[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.