got a good man as the head coach of
    the Green Bay Packers.
        And I want to thank the bishop for being
    here as well. I'm so honored you're here, sir. Thank you very much for
    coming. And I want to thank my fellow Americans for giving me the
    opportunity to serve as President of the greatest nation on the face of
    the Earth.
        We've been there 8 months. It has been a fantastic 8 months to
    represent our country. And I believe we're making a difference. I told
    the American people, if you gave me a chance to be President, I would
    work hard to get some things accomplished. I would work hard to try to
    change the tone in Washington, DC, to get rid of all the bitterness and
    all the ugliness and finger-pointing and name-calling. I felt that it
    wasn't serving our Nation well, that people would rather tear each other
    down than lift our Nation up.
        And so I believe we're making progress on changing the tone in
    Washington, DC. It's going to require a lot of work. Old habits are hard
    to break. But one way to do it is to focus on getting things done. It's
    to say to the people up there in Washington, ``Let's get some things
    done on behalf of the American people.'' And I'm proud to report we're
    making progress.
        I had the honor of signing the first major tax relief in a
    generation. When I came to Wisconsin all those times during the
    campaign, I said, ``Give me a chance, and I'll take your message of tax
    relief to Washington, DC.'' And guess what? It worked. They heard your
    voice. Mark Green didn't require much convincing.
    Evidently some of the Members of the Senate didn't hear too well.
    [Laughter]
        But nevertheless, we did the right thing. Tax relief was the right
    thing for our country. Our economy is not clicking on all cylinders. As
    some of you all know, for the past 12 months our economic growth has
    been anemic at best. We haven't achieved the kind of growth levels
    necessary to keep our folks working. There's people in Wisconsin who
    hurt because they laid off their--they've been laid off their job. There
    are families who are hurting, and I understood that was taking place.
        And one thing the Federal Government can do is to stimulate the
    economy, and we believe the best stimulus package is to give people
    their own money back. So tax relief was important for economic growth
    and economic vitality.
        But it's also an important philosophical statement. You see, we said
    loud and clear that once the Federal Government meets its needs, we
    ought to trust the people with their own money. It's a fundamental
    question of, who do you trust? Do you trust the Government, or do you
    trust the people with their own money? I'd rather have the Wisconsin
    families--[applause].
        So those checks are hitting home. I saw a sign coming in that said,
    ``Mr. President, thanks for the $600.'' I felt like stopping the limo--
    [laughter]--and giving her a big hug but reminding her, it wasn't the
    Government's money to begin with. It's not the Government's money. It's
    your money.

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        I'm proud of the tax relief package. It's going to make sense for
    our economy. It says loud and clear, we trust you with your own money.
    And by the way, there's a good feature in the tax relief plan that makes
    a lot of sense for Wisconsin farmers, and that is we're finally getting
    rid of the death tax, so people can pass their farm from one generation
    to the next without getting taxed twice.
        We have been working hard to fulfill another promise, and that's the
    promise of making sure every child in America gets a good education. A
    domestic priority of mine is to make sure every child--I mean every
    child--learns to read. I fully understand a literate child is one more
    likely to be able to learn. And yet, we've got to admit there's too many
    children that can't read in America.
        Now, lest you think I forgot where I came from, inherent in the
    education bill that I proposed is this solid principle: I trust local
    people to run their schools. I would rather the people of Green Bay,
    Wisconsin, make the decisions on the public education than people in
    Washington, DC. So we passed legislation that has bills--has power
    coming out of Washington to empower local people to run the schools.
        But inherent also in the education bill, as passed the House and
    passed the Senate--not only says we're going to spend more money, we're
    going to spend it more wisely. And in return for more money, we're going
    to ask the question, can our children read and write and add and
    subtract? We expect there to be accountability because by measuring, we
    will know. By measuring, we will make sure we correct problems early,
    before it's too late. By measuring, we will make sure that no child gets
    simply shuffled through the system.
        And so we've got a plan that makes sense. And I call upon the House,
    and I call upon the Senate conferees to get together and get that
    education bill on my desk so I can sign it, so that public education
    fulfills its hope and promise for every child in America.
        Dick Cheney and I made this promise--and by the way, he's doing just
    fine. I couldn't have picked a better man as Vice President of the
    United States than Dick Cheney.
        We say this: We say we'll have a foreign policy that's clear-eyed
    and steady and realistic. And good foreign policy starts with making
    sure our military is well funded and that there's high morale amongst
    those who wear the uniform. And we're making good on that promise.
        It starts with making sure our troops get paid well and are housed
    better. Morale begins with the understanding that those who wear the
    uniform deserve the utmost respect and the utmost help by their Federal
    Government. I signed an appropriations bill that does just that.
        I also requested the highest increase in defense spending since
    Ronald Reagan was the President. A strong defense means we'll have a
    more peaceful world.
        And I call upon the appropriators in Washington, DC, to let the
    country know the level of defense appropriations and the level of
    education appropriations early in the process, rather than late. These
    are national priorities, and they ought to be priorities of our
    appropriators in the Halls of Congress as well.
        And finally, we're making good progress--I want to thank Congressman
    Green for his work--on what I call a Faith-Based
    Initiative. It's an initiative that recognizes there are still people
    who hurt in America. There are people who suffer. There are people who
    are trapped in addiction, in neighborhoods without hope. And yet, this
    Nation doesn't believe in leaving people behind. And so I proposed to
    the United States Congress that we capture the true strength of the
    country, and the strength of the country lies in the hearts and souls of
    our citizens. We are a compassionate nation because we are a
    compassionate people. And there are faith-based

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    programs and community-based programs all across our country that ask
    the question, ``What can I do to make my neighborhood a better place?
    What can I do to love a child who needs love? What can I do to help a
    citizen who needs help?''
        And the Federal Government ought not to fear faith-based programs.
    We ought to welcome faith-based programs. We ought not to discriminate
    against those programs based upon a universal call to love a neighbor
    just like we'd like to be loved ourselves.
        We passed a good bill out of the House. I call upon the United
    States Senate to get the Faith-Based Initiative moving, to make sure
    that no person in America is left out of the great American experience.
        No, we're making good progress, I believe, in Washington, DC. It's
    because I'm listening to the people. I understand the strength of the
    country lies not in the halls of our Government but lies in the hearts
    and souls of our people all across America. And that's why it's such a
    huge honor to be your President. It's an honor to be a President of a
    nation that's been blessed by great values and blessed with wonderful
    people.
        Laura and I love the challenge. We respect the process, but we also
    understand we have responsibilities. And the responsibilities inherent
    in our job are to call upon the best of every American, and that begins
    by making sure that we set the right example for young and old alike.
    It's a challenge I accept. It's a challenge I welcome. And it's a
    challenge that--I am bolstered because of the prayers and thoughts of
    people such as yourselves.
        Thank you all for coming. May God bless you, and may God bless
    America.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:01 a.m. at Austin Straubel International
    Airport. In his remarks, he referred to Gov. Scott McCallum of
    Wisconsin, and his wife, Laurie; Mike Sherman, head coach, and Bob
    Harlan, president and chief executive officer, Green Bay Packers; and
    the Most Reverend Robert J. Banks, Bishop of Green Bay.