    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book II)]
    [September 5, 2003]
    [Pages 1092-1098]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 1092]]

    Remarks to Langham Company Employees in Indianapolis, Indiana
    September 5, 2003

        Thank you all. Thanks for coming. It's such an honor to be here with
    the Langham family and the employees of this incredibly vibrant company.
    I want to thank the CEO for such a fine introduction. I am honored that
    Cathy would invite me here and give me a chance to talk about some of
    the challenges which face our Nation, the challenge of making sure this
    Nation is secure and the challenge to make sure people can find work.
        I know you all have been through some challenges here in the State
    of Indiana because of some recent flooding. Today I had the privilege of
    telling your Governor when I landed that I
    recently signed a disaster declaration that will provide Federal funds
    to help the folks who suffered as a result of the disaster that took
    place in many parts of your State.
        There are a lot of Americans looking for work, and we need to do
    something about that in Washington, DC. We've taken steps to get our
    economy growing again, and there are some very hopeful signs that
    progress is being made. I'm optimistic about the future of this country.
    Yet today's unemployment report shows we've got more to do, and I'm not
    going to be satisfied until every American who's looking for a job can
    find a job.
        I have laid out a comprehensive plan for job creation all across
    America. And for the sake of our fellow citizens, I look forward to
    working with the United States Congress to get this comprehensive plan
    passed. And one Member who will help get this plan passed, and a man who
    represents Indiana with such distinction and class, a man who is a
    person with whom my administration works closely, the chairman, Dick
    Lugar.
        I want to thank John and Margaret
    Langham, as well as Cathy, for allowing my entourage to--[laughter]--which is
    quite large these days--[laughter]--to invade this beautiful facility. I
    want to thank the employees for welcoming us. I know it's not easy to
    have your day disrupted by a Presidential trip, but I'm honored to be
    here. [Laughter] And I want to thank you for your hard work.
        One thing is for certain, that you've earned the respect of the
    Langham family. Walking in here, Cathy was
    telling me how proud she is of the 55 fellow workers, people who make
    this small business grow and become vibrant. So I want to congratulate
    you for your productivity and your hard work as well. You know, one of
    the great things about America is that we've got the best workforce in
    the world. We've got the finest workers and finest employees.
        I also know that the attorney general of the great State of Indiana
    is with us today, Steve Carter, and I
    appreciate Steve being here. I want to thank Zionsville High School for
    being here today. I appreciate you all singing. I'm sorry I didn't get
    to hear you. I want to thank the Kobes for leading the Pledge. I
    appreciate Brenda Williams coming.
        Today when I landed there at the airport, I also not only spoke to
    the Governor and the attorney
    general, but I spoke to a lady named Joyce
    Irwin. You probably don't know who Joyce is. She
    is--I will tell you, though. She is a soldier in the army of compassion.
    She's one of the thousands of people all across our country who have
    heard a call to love a neighbor just like you'd like to be loved
    yourself.
        There's great talk about the might of America, and we're mighty. And
    I intend to keep it that way. We've got great military might, economic
    might. But the truth of the matter is, the great strength of America is
    the heart and soul of the American people. The great strength of our
    country is the fact that there are millions of our fellow

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    citizens like Joyce Irwin who are willing to
    lend a hand to a neighbor in need. The great strength of America is the
    fact that on a daily basis, there are millions of acts of kindness and
    mercy that helps change America to a more hopeful place, one heart, one
    soul at a time.
        Joyce Irwin is a volunteer. She's active
    with the Little Red Door Cancer Agency, the Fairbanks Hospital, the
    Meridian Street United Methodist Church. She helps round up donations of
    clothing to those who need to be clothed, food for those who need to be
    fed. But most important, she dedicates her time to those who need to be
    loved. My call to our fellow Americans is love your neighbor just like
    you'd like to be loved yourself. Thank you, Joyce.
        I mentioned the fact that our Nation is facing big challenges. One
    of the big challenges, of course, is for me, my administration, and
    those of us who have been honored to serve the American people, to do
    our solemn duty and protect the security of the American people. We must
    never forget the lessons of September the 11th, 2001, a sobering
    reminder that oceans no longer can protect us from forces of evil who
    can't stand what America stands for. There are people in this world who
    hate the thought that we believe in free societies, we believe people
    should worship freely, speak their mind freely. And since we're not
    going to change, since we're not going to change our attitude about
    freedom, we've still got an issue with these terrorists.
        And we're doing everything we can to protect the homeland. We've got
    better coordination amongst law enforcement agencies. We're monitoring
    our ports and points of entry in ways we never have before. We've got
    emergency preparedness teams in place. But the best way to secure the
    homeland, the best way to do our duty to provide security for the
    American people and future generations of American people, is to hunt
    the terrorists down, one by one, and bring them to justice.
        Not only must we stay on the offensive against those who would do us
    harm, and not only we must--must we continue to disrupt terrorist
    training camps to deal with dictatorial regimes who would threaten us
    and/or arm terrorists to threaten us, but we also must continue to
    promote freedom. Free societies are likely to be peaceful societies.
    Free societies are societies which won't threaten their neighbors or use
    weapons of mass destruction. America believes that freedom is not
    America's gift to the world, that freedom is God's gift to every
    individual who lives in this world.
        And at home, we must recognize that while the signs are pretty good
    about our economy, there's still people looking for work. And we've got
    to do something about that. I said I was optimistic about our economy,
    and I am, for good reason. We have been through a lot. And yet, we're
    still strong. Let me remind you of what we've been through.
        The attacks on America cost us about $80 billion. That's a lot of
    money. The attacks hurt our economy at a time when we were beginning to
    recover from a recession. In March of 2000, the stock market started to
    decline. Investors began to realize, well maybe this economy wasn't
    quite as strong as it had been in the past. And we were in recession in
    the first quarters of 2001. We had negative growth. People were
    beginning to look for work. Things weren't good.
        But the economy began to come back because we actually passed a
    really good tax bill out of the Congress. And then the enemy hit us, and
    it hurt. It hurt economically. It hurt the Nation's psyche to think that
    we were vulnerable to coldblooded killers that could come and in one day
    take the lives of thousands of innocent people.
        But we began to recover. We took some actions in Washington. For
    example, we passed terrorism insurance plan to help encourage building
    of large construction projects, keep those hardhats working. We dealt
    with the airline industry for the short

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    term. I mean, we took action, and we started getting better.
        And then a third thing happened. We had some of our fellow citizens
    forget to--forgot what it means to be a responsible citizen. We had some
    corporate CEOs who didn't tell the truth to their employees and to their
    shareholders. And that affected the confidence of the people, affected
    the confidence of people that were thinking about investing. So we took
    action there, by the way. We passed tough laws. The message is clear: If
    you don't tell the truth, there's going to be serious consequences.
        In spite of these challenges, the economy is growing. I think one of
    the main reasons it's growing is because of the tax cuts we passed. I
    believe that when somebody has more money in their pocket, they will
    demand an additional good or a service. And when they demand additional
    good or a service, in our society somebody will produce that good or a
    service. And when somebody produces that good or a service, it means
    somebody is likely to find work. The tax relief plan we passed that let
    you keep more of your own money came at the right time.
        We cut rates on everybody who pays income taxes. We didn't try to
    pick or choose winners. We said, ``If we're going to have tax relief, if
    you pay tax, you ought to get relief.''
        We increased the child credit from $600 per child to $1,000 per
    child. We want to help our moms and dads with the responsibility of
    raising their children. And by the way, because of the '03 bill, we put
    the check in the mail in July of this year.
        We reduced the effects of the marriage penalty. It doesn't make any
    sense to penalize marriage in the Tax Code. We wanted to help those who
    own stock directly or indirectly. Many of you own stocks through your
    pension plans. Many of you own stocks and bonds directly. So we cut
    taxes on dividends and capital gains to encourage investment. And that
    particularly helps our seniors. Many of our seniors rely upon dividend
    income, and they're retirement age, and that helps our seniors realize--
    have good--be able to have more money in their pocket as they get in
    their retirement years.
        And all in all, we began to affect people's pocketbooks in a
    positive way. If you're a family of four making $40,000, your tax bill
    went from $1,978 to $45, thanks to the tax bill we passed.
        We always talk about numbers in Washington. And that's okay. It
    helps us try to understand where we're going. But what I like to do is
    try to relate what this tax plan means for our fellow citizens.
        The Bakers are with
    us, Doug and Mindy. I had a chance, by the way, to visit with some of
    our fellow citizens earlier. And I got to listen to what this tax bill--
    these tax bills meant for them. And the Bakers are with us, Doug and
    Mindy. They've got three children, by the way, all of them 5 years or
    younger. Amazing thing is, is that Mindy Baker doesn't have gray hair
    yet. [Laughter] But they got their check in the mail for the increase in
    the child credit. It was $800. The reason they didn't get 1,200 is
    because the littlest one, Josiah, wasn't born
    in time.
        But I want to tell you what they told me. They said, that tax relief
    means peace of mind--their words, not mine. He
    said, ``I'm taking care of my family. We're now prepared to take care of
    unexpected things.'' The $800 mattered to the Baker family, just like it
    mattered to the Biby family--they're with us, the proud mom and dad of Jacob and James. They saved about
    $1,900 as a result of the tax relief. He told me, Kevin Biby told me, he
    said, ``You know, I'm going to use that money to help repair my car.''
    That means the guy who repairs the car, he's getting a little extra
    work. That means he's going to be able to have a little money in his
    pocket as well.
        Sharon Okey is with us here. Sharon has got
    the toughest job in America; she's a single mom of five kids. She's got
    a college

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    junior. She got that check in the mail for the child credit. She told
    me, she said, it helped Jennifer, her oldest,
    go to college. It mattered. It matters when people take that money, for
    example, and go buy school supplies. Somebody's got to produce the
    school supplies. Somebody's got to sell the school supplies. It affects
    economic vitality and growth when people are spending money. The more
    money people have in their pockets when times are slow, the more likely
    it is our economy is going to recover. And that's why I fought for and
    Congress passed tax relief on behalf of the working people of America.
        Greg and Cathy Habegger are with us today--Habeggers are with us, and they've
    got Jack and Ben, so
    they got a check in the mail too, plus the rate reductions. They're
    saving about $1,700 a year. He said it helped pay for some paint and
    furniture for their house. Well, when they went out and bought the
    furniture, it means somebody who's making furniture has got more job
    security. And maybe if that furniture manufacturing company was full,
    maybe they're at capacity, that extra piece of furniture could cause
    somebody else to find work.
        If you see what I'm saying--in other words, when we put money in
    circulation--by the way, it's your money, not the Government's money--
    when it's your--got your money to spend, and you're circulating it
    around, it has an effect on the economy.
        So not only are we helping people do their jobs as moms and dads,
    and not only are we providing financial relief when times are tough so
    families can breathe a little easier, we're also helping somebody who's
    looking for work. Money in circulation through increased demand means
    somebody is going to likely find work when they produce the product to
    meet that demand.
        And let me tell you what else the tax relief did. It helped the
    small businesses all across America, small businesses just like this.
    And that's important because small businesses create most of the new
    jobs in America. If your small-business sector is vibrant and healthy,
    somebody is likely to find a job.
        Now, what's interesting about tax relief that a lot of people didn't
    understand is that most small businesses are what they call sole
    proprietorships or Subchapter S corporations, just like this one. It's a
    Subchapter S corporation, which means that the business pays taxes at
    the individual income tax rates. So when you reduce individual income
    taxes, the sole proprietorship or the Subchapter S really receives tax
    relief. The tax cuts help small businesses because it gave them more
    money, more money in their coffers to expand their job base. You just
    heard Cathy say, as a result of the tax
    relief, she now feels comfortable about adding five new employees. Tax
    relief means new jobs for Americans.
        Part of the plan to stimulate growth amongst the small businesses
    was to allow small businesses to deduct up to $100,000 of new equipment,
    investment in new equipment and technologies. It used to be only
    $25,000. So you see, when you increase the capacity for somebody to
    deduct more, you provide an incentive for people to make bigger
    purchases. And so the Langhams have told me that they're
    thinking about buying some new computer software that will make the
    employees of this company more productive, will make the company more
    competitive, and will also help somebody who is making the computer
    software. That's how the economy works.
        When the
    Langhams spend money, not only does it help
    their own employees, not only will it help the five folks that they're
    fixing to hire, but it helps the people providing products for this
    company. Tax relief is stimulating growth and tax relief is stimulating
    job creation all across the country.
        But as I mentioned to you, we've got more work to do, and I want to
    talk about some things that can be done. There are still people looking
    for work. The economy is growing. Homebuilding is strong. People

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    are getting more confident. The purchases of factory orders for heavy
    machinery is good, and it's up. But people are still looking for work.
        One of the reasons why is that when you're coming out of slow times,
    job creation is the last thing to arrive on the scene. A lot of
    employers are saying, ``Well, I want to make sure the economy is as good
    as it sounds like before I put on a new worker.''
        Another reason why is because our workers are so productive.
    Productivity--we've got the highest productivity, the most productive
    workers, in the world. And when productivity goes up, it means that a
    worker can have more output per hour. And therefore, in order for job
    creation to grow, the economy must grow faster than productivity gains.
    In other words, if a worker can do more per hour, in order for a new
    worker to be hired, the demand must be increased by as much, if not
    greater than, productivity increases.
        And so, we've got a short-term problem. Long term, it's good that
    we're more productive. It means higher wages for the American worker. It
    means we're more competitive overseas. Short term, this economy needs to
    crank up faster than productivity increases in order for somebody to
    find a job.
        And so, that's what I want to talk to you about, how best to
    encourage continued growth, how to make sure this economy continues to
    grow. Well, first of all, we need to deal with our health care issue. We
    want to make sure health care is available and health care is
    affordable. One way to make sure health care is affordable for small
    businesses like the Langhams' is to allow for the
    creation of what we call association health plans, which will allow
    small businesses to come together to pool risk and to have bargaining
    power just like big businesses can.
        Another way we can work on health care costs and to make sure health
    care is available for our citizens is to deal with this issue of medical
    liability. There's too many frivolous lawsuits which are driving up the
    cost of medicine. If you're a doctor and you're afraid you're going to
    get sued, you practice unnecessary medicine in order to cover yourself
    in a court of law. That drives up your cost of medicine. It drives
    up the
    Langhams' cost for health care. Preventative
    medicine, because of litigation, is running up your bill.
        Now, I believe if you've been harmed by a doc, you ought to have
    your day in court, and you ought to recover full economic damages. And I
    think that's only fair in America. I do think there ought to be a cap at
    250,000 on noneconomic damages. And I think there ought to be reasonable
    punitive damages. There ought to be reasonable punitive damages.
        And because high cost of health care run up the cost of the Federal
    budget--you see, when health care goes up, Medicaid budgets go up, and
    Medicare budgets go up, and the Veterans Health Administration budgets
    go up. Because it affects our budget, I believe medical liability reform
    is a national issue which requires a national solution. The House of
    Representatives act. The Senate must pass good medical liability reform
    on behalf of economic vitality and on behalf of the workers all across
    the country.
        Some other things we can do: We can get a class action reform out of
    the United States Senate. And one thing we can do is make sure these
    lawyers aren't able to shop all around the country for a favorable jury,
    by moving class action suits into the Federal court. And we need to
    reform the system so that when there is a verdict, the lawyers don't get
    the money, but the people who have been harmed get the money.
        We need to continue to work for regulatory relief on small and large
    businesses, so that instead of filing needless paperwork, you're working
    to make your workforce more productive and to meet the needs of your
    customers.

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        We need to make sure we have an energy policy. If we want this
    economy to continue to grow--we're interested in economic growth. This
    is a State that relies upon the manufacturing sector a lot, in Indiana.
    You need to have reliable sources of energy if you want your economy to
    grow. We need an energy policy. I've been talking to Congress about this
    for 2 years. It doesn't make any sense to have haphazard policy.
        We need energy policy to make sure our electricity grid is brought
    up to date and is more modern. We need energy policy that encourages
    alternative sources of energy, like those grown right here in the fields
    of Indiana, called corn, converted to ethanol. We need to make sure we
    develop environmentally friendly ways to explore for more energy. We
    need clean coal technology. We need, for the sake of national security
    and economic security, to be less dependent on foreign sources of
    energy.
        I believe when you see the label ``Made in the U.S.A.,'' it's the
    stamp of quality. And therefore, one way to encourage job growth is to
    open up markets and to level the playing field for U.S. products. Just
    give us a level playing field, and we can compete with anybody,
    anyplace, anytime.
        And finally, in order for there to be economic vitality and job
    creation and growth, there needs to be certainty in the Tax Code. In
    other words, people who are making investments must understand what the
    rules are going to be. The problem is, is that all the tax relief I've
    discussed with you, because of quirks in the rules, start fading out in
    2005. The child credit, at some point in time, will go back down. The
    marriage penalty will go up. In other words, what I described to you
    goes away. If Congress is really interested in job creation, they will
    make every one of the tax relief measures we passed permanent.
        You will hear talk about the deficit. We have a deficit. We have a
    deficit in part because of the recession. When you have a recession, you
    get less money into your treasury. When the economy slows, there's less
    revenue coming to Washington, DC. About half of the deficit is caused by
    the recession that we're trying to get out of.
        A quarter of the deficit is caused by the fact that we're spending
    money to defend America. My attitude is, anytime we put one of our
    troops in harm's way, they deserve the best pay, the best training, and
    the best possible equipment. This Nation will spend what it takes to win
    the war on terror and to protect the American people.
        About a quarter of the deficit was caused by the tax relief. But the
    tax relief is helping us recover from the recession. It was needed. It
    was needed to make this economy grow. And as the economy grows, more
    revenues come into the Treasury. The best way to cut down the deficit--
    and I've got a plan to reduce it in half in 5 years--is for Congress to
    set priorities and not overspend.
        Discretionary spending prior to my arrival was increasing at 8.7
    percent. Working with fine Senators like Dick Lugar, we've got discretionary spending down during this budget
    cycle to 4 percent.
        There is no question that we've been challenged. But those
    challenges came to the right people. I have been so proud of our
    country. We are a country that is determined and strong and tough when
    we need to be tough and compassionate when we need to be compassionate.
    We've overcome a lot. We've overcome war, attacks on our country,
    recessions, corporate scandals. And yet we're still strong. We're
    vibrant. We're a great nation. We're a great nation because of our
    ideals and our beliefs. We believe in human dignity. We believe
    everybody has worth. We believe in freedom and the promise of freedom.
        Ours is a nation dedicated to a world of peace, and we will use our
    strength to achieve peace. And ours is a nation dedication to uplifting
    every citizen who lives in this country by giving every person a

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    chance to realize the great promise, the American Dream.
        Thank you all for coming. May God bless you, and may God bless
    America.

    Note: The President spoke at 2:54 p.m. in the warehouse at the Langham
    Co. In his remarks, he referred to Gov. Frank O'Bannon of Indiana; and
    Cathy Langham, president, John Langham, vice president, finance and
    administration, and Margaret Langham, vice president, operations,
    Langham Co.