    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book II)]
    [July 18, 2003]
    [Pages 889-894]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on the HealthierUS Initiative in Dallas, Texas
    July 18, 2003

        Thanks a lot. Please be seated. Thanks. It is nice to be home.
        I am honored to be here at Lakewest YMCA. I've got to tell you, the
    facility is overwhelming. It is a beautiful facility, and I appreciate
    so very much the hospitality and the dedicated staff here.
        Listen, we're here to talk about a health care plan that makes a lot
    of sense. And it's a health care plan that says if you exercise and eat
    healthy food, you will live longer. I mean, there is a lot of talk about
    treating chronic diseases and finding treatments and research and
    development. And that's great, and the country is on the leading edge of
    all kinds of new discoveries. But we've already discovered what works.
    And what works is to encourage people to exercise on a regular basis and
    to eat good foods. It's called preventative medicine. An integral part
    of any health care plan is to encourage people to adapt the habits
    necessary to avoid disease in the first place. And that's what we're
    here to talk about, and that is what the YMCA does, and I'm grateful for
    that.
        And there's no better place to start in encouraging healthy choices
    and exercise than with our children. And so Lynn and I were honored to go to the--some of these exercise
    classes and were pleased to see little youngsters doing jumping jacks--
    with enthusiasm, I might add--[laughter]--counting out the number of
    stretches.
        I mean, look, the YMCA is an integral part of a healthy America by
    encouraging our youngsters to exercise, to have fun, to get outside, to
    learn to eat good foods. We're really here to thank the Y, thank the Y
    here in west Dallas and thank the

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    YMCAs all across America for being an integral part of a healthy United
    States of America.
        Ken Gladish is the president and CEO
    of YMCA of the entire United States. We've got the President of the
    United States of the Ys with us. [Laughter] Thank you for coming. I'm
    honored you're here. Gordon Echtenkamp is
    the president and CEO of YMCA Metropolitan Dallas. Thank you, Gordon,
    appreciate you being here. Jo Harris is the
    executive director of the Lakewest Family YMCA. Thank you, Jo, for being
    here.
        I hope this entourage of mine didn't over-stress the organization.
    [Laughter] Turns out we don't travel lightly these days. [Laughter] But
    thanks a lot to you and your staff for opening up this facility for us
    to discuss health.
        I'm honored that the Governor is here, Governor Rick Perry. I ran as Governor; he runs as Governor. He'll be running
    faster than I ran as Governor, soon. But he understands what I know:
    There's a lot of stress in certain jobs. I guess every job could have
    stress to it. There's nothing like exercise to relieve the stress, and I
    know Rick works out a lot, and I thank you for setting a good example
    for the State of Texas, friend. Thanks for coming.
        And I want to thank Congressman Sam Johnson
    and Congressman Michael Burgess, both here
    from the State of Texas, for joining us. Thank you all for coming. I'm
    honored you're here.
        In the midst of some of those Ranger losing streaks, I would get all
    anxious, and I would go over and visit with my friend Ken
    Cooper, who's got a fantastic facility
    which promotes exercise. He'd just say, ``Run until it doesn't hurt
    anymore.'' [Laughter] And I'm honored you're here, Ken. Thanks for
    setting such a good example for--see, he's on the leading edge of
    research. He's determined a lot of simple facts. One of them is, is that
    if you exercise, like, 20 minutes a day, the incident of heart disease
    drops dramatically. That doesn't seem like much of a challenge, does it,
    to convince people to exercise 20 minutes a day? And that's what we're
    here to do.
        And so I put together a group of really strong American citizens who
    understand the value of exercise, understand the value of health for our
    society, to help spread the message. And the Chairman of that, of
    course, is a fabulous person who happened to be a very good football
    player named Lynn Swann. And I appreciate you,
    Lynn.
        And I appreciate so very much, Lynn,
    because he's a busy guy, and he's got a lot to do. And for him to
    volunteer, along with others on the Council, to help to make America a
    healthy place really speaks to the character of the person. And I'm
    honored to be associated with him, just like I'm honored to be
    associated with Dr. Dot Richardson, Olympic gold medalist, surgeon, and Vice Chairwoman.
    Doc, thanks for coming.
        As I say, we put together a really good Council, people who are out
    in the communities putting the word out. One guy who is here is a guy
    who I know has put the word out for running. Austin, Texas, is one of
    the greatest running cities in the country. And one of the reasons why
    is because Paul Carrozza, who is an
    entrepreneur, a business entrepreneur, started with nothing--except a
    good pair of legs--[laughter]--and started what they call RunTex. I know
    him well, and he'd probably like me to say, if you're interested in a
    pair of shoes in the Austin area, drop by. [Laughter] But he has
    organized a lot of running clubs and really has convinced a lot of
    people who never would think about running or exercise to get out on
    Town Lake and run. And I know we've got the same type of folks here in
    Dallas, but Paul, thank you for your dedication to a fit America.
        President of Trek Bicycle Corp. is John Burke. John is with us, been introduced now twice. But John is an
    entrepreneur as well who cares a lot about fitness. He

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    recognizes there's other ways to stay fit than running, for example,
    like getting on a bicycle. That also counts, by the way. And I
    appreciate you coming, John. Thank you for being here, as well as Dr.
    Ted Mitchell. He works at the Cooper
    Clinic. He works for the Cooper Clinic Wellness Program. They take the
    research at Cooper Clinic and implement it into programs to get people
    to stay fit. And I want to thank all of you all for joining this
    Council, and thanks for coming. Good to see you, Doc. How's the
    fastball?
        I appreciate Dennis Roberson, who is
    here with us today. Dennis is a active volunteer. The reason I like to
    talk about volunteers, this country of ours has got a lot of muscle, and
    we're strong. And we, by the way, stay strong in order to keep the
    peace. We will stay strong in order to promote freedom. But the truth of
    the matter is, the great strength of America is the heart and soul of
    the American citizen, people who are willing to dedicate time to make
    somebody else's life better, people who are willing to volunteer. And
    this guy, Dennis Roberson, comes here and volunteers to help teach
    children healthy lifestyles, to teach children how to use the computer,
    to teach children how to access the Internet, to teach children that a
    healthy body and a healthy mind will lead to a strong future.
        And I want to thank you, Dennis, for
    setting a good example for volunteers all across the Metroplex, all
    across our State, and all across our Nation. One of the things--my jobs
    is to call people to a higher calling. And there's nothing higher than
    to loving a neighbor just like you would like to be loved yourself and
    volunteering your time to help somebody in need. Thank you, sir.
        We have a problem when people don't exercise and eat bad food.
    Obesity can cause serious health problems, like heart disease and
    diabetes. And it adds to the cost of health care in America; that is a
    fact. In 2000 alone, obesity costs totaled the country an estimated cost
    of $117 billion. Since 1980, rates of obesity have doubled among
    children, tripled among adolescents. Now, that is a problem, and the
    Nation must do something about it for the sake of our future.
        We must reverse the trend, and we know how to do it. It's exercise
    and good dieting. Good foods and regular exercise will reverse the trend
    and save our country a lot of money but, more importantly, save lives.
        The local Ys is a great place to start, and that's why we're here.
    There are other programs across the country, by the way, that encourage
    exercise, no doubt about it. The YMCA is on the forefront. I remember
    being a loyal Y member in Midland, Texas, playing basketball with a
    bunch of 45-year-olds. [Laughter] It was like full-court karate.
    [Laughter]
        But here at this Y, they hook youngsters on exercise. And Andrew
    Simpson just gave us a tour, gave Lynn
    Swann and me a tour. He's a good guide. He
    tells me exercise not only gives him energy but, as importantly,
    confidence. He's a more confident person as a result of the program. He
    said he was always tired of being the little guy, and so he decided to
    work out. He's not a little guy anymore. [Laughter] He's a man who
    understands that when you make right choices in life, you'll have a
    healthier future.
        The thing that I like to see, and the Y is good at this, and other
    programs need to understand, exercise doesn't need to be drudgery. It
    can be fun. It can be a fun way for people to spend their day. I love
    the idea of a day camp. I asked how long the day camp is. I think it's,
    like, 10 weeks. It's a really good idea. It's a good idea to help build
    up the spirit of the community. It's a good idea to give the kids
    something smart to do. It's a good idea to instill the habits necessary
    for a healthy future.
        And so we saw the problem in this administration, and we decided to
    do something about it and started what I call the HealthierUS
    Initiative. Washington has got

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    to have initiatives, and so this is a HealthierUS Initiative. [Laughter]
    And here's the--we came up with four basic guidelines which make a lot
    of sense. And so our job of the Council and me and others, the
    Governors, the mayors, hopefully, is to focus on these four guidelines.
        First, be physically active every day, not just once a week or a
    couple times a week and say, ``Gosh, I've met the goal.'' It's every
    day, try to get some physical activity. And moms and dads, by the way,
    need to stay physically active as well, just not the sons or daughters.
        Secondly, develop good eating habits. It's been estimated that
    dietary changes can reduce cancer deaths in the United States by a
    third. Well, that's--given that potential, it seems like to make a lot
    of sense for all of us to figure out what we're going to eat. Listen,
    I'd be the first to admit to the kids here, I didn't like vegetables
    when I was young. I've learned to like them because I understand that
    they're good for you. That means not only vegetables but fruits, wise
    choices, not grease--[laughter]--but fruits and vegetables.
        Third, take advantage of preventative screenings. This is more,
    obviously, applicable to older Americans. Ken Cooper insists that I have preventative screenings on an annual
    basis. And it is important for us to do this, I mean, for example, like
    check your blood pressure. It can be an indicator that something might
    go wrong. I hope the Y--I don't know if you do or not, it would make
    sense if you did, a neighborhood screening--you do; that's good--to help
    provide screening for citizens in each community, so people can be able
    to detect early whether or not they may have a potential problem. A lot
    of disease can be picked up through a simple test.
        And fourth, make healthy choices. That not only means food, but no
    cigarettes, no excessive drinking, no drugs, no underage drinking. Those
    are the kind of healthy--you hear people say ``healthy choices,'' that
    is what we're talking about. And if our country, old and young alike,
    followed the four steps and measures, we'd be a much healthier nation.
    It would be, really, one of the best health care plans we could possibly
    implement in America.
        To promote this program, as I mentioned, I talked Lynn into doing this job. It's called--and we're setting a
    fitness challenge today. And he and I are going to spend a lot of time
    working on the fitness challenge. I probably will spend most time by
    trying to set the example. It turns out, when a President shows up,
    cameras show up. And I like to exercise, and I want people to see their
    President exercising. Today I knocked off about 30 minutes' worth of
    exercise and feel better for it.
        But our goal is to get 20 million additional Americans to exercise
    for at least 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. That is a noble goal, and
    it's an important goal. Americans will feel better if they accept the
    challenge. America will be better off when Americans accept the
    challenge. It's easy to get started in this, and so we've set up a web
    page, as Lynn mentioned, and John is responsible for the web page. It's
    presidentschallenge.org.
        And it's an interesting opportunity for people. If you need a little
    discipline in your life--in other words, if you need--so you can check
    on yourself, a self-policing mechanism, call up the web page and follow
    the instructions, and there's a go-by to help you get involved with an
    exercise program. And I can assure you, and Lynn can assure you, the Governor assure
    you, once you get hooked on exercise, it is hard to get off. Once you
    get started, once you realize the benefits, once you understand how
    great you feel, once you understand that it's easier to go to sleep at
    night after a good day of exercise, you're not going to quit.
        And so our job as a country, at the Federal level, the State level,
    and the local level is to get people started and realize the great
    benefits of exercise. And so we've

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    set up this web page, trying to take advantage of the new technologies.
    So if people are interested, please go to presidentschallenge.org.
        Now, the other thing is, I do think there is a role for the Federal
    Government to help. I proposed $125 million for community monies to help
    different organizations like the Y to start promoting awareness. It's to
    facilitate an awareness campaign, to make people aware of what it's like
    to exercise, to make people aware of opportunities available in the
    communities, and to make people aware that--what good nutrition and good
    exercise will do for their long-term health.
        The funds would be available to target obesity and diabetes and
    asthma. It also could be used to encourage preventative screenings. In
    other words, it's a part of a larger process throughout our society to
    get this initiative going. And I hope Congress takes a good, solid look
    at it.
        The other thing we're going to try to do at the Federal--not ``try
    to do''--will do at the Federal level, is provide incentives for local
    schools to focus on better nutrition and eating habits. As you know, the
    Federal Government is involved with the school programs. The U.S.
    Department of Agriculture is integrally involved, and it makes sense to
    me, since we've got a lot of kids eating food around the country once
    the schools are in, that we have better nutrition. And the Federal
    Government must encourage better nutrition at the local school level,
    which we will do.
        One of the things I talk a lot about is the need to really work on
    cultural change in America to encourage a culture of personal
    responsibility, to encourage people to be responsible for the decisions
    they make in life. I like to talk about, if you're a mother or a dad,
    reminding people you're responsible for loving your child and really
    making sure your child understands the difference between right and
    wrong and what it means to make right choices in life. If you're
    involved, if you're worried about your public school system, you're
    responsible for getting involved with it, as opposed to hoping somebody
    far away gets involved. You're responsible for getting involved with
    your schools.
        You're responsible if you're a CEO, by the way, in America, for
    telling the truth to your shareholders and your employees. You're
    responsible for loving a neighbor like you'd like to be loved yourself.
    The Initiative, the HealthierUS Initiative, really speaks to personal
    responsibility, doesn't it? It says that we are responsible for our own
    health. By making the right choices, we can make the right choice for
    our future. By making healthy choices, we can do the right things for
    our future.
        Moms and dads, by working on healthy choices not only for themselves
    but their kids, are doing their job as a parent. By exercising every
    day, by finding time, by carving out time, no matter how busy you may
    seem or how boring exercise may seem initially, it's a part of a
    responsibility culture. And I appreciate giving it--being given the
    chance to come and talk about this.
        We'll work on health care matters. We're working on Medicare reform.
    That's--we need to work on Medicare reform. And we're working on how to
    make sure the working uninsured get insurance. But the truth of the
    matter is, one of the best reforms in America for health care is a
    strong, preventative health care program that starts with each American
    being responsible for what he or she eats, what he or she drinks, what
    he or she doesn't smoke, and is responsible for whether or not they get
    out and exercise on a regular basis. I encourage my fellow citizens to
    exercise.
        Thank you all very much. Thanks for coming, and may God bless.

    Note: The President spoke at 2:04 p.m. in the gymnasium at the Lakewest
    Family

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    YMCA. In his remarks, he referred to Chairman Lynn C. Swann, Vice
    Chairman Dorothy G. ``Dot'' Richardson, and Council Members Paul R.
    Carrozza, John P. Burke, and Dr. Teddy L. Mitchell, President's Council
    on Physical Fitness and Sports; Kenneth L. Gladish, national executive
    director and chief executive officer, YMCA of the USA; Gov. Rick Perry
    of Texas; Kenneth H. Cooper, the President's personal physician; and
    Andrew Simpson, youth volunteer, Lakewest Family YMCA. The Office of the
    Press Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of these
    remarks.