[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book I)]
[January 29, 2003]
[Pages 91-97]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



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Remarks in Grand Rapids, Michigan
January 29, 2003

    Thank you all. I'm anxious to get started. [Laughter] So I woke up 
this morning, and Laura said, ``Where are you 
going?'' I said, ``Grand Rapids, thankfully.'' And she said, ``Home of a 
great American, Gerald Ford''--and home to 
many great Americans. I want to thank you for your hospitality. 
She said, ``I've got a suggestion for you: 
Shorten your speech.'' [Laughter]
    I want to share some of my thoughts about that speech I gave last 
night. It's important for me to come to parts of our country and explain 
why I said what I said, so that you and others around our country 
clearly understand some things about the country and the problems we 
face. First thing I want you to know is that there's no doubt in my mind 
that we can accomplish our objectives, because we're the finest nation, 
full of the greatest people on the face of this Earth.
    Thanks for coming. I also want to thank my friend Tommy 
Thompson, who is the Secretary of Health 
and Human Services, for leaving a comfortable life and serving our 
Nation. You may remember, he was the Governor of Wisconsin. Don't hold 
it against him, here in Michigan. [Laughter] He's a great Governor, and 
he's a great Secretary of Health and Human Services. And I'm honored 
Tommy is serving with me.
    And I want to thank your Governor 
and attorney general and secretary of state Lynn for joining us today. I'm honored you all are 
here. Thanks for taking time out of your schedules to come and greet the 
President and hear what I have to say.
    I travel today from Washington with members of the mighty Michigan 
congressional delegation: Your Congressman, Vern Ehlers; neighboring Congressman Peter Hoekstra; Dave Camp and Nick Smith, also of the congressional delegation. I appreciate these 
Members traveling with me. I was honored to speak in their Chamber last 
night. I talked about things that matter to the future of this country.
    Today, before I came here, I had the honor of going to Spectrum 
Hospital, where I visited with docs and hospital administrators and 
Medicare--folks on Medicare, people who hurt, and heard their stories. I 
will share some of that with you, because I believe part of making sure 
that we've got a great country is we've got a great health care system 
that addresses the needs of all our citizens.
    Our biggest need at home, seems like to me, is to make sure that 
anybody who wants a job and can't find one--and if they can't find a 
job, we've got a problem. We've got to make sure this economy is as 
strong as it possibly can be.
    My philosophy is, the role of Government is not to create wealth but 
an environment in which the small-business owner can grow to be a big-
business owner, in which the entrepreneur feels confident about the 
future, in which people are willing to take risk and invest, which will 
equal jobs. And that's why I feel so strongly about making sure that 
people get to keep more of their own money.
    We've come out of a recession. We've withstood terrorist attacks. We 
had some of our fellow citizens think they could fudge the books, and 
we're routing them out and bringing them to justice, because we believe 
in honesty in America. And our economy is still kind of nudging along, 
in spite of those setbacks. But there's more we need to do.
    When a fellow American has more money in his or her pocket, they're 
more likely to demand a good or a service. And in the marketplace which 
we have in America, when somebody demands a good or a service, somebody 
is more likely willing to produce that good or a service. And

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when somebody produces the good or a service, it means somebody is more 
likely to find work. That's why tax relief is such an important 
component about creating the environment for economic growth. It is 
important for the people of Michigan and America to know that when I 
talk about tax relief, it equals jobs.
    You hear a lot of rhetoric in Washington, DC, about tax relief. You 
hear a lot of rhetoric about tax relief in Washington, DC, the old 
rhetoric of class warfare. My attitude is, if you pay taxes, you ought 
to get relief; the Government ought not to try to pick and choose.
    Seventy percent of new jobs in America are created by small-business 
owners. It makes sense to try to create an environment in which the 
small-business owner feels confident about the future, is willing to 
take risk and expand jobs. It just so happens that most small businesses 
in America pay taxes at the income-tax level because they're sole 
proprietorships or limited partnerships or Subchapter S's.
    So when you hear me talk about tax relief, I want you to know that 
that will help stimulate small-business growth in America. More money in 
the pockets of our small-business owners means it's more likely somebody 
in western Michigan is able to find work.
    We're trying to get rid of the effects of the marriage penalty. It 
doesn't make any sense to me that we tax marriage. [Laughter] It seems 
like we ought to encourage marriage in America. We ought to accelerate 
the increase of the child credit from $600 to $1,000 as quickly as 
possible. We ought to drop that lowest rate from 15 percent to 10 
percent. All these measures have been passed. You see, what I'm talking 
about today is what I argued for to Congress 2 years ago. They're all 
law. Congress decided these were good measures. It's just that they 
phased them in over 3 or 5 or 7 years. We need some life in this 
economy. We've got people looking for jobs who can't find them. If the 
tax relief is good 5 years from now, it makes a lot of sense to put the 
tax relief in today. For the sake of our economic vitality, Congress 
must act.
    Ten million seniors receive dividends. It's part of their retirement 
package. It's a part of making sure the quality of life is high. A 
dividend is a part of a dollar that has gone through our system that has 
been taxed twice. A company first pays taxes on profits, and that's 
right. And then they distribute the money out to a shareholder, somebody 
who has invested in that company, and then the shareholder gets to pay 
it again. The double taxation of dividends is not fair; it hurts our 
seniors. Congress needs to end the double taxation of dividends, for the 
sake of capital formation and for the sake of the quality of life for 
the seniors in America.
    These measures will help our economy grow, and that's important for 
the Federal budget. It's important for State budgets. If you're worried 
about budgets, which we should be worried about budgets, the first 
question you ask is, how do you create growth in the economy? The more 
growth there is, the more likely it is you'll have tax revenues. 
Policies that stimulate growth ought to be the centerplace of public 
policy, not policies which discourage growth. And the growth packages I 
talk about will encourage economic vitality, means more tax revenues at 
the Federal level.
    But there's two equations when it comes to deficits and balanced 
budgets. There's the revenue side, and then there's the spending side. I 
call upon the United States Congress to set clear and important 
priorities and not overspend the people's money.
    And we have some important priorities that's reflected in my budget, 
not only the budget this year but the budget the last couple of years. A 
significant, important, vital priority is education. Our Federal 
Government has substantially increased the amount of Federal money we 
have spent on education, particularly over the last 2

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years. We've increased it by another 6 percent in the budget I've 
submitted to Congress.
    Spending money is important for education, but so is making sure 
that every child gets educated. It's important to spend money on 
priorities. It is essential that we set high standards for our children, 
that we challenge the soft bigotry of low expectations, that we insist 
that States measure so we can determine whether programs are working, so 
we know whether or not children are learning to read and write and add 
and subtract. And equally important, it is essential that, when we find 
children trapped in schools which will not teach and will not change, we 
give parents different opportunities for their children.
    Yesterday I talked about an immeasurable part of America's strength, 
and that is our hearts. Compassion in this country runs deep. It's one 
of the really great blessings to be the President of a country where 
people love their neighbor like they'd like to be loved themselves, and 
it doesn't even require a Government program. [Laughter]
    I do think there's a role of Government, though, when it comes to 
helping people in need. The Government ought to help people who cannot 
help themselves. And we need to recognize in Washington that there are 
pockets of despair and hopelessness all around our country, that in this 
land of plenty there are those who hurt, there are neighborhoods where 
the concept of the American Dream just doesn't exist, there are people 
who need love and affection and direction, there are people who are 
hopelessly addicted to drugs.
    Government can spend money and should. But Government cannot put 
hope in people's hearts or a sense of purpose in people's lives. That 
happens when a fellow neighbor puts their arm around somebody who hurts 
and says, ``I love you. Can I help you? What can I do to help you? Young 
lady or young man, understand that this country belongs to you and its 
future if you make the right decisions, and I'm here to help you make 
those right decisions.''
    Yesterday I talked about the need to rally the great compassion of 
America to focus on those who hurt. Think about what it must be to be a 
child whose mother or dad is in prison. Imagine what kind of life that 
would be, growing up in this society. I have hope for those citizens 
because I know there is somebody there in our society who can provide 
the love and direction and guidance to make sure that child has a chance 
to succeed.
    Today I came out--when I landed here at Ford Airport, I had the 
honor of meeting Jerry Nienhuis. He works for 
Kids Hope USA. I want my fellow--hi, Jerry. This program, as Vern 
Ehlers was telling me, is an inspiration to 
many here in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I think Vern said it started right 
here. It shows the great social entrepreneurial spirit of our country. 
It's a faith-based program. It's a program--a call went out to churches 
in the area. They said, ``If you truly love the Almighty, help somebody 
who hurts. Mentor a child. Mentor a child.''
    I said last night that we can save our society one heart, one soul, 
one conscience at a time. Each of us can be somebody helping. I urge you 
to mentor, just like Jerry has done. I urge 
those who are addicted to find a program that will help heal your heart. 
People care about you in our society. A better America is a 
compassionate America, where we save our country, one person at a time, 
and I'm confident it will happen.
    A better America is one in which our health care systems work. One 
of the commitments we have made to our seniors is that they get good 
health care. This system is called Medicare. Medicare has been used as a 
political football, however. It's old. It's important, but it hadn't 
changed. I like to remind people, medicine has changed, and Medicare 
hadn't. It's stuck in the past. It requires all kinds of bureaucracies 
to allow new medicines to come forth so our seniors

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can take advantage of the technologies and changes in medicine.
    I urged the Congress last night to put aside all the politics and to 
make sure the Medicare system fulfills its promise to our seniors. I 
believe that seniors, if they're happy with the current Medicare system, 
should stay on the current Medicare system. That makes sense. If you 
like the way things are, you shouldn't change. However, Medicare must be 
more flexible. Medicare must include prescription drugs. Medicare must 
be available to seniors in a variety of forms.
    The Congress has got a good health care system for themselves and 
their employees and other Federal employees, which is fine. It's based 
upon trusting each Member of Congress to make decisions for his or her 
family. There's a variety of plans from which to choose. I believe it's 
very important for seniors to be given the same opportunities that 
Members of the Congress, Members of the Senate have. They ought to be 
able to choose their own health care plan, including fee-for-service 
plans. If it's good enough for the Congress, it's good enough for the 
senior citizens of America.
    Any good plan provides options, and any good plan makes sure seniors 
who cannot afford help receive help from the Federal Government. I 
proposed a budget where discretionary spending grew at 4 percent. Within 
that budget I proposed last night is a substantial increase in Medicare 
funding of $400 billion on top of what we already spend, over the next 
10 years. This is a commitment that America must make to our seniors. A 
reformed and strengthened Medicare system, plus a healthy dosage of 
Medicare spending in the budget, will make us say firmly, ``We fulfilled 
our promise to the seniors of America.''
    We want health care to be affordable and accessible for our all our 
citizens, of course. One of the problems we have in our society is we've 
got too many junk lawsuits, too many lawsuits against docs and 
hospitals, too many frivolous lawsuits which cause people to practice 
preventative medicine, procedure after procedure, just in case they get 
sued. Too many people being forced to settle out of court just to get 
rid of the lawsuits, which drives up your cost and drives doctors and 
nurses out of the practice of medicine.
    And it's a problem. I visited States where it's a real problem, 
where I've had docs come and see me and say, ``I can't practice medicine 
anymore.'' I remember a baby doc that came to see me when I was in 
Pennsylvania. She had tears in her eyes. She said, ``I love to deliver 
babies. I can't do it anymore. I'm being sued so much, my premiums are 
out of sight.''
    It is essential--it is essential that Congress understand what 
excessive litigation is doing to patients. It's driving up the cost. It 
makes it hard for people to get access to care, because there's fewer 
providers.
    I've come to the conclusion that this is a Federal issue, because 
excessive lawsuits are driving up the cost of health care at the Federal 
level. Medicare costs more; Medicaid costs more; veterans benefits cost 
more. We need a national, Federal medical liability policy.
    We can get one, but I need your help. The trial lawyers are 
powerful. They don't see the problem the way we see it. You need to 
write your Senators and make it clear to them that you, like me, expect 
people who have had injury to be able to have their day in court. And 
that's what we want. We want a judicial system that works. If somebody 
is hurt, they ought to have their day in court, but we need reasonable 
caps. We need to make sure that this lottery, this lawsuit lottery 
doesn't ruin the health care for citizens all across our country. It's 
an important piece of legislation, to help get control of costs that are 
running out of sight here in the medical industry today.
    Domestic policy is incredibly important, and I'll spend a lot of 
time on it. But there's nothing more important than protecting the 
American people from harm.

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I knew one of my challenges was going to be to make sure people 
understood that distance between September the 11th, 2001, did not 
necessarily mean war had ended and your Government can relax. War has 
not ended. The war that people brought to our soil still goes on.
    We're doing everything we can in Washington to protect our soil. 
We've got a new Department of Homeland Security that will be up and 
running here pretty quickly. It's a better way to coordinate all the 
assets at our disposal, to protect our borders and protect our airports, 
protect our infrastructure--if need be, respond in an efficient way on 
your behalf.
    Our intelligence services, FBI, are working a lot better than ever 
before. The FBI's whole culture has changed from one that, ``We will 
haul you in,'' to one that says, ``We'll prevent a danger from happening 
in the first place as best we can.'' In other words, we're on alert.
    We know that there is still an enemy which lurks, and there is--
there is. And they're nothing but a bunch of coldblooded killers, by the 
way. You know, they just don't value life like we do. The great thing 
about America is we say, ``Every life is precious. Everybody counts. 
Everybody has worth.'' And they just don't view it that way. They kill 
in the name of a false ideology based upon hatred.
    And as I told the Congress last night, and the country, we're 
winning this war. We're chasing them down, one by one, and bringing them 
to justice. Make no mistake about it, we are slowly but surely 
dismantling their organization.
    Yesterday some of them bunched up in parts of Afghanistan. They, 
unfortunately, met the United States military head on--unfortunately for 
them. [Laughter] The reason I bring that up is our troops are still in 
Afghanistan, and they're doing a great job. The country needs our 
presence and will have our presence--needs our presence to help make 
sure that those remnants of Al Qaida that still lurk around the area are 
brought to justice. And they will be--they will be.
    Our coalition is still strong. The doctrine that says that either 
you're with us, or you're with the enemy--that still exists. And there 
are a lot of good people working hard all across the world to bring 
these people to justice. The Brits hauled in a bunch the other day. 
You'll see the Spaniards. We're sharing intelligence, and we're watching 
them. And when they pop their heads up, we're getting them, one by one.
    And it doesn't matter how long it's going to take. It just doesn't 
matter. Slowly but surely, we will bring them to justice. Because this 
country understands and this generation understands, we have an 
obligation to protect our land. That's our most important thing we do.
    And by the way, in Afghanistan, we're not leaving for another 
reason. We didn't go into Afghanistan as conquerors; we went in as 
liberators. We liberated people from the clutches of one of the most 
barbaric regimes imaginable, and we're helping to build schools and 
health care centers. Tommy was telling me 
they're fixing to open one up in a couple of months in Afghanistan. And 
we're building highways. We're helping these good people get back on 
their feet.
    That's the great compassion about our country: We're strong in our 
might; we're compassionate in our vision. Everybody matters. Everybody 
has worth in the eyes of the American people. It doesn't matter where 
you're from, the nature of your religion.
    Everybody counts, including the millions who suffer from AIDS in 
Africa. This is a moral nation. We're a great nation. We have a chance 
to use our wealth and our abilities to help cure that epidemic that 
plagues a group of people. I call upon the generosity of the American 
people, at this time of tragedy, where thousands are dying, where 
thousands of children are being orphaned, to join in a great cause, a 
great humanitarian cause, a cause beyond all

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imaginable--a cause to solve unimaginable problems, to help the people 
who are needlessly dying. We can make a huge difference, a significant 
difference in the lives of thousands of our fellow human beings. I want 
people to step back at some point in time and say, ``Thank God for 
America and our generosity,'' as lives were saved.
    My point is, our presence in the world is more than just our might, 
but our might is needed in the world right now to make the world a more 
peaceful place. The war on terror is not confined strictly to the Al 
Qaida that we're chasing. The war on terror extends beyond just a 
shadowy terrorist network. The war on terror involves Saddam 
Hussein because of the nature of Saddam 
Hussein, the history of Saddam Hussein and his willingness to terrorize, 
himself.
    Saddam Hussein has terrorized his own 
people. He's terrorized his own neighborhood. He is a danger not only to 
countries in the region, but as I explained last night, because of Al 
Qaida connections, because of his history, he's a danger to the American 
people. And we've got to deal with him. We've got to deal with him 
before it is too late.
    Before September the 11th, during a period when a lot of us thought 
oceans would protect us forever from gathering threats far from our 
land, the thought of containing somebody like Saddam Hussein made sense--so we could step back in America and say, 
``Gosh. Well, don't worry. He's only a threat to somebody in the 
neighborhood, and we might pick or choose whether or not we're going to 
help in the neighborhood.'' But see, our fellow citizens must understand 
that September the 11th, 2001, changed the equation. It's changed the 
strategic outlook of this country, because we're not protected by 
oceans. The battlefield is here, and therefore, we must address threats 
today as they gather, before they become acute.
    There's a reason why the world asked Saddam Hussein to disarm--for 12 years. [Laughter] And the reason why 
is because he's dangerous. He's used them. He tortures his own people. 
He's gassed his own people. He's attacked people in the neighborhood.
    What's changed for America, besides the fact that he's still dangerous and can create havoc with friends in 
the neighborhood, is that there's now a shadowy terrorist network which 
he could use as a forward army, attacking his worst enemy and never 
leave a fingerprint behind, with deadly, deadly weapons. And that's 
what's changed.
    We're having an honest debate in this country, and we should, about 
peace and how to achieve the peace. It should be clear to you now, 
though, that in my judgment you don't contain Saddam Hussein. You don't hope that therapy will somehow change his 
evil mind--[laughter]--that you deal with Saddam Hussein. I hope we can 
do this peacefully.
    I went to the United Nations for a reason. One, I want the United 
Nations to be something other than an empty debating society. I wanted 
it to address this threat. By a 15-to-0 vote in the Security Council, 
they said, ``Yes, it's a problem and he must 
disarm.'' But the fundamental question is, when?
    There's a lot of focus on the inspectors, and we wish them well. But 
the role of the inspectors is not to play hide-and-seek with Saddam 
Hussein in a country the size of California. There's 108 inspectors 
running around a country trying to stumble into something, 108 people 
who are being misled by a person who's made a history of fooling 
inspectors. See, the role of the inspectors are not to play ``gotcha.'' 
He's better at playing ``gotcha,'' 
obviously--for 12 years he's played ``gotcha.'' The role of the 
inspectors are to watch Iraq disarm. That's the role of the inspectors. 
They're to report back and say, ``Gosh, he's started getting rid of all 
his mustard gas or sarin gas. He started getting rid of these weapons of 
mass destruction. He's now getting rid of the biological laboratories.'' 
That's the role of the inspectors.

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    And it's clear he's not disarming. I'm 
convinced that this still can be done peacefully. I certainly hope so. 
The idea of committing troops is my last option, not my first. I 
understand the terrible price of war. I understand what it means to put 
somebody into combat. I know what it means to hug mothers and wives. But 
I've got to tell you something. I've thought long and hard about this. 
The risks of doing nothing, the risk of assuming the best from Saddam 
Hussein, it's just not a risk worth taking.
    So I call upon the world to come together and insist that this 
dangerous man disarm. But should they choose 
not to continue to pressure Saddam and should he continue to defy the 
world, for the sake of our peace, for the sake of the security, this 
country will lead a coalition of other willing nations, and we will 
disarm Saddam Hussein. If need be, if war is brought upon us like I said 
last night, I want to assure you, particularly those who wear the 
uniform and those who have a loved one in the military, we will commit 
the full force and might of the United States military, and for the name 
of peace, we will prevail.
    And when we do, we will free people. This great, powerful Nation is 
motivated not by power for power's sake but because of our values. If 
everybody matters, if every life counts, then we should hope everybody 
has the great God's gift of freedom. We go into Iraq to disarm the 
country. We will also go in to make sure that those who are hungry are 
fed, those who need health care will have health care, those youngsters 
who need education will get education. But most of all, we will uphold 
our values. And the biggest value we hold dear is the value of freedom. 
As I said last night, freedom and liberty, they are not America's gifts 
to the world. They are God's gift to humanity. We hold that thought dear 
to our hearts.
    This is a great nation. America is a strong nation. America is a 
nation full of people who are compassionate. America is a nation that is 
willing to serve causes greater than ourselves. There's no question we 
face challenges ahead of us, challenges at home, challenges abroad. But 
as I said last night, history has called the right nation into action. 
History has called the United States into action, and we will not let 
history down.
    Thank you all for coming. May God bless.

Note: The President spoke at 12:40 p.m. at the DeVos Performance Hall. 
In his remarks, he referred to Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm, State Attorney 
General Mike Cox, and Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land of Michigan; 
and President Saddam Hussein of Iraq. The Office of the Press Secretary 
also released a Spanish language transcript of these remarks.