    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book II)]
    [July 2, 2004]
    [Pages 1224-1233]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following a Discussion With Small-Business Entrepreneurs
    July 2, 2004

        The President. Thank you all very much. Please be seated. Thanks for
    coming. I am glad you're here. We're here today to talk about the
    economic security of our fellow citizens. One of my most important jobs
    is to help create an environment in which the entrepreneurial spirit
    flourishes, because I believe that the fact that America is a heaven for
    the entrepreneur is one of the real strengths of our country. I know
    that when the entrepreneur feels confident, when the small-business
    owner invests, it's more likely people will be able to find a job.
        I'm interested in people working. I want people being able to go to
    work and coming home, saying, ``I'm doing my duty as a mom or a dad to
    put food on the table,'' or ``I've got an opportunity to set aside hard-
    earned money for my child's education.'' That's what I'm interested in.
    And one way to do that is to make sure the small-business part of our
    economy is vibrant, strong, energized, and confident. And I think it is.
        The economy of the United States has been through a lot. If you
    really think about it, it's pretty remarkable to be able to stand up and
    say to you that our economy is strong and getting stronger, that we're
    witnessing steady, consistent growth. After all, we've been through a
    recession, a national emergency, a war, corporate scandals. We've got an
    economy which is changing. The nature of the job base is changing. And
    all that means it's been a difficult period of time. Yet we're strong.
    We're getting stronger. We're witnessing steady growth--steady growth.
    And that's important. We don't need boom- or bust-type growth, we want
    just steady, consistent growth so that our fellow citizens will be able
    to find a job and so that the small-business sector will feel confident
    about expanding.

    [[Page 1225]]

        I was pleased to see that consumer confidence is at a 2-year high.
    That's an indication that the economy is strong and getting better. When
    people are confident, they tend to be a part of the decisionmaking
    process amongst millions of deciders that say the future is going to be
    better.
        I've just met with some small-business owners. I'm going to
    introduce them here in a second. They're confident. The first thing I
    listened for was, do they have confidence in their voices? Were they
    saying to me, ``Gosh, I'm confident enough to make investment''? That's
    what you listen for if you're somebody trying to be able to report to
    the economy about the nature of our economy. To a person, to a business,
    they were saying, ``You bet; I'm confident about the future of the
    country. Therefore I'm going to invest more,'' which I'm going to talk a
    little bit about here in a second.
        Real after-tax incomes are up 11 percent since December of 2000. To
    me, that's a vital statistic. Real after-tax incomes--that means that
    the amount of money in somebody's wallet is increasing. That's what we
    want to hear, isn't it, particularly if you're somebody who has got a
    wallet. [Laughter] It's a good sign when people are working and keeping
    more of their own money. That's what we want.
        Homeownership rates are at an alltime high. That's an important
    statistic, particularly if you believe the more people that own
    something, the better off our society is. That's what I believe. We want
    more people owning their own small business. We want more people owning
    their own home. See, when somebody owns their own home, they can say,
    ``This is my property. Welcome to my home.'' They don't say, ``Welcome
    to the Government's home.'' They say, ``Welcome to my home,'' which is
    an important part of not only consumer confidence but it's an important
    part of making sure people have a interest in the future of our country.
    If you own something, you want to make sure Government makes the right
    decision so you can continue to own it.
        And we've got--homeownership rate is at an alltime high. And a
    particularly important part of that statistic is minority homeownership
    rates are at an alltime high. See, we not only want--when I'm talking
    about ownership, I'm talking about ownership for all people, not just a
    certain type of person. We want ownership to be a part of every
    neighborhood. And it's happening in America. It's really what makes us
    such a wonderful country, isn't it, when people from all walks of life
    can say, ``I own something.'' And this administration will continue to
    make sure the ownership society, or the ability for people to own their
    own business or home, remains strong and vibrant.
        Manufacturers are reporting increased activity more than any time in
    20 years. We've had concern in the country about whether or not the
    manufacturing sector would remain vibrant and strong, and the reports
    are that the activity is as good as it's been over the past 20 years.
    That's a pretty good sign, isn't it? I was told today--reminded today
    that the Purchasing Managers Index is now above 60 for its 8th straight
    month. That doesn't mean anything unless you're somebody who follows all
    the numbers that comes out of Washington. But what it does mean is it
    confirms the notion that manufacturing activity is as good as it's been
    in 20 years. And that's very positive.
        Today we got a new jobs report out. The jobs increased by 112,000 in
    June, which means we've had a total of 1.5 million new jobs since last
    August. To me, that shows the steady growth. It's one thing to be
    reporting the GDP numbers are up; it's another thing to be able to say
    more Americans are working. And that's what we want. We want people
    going to work. We want people to be able to come home and say, ``Boy,
    how was work--it was great.'' [Laughter] ``I enjoy working.''

    [[Page 1226]]

        I met two good workers from North Carolina here today. I'm about to
    introduce the owners of their company. But they were here. They said,
    ``We're working and feeling good about it.'' And that's really good news
    for our economy.
        I want to thank you all for coming. I appreciate--I can see a lot of
    members of my administration here. I don't want to try to go through
    them all except for Secretary Evans, the
    Secretary of Commerce. He's doing a fantastic job of running a very
    important Cabinet office of my Government.
        But thank you all for being here. I see a lot of familiar faces. I
    see a lot of entrepreneurs. I see a lot of people who represent
    entrepreneurs here in Washington. You're doing a fine job of helping the
    United States Congress understand the proper role of Government is to
    encourage investment, encourage business formation. And that's why the
    tax relief package we passed was so important, particularly in the face
    of a recession and in the face of an emergency. It came at the right
    time. And I want to thank the people here who worked with us to convince
    Congress to trust the people with their own money. That's really what
    the debate was about, wasn't it: Who do you want to spend your money?
    Obviously, the Government needs to spend some of it to make sure we've
    got a military and make sure we fulfill certain functions. But at this
    point in our economic history, it made sense to let you have your own
    money to spend so that the economy would grow.
        We based a lot of our decisionmaking on the knowledge that if you
    have more money in your pocket, if there's more after-tax pay in your
    pocket, you'll demand additional goods and services. And when you do so,
    in a market economy, if it's functioning properly, somebody will produce
    the goods or services. And when that happens, it kind of stabilizes the
    job base and then, eventually, allows for more people to go back to
    work. And that's what we're seeing--and that's what we're seeing.
        Much of the job growth--the stimulus package was aimed at small
    businesses, because we knew that 70 percent of new jobs are created by
    small businesses. We were aware of that. And so therefore, when we went
    to Congress, we said, ``As you reduce the tax burden on the American
    people, make sure you understand the effect that tax reductions can have
    on the decisionmakers who hire most of the new people--that would be
    your small-business owner.'' A vital part of our package was to
    encourage investment in the small-business sector of our country, and
    it's paying off.
        See, when the small-business owners of America feel confident and
    feel comfortable in investing in plant and equipment or in new services,
    it stimulates a vibrant part of our economy. That's what happens. The
    cornerstone of our policy, if the truth be known, was to trust
    individuals with their own money and to encourage the small-business
    sector to grow so people could find work.
        And we did so in two specific ways. One, we encouraged investment by
    allowing for accelerated depreciation. That basically is a fancy word
    for saying if you buy a plant or equipment or new computer programs, it
    will really cost you less because you're able to deduct it faster from
    your income. That's an important part of encouraging people to make
    investment decisions.
        The other thing was, is that we reduced all taxes. You see, our
    theory was if you pay taxes, you ought to get a tax relief, not if
    you're a certain--in a certain bracket you get tax relief. If you're
    going to have tax relief, the best, most fairest way to have tax relief
    is to say everybody gets tax relief, not just a few people. And that's
    what we did. Here in Washington, you know, there tends to be class
    warfare. It says only certain people get tax relief, or if you're
    labeled ``the rich'' you don't get tax relief. Our view was, all tax
    relief was the fairest way to do it.

    [[Page 1227]]

        And all tax relief, the theory of giving everybody tax relief who
    paid taxes, was especially beneficial to the small-business owners,
    because most small businesses pay tax at the individual income-tax rate.
    See, most small businesses structure their companies as what they call
    Subchapter S companies--you work for a Subchapter S company--or sole
    proprietorships. And therefore, when you reduce individual income taxes,
    you're reducing income taxes on small businesses as well. And the more
    money a small business has in their treasury, the more likely it is
    they're going to be able to expand and hire, presuming they've got a
    good product.
        Now, Government can't make you have a good product. [Laughter] We
    can't say to you, ``Gosh, we'll help you align what you supply with
    demand.'' You've got to figure that out yourself. That's not the role of
    Government. But once you figure it out, once you've figured out how to
    meet demand in the marketplace, we can provide incentives to encourage
    you to expand. And that's what we've done. And that's why the economy is
    steady and strong. I'm telling you, people are going back to work
    because the small-businesses sector of America is strong and vibrant and
    confident.
        Ed Kostenski is with us. There he is. Ed,
    stand up and be recognized. Thank you. He is from Jacksonville, Florida.
    I said--and by the way, he's got a business called Nationwide Equipment.
    I said, ``Did you start this business?'' He said, ``Yes, at my kitchen
    table.'' It sounds pretty American to me, doesn't it? [Laughter] You
    know how many small businesses have been started at their kitchen table
    or in their garage? Thousands by, by the way, people from all walks of
    life too. Ed is one who did that. He's got an S corporation--S corp,
    which means that when he sees the--all rates get reduced, he's really
    saying, ``The Congress wisely reduced the taxes on my business.'' That's
    an important part of encouraging Ed to move on. By the way, he said that
    his--the tax relief we passed in '01 helped him stay in business. And he
    is--not only is he in business, he's adding employees this year. He's
    added 14 this year. He'll hire another six before the year is out.
        He's excited about his business. If you
    don't believe me, just go ask him after the meeting. [Laughter] He's
    moving used Caterpillars overseas. He buys them, refurbishes them, and
    finds a market and sells them, which means we'd better not have trade
    barriers. I mean, when you hear people talk about open trade, fair
    trade, and free trade, think about Ed. He's able to sell machines.
    There's a need for them. He's able to compete globally, even though he
    is a small-business owner. A lot of small businesses benefit because our
    Government has decided to open markets as opposed to close markets. It's
    an important part, by the way, of making sure America is a good place to
    do business, is to be confident in our ability to compete, so long as
    the playing fields are fair across the world, which we'll make them
    fair. That's part of my job. Ed's job is to meet demand. My job is to
    make sure he's got the ability to do so with free and fair trade.
        He will invest $300,000 this year. That's a
    lot of money for a small business. One of the reasons he says he'll do
    so is because the tax savings on that investment will be about $50,000.
    See, that's what--when you hear me talk about incentives, that's what
    the tax relief plan does. It says, ``Ed, invest 300,000 and you'll save
    50,000 from what you normally would have.'' It's called an incentive.
        And our American citizens have got to understand the connection
    between investment and jobs. When Ed invests
    $300,000 to build a warehouse and a painting facility, somebody has got
    to come and build the warehouse. Somebody has got to manufacture the
    material for the warehouse. Somebody is going to provide the new
    painting equipment for the painting facility. Investment equals jobs.
    When somebody invests, like Ed, somebody has to provide the goods

    [[Page 1228]]

    that he needs. And when somebody provides the goods he needs, somebody
    is working to provide the good he needs. And that's how this economy
    works. He says, ``With that money I don't send back to the IRS, I can
    expand right here.'' [Laughter] Those are his words.
        What Ed is saying is what a lot of people
    around the country tell me, is, ``I can spend my money far wiser than
    the Federal Government can.'' And I appreciate that spirit and that
    attitude. That's why the tax relief we passed was so important.
        The Maxwells are here--Joan and Owen
    Maxwell. You two know them. See, they're their
    boss. No, those aren't the Maxwells. The Maxwells are over here. There
    they are. Thanks for coming. They're from Edenton, North Carolina.
    They've got their own boat manufacturing company. I asked them how the
    fishing was off the coast of North Carolina. [Laughter] They manufacture
    center console boats. That's a pretty neat little business, isn't it?
    And they said their business is good. As a matter of fact, they're
    wisely trying to pre-sell their inventories. That's a smart idea.
        Demand is up for their boats, I suspect because they produce a good-quality
    boat at a reasonable price. If you make a lousy-quality boat at a high
    price, no one's going to buy them. [Laughter] So they're good
    businesspeople. They've added 20 workers in the last 6 months. They're
    expanding their business. They're going to invest $750,000 this year in
    molds for their boat-building business. Somebody has got to make the
    molds. There's some worker making the molds that they're buying. And the
    tax relief plan we passed will save them $100,000 on that investment.
        You see, there's a connection between good tax policy and
    decisionmaking. They're more likely to purchase $750,000 worth of molds
    when they realize they
    have $100,000 worth of savings in so doing. And that's why it's
    important for our citizens to be able to draw the connection between tax
    relief and decisionmaking that leads to more jobs.
        One of the interesting things the
    Maxwells have done--and I really appreciate
    this--is that they have teamed up with a local community college to
    devise a course to train them for people coming into their industry, the
    boat-manufacturing industry. That's a wise, wise use of a very important
    community asset, which is the community colleges.
        I've met some people in North Carolina who, because of the changing
    economy, had to go from the textile industry to the health care
    industry. A lot of people in North Carolina used to work for textiles
    and are looking for new work. And, wisely, the health care industry has
    used the community college system to train people--for really good jobs,
    by the way.
        Now, the person is going to have to want to be trained. But the
    community college and the local businesses have to provide the
    curriculum. Government, by the way, helps pay the salary in a lot of
    cases. And it's a wise use of taxpayers' money, and it's a wise use of
    local taxpayers' money, to provide training for people so they can find
    work.
        One of the real bottlenecks we're going to have in America as our
    economy changes and continues to grow is whether or not the worker is
    going to have the skills necessary to fill the jobs of the 21st century.
    One of the real challenges to make sure that America is the best place
    to do business in the world, so people will be able to continue to find
    work, is to make sure our education system functions well. And one way
    to make it function well is for the Federal Government to work with
    community colleges and local businesses to devise curriculum to train
    people for the jobs which actually exist. And I want to thank
    the Maxwells for being
    a part of this kind of practical move in education all across the
    country.
        Joan says, ``There are a lot of
    opportunities where people can use these skills.

    [[Page 1229]]

    We're literally building our workforce for the future here.'' That's the
    way we think in the administration. We're thinking about the future.
    We're thinking about how to make sure that the momentum that we have
    developed in the economy not only stays strong in the immediate years,
    but how is it going to look 10 years from now. So we've got to start
    planning for the future. We've got to understand the decisions we're
    making today are going to make it more likely that the small-business
    sector, the entrepreneurial spirit of America will remain very strong
    tomorrow.
        And part of that is to make sure the education system not only
    teaches our youngsters how to read, write and add and subtract now,
    before it is too late, but it's also to make sure that our community
    colleges are able to put curriculum in place to train people for jobs
    which will exist.
        So I want to thank the Maxwells for being here. I appreciate your spirit, and thank you
    for hiring people.
        We've got--John Biagas is with us. John,
    thank you for coming--Newport News, Virginia. Newport News, Virginia--
    John purchased his business in 1997. He took a gamble and said, ``I'm
    going to buy the business from the previous owner.'' I think he said
    they might have had a million dollars' worth of sales in 1997. They're
    over 14 now. That's pretty good growth, isn't it, in a 5-year period of
    time. This entrepreneur has taken a business that had a pretty good
    sales base, but he's expanded it 15 times in 5 years. I can't wait to
    see what you look like 5 years from now, John. [Laughter] By the way, it
    won't be very good if they raise taxes on you. See, one of the things--
    if John is thinking about what his business will look like 5 years from
    now, I can predict to him if we run up the taxes on Subchapter S
    corporations by raising, for example, the top rate, his business isn't
    going to look quite as good as it would if--when we keep taxes low.
        John is an S corp. In other words, all the
    talk about running up the top rate affects his business. When you hear
    them in Washington saying, ``We're going to run up the top rate,'' just
    remember this is a tax on small businesses. And you don't want to tax
    small businesses, because small businesses are providing the economic
    momentum necessary for us to have created 1.5 million jobs since August.
    We want that job creation to continue to go on.
        Raising taxes will make it more likely somebody won't be able to
    find a job. You know why? Because it affects businesses like
    John's, that's why. When you start taking money
    out of John's coffers, it means he's less likely to expand. He is a
    full-service electrical and general contractor. That's his job. He hired
    8 people in the last 2 months. He wants to hire 8 to 10 more this year.
    That's positive.
        I think we're beginning to see a trend here. [Laughter] Small
    businesses are hiring--8 people here, 10 people there--but it adds up,
    because there's millions of small businesses all across America. Small
    business is the cornerstone of the great American enterprise system. Not
    only that, it's the cornerstone of a hopeful country, isn't it, the kind
    of country you have where John, who was one of
    14 raised in Lake Charles, Louisiana--the youngest of 14, I might add--
    can go to the family reunion, which I suspect is quite large--
    [laughter]--and says, ``By the way, my business is doing pretty darn
    good.'' It's a great American story, isn't it, where somebody who has a
    dream and is willing to work to realize a dream is able to do so. Our
    job is to make sure those dreams stay alive--the dreams stay alive.
        He'll save $60,000 in taxes this year on
    $350,000 of investment in new trucks. When you hear the investment
    numbers in small businesses, it is heartening, because, I repeat, when
    people invest, they create jobs. That's how jobs are created. John says,
    ``The cash we're able to keep in the business helps a lot. It helps us
    look forward to the future.'' That's what he said. That's what you want
    to hear. You

    [[Page 1230]]

    want to hear your CEO of a small business saying, ``It helps me look
    forward to the future.'' You don't want people saying, ``Oh, gosh, life
    is going to be miserable because when we've been able to come through
    tough times.'' You want to say, ``I'm looking forward.'' Good policy in
    Washington always looks forward, not backwards.
        I'm going to talk about some things we can do to make sure, as
    John and others look forward, the environment is
    encouraging and conducive to economic investment. I just told you one,
    and that is to make sure the education system functions well. If you're
    a--somebody trying to hire people and you see that the education system
    is working well, you'll be able to look forward with confidence, because
    you'll know you'll be able to fulfill your workers' needs. You can't
    look forward if you're worried about finding somebody to meet a skill
    that you need.
        Joan Thompson is with us. She was
    talking about the level of worker--the skill level of the worker she
    needs. She's an owner in a--thank you, Joan--she's an owner in a--part-
    owner of the Minnesota Wire and Cable Company in St. Paul, Minnesota. I
    say ``part-owner''--she's got nine other family members who own a piece
    of the business?
        Joan Thompson. Nine children and both
    parents----
        The President. Yes, 11 people, 11 owners. [Laughter] Family-owned
    business--it's got a nice ring to it, doesn't it, and it's got an
    American ring to it. There's a lot of family-owned businesses around our
    country. And one of the real difficulties for family-owned businesses is
    the fact that we tax a family's assets twice because of the death tax.
    It's important that Congress understand what the death tax does to
    capital formation and the ability for the small-business sector to
    invest.
        The--and I say ``you tax it twice''--when the Minnesota Wire and
    Cable Company makes a profit, it gets taxed. And I suspect you pay
    property taxes at the local level as well, and State taxes. And then
    when the--mom and dad move on, in many cases, that asset will be taxed
    again. And therefore, if the asset is illiquid, some people have to sell
    their business. You can't pass it on. I believe you ought to be able to
    pass your business on to whomever you choose without the Federal
    Government being in between you and the--and those who you designate to
    own the company.
        And so Congress, by the way, needs to hear from small-business
    owners and farmers and ranchers and--to tell Congress to complete the
    task we started. We put the death tax on the way to extinction;
    unfortunately--I think it's 2011--it pops up again. That's going to make
    the year 2010 an interesting year for estate planners. [Laughter] ``How
    do you want to handle this one,'' you know? [Laughter] ``I think I'll go
    ahead and keep on living.'' [Laughter] They just need to make the repeal
    of the death tax a permanent part of the Tax Code. It will be a major
    part of the simplification of the Tax Code too. I understand it takes up
    about 30 percent of the Tax Code, which is a real thick book. And it
    just doesn't--to me, it's bad policy. And it's bad policy for the
    Thompson family and a lot of other small-business owners around America.
        Joan's business is a custom design--
    custom wire and cable assembly business. They've got customers with
    defense contractors and, particularly, health care. She likes to say,
    ``We're a part of the armies of healers that are all across the country.
    We're helping people save lives.'' That's kind of a neat way to frame
    your business, isn't it?
        And it's going well. They've added 14 workers this year, tax savings
    of about $80,000 on $600,000 worth of investment. I said, ``What are you
    going to invest in?'' She said, ``Robotics.'' It's pretty interesting to
    hear a small business say, ``Robotics.'' I don't know whether small
    businesses were saying they were investing in robotics 20 years ago or
    not, but I bet they are over

    [[Page 1231]]

    the next 20 years if the incentives are properly structured, if small
    businesses are encouraged to invest, if the tax structure is such that
    it will make it easier for them to survive by making sure Government
    doesn't take too much of their money.
        She also invests in C&C machines.
    Everybody knows what they are. [Laughter] Somebody is making it.
    [Laughter] Somebody is a part of the manufacturing process that is
    making the C&C machine. In other words, there is a C&C machine maker--
    [laughter]--that is employing people.
        And that's how it works. That's how the economy works. I've asked
    these four small-business owners to come and see us, because I want to
    share with you a couple of things. Let me tell you what she said. She
    said, ``The savings on the tax side gave us the confidence to launch
    another division in our small business.'' We're talking about investment
    in America. Investment equals jobs, and people are now confident to make
    investment because of good tax policy.
        The role of the Government is to create a sense of confidence by
    doing some smart things. In other words, the more money people have of
    their own money the more confident they'll be, particularly as this
    economy picks up steam.
        These are great stories, and I appreciate you all coming and letting
    us talk about your stories. They're uniquely American stories.
        And as we look forward with confidence, we want to make sure that we
    make good decisions. There's a couple of good decisions we need to make.
    One is--a bad decision would be to raise taxes on the American people.
    And some of the tax relief is set to expire. And if Congress doesn't
    make it permanent, that's called a tax increase. And they will be tagged
    with raising taxes on the American people. They should not raise taxes.
    We need good, consistent tax policy.
        If you're a small-business owner, you want there to be a constant in
    your life when it comes to planning. You've got too much to worry
    about--markets, your customer base--and you need to have certainty in
    the Tax Code. And the Congress needs to know that. And raising taxes
    creates uncertainty and will make it difficult for small-business owners
    to plan and invest.
        Secondly, health care costs are on the rise, and that makes it
    difficult for employer and employee. We must not allow the Federal
    Government to run our health care system in America. What we must do is
    to put good policy and plan in place, which will connect the patient-
    doctor relationship and give people choices and decisionmaking powers in
    the marketplace. That's why I'm such a strong backer of health savings
    accounts. These can be tailored for small businesses. I would urge every
    small business in America to look at a health savings account. It's a
    good way to help control costs, and it's a good way to provide benefits
    for your workers.
        We need association health plans, which allows--small businesses
    will be able to share risk. And big business are able to get pretty good
    buys in health care because they're got a lot of employees. They can
    spread risk across a large number of employees. Small businesses don't
    have that same ability, unless Government allows them to share risk
    across jurisdictional boundaries. And that's what association health
    plans do.
        We need tort reform in America. Small businesses are threatened by--
    if you ask people what affects their confidence in the future, they'll
    tell you, when they see junk lawsuits or have junk lawsuits filed
    against them. It threatens their existence. It makes it very difficult
    for people to plan with confidence. And let's face it, our society is
    too litigious. There's too many lawsuits, a lot of them frivolous and
    junk lawsuits. And there is a role for the Federal Government in this.
    We need to have class action reform. We need to have asbestos reform.

    [[Page 1232]]

    Congress needs to get these bills passed and to my desk.
        We need medical liability reform as well at the Federal level. You
    see, junk and frivolous lawsuits cause docs to practice defensive
    medicine. And defensive medicine basically means, ``I'm going to
    prescribe more procedure than needed, so that when I get in a court of
    law, I'll be able to defend myself.'' And that runs up the cost of
    medicine, which hurts the patients, and it hurts the Federal Government
    because the Federal Government pays a lot of money for health care in
    Medicare and Medicaid and our veterans' benefits. And our budgets are
    affected by frivolous and junk lawsuits here at the Federal level.
    Therefore, I think it is a Federal problem that does require a Federal
    solution. And we proposed such a solution. The House of Representatives
    passed it. It got stuck in the Senate, because the trial lawyers are
    powerful in the Senate; that's why. And for the sake of small-business
    growth and for the sake of having a good economy in the future, we need
    to convince the United States Senate to pass meaningful and real tort
    reform. It's an important part--[applause].
        And finally, if you're a small-business owner, you need to know that
    you're going to have reliable and affordable sources of energy. There's
    a lot of concern about the manufacturing sector in America, and there
    should be. But a manufacturing sector has got a real problem if there
    are disruptions of energy supply, spikes in energy prices, and doesn't
    have reliable electricity.
        And so my administration recognized this early on. And we knew that
    if we were dependent upon foreign sources of energy it would create not
    only an economic security risk but a national security risk. And so we
    proposed ways to increase conservation. We promoted new technologies
    that will come into play in the out-years that will make us less
    reliable upon foreign sources of energy. We recognized that we can
    explore for energy in environmentally-friendly ways that we couldn't 20
    years ago. We promoted new electricity reliability standards. We've done
    a lot of things. And we proposed it to the United States Congress, and,
    of course, it's stuck. They're playing politics with the national energy
    policy.
        But if we're interested in making sure people can find work in
    America, if we want to be the best place to do business, if we want the
    entrepreneurial spirit to remain strong, we've got to develop an energy
    policy that makes us less dependent on foreign sources of energy.
        I've told you Ed relies upon trade. He's
    moving used Cats, used John Deere, and used Case equipment overseas. He
    said when you look at it, you can't tell it's used, though, because he's
    got such good workers. [Laughter] They take a used piece of equipment
    and redo it, make it look like new, make it run like new, and sell it
    like old. [Laughter] And as he said, ``I am a small-business guy
    utilizing free trade.''
        America must reject economic isolationism if we're going to be a
    confident, growing nation. Listen, we're good at things. Look at old
    Ed; he's good at something. [Laughter] All he
    needs is a chance to sell it. And if we fall into trade wars because of
    politics, we will be doing a disservice to the entrepreneur in America.
    We're good at growing things. Our farmers ought to be selling soybeans
    everywhere in the world. And that's what we're trying to make sure other
    countries hear this--hear the philosophy of this administration. ``We're
    opening up our markets. Open up yours.'' That's what we're telling them.
        See, we know what's good for consumers: when people have more
    choice. If you're a consumer in America and you've got more goods to
    choose from, you're going to get better quality at a better price.
    That's how it works. And so we've said--not only have I said but other
    Presidents have said--Presidents before me have said, ``For the good of
    the American consumer, sell

    [[Page 1233]]

    us your goods and services here in America.''
        And now you've got an administration who is saying, ``Since we do
    that for you, you open up your markets.'' I told Evans and Zoellick, ``When we
    need to get tough with foreign nations that shut us out, get tough,
    because all we're interested in is a level playing field.'' That's what
    we want. We want our people treated fairly.
        You'll hear people say, ``Well, the best way to deal with this is to
    find out ways not to trade fairly, is to isolate us.'' That would be
    terrible for small businesses. And so this administration is confident
    in America because we're confident in Americans. We know we can--we're
    really good. We're really good at building things and growing things and
    selling things. And I intend to make sure that they have a good chance
    to do so, for the sake of American workers.
        This economy of ours is steady and strong--it's steady and strong.
    It's steady and strong, which means people are going back to work--1.5
    million jobs since last August. That is steady growth. And it's steady
    and strong because the American entrepreneur is strong and capable and
    willing to take risk. The entrepreneur is employing more people. The
    entrepreneur is investing. And the role of Government is to promote good
    policy that encourages the American entrepreneur.
        And the other thing about the entrepreneurial spirit that is so
    wonderful about our country is it doesn't matter whether you're the
    fourth generation to own your business or you're a first-generation
    American. Either way, you've got the opportunity to say, ``This is my
    business. I own it. I'm going to nurture it and grow it and, therefore,
    help others to find work.'' That's the cornerstone of the Bush economic
    policy. And it's working.
        I'm glad you all are here. God bless your efforts, and may God
    continue to bless our country.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:08 a.m. in the East Room at the White
    House.