    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book I)]
    [January 25, 2008]
    [Pages 111-112]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks to the ``Congress of Tomorrow'' Luncheon in White Sulphur
    Springs, West Virginia
    January 25, 2008

        Thank you. I want to thank Tom; he read it
    just like I wrote it. [Laughter] Thanks for your warm welcome. I'm glad
    to be with you. I'm looking forward to spending some of the afternoon
    with you, and then I've got to get back to write the State of the Union
    he was talking about.
        Two issues I'm going to talk about in the State of the Union require
    our immediate attention, and that's an economic growth package that will
    keep this economy of ours healthy and legislation making sure our
    professionals--our intelligence professionals have the tools they need
    to protect the United States of America.
        I am confident in the long-term strength of our Nation's economy. I
    believe that the fundamentals are sound. I know the entrepreneurial
    spirit is high. We have a flexible, we have a resilient, and we have a
    dynamic economy. But there are some uncertainties. And after a lot of
    thought, I called on the Congress, and your leaders responded to enact a
    growth package so we can reduce the risk of an economic downturn this
    year.
        Speaker Pelosi and Leader Boehner have demonstrated strong leadership. They reached an
    agreement on a proposal that will have a positive impact on our economy.
    Congress should move it quickly. And I understand the desire to add
    provisions from both the right and the left. I strongly believe it would
    be a mistake to delay or derail this bill.
        This package is big enough to affect the economy in positive ways,
    it will provide immediate help, and it's temporary. The entire package
    is tax relief. There are no tax increases, no unnecessary spending or
    regulatory projects; income tax cuts for a lot of people, as well as
    bonus depreciation for small--for our businesses and small business
    expensing. It's a sound package. It makes a lot of sense. It's needed,
    and you need to pass it as quickly as possible to get money in the hands
    of the people who are going to help this economy stay strong.
        Now I want you--I'll make sure you understand in the State of the
    Union that this package certainly doesn't mean we ought to do something
    else on taxes. And the best thing we can do to deal with uncertainty in
    the economy is make the tax cuts we passed permanent. [Applause] Thank
    you. Thank you all.
        Our most solemn duty is to protect the American people, and I
    appreciate the fact that we've worked closely together over the last 7
    years to do just that. That is our most solemn duty. Fortunately, we've
    got a lot of good people working hard to help us protect America, and
    these professionals need the tools they need to do their jobs.
        You know, one of the most important tools is to be able to figure
    out the intentions of an enemy that still wants to do us harm. If
    they're making calls into America, we need to know why they're calling,
    what they're thinking, and what they're planning. We passed the Protect
    America Act that has aided our efforts to monitor the communications of
    terrorists and foreign intelligence targets. And I want to thank the--
    the good work of the people here to get that bill passed last year.

    [[Page 112]]

        Unfortunately, the bill is set to expire in 7 days. The threat to
    America does not expire in 7 days. The Senate Intelligence Committee
    completed work last fall on a bipartisan bill that we can support. It
    may need some tweaks, but we--it's a good bill in this sense: It will
    maintain the vital flow of intelligence on terrorist threats to protect
    the privacy of Americans while making sure we do not extend those same
    protections to terrorists overseas. It will provide liability protection
    to companies now facing billion dollars in lawsuits only because they
    are believed to have assisted the efforts to defend our Nation following
    the 9/11 attacks.
        I'm looking forward to coming before you in Congress and to say as
    plainly as I can: This bill is important to the security of the United
    States of America, and the Congress needs to get a good bill to my desk
    as soon as possible.
        Anyway, I'm looking forward to working with you. I thank you. I
    appreciate the leadership. I appreciate the chance to come and visit
    with you. Thank you for being friends. Thank you for serving our
    country.
        I also want to thank your families. I understand--I think I've told
    you this before: I understand what it does to a family to be in public
    service. You just can't thank our spouses and kids enough for joining in
    a noble cause of serving the greatest country on the face of the Earth.
        I'm proud to be able to thank you and call you friends. I'm proud to
    be able to thank your families for serving our country as well. God
    bless.

    Note: The President spoke at 12:47 p.m. at The Greenbrier. In his
    remarks, he referred to Rep. Tom Price.