    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book II)]
    [July 31, 2004]
    [Pages 1436-1437]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's Radio Address
    July 31, 2004

        Good morning. This week, we received encouraging reports that show
    our economy is gaining strength. Consumer confidence hit a 2-year high
    in July. Existing home sales hit an alltime new record in June. The
    homeownership rate has hit a new alltime high. And since last summer,
    our economy has grown at a rate as fast as any in nearly 20 years.
        These gains in our economy have come at a time when Americans are
    benefiting from the full effects of tax relief. I have traveled across
    America meeting small-business owners who are investing tax savings into
    new equipment, and I have met families who are using tax savings to pay
    for their children's needs. All of this added economic activity is
    creating opportunity. Since last August, Americans have started work at
    more than 1.5 million new jobs, many of them in high-growth, high-paying
    industries.
        The impact of our growing economy is being felt in Washington, where
    estimates of Government deficits are shrinking. My administration now
    forecasts that the combined deficits in 2004 and 2005 will be about $100
    billion less than previously expected, and because of my policy of
    strengthening the economy while enforcing spending discipline in
    Washington, we remain on pace to reduce the deficit by half in the next
    5 years.
        These are hopeful signs, and we must make sure our economy continues
    to gain momentum. Families are working hard to make ends meet, and these
    families depend on good policies in Washington that promote growth, new
    jobs, and new opportunities.
        Thanks to the No Child Left Behind Act, we are improving our public
    schools so students learn basic skills like reading, writing, math, and
    science. We have expanded Pell grant college scholarships so that more
    students can attend college, and we are helping community colleges train
    workers for

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    the new high-skill jobs being created in our growing economy.
        We're giving individuals more control over their health care dollars
    through newly created health savings accounts, and we must also address
    the rising costs of health care by enacting commonsense reforms in our
    medical liability system. We must continue to open up foreign markets to
    American goods, because on a level playing field, American workers and
    farmers and entrepreneurs can compete with anybody, anytime, anywhere.
        We must enact reforms to our legal system so hard-working
    entrepreneurs are not run out of business by frivolous lawsuits. We must
    have a national energy policy so we become less dependent on foreign
    sources of energy. We must have sensible regulations so that America's
    job creators can focus on satisfying their customers and not bureaucrats
    in Government.
        And we must keep taxes low on American families and small businesses
    by making the tax relief we have passed permanent. Thanks to tax relief
    enacted since 2001, a family of four earning $40,000 a year now pays
    nearly $2,000 less in Federal taxes. That is enough to pay the average
    home electricity bill for more than a year or fill up the gas tank of
    two cars for an entire year. To millions of hard-working Americans, tax
    relief has been the difference in helping make ends meet.
        This is a crucial time for our economy. We have emerged from a
    period of great challenge. Terrorist attacks, recession, and corporate
    scandal hurt the wallets of millions of Americans, but these shocks to
    our economy did not damage our spirit. We're a hard-working and
    resilient nation. Our economy is on a rising path, and together, we will
    bring our prosperity to every corner of America.
        Thank you for listening.

    Note: The address was recorded at 1:40 p.m. on July 30 at the Amway
    Grand Plaza in Grand Rapids, MI, for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on July 31.
    The transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary
    on July 30 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast. The Office
    of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of
    this address.