    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book II)]
    [July 24, 2003]
    [Pages 919-925]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks in Livonia, Michigan
    July 24, 2003

        Thank you for the warm welcome. Thanks for letting me come by to say
    hello. First, let me just say I appreciate the hard-working folks here
    at Beaver Aerospace for making sure that Air Force One functions
    properly. [Laughter] Otherwise, it might have been a long flight.
    [Laughter] I appreciate what you do for America's defense. I appreciate
    your hard work. I appreciate your talent. I appreciate you helping make
    this country strong.
        I want to thank Bill Phillips and
    his family for inviting me. You know, one of the great things about
    America is the entrepreneurial spirit of our country, and Mr. Phillips
    is an entrepreneur. And one of the things we've got to do in America is
    keep that entrepreneurial spirit alive and well. And Mr. Phillips knows
    what I know: You can be an entrepreneur, but without good workers, good,
    dedicated, hard-working people willing to run the machines and show up
    on time and work hard, the entrepreneurial spirit is kind of empty. And
    so, first of all, I want to not only thank the Phillips folks, I want to
    thank the people who work here in this facility. Thanks for making
    America go.
        And I am interested in making sure every one of our fellow citizens
    who wants to work can find a job, and that's what I want to talk about
    today. I want to talk about how to make sure this economy is strong and
    vibrant so our citizens can work and families can be hopeful for the
    future.
        First, I want to thank the Secretary of Commerce, Don Evans, my long-time friend. I appreciate his service. He's
    part of my economic team that is staying focused on economic vitality
    and growth.
        I appreciate so very much Jack Kirksey.
    He's the mayor here. Mr. Mayor, you've got a tougher job than I do.
    [Laughter] You've got to empty the garbage and fill the potholes.
    [Laughter]
        I appreciate the State attorney general, Mike Cox, for joining us today. He's right

    [[Page 920]]

    here from Livonia. I want to thank members of the legislative body,
    Senator Laura Toy and John Pastor, who have joined us today. I want to thank the chief of
    police, who's with us. I want to thank the
    president of the city council that's with us. I
    want to thank you all for coming. We've got quite a distinguished group.
        I want to share the name of one person you've probably never heard
    of. It's a fellow I just met when I landed at the airport, and his name
    is Walter Piper. Walter is right there. Walter
    has been an active member of what they call SCORE, which is Service
    Corps of Retired Executives. That should tell you two things or three
    things about Walter: One, he is retired--[laughter]--two, he was an
    executive, and three, he is in service. And what he has done is he's
    decided to provide counsel and advice to people who want to start their
    own small business. He is volunteering his time to try to make the
    community in which he lives a better place.
        The reason I bring that up is there's a lot made about how strong we
    are militarily. And we are strong militarily, and we will remain strong
    militarily. But the true strength of America is found in the hearts and
    souls of our fellow citizens. The true strength of our country is found
    in those hearts and souls that have heard the universal call to love a
    neighbor just like you'd like to be loved yourself. No, the strength of
    our country is the compassion of our fellow citizens, people like Walter
    who are willing to dedicate their time and talents to make somebody
    else's life better.
        My call to you is when you see a neighbor in need, when you see
    somebody who's hurt, don't turn your back but love them just like you'd
    like to be loved yourself.
        This country of ours has faced many challenges over the last couple
    of years, and I believe those challenges have brought out the best in
    America. Terrorists declared war on us. On September the 11th, a date we
    will not forget, people who hated our country, hate it for what we stand
    for, hated the fact that we love freedom, declared war on the United
    States of America, and war is what they got. We are hunting down the
    killers one at a time. We are slowly but surely dismantling the Al Qaida
    network, and we will continue to find them and to bring them to justice.
    We owe that to this generation of Americans and future generations to
    come.
        In Afghanistan, a cruel regime, a brutal regime, had turned that
    country into a training camp for terrorists. I declared as clearly as I
    could, ``If you harbor a terrorist, you're just as guilty as the
    terrorists.'' So we removed the Taliban from power and freed people from
    the clutches of a barbaric regime.
        In Iraq, a brutal dictator was arming to
    threaten the peace. This brutal dictator defied the demands of the free
    world. For years, he thumbed his nose at the United Nations Security
    Council, time and time again. We gave him plenty of time to disclose and
    disarm. He chose defiance, and the regime of Saddam Hussein is no more.
        Our brave troops still face danger in Iraq because there are people
    there who hate the thought of a free society. They can't stand freedom,
    and they're dangerous. But we're finding these terrorists as well, and
    we're bringing them to justice. As you know, earlier this week, two of
    the favorite henchmen of Saddam
    Hussein were brought to justice. They were
    discovered, and their violent careers ended in justice. These two sons
    of Saddam Hussein were responsible for hundreds and hundreds of people
    being tortured and maimed and murdered. And now the Iraqi people have
    seen clearly the intent of the United States to make sure that they are
    free and to make sure that the Saddam regime never returns again to
    Iraq.
        Our brave men and women serving to free--make sure Iraq is free are
    serving as well in the war on terror. A free and democratic and peaceful
    Iraq will not threaten America and our friends with illegal weapons. A
    free Iraq will not provide

    [[Page 921]]

    harbor and money to terrorist organizations which would like to hurt
    America. A free Iraq will not destabilize the Middle East. A free Iraq
    can set a hopeful example for the entire region. And as the pursuits of
    freedom replace hatred and resentment and terror in the Middle East, the
    American people will be more secure, and the world will be more
    peaceful. We owe a significant debt of gratitude to the men and women
    who wear the uniform of the United States of America.
        Our Nation has responded to challenges here at home as well. Think
    about what we've been through. As I was showing up into office, the
    stock market had been falling for nearly a year, and the country was
    headed into recession. And then after the recession came the attacks of
    September the 11th, a significant attack on our homeland. It caused the
    economy to sputter. It significantly affected our capacity to generate
    jobs.
        And then we found out that some of our fellow citizens forgot what
    it means to assume responsibility. They didn't tell the truth. Corporate
    CEOs around this country didn't tell the truth to their shareholders and
    their employees, and that shook the confidence of America. And then, of
    course, the drumbeat of war shook the--began to affect the ability for
    this economy to grow strong.
        We've overcome a lot because we acted. First and foremost, in 2001,
    I worked with Congress to pass tax relief, and history will show that
    the recession we're in is one of the shallowest recessions our country
    has had. We passed tough laws that say to a corporate criminal, if you
    lie, cheat, or steal, you will be held to account.
        Last year, when it looked like the economy was still sputtering and
    wasn't strong enough, when we realized too many Americans were still
    struggling to find work and too many families were having trouble
    meeting their monthly bills or saving for their child's education, we
    acted again, and I convinced the Congress to pass the Jobs and Growth
    Act.
        And that's a significant development in terms of economic vitality,
    because the more money people have in their pockets, the more they will
    demand a good or a service. And when somebody demands a good or a
    service, in this economy of ours, somebody will produce a good or a
    service. And when somebody produces that good or a service, it means
    somebody is more likely to find work.
        The jobs-and-growth plan came at the exact right time in our
    history. Part of that jobs-and-growth plan is to increase the child
    credit from $600 to $1,000 per child. But I thought it was necessary to
    act quickly, so I asked Congress to make it retroactive to January 1st
    of this year, and they agreed.
        Today I went to Philadelphia. I saw firsthand the checks that are
    being printed, that are fixing to be sent to the people who have got
    children who qualify for the child credit. That is, $13 billion is going
    out the door to be in the pockets of our fellow citizens; $13 billion
    for more money for people to save or to spend but to do with it which
    you want to do with it. After all, we're talking about your money, not
    the Government's money.
        Part of the Jobs and Growth Act continue to bring down the marriage
    penalty. Seems like to me that the Tax Code ought to encourage marriage,
    not discourage marriage. I don't know why you want to penalize marriage.
    But part of the Jobs and Growth Act also reduced the overall tax rates
    people pay. It cut the individual tax rates across the board. You're
    going to have more money in your pocket. That's what we want. That's
    part of the economic jobs-and-growth plan.
        The interesting thing about reducing taxes as well, it helped a lot
    of small businesses. And the cornerstone of any good jobs plan is to
    encourage small-business growth. A lot of small businesses pay tax

    [[Page 922]]

    at the individual tax rate. They're Subchapter S's, or they're what they
    call sole proprietorships. And so when you hear us talking about rate
    reduction, I also want you to think about your neighbor who is a small-
    business owner. And their taxes are going down, and that will have a
    positive effect on economic vitality and growth.
        We also changed the policy on taxes on dividends and capital gains.
    And let me talk about what that means. It means many companies have now
    decided to pay a dividend to the people who own the company, the
    thousands of shareholders all across our country. Many others have
    increased their dividend. And as a result, there are billions of dollars
    of cash now going into the economy, to the people, to the shareholders,
    large and small, and that will encourage savings and investment and
    spending.
        Now, let me talk about the jobs act in terms of small business. Not
    only will it affect small businesses by reducing the income taxes on
    small businesses, we allowed small businesses to deduct more money up
    front when they buy new equipment. And that's important. We want people
    to buy more equipment. You know why? Because somebody has got to make
    the equipment. When there's an incentive for small businesses across the
    country to buy a new piece of machinery to make their business more
    productive, it means somebody has got to make that machine. And when
    somebody makes that machine, it means somebody is going to be working,
    making the machine.
        Here at Beaver, you're going to save about $70,000 on taxes, and
    that means more money that goes into research to develop new products.
    And that's important. If I were a worker here, I'd want to be on the
    cutting edge of new products. I'd want the people who run this company
    being--thinking about how best can I use my talent and my skills to
    build a new product to stay competitive. As Bill Phillips said, ``It gives us the money to do some
    research.''
        But he also said, ``It gives us some
    money to build new products.'' He's already hired 14 workers this year.
    He says to me, the tax relief will enable him to hire 10 more workers.
    That's 10 more people working. There are small businesses--see, we're
    not talking about just this company here. There are companies all across
    the country like this company. And if you have 10 hired here and 10
    hired there and 10 hired over there, and all of a sudden those 10 start
    adding up and our fellow citizens are getting back to work. And that's
    what we're here to talk about, how to get Americans back to work.
        Mike Gendich is here with us. I had a
    chance to visit with Mike. He owns a company called Metalmite. He makes
    parts for Beaver Aerospace. He had a backlog of orders of only 2\1/2\
    weeks over the past 3 years. His orders are picking up. That's a good
    sign. See, when the small-business guy's orders begin to pick up, he
    begins to get a little confidence, a little bounce in his step. And the
    backlog is now 2\1/2\ months. He's added three workers in the last 2
    months. And now, with $22,000 of tax relief, he's decided he can afford
    a vertical milling machine to keep those three workers busy, to make
    sure they're more productive.
        But somebody has got to build that vertical milling machine. And so
    there's some person out there whose job is more secure, or perhaps a new
    job, thanks to the fact that Mike is taking
    advantage of the tax relief. And that's what's important for our fellow
    citizens to know. There's a ripple effect throughout our economy. And as
    people make decisions, whether you're a consumer or whether you're a
    small-business owner trying to buy a machine, it affects economic
    vitality and growth. It affects more than just one life. And that's the
    whole purpose of the tax plan, was to have a ripple effect throughout
    the economy that's positive and far-reaching.
        Nevin Groce is with us. He's from Grand
    Rapids. He owns L&G Industrial Products.

    [[Page 923]]

    He said times are a little slow. But all of a sudden, he's beginning to
    see action being taken, and he sees a better future for his company.
    He's going to save $20,000 under the 2003 tax relief act.
        He says that what he's thinking about doing
    is buying a large industrial saw. In other words, here's a guy whose
    business isn't quite the way he wants it to be, but he's getting
    optimistic because he's got a little more money in his pocket--more than
    a little money, $20,000, which is a lot of money for a small business.
    And so he's thinking positively. He's thinking about making new
    investments.
        Dennis Orlewicz is here. He's a small-
    business owner, Magnum Manufacturing. He's an S corp. That means he pays
    taxes at the individual income tax rate. We've reduced the taxes on his
    business by $3,500. It will save him $8,000--individually and then
    $8,000 in his business, excuse me. He's thinking about buying a $250,000
    machine. His quote is, ``Tax relief makes investment more enticing.''
        Here's what I'm telling you. We've got to focus on small businesses,
    first and foremost. Most new jobs in America are created by
    entrepreneurs and small-business people. The plan I'm describing to you
    creates incentive for people to make investments to make their small
    business more competitive, to make their workers more productive. And
    when they make investment, it helps somebody else who has to make the
    machine in the first place. The jobs-and-growth bill is important for
    economic vitality in America.
        I want to make sure the jobs-and-growth bill extend to all our
    citizens. The child credit must be given to low-income Americans as
    well. They passed a bill in the Senate. They passed a bill in the House.
    They need to get the differences resolved and to my desk. I want the
    benefits of tax relief all across the spectrum of our society.
    Economists were saying this economy is picking up. They're feeling
    positive about America and its economic future. They know what I know:
    We've been through a lot, and we're strong.
        Interest rates are down. That makes it easier for a person to buy
    their house. If you got your house and interest rates are down, it means
    it makes it profitable to refinance your house, put a little extra money
    in your pocket. Inflation is low, which is positive. Productivity is up.
    No, signs after sign after sign says we're poised for growth so people
    can find work.
        But there is more to do. I want to share some other thoughts with
    you. First, we need an energy policy in America. We need a policy that
    recognizes we can do a better job of conservation, that we can do a
    better job of developing technologies that will enable us to develop
    energy sources in a cleaner way. But I'm worried about natural gas. See,
    the demand for natural gas is going up but the supply isn't, which means
    it's going to start affecting people's pocketbooks. We've got to do
    something about that. We need an energy plan. We need to be less
    dependent on foreign sources of energy. The House passed a bill; the
    Senate--is stuck in the Senate. They need to get moving and get a bill
    to my desk.
        We need to make sure that we have--diminish the number of frivolous
    lawsuits in our society--pushing hard for class-action reform. The House
    passed a bill. The Senate has got to act. It's junk lawsuits that are
    affecting the cost of your health care. Listen, if you got hurt by a bad
    doc, you've got to have your day in court. But what we don't need is
    lawyers fishing for a rich settlement all across the country, which
    means you're either driving up the cost of health care or you're driving
    the docs out of business. One of the things we ought to make sure in
    America is health care is affordable and accessible.
        When you're good at something, you ought to make the environment
    such that you can move product. If you're good at manufacturing, you
    want to sell it all around the world. If you're good at growing crops,
    we want to be able to sell our crops

    [[Page 924]]

    around the world. If you're good at growing cows, we ought to be selling
    our cows around the world. One way to make sure that we can increase
    jobs is to get some of these countries to open up their markets to
    United States' products. We're competitive. We've got the best workers
    in the world.
        Well, these are some of the things we can do to make sure this
    economy grows. I'm interested in helping people find work. I want it so
    that everybody in America who wants to work and can't find a job today
    can work. I also know that we've got to help people who are trying to
    find work. Sometimes technology races ahead of the workforce. Sometimes
    people can't find work, even though they want to.
        So what I proposed to the Congress is they create what they call
    unemployment accounts for people that are seeking jobs that are hard to
    find a job. This basically says that you get $3,000 to help yourself
    find a--to help find a job. If you need--and you can use the money the
    way you see fit. For example, if you need child care, it will help you
    pay for the child care or if you need extra job training or if you need
    to move to a community in which there's a job. And part of the incentive
    in there is that if you can find a job within 13 months, you get to keep
    the balance of the money from what you've spent to help yourself find a
    job and the $3,000 as a reemployment bonus. We've got to help our
    workers be ready to work and find work.
        Now, I know you've heard talk about the deficit in Washington, DC.
    Yes, we've got a deficit. We've got a deficit for a couple of reasons.
    The main reason is, is that when you're in a recession, less money is
    coming into the Treasury. When the economy slows down, there's less tax
    revenue coming into the U.S. Treasury, and we've been going through slow
    economic times.
        Another reason we've got a deficit, because I asked Congress to
    spend enough money to make sure our troops had the best equipment
    necessary to fight and win war. Any time this Nation puts one of our
    youngsters into harm's way, we'd better--and we will--make sure they get
    the best training, the best equipment, the best possible support.
        And so we got a deficit. But I've got a plan to cut the deficit in
    half over the next 5 years. It starts with making sure this economy
    grows. First thing you want to do in trimming the deficit is to make
    sure you get more revenues into the Treasury. The best way to get more
    revenues in the Treasury is not raise taxes, slowing down the economy;
    it's cut taxes to create more economic growth. That's how you get more
    money into the U.S. Treasury.
        And the other way is you make sure Washington doesn't overspend,
    that there be fiscal discipline. I got the Congress to support a 4-
    percent increase in discretionary spending. That's about the size of the
    average household budget will increase this year. If it's good enough
    for the households in America, it ought to be good enough for the House
    of Representatives. They agreed to the budget of a 4-percent increase in
    discretionary spending, and now we intend to make them--hold them to
    their word. There's going to be budget discipline in Washington. That's
    how you deal with the deficit.
        The main--my main focus is making sure our citizens can find a job,
    and I believe it's going to happen. See, I believe in the future of the
    country in all aspects because I know the character of our people. This
    country has been through emergencies and scandals and war and recession,
    and we have responded. We're a strong country because we're full of
    strong people. We've got people of character. We've got determined
    people. We've got people who understand values. We've got people who
    understand service to something greater than yourself. This is a
    fabulous land, and I am so honored to be the President of the greatest
    country on the face of the Earth.

    [[Page 925]]

        Thank you for coming. Thank you for giving me a chance. May God
    bless. Thank you all.

    Note: The President spoke at 3:29 p.m. at Beaver Aerospace and Defense,
    Inc. In his remarks, he referred to William T. Phillips, chairman,
    Phillips Service Industries, Inc.; State Attorney General Mike Cox,
    State Senator Laura M. Toy, and State Representative John Pastor of
    Michigan; Mayor Jack E. Kirksey, Chief of Police Peter Kunst, and City
    Council President Jack Engebretson of Livonia, MI; and Uday and Qusay
    Hussein, sons of former President Saddam Hussein of Iraq, who were
    killed July 22 by U.S. military forces in Mosul, Iraq.