    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book II)]
    [August 14, 2002]
    [Pages 1391-1398]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
    August 14, 2002

         Well, thank you all very much for that warm welcome. It's great to
    be back here in Wisconsin, the land of reform, a State which has
    challenged other States to achieve excellence for every citizen. I
    appreciate the Governor's introduction. I
    appreciate his friendship. I so very much appreciate you all coming
    today to give me a chance to share with you some of the challenges our
    Nation faces and why I'm optimistic that we can achieve and defeat those
    challenges.
        There's no better place to come--a State to talk about a can-do
    spirit than Wisconsin. There's no better place to come and explain to my
    fellow citizens how deeply committed I am and our country is to winning
    the war on terror. This is a good place to come to explain to our fellow
    citizens that we will do whatever it takes to protect the homeland and
    that we will do whatever it takes to make sure our economy remains
    strong and vibrant, all throughout the United States of America.
        I want to thank Nancy, the chancellor
    of this fine university, for hosting me and the small entourage the
    President travels with. [Laughter] I appreciate very much, Nancy, your
    staff working hard to set up this room for this discussion. Thank
    everybody on our behalf, please. I also appreciate your commitment to
    education. I love the idea of a school in which people come to get
    educated and stay in the State in which they're educated. It is a
    positive sign that this university is fulfilling its important function,
    which is to train Wisconsin youngsters for the future and then have the
    Wisconsin youngsters stay here to make sure that future is bright for
    all citizens. I congratulate you for your leadership. I appreciate so
    very much your focus on no child being left behind.
        I appreciate so very much the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of
    Commerce for hosting this event. I want to thank the local officials who
    have come--State officials and local officials. I particularly want to
    pay homage to Scott Walker.
        Yesterday I spent some quality time with the latest inductee into
    the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum's Hall of Fame. That would be your Tommy
    Thompson. You need to know he's doing a
    fantastic job. He's got a tough job, and he's doing a great job on
    behalf of citizens all across our country.
        Finally, I had the honor of welcoming a soldier in the army of
    compassion today

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    at Air Force One. Her name is Lucille Woods.
    Lucille, would you mind standing up, please? I want you to meet Lucille
    because she's an example of what needs to happen in America if you're
    interested in our society being a compassionate society. See, Government
    can hand out money, but what Government cannot do is put love into
    people's hearts or a sense of purpose in people's lives. If you're
    interested in having an America that is a decent and compassionate
    place, you've got to love a neighbor just like you'd like to be loved
    yourself. That is what Lucille Woods does. She is a foster grandparent--
    she is a foster grandparent who works with second graders to make sure
    that they learn to read. No child will be left behind in her vision of
    America. Lucille volunteers her time in her church to help those in
    need. Our society is going to change, one heart, one soul at a time,
    because of silent heroes like Lucille Woods. And thank you for coming
    today, Lucille.
        Now, I was mentioning, we have some serious challenges facing our
    Nation. And my most important job, I think, is to make sure that I
    protect--do everything I can to protect the homeland and make sure that
    an enemy which hates freedom doesn't hit us again. They're out there.
    They can't stand the thought of America being a hospitable society to
    many cultures. They can't stand the thought of a society which worships
    an almighty God in different ways, a society which is tolerant to
    different approaches to religion. They really hate the thought of us
    being a society in which we are able to speak our mind, a society which
    values the individual worth of each person. And so, so long as we uphold
    those values, which we will do, they're going to try to strike us.
        But you need to know, your Government at the Federal level and
    governments at the State and local level are doing everything we can to
    protect the American people. There's a lot of really fine people who are
    running down every hint and every lead and every opportunity to disrupt
    what may or may not be fixing to happen.
        When we get back to Washington after what they call the August
    break, I look forward to working with the United States Congress to do
    everything we can to effect an organizational change which would then
    allow me to say more certainly to the American people, we're effective
    at protecting the homeland.
        There was--there is over 100 agencies involved with homeland
    defense. These agencies do different things other than homeland defense,
    but part of their function is to protect the homeland. The Coast Guard
    is a good example. The Coast Guard protects our shores from smugglers,
    and they, you know, they're watching out for the fishermen; they rescue
    boats in distress. But they also have got a function of protecting the
    homeland. And so the fundamental question, when you think about the fact
    there's 100 agencies scattered around, is, what can we best do to align
    authority and responsibility? How best can we have the primary function
    of these 100 agencies be to protect the homeland? In other words, how do
    we change priority and culture? My suggestion was, is that we create a
    single Department, the responsibility of which is to protect the
    American people, with a Cabinet officer confirmed by the Congress. And
    we're making progress on this idea. By the way, this isn't a Republican
    idea, and this isn't a Democrat idea. This an American idea to protect
    the American people. And so we're making progress.
        We're making progress, but the Senate now needs to take up the idea.
    And the concern is, is that they will be more concerned about their own
    political turf and jurisdictional turf than they will be the larger
    concept of protecting the American people. They'll be more concerned
    about special interests and less concerned about how to adequately
    protect America. So I look forward to working with the Senate. But I can
    assure you, I will insist that the new Department be able to put the
    right person

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    in the right place at the right time to be able to protect the American
    people, that we will reject any plan which has got a thick book of
    bureaucratic rules all aimed at protecting special interests.
        And it's important that we be able to have the right person at the
    right place at the right time. It's important to be able to do so to
    protect our borders. We need to know who's coming in and what they're
    bringing into America and whether or not they're leaving when they're
    supposed to be leaving America. And that means that the INS and the
    Border Patrol and the Customs all ought to be working in concert, under
    the same authority, developing the same culture. And that's going to
    require flexibility to get everybody thinking the same way. There's a
    lot of entrenched interests in Washington. And we're going to need all
    the tools necessary to make sure those entrenched interests hit in the
    right--run in the same direction, and that is to fulfill the top
    priority of our Government, which is to protect our homeland.
        But the best way to protect the homeland, the best way to secure
    freedom for this country is to chase the killers down, one person at a
    time, and bring them to justice, which is what the United States is
    going to do. I say that because I want the world to be at peace, but I
    know the nature of the enemy. They--we can't talk them out of their
    ideas. We can't hold their hands and hope they change their attitude. We
    must bring them to justice. This country doesn't seek revenge. We seek
    justice. And the farther we get away from the attacks of America, the
    more likely it is some Americans will forget the danger--but not me, nor
    will the United States military.
        For those of you who have got loved ones in the U.S. military, I
    want to tell you how proud I am, how confident I am of their abilities,
    and how proud you should be of their service to our great country.
        I have submitted a significant increase in defense appropriations
    for two reasons: Anytime we put our military in harm's way, they deserve
    the best training, the best pay, the best possible equipment; and
    secondly, I want to send a message to our friends and our enemies that
    the United States of America is determined and patient and relentless in
    our quest for freedom. Now, the Congress has passed--the House passed
    one version. The Senate passed another version. They need to get
    together quickly, when they get back in September, and get a defense
    appropriations bill on my desk first thing. It's important for our
    planning purposes; it's important for our war on terror that they not
    play politics with the defense appropriations bills.
        And we're making some progress. We really are. What's hard for some
    to understand about this new war of the 21st century is that these are
    people being treated like international criminals, and so it's like
    we're on a manhunt. And the United States is working closely with our
    friends, and we have hauled in over a couple of thousand of these folks.
    They've been arrested and detained. Some of them are in our possession.
    Others are with other countries. Some of the terrorists haven't been
    quite as luckily as those who have been detained and arrested. But we're
    slowly but surely making progress, and we're enforcing the doctrine that
    says, ``Either you're with us, or you're with the enemy, and if you
    harbor a terrorist, if you feed one, you're just as guilty as those who
    killed thousands of Americans on September the 11th.''
        I believe by being relentless and steady, not only will we make
    America more free, that the future generations of American citizens will
    be able to grow up in a free society, but by being relentless and steady
    and principled and determined, we can achieve peace. And that's my hope,
    is for the world to be peaceful; that we can achieve peace in parts of
    the world that have--where some folks have just given up on the thought
    of peace, perhaps the Middle East or South Asia. For those of you with
    youngsters who are trying to explain what you're seeing or hearing on TV
    about

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    this war on terror, please tell them that when we go into a country, we
    go in not as conquerors but as liberators, because we believe in freedom
    for all citizens who live in the world. We love our own freedoms, and at
    the same time, by being strong and resolved and determined, we can
    achieve peace--peace for generations to come.
        And the third big challenge is to enhance and to work on the
    economic security of the American people. We'll work on the homeland
    security and the economic security. Yesterday I had a forum in Baylor
    University, in central Texas--quite a sacrifice for people to come down
    there, to central Texas, middle of Texas in the middle of August. But
    they were determined to share with me and people in my administration
    ideas and thoughts and concerns. I could have had the meeting right here
    and had the same input from citizens here in the great city of
    Milwaukee. We had union members and union leaders. We had grandmothers.
    We had entrepreneurs, small-business people, farmers, ranchers, people
    from all walks of life. And they talked about the challenges our economy
    faces. I mean, after all, for the first three quarters when I was the
    President, we were in recession. And then that September the 11th hit,
    and that hurt our economy. And then some of these liars showed up. Some
    of the scandals started to surface. They'd been in the making for a
    while, but they began to bubble up, and that shook the confidence of our
    country. And we discussed--we discussed that yesterday.
        But we all came--at least, I came to the conclusion, having listened
    to a lot of our fellow Americans, that the strength of the American
    people and the fundamental strength of our economy far outweighs the
    challenges we face. And let me give you some examples. We're the most
    productive people in the world. Our farmers and ranchers and working
    people are incredibly productive. Interest rates are low. Inflation is
    low. Wages are rising. Taxes are lower. Consumer spending is still
    strong. I came away from the meeting confident about our economic
    future, but not content with the progress we're making. And I want to
    discuss with you some of the things I think we can do.
        First, you've got to understand that behind the statistics--at least
    the way I view it is, behind the statistics is somebody's life. So the
    way I put it is, if somebody wants a job and can't find a job, we've got
    a problem. So long as anybody is looking for work who can't find work,
    we need to do something about it.
        Now, there are some things we can do in Washington to help the
    economy grow. One thing we need to do is to restrain excessive spending.
    We need fiscal responsibility. Excessive spending will serve as a drag
    on economic growth. Right now, we've got some deficits because of the
    recession and because we're funding the war on terror. But by
    restraining excessive spending, we can have our budget back in balance.
    But it's going to require Congress to show some discipline. And that's
    hard. Every constituency has got an issue. Every program sounds
    wonderful.
        I tried to help yesterday. Congress sent an emergency spending bill
    to my desk, and that was good. It's called a supplemental. It's money
    for the war on terror; it's money to defend the homeland; it's money to
    help rebuild New York City. But interestingly enough, they put 5 billion
    additional dollars in there, about $5 billion that I didn't think was an
    emergency. And part of the language in the supplemental said, ``Either
    you spend all 5 billion of the extra money, or you spend none of it.''
    In other words, I didn't have any flexibility. I didn't get to pick and
    choose. They said ``all or none.'' I heard their position. Yesterday
    they heard mine: We're spending none of the 5 billion.
        This decision should serve as an example that I am serious when it
    comes to protecting taxpayers' money and to being fiscally sound with
    your money, to set priorities and make sure they fund the priorities

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    but don't overspend. Somebody said, ``What are you talking about?'' In
    part of the 5 billion, to show you one of the egregious examples, was,
    they wanted a new building for worms and bugs that the United States had
    collected. That's not an emergency. [Laughter] If somebody thinks it's
    that important, they can put it in next year's appropriations bill. As a
    matter of fact, one of the things we'll do is, we'll take some of the
    good ideas that were a part of the 5 billion and work immediately to get
    them in the '03 budgets. And by the way, the '03 funding starts soon.
        Two examples: One, a pressing need--one of the pressing needs was
    AIDS prevention programs. I'm a supporter of doing everything we can
    here at home and internationally for fighting AIDS. And there's money in
    there for the Middle East, for Israel and Palestine, and that money is
    necessary. But there's time to get it in the '03 budget, and we'll get
    it spent. But I am not--I am not going to allow Congress to pressure me
    to spend money that I don't think is needed. For the good of the
    economy, we must show fiscal restraint.
        And for the good of the economy, we fortunately reduced the taxes on
    the people who pay taxes here in America. Tax relief was timely, and
    it's going to--history will show it was necessary to help fight this
    recession that we inherited.
        One of the things I heard yesterday, and I suspect you would hear
    from the small-business owners in this crowd, is that by reducing taxes,
    it helps small businesses grow. Seventy percent of the new jobs in
    America are created by our small-business entrepreneurs. Small business
    is the backbone of an economic recovery. And therefore, by cutting
    taxes, we helped small businesses. I've heard the rhetoric about who
    supposedly we're helping or not helping. The reality is, most small
    businesses pay personal income taxes. Most small businesses are not
    incorporated. They're sole proprietorships. They're limited
    partnerships. They pay personal income taxes. And when you drop the
    personal tax rate, you're helping small businesses. The more money a
    small business has, the more likely it is that small business is going
    to be able to grow and employ another citizen from Wisconsin.
        We slashed the marriage penalty. I believe the Tax Code ought to
    encourage marriage, not discourage marriage.
        And we put the death tax on the road to extinction. We heard
    yesterday from people from all walks of life talk about how terrible the
    death tax is. These are small-business owners, many of whom have just
    come to America for the first time. They're building up their asset
    base. They want to be able to leave their assets to whoever they want to
    leave them to, without that asset getting taxed twice. The death tax is
    bad for Wisconsin farmers. The death tax is bad for Wisconsin's small-
    business owners. The death tax needs to go, forever, as far as I'm
    concerned. But because of a quirk in the Senate rules, the tax relief
    plan that is being phased in will end in 10 years, or 9 years from now.
    And that's not right. People need to be able to plan. People need not
    be--have certainty in the Tax Code. And so therefore, for the good of
    economic growth, for the good of job creation, the United States
    Congress must make the tax relief plan that we passed permanent.
        Congress needs to act on terrorism insurance. People say, ``What is
    that?'' Well, there are eight--there's $8 billion worth of money that
    has been put aside--$8 billion worth of construction projects that are
    not going forward in America because of the high cost of terrorism
    insurance. When the enemy hit us, they changed the whole concept of
    risk. Our belief is, the Federal Government ought to help pay for
    terrorism insurance. I think it's a useful use of taxpayers' money to
    provide a certainty, a security for terrorism insurance. If you're
    worried about jobs like I am, if you want your hardhats working, we've
    got to get terrorism insurance passed so these large

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    commercial projects go forward. We want people working in America, and
    the United States Congress can provide a means necessary to get these
    construction workers back to work.
        We need an energy plan in America. We need to conserve more energy.
    We need to work on renewables. We need to explore more at home in an
    environmentally friendly way, so we're not reliant upon foreign sources
    of crude oil.
        I got trade authority. I'm going to use trade authority for the good
    of the economy. I made the argument to Congress that good trade means
    good jobs. Listen, if you're good at something, you want to encourage.
    If you're good at something, you want to open up markets for the product
    you create. Listen, we've got the best entrepreneurs in the world here
    in America. We've got the best farmers in the world here. We've got the
    best cheese in the world here in America. And we ought to be selling our
    products all around the world. It's important for our fellow Americans
    to understand, trade means higher paying jobs.
        I also look forward to working with Congress on pension reforms. A
    lot of people own stock and bonds, and that's positive. We want people
    to own things in America. We want people to say--balance sheet to be
    more than just potential income; we want it to be assets. And yet there
    are those who are involved in pension funds that are locked into funds.
    They can't diversify. There needs to be a law on the books that says
    that after you own your company's stock for a while, you ought to be
    able to sell it and diversify your portfolio. You ought to not have all
    your eggs in one basket. And I'm proud of the law I just signed which
    says, if the CEO gets to sell his stock, so does the working person, the
    person working for that CEO.
        And speaking about CEOs, like you, I have been disappointed in the
    performance of some of America's chief executive officers. They let us
    down. They didn't uphold their responsibility as a leader should. They
    fudged the books. They didn't tell the truth. And now they're going to
    pay the price. It's no longer easy money for these folks; it's hard
    time. I want to thank the members of both political parties for signing
    the most comprehensive corporate reform since Franklin Roosevelt was the
    President. I appreciated working with leaders in both parties to get
    this done. We're going to send a very strong signal to people. We expect
    there to be transparency. We're going to make sure that the numbers are
    real. We've got a lot of first-time stockholders who don't appreciate
    being told one thing is happening, but reality was another. The SEC is
    stronger. We've got more enforcement officers. We've got laws on the
    books now that are going to increase the penalties for lying and
    cheating to the American people. I've got a Corporate Fraud Task Force
    that's active and aggressive. Obviously, they'll stick to the law, but
    when we find somebody who has defrauded the American people, they're
    going to pay a price.
        You know, I was telling some folks yesterday, I was disappointed to
    hear that in business schools, they're afraid to teach right from wrong.
    They don't want to take the position of right from wrong for future
    MBAs. And in my speech I gave to New York City about the reforms
    necessary to help clean up corporate America, I talked about the need
    for business schools to teach right from wrong. And professors came up
    to me when I was on my way out of the room--he said, ``Thanks for saying
    that.'' Big old fellow, a working man, came up and said, ``If you really
    want to teach them right from wrong, Mr. President, if you want to send
    a message about ethics and business in America, slap some handcuffs on
    one or two of them and put them on TV; that's the best lesson you can
    leave with corporate America if they're going to lie, cheat, or steal.''
        Today chief executive officers of major corporate America are
    putting their names

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    on the line to certify that the numbers on their balance sheets are
    real. And that's positive. By far the vast majority of those who run
    corporate America are good, honorable people. You've got some great
    companies here in the State of Wisconsin. I think of Harley Davidson,
    for example, a company which has got not only a great product but a
    company which treats its employees with the utmost of respect and
    dignity and has done pretty well by the shareholder as well. We've got
    all kinds of companies like that, run by decent people, and we're not
    going to let the few ruin the reputations of the many. We're going to
    hold people to account here in America.
        One of the things I learned at our sessions yesterday and I suspect
    would learn here today, that even though folks are optimistic about the
    future, there has been--a little shaken in their confidence. People are
    concerned, and I can understand that. But one of the things that rang
    true yesterday to me, and does every time I make a stop here in America,
    is that we should never lack confidence in our character, in the
    character of the American people. This is a fabulous country. These are
    hard-working, decent, honorable people who can overcome any challenge.
    This is a great country, and when we put our mind to something, we'll be
    successful.
        And we've got our mind on some big goals here in America. We've got
    our mind on bringing freedom and peace to the world. Our mind is on
    protecting the homeland, and our thoughts and concerns are with those
    who are struggling economically. But we'll achieve economic security
    here in America. Our entrepreneurial spirit is strong. The fundamentals
    are great. We're regaining confidence in the leadership of corporate
    America. But most of all, the American people are determined to succeed.
        You know, I have said to our citizens a lot of times that out of the
    evil done to America on September the 11th is going to come incredible
    good. Out of the evil done to our Nation is going to come some good, the
    likes of which we never really would have dreamed. And part of the good
    that's going to come is the fact that our culture is changing, that a
    lot of Americans understand that it's patriotic to help a neighbor in
    need. People say, ``What can you do to fight the war on terror?'' You
    know what you can do? You can do some good. It's the collective acts of
    goodness and decency which define America, which show the world the true
    face of our nobility and our strength and our culture.
        Flight 93 was a poignant moment for me and, I suspect, for you as
    well. These are people flying across the country. They heard the plane
    was going to be used as a weapon. They were on their cell phones to
    their loved ones. They told them they loved them. They said a prayer.
    One guy said, ``Let's roll.'' They took the plane in the ground to serve
    something greater than themselves in life.
        It's those acts of courage, those quiet acts of compassion which
    really are changing America, one person at a time. There is a new
    culture in this country. We're ushering in a period of personal
    responsibility. People are responsible for the decisions they make in
    life, responsible for loving your children with all your heart and all
    your soul, responsible for helping a neighbor in need, responsible for
    making sure the Milwaukee school system is the best in the country so
    nobody--no child is left behind. No, there is a new responsibility in
    America.
        I don't know what went through the minds of the enemy when they
    attacked us. They must have thought they were attacking a nation that
    was so shallow, so materialistic, so selfish that all we would do was
    maybe file a lawsuit. But what they've learned is, they attacked a
    nation that is strong and courageous and decent, a nation in which
    thousands of our fellow citizens understand that by serving something
    greater than yourself in life, you serve

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    the greatest nation on the face of the Earth.
        Thank you for coming. May God bless.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:25 a.m. in the Klotsche Center at the
    University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. In his remarks, he referred to Gov.
    Scott McCallum of Wisconsin; Nancy L. Zimpher, chancellor, University of
    Wisconsin-Milwaukee; and Scott Walker, county executive, Milwaukee
    County, WI.