[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.