[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book II)]
[July 17, 2004]
[Pages 1363-1364]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



The President's Radio Address
July 17, 2004

    Good morning. Every day in America, parents struggle to raise their 
children in a culture that too often glorifies instant gratification and 
irresponsible behavior. During this time of great change in our Nation, 
Government must stand with families to help them raise healthy, 
responsible children.
    Yesterday, the Federal Government released its annual report called 
``America's Children in Brief.'' This report collects a broad range of 
statistics that tell us about the promises and challenges facing 
America's young people. The good news is, is that we have made 
significant progress during the past decade. Strong families and 
communities are instilling responsibility and character in our children, 
and we are seeing encouraging results.
    Violent crime among our teenagers has decreased dramatically. From 
1993 to 2002, the rate of teens committing violent crimes dropped 78 
percent, and the rate of teens becoming victims of violent crimes 
dropped 74 percent. Among our youth, smoking and illicit drug use have 
declined. Teen birth rates have fallen to the lowest levels ever 
recorded, with the greatest progress occurring among African American 
teenagers.
    Studies tell us that children raised in a household with married 
parents are far less likely to live in poverty, fail at school, or have 
behavioral problems. Fortunately, after a decades-long downward trend, 
the percentage of children living with married parents has remained 
steady since 1995. And through our proposed Healthy Marriages 
Initiative, my administration is committed to ensuring that more of our 
children grow up in a stable home with a married mother and father.
    We are headed in the right direction, but we still have work to do, 
so my administration is acting to encourage teens to make healthy 
choices. Although teen drug use has decreased, we can and must do more. 
We know that random drug testing in schools is effective, and it allows 
us to identify kids who need help. In my most recent budget, I proposed 
spending an additional $23 million for school drug testing. And although 
teen birth rates have declined, about 3 million of our teenagers 
contract sexually transmitted diseases each year. So we've requested a 
doubling of Federal funding for abstinence-only education programs. We 
have also requested $25 million for our Character Education Initiative. 
This program will encourage schools to develop curricula that promote 
good character and help children develop a sense of responsibility to 
their community. Today I urge the Congress to act on all these important 
initiatives.
    When parents, schools, and government work together, we can counter 
the negative influences in today's culture and send the right messages 
to our children. As yesterday's report shows, we are making progress in 
changing the culture of America from one that said, ``If it feels good, 
do it,'' and ``If you've got a problem, blame somebody else,'' to a 
culture in which each of us understands we are responsible for the 
decisions we make in life. The decisions our children make now will 
affect their health and character for the rest of their lives. And when 
they make the right choices,

[[Page 1364]]

they are preparing themselves to realize the bright future our Nation 
offers each of them.
    Thank you for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 7:16 a.m. on July 16 in the Cabinet 
Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on July 17. The 
transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
July 16 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast. The Office of 
the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of this 
address.