    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book II)]
    [November 25, 2002]
    [Pages 2122-2125]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Presenting the Presidential Awards for Management Excellence
    November 25, 2002

        Thanks a lot. Thanks for the warm welcome. Thanks for coming today.
    I'm honored to be here to present the Presidential Awards for Management
    Excellence. I guess that's Washington, DC, talk for people doing the job
    the taxpayers expect. [Laughter] These awards recognize the best
    management practices in Government. This year's recipients have met high
    standards and, as a result, have earned the respect of the White House
    and our country.
        Kay, I want to thank you for your
    leadership in this issue. I appreciate you making sure that the awards
    ceremonies reflect the desires of this administration to provide
    excellence for every taxpayer, to make sure the services we provide are
    relevant and necessary, that people who put their heart into their work
    are able to say that we're doing the job that the people expect. Kay is
    doing a great job for our country, and I'm glad she's on my team.
        And so is our Secretary of Transportation, Norm Mineta. He has performed brilliantly as a Cabinet
    Secretary. He has taken on some tough jobs. I'll never forget, on 9/11,
    knowing the fact that Norm was in charge of making sure that our
    airspace was cleared. He did a fantastic job, and from that point on,
    he's been just as magnificent in making sure our airports are secure. I
    want to thank you for your service, Norm. He represents one of the award
    winners, the FAA Logistics Center. And thank you for being here, Mr.
    Secretary, and thanks for the note on our anniversary.
        I appreciate David Chu being here as
    well. He represents the Defense Department. There are two award winners
    from the Defense Department here today, the National Imaging and Mapping
    Agency and the 55th Wing of Offutt Air Force Base. I want to thank Lt.
    Gen. James Clapper from the National
    Imaging and Mapping Agency for being here. And I want to thank Norman
    Bowles, who is the FAA Administration
    Logistics Center, for being here, and I want to thank Timothy
    Jones, the Commander of the 55th Wing, for
    coming as well. Congratulations for a job well done.
        There were runner-ups for this award, and three of the finalists
    have representatives here today, starting with another member of my
    Cabinet, Christie Todd Whitman, who
    runs the Environmental Protection Agency. Christie Todd, thanks for
    being here. Pat Pizzella is the Assistant
    Secretary for Labor for Administration and Management. Pat, I appreciate
    you coming, and thank the good folks who almost won for their hard work.
    [Laughter] Lynn

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    Scarlett, Assistant Secretary of Policy,
    Management and Budget, of the Interior, thank you for being here, Lynn.
    I appreciate your hard work as well. Give Gale Norton my best.
        I want to thank the members of the President's Management Council
    and the Human Resources Management Council for helping on this project.
    I want to thank the President's Quality Awards evaluators, those who
    looked around all our Government to find out who deserved this award. I
    want to appreciate you for your hard work. I want to thank the judges
    for picking the winners. Better you pick them than me, I might add.
    [Laughter] I want to thank the Director of the Ronald Reagan
    Building and his staff for putting up with a
    Presidential trip. Again, I want to thank you all for coming, and I want
    to thank you for serving your country.
        Public service is a high, high calling. And I'm proud of the men and
    women who devote their lives to our great Nation. You put in long hours.
    You watch every penny in the budget--or you should watch every penny in
    the budget. [Laughter] You know who the boss is: The boss is the
    taxpayer. That's who we work for. You do your job right, and a lot of
    times, you don't get much attention. Today we're here to pay attention
    to the people who are doing the job really well, to honor excellence, to
    reward success.
        This award is like what we call the Malcolm Baldrige Award. The
    Malcolm Baldrige Award recognizes excellence in the private sector. This
    award recognizes excellence in the public sector. It honors really high
    management quality.
        The President's Award also recognizes that our Government has got
    unique challenges. I mean, we've got challenges in dealing with
    bureaucracies that have been around a long time. We've got challenges in
    fighting inertia. We've got challenges in setting new goals and high
    standards in agencies that sometimes aren't anxious to change. It's
    different than the private sector, obviously. But nevertheless, it
    doesn't mean we shouldn't continue to try and overcome any obstacles to
    excellence.
        The award criteria are based on my management agenda. Kay
    James explained that agenda to you earlier.
    We take it very seriously, and we're going to continue to push the
    agenda, because we think it is best for our country and best for the
    people we serve.
        There have been dozens of excellent nominees who were considered,
    but three stood out. Today we're here to honor the three. They stood out
    because they set clear goals and they reached the goals. Each identified
    a critical challenge. Each considered solutions. Each drew up a plan and
    a strategy. And then, as importantly, they carried it out. These
    organizations did more than just make promises; they made good on their
    promises.
        The first recipient is the National Imagery and Mapping Agency in
    Bethesda, Maryland. And for all of you who work there, I want to
    congratulate you for winning this award. General Clapper, you might stand up and give everybody a wave. Thank
    you very much, General. Congratulations to you and your team. [Applause]
        This agency deals with a complex technology. And one of the things
    they need to do is to work to keep the workforce. It's hard to keep a
    workforce in the Government, particularly when the workforce is
    specialized and talented like--like the General needs. There's a lot of competition for good and skilled
    Federal workers. And so therefore, it requires--in the private sector--
    we compete with the private sector to keep good people in place. And so
    therefore, it requires imaginative ways to attract and retain the very
    best, and I appreciate you for doing that. You've excelled at high
    retention to make sure this critical agency has got the expertise needed
    to help America.
        Secondly, we honor--is the Federal--FAA Logistics Center in Oklahoma
    City. If anybody works for the FAA Logistics

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    Center in Oklahoma City that's here, please stand up so we can recognize
    you. Thank you all. [Applause] Congratulations. Congratulations to you
    all.
        The center supports America's entire system of air traffic safety
    and provides everything from electronic repair to inventory management.
    That's a big job. And yet for a while, the system was backwards. Because
    of a preset fee arrangement, the customers had little incentive to save
    money. And the system was prone to be overloaded with what they call
    rush orders. In other words, the system was designed backwards. And
    these good folks recognized that and put in place new accounting
    procedures which now make sure that every customer has got information
    based upon the cost of each order, which in itself provides incentive
    for budget control. I want to congratulate you on taking a very complex
    assignment and making it work on behalf of the American people. Good
    job.
        And finally, the third winner is the largest wing in America's Air
    Combat Command, the 55th, at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska. I had
    the--I was there on September 11th, 2001, at Offutt. I remember their
    motto. It says, ``The Sun Never Sets on the Fighting 55th.'' And that's
    good for the defense of the country, by the way.
        I want to thank the good folks at--at Offutt for recognizing that
    outsourcing is an important part of efficiency in our Government. They
    identified the best and most cost-effective approaches for hundreds of
    different tasks on the base. They work closely with contractors, opened
    the process to employee feedback and concerns, and have saved our
    taxpayers millions of dollars. They made sure that the system was
    efficient and effective. They recognize that there are different ways to
    meet goals, and they encourage the entrepreneurial spirit as a part of
    meeting the goals that we expect.General--thank you all for coming. Congratulations. Please
    thank all the folks at the 55th for doing a fine job. Please stand up.
    [Applause] Good job.
        These are examples of what can happen when people put their mind to
    delivering excellence on behalf of the taxpayers. There's creativity and
    flexibility, people willing to think outside of the proverbial box. And
    as a result, our country is better off.
        One of the reasons why we have these awards is to hold up your
    example for other people in Government. Other people should recognize
    that if they make the right decisions, set high goals, are creative
    about achieving those goals, they too can receive this award, which is
    an important award.
        When you get back to your offices, make sure your fellow employees
    know how proud we are of the work they--that you've done, how proud we
    are of their service to our country, what a credit they are to the
    greatest country on the face of the Earth.
        And so we're here to congratulate three fine agencies, three fine
    groups of our fellow Americans, all working together to do our job.
        I recently came back from Europe. I had an excellent trip on behalf
    of the citizens of our country. But there's no question in my mind, no
    question in my mind, I represent and you represent the finest nation on
    the face of the Earth, full of the finest people on the face of the
    Earth. I hope you feel that way every day when you go to work. I do.
        And so, on behalf of a grateful nation, congratulations. Thanks for
    what you do. Keep doing what you do. And I hope to see you back here
    next year. God bless.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:11 a.m. in the Amphitheater at the
    Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. In his remarks,
    he referred to Norman Bowles, Program Director, Federal Aviation
    Administration Logistics Center; Brig. Gen. Timothy Jones, USAF,
    Commander, 55th Wing, Air Combat Command, Offutt Air Force Base; and
    Robert Schall, director, Ronald

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    Reagan Building and International Trade Center.