    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book I)]
    [February 7, 2008]
    [Pages 160-161]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Signing the Executive Order To Improve the Coordination and
    Effectiveness of Youth Programs
    February 7, 2008

        Thank you all. Thanks. Please be seated. I thank you for joining
    Laura and me. I've got two jobs. One is I'm going
    to sign an Executive order here in a minute. I'm making sure that all
    agencies involved with Helping America's Youth coordinate their
    activities. And then I've got to introduce Laura. [Laughter]
        I appreciate very much those of you who are committed to helping our
    country by saving souls and by giving people hope. I think it's--I can't
    think of a more noble cause than to serve America. And there's all kinds
    of ways to serve America. One way is to wear the uniform. Another way is
    to find--somebody wonders whether or not there's a positive future in
    their lives, and put your arm around them and say, ``I love you; what
    can I do to help you?''
        That happens, by the way, all across America. And it doesn't take
    one single law to cause somebody to love a neighbor. It does take a law;
    it's just--it's a higher law. It's a law from a higher inspiration than
    government. And so today Laura and I welcome
    those who are neighborhood healers and helpers. We really appreciate
    your focus on helping our Nation's youth, particularly boys.
        In my State of the Union a couple of years ago, I talked about the
    initiative that we're honoring today, and it's an initiative that says,
    there is a better future for America's young folks. And we've set some
    important goals. And one of the goals inside this administration is to
    make sure that those people who are responsible for spending taxpayers'
    money on these programs actually coordinate their efforts and set high
    standards. A lot of times in government we don't do a very good job of
    measuring, and so the idea is to set standards and to coordinate, but
    the idea is also to empower those who are on the frontlines of saving
    lives.
        I like to say, government is not really about love. There may be
    loving people in government, but government itself is laws and justice.
    Love is found in the hearts of our citizens who are in the
    neighborhoods.
        And so the Executive order I'm going to sign is to--all aimed at
    kind of leaving behind a structure so that whoever is lucky enough to
    follow me--[laughter]--will see a blueprint on how to help, really,
    people realize the great promise of the country.
        I believe we solve--save souls one person at a time. And I like to
    remind our fellow citizens, while one person can't save every soul, one
    person can save a soul. And it's that cumulative effort of love and
    compassion and work that will define a hopeful future. And somebody who
    shares that same passion about recognizing the true strength of America
    lies in the hearts and souls of our citizens, and someone who cares
    deeply about making sure the young in America have a bright future is
    our

    [[Page 161]]

    speaker, my wife, the First Lady, Laura Bush.

    [At this point, the First Lady spoke, a video was shown, and the
    President signed the Executive order.]

    Note: The President spoke at 2:54 p.m. in the East Room at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to Executive Order 13459, which is
    listed in Appendix D at the end of this volume. The transcript released
    by the Office of the Press Secretary also included the remarks of the
    First Lady.