[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2007, Book II)]
[September 10, 2007]
[Pages 1191-1192]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at a Swearing-In Ceremony for James A. Nussle as Director of the Office of Management and Budget
September 10, 2007

    Thank you all. Please be seated. I thank you for joining us as I 
welcome the new Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Jim 
Nussle. I congratulate Jim. I thank him for agreeing to serve.
    Public service is a family commitment. And I want to thank 
Karen, Sarah, and Mark and all the members of 
Jim's family for supporting him as he takes on this important duty.
    I appreciate the Vice President being here 
to swear in the newest member of the Cabinet. I appreciate the members 
of my Cabinet for joining us. Thank you all for taking time out of your 
busy schedules to be here. I know Jim appreciates it.
    I appreciate Paul Ryan, a Member of the House 
of Congress--a Member of Congress from Wisconsin and the ranking member 
of the House Budget Committee. He's here because he understands that the 
man I picked to run the OMB knows what he's doing.
    The Director of OMB is one of the most important jobs in Government. 
It's a vital assignment. I picked a man who knows how to count--
[laughter]--and knows how to work with Congress to get the job done.
    This Agency oversees the broad range of operations essential to the 
day-to-day operations of the Federal Government. It requires a leader 
who believes in the people, who cares about the people of the United 
States. Jim is such a person. It also requires a leader who knows how to 
keep taxes low, because that's what we intend to do.
    When it came time to search for a new OMB Director, it wasn't hard 
to find in Jim Nussle the kind of person I was looking for: somebody who 
can get a tough job done, and somebody who has a solid record of fiscal 
restraint. For 6 years, Jim served as chairman of the Budget Committee 
in the House of Representatives. He accomplished his tasks with a lot of 
skill. He was able to work with people from both parties and with the 
administration, I might add, handling the tough job. He understands that 
the Federal dollars don't come out of thin air. In other words, when we 
spend money up here, we're spending the people's money. He understands 
every dollar spent in Washington is a dollar that cannot be used by a 
small-business owner or a farmer or the families trying to save for 
their children's future.
    It's our responsibility to ensure that we run our Government wisely 
and to spend the people's money wisely. Jim Nussle understands that. He 
also understands that cutting taxes has helped our economy grow. We've 
overcome some tough times in America. When you lower taxes in the face 
of a recession or uncertainty, it enables people to have more money to 
spend, save, or invest. And the tax cuts that we passed have worked. The 
economy is--grew at over 3 percent the last quarter. Our national 
unemployment rate is 4.6 percent. Inflation's low. The best way to make 
sure our growth continues is not to raise the taxes on the people.
    And so we've submitted a budget that keeps taxes low and will enable 
us to achieve balance by 2012. And Jim Nussle understands this is a 
realistic budget. And I look forward to working with him to get our 
budgets passed through the United States Congress. I understand it's 
going to be tough work, Jim, because people up there want to raise 
taxes. We can't let them do so, for the sake of our families, for the 
sake of economic vitality.
    I appreciate very much the fact that he knows what I know, that the 
OMB has got some highly professional, hard-working people who are 
serving the country. And I thank the good folks who work at the

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Office of Management and Budget. I thank you for your service to the 
country. And I'm looking forward to you getting to know Jim Nussle. He, 
like me, will appreciate what you're doing for the United States.
    And so, Jim, I congratulate you on assuming this important position. 
I appreciate your family supporting you. And now I ask the Vice 
President to swear you in.

Note: The President spoke at 1:11 p.m. in Room 450 of the Dwight D. 
Eisenhower Executive Office Building. The transcript released by the 
Office of the Press Secretary also included the remarks of Director 
Nussle.