[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2001, Book II)]
[October 3, 2001]
[Pages 1184-1187]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
[[Page 1184]]
Remarks Following Discussions With Business Leaders and an Exchange With
Reporters in New York City
October 3, 2001
The President. It's an honor to be back in New York City. I want to
thank the mayor and the Governor for welcoming us back. I'm pleased that Secretary
Don Evans and Larry Lindsey from the White House staff are traveling with me, and I
want to thank the business leaders from not only New York but others who
have come from around the country to discuss the state of the Nation.
And we've had a very frank discussion about the state of our
economy. I think there's no question we all agree that the events of
September 11th shocked our economy, just like it shocked the conscience
of our Nation. But like those terrorists, they can't affect our soul;
they can't affect the greatness of America. We all believe that the
underpinnings are there for economic recovery.
And we all must do our part, and the Federal Government has a role
to play. Today Secretary Paul O'Neill
testified at Congress, saying that the administration believes that we
ought to have 60 to 75 billion dollars more of stimulus to encourage
consumer confidence, to enhance business investment, as well as to take
care of displaced workers.
I have shared that with the business leaders here. They understand
that there is a role for the Federal Government, a strong and active
role. And I assured them it's a role that we intend to play. I know
there are people hurting in America; there are people who have lost
their jobs. But as I assured these leaders, that our Government will do
everything we can to get our economy growing, to make it as strong as
possible.
I am saddened by the sight of the World Trade Center again, once
again. But through my tears I do see a much better future for the
country. This is a great nation. It's an entrepreneurial nation. It's a
nation that has got such generous and kind people. The leadership, the
business leadership here has contributed $150 million to the funds, the
variety of funds here in the New York City area, to help people, the
victims. It speaks volumes about what America is about.
And I want to thank everybody for coming. I'm now going to ask Ken
Chenault to say a few words.
Ken.
[At this point, Kenneth I. Chenault,
chairman and chief executive officer, American Express Company, made
brief remarks.]
The President. Thank you, Ken.
Betsy.
[Betsy Holden, chief executive, Kraft Foods,
made brief remarks.]
The President. I appreciate that. Thanks.
I'd be glad to take a few questions.
Economic Stimulus Plan
Q. What form might this stimulus take? Are we looking at tax cuts
for individuals, corporations?
The President. You bet. I know we need to provide more tax relief to
individuals to boost consumer confidence. We've just finished passing
out $40 billion of rebate checks; they were completed by October 1st of
this year. There is going to be tax relief started next year as a part
of the package that the Congress and I agreed to. We believe there ought
to be more, to make sure that the consumer has got money to spend, money
to spend in the short term.
Secondly, there needs to be business relief as well, to encourage
investment.
And finally, there needs to be a displaced worker package. We've got
to recognize
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that as a result of September 11th, folks have been laid off, and we
need to make sure they're able to survive until this economy gets going
again.
And I've got to tell you, I had a great conversation with the
leadership of the Congress yesterday. We're coming together on a plan
that I believe needs to get passed as quickly as possible.
Q. Mr. President, is this going to eat up the rest of the surplus
for the year, and does it matter?
The President. Well, as I said in Chicago during the campaign, when
asked about should the Government ever deficit spend, I said only under
these circumstances should Government deficit spend: if there is a
national emergency, if there is a recession, or if there's a war. And
you know, we've now got a reason to do what it takes to not only provide
security at home, to do what it takes to win the war on terrorism, but
we've also got to do what it takes to make sure this economy gets
growing, so people can find work.
And we've got the basis for growth. We're an entrepreneurial nation.
There's a lot of small-business growth in America. By and large, the
banking system is very solid. The energy prices are reasonable. And now
we've just got to be aggressive and make sure we do what we need to do
at the Federal level to provide a kick-start to give people reasons to
be confident. And we will do that.
This isn't a Republican idea or Democrat idea; it's an American
idea. And it's the right time for us to come together to get it done.
Yes, ma'am.
Q. Mr. President, should the country brace itself for a recession? I
mean, one of your advisers said yesterday that he can forecast it being
likely that two negative quarters of growth are----
The President. We'll leave all that talk up to the statisticians.
You're asking me about statistics, and we've got people who count
numbers there in Washington, DC, and that's fine. Here's my attitude:
One person laid off is one person too many. And therefore, we've got to
do what it takes to make sure that that person who got laid off is able
to find work.
I'm not going to dwell on the past; I'm looking forward. And I
believe we've got a fantastic opportunity to invigorate this economy and
to assure the business leaders around America that the Government is
playing a very active role and that we will take the steps necessary to
provide growth and stimulus.
And that's why I believe we need additional stimulus beyond some of
the spending that we've already put in place, to the tune of about 60 to
75 billion dollars. We'll let the accountants come up--they call it what
they want; there's no question that the economy has been affected by
September 11th.
Q. [Inaudible]--signed off on that $60 billion to $75 billion----
The President. No, they have not, yet. But they do understand we
need to have a range, that as you go into a debate about or discussions
about how to stimulate the economy, first and foremost, it's important
to come up with a total figure so that we don't undershoot or overshoot
the mark. And they do recognize that some of the actions that we've all
taken together, including the 40 billion supplemental plus the 15
billion for the airline, will have a positive effect on economic growth,
and I do believe they recognize there needs to be more. And so one of
the things that I'm doing is providing the leadership necessary to try
to set the parameters on what the definition of ``more'' is.
Again, I want to repeat: We've just finished with $40 billion of
rebate from the tax package we agreed upon earlier in the year, plus
we'll have about 70 billion in the rate reductions starting next year.
And so, what we're looking at is how to bridge into next year.
Q. Sir, are you confident that the size of the package you're
talking about will do
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the stimulating you need at this end, without putting pressure on
interest rates----
The President. That's a very good question. I finally got one--no--
anyway--[laughter]--I believe--I think you ought to ask the--I wish you
could have heard the discussion we had, let me put it to you that way,
where I believe people around this table, for example, believe it's
important to be aggressive on the front end; that the risk-reward ratio
is beneficial to be more aggressive on the front end. And obviously, we
agree with that; that's why we've proposed up to 60 to 75 billion. But
we're mindful of the effect on long-term interest rates, and we think
that number is the right number.
Discussions With Business Leaders
Q. Mr. President, can you tell us anything specific about these
discussions with these men and women, specifically about did you speak
about corporate relief?
The President. Yes, we did. I can be very specific, just like I have
been. They do believe we need to stimulate the economy through boosting
consumer confidence with some kind of money in the hands of consumers.
And there's a variety of ways to--excuse me? I'm sorry--there's a
variety of ways to do that. There's rebates; there's acceleration of the
tax cuts--are the two most effective ways to do that, and we discussed
both of those.
Secondly, we discussed a variety of options for corporate relief.
One, we talked about ways to encourage investment through expensing of
depreciation. Some people thought we ought to look at one-time ITCs,
investment tax credits. People talked about the idea of corporate tax
relief. And so we did have specific discussions about ways to make sure
that our economy continues to grow.
And I am most grateful for the input that we have been given here.
It has been incredibly helpful. The thing I come away with is that these
are men and women dedicated to America, first and foremost. They're
dedicated to the workers that work for their company; they're dedicated
to providing the security for their workers so they can go to work
feeling safely. And they love their country, and they're going to do
what it takes to join all of us together to recover from this awful
incident of September 11th.
You only get one question a day.
Domestic Response
Q. [Inaudible]--ask your average American to do besides spend, to
help?
The President. Well, I think the average American must not be afraid
to travel. We opened Reagan Airport yesterday for a reason: We think
it's safe and that people ought to feel comfortable about traveling
around our country. They ought to take their kids on vacations. They
ought to go to ball games. The mayor
wants them to come to the Yankee games, of course. [Laughter]
Mayor Giuliani. The World Series.
The President. The World Series, yes. [Laughter] No question he's an
incurable optimist. [Laughter]
But people ought to--listen, we ought to be aware in America--we are
aware; how can you not be aware that we've entered into a new era? The
imagery is vivid in people's minds. But nevertheless, Americans must
know that their Government is doing everything we can to track down
every rumor, every hint, every possible evildoer. And therefore,
Americans ought to go about their business, and they are beginning to do
so. The load factors were up on the airlines, which means more people
will be going to hotels and restaurants.
I fulfilled my pledge, my promise last night to take the Mayor of
Washington, DC, for dinner. I did--
Morton's Steakhouse. We had a nice slice of beef--plus, I paid.
[Laughter]
[[Page 1187]]
Defense Secretary Rumsfeld's Visit to the
Middle East
Q. Mr. President, why did you send Secretary Rumsfeld over to the
Middle East to visit some countries?
The President. Pardon me, John [John Dickerson, Time]?
Q. Why did you send him, and what is he doing over there, visiting
those countries?
The President. John, he's visiting with our friends. As you know,
we've put together a broad coalition of nations that are interested in
battling, joining us to battle terrorism. And Secretary Rumsfeld went
over to visit with the leaders of a group of nations to share with them
information, to discuss the determination of our Nation.
People need to be able to look us in the eye and know that when we
say that we're in this for the long run, that we're going to find
terrorism--terrorists and bring them to justice, we mean it; that this
is a nation--see, it's hard for people around the world to understand
the resolve of America. They may hear my speech occasionally, but they
need to look at the eyes--in the eyes of members of my administration,
because--and hear them say that not only is this President resolved, but
America is resolved to rout out terrorism, to make sure that legitimate
governments can survive as we head into the 21st century, and to make a
strong stand for freedom.
And Secretary Rumsfeld is going to do a fine job of delivering that
message, because he knows exactly how I feel about the mission we have
ahead of us.
Thank you all for coming.
Note: The President spoke at 11:20 a.m. in the first floor rotunda of
the Federal Hall National Memorial. In his remarks, he referred to Mayor
Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York City; Gov. George E. Pataki of New York;
and Mayor Anthony A. Williams of Washington, DC.