    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book II)]
    [August 13, 2002]
    [Pages 1376-1379]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the Economic Recovery and Job Creation Session of the
    President's Economic Forum in Waco
    August 13, 2002

        The President. Good morning. Sorry to interrupt. I was hoping to
    hear Phyllis. [Laughter]
        Phyllis Hill Slater. I was quoting
    you.
        The President. You were?
        Ms. Slater. Yes, I was quoting you:
    ``Let no child be left behind.''
        The President. There you go.
        Ms. Slater. Education is key to
    keeping us strong in this country. And I especially want to look after
    those children in the rural and urban communities, because that's our
    future.
        The President. You bet.
        Ms. Slater. And I thank you for that
    lead-in.
        The President. Well, listen, thank you all for coming.
        So here's what happens. I come for 15 minutes and then go to another
    seminar--the Vice President as well. But I can
    assure you that any recommendations that come out of this discussion
    will make it to my desk. I look forward to hearing what you have to say.
        I want to thank you all for coming. Welcome to central Texas, and I
    truly look forward to hearing what you have to say. I suspect I know
    what's on Doug's mind, and that's how to
    get people back to work. And that's on my mind. I mean, we ought to
    seize every opportunity to get our workers working.
        In one case, Congress can do something about it and should do
    something about it quickly, and that is to provide some terrorism
    insurance so that roughly $8 billion worth of projects move on. And
    that's $8 billion worth of work for somebody. I view that in human
    terms, not in balance-sheet terms.
        So I want to thank you all for coming to talk about ways to get the
    economy moving again. You know, we're pleased with some progress, but
    we've got more to do. And that's what we're really here to discuss. So
    any specific ideas that bubble up, you

    [[Page 1377]]

    know, we'll give it a good look. But in the meantime, keep the
    conversation moving here. I don't want to dominate.

    [At this point, Treasury Secretary Paul H. O'Neill introduced John Brooks, executive
    secretary-treasurer, Greater Pennsylvania Regional Council of
    Carpenters.]

        The President. Big John, what do you do--
    excuse me.
        Mr. Brooks. I'm a business manager for the
    Carpenters----
        The President. Oh, good.
        Mr. Brooks. ----of Pittsburgh, which--we've
    entertained you.
        The President. Yes, you have. You certainly did.
        Mr. Brooks. I was probably the first person
    you met.
        The President. That's right. Well, I didn't notice you. I didn't recognize you in a coat and tie. [Laughter]

    [Mr. Brooks discussed the need for accurate
    pension fund reports.]

        Secretary O'Neill. Mr. President, before
    we started, Van, who is sitting between us here, was telling me that her
    92-year-old grandmother is watching this on television. So I think we
    ought to give Van an opportunity to talk. [Laughter]
        The President. Your grandmother and my mother. [Laughter]

    [Van Eure, owner, Angus Barn restaurant, briefly
    discussed the importance of tax deductions for small businesses and her
    experiences in dealing with the death tax.]

        The President. Thanks.
        Ms. Eure. And I'm just honored to be sitting
    beside one of my heroes. [Laughter]
        The President. Who, O'Neill? [Laughter]
        Secretary O'Neill. Mr. President, I'll
    take it. [Laughter]
        Ms. Eure. Yes.
        The President. Thank you.
        Ms. Eure. You're welcome.
        The President. The thing about the death tax--the death tax is
    punitive on small-business owners. It is very tough on farmers and
    ranchers. It's hard to be able to keep your farm and your family if
    you've got a big appraisal value when a loved one dies. We're trying to
    get rid of the death tax. I firmly believe the death tax is good for
    people from all walks of life all throughout our society. As the
    entrepreneurial spirit takes hold in communities all throughout America,
    the death tax is going to try to be very punitive on many minorities,
    minority-owned firms. And our view is, is that if you build up your
    asset base, you ought to leave it to somebody you want to leave it to,
    whether your kid or your cousin or whatever it is.
        And so we've put the death tax on its way to extinction. However, as
    a result of a quirk in the law, it arises again 10 years from now.
    That's a hard one to explain. But, nevertheless, it does. And so we've
    got to make the repeal of the death tax permanent, for the good of the
    entrepreneurial spirit and for the good of our farmers and ranchers. And
    thank you for bringing that up.
        Secretary O'Neill. Sheri Orlowitz, I
    wonder if we could hear from you?
        The President. Where are you from, Sheri?
        Sheri Orlowitz. I'm from Washington, DC.
        The President. Nothing wrong with that. Me, too. [Laughter]
        Ms. Orlowitz. I haven't seen you around
    lately.
        The President. Well, I'm on a temporary basis there. [Laughter]

    [Ms. Orlowitz, chairman and chief executive
    officer, Shan Industries, LLC, discussed the importance of patience
    during economic downturns and greater corporate accountability.]

        The President. Well, thanks, Sheri.
    That's very articulate. A couple of points--we are going to find those
    who have broken the law and arrest them and prosecute them. And the SEC
    actually has done quite a bit of work. Some of it, I guess, hasn't

    [[Page 1378]]

    received wide publicity. But 80 different officers have been punished in
    a year's period of time. I think it is a year's period of time.
        Secretary O'Neill. That's right.
        The President. We've increased the SEC budget so that they've got
    more capacity now to move through the system. Part of what you say
    requires a board of directors and a compensation committee for
    understanding their responsibilities. I mean, you're right. Excessive
    executive pay sends confusing signals. I mean, when a guy makes a merger
    or a company makes a merger, the executive makes a lot of money, the
    shareholders lose--something is wrong.
        Independent members of boards need to be tough in their
    responsibilities. I don't think it's right for a Government to regulate
    pay. I don't think that's a role for the Federal Government. It is a
    role for the Federal Government, however, to bring those to justice who
    break clear law. And we will--and we will.
        The other thing that you mentioned is the recession. We were--
    history now has shown, we had three quarters of recession, three
    quarters of negative growth, and now we've had three quarters of
    positive growth. So the trend is in the right direction, which is
    important for Americans to understand. But nevertheless, there's a lot
    more to do. One of the key things, as you mentioned, is this business
    about insurance. We've got to get these projects going. We want these
    workers working. We want McCarron to
    quit calling me on the phone saying, ``What are you doing about this
    insurance bill?'' [Laughter]
        Secretary O'Neill. Mr. Johnston, I
    wonder if we could hear from you? You're in a business that touches
    every American every day--in the grocery business, Mr. President--so
    maybe we could hear from you.
        The President. Yes.

    [Lawrence R. Johnston, chairman of the
    board and chief executive officer, Albertsons, Inc., briefly discussed
    his suggestions for stimulating economic growth.]

        The President. Thanks. Thanks for coming.
        Secretary O'Neill. Mr. President, you
    have to go.
        The President. Yes, well, the life of the President--always has to
    go. But I do want to thank you all for coming. This is--I appreciate,
    Sheri, your talking about this summit in
    positive terms. That's how I view it too. You'll be amazed, when you go
    to lunch today, to see the quality of the folks that have come--got some
    of the world's leading economists here with you, in your panel, national
    labor union leader. I mean, we've got really fine people who have agreed
    to come and share their insights and share some thoughts with us.
        I think one of the things you'll hear is that even though times are
    kind of tough right now, that we're America. I'm incredibly optimistic
    about the future of this country, because I understand the strength of
    the country. And the strength of the country is our people. We've got
    the highest productivity in the world. We've got the best farmers and
    ranchers in the world. We've got the best manufacturers in the world.
    We've got the hardest working people in the world. We've got the best
    tax policy in the world. I mean, we've got a lot going for us. And I
    think when the American investor--one thing I do want to comment on, I
    was at an earlier seminar, and I, too, am concerned about the language
    of Wall Street not being clear so that the average investor can
    understand what's going on. And we talked to Chuck Schwab about that. And Wall Street has got to understand
    that fancy footwork, when it comes to financial instruments, needs to--
    need to be totally open and transparent, so everybody understands what's
    happening.

    [[Page 1379]]

        And you're right about making sure that the average investor feels
    confident in what he or she reads. A lot of folks in this part of the
    world aren't real--I would call it suspicious about some of the fine
    print. And there needs to be better disclosure so that people feel
    confident that they're not being led down the primrose path of fancy
    financial footwork, let me put it to you that way. And the Government
    can do some of this, but the industry itself, the investment advisors,
    and the people--I call them Wall Street--they need to--there needs to be
    some self-policing mechanism as well, so that people are confident in
    the numbers.
        More and more people invest. A lot of Doug's workers invest--all of a sudden become pretty
    sophisticated relative to their father and forefathers. But you can't be
    that sophisticated if you're fighting off lawyers and accountants that
    are trying to put the dark cloud over reality. And that's one of the
    things we've got to just make sure does not happen anymore. Part of it
    is to put these people in jail. But part of it is to insist that the
    advisory world not have conflicts of interest and everybody understands
    what's going on. And I think you're going to find some pretty
    interesting ideas come out of this summit along those lines.
        But anyway, thank you all for coming. Hope you've enjoyed central
    Texas. You're 45 minutes away from Crawford. [Laughter] No Albertsons
    yet, but we do have a stoplight. [Laughter]
        Thank you all for your time.

    Note: The President spoke at 9:23 a.m. in the Baylor Law Center at
    Baylor University. In his remarks, he referred to Phyllis Hill Slater,
    president, Hill Slater, Inc.; Douglas J. McCarron, general president,
    United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners; and Charles R. Schwab,
    chairman of the board and co-chief executive officer, Charles Schwab
    Corp.