    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book I)]
    [February 26, 2003]
    [Pages 211-216]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks to the Latino Coalition
    February 26, 2003

        Bienvenidos. I want to thank mi abogado and my close friend for his
    leadership and his participation in our Government. Everybody has got to
    have a good lawyer--[laughter]--especially in my line of work.
    [Laughter] And I've got a great one with Al Gonzales. I'm proud to call him friend.
        And I also want to thank the members of the Latino Coalition who are
    here today. I want to thank you for your work in--obviously, on
    political issues. But really I want to thank you for what you're doing
    in your own community, showing people that through hard work there's
    opportunity and hope, that if you're an entrepreneur--thanks for setting
    such a great example. Truly, one of the greatest things about the Nation
    is that somebody who's got a dream and who works hard can own their own
    business, realize their own potential. So thanks for setting the example
    for a lot of our fellow citizens.
        I'm honored that Mel Martinez is here with
    us, and Hector Barreto,  Jr. serving my
    administration. Both men are doing a fine job in important positions. I
    want to thank Ambassador Hans Hertell from
    the Dominican Republic for coming. [Applause] I see you brought an
    entourage with you. [Laughter] Rosario Marin,
    who's the Treasurer, is here. Rosario, great to see you. Josefina
    Carbonell, who is the Assistant Secretary
    for Aging, Health and Human Services, is with us.
        I want to thank very much the--Robert de Posada, as well for your
    leadership and for working for what you think is right for the country.
        El Gobernador del Estado de Hidalgo is with us today. Gobernador,
    bienvenidos. Glad you're here. I see my friend Alfredo
    Phillips. One of the great honors when I
    was the Governor of Texas was to work closely with our Mexican
    counterparts. Senor Phillips was a man who came to Austin quite
    frequently to talk about NADBank and mutual development programs. I'm
    honored you're here. I appreciate your delegation coming.
        This Nation is committed to making sure we've got great relations
    with Mexico. The cornerstone of good foreign policy starts with making
    sure the neighborhood is prosperous and peaceful. I look forward to
    continuing to work with Vicente Fox on advancing
    a common agenda for the good of both nations.
        And so I welcome you all here. You come to America today during
    times of great challenges. There are some challenges which face us, but
    there's no hurdle big enough for the American people not to cross. This
    is--we've got some mighty challenges to make sure the country is more
    prosperous and more hopeful and the world more peaceful. But sin duda,
    we're going to achieve what we need to achieve, porque este pais es un
    gran pais, with great values and great hope and great strength.

    [[Page 212]]

        The first challenge we have is to make sure people can find work. We
    want everybody working who wants to find a job. The challenge was
    created, really, because of a recession and an attack on America and the
    fact that some of our fellow citizens didn't realize that they needed to
    tell the truth all the time when it came to the numbers on their balance
    sheets. All three of those circumstances has created a challenge for the
    country. And the challenge is how to make sure the entrepreneurial
    environment is strong and steady, so that people are confident in taking
    risk, that small businesses are willing to take risk to expand.
        And so I put out an economic plan that addresses the challenges that
    we face. First, I want to remind you we responded to the recession by
    tax relief. We believe that if a person has more money in their pockets,
    they're likely to demand a good or a service. And when they do so in the
    marketplace, somebody is likely to produce the good or a service. And
    when that happens, somebody is more likely to find work. That's the
    premise of the economic policy we laid out in '01. I worked with the
    Republicans and Democrats to get the tax plan through.
        We responded to the attacks on September the 11th, 2001. We had
    terrorism insurance bill passed to encourage construction programs to go
    forward. We dealt with the airline issue. We got the stock market opened
    up quickly. And of course, then we liberated Afghanistan as we sought to
    bring justice to the killers of the thousands of Americans and others.
        We dealt with the corporate scandals by passing the law that clearly
    says that if you lie, cheat, or steal, that if you defraud a shareholder
    or an employee, there is going to be certain consequences.
        And so we made progress. But the economy still needs more work as
    far as we're concerned. And so I've gone to Congress, and I want to
    share with you quite quickly, quite briefly what I am asking Congress to
    do.
        First of all, I think it's very important for us to focus on small-
    business growth. We're interested in job creation. The first thing--the
    first fact that Congress has got to understand is most small--most jobs
    are created by small businesses, most new jobs. And so, therefore, any
    package ought to be focused on small business in America. And this
    package is. It basically says, we're--we've asked Congress to cut rates.
    They did, but they phased in the tax rate cuts over 3, 5, or 7 years.
    Well, if the economy is not doing as well as it should today, and if
    Congress has one time seen the wisdom of letting people keep more of
    their own money, then step one is they ought to accelerate the tax
    relief plan to this year. All tax cuts in the future ought to be
    accelerated to this year. If they're good enough 5 years from now,
    they're good enough today.
        Most small businesses are sole proprietorships or limited
    partnerships or Subchapter S corporations, which means that they pay tax
    at the individual income-tax rate. And so therefore, when you accelerate
    rate cuts, you're really accelerating capital to be invested by small
    businesses. And that's what Congress must understand. The rate reduction
    package is good for the small-business sector of the American economy.
        As well, we believe we ought to increase the amount of expensing
    available to small businesses from the current limitation of $25,000 to
    $75,000 a year. This will encourage capital expenditure. It will provide
    incentive for people to expand their businesses. Capital expenditure
    equals jobs, and the more capital accumulation and capital expenditure
    we can encourage, the more likely it is somebody is going to find work.
        And so this plan focuses on boosting the amount of money consumers
    have to spend, strengthening demand for products. But it also focuses on
    capital accumulation, capital

    [[Page 213]]

    formation, particularly at the small-business sector of the American
    economy.
        Furthermore, I believe we ought to eliminate the double taxation on
    dividends, and I will tell you why. If capital equals jobs, the double
    taxation of dividends means there is less capital in the private markets
    for investment. It's fair to tax a company's profits. It is unfair to
    tax that profit again when it's distributed to one of the shareholders.
    And so our plan encourages capital formation. Our plan addresses the
    needs of the 10 million seniors who have dividend income. It is
    beneficial for those seniors not to have to pay a tax on their
    dividends. As a matter of fact, it will help them in the later years of
    their lives.
        The dividend plan also is going to have a positive effect on our
    accounting process. I mean, after all, we went through a period of time
    when people said, ``Invest in my company. Even though I may not have any
    earnings, I've got a good idea. So let's invest''--let's invest in
    something that may or may not happen. A society which is focused on
    dividends says, you know, cash is really what matters. You can't--if you
    say, ``Invest in my company. I'm going to pay you a dividend,'' it's not
    based upon some pie-in-the-sky projection. It's based on the reality of
    cash. The dividend policy, if more companies pay dividends, will have a
    positive effect when it comes to the balance sheets of America. It will
    have a reform effect, because you can't project what may be. When you're
    promising dividends, you've got to project what is. And that's going to
    be good for investors, and it's going to be good for accountability when
    it comes to the corporate sector of America.
        So this is the plan I'm asking Congress to look at. It's a
    reasonable plan; it's a stimulative plan; it's a plan that makes sense.
    And I'm asking for your help. I'd like for you to contact your
    Congressman or your Senator and let him know that this plan makes sense
    for the economic vitality of this country.
        We continue to face a hurdle with our schools. If you want America
    to be a hopeful place, we better make sure the public school system of
    America works. And so I want to continue--I say we face a problem
    because not every school is working the way we want it to. I proposed
    reform which the Senate and the House passed in my first year as the
    President. The reform said, if you spend money, then it makes sense to
    demand results. We spend money at the Federal level. Therefore we ought
    to ask, what are the results? We're asking the simple question, ``If you
    receive money, can the children read and write and add and subtract?''
    That's what we want to know.
        It's really important for Latino parents to have that question
    asked. It's essential to ask that question if you want the future of
    this country to be bright, because oftentimes the Latino child just gets
    passed through the system without asking the fundamental question of
    whether or not that child can read and write and add and subtract.
        You see, it's oftentimes easy to walk into a classroom full of the
    so-called ``hard to educate'' and say, ``We're moving you through.''
    It's what I call the soft bigotry of low expectations. I told the
    American people when I was running for office, ``I will challenge the
    soft bigotry of low expectations, because I believe every child can
    learn, regardless of the status of their parents.'' And we have done
    that. We have done that. We've increased Federal education spending by
    50 percent from the time I got here. But more importantly, we're
    demanding accountability because we believe in the value of every child,
    and we don't want one child left behind here in America.
        We look forward to working with you on health care matters. We want
    the Medicare system to function well. We want to

    [[Page 214]]

    make sure that there is a capacity for people to get primary care
    through community health centers. It's an initiative which I strongly
    support and I'm pushing Congress to fund to its fullest. We want to make
    sure that there is a--health tax credits to help the working uninsured.
    And we want to make sure there's medical liability reform to make sure
    that health care is not only affordable but available. In other words,
    we don't want our docs sued to the point where they're leaving the
    profession, where people can't find good medical care. There's a lot we
    can work with you on, and intend to do--associated health care plans,
    incredibly important part of making sure small-business owners can
    provide affordable health care to their employees.
        I also want to work with--continue to work with you all in America
    on making sure that our welfare system is complete. I say complete
    because the best welfare programs oftentimes are those found in our
    iglesias, our churches and synagogues and mosques. And our Government
    must not fear the power of faith in our society but must welcome faith-
    based programs which exist to heal hearts and provide hope for broken
    lives.
        The great strength of this country lies in the hearts of our fellow
    citizens. The great power of transformation in neighborhoods can take
    place because thousands of citizens have heard the universal call to
    love a neighbor like they would like to be loved themself. And so you'll
    see us continue to work with our neighborhood helpers and healers at the
    Federal level to encourage faith-based programs to flourish and exist.
        I recognize that one person can't solve all of our society's
    problems, but one person can help save one life. And it's that
    accumulative effect, what I call the gathering momentum of millions of
    acts of kindness which take place on a daily basis, which literally can
    transform this country, one heart and one soul at a time.
        I also want to talk to you about how to make sure our judiciary
    works well. It starts with me naming good people to serve on the bench,
    good, solid, honest, decent Americans who are willing to forgo the
    private practice of law, the comforts of private life, and serve on the
    Federal bench. And that's exactly what I've done. I've named some
    incredibly fine Americans to serve in this important part of our
    Government, and no finer American as Miguel Estrada. He is a man I have named, nominated for the DC Circuit
    Court of Appeals. When confirmed, he'll be the first Hispanic to serve
    on what they call the second most important court in America.
        His story is the American story. His story--it's what makes this
    country so profound and so hopeful and so promising. After all,
    he came to the country from Honduras. He
    could barely speak English. He came as a teenage boy, had trouble with
    our native language, and yet ends up shortly thereafter in Harvard Law
    School as one of the top students. It speaks about a man who has a dream
    and works hard to achieve that dream, understands the value of
    education, overcame difficulties, and became one of the top law students
    out of Harvard.
        He has argued 15 cases before the
    Supreme Court. He has taken his knowledge and capacity and argued before
    the highest court of our land. He has served in the Justice Department
    under Presidents from both political parties. He is a incredibly bright
    mind.
        Yet, his nomination is being delayed and stalled by Democratic
    Senators. His nomination has been stalled for 2 years. They're blocking
    the vote on this good man for purely
    political reasons. The Senators are applying a double standard to Miguel
    Estrada by requiring him to answer questions that other judicial
    nominees over time have not been forced to answer. And that is not
    right, and that is not fair.
        By blocking a vote on Miguel Estrada,
    some Democrats in the Senate are flaunting

    [[Page 215]]

    the intention of the United States Constitution and the tradition of the
    United States Senate itself. Alexander Hamilton wrote that the purpose
    of the Senate confirmation was to prevent the appointment of unfit
    characters. No one can possibly call Miguel Estrada ``unfit.'' The
    American Bar Association has given him its highest ratings--highest
    ratings. And he has the qualifications and the experience and the
    temperament to make an outstanding judge.
        The partisans in the Senate are subjecting Miguel Estrada to an unfair double standard. Failing to allow an
    up-or-down vote--a vote which will pass--on Miguel Estrada's nomination
    is a travesty, an injustice being carried out by those responsible for
    helping to uphold justice in this country.
        I want to thank you for your work on Miguel's nomination. I will stand by that man's side until he is
    sworn in as a judge.
        And finally, we have been called to defend America and to keep the
    peace. We face a significant challenge, and that is to protect the
    homeland of the American people. Prior to September the 11th, 2001, we
    thought oceans would protect the homeland of the American people. We
    thought that history would continue to repeat itself, that this Nation
    was safe and secure, that if there was a gathering threat overseas, we
    could deal with it if we felt like dealing with it, but it was not a
    problem for the home people. Yet, on September the 11th, the world
    changed. It changed dramatically and sadly for thousands of citizens. It
    also changed for how this country must view our position in the world.
    The strategic vision of the country shifted.
        We're doing everything we can here at home to secure the homeland.
    We've got agencies working overtime, people sharing information. Our
    borders are becoming more efficient. We want people, commerce to move
    freely, but we don't want terrorists to move freely. So we're doing as
    good a job as we possibly can to protect you. But the best way to secure
    the homeland is to find killers before they kill us and bring them to
    justice. And that's what we're going to do.
        So we're on the hunt, on Al Qaida. This is a different kind of war.
    It's a war which requires a good intelligence-sharing, and it requires
    cutting off money. It requires specially skilled troops to smoke these
    people out of their caves and to bring them to justice. And that's what
    we're doing, one by one. Sometimes you'll see success, and sometimes you
    won't. You've just got to know the mighty United States, along with 89
    other countries in our coalition for Enduring Freedom, are doing
    everything we can to protect you and protect other people who love
    freedom.
        There's also a threat gathering in Iraq. It's been gathering for a
    long period of time. The danger with Iraq is that he can strike in the
    neighborhood. And the danger with Iraq is that he has got the
    willingness and capacity to train Al Qaida-type organizations and
    provide them with equipment to hurt America.
        The world has waited a long time for Mr. Saddam Hussein to disarm. They've waited a long time. He is a master
    of disguise and delay. He'll say, ``Oh, I'm disarming,'' after he said
    he has no arms.
        We will continue to work with our friends, people who understand the
    value of freedom. We will insist that the United Nation Resolution 1441
    be adhered to in its fullest. After all, we want the United Nations to
    be a legitimate, effective body. But for the safety of the American
    people and for peace in the world, Saddam Hussein will be disarmed one way or the other. And this Nation
    does so for the sake of peace.
        The use of our military is the absolute last option. It is the last
    alternative for the President. But the risk of doing nothing, the risk
    of assuming that Saddam Hussein will change,
    the risk of thinking and hoping for the best for the American people,
    far outweighs the risk of committing troops if

    [[Page 216]]

    we have to. The choice is Saddam Hussein's to make. It's been his to
    make all along. He gets to choose between peace and war.
        And the other thing that is an inherent part of our view of Iraq is
    how I started the discussion here. See, we believe everybody matters;
    everybody counts. It doesn't matter your background, where you're from;
    everybody has worth. As I said in my State of the Union Address, liberty
    is not America's gift to the world; liberty is God's gift to human--to
    the human--mankind. And that's what we believe.
        So in the days ahead, as we deal with this challenge facing our
    country, you need to know that the value of freedom and liberty will be
    at the forefront of a policy designed to make the world more peaceful
    and a policy designed to protect the American people.
        Thank you for your interest. May God bless you all, and may God
    bless America.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:30 a.m. in Room 450 of the Dwight D.
    Eisenhower Executive Office Building. In his remarks, he referred to
    Hans H. Hertell, U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic; Jane
    Delgado, president and chief executive officer, National Alliance for
    Hispanic Health; Gov. Manuel Angel Nunez Soto of Hidalgo, Mexico;
    Alfredo Phillips Olmedo, former Managing Director, North American
    Development Bank; President Vicente Fox of Mexico; and President Saddam
    Hussein of Iraq. The Office of the Press Secretary also released a
    Spanish language transcript of these remarks.