[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book II)]
[November 7, 2003]
[Pages 1485-1490]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
[[Page 1485]]
Remarks in a Discussion With Students and Faculty at Forsyth Technical
Community College in Winston-Salem
November 7, 2003
The President. Yes, Gary. First, I want to
thank you very much for being a host. It's not easy to host the
President and his entourage. [Laughter] But we have an interesting
opportunity to have a discussion for the country. It's a discussion
about the importance of education and jobs. It's a discussion about the
importance of making sure the education system is flexible enough to
help train people for jobs which exist today and will exist tomorrow. So
I really want to thank you for hosting this. This is an important
dialog.
The economy has obviously taken its toll on parts of North Carolina:
The manufacturing sector has been hit; the textile industry has been
hit; people have lost work. And yet in other sectors of the economy,here
in North Carolina, are growing. And we've got to make sure we're able to
match the skills and talent and drive of North Carolina citizens with
the jobs of the future. And a great place to do that is at the community
colleges here in North Carolina and all around the country. And that's
really what we're here to herald.
So I want to thank you for giving me the chance to visit. I look
forward to hearing our panelists. I want to thank you all for taking
time out of your day to come and help educate the country about this
fantastic program and effort you've got right here. So, Dr.
Green, you're a good man for hosting us, and I
appreciate it.
[The discussion continued.]
The President. That's what I was going to ask. It's very important
for this type of education to be demand-driven.
Lucas Shallua. That is correct.
The President. I remember the old days in Texas. There would be job
training programs; they really didn't care whether the jobs actually
existed. All they want to do is make sure you're trained. [Laughter] So
you end up with, like, 1,500 hairdressers for 25 jobs.
And so my question to you is--first of all, let me make it clear. On
the grant, what we're talking about is a $754,000 grant to Forsyth Tech.
The Congressman gets a lot of credit for
arranging this because we were very aware that certain sectors of the
country were losing jobs, see. The job mix is shifting. The economy, as
it grows, sometimes there's a different shift in the type of jobs
available. You hear a lot of talk about productivity increases; you
mentioned productivity increases. A lot of the manufacturing sector is
seeing job loss because the worker is more productive. In other words,
an hour of a person's time yields more product, and unless demand
outstrips productivity, it's a pressure on the job base.
But productivity increases, by the way, are going to mean higher
paying jobs. It's important for our economy to have productivity
increases, because in the long run, it makes a lot of sense. In the
short run, it creates some dislocation for workers. We're going to hear
from some in a minute. And the job grant program recognized that this
part of the world had had some job losses and yet there were some
wonderful workers and wonderful people who were anxious to be able to
employ their skills in a field that was actually growing.
And so my question to you is, is that as you--and the doc here--as
you have a curriculum change, explain to people how it is demand-driven,
the curriculum change--in other words, a curriculum that's actually
relevant to the job base here in the local communities.
[The discussion continued.]
[[Page 1486]]
The President. First of all, I thank you for the credit, but you get
the credit, see. You're the person that made the decision that you want
to do something with your life. I can't make that decision for you.
That's your call to make, and you get the credit. And for that, I
really--I appreciate that a lot.
Let me say something about one of the interesting innovations, and
it's an important innovation, is these one-stop centers that the
community college system is plugged into. A one-stop center is a place
where a person such as Scott can go and say,
``I've got this interest. What's available?'' You called it up on the
web, or you used the high-tech world to help bring information to your
screen. And the one-stop centers are really kind of a innovative idea to
allow for people to not only find what may be available. In other words,
they have a look to judge demand for jobs themselves. They say, ``Oh
look, these people are looking for work here; this industry is looking
for work here.'' But it also helps people find job training programs.
It's very important for the community colleges to be plugged into these
one-stop centers because they become the bridge to the job, become the--
help create the skill set necessary for someone to access a job. And as
well one-stop centers have got, like, resume help.
And so for those out there who are interested in doing what
Scott and the others up here have done, I
suggest you go to your regional one-stop centers. You'll find a lot of
help. The job of the people there is to help you find--match your
interests or your inclinations with jobs that actually exist.
I appreciate you bringing it up, Scott. You
made the decision. You made the decision to go back to school, which
isn't easy, particularly for an old guy like you, and--[laughter].
Scott Hiner. Well, there is a lot of
government help out there. You just have to go find it----
The President. Yes.
Mr. Hiner. ----and like I said, I really appreciate it being out
there.
The President. Well, I appreciate you saying that. We--as the
economy changes, as technology changes, the slowest part of change is
the workforce. And we've just got to understand that we've got to make
sure our workers--who are the most productive in the world, the hardest
working people in the world, the finest people in the world--have the
skills necessary to move on with their lives, and I appreciate the
example you've set.
[The discussion continued.]
The President. Yes. So if somebody is listening right now and they
say ``biotechnology field,'' how would you describe that? Give somebody
a sense for what it means. I'm sure there's a lot of people frightened--
``biotechnology'' is a long word. It sounds--[laughter]. They may say,
``Well, I don't know if I'm smart enough to be in biotechnology,'' or
``It sounds too sophisticated, to be in biotechnology.'' It didn't
frighten you. Why?
Sandra Moser. Because I was thinking
pharmaceuticals and things like that, and they're going to teach me. You
know, they're going to teach me what I need to know. They're not going
to let me out of there until I know it. [Laughter]
Gary Green. That's right.
The President. And how is your education being paid?
Ms. Moser. Through the TAA.
The President. Yes, good. Good. TAA is a program like the Pell grant
program. The good doctor here mentioned Pell grants. People ought to
take a look at Pell grants. Many of the community college students in
our country have their education funded by Pell grants. We've
dramatically increased the funding of Pell grants. It's up to about
$12.7 billion now on an annual basis, which means people can be able to
find a grant. These are grants, not loans, by the way.
[[Page 1487]]
That's why they're called Pell grants. Otherwise, you know, it's Pell
loans. [Laughter]
But the budget is up quite dramatically over the last couple years,
by 45 percent. The reason I say that is, it's important for people to
know, as both our friends here have mentioned, that there is a way to
make sure that you get your--your education is funded if you work hard,
if you look hard. There's money available, and that's important for
people to know.
Thank you. Good job.
[The discussion continued.]
Jan Robertson. When you go, like, into a
doctor's office or something, you get to dictate what the doctor says
and put it on the computer, and then you get to put it in the file for
the patient, whatever, so they can understand them, because--have you
ever seen them write? Do you understand--[laughter].
The President. Yes, I have. Some people say my writing is worse than
the doctor's. [Laughter] But I won't take it personally.
Ms. Robertson. So they need a little help.
The President. Tell us why are you--what were you doing before you
came here?
Ms. Robertson. I was in a textile plant,
and it went overseas. And I wanted to get--to better myself, so I went
to the medical field.
The President. You're a mother?
Ms. Robertson. Yes.
The President. How old is your child?
Ms. Robertson. Five.
The President. Single mom?
Ms. Robertson. Yes.
The President. You've got the toughest job in America.
Ms. Robertson. Yes.
The President. Yes, you do. That's good. And so have you started
class here?
Ms. Robertson. Yes, this fall.
The President. You making all A's?
Ms. Robertson. Not quite, but I'm getting
there. [Laughter]
The President. People are listening. [Laughter] And so you're
studying medical transcription.
Ms. Robertson. Yes.
The President. And are you good on the computer?
Ms. Robertson. I'm getting better.
The President. That's good. So that's part of the curriculum.
Ms. Robertson. Yes.
The President. And so what has happened here is that they've come
and they've helped this education institution develop a curriculum that
is actually practical, so you believe that once you finish the
curriculum you'll be able to walk right out and sign up for work.
Ms. Robertson. Yes, and also it helps you
where you can do it at your own--at your home.
The President. Oh, good, so you can do your first job, the most
important job, which is to be a mother----
Ms. Robertson. Yes.
The President. ----and then be a student.
Thanks. Congratulations. How is your kid doing, learning to read?
Ms. Robertson. Oh, yes.
The President. That's the most important thing you can do right now,
is teach your child. Get them to read more than they watch TV. Sorry to
all the TV cameras out there. [Laughter]
[The discussion continued.]
The President. Well, I appreciate you bringing that up. We had a
recent report out which--this is the beginning of good news for
jobseekers--over the last 3 months, the economy, the entrepreneurs, the
private sector, and others, have driven the job base up by 285,000 jobs,
new jobs, which is good. So in other words, things are beginning to
brighten up for people looking for work, which is positive. And
therefore, we must make sure that people are trained for jobs that
exist.
[The discussion continued.]
[[Page 1488]]
The President. And by the way, as these jobs get more sophisticated,
in other words, the training level is higher, no question about it. But
the pay is better. And that's what productivity increases do in a
society. As our society, particularly North Carolina economy, shifts
from textiles to biotechnology, the pay gets better. And all we've got
to do is bridge from the textile sector to the biotechnology sector with
smart education practices. And that's what we're here talking about.
It requires--a smart education system requires a community college
which is flexible in their curriculum. If they're rigid, this good man
here wouldn't be designing a curriculum. If they were rigid, they
wouldn't be listening to the employers of the community say, ``Listen,
this is what we need. We need this kind of person or that kind of
person.''
And the reason I'm here is because this is a model for others to
follow. In other parts of the country there's also workers being
displaced. And yet, there's great hope and opportunity because there's
wonderful job opportunity, so long as the training facilities are modern
and active and not rigid.
And I want to thank you for understanding that, and I want to thank
you for listening to people that are looking for workers. But they're
not looking for just the average worker, they're looking for a trained
worker. And so therefore, job training programs are essential.
Government spends about $15 billion a year on job training programs.
I've got to tell you, though, we need a little help from the
Congress--Congressman--to make sure that
there's some flexibility, not on how much money we spend but how we
spend it. Because these job training programs--he listed about three of
them already, and for every job training program there's kind of a
Government prescription with it, which means that the more prescriptive
programs are, the less flexible they are. And the less flexible job
training money is, it makes it very difficult to be able to meet the
needs of the local community.
And therefore, I'm trying to work with Congress, Doc, to make sure
that these monies coming out of Washington are able to have enough--have
as few strings attached as possible, so that the States and the local
community colleges can apply that money to meet the needs of the local
employers. And then we'll be able to say for certain that the job
training initiatives are meeting the needs.
Yes, but thanks for--thanks for being an entrepreneur.
[The discussion continued.]
The President. The job of the Government is to make sure that the
entrepreneurial spirit of America is strong, to make sure that people
feel comfortable in taking risk, that they're willing to start a small
business and grow it to a big business. And one of the interesting
aspects of making sure the entrepreneurial spirit is strong is tax
policy. And there's been a lot of talk--you've heard, I'm sure, the talk
about the tax relief. Hopefully, you've seen some of it in your pockets,
like increasing that child credit for your 5-year-old. But what's
interesting is that most small businesses are sole proprietorships or
Subchapter S corporations. That's when they're startups. I'm sure you've
seen that here in North Carolina. And as a result, when you--these are
companies that pay tax at the individual income tax rate, so that when
you cut taxes on the individual, you're also providing capital infusion
into small businesses.
And one of the very important things for our Government to do is to
also understand there needs to be certainty in the Tax Code. If you're a
planner, an entrepreneur, in any field, you've got to know that the tax
policy today is likely to be the tax policy tomorrow, because
uncertainty creates--difficult to plan, and therefore, makes it
difficult for people to hire.
And so one of the things I'm going to ask Congress to do is make
sure all this
[[Page 1489]]
tax relief we pass is permanent. See, it goes away. She, unfortunately,
is going to have to pay--receive less money in her child credit if they
don't make the tax relief permanent. The small-business owner, if they
don't make the tax relief permanent, will have to pay a inheritance tax
or death tax on the business they've created, which I don't think is
fair. I think you should only be taxed once, not twice. The marriage
penalty relief is--it's going to go away. And it's important that there
be certainty in order to make sure this economy continues to grow.
I want to thank you for bringing up the entrepreneurial spirit.
That's the thing that makes America such a wonderful place, the kind of
place where people, if you have a dream, are able to realize your dream.
That applies not only to the business owner, the person coming to the
Research Triangle, the person who thinks they've got a better idea than
their neighbor and is willing to put a little something out there, time
and capital, on the line. It also applies to our workers, people who
have got their own dreams, their own set of dreams, the dream of making
sure the child grows up in a wonderful little comfortable, peaceful
household. And our job in the Government is to help people realize their
dreams. That's really what it is. We can't make people dream, but we can
help people once they start to dream.
And I thank you all for the compliments on the Government. But the
compliments really belong here. See, you're doing what needs to be done.
And that's why I've got such wonderful optimism about our country. I'm
very optimistic about the fact that we'll keep the peace. I'm very
optimistic about the fact that people will find work, because there's a
wonderful spirit here in America.
I met this guy right there. See him? Put
your hand up. He's a volunteer firefighter. Well, not you, Burr. [Laughter] He's a volunteer firefighter. He came out
to the airport to say hello. It's an interesting concept, isn't it,
volunteer firefighters, people volunteering to put their lives on the
line in order to save lives.
I recently went out to California. I explained it to him when I was
at the airport. A lot of people on the frontlines in the fire out there
were volunteers. The reason I bring that up is, it should remind us that
the strength of the country is not our military, is not our pocketbooks;
it's the heart and soul of people. The entrepreneurial spirit is the
strength of the country. The willingness for people to volunteer in a
fire department is the strength of the country. And once you realize how
strong this country is in spirit, you can't help but be optimistic about
the future.
Thank you for having me here, Doc. Listen, I want to thank you all
for sharing your stories. It's not easy to stand up in front of all
these cameras. I know. [Laughter] Although the cameramen are fine
people. But it's--you were able to help us make a point, that people who
have lost work should have hope, that with a little initiative, a little
ingenuity, a little drive, there's help for you. The economy's growing,
new jobs are being created. And we--there's an opportunity, and I hope
you seize it. I hope you seize it, because there's a wonderful,
wonderful future ahead for people who may at this moment think their
days are--the future is a little dark. And we've got three citizens
right up here who are willing to see the--can see that bright light. So
thanks for coming.
Thank you all for coming.
Note: The discussion began at 1:05 p.m. Participants in the discussion
included: Gary M. Green, president, Lucas D. Shallua, biotechnology
program coordinator, and Scott Hiner, Sandra Moser, and Jan Robertson,
students, Forsyth Technical Community College; Richard Dean, president,
Wake Forest University Health Sciences; and William Dean, president,
Idealliance. In his remarks, the President also referred to
Representative Richard Burr of North Carolina; and Brian
[[Page 1490]]
Koontz, fire chief, County Line Volunteer Fire Department.