    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book II)]
    [October 6, 2006]
    [Pages 1789-1790]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on the National Economy
    October 6, 2006

        Secretary Paulson and I want to
    thank FedEx for inviting us here today to have a discussion about our
    economy and about entrepreneurship. We just met with a handful of small-
    business owners, business creators, people who had an innovative idea,
    followed up on their idea, and have now built healthy little businesses
    that are growing and employing people.
        I don't necessarily want to speak for the Secretary, but I will tell you that it does my spirits good to
    be able to talk to risk takers and dreamers and doers. And one of the
    jobs of government is to make sure the entrepreneurial spirit is strong
    by creating an environment that encourages entrepreneurship, which means
    low taxes, less regulation, rational spending at the Government level,
    opening markets overseas so that the entrepreneur can trade but is
    treated fairly, and making sure that foreign countries don't steal
    products; that's called intellectual property rights. It's to really say
    to the good folks in America that Government will help you as opposed to
    impede your ability to expand your company. And the entrepreneurial
    spirit is strong in America. Our economy is strong.
        I say that because today we got more good news. The national
    unemployment rate is down to 4.6 percent. We have added 6.6 million new
    jobs since August of 2003. The wages are going up; energy prices are
    falling, which means people are going to have more money in their pocket
    to save, invest, or spend. And the fundamental question is, how do we
    make sure we sustain the economic growth? And one way to do so is to
    make the tax cuts we passed permanent. One sure way to hurt this economy
    is to take money out of the pockets of consumers or small-business
    owners and send it to Washington, DC.
        And so I'm pleased with the economic progress we're making. The
    Secretary of the Treasury and I will
    continue to work

    [[Page 1790]]

    as hard as we can to encourage entrepreneurial--entrepreneurship and
    small-business growth.
        And so, again, I want to thank the people of FedEx. This is a great
    example of what is possible in America. A fellow I knew long years ago,
    named Fred Smith, had a dream about how
    to better distribute mail and product. And he and a lot of other good
    folks built this into a great American company.
        So I want to thank the folks here for letting us come by to say
    hello.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:27 a.m. at the FedEx Express DCA
    Facility. In his remarks, he referred to Frederick W. Smith, chairman,
    president, and chief executive officer, FedEx Corp.