[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book I)]
[January 6, 2003]
[Pages 25-28]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks Following a Cabinet Meeting and an Exchange With Reporters
January 6, 2003
The President. I have an opening statement here, and I'll answer a
couple of questions.
I want to thank my Cabinet for coming. This is the 15th Cabinet
meeting we've had since we were sworn in, and I appreciate each of you
working so hard on behalf of the American people.
Today we talked about the issues facing our country. The war on
terror continues. We will hunt down the terrorists wherever
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they hide. We'll do everything we can to secure the homeland.
We heard a briefing today from Tom Ridge about
how the reorganization of the Homeland Security Department is going.
It's very important for Congress and the Senate to confirm Tom as
quickly as possible and to confirm his team, so they can get doing the
work of the American people.
Here at home, I hope the Congress will extend the unemployment
benefits for--for the American workers who don't have a job--soon, as
quickly as possible. As well, it's important for Congress to pass the
'03 appropriations bills. We're living under continuing resolutions. The
agency heads here are--want to have their budgets finalized so that they
can have certainty in the appropriations with which they have to work.
Congress has got work to do.
Tomorrow I'm going to talk about how to continue the economic growth
that we have, to ensure our economy is as robust as possible. I look
forward to the speech in Chicago, because it is a plan that speaks
directly to the American citizen that we'll do everything we can to
revitalize the small-business sector, to make sure it remains strong so
people can find work.
We've put together a fine economic team. I hope the Congress--the
Senate acts quickly to confirm John Snow and
Bill Donaldson. They need to move
quickly.
I look forward to working with the leadership in the House and the
Senate. Doesn't matter who's in charge, we'll work with them. Obviously,
we're pleased that Senator Frist will be leading
the Senate. We'll work with him. We'll continue to work with Senator
Daschle, and we'll work with Speaker
Hastert, Dennis Leader DeLay, and Congressman Pelosi as well.
We have got a job to do for the American people, and we'll do that
job, to make sure the country is secure, to win the war on terror, and
make sure people can find work.
Let me answer some questions. Sandra [Sandra Sobieraj, Associated
Press], this is your last day, I understand, and therefore, you get to
ask the only question--I mean, you get to ask--[laughter].
President's Economic Plan
Q. The first question to the last? You said that your economic plan
will speak directly to the American citizen. The Democrats say that it
speaks most directly to the richest American taxpayers. How do you
answer that criticism and the charge that you're just going to lead to
deeper deficits?
The President. Well, the critics hadn't seen the plan. This is a
plan that provides tax relief to the working citizens. It's a plan that
is a very fair plan. It's a plan that recognizes, when somebody has more
of their own money, they're likely to spend it, which creates more jobs.
Our administration is concerned about deficits, and the way they
deal with deficits is you, one, control spending. And I hope Congress
lives up to their words. When they talk about deficits, they can join us
in making sure we don't overspend. They can join us and make sure that
the appropriations process is focused on those issues that--those items
that are absolutely necessary for the American people.
I'm pleased that Members of the Congress are talking about deficits.
It means they understand their obligations not to overspend the people's
money. And the second way to deal with deficits is to encourage revenue
growth. And the way to encourage revenue growth is to encourage the
private sector to grow. And tomorrow I'll be talking about ways to
encourage the growth of the private sector.
Steve [Steve Holland, Reuters].
Iraq
Q. Sir, with 3 weeks to go until the U.N. inspectors report back,
are you seeing any signs of compliance by Iraq? Saddam says it's
carrying out intelligence work.
The President. Well, I thought that was an interesting statement on
his part. When
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you combine that with the fact that his declaration was clearly
deficient, it is discouraging news for those of us who want to resolve
this issue peacefully.
He has the obligation to disarm. For the
sake of peace, he must disarm. The United Nations has clearly said that.
It is in our Nation's interest that he disarm. He is a threat to the
American people. He's a threat to our friends and neighbors in the
Middle East. He is a person who has used weapons of mass destruction.
And so, therefore, the world has said to Saddam, ``You won't have any
weapons of mass destruction. Get rid of them.'' And thus far, it looks
like he hasn't complied.
But he's got time, and we continue to
call upon Saddam Hussein to listen to what the world is saying. Not just
the United States but the entire world expects Saddam Hussein to disarm.
Dick--Stretch [Richard Keil, Bloomberg News].
President's Economic Plan
Q. Mr. President, changing the taxation on stock dividends--a lot of
analysts say that, in and of itself, would not have a particularly
stimulative effect for the economy. Do you disagree with that? And if in
the end you get a benefit yourself, is it money that you would then
direct to be reinvested, or is it money that you might spend?
The President. If it--I didn't hear the second part of your
question. If it--the hypothetical part of the question, which I'm
probably not going to answer. [Laughter]
Q. If Congress does your bidding and you get benefits from dividends
that aren't being taxed, would you use that money to reinvest or would
you spend it on consumer goods or consumer items?
The President. Me, personally?
Q. You, personally.
The President. My money is in a blind trust, Stretch, so I don't
know if I've got any dividends.
Q. If you did.
The President. Oh, if I did. [Laughter]
Q. Not many of us have dividends these days, but----
The President. Well, it's interesting you asked that question. A lot
of people get dividends, see. And that's one of the reasons why we're
analyzing this issue of taxing things twice, particularly dividends.
Most seniors--over 50 percent of the seniors receive dividends.
First of all, it's unfair to tax money twice. There's a principle
involved. The Government ought to be content with taxing revenue streams
or profits one time, not twice. And in dividends, we tax the corporate
profit, and then we tax the money being sent to the shareholder. And
that doesn't make any sense. That's unfair. That's bad public policy.
Many of the shareholders that pay the taxes are senior citizens. These
are senior citizens who have retired and senior citizens who can use
that money.
Thirdly, the reduction in taxes on dividends will encourage capital
flows into the marketplace. It will encourage investment, and that's
what we want. We want to encourage investment activity. Investment means
jobs.
And so I'm not going to specifically tell you what's in the speech
tomorrow, though it looks like some others might have already done that.
I do encourage you to listen to it. But I encourage you to look at the
entire package. It's a package that's shaped for economic vitality and
growth.
Listen, we're doing fine. Tomorrow you'll hear me say this economy
is one of the strongest in the world. But what we believe is that we can
be stronger. And we also know that when somebody is looking for work who
wants to work means we've got to continue to try to stimulate job
growth.
Now, we don't believe it's the role of Government to manage the
economy. We've got great faith in the private sector. And so we're going
to create the environment for the private sector to be stronger. That's
the policy of this administration.
Sandra, good luck to you. Thanks.
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Q. Thank you, sir.
North Korea
Q. Mr. President, on North Korea, sir?
The President. I'll answer one on North Korea, yes, real quick.
Q. Yes, sir. What would it take for the U.S. or any other nation to
have direct talks with North Korea? And they claim to believe that the
U.S. is a threat to them.
The President. Yes.
Q. What can you say?
The President. Well, first of all, I went to Korea and clearly said
that the United States has no intention of invading North Korea. I said
that right there in South Korea. And in Kim Chong-il's visited with the Deputy Foreign
Minister----
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell. The Foreign Minister.
The President. ----the Foreign Minister,