[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book I)]
[January 30, 2003]
[Pages 102-107]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks on the Anniversary of the USA Freedom Corps
January 30, 2003

    Thank you all for coming. The most compassionate thing Darrell Green 
has done is to retire--[laughter]--particularly if you're a Dallas 
Cowboys fan. [Laughter] The most compassionate thing Darrell 
Green has done is decided to lend his heart to 
help America be a more welcoming society for every citizen. I appreciate 
his leadership. I appreciate his friendship, and I appreciate the other 
members of the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation.
    Darrell will lead this distinguished group 
of citizens. We have plucked two really fine Americans to be Vice 
Chairmen. That's, of course, Senators Glenn and 
Dole, distinguished Americans who have served their 
country in many ways. Along with those, there's a lot of other well-
known Americans who have heard a call to be responsible citizens for the 
future of this country by using their positions of influence and stature 
to rally the true strength of the country, which is the compassion of 
our fellow citizens. And I want to thank them for their participation in 
this commission.
    It's a commission not only to convince our fellow citizens to love 
one another just like we like to be loved; it's a commission also to 
devise practical ways to encourage

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others to serve. And one practical way is for the development of an 
award that Americans from all walks of life all around our country will 
be able to post boldly on their wall, that says, ``I served this great 
country by loving somebody.'' And I want to thank you all for joining 
us. It is an important program.
    I want to thank members of my administration who are here who will 
be involved in the implementation of some of the initiatives that I've 
outlined to the United States Congress. The Secretary of Education is 
here, Rod Paige, behind me. John 
Ashcroft is here, the Attorney General. Rich 
Carmona, who is the U.S. Surgeon General, is 
with us today. Stephen Goldsmith, who is 
the Chair of the Corporation for National and Community Service, is with 
us. Les Lenkowsky is with us, who is the 
CEO of that Corporation. Gaddi Vasquez, who 
is the head of the Peace Corps, is with us.
    And most importantly, Alma Powell, Secretary 
of Colin Powell, is with us. Where are you? 
There she is. She's kind of like my mother in 
many ways. She's always telling me what to do--[laughter]--and I'm 
always listening.
    I want to thank Congressman Tom Osborne for 
coming today. Congressman, I'm honored that you're here. I appreciate 
your compassion and your care for our fellow citizens. They tell me Tim 
Roemer is here, who just retired from the United 
States Congress. I appreciate Tim's participation.
    I know the Mayor is here. Mayor 
Anthony Williams, who is a--I like to tease the Mayor, remind him that--
to keep fixing those potholes in front of the White House--[laughter]--
keep that garbage collected. [Laughter] But he's doing a fine job, and 
I'm proud to call him friend, just like many of the citizens here are 
proud to call him Mayor. I want to thank members of the city council who 
are here as well. Mayors and city council members must play an active 
role at rallying the compassion of this country.
    I want to thank the Boys & Girls Clubs across the country but 
particularly here in Washington, DC--Pat Shannon and Tim Sheahan--for opening up 
this facility. The Boys & Girls Club have got a grand history of helping 
children understand the future is bright for them as well as any other 
child in America. Boys & Girls Clubs have been safe havens. They're 
little beacons of light for children who might not see light. And I want 
to thank them for their service to the country. Part of the vision for 
America is that we have a mosaic of all kinds of people providing love 
and comfort for people who need help. And Boys & Girls Club is a part of 
that majestic mosaic of America.
    One of the great strengths of our country is the fact that the 
social entrepreneurial spirit is strong. We got people all across this 
land who don't wait for some law passed out of the United States 
Congress to say, ``What can I do to help a neighbor in need?'' There are 
thousands all across this country who have--who are making a singular 
difference in the lives of one citizen or one neighborhood or one 
community. And the impact of all that care and love allowed me to say 
point-blank to the American people after the tragedy that out of the 
evil done to America is going to come some incredible good.
    I do think there is an important role for Government. One of the 
roles of Government is to ask people to serve today. Once again, I'm 
asking our fellow citizens to serve your community and to serve your 
country by finding a program that will make a difference in somebody's 
lives. It doesn't matter how big or small the program may sound. What 
matters is your love and your energy and your participation. Help 
somebody who is lonely. Mentor somebody who needs care and concern. Feed 
the hungry. Find shelter for the homeless. Answer the call of this 
country.

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    A year ago we started what's called the USA Freedom Corps. I thought 
it was important for the Federal Government to lend a structure to the 
thousands who may want to help, to provide an outlet for those who heard 
the call to provide 4,000 hours, 2 years of service. And people are 
responding. There are over 60,000 opportunities that the USA Freedom 
Corps can steer people to, opportunities to volunteer all across the 
country. And thousands and thousands and thousands of our fellow 
citizens have inquired as to how to help, have said, ``I want to help. 
Let me be a part of an optimistic future for America.'' And I want to 
thank those thousands who have signed up.
    Corporate America has a responsibility. It's fine to sell product, 
and that's important. There's a lot of responsibilities that come with 
running a company. Telling the truth is a responsibility that comes with 
running a country, by the way; treating your--being honest with your 
shareholder, if you're a public company; being thoughtful to your 
employee. But I also believe there's a corporate responsibility to 
encourage and provide incentive for employees to go help in the 
community in which the company exists. One hundred-sixty companies have 
signed up. I know Rich Parsons is here, 
of AOL/Time Warner, Gene Case; and this company 
has been one of the--on the forefront, among others--Nardelli, of Home Depot, as well--have encouraged their 
employees to not only provide good product but provide love and 
compassion in their communities.
    And I want to thank corporate America for hearing the call. I 
encourage more companies and more corporations to participate in this 
quest to make sure the American Dream extends itself in every 
neighborhood and in every corner of this country.
    AmeriCorps has got tens of thousands of people helping to inoculate 
children against disease or tutoring children. I'm a supporter of 
AmeriCorps. I urge the Congress to pass the ``Citizen Service Act'' to 
make sure that--[applause].
    Part of being a compassionate country also means we need to be 
compassionate abroad. That's one of the reasons I laid out a powerful 
AIDS initiative for the citizens in Africa who suffer from AIDS. It's an 
initiative that I believe will lend the great heart of the American 
people to the salvation of life after life after life on that continent.
    And I want to tell the folks that Peace Corps applications are up by 
30 percent. And what I find--and even more interesting, 38 more 
countries have asked for Peace Corps volunteers to come into their land 
to help their country and to help their citizens realize their full 
potential. See, in this country, we say, ``Every life matters. Everybody 
is precious. Everybody counts.''
    Senior Corps is vibrant and strong these days in America. There's 
over a half a million members of Senior Corps. [Applause] Sounds like 
it's vibrant and strong right here in this room. [Laughter]
    We've got 300 Citizen Corps Councils around America to help every 
community prepare in case of emergency. It's a useful way to--for many 
of our citizens to volunteer, to help lend their talents to make sure 
America is buttoned up and prepared if the worst were to happen again.
    I think we ought to take our initiatives and make sure that they're 
focused and pointed as well--particularly at the Federal level. What I'm 
about to say doesn't preclude other good things happening in America, 
but I do think it makes sense to take some of our resources and lend 
them to help those who are vulnerable citizens, those who have got great 
potential but need a little extra help.
    I strongly believe in mentoring. I know we can change America one 
heart and one soul at a time. There's just no doubt in my mind we can. 
So I want to rally the compassion of the country to focus on junior high 
students who may need a mentor. And I particularly--I want to help the 
boys

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and girls whose mom or dad may be incarcerated. There are programs all 
across our country that already do that. I fully recognize that. This 
isn't anything new. This is a way to build upon the good works that 
already exist.
    I was in Philadelphia. I saw the program that has been existing way 
before I was thinking about writing my speech, about how that 
community--out of a church--began to call upon other members of churches 
throughout Philadelphia to love a child who has to hug a mom or dad 
through a prison bar. And it's making a difference in the lives of those 
children.
    We need to have that type of program all across the country. I'm 
asking for the Congress to provide $450 million. The money will go to 
encourage recruitment, provide structure, to cover the overhead 
necessary to rally the mentors, to find the folks that are willing to 
hear the call. I believe we can change lives through mentoring.
    You know why I say that? I say it because I've seen mentor and 
mentoree and heard their testimony, just like I did today, earlier. I 
heard about the Best Friends Program here in Washington, DC, changing 
lives. I met a young lady, a junior in college from Atlanta, Georgia. 
She goes to school up here. And her college--they said, ``We need people 
to help. We got what we call a U.S. Dream Academy.'' And she heard the 
call--a junior in college. So I said, ``Can you help?'' And she said, 
``You bet I can help.'' Erica is now 
mentoring, and I want to thank her for her mentorship. She's changing 
one life. Her love and her compassion and her dedication to something 
greater than herself will give her the great satisfaction of knowing 
that she has made one life better. She may make a lot of other lives 
better, too. But right now, she can say, ``I'm making one life better.'' 
It's that cumulative effect of people in America being able to say, ``I 
have made one life better,'' that will make the whole country better.
    I asked my fellow citizens to think about how you can be a person 
making somebody's life better. I talked to Cecil from St. John's Baptist 
in Columbus, Maryland. Cecil said his preacher called him into action 
and his wife said, ``You keep talking about the need for mentors, but 
you haven't done a darn thing about it.'' Cecil and I married well. The 
same thing happens to me, Cecil. [Laughter] But Cecil decided to become 
a mentor. He brought his young mentoree with him today. I decided I'd 
trick the guy and say, ``You got any goals?'' He looked me right in the 
eye and said, ``I'm going to be an architect. I'm going to be an 
architect.'' Congratulations to a great future architect of America, but 
congratulation as well to his mentor who helped set the example. Cecil, 
thank you for coming, and thank your church.
    I met Mark Harris. Mark wears the uniform of 
the United States of America. He's in our military. Mark is here to 
continue his education, and he met Antonio. See, he's a big brother, a 
part of the Big Brothers and Big Sisters program, which is one of our 
Nation's strongest mentoring programs. He realized service to the 
country was more than just putting on the uniform. Service to the 
country was serving our country by loving somebody, by being a mentor. 
He understands what I know, that when you change a life, you change the 
country for the better. Mark and I share a deep passion. We not only 
want a secure country, we want a hopeful country as well, an optimistic 
country.
    I met Karin Walser. She's what I call a 
social entrepreneur. I think I'm looking at a lot of social 
entrepreneurs here. These are people who are, as we say in the 
vernacular, ``thinking outside the box'' to make America a better place. 
She started a program called Horton's Kids, which is a mentoring program 
on Capitol Hill--use the facilities there to help children understand 
structure and focus and love in their lives. No, mentoring is a 
fabulous, fabulous part of the American society.

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    Larry Compton knows. He's a 23-year-old 
student who is with us today. He was mentored as a kid coming up in 
Pontiac, Michigan. He found direction in his life, and guess what? He 
now mentors. He has been mentored, and he now mentors.
    My point is, it's the beginning of a process that feeds upon itself. 
Mentoring will change the country. I ask the Congress to pass this 
initiative. I ask my fellow citizens to join many, many fellow citizens 
in loving somebody who needs help.
    And as we structure response to society's needs, we must never 
forget the power of faith in our society. There's a--some of the 
greatest programs, initiatives, come out of our faith-based programs or 
faith-based churches or synagogues or mosques. You know why? There is a 
universal call to love somebody like you'd like to be loved yourself. 
The handbook is pretty clear about the role of--[applause]. There are 
fabulous programs that aren't related to faith-based initiatives. That's 
fine, and that's good. But the corollary to that is, Government should 
not discriminate against faith-based programs. They ought to welcome 
faith-based programs in our society.
    There are fantastic programs that helped drug addicts kick their 
habit, and I think we ought to focus resources and time and efforts to 
help those who are addicted to drugs. But there are also some wonderful 
programs based upon faith, on the understanding that if you change a 
person's heart, you can change that person's behavior. Our Government 
should welcome faith-based programs into our society.
    So I'll continue to work with Congress to get this, the full aspects 
of the Faith-Based Initiative out of the Halls of Congress. We ought not 
to be stuck on process. We ought to be focused on results. We ought to 
ask the question, does it work? And if it works, we ought to welcome 
anything that works to save American lives.
    I'm a confident man. I'm a confident man about the future of this 
country. I truly believe that we can achieve peace. I believe we can 
achieve peace at home, and I believe we can achieve peace abroad. 
Likewise, I believe we can achieve a hopeful, hopeful future.
    Listen, there are pockets of despair in America. In spite our 
plenty, in spite of the fact that we've got great wealth compared to 
many societies, there are people who hurt, people who wonder about their 
future, people who are lost, people who are addicted, people who need 
help. And there is no question in my mind, however, that because of the 
great strength of our country, the compassion of our people, we can help 
those people realize a better tomorrow.
    The goal of this country is for everyone--not just a few--everyone 
in every community in every State in every part of our country to 
understand the greatness and potential of this country. Everybody counts 
in life. Everybody matters. Everybody is precious in the sight of the 
Almighty. Everybody has worth. That would be a philosophy that drives 
this Government as we work to strive to make the American experience 
strong and hopeful for every single citizen.
    I want to thank my fellow citizens for your love. I want to thank my 
fellow citizens for your time. I want to thank your fellow citizens--my 
fellow citizens for serving something greater than yourself, the 
greatest country on the face of this Earth. God bless you all, and God 
bless America.

Note: The President spoke at 10:25 a.m. at the Jelleff Branch, Boys & 
Girls Clubs of Greater Washington. In his remarks, he referred to former 
Washington Redskins player Darrell Green; Alma Powell, wife of Secretary 
of State Colin Powell; Mayor Anthony A. Williams of Washington, DC; 
Patricia G. Shannon, president and chief executive officer, and Tim 
Sheahan, executive vice president, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater 
Washington; Rich Parsons, chief executive officer, and Steve Case, 
chairman, AOL/Time Warner; and Bob Nardelli, chairman, president,

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and chief executive officer, Home Depot. The Office of the Press 
Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of these remarks.