    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book I)]
    [March 15, 2004]
    [Pages 387-392]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks in a Discussion on Homeownership in Ardmore, Pennsylvania
    March 15, 2004

        The President. Thanks for the warm welcome. Thanks for coming today.
    You're probably wondering what we're doing here. I'll tell you what
    we're going to do. We're going to talk about one of the most exciting
    things that can happen to a person, and that is the purchase of a home.
    That's what we're here to discuss, homeownership and how best to help
    people buy a home and what is it like to be someone who wonders about
    homeownership and the struggles of trying to figure out all the fine
    print and how to get something done. That's what we're really here to
    talk about.
        But before we do, I want to thank Mary Frances Reilly of the YMCA for her--[applause]. Mary Frances told me
    she was a runner. I told her I used to be a runner. [Laughter] Turns
    out, when you get older it's kind of hard to run a lot, isn't it, Mary
    Frances? But thank you for your hospitality. I'm so grateful you're
    here.
        I want to thank my friend Alphonso Jackson, who is the Acting Secretary of Housing and Urban
    Development. That means he's waiting for Senate confirmation, which I'm
    confident the Senate will do soon. Where are you, Alphonso? There he is.
    Thanks for coming. I'm glad you're here.
        Alphonso and I have set a job: We
    want to close the minority homeownership gap in America; we want more
    people owning their own home; and we want more of our minorities owning
    their own home as well. We think it's in the best interests of the
    country that more people own something. When you own something you call
    your own, you have a vital stake in the future of our Nation. So we've
    set this goal, and we'll talk about some ways how to achieve this goal.
    But Alphonso is the right man for the job. He's run housing authorities
    before. He knows what he's doing. The Senate needs to get him in there
    pretty quick.
        Speaking about Senators, I'm honored that Senator Arlen
    Specter is with me today. Arlen, thank you for
    coming. I consider Arlen Specter an ally and a friend. Oh, he doesn't do
    everything you ask him

    [[Page 388]]

    to do all the time, but when you need him, he's there. He's an
    independent voice for the great State of Pennsylvania, and he's doing a
    fine job as a United States Senator. I appreciate you coming.
        Jim Gerlach is with us as well--Jim, thanks
    for coming; I'm proud you're here--as is Congressman Jim
    Greenwood. Jim, thanks for coming. It's
    good to see both of the Congressmen. Thanks for taking your time out.
        I see that Chairman Jim Matthews is
    with us. Chairman, I'm glad you're here. He is the smart brother.
    [Laughter] Well, it's an inside joke. I appreciate other county
    commissioners being here, Commissioner Ellis, and State and local officials, and thank you all for
    coming.
        Before we begin a little talk about the economy and homeownership, I
    do want to make mention of a fellow named Robert Bright. Robert, where are you? There he is. Thank you for coming,
    Robert. You don't know Robert. I didn't know him until I landed at the
    airport. He is a mentor. He is what I call a soldier in the army of
    compassion. You know, a lot of times we talk about the strength of our
    country being our military--and that is part of the strength of the
    country, and we intend to keep the military strong--or the fact that
    we're a wealthy nation, and that's important. But the true strength of
    the country is the heart and souls of our citizens. It's really the true
    strength of America, the fact that there are people who are willing to
    take time out of their life to volunteer, to save a life, or to make
    sure a child has got a better future.
        Robert has been a mentor at Big
    Brothers and Big Sisters. He knows what I know, that you can change our
    country one heart and one soul at a time; that Government is not a
    loving organization, it's an organization of law and justice, but love
    emanates in our hearts. And the reason I've asked Robert to come to
    introduce him is because I encourage anybody who wants to serve their
    country to do--to mentor a child or to be involved with the YMCA or to
    get involved with the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, to make a difference
    by taking time out of your life to help heal a soul that hurts. Robert,
    thanks for the example you've set, and thanks for coming today.
        I hope you can tell that I'm an optimistic fellow, because--and one
    reason why is because I've seen what this country has been through. We
    went through a recession and a stock market decline. We went through an
    attack. We got attacked by a bunch of coldblooded killers, and the
    attack hurt. It hurt our psyche because we thought oceans could protect
    us. It hurt, the fact that we lost a million jobs after September the
    11th, but we're a strong nation, and we're a resilient nation. We began
    to recover.
        And then we discovered another thing that was harmful to economic
    growth and vitality and confidence, and that is we had some people who
    didn't tell the truth that were running corporations in America. We had
    some CEOs that weren't honest with their shareholders and their
    employees. And we passed tough laws that said, ``We're not going to
    tolerate dishonesty in the boardrooms of America.'' You're now beginning
    to see on your TV screens what we're talking about. People are being
    held to account. And that hurt our economy.
        And then, as you know, I made a very difficult decision, but the
    right decision, to secure our country by holding Saddam Hussein to account. But nevertheless, we had the--if you
    remember, we had on our TV screens the phrase ``March to War.'' Any time
    a nation is marching to war, it's not conducive for confident thinking.
    Nobody wants to march to war. It's a negative thought. Now we're
    marching to peace, by the way. We're on our way to--[applause].
        But it was tough times, and yet we're growing. The economy is strong
    and getting stronger. The manufacturing report today was very positive,
    another indication of the economy strengthening. Unemployment is
    dropping here in the State of Pennsylvania. There are still people
    looking for work,

    [[Page 389]]

    make no mistake about it, but it's getting better. Interest rates are
    low, which is important if you're a first-time homebuyer. Inflation is
    down, which is important. We're going to keep working on jobs. One thing
    we're not going to do is get ourselves isolated from the world. I will
    fight off economic isolationism, which would be bad for job creation
    here in the State of Pennsylvania.
        But we've overcome a lot, and that's why I'm optimistic. We've
    overcome a lot because we've got people who refuse to be intimidated by
    terrorists. We've overcome a lot because of a tax policy that left
    money--more money in the hands of the people that earned it. And when
    you've got more money in your pocket, you go out and demand an
    additional good or a service. And when somebody demands a good or a
    service, in our economy, somebody produces the good or a service. And
    when somebody makes that good or a service, it means somebody is likely
    to keep a job or find work.
        The tax policies we passed made a lot of sense, and there's more to
    do. The first thing that Congress needs to do is not take that tax
    relief away from the people and not raise the taxes on the people. I
    don't know if you followed this debate that we're having up there in the
    Nation's Capital right now--or down there in the Nation's Capital; I'm
    used to saying up there in the Nation's Capital. If Congress doesn't
    act, the child credit is going to go down, which is raising taxes on the
    people with children. If the Congress doesn't act, the marriage penalty
    is going up. By the way, it doesn't make any sense to penalize marriage
    in the Tax Code. We ought to be encouraging marriage, not penalizing
    marriage in our Tax Code. If the Congress doesn't act, they're going to
    be raising the taxes on people who work, and it makes no sense.
        There's other things we need to do as well. We need to worry about
    the cost of health care. Small businesses need to be able to pool
    their--be able to pool risk with association health care plans, so their
    employees can have more affordable health care. We need to expand health
    savings accounts. We need medical liability reform in Washington, DC. We
    need an energy bill. It's hard to be a manufacturer in the State of
    Pennsylvania if you're worried about where your next energy is coming
    from. And we need a bill.
        There's a lot of things we need to do in Washington to make sure
    that this economy continues to grow and people can find work. And one of
    the things we need to do is to continue with good housing policy, and
    that's what we're here to talk about today. Homeownership in America is
    at the highest rate ever. It's a fantastic statement to say that, isn't
    it? Homeownership is at the highest rate ever. That means there's more
    people ever in our history are able to say, ``I own something. I own my
    own home.''
        I went to Pearl's home, and it was pretty
    special--really special, wasn't it? She said, ``This is my home.'' When
    I walked up the stairs, she didn't say this is anybody else's home but
    her home. She said, ``Would you come into my home, please. Would you
    come in and meet my four children in our home.'' And it was a fantastic
    experience to come to a first-time homeowners's home and visit with her
    family. It made me feel good. It made her feel nervous. She hadn't seen
    that many automobiles on her street. [Laughter]
        But she was great, and it was wonderful to
    see. We're going to talk to Pearl in a minute about how she made the
    decision to buy a home. See, if somebody is listening to this program, I
    want you to listen to Pearl's story. Probably in her mind, she never was
    going to ever own a home until something happened. There are some things
    we can do in Government policy to help people own a home.
        One of the things we can do is to help people with the downpayment.
    A lot of people say, ``I want to own a home,'' and then they get looking
    at the downpayment,

    [[Page 390]]

    and they realize they can't even get beyond the downpayment phase. And
    so we passed a good law out of the United States Congress to help people
    with their downpayments. That money will start to be disbursed soon,
    with a program such as Genesis, to help people with the downpayment.
        The other thing we can do--and you're going to hear some stories
    today about how these housing counselors help people get beyond the fear
    of signing a contract full of small print. I mean, if you've never owned
    a home and you're looking at these contracts, it's a little
    intimidating. If you think that the President coming to your house is
    intimidating, wait until you look at one of those contracts. Isn't that
    right? And so we're going to talk about a program that we've instituted
    through HUD that helps with educating people. And Nikki is going to talk to us about that in a second.
        I believe Congress ought to pass tax credits to encourage
    homebuilding, affordable homes in areas that need affordable homes.
    We've set a grand goal. We want to close the minority homeownership gap,
    and there are three practical ways to encourage the construction of a
    home and to help homebuyers buy a home.
        I readily concede there's nothing like low interest rates to
    stimulate homeownership. And so I suggest that people listening out
    there, if you're interested in buying a home, take advantage of the low
    rates. Take advantage of those low rates. Lock in good, low mortgages to
    make your future so bright.
        Nikki Holcroft is with us today. Nikki,
    tell us what you do. Thank you for coming. Nikki is a sweet soul who
    cares deeply about the people she's helping.

    [At this point, Nikki Holcroft, housing counselor, Genesis Housing
    Corp., Norristown, PA, made brief remarks.]

        The President. You might have more than one customer out there, you
    know? [Laughter]
        One of the things, as I said, we emphasize is counseling services.
    It sounds like kind of a simple thing, but it's a profound opportunity
    for help. And you'll hear from Pearl. Are you
    about ready? [Laughter]
        Pearl Cerdan. Yes, sir.
        The President. How many kids have you got?
        Ms. Cerdan. I have six, but four of them
    are with me.
        The President. Yes, I met them all. How many cats?
        Ms. Cerdan. One.
        The President. I met it. [Laughter] When did you start thinking
    about buying a home?
        Ms. Cerdan. Well, like Nikki said, I had--
    about 3\1/2\ years ago, I had started. I was thinking then, but it was
    only a thought. And then I came back----
        The President. Was it a dream or a thought?
        Ms. Cerdan. Well, at first it was a
    thought, but then it became a dream.
        The President. I got you.
        Ms. Cerdan. Did I say that right?
    [Laughter]
        The President. It's your dream. It's not ours. [Laughter] You're
    doing great.

    [Ms. Cerdan, Genesis housing counseling client and first-time homebuyer,
    Ardmore, PA, made further remarks.]

        The President. Now, Judy is the cofounder
    of Genesis. Is that an accurate statement?
        Judith Memberg. Yes, it is.
        The President. She's a social entrepreneur.
        Ms. Memberg. I've never been called that,
    but okay. [Laughter]
        The President. It's a plus.
        Ms. Memberg. Sounds good. [Laughter]
        The President. Why don't you tell us how you got the idea and talk
    about Genesis right quick.

    [Ms. Memberg, executive director, Genesis Housing Corp., made brief
    remarks.]

    [[Page 391]]

        The President. Right. It's interesting, this Ardmore project was on
    an abandoned filling station.
        Ms. Memberg. Yes, it was.
        The President. And you got brownfield money.
        Ms. Memberg. Yes, there were some
    environmental problems with gasoline in the soil that had to be cleaned
    up. And there was some funding that made that available, because anytime
    you get into environmental problems, it gets very expensive.
        The President. Right. And so when did you see the house you're going
    to buy?
        Ms. Cerdan. When did I see it?
        The President. Yes, first see it.
        Ms. Cerdan. The first time I'd seen it was,
    I think, like July.
        The President. Really?
        Ms. Cerdan. Yes, sir.
        The President. And you bought it in----
        Ms. Cerdan. December the 16th of 2003.
        The President. Fantastic--homeowner.
        Penny is with us. Penny, you're in the
    process of buying a home. Is that accurate?
        Penny Wolk. That's accurate, Mr. President.
    [Laughter]
        The President. All right, let her go.
    [Laughter] Tell us about yourself, please, ma'am.

    [Ms. Wolk, prospective homebuyer, Norristown, PA, made brief remarks.]

        The President. And so where are we in the process? Judy, maybe you can give us a hand here?
        Ms. Memberg. Penny is going to be one of
    the buyers in the second phase of the project, and there's four more
    houses are going to be built, and she should be signing an agreement of
    sale in about 2 weeks.
        The President. Good. Explain what it's like to be somebody who wants
    to buy a home, and you're kind of lost, I guess, in the process, is
    maybe a good way to say it. What does Genesis do? How do they--if
    somebody is listening out there that probably is in your position----
        Ms. Holcroft. What does Genesis do?
        The President. Yes, how do you find out how to----

    [Ms. Holcroft made further remarks.]

        The President. You can't live in a home unless you've got somebody
    who is willing to build them. And Scott Cannon
    is a homebuilder. He's the president of Cannon Custom Homes.
        Scott Cannon. Thank you, Mr. President.
        The President. Did you bring your family with you--I can see.
    [Laughter]
        Mr. Cannon. I've got the family here.
        The President. Tell us about your business. Tell us about what it's
    like to be a homebuilder in the Philadelphia area.

    [Mr. Cannon made brief remarks.]

        The President. One of the things we were talking about backstage was
    the--about how if there is a local forum, that ought to be good enough
    for the Federal Government, I guess is the country-boy way of
    summarizing what we're talking about. And that's beginning to happen.
        Mr. Cannon. I haven't seen it yet.
        The President. Well, it should be happening. I mean, it's supposed
    to be happening soon, is what I understand. [Laughter]
        Mr. Cannon. To a theater near you.
    [Laughter]
        The President. That's right. How about tort reform? You could use a
    little tort reform, couldn't you?
        Mr. Cannon. Well, we could use tort reform,
    sure--the class-action lawsuits and things like that that we truly do
    fear, of course. But again, that's just a cost that we pass on to Pearl
    and Penny. It's not something that--really you're not coming after me. I
    just have to pay more for insurance, and I pass it on to the homebuyer.
        The President. No, that's exactly right. Are you building any homes
    these days?
        Mr. Cannon. Yes, we're building a few.
    We've had a challenge the last year or so with the weather, but things
    are going good.

    [[Page 392]]

        The President. Well, I might be able to do something with the
    bureaucracy, but--[laughter].
        Mr. Cannon. That would be enough.
    [Laughter] We'll deal with the weather.
        The President. Judy, you got anything
    else you want to share with anybody who might be listening out there
    about buying a home?
        Ms. Memberg. I think the thing that's
    really important is that with housing counseling, anyone can put
    together a plan on how they can become a homebuyer. Some people, it's a
    very short process; some people are very familiar with being homeowners
    or their family has been homeowners. But a lot of people who, if their
    parents aren't homeowners, really don't know where to start. And a good
    housing counseling agency can really guide you through that process.
        The President. Right. And I presume there's a lot of housing
    counseling agencies around the area?
        Ms. Memberg. There are a few. There are
    many in Philadelphia. There are a few in Montgomery County. But there's
    a lot of good counselors out there to find one that matches up with your
    need.
        The President. Good. Well, listen, if somebody's listening, I hope,
    and are interested in buying a home, there's opportunity here in this
    part of the world. You've heard two ladies say that they've been able to
    overcome the fears of homeownership and kind of the mental blocks
    associated with homeownership, because they were able to receive
    counseling. And the counseling is available. We want more people owning
    their home. That's what we want. We want you to feel comfortable about
    coming--thinking about buying your own home so that when somebody knocks
    on your door, you open that door and say, ``Welcome to my home,'' just
    like this good lady did to me today.
        Listen, thank you all for coming. It's been a joy to be here. I want
    to thank you for your stories. May God bless you all.

    Note: The President spoke at 2:57 p.m. in the gymnasium at the Main Line
    YMCA. In his remarks, he referred to Mary Frances Reilly, executive
    director, Main Line YMCA; James R. Matthews, chairman, and Thomas Jay
    Ellis, commissioner, Montgomery County Commission, Montgomery County,
    PA; and former President Saddam Hussein of Iraq. The Office of the Press
    Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of these remarks.