    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book I)]
    [June 1, 2004]
    [Pages 947-955]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the White House National Conference on Faith-Based and
    Community Initiatives
    June 1, 2004

        Thank you all for coming. Thank you all. Please be seated, thanks
    for coming. Thank you so much.
        I want to thank you all for caring about your country enough that
    you are here to inspire others as to how to save lives. Welcome to
    Washington, DC. I want to thank Tonja Myles, the
    director of Set Free Indeed, from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for
    introducing me. Tonja is--when I talk about people involved in saving
    people's lives, I'm speaking about people like Tonja and those on the
    stage with me. You heard their stories. I have too. And on behalf of a
    grateful nation, I thank them and you for serving in the army of
    compassion.
        By feeding the hungry, by healing the addicted, by loving and caring
    for refugees, you represent the true strength, the real strength, the
    genuine strength of the

    [[Page 948]]

    United States of America. And I am grateful for what you do.
        We're here to talk today about the relationship between people of
    faith and Government policy. I believe it is in the national interest
    that Government stand side by side with people of faith who work to
    change lives for the better. I understand in the past, some in
    Government have said Government cannot stand side by side with people of
    faith. Let me put it more bluntly, Government can't spend money on
    religious programs simply because there's a rabbi on the board, cross on
    the wall, or a crescent on the door. I viewed this as not only bad
    social policy--because policy bypassed the great works of compassion and
    healing that take place--I viewed it as discrimination. And we needed to
    change it.
        So we've hosted regional conferences to raise the issue. I try to
    talk about the Faith-Based Initiative a lot. Part of my job is to say to
    the American people, ``Here is a fantastic opportunity to help America
    become what we want it to be, a land of hope and promise and love and
    compassion.''
        And so we're--and we're having regional conferences like this. I'm
    proud to report that we've reached more than 10,000 faith-based and
    community groups with the message that we want your help, that the
    Federal Government now welcomes your work, and do not fear being
    discriminated against by the Government.
        Listen, I fully understand there are people in the faith community
    who have said, ``Why do I want to interface with the Federal
    Government?'' [Laughter] ``Why would I want to interface with a group of
    people that want to try to get me to not practice my faith?'' It's hard
    to be a faith-based program if you can't practice faith, and the message
    to you is, ``We're changing the culture here in America.''
        And we're making progress. We're changing the attitude here in
    Washington, DC. I want to thank the Cabinet Secretaries who are here. It
    should indicate to you that my Cabinet not only has gotten the directive
    from the President that I expect all Cabinets to be open to faith-based
    programs, but it should speak to the character of the people who I've
    called to serve the country. Secretary Ann Veneman, Elaine Chao, Rod Paige, Tony Principi,
    thank you all for coming today. Hector Barreto of the SBA and Andrew Natsios of USAID, thank you all for coming. I see the Justice
    Department is represented by Deputy Attorney General Jim Comey. Thank you all for coming. This is a--HUD is
    represented.
        Listen, what I'm telling you is, is that I told our Government, the
    people in my Government, ``Rather than fear faith programs, welcome
    them. They're changing America. They do a better job than Government can
    do.'' [Applause] Thank you all.
        I know Jim Ryun is here, the Congressman from
    Kansas, and his wife, Anne. Thanks for coming.
    There he is. My advice is don't go jogging with him. [Laughter]
        I have to tell you, I came from a--what we call a roundtable--the
    table happened to be square, but it's one of those Government things--
    [laughter]--where I met with some healers and doers and community
    changers.
        Mark Franken is the executive director of
    Migration and Refugee Services of the U.S. Conference of Catholic
    Bishops--is with us. Wintley Phipps is the
    founder, president, and CEO of the U.S. Dream Academy, from Columbia,
    Maryland. Archbishop Harry Flynn of the
    Archdiocese of Minneapolis; Bishop Don Wuerl, the Bishop of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; my friend from the
    great State of Texas, Tony Evans of the Oak
    Cliff Bible Fellowship. There's a few Texans here, Tony, that know of
    you. Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church,
    Lake Forest, California; Reverend Cheryl Anthony Mobley is the founder and CEO of the Judah International,
    from Brooklyn; and from a local church here,

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    Jim Sprouse, the pastor of Trinity United
    Methodist.
        We talked about what they see, what they hear, the frustrations in
    dealing with the Government. It's part of making sure--this outreach is
    part of making sure that I hear as best I can firsthand from people
    whether or not the strategy is being properly implemented, because I
    understand amongst our prosperity there is suffering still and despair
    in America. And that troubles every American, regardless of their
    political standing or where they're from. Where there is despair, we
    must work to provide hope. Where there is loneliness, we must work to
    provide love.
        There are men and women in our country who doubt, who have serious
    doubts about what we call the American Dream. And that--as the President
    of a country who has heralded the American Dream, that's troubling to
    realize that some citizens simply cannot connect with that notion of
    dreaming about the future. There are--there is loneliness, and you know
    what I'm talking about. There are people who are so addicted to alcohol
    and drugs that their vision is clouded, that they can't see a more
    hopeful tomorrow. These are the types of problems we face.
        As well our great Nation receives tens of thousands of refugees,
    which is good, by the way, that America be a welcoming society. These
    souls flee persecution and need help when they come to our country. Not
    only are there people in our neighborhoods who are addicted and lonely
    and homeless and hungry; there are people who've come from faraway lands
    that need the same concern and care and love that our fellow citizens
    receive.
        We've got teenage mothers in America who feel abandoned and in need.
    There are children in America, whose mom or dad is in prison, wondering
    whether or not there's any hope. In other words, we got problems in this
    society, and those of us who have been given the high honor of holding
    office must utilize every resource, every power we have to help solve
    those problems for the good of the country.
        See, I understand the limitations of government. Governments can
    hand out money. But governments cannot put love in a person's heart or a
    sense of purpose in a person's life. The truth of the matter is that
    comes when a loving citizen puts their arm around a brother and sister
    in need and says, ``I love you, and God loves you, and together we can
    perform miracles.''
        And miracles happen all the time in America. They happen because
    loving souls take time out of their lives to spread compassion and love.
    And lives are changing. Listen, our society is going to change, one
    heart and one soul at a time. It changes from the bottom up, not the top
    down. It changes when the soldiers in the armies of compassion feel
    wanted, encouraged, and empowered. And that's what the Faith-Based and
    Community Initiative is all about. How do we gather up the strength of
    the country, the vibrancy of faith-based programs? The social
    entrepreneurs, how do we encourage them?
        And one way to do so is to hold conferences like these that,
    frankly, give me a chance and a platform to speak to the country and say
    as clearly as I can, ``We welcome the army of compassion. We understand
    the power of faith in America, and the Federal Government will assist--
    not discriminate against you.''
        There is no better way to clarify for our fellow citizens the power
    of faith-based programs than to speak about examples, to hold up stories
    about lives who have been changed, starting with Veronica
    Braewell.
        I just met with Veronica. The folks I
    told you were at the roundtable met with Veronica. Veronica is--was from
    Liberia. She's a refugee. She was telling us what it's like to see the
    violence and horror that took place in that country as rebel groups
    swept through the land, taking lives if they just felt like it. And this
    young lady clearly has got a large heart and deep concern

    [[Page 950]]

    for her fellow citizens. She came, and the Catholic Social Agency in
    Allentown, Pennsylvania--a faith-based group, by the way--took her and
    her family into their collective bosom and loved them. And they helped
    her find jobs and a place to live and clothing and transportation.
        You can imagine what it would be like to be a young girl coming from
    Liberia, having been traumatized by violence, to a strange country.
    Fortunately, her arrival was aided by
    people who said, ``Gosh, what can I do to help change somebody's life
    and to help them?'' She's just completed her training to be a nursing
    assistant. Soon, she'll start work at a senior care facility near her
    home. She said this, ``It's like a second hope again. I believe in
    myself. I am grateful to God.'' Thanks to the Catholic Social Agency in
    Allentown, Pennsylvania, a soul has been lifted.
        Elijah Anyieth is with us. He was born in
    a rural village in Sudan. He fled as a young man when his village was
    bombed, and he just wandered--talked about sleeping on the ground,
    looking for food. Fortunately, the Commonwealth Catholic Charities
    helped rescue him, and he found a home near Richmond, Virginia. With the
    help of the program, he graduated from high school with honors. Last
    month, he finished his first year of college. He's studying to be a
    mechanical engineer. Here's what he said, ``When I imagine my life now
    and how it would have been, I can't find ways to thank them enough.''
    He's talking about the Commonwealth Catholic Charities staff. See, the
    faith-based program helped save this guy's life and helped him have a
    bright future.
        I met Derrill Frazier. He should be up
    here, not me. Needless to say, when his story is--he's a young guy. He's
    never seen his mom or rarely sees his mom, never met his dad, who is in
    prison, serving a lifetime in prison. By the way, his grandmother,
    Constance Morgan, brought him here today.
    It was my honor to meet Constance. You know what she told me? She said,
    ``Mr. President, I pray for you.''
        Derrill joined the U.S. Dream Academy.
    It's a mentorship program funded by the Health and Human Services. See,
    Health and Human Services is now funding a faith-based program that
    encourages mentors, people to interface in the lives of a fellow like
    Derrill who wonders whether there's any hope for him. He plays
    basketball, and he talks about his favorite subject--this is with his
    mentor--U.S. history. I kind of liked U.S. history too. [Laughter]
        Here's what he said: ``I don't sit
    around just watching TV anymore. I like school. If I don't go to school,
    I can't reach my goals--to go to college and become a lawyer.'' See,
    here's a fellow who all of the sudden has got a goal. He's been inspired
    by something government really can't provide, which is a loving person
    to interface with him in a way that helps--changes his life.
        The grant came out of the Federal Government to help fund this
    mentoring program. It is money well spent. The taxpayers of the country
    must understand that we should not focus on the process; we ought to
    focus on the results.
        Let me tell you about this story. It is a success story because of a
    faith-based program. Brad Lassiter--he's the
    youngest of 17 children. He spent most of his childhood without a home.
    His education ended in the fourth grade. Essentially, he was abandoned
    and lived on the street, got addicted to drugs, took a bullet in the
    mouth, actually, at one point in his life, went to prison. And Gospel
    Rescue Ministries gave him a place to live when he came out of prison.
    See, he started reading the Bible in prison. It is a powerful change
    agent when you start reading the Bible in prison. And this guy was lost,
    and now he's found.
        He said this--here's what Brad said. Brad
    said, ``God blessed me. The mission gave me an opportunity to change my
    life spiritually, education-wise, and to build character. They made me
    want to change.''

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    Actually, they were the agents, Brad. They were just the messenger. When
    he finished his recovery--I want you to hear the story--this is a guy
    abandoned on the streets, drug addict, couldn't read beyond the third
    grade. He now has a job at the World Bank, and he's going to college to
    study computer science.
        America changes one heart at a time, one soul at a time, and while
    our fellow citizens can't do everything, they can do something to help
    change America one soul at a time. That's the philosophy behind the
    faith-based groups. It is the Government's strong desire to empower this
    fabric, this social fabric of our society where faith-based programs
    large and small feel empowered, encouraged, and welcomed into changing
    lives.
        Look, I fully understand it's important to maintain the separation
    of church and state. We don't want the state to become the church, nor
    do we want the church to become the state. We're on common agreement
    there. But I do believe that groups should be allowed to access social
    service grants so long as they don't proselytize or exclude somebody
    simply because they don't share a certain faith. In other words, there's
    a way to accomplish the separation of church and state and, at the same
    time, accomplish the social objective of having America become a hopeful
    place and a loving place. And so I want to--so the question this
    administration is starting to ask or is asking is, ``Are you getting the
    results?'' That's all we care about. Are you meeting the standards of
    church and state, and are you getting results? And if so, if you say,
    ``Yes,'' the Federal Government, rather than being fearful of you, ought
    to say, ``Thank you. Thank you for doing your mission to change the
    United States of America.''
        So I wanted to make sure that the faith-based groups simply got
    equal access and equal treatment when it came to the billions of dollars
    we spend at the Federal level. That was the first step toward making
    sure the Faith-Based Initiative was strong and vibrant.
        And of course, it got stuck in the Congress. [Laughter] It's a
    process debate that takes places up on Capitol Hill rather than a
    results-oriented debate. If you're a results-oriented debater, you say,
    ``All I care about is making sure that the addict receives help. And if
    it takes changing a person's heart to change addiction, we ought to
    welcome the power that changes a person's heart in our society.''
        So I got frustrated and signed an Executive order. [Laughter] And it
    said that--it directed the Federal agencies, which are run by some of
    the folks here, that we will reverse regulations that discriminate
    against faith-based organizations. There were regulations on the books
    that made it nearly impossible for people of faith--all faiths, by the
    way. When you hear me talk about faith, I'm talking about all faiths,
    whether it be the Jewish faith or the Christian faith or the Muslim
    faith or the Hindu faith. All faiths have got the power to transform
    lives.
        In other words, they made it easier for people of all faith to
    access the billions--we spend billions of dollars here in Washington,
    DC. And those billions ought to be open for grantmaking. In other words,
    if you're able to show that you're successful at meeting social
    objectives, then you ought to be allowed to access the money. That's my
    attitude.
        And so we're making progress. I'm here to give you a progress
    report. They spent $1.1 billion on grants to faith-based groups. It's
    kind of hard to fully account for it. I would call that an estimate;
    $1.1 billion, it's an increase of 15 percent over 2002. That's good
    progress. However, there's a lot more money available. That's what I
    hope the conference explains to you, that there is money throughout our
    Government available for faith-based programs. And the idea is to teach
    you how to access that money, how to make sure the grantmaking process
    is understandable, and how to make

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    sure that people in your communities do not fear the bureaucracy
    interfering in your mission, which is a vital part of having a strong,
    vibrant, Faith-Based Initiative.
        The other thing that's important is I wanted to make sure that as
    we--as people access Federal money, that it not go to the same programs
    over and over and over again. In other words, part of what we're trying
    to do is spur entrepreneurship, is to provide money for new programs to
    flourish and bloom. Remember, a faith-based program can be a mega-
    church--and by the way, there's some fantastic churches in our country
    who spread faith throughout their ministry--or it can be a five-person
    staff. What we're interested in is the ability for programs to change
    lives. That's what we're interested in.
        I was talking to Tony Evans. Tony and
    I--he's come up with a fantastic idea, by the way, to encourage more
    leverage in the faith community: Inner-city churches need to work with
    suburban churches and become the conduit for monies going into the inner
    city. The reason why is, is that the inner-city church is what we call
    at the grassroots. They understand the programs that work and the
    programs that don't work. Evans also assures me that as of being--as a
    result of being a successful church, in the sense that it's got a lot of
    building, a lot of members, and a pretty good-sized budget--by the way,
    he started with a--in a house; he started small and grew big--that he is
    willing to help young churches and faith-based programs in inner-city
    Dallas, Texas, as to how to accomplish the mission, how to grow from
    little to big, how to grow from wanting to be vibrant to successful. And
    that's what the Faith-Based Initiative is meant to do. It's meant to
    allow for access of Federal money but at the same time spawn the
    entrepreneurial spirit, what I call social entrepreneurs, and encourage
    their growth.
        The Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded $113 million
    in grants to first-time faith-based recipients. So in other words, what
    I'm telling you is, it's one thing to make sure that the grant process
    is open. It's another thing to make sure that as we--as money goes out
    the door, that it does so not only to achieve results but to encourage
    the development and expansion of faith-based programs throughout the
    country. There's a lot to do. Don't get me wrong. One of the great
    things about these meetings is we get feedback to improve the regulatory
    process. Look, I fully concede there's a lot of regulations in
    Washington. [Laughter] And we can always work to further reduce the
    impact of regulation, and we expect feedback from people who are
    frustrated and/or happy with the process you see.
        The Departments of Labor, Agriculture, Health and Human Services
    have issued new regulations. In other words, we're constantly fine-
    tuning regulations to enforce the principle of equal treatment
    throughout their agencies. Education and Veteran Affairs have now
    completed theirs. And so one of the things that we've got to constantly
    work here on Washington is to make sure we take your feedback and change
    practice, obviously within the law, so that we can better hear the
    voices of those who are changing our country.
        USAID--many of you who have got operations overseas have interfaced
    with USAID. I appreciate Andrew Natsios
    changing--proposing regulations to end the discrimination against faith-
    based groups receiving foreign grants.
        So to make sure all this is coordinated, I picked Jim Towey. Where are you, Towey? There he is. Yes,
    he's over in the corner. See, he--Towey was Mother Teresa's lawyer.
    [Laughter] Now that is a litigious society if Mother Teresa needs a
    lawyer. [Laughter] Anyway, he's a good one.
        So he has an office in the
    White House. I see Towey a lot because this is an initiative that is
    important for America and the future. Jim's job has been to set up these
    meetings to listen to people out in the field, to answer questions. His
    job is to answer

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    my questions, like how much money has gone out the door? It's one thing
    to have a Faith-Based Initiative, but if nobody is getting any grants,
    it's just paper. I'm not interested in paper. I'm not--I'm here--I'm not
    here--I'm here to try to make a change for the better. I'm interested in
    results. Towey has heard me say it a lot. ``Are we succeeding? And if
    not, what is causing us--what is frustrating--where are the bottlenecks
    to success? Where are the problems?'' He's constantly asking those
    questions.
        That's why we set up faith-based offices in the Cabinet--in our
    Cabinet agencies. See, I want somebody responsible so when they report
    to the Secretary and I get on the Secretary, the Secretary can take it
    back down the chain of command and say, ``Why are we frustrating people
    here? How come we haven't done a better job?'' They're constantly asking
    the questions of their faith-based offices to make sure that the mission
    is accomplished.
        Now, look, one of the--part of the feedback we've gotten is that
    there's a bottleneck at the State and local governments. Some of the
    money--[applause]--yes, see what I mean? [Laughter] Some of the money is
    block-granted to States. And therefore, if there's not a Governor who
    has a faith-based office who understands the vast potential of changing
    their State, you'll be frustrated. I know that. So part of our mission
    is to work with you to help change the attitude at the State level. We
    got our hands full here, by the way, too. Don't get me wrong. [Laughter]
    There's a bureaucratic mindset that we're working to change in
    Washington, but we also want to help you with the Governors and mayors.
        There are--there's 20 Governors and over 100 mayors who have faith-
    based offices. I think when people realize that more money is now
    available to the faith communities, they'll change their attitude about
    whether or not to be accommodating to faith-based programs. I think
    they'll change their attitude. They should change their attitude because
    if they dig into their societies, get in the cities, and find out the
    lives that are being changed and realize their communities are better
    for it, they will say, ``Give me the results.'' They'll say, ``I'm a
    better mayor or Governor because lives are changing, not because of me
    but because of the faith community that's changing America one heart at
    a time.''
        I have called upon Congress. Not only do we want to make sure that
    the monies being spent now are accessible to the faith community but we
    want to make sure that--I've called upon for some specific programs to
    help the faith community. One is called Access to Recovery. It is a $100
    million initiative to help the addict--is what it is. It's an
    interesting approach to funding social programs. In this case, we
    actually fund the addict. In other words, the money goes to the addict,
    and the addict gets to choose the program that is best for her or him.
    It's a change in attitude. Generally, we kind of tend to fund the
    program, oftentimes not asking whether they're effective or not. This
    time we're sending the money to the addict so that the addict can make
    the decision that meets his or her needs. I will tell you, the
    cornerstone of any good recovery program is the understanding there is a
    Higher Being to which--to whom you can turn your life and therefore save
    your life. It is the crux of many, many a successful addiction program.
    It--and our Government ought to understand that. Congress needs to
    provide ample money for the Access to Recovery initiative to help
    addicts change their lives by saving their lives.
        I am deeply concerned about a society in which many boys and girls
    need love. They need--and I mentioned to you my concern about a child
    whose mom or dad is in prison. It's got to be incredibly lonely to have
    your mom or dad in prison, wondering whether or not--she's wondering
    whether there's any hope, you know?
        And there is hope, particularly when that child feels love. And so
    I've asked Congress

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    to provide money for mentoring programs, particularly for a child who--
    whose mom or dad is in prison. And many of those mentoring programs come
    right out of inner-city churches and suburban churches. Listen, some of
    the best mentoring programs in America happen out of our churches and
    synagogues and mosques. And we ought not to be afraid of funding of
    those programs.
        After all, if you exist because you've heard the universal call to
    love a neighbor like you'd like to be loved yourself, if that is the
    creed, the cornerstone, then surely out of that organization will come
    people who are willing to do so. And part of loving your neighbor like
    you'd like to be loved yourself is mentoring a child and saying, ``You
    may be lonely, but I love you,'' and ``What can I do to help lift your
    spirit?'' So I put in funding requests for programs such as this.
        Six hundred thousand--more than 600,000 inmates will be released
    from prison this year. Those are a lot of souls that need help coming
    into our society. I can't think of a better place for a prisoner to go--
    is to a church or a synagogue or a mosque and say, ``I need help. I have
    just come out of incarceration, and can you help me with my life and the
    future? Can you provide guidance for me?'' And so we've got a $300
    million initiative I put before Congress to help with these prison
    reentry programs, all of which will give our faith community a chance to
    heal the broken heart.
        One of the things--I'll never forget this--when I was the Governor
    of Texas, one of the early initiatives in my governorship, one of the
    faith-based initiatives, was to turn over a part of the prison unit to a
    faith program, Chuck Colson's program. He
    convinced me that this would be a great opportunity to change lives. And
    it would be better than stamping license plates. And so we put a
    voluntary program in the prison unit in Fort Bend County, Texas--the
    Sugarland, Texas, area. And I went over to see the program, and sure
    enough, I was talking about it on the microphones and out comes the
    prison choir. Now, this wasn't exactly a really large choir. It was
    probably 10 people. And I got in the mood and starting singing ``Amazing
    Grace'' with the Sugarland Prison choir, from this unit that was a
    faith-based unit. And I'm rocking back and forth with a guy, and on the front page of the Houston Chronicle is a
    picture--[laughter]--is a picture of me and a guy who has been in prison
    for 19 years for murder. [Laughter] The other day, we have a meeting in
    the White House, in the Roosevelt Room, and sure enough, sitting next to
    me is the guy who I rocked with who is now--[laughter]--whose life was
    changed and saved because of faith.
        I'm telling America we need to not discriminate against faith-based
    programs. We need to welcome them so our society is more wholesome, more
    welcoming, and more hopeful for every single citizen.
        I want to thank you all for coming. Thank you all. One last word: I
    want to thank you for coming. It warms my heart to know that I am the
    President of a country full of so many decent, caring people. The
    strength of this country is not our military or the size of our wallets.
    The strength of this country is the hearts and souls of the American
    people. That is the thing, in my judgment, that makes this country
    unique and different and strong. My job as the President of the United
    States is understand that and, as best as I humanly can, to elevate the
    spirit of the country, to call upon people to follow their hearts, to
    say to the Federal Government, ``Stand beside these soldiers, not
    against them. Be a wind at their back, not at their face, so that
    America can reach its full potential, so every citizen, regardless of
    race, creed, background, can have a chance to realize the full promise,
    the full extended promise of the greatest country on the face of this
    Earth.''

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        May God bless you and your works, and may God continue to bless the
    United States of America. Thank you all.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:22 a.m. at the Washington Hilton and
    Towers. In his remarks, he referred to Charles W. Colson, founder,
    Prison Fellowship Ministries. The related Executive order of June 1 on
    responsibilities of the Departments of Commerce and Veterans Affairs and
    the Small Business Administration with respect to faith-based and
    community initiatives is listed in Appendix D at the end of this volume.