[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.