[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book I)]
[January 9, 2004]
[Pages 34-39]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks in a Discussion With Women Small-Business Owners
January 9, 2004

    The President. Thank you all. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. You wrote that--you read that just like I wrote it. 
[Laughter] It's good to be here at the Commerce Department. After all, 
that's what we're here to discuss, is commerce and jobs and how to keep 
the entrepreneurial spirit strong in America.
    Let me start off by saying, first of all, thank you all for coming. 
We're going to have an interesting discussion about what it means to own 
your own business and risk capital and employ people, what it takes to 
be a businessowner. And we've got five really smart, capable women who 
are running their own businesses. Before we get to this discussion, 
though, I want to say I'm really optimistic about the future of our 
Nation's economy. This economy is strong, and it is getting stronger.
    I'm optimistic for one reason, because I just spent a little bit of 
time with five people who are on the frontline of hiring. Their optimism 
was really evident, as I think you'll soon hear. Secondly, I'm 
optimistic because I see things happening. Unemployment dropped today to 
5.7 percent. That's not good enough. We want more people still working. 
But nevertheless, it is a positive sign that the economy is getting 
better.
    I see the manufacturing orders are up dramatically. I know the 
productivity is high in America. Home construction is strong. All the 
signs in our economy is--are very strong. And that's positive for 
somebody who might be wondering about whether he or she is going to find 
a job.
    Secondly, I know what we have overcome in this country. I mean, this 
economy has got to be pretty darn strong to have come through what this 
Nation has come through. Just very quickly, in the beginning of 2001, 
the country was entering into a recession. I'm sure that affected you 
all. Recession, by the way, is when there is negative growth for three 
quarters, when things aren't going well for three consecutive quarters. 
That's a long period of time if you own your own business. It's a long 
period of time if you're looking for a job, by the way.
    Then, all of a sudden, as the economy was getting better, the enemy 
hit us. And make no mistake about it, the attack of September the 11th 
affected not only our national psyche; it affected the economy. It hurt. 
It hurt people who were thinking about risking capital. It made it hard 
for people to find a job.
    As well we had a problem that fall when it turned out some of our 
corporate citizens failed to live up to the responsibilities of 
leadership. They didn't tell the truth to their shareholders and their 
employees. That affected the psyche of the American investor. You know, 
capitalism is only as strong as the integrity of the people involved in 
the process. And these leaders will tell you that you've got to be open

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with your employees. Otherwise, they're not going to work for you very 
hard. In this case, these corporate criminals had a negative effect on 
the country.
    And then, of course, I made some tough decisions about how to secure 
America and keep the peace by spreading freedom, and we marched to war. 
It is not conducive to economic growth to see on your TV screens, 
``America is marching to war.'' It's not a very positive, optimistic 
message to hear if you're thinking about risking capital. Who wants to 
take risk when we're marching to war?
    Now we're marching to peace, and people feel more comfortable about 
making a risky investment. We've overcome a lot. And I'm optimistic 
because not only do I talk to people who are optimistic all the time; 
I'm optimistic because I recognized what this country has been through. 
It really speaks to the entrepreneurial spirit and ingenuity of the 
American people, is what I'm talking about. This is a fabulous country.
    The system says if you work hard, you get rewarded. You can own your 
own business, hopefully without a lot of Government interference. 
Speaking about Government interference, we made a conscious decision to 
make Government less intrusive into the pocketbooks of the American 
people in order to effect economic growth. You might remember we went to 
the Congress, not only once but three different times, to effect real, 
substantial tax relief, tax relief which left more money in the pockets 
of the working people, tax relief which encouraged spending and saving 
and investment.
    You see, we cut the taxes on everybody. We didn't try to pick and 
choose who got the tax relief. Our attitude was, if you pay taxes, you 
ought to get relief. It ought to be fair and simple to understand. And 
by the way, the tax relief had a significant impact on the 
entrepreneurial spirit of America because a lot of people who own their 
own small business pay taxes at the individual income-tax rate. They're 
what you'll hear as a Subchapter S corp or a sole proprietorship. And so 
when you cut the taxes on the individuals, you're really cutting the 
taxes on business, small businesses. And after all, that's important, 
because most small businesses--or small businesses create the most new 
jobs. Seventy percent of new jobs are created by small-business owners 
and entrepreneurs. The tax relief was important.
    We had incentives in there for people trying to raise a family by 
raising the child credit. We reduced the marriage penalty. Heck, we want 
a Tax Code that encourages marriage, not discourages marriage. It 
doesn't make any sense to say, ``If you're married, you get to pay more 
tax.''
    We gave small-business owners incentives to invest by raising the 
deductibility limits. And I think you'll hear some discussion of that 
today. We reduced taxes on dividends and capital gains, which was 
particularly important for retired citizens who rely upon dividend 
income to--in their latter years.
    So we did a lot. We've done a lot. And I'm telling you, the tax 
relief came at the right time and made a big difference for economic 
growth.
    There's more to do. First of all, every one of these business 
leaders and owners will tell you that if there's uncertainty in the Tax 
Code, it will make it difficult for them to plan for the future. 
Businessowners like certainty. They want to know what the rules are. 
Much of the tax relief I described goes away soon. Congress passed the 
tax relief, but they didn't make it permanent. Job creation is vital. 
Permanency in the Tax Code will mean more job creation. Congress must 
make every part of the tax package permanent.
    These business leaders will tell you, health care costs are rising 
and are difficult to manage. We need association health care plans to 
allow small businesses to pool the risk across jurisdictional 
boundaries. Congress must act. We need medical liability

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reform. Frivolous lawsuits drive up the costs of health care. They 
affect the budgets of these small businesses. They also affect the 
Federal budget. I mean, if you think about what frivolous lawsuits do to 
the cost of Medicare and Medicaid and veterans' health benefits, you 
understand what I'm talking about. I mean, it's an enormous cost to the 
Federal budget. We got a good bill out of the House. The medical 
liability bill is stuck in the Senate. We need tort reform there; we 
need class action reform; we need asbestos reform if we expect this 
economy to continue to grow.
    We need an energy policy. Congress needs to give me an energy bill. 
I mean, it's hard for businesses to plan, particularly in the 
manufacturing sector, if you're wondering where you're going to get your 
next watt of energy. And so we need an energy bill. Congress needs to 
act. Congress needs to join this administration in listening to the 
voices of these entrepreneurs to figure out how to keep a progrowth 
agenda on the forefront. So long as anybody is looking for a job in 
America, this administration is going to be promoting a pro-growth, pro-
entrepreneurial agenda.
    And I'm honored to be joined by entrepreneurs, strong, strong women 
who have taken the lead in their businesses and are providing a great 
service to our country. They're not only providing a wonderful example 
for people who are wondering whether or not I can own my own company but 
whether--but providing the service of hiring people and keeping them at 
work and caring about their employees.
    I'm going to start off by Nancy Connolly. 
She is the president and CEO of Lasertone Corporation, Littleton, 
Massachusetts. Welcome.

[At this point, Nancy Connolly made brief remarks.]

    The President. Yes, see, Nancy hires 20--
there's a lot of companies the size of Nancy's around the country that 
have got this sense of optimism. I mean it's--I don't think we would 
have had Nancy sitting here 2 years ago saying, ``Gosh, I look forward 
to hiring 20.'' I suspect she might have been saying, ``I hope to keep 
the 70.'' A lot of small businesses were just hanging on to what they 
had during tough economic times. And now this leader and this 
entrepreneur are saying, ``20 minimum,'' it sounded like to me. And 
that's how this economy works. It's very important for people to 
understand it's the cumulative effect of many, many hirings that take 
place on a daily basis, particularly in the small-business sector, that 
affect economic growth and vitality.
    Thank you for doing what you're doing.
    Catherine, tell us about yourself and 
your business, Knowledge Information Solutions.

[Catherine Giordano, president and chief executive officer, Knowledge 
Information Solutions, Inc., Virginia Beach, VA, made brief remarks.]

    The President. I'm glad you're here, Catherine, thanks. One of the things I think is very 
interesting for people to understand that Catherine just said--she said 
the tax breaks that we focused for small-business owners caused her to 
buy new equipment and new software. Well, somebody has to make that 
equipment, and somebody has to design that software and sell it. So my 
point is, is that it's important for our American citizens to understand 
the ripple effect of good tax policy. Good tax policy encourages an 
owner to make a decision. That decision then makes it more likely 
somebody else is going to find a job who will provide--in the company 
that provides the product--in Catherine's case, equipment and hardware.
    It's very important that this incentive stay in place because it 
is--you just heard one example of the decisionmaking process that takes 
place as a result of good tax policy. If the tax policy--if Congress 
lets this lapse, the ability to deduct to $100,000 of capital equipment, 
it would then cause her to make different decisions in the out-years.

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And so the Congress needs to be mindful of what tax policy does to the 
decisionmakers, the job creators, people like Catherine who made a rational decision based upon good 
policy.
    It's my honor to welcome right now--why don't we go with Sharon 
Evans. Sharon is the CEO of CFJ Manufacturing, 
Fort Worth, Texas.

[Sharon Evans made brief remarks, concluding by saying that she 
anticipated 25-percent growth next year, which she believed was due to 
tax benefits.]

    The President. I disagree. I think it's related to vision and hard 
work and the Texas spirit. The tax relief helped, but none of these 
women should discount their courage and their vision and their 
willingness to take risk and to make wise decisions.
    Ms. Evans. I do have to commend you too, as 
well as--we utilize and we are a certified women-owned business, and 
your support of women in business has increased my customer base, which 
has, in fact, grown my business as well.
    The President. Yes, I think it's very important--what she's talking about is contracting. For example, at the 
Federal Government, we ought to bust these contracts down to smaller 
sizes. The role of contracting at the Federal level--the proper role of 
contracting obviously is to get good service for the Government but at 
the same time have the added dividend of enhancing the entrepreneurial 
spirit, is encouraging small-business ownership, is to really achieve 
what we want to achieve, and that is to expand the ownership society in 
America.
    And by the way, the role of Government is not to create wealth but 
the environment in which the entrepreneur can flourish. Make no mistake 
about it, the role of Government is to create the architecture in which 
people are willing to take risk and make choice. But that doesn't happen 
unless somebody's got a good idea, works hard, dreams big, treats their 
employees with respect, and is capable. So thank you for giving 
Government the credit, but we don't deserve it.
    Let me call upon Maria Coakley David. She is the CFO of C.J. Coakley, Inc., right here in 
Falls Church, Virginia. Thanks for coming, Maria. And thank you for the 
hat.

[Maria Coakley David made brief remarks.]

    The President. Well, let me talk about job hiring, particularly in 
the construction field. It's very important for these companies to 
understand who they're hiring. I'm excited about the fact that you're 
expanding your job base. I just want to make sure that you stay legal in 
your hiring practice. And we've got a problem here----
    Ms. Coakley David. It's a big 
concern as well for us, and I appreciate you bringing that up.
    The President. It's got to be a big concern. Well, I'm talking about 
this immigration issue that I brought up. My attitude is, any time an 
employer can't find an American worker to do the job, that--in this 
case, she ought to be able to hire a 
willing foreign worker, so long as that foreign worker has got a--we're 
going to issue a new card, a temporary-worker card.
    I don't like the idea of having an undocumented economy in the 
greatest country on the face of the Earth, where people walk miles 
across deserts at the hands of sometimes these ``coyote'' border 
smugglers who treat these people inhumanely. They get into our society. 
They're doing work, but they're doing work in an undocumented way, not 
aboveboard but below the surface. They can get exploited and have no 
recourse. And it's just flat wrong in America. And we ought to recognize 
the system hasn't worked.
    And so I proposed a plan that is a worker plan. It is not an 
automatic path to citizenship, what they call amnesty. It is a plan that 
recognizes reality in a commonsense way, so that when Maria's company starts expanding and she can't find 
somebody to lay tar on a hot August day and somebody

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else wants to because they've got a family to feed, she can find this 
person, and the person will show up to work. And by the way, that person 
ought to be able to go back to his or her family without being harassed, 
to be able to take money home, which is what they're trying to do.
    So this is a commonsense plan. It makes eminent sense. It recognizes 
the reality of today's workplace. We want our employers to be aggressive 
at hiring people, but we don't want them breaking the law. And we've got 
to recognize, in this society, there are just simply some jobs that are 
not being filled by American citizens.
    Ms. Coakley David. You're correct, 
and it is definitely a big concern for our company. We probably have 70 
percent Hispanic workforce. We've recently hired a bilingual 
receptionist to help us communicate effectively. We have a lot of our 
newsletters translated in Spanish. And we do have to face the facts, and 
we would greatly benefit from your plan.
    The President. Yes, this is important. The other thing what 
she's faced with--first of all, the fact 
that you've got a Hispanic workforce means you're doing well. These are 
fine people, we know well in Texas. They're great people--great people.
    But there's a lot of false documentation. What kind of society is it 
where the system allows for false documentation, falsifying these 
different papers so Maria is not sure 
whether or not she's dealing with somebody she ought to be dealing with? 
We need to make this aboveboard. And by the way, it is humane to treat 
people with respect, citizen or not citizen. We want to treat people 
with the utmost respect in this country. This is America. It's the 
greatest country on the face of the Earth. We're not giving special 
privilege. They don't get to butt in line where somebody who wants to go 
through the process in a legal way. We're just recognizing reality in a 
commonsensical way. It's the right thing to do.

[Ms. Coakley David made additional remarks.]

    The President. You know, one of the most meaningful things that's 
happened to me since I've been the Governor--the President--Governor--
President. [Laughter] Oops--[laughter]--ex-Governor. I went to Bethesda 
Naval Hospital to give a fellow a Purple Heart, and at the same moment watched him--get a Purple 
Heart for action in Iraq--and at that same--right after I gave him the 
Purple Heart, he was sworn in as a citizen of the United States, a 
Mexican citizen now a United States citizen.
    It's a pretty special country, isn't it, where people are willing to 
come not only to work to provide for their families but to wear this 
Nation's uniform and to go into harm's way for our peace and security. 
And Americans have got to recognize how special America is and how lucky 
we are to be Americans in this country and how a lot of really decent 
people would like to join us. We've just got to make sure the system is 
orderly and fair and meets national objectives.
    Lurita--Lurita Doan is with us. She is the 
president and CEO of New Technology Management in Reston, Virginia. 
Welcome.

[Lurita Doan made brief remarks.]

    The President. I'm here to thank you all. I think the--I hope you 
come away with the same sense of optimism I do about the future of this 
country when you hear these five women speak. I mean, this is a country 
which speaks to five entrepreneurs here on the stage and says, ``Dream 
big and go for it. Live your dream.'' Can you imagine a country where a 
woman like Lurita walks in to Kinko's and says, 
``I think I'll start a business by printing my first business card,'' 
and here she is, 13 years later, speaking to the Nation about a business 
which is thriving and is going to hire 75 new people.
    It's a fabulous country, where people can dream big dreams and 
people can risk--take risk and achieve their dreams through

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hard work, clear vision, and a good idea. It's hard to be a small-
business owner, particularly in hard times. It's easier when the whole 
economy is growing, but it's even hard then. It's hard to make the right 
decisions. But obviously, I'm surrounded by success, people who have 
been able to realize their dreams and accomplish what is not easy to 
accomplish.
    Government can help, but we can't make these women smart; we can't 
make them dream; we can't make them compassionate. These are choices 
they've made. And our job is to stand with them and to serve as a wind 
at their back as they provide not only valuable goods and services but, 
more importantly for me right now and for the country, is to provide a 
chance for somebody to find work--find work so they can fulfill their 
obligations as a mom or a dad.
    I want to thank you all for joining us. Thank you for being great 
Americans. I appreciate you helping me to explain how our economy works 
and why we should be optimistic about our future. May God bless your 
endeavors and God bless you all. May God continue to bless our great 
country. Thank you very much.

Note: The discussion began at 10:45 a.m. at the Department of Commerce. 
In his remarks, the President referred to Secretary of Commerce Donald 
L. Evans, who introduced the President.