    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book II)]
    [October 3, 2002]
    [Pages 1716-1722]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks to Hispanic Leaders
    October 3, 2002

        Thank you all for coming, and welcome to the White House compound.
    It's my honor to represent--to welcome you all here, to thank you for
    serving your communities and thank you for serving your Nation. Some of
    you are seeking office for the first time, and I think you'll find this
    to be a fantastic experience. Some of you have sought and won, and I
    want to congratulate you for that, and thanks for serving.
        My job is, of course, to promote the diversity of America, to herald
    the fact that one of the great strengths of America is the fact that
    we're diverse and that we welcome diversity in this country. And we
    welcome diversity and celebrate diversity all kinds of ways, and one of
    the ways is that we've got Hispanic Heritage Month. And we recognize
    Hispanic Heritage Month here at the White House, and we do so in a
    variety of ways. One way, of course, is to remind people that I've
    picked some fabulous Americans who happen to be Hispanic to serve our
    country.

    [[Page 1717]]

        Everybody has got to have a good lawyer. [Laughter] Mi abogado es
    magnifico. [Laughter] And I want to thank Al Gonzales for his friendship. There's no better advisor. He's a
    steady hand who knows the law, and he's doing a great, great job for the
    country. Ruben Barrales, who runs a very key
    department here in the White House--I know you're going to hear from
    Ruben, if you haven't already. He's a good young star and a fine guy.
    Rosario Marin is the Treasurer of the United
    States. Rosario, thank you for coming. I appreciate you being here.
        If you're interested in finding good examples of people who have won
    and who have served with distinction, you need to look no farther than
    two from Florida and one from Texas--[laughter]--Congressman Henry
    Bonilla, who is a fine, fine--[applause]--and
    of course, Lincoln Diaz-Balart y tambien
    Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. I appreciate you
    all for coming.
        And I see you brought along Mario, tu
    hermano. [Laughter] Mario, it's good to see you again. Mario Diaz-Balart
    is a State rep out of the State of Florida, a fine member of the
    delegation. He's a popular--not only a popular candidate but a popular
    public servant. And he takes his instructions from his brother--
    [laughter]--actually, from his mother. [Laughter] Dora
    Irizarry is here. She is a candidate for the
    attorney general of the State of New York. Dora, good luck, buena
    suerte. Thanks for coming. We've got a lot of other great candidates--
    none other than the next Governor of the State of New Mexico, Juan
    Sanchez. Thank you for coming, John.
        I would spend all my time heralding those of you in the legislative
    branch or in the executive branch, but I've got some other things on my
    mind. But before I do, I also want to make sure there is diversity in
    the judicial branch. I have named a really good man to the bench, the DC
    Circuit Court of Appeals, named Miguel Estrada. And I expect the United States Senate to treat this
    man with respect. I don't want to see the same thing that happened to
    some of my other candidates, in that they distort his record. I don't
    want them to distort his record like they did Ms. Owen's or Mr. Pickering. For the sake of a good, strong Federal bench, for the
    sake of recognizing this man's intelligence and his capabilities, the
    Senate needs to confirm Miguel Estrada.
        Let me share some things that are on my mind, things that I've spent
    a lot of time thinking about. First is jobs. I think a lot--I spend a
    lot of time thinking about jobs here in America. I want people to find
    work. I want people to be able to put bread on the table. I want this
    country to continue to promote policies that encourage job growth.
    That's what we ought to be asking here in Washington: What can we do to
    encourage there to be job growth?
        The economy is not like it should be. There are some encouraging
    signs. Of course, interest rates are low; inflation is low; productivity
    amongst our workers and producers is the best in the world; and that's
    incredibly positive.
        The foundation for growth is there. The foundation was somewhat
    troubled by the fact that we had some of our corporate citizens decide
    they weren't going to tell the truth. They fudged the numbers to deceive
    shareholder and employee alike. We're taking care of that. I've signed
    the most comprehensive corporate reform since Franklin Roosevelt was the
    President. You might have noticed yesterday, people are being brought to
    justice here in America. We expect there to be corporate responsibility
    in America, and we will enforce the law to make sure there is corporate
    responsibility in America.
        We're also dealing with things here in Congress to help people have
    more money. We believe very strongly that when a person has more money
    in his or her pocket, it is more likely to increase the job base,
    because if you have more money, you demand a good or a service. When you
    demand a good or a service, somebody will

    [[Page 1718]]

    produce the good or a service. And when somebody produces a good or a
    service, somebody is more likely to find work.
        Tax relief was incredibly important at this moment in our American
    history. Tax relief will help stimulate job growth because it helps
    stimulate the growth of small businesses. There are a lot of Latino-
    owned small businesses in America. One of the great success stories
    about our economy and about our Nation is the fact that a lot of people
    realize their dreams through owning their own business. One of the
    fastest growing sectors of small business in the country is Latino-owned
    businesses. And the tax relief plan was really good for small businesses
    here in America. And the Congress needs to make them permanent.
        In order to make sure that we grow our economy, we've got to make
    sure Congress doesn't overspend. The Senate doesn't even have a budget.
    If you don't have a budget, it makes it hard to be fiscally sound with
    the people's money. Sometimes here in Washington, people forget whose
    money we spend. See, they think it's the Government's money--it's not;
    it's the people's money. And we've got to be sound when we spend the
    people's money. We ought to fund priorities, but as they head out of
    town, the Congress must not overspend. For the sake of job creation and
    job growth, they must be realistic with the people's money.
        I submitted a budget that will get us to balance--a budget that if
    there's fiscal discipline, we can get back to balance. And Congress
    needs to not only remember whose money they spend, but Congress must not
    overspend on their--as they're trying to get out of town.
        And finally, there are some things that we can do here to create
    jobs for working people. We need to have a terrorism insurance package.
    You see, there's a lot of folks that cannot get insurance, a lot of
    construction programs that aren't going forward because people can't get
    insurance, because of what the terrorists did. It's estimated there's
    over 300,000 hardhats that could be working, 300,000 hardhat jobs that
    are delayed. Those are our fellow Americans who aren't getting the
    chance to employ their skills. This afternoon, I'm going to be talking
    about this issue more. But if Congress truly is interested in joining
    with me to do everything we can to expand the job base, they need to get
    a terrorism insurance package before they go home. It's good for the
    hardhats of America.
        The security of the country is on my mind, too. See, there's an
    enemy which still hates America, and they want to hit us. It's just
    reality. And therefore, we've got to do everything we can to protect the
    homeland. I spend a lot of time worrying about the job security of the
    American people. I spend a lot of time worrying about the homeland
    security of the American people as well. It's my number one priority
    right now as the President, to protect our homeland.
        We must do everything we can to protect innocent life here at home.
    I'm sure people have--have asked you, you know, why--why would the enemy
    hate America? Your kids are probably saying, ``Why would they hate
    America?'' And you've got to tell them it's because they hate us for
    what we love. We love freedom. We love the freedom to worship the way we
    see fit. We love the freedom to speak our mind. We love the freedom to
    campaign. We love the freedom of the press. We love all our freedoms. We
    love our diversity. We love the fact that God has created people equal.
    We love that. We value life in America. Everybody is precious. Everybody
    has worth. Everybody counts. And we're not changing our mind about those
    values and our freedom.
        The enemy hates freedom; they hate innocent life. They are willing
    to take innocent life and, at the same time, hijack a great religion.
    And so long as they are out there, we must do everything we can to
    defend the homeland--which means I need the capacity here in Washington
    to assure

    [[Page 1719]]

    the American people that the good folks at the Federal level are doing
    everything they can to protect you.
        There's over 100 agencies involved with homeland security, and so I
    decided, in order to make the protection of the homeland the number one
    priority, that we ought to bundle all those up to the extent possible
    and put them under one agency, so that there is authority and
    responsibility, so that we can set the legacy for future Presidents to
    be able to better protect the homeland.
        And we're having a pretty good debate here in Washington. The House
    of Representatives, thankfully, passed a bill that is a good bill. The
    Senate is still struggling with the bill. They need to get it done
    before they go home. The--let me just tell you what the problem is, so
    you can get a sense of why I have some frustrations with what is taking
    place in the Senate.
        First of all, the frontline troops, the employees who are working on
    your behalf, are really good people--good, honorable, hard-working
    people. And they are people that the morale of which is going to be in
    the interest of any President or any Secretary of Homeland Security. In
    other words, we've got to make sure that morale is high in order for us
    to better do our jobs. So there should be no question in any employee's
    mind about the intentions of a President or a future President, that we
    want people to have job satisfaction in order to be able to do the job.
        But we also need to have the authority necessary to succeed in the
    critical mission. We've got to have the ability to put the right people
    at the right place at the right time in order to protect America.
        Many of you come from border communities or border States. You know
    full well that on our borders, there's three different agencies involved
    with protecting the border, agencies of good, hard-working people, but
    sometimes agencies with different strategies and different approaches.
    And sometimes those different strategies and different approaches can
    promote gaps in security. And we've got to have the capacity to do
    everything we can to protect the American people from somebody who would
    want to bring a weapon into our country, for example.
        In other words, we've got to be able to let the hard-working people
    in these agencies better do their job. We can't be constrained by work
    rules that prevent us from doing a better job, and that's the debate.
        The Senate--and some Members of the Senate want to deny this
    President and future Presidents the authority of--the ability to protect
    our national security, the ability in some cases to suspend collective
    bargaining for the sake of national security. That ability has been
    granted from Jimmy Carter on. President Kennedy had the authority; Jimmy
    Carter was President when they codified it into law. It doesn't make any
    sense, in a time of war, to take away that part of the Presidential
    authority. It just doesn't make any sense to me. It's very important
    that the President have the capacity to determine that vital national
    security interests take priority over standard rules governing
    management and labor relations.
        What's really interesting is that if this authority is not applied
    to the Department of Homeland Security, it still will be applied to
    Departments such as the Department of Education or the Department of
    Agriculture. Those are vital Departments, but does it make sense to
    allow the authority to exist in the Department of Agriculture but not in
    the new Department of Homeland Security? Of course it doesn't make any
    sense. And that's why the Senate must be realistic and reasonable as it
    approaches this very important issue about how to leave a legacy of
    homeland security in place.
        I will not accept a rollback in the authority that other Presidents
    have had, and the Senate must understand that. The Senate must
    understand that I have a duty not

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    only to protect the American people but a duty to protect the
    prerogatives of the President. If it's good enough for the Department of
    Agriculture, if this authority is good enough for the employees of the
    Department of Education or HHS, it certainly should be good enough for
    the Department of Homeland Security.
        We need flexibility to deal with emerging threats. The Customs
    Service, for example, decided to require inspectors at the Nation's 301
    ports to wear radiation detection devices. The world changed. We are
    worried about weapons of mass destruction coming into our country, and
    so the Customs Service said: ``Why don't we have our folks wear
    radiation detection devices to be able to pick up any possible signal.''
    The devices work, and they're an important part of somebody being able
    to do their job.
        Under the rules that some Senators support, the union that
    represents the Customs would be able to say, ``You can't do that. That
    must be voluntary.'' For the--that doesn't make any sense to me, that we
    not--that we have to work through a process that would enable our hard-
    working Customs officials to be able to do that which they think is
    necessary to protect America. And we can't afford sitting around for a
    year debating whether or not wearing devices ought to be voluntary or
    not.
        Collective bargaining is important. I support the idea of workers
    being able to have collective bargaining. But we need to be able to
    manage the new agency so that we can best protect the American people.
    And I call upon the Senate to understand the importance of what I just
    said.
        The best way to protect America is to hunt the killers down, one at
    a time. And that's what we're going to do. This is a different kind of
    war. It is a war which is not going to be measured in terms of
    territories gained or tanks destroyed or flotilla destroyed. It's a war
    in which we're going through an international manhunt, one killer at a
    time, and bringing people to justice--which means it's essential we
    continue to uphold the doctrine that says, ``Either you're with us, or
    you're with them.'' And that doctrine still stands, and there's a lot of
    really fine countries, with good leaders, working with us to find these
    killers and to bring them to justice.
        And we're just doing just that. Sometimes you'll read about it;
    sometimes you won't read about it. That's the kind of war this is.
    Sometimes there's achievements that they'll be blasting out over the
    cables, and people will be talking about it forever, and sometimes you
    just won't know what's taking place. But you've got to know, we're
    making progress. We've hauled in over a couple of thousand of these--we
    got a guy the other day, who popped his head up and is now no longer a
    threat to America. He's the one that was going to be the 20th hijacker,
    and he's no longer available for action with the enemy.
        It takes a lot of work--it takes a lot of work. It takes a strong
    military. And for those of you who have got loved ones in the military,
    you've got to know, I've got great confidence in our troops. And I want
    to thank you for your service, and I want to thank you for their
    service.
        And the United States Congress must get a defense appropriations
    bill to my desk before they go home. I asked for the largest increase in
    defense spending since President Reagan was the President, because I
    want our troops to have the best pay, the best training, and best
    possible equipment. And I want to send a message to the world: When it
    comes to the defense of our freedom, there's no artificial timeline.
    When it comes to defending America, civilization, the ability for our
    children to grow up in a free society--it doesn't matter how long it
    takes. This great Nation will stay the course.
        So I expect there to be a defense bill on my desk. I know that
    Members of the House and Senate are working hard to reconcile their
    differences, and I appreciate that. There needs to be a bill on my desk
    before they go home. There's going to be

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    an important message to determine--important message we send to the
    world.
        And so we're making progress on that front of the war against
    terror. But there are other fronts on the war against terror that we
    must deal with. We must deal with countries run by people who are some
    of the world's worst leaders, who harbor, develop, want to hurt us with
    the world's worst weapons. That's a form of terror.
        The war on terror is more than just Al Qaida; the war on terror is
    to deal with nations who have terrorized their own people and have
    intention to terrorize us. See, oceans no longer protect us. There's a
    new era in America. There's a new threat that faces us. And we've got to
    deal with these threats. I made the decision to deal with these--the
    threat of Iraq in an international community. I've called upon other
    nations to join us, and there will be other nations joining us to help
    disarm Iraq.
        We'll determine whether or not the U.N. Security Council wants to
    live up to its obligations. After all, for 11 long years the
    dictator in Iraq, the man who has gassed his
    own people, gassed people in his neighborhood, the man who's expressly--
    expressed his hatred for America and our friends and allies--we'll see
    whether or not the United Nations will be the United Nations or the
    League of Nations when it comes to dealing with this man who for 11
    years has thumbed his nose at resolution after resolution after
    resolution after resolution.
        My intent, of course, is for the United Nations to do its job. I
    think it'll make it easier for us to keep the peace. My intent is for
    the world to understand that the obligation is up to Saddam
    Hussein to disarm like he said he would do.
    My intent is to put together a vast coalition of countries who
    understand the threat of Saddam Hussein.
        The military option is my last choice, not my first; it's my last
    choice. But Saddam has got to understand, the
    United Nations must know, that the will of this country is strong.
        Yesterday I had the honor of standing on the steps of the White
    House, at the Rose Garden, with the Republican leader and Democrat
    leader alike--Speaker Hastert and Leader
    Gephardt, Trent Lott and Joe Lieberman, John
    McCain and Evan Bayh--
    Member after Member who has committed to join with the administration to
    send a clear signal that when it comes to defending our freedom, the
    United States of America will stand united and stand strong.
        The choice is up to the United Nations to show its resolve. The
    choice is up to Saddam Hussein to fulfill its
    word--his word. And if neither of them acts, the United States, in
    deliberate fashion, will lead a coalition to take away the world's worst
    weapons from one of the world's worst leaders.
        I say that because I have a deep desire for peace, peace in America,
    peace in the Middle East. I believe peace is possible. I believe that
    out of the evil done to America can come some really--some good. And one
    of the good is international peace; I believe that. And therefore, I
    will continue to speak clearly about good and evil, continue to renounce
    terrorism in any form, continue to lead the world toward peace, peace
    not only for ourselves but, because we value all human life, peace in
    parts of the world that have given up on peace.
        I know at home we can be a better country, too. The great country of
    ours must recognize there are pockets of despair and hopelessness in
    America. Amongst our plenty, there are people who hurt. So long as any
    of us hurt, we all should hurt. But I believe that this country can
    solve any problem put in its path, and one of those is to help inspire
    all Americans to understand the greatness of this country.
        One way to do so, to make a better country, is to make sure that
    everybody is educated. I passed a really good bill with the Congress and
    signed a really good bill.

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    They passed it; I signed it. [Laughter] I worked with them. And it says
    this: Every child can learn. See, every child can learn. And this
    country will challenge the soft bigotry of low expectations. This plan
    recognizes it's so easy to quit on children whose parents may not speak
    English as a first language. It's easy just to shuffle them through--
    say, ``You know, these kids can't learn; move them through.''
        We insist upon strong accountability. If you receive Federal money,
    you've got to measure, because we believe every child can learn. And
    therefore, we want to know--we want to know. We must have the courage as
    citizens of the country to blow the whistle on failure when we find our
    children trapped in schools which will not teach and will not change.
        A better America is one that takes care of our seniors, with a good
    health care system. Medicine has changed; Medicare hasn't. Medicine has
    changed, and yet the old system hasn't changed with it. And we've got to
    change Medicare. For the good of our seniors, we need prescription drug
    benefits for our seniors. We need a modern Medicare system.
        But the best way to change America is for America to really rely
    upon the true strength of the country, which is the people of the
    country. See, Government can hand out money, but it cannot put love in
    people's hearts or a sense of purpose in people's lives. That is done
    when one of our fellow citizens finds somebody who hurts and puts their
    arm around him or her, and says, ``I love you. What can I do to help
    you? What can I do to make sure you understand the American Dream is
    meant for you?'' That could be mentoring a child, teaching a child to
    read. That could be running a Boy Scout or Girl Scout troop, teaching a
    child values. That could be making sure somebody has got food if they're
    hungry.
        See, the great strength of America is the heart and soul of the
    people of this country. And so what's happened is, and it seems like to
    me, is that the evil ones hit us; America took a step back and said,
    ``In order to fight evil, we all must do some good.'' And my call to the
    fellow--my fellow Americans is: Love somebody just like you'd like to be
    loved yourself; that if you're interested in fighting the evil done to
    us, it doesn't take much, just a small act of kindness and generosity on
    a daily basis. And it's that gathering momentum of the millions of acts
    of kindness and generosity and compassion which takes place in America
    that truly defines the character of this Nation.
        I want to thank you all for serving this Nation. May God bless you
    all, and may God bless America.

    Note: The President spoke at 9:59 a.m. in Room 450 of the Dwight D.
    Eisenhower Executive Office Building. In his remarks, he referred to
    Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen and Judge Charles W.
    Pickering, Sr., whose nominations to be U.S. Circuit Judges for the
    Fifth Circuit failed.