    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book I)]
    [April 5, 2004]
    [Pages 514-525]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Job Training and the National Economy in Charlotte, North
    Carolina
    April 5, 2004

        Thanks a lot for the warm welcome. I tried to visit last February.
    [Laughter] That's when your fine mayor
    and Police Chief Stephens told me that they
    didn't think the Presidential motorcade would be an ideal way to plow
    the streets. [Laughter] The weather is beautiful today. Thanks for the
    warm welcome. It is great to be here in the great State of North
    Carolina in such a vibrant part of your State, the great city of
    Charlotte.
        I'm here to talk about an important subject, which is our economy
    and how we make sure people are properly trained for the jobs of the
    21st century. It's an important stop on my way to throwing out that
    first pitch for the St. Louis Cardinals. I've been loosening up over the
    weekend. [Laughter] My wing isn't what it used to be. But opening day of
    baseball season is a pretty special day for a guy like me who loves the
    game. I'm looking forward to getting there with the good folks of St.
    Louis.
        But I'm particularly interested in coming here to Central Piedmont
    Community College, for this reason: This place of higher learning is
    doing a fabulous job of helping men and women seek new opportunities.
    This is such a hopeful campus. It's a place where the future is brighter
    for people who come here. And I want to thank you for the hospitality. I
    want to thank the faculty for their dedication. I want to thank the
    staff for putting up with me and the entourage.
        I met with some business leaders earlier who were touting the
    virtues of Piedmont Community College's ability to use their ideas and
    incorporate their ideas into curriculum so that the training programs
    train people for jobs which actually exist. And that's an important part
    of making sure our economy, which is in the strongest in the world
    today, remains the strongest in the world.
        I want to thank Tony. He is an
    innovative leader. He was right, Mother is
    still the boss of the family--[laughter]--except Laura is the boss of my family. [Laughter] By the way, I
    don't know if you know this, but Tony married a school librarian.
    Beth is a school librarian. We both married above
    ourselves. [Laughter]
        I appreciate so very much Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, who's traveling with me today. She's a very capable
    member of my Cabinet. Her job is to make sure that the training programs
    in place enable people at the local level to succeed. That's what I'm
    going to talk about a little bit today, about how to make sure that the
    monies we're spending actually fulfill their mission.
        I appreciate so very much two Members from the United States
    Congress who have joined us. First, Congressman Richard Burr from North Carolina is with us--Richard. Richard is a
    good friend of mine. I appreciate him coming today. I also appreciate
    the Congressman from this district; Congressman Robin Hayes is with us as well. We came down on Air Force One; we
    spent more time talking about fishing and hunting than we did anything
    else. [Laughter] Those were the good old days.

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        I appreciate my friend Mayor Pat McCrory, who's with us, the mayor of this great city. He's done
    such a fine job for Charlotte. Thank you for coming, Mayor.
        I thank all the students who are here. I hope after this speech you
    leave with a hopeful--a sense of hope about the future of this country.
    I mean, you have--you're entering into an economy that is just so
    fantastic and exciting. And I just wish you all the best as you realize
    your dreams.
        I met Laura Spencer today when I landed at
    the airport there. Where are you, Laura? There she is. Laura, thanks for
    coming. Laura--you probably have never heard of her before, but she is
    soldier in the army of compassion. She's a person who volunteers here at
    Central Piedmont in the Adult Basic Literacy Education program. She's a
    person who takes time out of her life to try to help somebody else. The
    reason I herald people like Laura is because the true strength of the
    country lies in the hearts and souls of our citizens. We're strong
    because we're militarily strong, and I'll keep it that way. We're strong
    because we're wealthy. But we're really strong because we've got people
    from all walks of life who are willing to love a neighbor just like
    they'd like to be loved themselves. If you want to serve your community
    and your Nation, find somebody to help. Mentor a child. Care for
    somebody who's lonely. Feed the hungry. Find shelter for the homeless,
    and you'll be doing a vital service to the future of our country. Laura,
    I'm proud of you. Thank you for the example, and thank you for what you
    do.
        America's economy is getting stronger. I am optimistic about our
    future, not only because of what I see today but because of what I know
    we have overcome. Let me just review right quick the economic history of
    the last couple of years. First, when I came to office, the country was
    headed into a recession. That means we were going backwards. That means
    it's hard to find work if you're somebody who is looking for work. It
    means it's hard to make payroll if you're a small-business owner. It is
    a negative period. Fortunately, we cut taxes, which made this recession
    the shallowest--one of the shallowest in American economic history.
        As we were beginning to recover from the recession, the enemy hit
    us. September the 11th, 2001, marked a new day in American history. It
    was a sad day. It was a different--we entered a different period on that
    day. It's a day in which we realized oceans could no longer protect us
    from enemies which hate what we stand for. These coldblooded killers
    came and attacked us because they hate freedom. They can't stand the
    things that we love here in America. And it hurt us. It hurt us
    economically. Our economy lost nearly one million jobs in the 3 months
    after we were attacked.
        It changed how we must view foreign policy. Before the attack, we
    could see a threat that might be emerging overseas, and we could pick
    and choose whether or not we wanted to deal with it or not. Now when we
    see threats, we recognize that those emerging threats must be dealt with
    in order to protect ourselves. It changed the attitude of those of us
    involved with the most solemn duty of protecting the American people. On
    that day, I vowed that I would bring to justice those who inflicted harm
    on America.
        We're on the offensive. We will stay on the offensive until this
    scourge to civilization is removed. It is important to stay on the
    offensive, using all our resources to bring these people to justice,
    because Al Qaida is wounded but not broken. They're still dangerous. We
    take them seriously, because I'm convinced they'd still like to inflict
    harm on America or Americans.
        It's also that day--right after that day, I announced a doctrine
    that said, ``If you harbor a terrorist or feed a terrorist, you're just
    as guilty as the terrorist.'' It's very important for the American
    President to speak clearly and mean what he says. I meant what I said.
    The Taliban found out that

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    I mean what I say. Afghanistan is now free of one of the most barbaric
    regimes in the history of mankind, and Al Qaida no longer has a safe
    haven in Afghanistan.
        America refused to be intimidated by killers. And so we began to
    recover, and then we had another challenge we had to overcome. We
    discovered that some of our corporate citizens behaved irresponsibly.
    They didn't tell the truth to their shareholders or their employees.
    That shook our confidence. I worked with Congress, Members of both
    parties, to pass tough new law. And the message is now clear: We will
    not tolerate dishonesty in the boardrooms of America. It was a challenge
    we overcame.
        As I mentioned, September the 11th, 2001, taught a lesson that said
    when we see a threat, that the country must take threats seriously
    before they fully materialize. That was one of the changes that was
    necessary in order to protect this country. I looked at the information
    on Iraq and--the intelligence--and saw a threat. The United States
    Congress looked at the same intelligence, and it saw a threat. My
    predecessor and the previous Congress looked at the same intelligence
    and made regime change in Iraq the policy of our Government. In other
    words, it saw a threat as well. The United Nations Security Council
    looked at the intelligence, and it saw a threat.
        And so I had a choice to make after Saddam Hussein refused once again to disarm. That was, I went to the
    United Nations Security Council; I said, ``We all see a threat. Let's do
    something about it, finally.'' And they agreed. They passed a resolution
    unanimously that said, ``Disarm. Get rid of your weapons programs, or
    face serious consequences.'' That was the message that the members of
    the United Nations Security Council said, loud and clear.
        Saddam Hussein once again defied the
    demands of the world. And so I had a choice: Do I take the word of a
    madman, do I trust a person who had used weapons of mass destruction on
    his own people, plus people in the neighborhood, or do I take the steps
    necessary to defend the country? Given that choice, I will defend
    America every time. [Applause] Thank you.
        We're still being challenged in Iraq, and the reason why is, a free
    Iraq will be a major defeat in the cause of terror. Terrorists can't
    stand freedom. They hate free societies. And yet, we know that free
    societies will be peaceful societies. We also believe that freedom is
    the Almighty's gift to every person in this world. It's one of the
    values that we hold dear. These killers don't have values. They want to
    shake our will, so we've got tough action in Iraq.
        But we will stay the course. We will do what is right. We will make
    sure that a free Iraq emerges, not only for our own security but for the
    sake of free peoples everywhere. A free Iraq will change the Middle
    East. A free Iraq will make the world more peaceful. A free Iraq will
    make America more secure. We will not be shaken by thugs and terrorists.
        The march to war was a difficult period for our economy. Marching to
    war is not positive. When you look on your TV screen and it says,
    ``America is marching to war,'' and if you're somebody who is thinking
    about expanding your business, you may decide not to in the face of such
    a negative thought. And so the final hurdle we had to overcome in the
    last 3 years was the march to war. We're now marching to peace. But
    think what our economy has been through: a recession; an attack;
    corporate scandals; and a march to war. And yet we've overcome them all.
        A lot of it has to do with the fact that this country is great and
    the people in this country are strong. The entrepreneurial spirit is
    vibrant. We've got the best workers in the world. Plus, I happen to
    think tax relief helped a lot. We based our decisions on this idea, that
    if a person has more money in their pocket--more of their own money in
    their pocket, by the way--they're likely to demand an additional good or
    a

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    service. And when they demand an additional good or a service, somebody
    is likely to produce the good or a service. And when somebody produces
    the good or a service, somebody is more likely to keep their job and/or
    find a new job.
        Also, a major part of the tax relief was some good policy that said
    if you have a child, we want to help you raise your children. We've
    increased the child credit. We said that we want to encourage marriage
    in America, not discourage marriage, so we lessened the effects of the
    marriage penalty in the Tax Code.
        We understood the important role of small business in hiring people.
    As a matter of fact, it's estimated that 70 percent of all new jobs are
    created by small businesses in America, so a key ingredient of the tax
    relief plan was to encourage small businesses. If you're a small
    business, you're likely to be a sole proprietorship or a Subchapter S
    corporation. Those are legal words for this: It says you pay tax at the
    individual income-tax rate. So when you reduce individual income taxes,
    you're really reducing taxes on small businesses as well. Plus, we
    created some incentives for investment. And it's paying off. It's paying
    off.
        The entrepreneurial spirit is strong. One way to make sure to keep
    it strong is to say to our farmers and ranchers and small businesses
    that when you--after you built your business, you can leave it to
    whomever you want without the Federal Government getting in the way.
    We've got the death tax on the way to extinction. We need to make sure
    it's extinct forever, for the sake of--[applause].
        And here's why I say it's working. We've had strong economic growth.
    This economy is growing. Inflation is low. Interest rates are low.
    Manufacturing activity is on the increase. Homeownership rates are the
    highest ever. Isn't that a wonderful thought? More people own their home
    than ever before. We have a minority homeownership gap in America, which
    we must close for the sake of the future. And now we've got more
    minorities, families, owning their own home than ever before. There's
    still a gap, but nevertheless, more people are owning their home. And
    we're working to close the gap. We want people owning something in this
    country. If you own your own home, own your own business, you've got a
    vital stake in the future of America.
        And last week, we received confirmation that our economy is
    stronger. The Department of Labor reported the economy created 308,000
    new jobs in March, more than three-quarters of a million new jobs since
    August. That's good news. The economy is strong, and it's getting
    stronger. We've overcome the challenges from the past 3 years. Listen,
    most of those challenges would have cratered most economies--not
    America's economy, because the ingredients for growth are there. We've
    got visionary business leaders. We've got great, productive workers, and
    we've had good policy.
        In North Carolina, you've seen progress of your own here. First of
    all, I fully understand that there are people who hurt here. Industries
    like the textiles and the furniture manufacturers are struggling, and
    that is an issue that we've got to deal with. But there are incredibly
    positive signs as well. The housing industry in this State is strong.
    More people own a home here in North Carolina than before. The health
    care industry is strong. Biotechnology are strong. The unemployment rate
    is down in this State. You've got to be optimistic about your future
    here, because North Carolina is a great place to do business, and you
    need to keep it that way.
        We have a strategy to make sure the economy stays strong. Let me
    share some of the ingredients of that strategy with you. First, in order
    for us to keep jobs at home, in order for us to make sure the job market
    expands, we've got to make sure the legal system is fair. Frivolous and
    junk lawsuits make it hard to expand the job base. The United States
    Congress must pass class-action lawsuit reform, asbestos reform, for the

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    sake of creating new jobs. Tort reform is necessary.
        The rising cost of health care makes it difficult to keep jobs at
    home and to expand the job base. There is a battle in Washington, DC.
    There's a philosophical argument over how to deal with the cost of
    health care. Some say that the Federal Government ought to run the
    health care system. I strongly disagree. We need to implement policies
    that put consumers in charge of health care.
        There's some practical ways to deal with the rising cost of health
    care. One, we must allow small businesses to pool risk, just like big
    businesses get to do, through association health care plans. See, when
    you pool risk, it means you can buy health insurance for your employees
    at a lower cost than if you have to go into the market by yourself.
    Secondly, we passed what's called health savings accounts. These are
    methodologies for holding down the cost of health care and putting
    consumers back in charge of health care decisions. Third, we need
    medical liability reform at the Federal level. Junk lawsuits are running
    up the cost of medicine for people all across this State.
        Good trade policy is necessary to keep jobs at home. There's a
    tendency to say, ``Gosh, the jobs are going overseas; therefore, let's
    isolate ourselves from the world.'' I think that's a mistake. Many small
    businesses rely upon being able to export. Farmers all across this
    country need to export their product. We're good at things, see. We're
    good at growing things. We're good at building things. And therefore,
    rather than isolate ourselves, we ought to take a different policy. We
    ought to make sure the playing field is level for our exporters.
        Presidents before me, from both political parties, had made the
    decision to make our markets relatively open to products from around the
    world. It happens to be good for our consumers. If you're a consumer,
    when you've got more choice, more competition for your dollar, it means
    prices are better for you and quality is better. But what's happened in
    the past is that we haven't demanded the same openness in other markets.
    So rather than closing our market, what I think we ought to be doing is
    going to other countries and saying, ``Look, we're going to treat you
    this way; you need to treat us the same way. You need to have that
    playing field level for U.S. products.''
        And we're sending a message. There's ways to do so. We took China to
    the World Trade Organization and said, ``They're not treating our
    semiconductor manufacturers fairly. They're giving unfair tax breaks.''
    In other words, the playing field is not level. So we're spending a lot
    of time leveling the playing field through enforcement and trade policy.
        Last year, our customs and border agents seized over $200 million
    worth of smuggled textiles that were headed to this country. It's
    another way to make sure the playing field is level, to stop people and
    pirates and thieves from bringing products in that destroy our markets
    here at home--bring them in illegally--that destroy our markets here at
    home. I refuse to allow us to become isolated. I think pessimistic
    people are willing to isolate the country. My attitude is, give us a
    chance to compete, and we can outcompete anybody in the world.
        In order to make sure the economy is strong, we need spending
    discipline in Washington. I've laid out a plan to cut the deficit in
    half over 5 years. It's going to require the United States Congress not
    to overspend, and I look forward to working with them.
        Finally, another thing we need to do is, we need an energy policy in
    this country. If you're a person trying to--if you're a manufacturer who
    relies upon energy, it's awfully hard to expand your job base if you're
    worried about whether or not the electricity system that you rely upon
    is modern. It's hard to expand your job base if you rely upon natural
    gas. It's hard to

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    rely upon sound energy when we're dependent on foreign sources of
    energy. In order to make sure that the economy stays strong and people
    can find work here at home, the Congress needs to pass the energy plan
    we submitted, which will encourage more conservation, which will
    encourage our electricity system to become modernized, but--which will
    allow us to use clean coal technologies and to explore for natural gas
    so we're less dependent on foreign sources of energy.
        What I'm telling you is, is that in order for this job base to be
    secure, in order for people to be able to keep work here at home,
    America must be a good place to do business. It must be a reasonable
    place to do business. It must be a place where the entrepreneurial
    spirit remains strong.
        Here in Washington, you'll hear a different set of opinions about
    this. There are people who believe we need to increase spending and need
    to therefore increase taxes. I think raising taxes at this point would
    be a disaster for our economy. It's the absolute wrong thing to do as
    our economy is beginning to recover. I feel quite the contrary. As a
    matter of fact, all the tax relief we passed, some of which is set to
    expire next year, other parts set to expire later on in the decade--all
    that tax relief needs to be permanent.
        The other interesting thing about this history, besides the
    challenges we've overcome, is that we're in a period of historic
    economic change. This is a very interesting period of time. The
    economists call it a period of transition. I call it the beginnings of
    an innovation economy. It's an economy where technology is transforming
    just about every job. It's a very fascinating period of time.
        For example, the average car today has 27 onboard computers. And in
    some cases, our cars have more raw computing power than that which was
    used to send the Apollo astronauts to the moon. Now, that's a pretty
    interesting thought, isn't it? Which means, if you're an automobile
    repair guy--[laughter]--you better know something about computers--
    [laughter]--or if you're an automobile manufacturer. In other words,
    this is the kind of sophisticated level that is necessary for our
    workers.
        What I'm telling you just doesn't apply to the automobile
    manufacturing world. We've got people here--workers in this State and
    other States who hold jobs that didn't even exist a few decades ago:
    biological technicians; software engineers; desktop publishers;
    bioinformatic specialists. These are the jobs of the 21st century. And
    if you'd have said to somebody 30 years ago or 20 years ago, ``Gosh,
    don't you look forward to being a bioinformatic specialist''--
    [laughter]--they'd have probably wondered what you were talking about.
        Ninety percent of all scientific knowledge has been generated in the
    last 30 years. This is why we're in a period of such great innovation
    and possibility. That's how I view it, as a moment of fantastic
    possibility for America and our workforce.
        And North Carolina is making advantage of this--taking advantage of
    the possibilities. Think about this: Six years ago, the largest export
    of this State was tobacco--just 6 years ago--and now it's computer
    equipment. That's an amazing transformation of an economy, isn't it?
    About 10 percent of the Americans who are employed in biotechnology work
    reside right here in North Carolina. That's a workforce that's beginning
    to change quite dramatically. North Carolina has the world's greatest
    concentration of labs devoted to clinical testing of new medical
    technology and pharmaceuticals.
        For an economy that was based upon tobacco and, to a certain extent,
    textiles, you're now on the leading edge of technological change. New
    industries are part of what's driving this economy forward across the
    country and certainly what's driving the North Carolina economy forward.
    And I

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    congratulate you on that. It must be exciting to live in a State that is
    the center of innovation.
        There's a reason why we're that way, by the way. The entrepreneurial
    spirit is really strong here. The role of Government is not to create
    wealth. The role of Government is to create an environment in which the
    entrepreneur is willing to take risk and be able to get a return on the
    risk taken. And we need to keep the entrepreneurial spirit alive and
    well across this country.
        Secondly, our universities are a great place for people to learn. I
    mean, when you--there's a lot of--the main reason why people from around
    the world want to come here to study is because we're on the leading
    edge of change. We've got good, efficient capital markets. That means
    that when somebody has got a good idea, they've got good access to
    capital. And that's very important. We've got a flexible workforce,
    flexible work rules. These are all the ingredients as to why we stay on
    the leading edge of change.
        But we still--we live in a competitive world, though. It's just--we
    should never take anything for granted. We shouldn't take our
    preeminence as the world's greatest economy for granted. We've
    constantly got to make sure the economic environment here is strong.
    We've got to make sure that we're innovative. I'm going to talk about an
    innovative way to make sure our workers get retrained here today. But
    I'm also going to talk about, in the next couple of weeks, economic
    growth and security through innovations on the information technology
    front, communications, and health care and energy. In other words, my
    job is to make sure the environment is such that we're constantly on the
    leading edge of change, so people can find good work.
        Today and tomorrow I'm going to talk about the fact that we've got
    to prepare all Americans to succeed in this new economy. Today I'm going
    to talk about community colleges and the workforce training programs,
    and in Arkansas, I'm going to be talking about how to make sure our high
    school and Pell grant programs work properly.
        Here's the challenge: You just heard me describe how your State has
    changed, and it's going to even change even faster as time goes on. And
    so, are we going to be able to make these opportunities available for
    your workers? That's the challenge we face. Technology is changing; can
    the workforce change with it? And that's the challenge.
        High-tech companies created twice as many jobs as those in any other
    industries. By the way, it required a productive worker to work in those
    jobs. A productive worker also made two times the amount of money they
    were making before. In other words, when you're more productive, you're
    going to make more. Are we going to be able to use our education systems
    to be able to match a person's desire to work with the skills necessary
    to become employable? That's the challenge we face.
        We're not training enough people to fill the jobs of the 21st
    century. There is a skills gap. And if we don't adjust quickly and if we
    don't do smart things with the taxpayers' money--if we don't properly
    use our community colleges, for example--we're going to have a shortage
    of skilled workers in the decades to come. And if you've got a shortage
    of skilled workers in the decades to come, guess what's going to happen
    to America--we're no longer going to be on the leading edge of change.
    It's going to be hard for our children and grandchildren to find the
    kind of jobs that will be being generated in the world's economy.
        And so that's what I want to talk to you about today. It requires,
    first of all, people's willingness to adapt. We've got to get it right
    early, by the way, in order to make sure we've got a workforce that's
    capable of filling the 21st century jobs. That's why I'm such a big
    believer in what we call the No Child Left Behind Act. It was an

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    act that said we'll spend more Federal money, particularly on Title I
    students. Those are the poorest of students. But for the first time,
    we're going to ask whether or not the school systems are teaching
    children to read and write and add and subtract. It's really the basis
    of No Child Left Behind. It says, ``Gosh, if you're going to get Federal
    money, it seems reasonable to ask the question whether or not there's
    results.''
        And the reason you ask that--I ask that question, at least, is
    because I believe every child can learn. I refuse to condemn inner-city
    black kids to failed school systems. I refuse to--I don't like it when I
    hear stories of first-generation American families--the children of
    first-generation American families being just shuffled through because
    English isn't the primary language of their family. That's not right. I
    believe every child can learn. And so what we have said is, ``In return
    for Federal money, we expect you, the State, to show us, to measure.''
        And by the way, there's money available for early childhood
    intervention programs. Like in third grade, if a child can't pass a
    simple reading comprehensive exam, that child needs help early, before
    it's too late. The best way to make sure we're competitive, by the way,
    one of the best ways to make sure we're competitive in the 21st century,
    is to get it right at the public school system. And the No Child Left
    Behind Act challenges the soft bigotry of low expectations.
        As we focus on high schools, which I'll talk about tomorrow, and the
    Pell grant system for higher education, we've always got to remember
    that there are a lot of folks who are long past school age who need help
    and are interested. Government can't make somebody say, ``I'm going to
    go get retrained.'' That's--impossible to do that. We can help people
    who want to be retrained.
        I met Sharon Segee today. She is with us.
    She is--four years ago, she was a medical lab assistant at the local
    hospital. She got to the point where, as she put it, she was deadlocked.
    In other words, she wasn't satisfied with what was happening in her
    life. She put it this way; she said, ``I was making about as much as I
    was going to make, and I was doing all I was going to do.'' That's the
    definition of ``deadlocked.'' She enrolled in a nursing program here at
    Central Piedmont. She enrolled in the program. In other words, she said,
    ``I'm going to do something about it. I'm tired of being deadlocked. I
    want to raise my standards. I want to raise my sights.''
        She went here with the help of the local
    hospital. I want to thank the local hospital for providing funds to help
    somebody who is desirous of gaining new skills to do so. She's now
    making more salary. She loves her career. She's thinking about getting a
    bachelor's degree. In other words, Sharon has made the decision that she
    wants to take advantage of what Piedmont has to offer so that she
    becomes a more productive worker. Remember, if you're more productive,
    you're going to make more money.
        Sharon, I don't know where you are, but I
    want to--there you are. Thank you very much for coming. I appreciate it.
        See, it's important for people listening here to realize that
    there's--that what Sharon has done is available
    for you as well; that if you want to improve yourself, there's a great
    opportunity to do so throughout the State of North Carolina. I know. I
    went to Forsythe Community College in Forsythe County--[applause]--there
    you go. It's good to see you all again. [Laughter] This is a part of the
    world that had been hit by the changing economy. Yet because the health
    care industry was so vibrant in that part of your State, there was a
    collaborative effort between the hospital and the community college, and
    now people that were once in the textile industry are now in the health
    care industry, making more money, I want you to know.
        I met a woman named Stacey Leedom in Mesa
    Community College in Arizona.

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    In other words, I've been going to community colleges all over the
    country. They're exciting places to visit, by the way, because there's
    so much innovation going on at the community college level. I met
    Stacey. She was a graphic artist for 15 years. And she decided to take
    technology classes at the Mesa Community College. She got a little help.
    There's Federal money, by the way, available; there's scholarship help.
    And now, after having gone to the technology course at the community
    college, she made more in her first year in her new job than she made in
    her 15th year as a graphic design artist. When you become a more
    productive citizen, you're going to make more money for your family.
        A more productive society is one that is more competitive. A
    productive society is one that allows us to stay on the leading edge of
    change. And a productive society is one that lifts the living standards
    of all Americans. And a good way to get more productive is to make sure
    worker training programs are vibrant and viable and available. That's
    what we're talking about.
        The main worker training program is called the Workforce Investment
    Act. That's the primary--[applause]. Yes, there you go. [Laughter] The
    program spends about $4 billion a year in grants on States--to States.
    Money from those grants go to about 3,500 State and local one-stop
    centers around the country. Perhaps some of you who have been looking
    for work or help have gone to a one-stop center. They're smart things to
    do. See, those one-stop centers have been providing employment services,
    advice, job search assistance, resume writing. There's--people walk in
    and say, ``Look, I need some help.'' They're kind of a decentralized
    approach to providing help for people, and that's very smart.
        They also give workers individual training accounts, or what I call
    innovation training accounts, they can use to get job training. In other
    words, you take the money in your innovation training account, and you
    can go to a community college, just like Piedmont right here, or at a
    business or at a union hall or at other locales.
        But last year, only about 206,000 workers obtained job training
    through this program. In other words, we've got a great Federal program
    where we spend $4 billion--and admittedly, some of it goes to other
    services--but only 200,000 workers got trained. It says to me, we've got
    to do a better job of training more people with the money we spend.
    We've got to make the system work better.
        One of my jobs as the President is to analyze programs and, if
    they're not doing the job they're supposed to do, is to redesign them so
    they do do the job they're supposed to do, so that we properly spend
    taxpayers' money. So today I want to talk about a plan to reform the job
    training programs, to the WIA programs, to the Workforce Investment Act.
    And I believe we can double the number of workers who are going through
    the job training programs.
        And let me tell you how we're going to do it. First, the Federal job
    training programs need to be--the money needs to be sent directly to the
    Governors. We don't want to Federalize the program, quite the opposite.
    We want the Governors--and let the Governors distribute the money to
    programs which actually are training people for jobs which exist.
        Now, that sounds simple, but that's not the way it's working today,
    because the Federal Government, as a result of the laws passed by
    Congress, micromanaged the system. There's a series of programs, all of
    which have their own specifications--in other words, they tell the
    Governors and the States where to spend the money, what to spend the
    money on, the kind of system the Governors ought to set up--and as a
    result of micromanagement, miss opportunities for jobs which exist in
    the communities in which people are looking for work.
        In other words, we need to make the system more flexible, more
    available to

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    workers, and less dependent on foreign--on Federal rules, in order to
    make sure that the money gets to the people who need it most. So, step
    one is to change the system on how--the relationship between the Federal
    Government and the State government.
        Two, we need to make sure that the States reduce the overhead costs
    connected with these job training programs. There's now a 15-percent cap
    on how much Federal job training money that States can spend on
    administrative overhead. That's positive. It seems to make sense. If
    you're going to spend money, a certain amount ought to go to setting the
    program up, and the rest of it goes to the people. But unfortunately,
    there's loopholes in the program. Too much Federal money is spent on
    things that have little to do with job training, such as management
    studies or travel. We want the money going to the people. That's what we
    want. It's okay to spend money to set the system up; we want as much
    money going to the people. We need to close the loophole. One of the
    reforms is to say, ``The 15-percent cap is a stringent cap. We mean what
    we say when we say we're going to limit the amount of money that can go
    to overhead.'' We believe that by making sure the cap is a strong cap on
    overhead money, we will save about $300 million, which means an extra
    $100,000--100,000 workers a year get trained.
        Third, we need to require clear results of Federal tax dollars that
    go to training workers. In other words, if we're going to spend $4
    billion a year, we want to make sure we get results for the money. It's
    amazing what happens when you start to ask for results. The problem is,
    there are now 17 different goals involved in the training programs. If
    you've got 17 goals, there really are no goals, right? I mean, if you've
    got so many goals, it's really hard to measure. And so what we need to
    do is to make sure that people are judged--people who are spending your
    money are judged on what we care about. Job centers will report how many
    people they help find work. That makes sense as one of the goals. In
    other words, we've got money coming your way; tell us how many people
    have actually found a job, how much they earn on their jobs, and how
    long they stay on those jobs. That's what ought to be measured, and
    nothing else. And we ought to say, ``Look, this is what the programs
    exist for, and these are the three goals we'll measure you on.'' And if
    the State doesn't make progress, then it only makes sense to take some
    of the money that is being sent to the States and send it directly to
    the job trainers, so that we actually do meet what we expect to have
    happen, and that is people being trained for the jobs which exist.
        And finally, look, I recognize--there is a balance between the State
    role--the States have got a vital role to play--and between places like
    Piedmont. Piedmont does a fabulous job, and so do a lot of other
    community colleges, because their curriculum is flexible. They're just
    not stuck. They don't--you know, like some places get stuck, and they
    don't change. The community college system has the capability of change.
    One reason they change is because they listen to the job providers.
        One of the things, if you talk to a leader in the community college,
    a good community college, they'll say, ``I call in a group of business
    leaders who are looking for workers and say, `What skills do you need?
    If you're interested in hiring people, what can we do to help you? What
    kind of people are you looking for?''' And then they change the
    curriculum accordingly. I met with a small-business owner earlier. I
    think he said 75 people had gone through the Piedmont--through the
    campus. And he helped pay for the programs for worker training.
        In other words, the community college system is a flexible program.
    It's adaptable to meet the needs of the local communities. And so the
    fourth proposal is to provide

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    Federal job training money directly to community colleges. And that was
    part of the Jobs for the 21st Century Initiative I outlined. It's $250
    million additional to go to community colleges directly, to help create
    partnerships with job providers and the community college systems around
    the country. We believe this will help train up to an additional 100,000
    people a year.
        In other words, these are four reforms that will help meet the needs
    of this country as we go into the 21st century. This economy is
    changing. First of all, it's growing, and as it grows, it changes. And
    so what we need to do is adapt our systems and the programs we've got in
    place to help meet the needs of our people. It's a legitimate role of
    the Federal Government, is to help people who want to help themselves.
        We've got people from all walks of life who say, ``Gosh, I'm stuck.
    I see the new jobs being created, but I don't have the skills necessary.
    This is an innovative world we live in, but I'm not--I don't have the
    skills necessary to be an innovative worker. And I want to improve
    myself. Where do I go? Where can I find help?'' Well, taxpayers' money
    is helping people do that. We just want to make sure the taxpayers'
    money we're spending is actually working to the maximum extent possible.
        I think we have an obligation to help people help themselves. I love
    the stories of people who are willing to go back to the community
    college because they feel frustrated. They realize their job--they could
    be doing better. There's nothing better than an innovative person
    seizing the moment. And a vibrant society is one that makes the
    community college system accessible to those who have made the
    determination to improve their lot and improve their lives.
        When people decide to become a better worker, they're helping our
    economy. As more workers become retrained for the jobs of the 21st
    century, it will help us stay on the leading edge of technological
    change in the world. As our workforce gets retrained--listen, we've got
    great workers; they just need the skills necessary to be able to
    compete. And as this labor force becomes more educated and more skilled
    for the jobs of the 21st century, we'll stay the leading country in the
    world. And that's what we want. We want to be the leader in the world,
    because when you're in the leader of the world, the standard of living
    for your people rises. We want the American Dream to shine brightly.
        Listen, we've been through a lot in this country. We've been through
    an amazing period of time, and we're strong and getting stronger. You
    know why? Because the American people are great. The American people are
    strong, determined, resolved. They are willing to rise to any challenge.
    And it is my honor to lead a country full of such wonderful people.
        May God bless you all. May God bless our country.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:15 a.m. at Central Piedmont Community
    College-Central Campus. In his remarks, he referred to Charlotte-
    Mecklenburg Police Chief Darrel Stephens; and P. Anthony Zeiss,
    president, Central Piedmont Community College, and his wife, Beth. The
    Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language
    transcript of these remarks.

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