[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2001, Book II)]
[October 31, 2001]
[Pages 1328-1331]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 1328]]


Remarks to the National Association of Manufacturers
October 31, 2001

    Thank you all. Welcome. Nice to see everybody. Thank you very much. 
I've just finished icing down my arm. [Laughter]
    Today there's some news out on our economy, and it confirms that the 
events of September the 11th really shocked the Nation. It affected our 
workforce and affected our business base. The gross domestic product for 
the third quarter was negative.
    People are having tough times in America. People are losing their 
jobs. And I'm deeply concerned about that, and I know you are as well. 
Consumer confidence is down. After all, we're at war, and for the first 
time in our Nation's history, part of the battlefront is here at home. 
Shipments, particularly in the manufacturing sector, declined 
dramatically in recent months. And it's time for our Government to act 
in a positive and constructive way. The Congress needs to pass a 
stimulus package and get it to my desk before the end of November.
    I had breakfast today with the Speaker 
and Minority Leader, Majority Leader 
Daschle and Senator Lott. All five of us agreed that we need to work together to 
get a package, that we've got to put aside political differences and act 
swiftly and strongly on behalf of the American worker and the American 
business person. And so my call to Congress is: Get to work, and get 
something done. The American people expect us to do just that.
    I want to thank Paul O'Neill for being 
here. He is leading the charge on Capitol Hill for a commonsense 
economic stimulus package. He brings a lot of experience to the job. 
After all, he was a manufacturer at one time. He knows the struggles 
that you go through. And like me, he hurts with the workers who aren't 
finding work these days. And I appreciate Christie Todd being here, as well. One of the smartest 
things I've done is to tap some of my former Governor colleagues and ask 
them to come to the Government. I tapped a great one when I tapped 
Christie Todd Whitman. She brings a lot of sense and a good view of our 
environmental policy. And the American people are proud of the job she's 
doing, and so am I. Thank you for both being here.
    I also want to thank Tim very 
much for his friendship and his introduction. I didn't realize you were 
quite so eloquent. [Laughter] You must be taking speech lessons. 
[Laughter] I want to thank Don Wainwright as well and, of course, Jerry Jasinowski for his friendship and support.
    I--the American people know that we have acted quickly in terms of 
this attack that has taken place, and we've done so on the domestic 
front in quick order. Both Republicans and Democrats decided to spend a 
considerable sum of money to address the country's needs.
    We've allocated $55 billion, and it didn't take long to spend it, I 
might add. A big chunk of that is going to go to make sure we defend our 
country, make sure our Defense Department is bolstered during this war.
    A significant amount of money went to help New York City recover as 
it should. We want New York City to be on her feet. It's an important 
symbol for the world that New York City be strong and vibrant.
    We spent a considerable amount of money for airplane security. My 
attitude was that the most directly affected industry was the airline 
industry, and therefore, we had to spend money to make sure the airlines 
survived and make sure there was loan money and make sure that the 
consumer realized that the Government was acting in a positive way to 
bring security to our airports. And the first act we took was to empower 
Governors to say, bring your

[[Page 1329]]

guard to the gates; put troops so that people will see a visible 
presence. And we started to increase the air marshals. And Congress is 
now working on an airport security bill, and I hope I am able to sign 
that pretty quickly, too.
    But we are taking action. And we need to spend money on helping 
workers who were--lost their job as a result of the attack of September 
the 11th. I believe we need to expend--extend and expand the 
unemployment benefits to those workers. And I know we need to expand 
what they call national emergency grants, which will give Governors the 
latitude to take Federal monies and apply that money to workers--special 
workers' needs, such as health care benefits, to make sure that any 
laid-off worker can have--be able to pay the premiums of their health 
care plans.
    And so there will be--there's more need. But I caution the Congress 
not to overspend. The temptation is to fund everybody's good idea. And 
my attitude is that our money ought to be focused and effective--the 
spending ought to be focused. And we ought to ask the question, is this 
effective spending? We need to make sure that when we spend there's a 
strategy and a reason.
    And so I look forward to working with the appropriators to be 
responsible about how we spend taxpayers' money, particularly as we run 
up to what I hope is a recess around the Thanksgiving period. And we 
also ought to make sure that we offset any spending with tax relief, 
that the way to have a balanced stimulus package is to recognize we've 
spent a considerable amount of money up to date, and we need to spend 
some more for our workers, but we ought to offset that with tax relief. 
And I have laid out some ideas for Congress to consider.
    On the one hand, we've got to make sure that we bolster consumer 
demand by both accelerating the tax cuts that now exist, as well as 
providing rebates for nontaxpayers--but who filed. In other words, there 
are some people who didn't get rebates last year--generally low-income 
people--that filed an income tax return, but they didn't pay tax, and 
they ought to get a rebate. And Congress ought to act as quickly as 
possible to get that money into people's hands as quickly as possible to 
bolster demand.
    And then we've got to make sure our tax relief encourages 
investment, encourages the flow of capital. And therefore, I think we 
need to reform the alternative minimum tax on corporate America so 
corporate America doesn't have to get penalized during times of 
declining earnings--that doesn't make any sense to do that--as well as 
encourage investment in new plant and equipment.
    The House has passed some elements of that plan, and the Senate 
needs to act. And any differences we can work out in conference. But 
time is of the essence. As I mentioned, the leadership is prepared to 
spend the time necessary to get a good package out, and I'm grateful for 
that. And I hope the bill writers get moving. That's what the American 
people expect.
    I also want the Congress to know that there is more to helping our 
economy grow than just tax relief or just spending. And there's two 
items I want to briefly touch on.
    One is an energy plan. Our Nation needs an energy plan, an energy 
plan that encourages conservation and encourages exploration, and I 
believe we can do both in a responsible way. And we need to modernize 
the infrastructure that develops energy from point A to point B, from 
plant to consumer. We need to get after it. It is in our national 
interest that we have an energy plan, one designed to make us less 
reliant upon foreign sources of energy.
    And as Tim mentioned, I need to 
have what's called trade promotion authority. I need to be able to 
negotiate trade agreements with nations who want to trade with America. 
The Congress can vote the trade agreement down if they don't like it. 
But

[[Page 1330]]

we need to be aggressive when it comes to opening up markets and taking 
advantage of opportunities around the world.
    This Nation should not stand on the sidelines when it comes to free 
trade. We must be confident. People who build walls around America 
aren't confident in America; they're not confident in American workers; 
they're not confident in American businesses. I'm confident in America's 
ability to compete. I want to tear walls down. I want to make it easier 
for the world to trade in freedom. I think it's good for American 
workers that we trade. I think it's good for American business that we 
trade. And I know it's good for the spread of American values if we 
trade freely around the world.
    And so I ask the Congress to be confident as we approach these big 
issues, be confident in the ability of the American people, be confident 
in the ability of the entrepreneur to succeed, be confident in our 
future of the country. And that's exactly the way I feel.
    This is a very unusual period in American history, obviously. We've 
never been attacked like this before. We're still being attacked. Our 
heart goes out to anybody who suffers in America. And so, we're 
bolstering our homeland defense. We're disrupting and denying anybody 
who wants to harm the American people. We spend hours tracking down 
every possible lead of somebody who would come into this country or who 
might be buried in this country, trying to hurt any American. And I'm 
proud of our law enforcement officials who work nonstop, around the 
clock, taking every single lead and pursuing it to its end.
    Yesterday--or a couple of days ago, I put the country on alert for a 
reason, that, on the one hand, while we will go about our business of 
going to World Series games or shopping or traveling to Washington, DC, 
I want our law enforcement officials to know we had some information 
that made it necessary for us to protect the United States' assets, to 
protect those areas that might be vulnerable. And that's exactly what's 
taking place today.
    And we're also fighting a war overseas, with the purpose of hunting 
down the evildoers and bringing them to justice. And I'm patient, and 
I'm focused, and I will not yield. We must win. We have no other choice, 
for our children and our grandchildren, that we bring any terrorist to 
justice and hold those nations who harbor them--which harbor them or 
feed them or clothe them to justice, as well. And the United States will 
prevail.
    People ask me about the economy. They say, ``Are you worried?'' I 
say, ``I'm worried any time anybody loses a job. But in the long term, 
I'm optimistic about the U.S. economy. We've got good tax policy. We've 
got low interest rates. We've got the best workers in the world. We've 
got an entrepreneurial spirit that is infectious and strong and alive 
and well. We are the best place to do business in the entire globe. And 
that hasn't changed.''
    But I'm optimistic for another reason. I'm optimistic because the 
spirit of this country is incredibly strong. This is a fabulous nation. 
The evil ones thought they could affect the spirit of America, but it's 
had an opposite effect. Our country is patient. Our country is resolved. 
Our country is united, regardless of our religion, regardless of where 
we live, regardless of our political party. We're united behind the fact 
that we must rise to this occasion. And rise we will. We will plant that 
flag of freedom forever by winning the war against terrorism, by 
rallying our economy, and by keeping strong and adhering to the values 
we hold so dear, starting with freedom.
    I want to thank you all for letting me come by. Thank you for 
letting me come by. [Laughter] Keep working hard. Keep working hard. And 
may God continue to bless America.

[[Page 1331]]

Note: The President spoke at 11:13 a.m. in Presidential Hall in the 
Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building. In his remarks, he 
referred to W.R. ``Tim'' Timken, Jr., chairman, board of directors, 
Arthur D. ``Don'' Wainwright, vice chairman, board of directors, and 
Jerry J. Jasinowski, president, National Association of Manufacturers. 
The Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language 
transcript of these remarks.