[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book II)]
[July 24, 2003]
[Pages 913-919]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks Following a Roundtable Discussion in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
July 24, 2003

    Thank you all. Please be seated. Thank you all very much for 
allowing us to come. John, thanks for your leadership. He's doing a 
fabulous job as the Secretary of Treasury, and I'm 
so glad he decided to join my administration.
    I want to thank you for the warm welcome, and I want to thank you 
all for helping us keep a commitment to the American people. We promised 
tax reductions for the good of American families and for the good of our 
economy. And we delivered on that promise. And soon the mail carrier 
will be delivering the checks that we promised to the American people. 
Twelve billion dollars in tax relief is on its way to more than 25 
million American families.
    And this is an appropriate place to come and talk about checks being 
mailed to American families, here at the Financial

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Management Service. The reason why is because here and at other 
facilities, these checks are being printed, and the checks will be 
mailed. And I want to thank you all very much for working as hard as you 
are to make sure that the promise that the Government has made is being 
kept.
    I know a lot of you are putting in weekend shifts. I know a lot of 
you are working really hard. And I am grateful, but more importantly, 
the American people should be grateful for the work you do right here. 
Thank on behalf of--[applause].
    I have traveled today with two really fine men and great United 
States Senators, Arlen Specter and Rick 
Santorum. I want to thank you all for coming. 
I want to thank you for--I want to thank Mike Colarusso and Bob Mange for leading this 
fine group of folks. Thank you all for your hospitality.
    I want to thank those good workers who allowed me and the press 
corps to come and see you doing your job. It's not easy to do your job 
with a distraction, and I must confess that sometimes the Presidential 
entourage can be distracting. [Laughter] But we want to thank you all 
for your hospitality and, most of all, thank you for being such great 
Americans and working so hard on behalf of the American people.
    Today when I landed in Philadelphia, I met a lady named Valerie 
Christy. She's what we call USA--there's 
Valerie, right there. I'm sure you don't know who Valerie is, but you're 
about to, because Valerie is a person who has taken time out of her life 
to make somebody else's life better. She is a volunteer. One of the 
things she's done is she has participated in the Philadelphia Cares Day, 
which helps to paint and repair public schools in Philadelphia. She also 
volunteers twice a month in what they call Partners in Technology to 
help seniors and other special needs residents learn to use the 
technological change--learn to adapt to the technological changes of our 
society.
    In other words, and the reason I bring this up is, much has been 
made about the great strength and might of America, and we are strong, 
and we are mighty, and we'll remain that way. But the true strength of 
our country is the heart and soul of our citizens, and Valerie represents that. She represents those who have heard 
the call to love a neighbor like you'd like to be loved yourself.
    And the reason I bring this up is I want to continue to remind our 
fellow citizens that the way to change America for the better, and the 
way to make sure the great promise of our country exists for every 
single citizen, is that when we see somebody in need, we must act. If 
you're worried about children not being able to read, mentor a child. If 
you have a shut-in in your neighborhood who is lonely, provide comfort 
and love to that person. See, each of us can make a difference in 
America. America changes one heart, one soul, one conscience at a time. 
And each of us must be that some person trying to help make that change 
when we find somebody who hurts. Valerie, thank you for the example you 
set for our fellow citizens.
    You know, this country has faced a lot of challenges in the past few 
years. And I believe those challenges have brought out the best in 
America. On September the 11th, 2001, a date I will not forget so long 
as I'm on this Earth, America's enemies declared war on this country. 
That's what happened on that day. It was a declaration of war by people 
who hate what America stands for, and war is what they got.
    We are dismantling the Al Qaida network leader by leader. We are 
finding these killers one by one, and they will be brought to justice. 
We also acted in decisive ways to uphold doctrine. One of the doctrines 
said, ``If you harbor a terrorist, you're just as guilty as the 
terrorist.'' And so in Afghanistan, we recognized that there was a cruel 
and oppressive regime that had turned a nation into training camps. And

[[Page 915]]

so we removed that regime, and the people of Afghanistan are free.
    In Iraq, a dictator was arming to 
threaten the peace, and he defied the demands of the world. He didn't 
defy just the demands of the United States; he defied the demands of the 
United Nations Security Council, not once but many times. And so for 
peace and for the security of the free world, we removed that regime, 
and the Iraqi people are now free.
    Our military is still facing danger from elements of the fallen 
regime and other extremists. These folks hate the thought of Iraq being 
free. And we're finding those people, and we're bringing them to 
justice. Two days ago in the city of Mosul, the careers of two of the 
regime's chief henchmen came to an end. Saddam Hussein's sons were responsible for 
torture, for maiming innocent citizens, and for the murder of countless 
Iraqis. And now, more than ever, the Iraqis can know that the former 
regime is gone and is not coming back.
    Our people in uniform, our brave soldiers, are doing essential work 
in the war on terror. What they're doing in Iraq is an integral part on 
winning the war on terror. You see, a free and democratic and peaceful 
Iraq will not threaten America or our friends with illegal weapons. A 
free Iraq will not provide weapons to terrorists or money to terrorists 
who threaten the American people. A free Iraq will not destabilize the 
Middle East. A free Iraq can set a hopeful example for the entire 
region. And so the pursuits of freedom--and as the pursuits of freedom 
replace hatred and terror in the Middle East, America and our friends 
will be more secure.
    Our Nation is incredibly grateful for the men and women who defend 
us, for the men and women who serve the cause of peace and security, and 
we are incredibly proud of those who wear our Nation's uniform.
    We have risen to challenges abroad, and we are rising to challenges 
at home as well. When I took office, when my administration came into 
office, the stock market had been falling for months and the economy was 
sliding into recession. And so we acted, and we passed tax relief, which 
made the recession one of the most shallow in history. We found that we 
had some of our corporate executives--we found they weren't telling the 
truth. [Laughter] They were being dishonest, not only to their 
shareholders but their employees, and we acted. We'll punish those who 
violate the law, and we're working together with Congress--and we worked 
together with Congress, and I signed the most historic corporate's 
governors reforms in a long period of time.
    Last year, we saw that our economy was still not growing fast enough 
or creating jobs we need. So we acted. We passed meaningful, real tax 
relief. We expanded the child credit from $600 to $1,000 per child. We 
made that change retroactive to January 1st of this year, which is why 
the checks are going out of this facility soon. In other words, we said, 
``If we've got a problem, let's get the money to the people as quickly 
as possible.'' In the Jobs and Growth Act--that was the tax relief act--
all aimed at increasing the capacity for our fellow citizens to find 
work. We brought down the marriage penalty. You see, we believe we ought 
to encourage marriage, not discourage marriage in the Tax Code.
    We reduced all tax rates so our fellow citizens have got more take-
home pay. That's good for the economy when people have more take-home 
pay. You see, by cutting individual tax relief, we passed tax relief as 
well for millions of small businesses, because most small businesses are 
what they call a sole proprietorship or Subchapter S, which means they 
pay taxes at the individual income tax rates. So in other words, the tax 
relief not only helped our families and our citizens, but it also helped 
the small-business sector of our economy.
    And the benefits for this tax relief will be spread throughout all 
the economy.

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That's what's important for people to know; it's widespread benefits. 
You see, because when people have more of their own money, more money in 
their pocket, they will demand a good or a service. And when somebody 
demands a good or a service in our system, somebody will produce the 
good or a service. And when somebody produces that good or a service, it 
means it's much more likely, as demand increases, that somebody will be 
able to find a job.
    And that's what we're interested in. We're interested in creating 
jobs so our fellow citizens can find work. More than a million 
Pennsylvania families will benefit from the increased child tax credit. 
And earlier I had a chance to talk with some of the families who have 
joined us today. See, I think it's very important for our fellow 
citizens to understand, we're not just talking theory. When people get 
checks, it changes--it helps them with their lives.
    The Lonabergers are with us. Barry says 
he wants to start saving more for his retirement and for the college 
education of his two sons, Kyle and 
Brandon, who are with us today. Where's 
Kyle? There they are, back there. He will get $800 soon, because of the 
increased child credit. His tax burden will drop by--be cut by 29 
percent because of the tax relief.
    He--so what does Barry say? He said, 
``Look, I'm interested in saving for my kids.'' He also said, ``This 
extra money will help on a summer vacation.'' And he wants to renovate 
the kitchen in his home. So--and he told me he's going on a vacation. 
See, that makes it more likely that somebody is going to find a job at 
the motel in the place where he's going. [Laughter] And I'm sure he's 
going to eat when he gets there. So he'll take some of the money, and 
he'll buy food. And that's good for the person who owns the restaurant 
and for the people that serve the food or cook the food.
    And when he renovates his kitchen, he's 
going to have to buy some equipment to help renovate it, which means 
somebody is going to have to manufacture the equipment that he buys to 
help renovate his--or the paint, for that matter. In other words, it has 
an effect throughout our economy. Increasing the child credit helps 
Barry. But it also is going to help those who deliver the goods and 
services that he now demands as a result of having extra money in his 
pocket.
    Brian Peffley is here today. Brian and his 
wife, Heather, have three sons, 
Caleb, Joshua, 
Noah. And they have got to make sacrifices. 
Every family makes sacrifices. And one of the things he wants to do is 
to obviously have more money for back-to-school expenses. People are 
beginning to think about what it means to send their child back to 
school.
    One of the sacrifices he was going to make 
in order to make sure he could--he and his family could purchase back-
to-school expenses was he was going to delay taking a course he needed 
to get his bachelor's degree. And so what this means is, when he gets 
his check for $1,200, it will mean that he now can do both. And that's 
important. First of all, purchasing school supplies means the school 
supply manufacturer or school supply salesman has got a little extra 
business. But also, one of the things that's important in our workforce 
is for people to continually upgrade their education, so that they can 
be more productive and find a better job that pays better pay.
    One of the things we want to encourage is additional education, and 
I appreciate the fact that Brian wants to go 
back to school. Here's what he said. He said, ``This tax relief has 
eased the burden on us, and it will continue to allow us to achieve our 
goals and dreams.'' And that's what we want. We want people to have 
dreams in America and make it easier for them to realize their dreams.
    Jeanette Luna is with us today. She, by 
the way, has the hardest job in America. She is a single mom. 
Adley is with us today. Eric is not here. But she earns a modest

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salary, and thanks to the tax relief, her refund will go from $600 to 
more than $1,100. And that will help pay for the school supplies. She's 
made the decision to send her child to a Catholic school, and that will 
help with tuition payments, which is important. It will help her buy 
clothes.
    One of the things that's important is that tax relief helps people 
from all walks of life. And one of the things I've asked Congress to do, 
by the way, is to help low-income families like Jeanette's by making more of the child credit refundable. The 
benefits of the Jobs and Growth Act should be as broad as possible, 
should be widespread throughout our society. The House and the Senate 
have passed different versions of extending the child credit. They've 
got to resolve their differences and get it to my desk as quickly as 
possible, so people can get additional help.
    Now, as John mentioned, the benefits of tax 
relief are positive. Economists--a lot of economists expect growth to 
pick up over the next 18 months. In other words, we've overcome a lot, 
and we've laid the foundation for growth. And I'll tell you why they 
believe that. First of all, home sales are rising, and that's positive. 
We want, by the way, more people owning their own home. That's one of--a 
grand objective for our economy. We've got a downpayment plan to help 
people do that. We're trying to simplify the contracts so people don't 
get discouraged by the fine print. But the best thing that's happening 
is, is that low mortgage rates have encouraged people to buy a home. And 
when you couple that with rising after-tax incomes, that's a positive 
foundation for home growth.
    The other thing is people have refinanced their homes. In other 
words, lower mortgages mean that you can refinance and put a little 
extra money in your pocket for savings or needed purchases. Inflation is 
low, and that's positive. That's part of the foundation for economic 
vitality. Retail sales are rising, and that's good. Productivity amongst 
our workers is the highest it's been in a long while, and that's 
positive. We're a more productive society.
    Investors are showing more confidence. The stock market seems to be 
trending upwards. That's a positive sign. Since we're an ownership 
society, more and more people have got different retirement plans, and 
they count on the markets as part of their assets for retirement.
    We've reduced taxes on stock dividends, and now companies have 
announced plans to increase their dividend payout. And some companies 
are going to pay dividends for the first time. And that's positive for 
our economy because billions of dollars in cash will now go directly to 
shareholders and back into the economy.
    And so we're making progress. The other thing we've done is, as I 
mentioned, small businesses get relief from tax relief, which is vital. 
And what's really important for--to invigorate small-business growth is, 
most new jobs are created by small businesses in America, and therefore, 
it makes sense to have a policy that enhances the entrepreneurial spirit 
of America.
    And so we did not only reduce taxes, but we also allowed for certain 
expensing of new equipment to encourage people to purchase new 
equipment. In other words, if there's an incentive for some small 
business to purchase a new piece of equipment, and they do, somebody's 
got to make the equipment. And when somebody makes the equipment, it is 
all part of making sure that there's job stability and job growth 
throughout our economy.
    And so we've--there are hopeful signs, good progress. But there is 
more to do. And one of the things we've got to do is to make sure that--
you know, we've got lawsuit reform. Listen, businesses are fighting a 
lot of frivolous litigation, and it's costly to our economy. And the 
House has taken up the reform of class-action--the class-action system, 
and the Senate has not. In my judgment, in order to enhance economic 
vitality, the Senate must act on fair

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and balanced tort reform legislation, starting with class-action 
lawsuits.
    We need a comprehensive energy bill. We've got to have a policy, a 
comprehensive energy policy if we want our economy to grow. I'm 
concerned about the costs of natural gas. The demand is strong for 
natural gas, and supplies are not as plentiful for natural gas, which 
means there's price pressure. The House has acted on this important 
piece of legislation; the Senate hasn't. We need an energy bill that 
promotes conservation, that applies new and cleaner technologies, but 
one that improves national security by making us less dependent on 
foreign sources of energy.
    We need to expand trade so our farmers and ranchers and 
manufacturers have got new markets. Listen, if you're good at something, 
you want to be able to sell what you're good at all around the world. 
And we're really good at a lot of things, and we ought to be encouraging 
markets to open up for United States products. That's important for job 
creation.
    The other thing is that as we create new job opportunities, we've 
got to help the people be prepared to fill those job vacancies. And so I 
proposed what we call reemployment accounts. It gives Americans a 
chance, particularly those who are having the greatest difficulty 
finding work, to realize their dream of work. People get $3,000 to use 
in their job search. Now, that $3,000 should be used according to the 
needs of the people, not according to what the Government thinks the 
needs are. So if a person needs child care, they ought to be able to use 
that money. If a person needs transportation, they ought to be able to 
use that money. If a person needs extra training, they ought to be able 
to use that money. If a person finds a job in another part of the State, 
they ought to be able to use that money to help them move.
    In other words, this is focus money, called reemployment accounts, 
to help people get ahead. If we want to expand this economy, we've got 
to recognize that some people need training and help to enter in that 
workforce.
    And the other thing I said, if a worker believes--a worker can find 
work within 13 weeks, and there's still money left over of the $3,000, 
they can put it in their pocket as a reemployment bonus. Congress needs 
to look at this idea, need to act. They've got to understand that as we 
expand the economy, some of our citizens need some focus and some help.
    And one of the things you hear talk about is the deficit, and we've 
got a deficit. We've got a deficit because revenues to the Treasury have 
dropped as a result of recession. And we've got a deficit as well 
because I'm spending the money necessary to win the war. My attitude is, 
when we put our troops in harm's way, they deserve the best. When we've 
got people overseas defending us--[applause]. I also firmly believe that 
as the economy--I know as the economy grows, there's going to be more 
revenue coming into the Treasury. And the tax relief, as I've described 
to you, will help the economy grow.
    The best, surest way to make sure we deal with the deficit is to 
make sure we don't overspend in Washington, is we have a reasonable 
increase in discretionary spending. And I proposed Congress stay within 
a 4-percent increase of discretionary spending. It's about the same 
amount that the average American household budget will increase this 
year. It seems to make sense to me. If it's good enough for American 
families, it ought to be good enough for the appetite of the Congress.
    The good news is they voted for that number, and now we expect them 
to hold the line. And I believe with economic growth and spending 
discipline, we can cut the deficit in half over the next 5 years, and 
that's progress.
    What I hope you come away with is that I believe in the future of 
this Nation, and I believe the economy is strengthening, is going to be 
strong, because I know the character of the American people. In 22

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months--think about this--in 22 months, our Nation has been tested by a 
national emergency, by corporate scandals, by a recession, and by war. 
And time after time, this country has responded effectively to each 
challenge we've faced. Time after time, we have shown firm resolve and 
unshakable faith in our country.
    And the basis of the Jobs and Growth Act, the kind of fundamental 
principle of the Jobs and Growth Act, is that I've got faith in the 
American people, in the strength and the enterprise and the creativity 
of the American people. And I believe with hard work and determination, 
this economy is going to be strong. We're headed in the right direction. 
Better days are ahead for our citizens.
    Listen, thank you for letting me come. May God bless. Thank you all.

Note: The President spoke at 11:14 a.m. at the Treasury Department's 
Philadelphia Financial Management Service regional center. In his 
remarks, he referred to Mike Colarusso, Regional Director, Philadelphia 
Financial Management Service Center; former President Saddam Hussein of 
Iraq; and Uday and Qusay Hussein, sons of former President Hussein, who 
were killed July 22 by U.S. military forces in Mosul, Iraq. The Office 
of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of 
these remarks.