[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.