[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book I)]
[May 2, 2008]
[Pages 619-633]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks on the National Economy and a Question-and-Answer Session in
Maryland Heights, Missouri
May 2, 2008
The President. Thank you very much. Please be seated. Thank you.
What he said was, ``It's about time you
made it.'' [Laughter] Dave was right: I was scheduled here at World
Wide, and then the fires hit in California, and I went out there to help
the people try to recover from the natural disaster. And I told him at
the Christmas party there at the White House, I said, ``I'm coming
back.'' I've always felt like if you're a politician and you make a
promise, you better keep it. [Laughter] And so I have.
And the reason why I wanted to come then and wanted to come back is,
I think it's very important for the President to recognize success and
for the President to herald entrepreneurship. And so in meeting with
Dave and Jim
and the employees of this company, really what I'm saying is that the
entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well here at World Wide.
You heard the man say that over the
past 7 years, revenues have tripled, and they've expanded the job base
by 500 people. And what's relevant for America is that it's the small-
business sector--I don't know if you call yourself small anymore; you're
probably a medium-sized business sector--[laughter]--that creates jobs.
Seventy percent of new jobs in America are created by small and medium-
sized businesses. And if you're worried about the economy like I'm
worried about the economy, then it makes sense to put policy in place
that encourages investment and growth with the job creators.
And that's what I want to spend a little time talking to you about.
But before I do so, I do want to thank the World Wide Technology
employees. The truth of the matter is, this company is doing well cause
you've got imaginative leadership, but you've also got great employees
who are well motivated, taken care of, inspired. And it's been my honor
to meet some of your employees, and I look forward to answering some of
your questions here in a minute.
[[Page 620]]
I do want to thank the Governor of the
State of Missouri for joining us. Governor Blunt, I'm proud you're here.
Thank you for taking time out of your schedule. The Governor and I
discussed the recent storms that have hit parts of Missouri. I assured
him that we will stay in touch with his office and the emergency teams
to make sure that if there needs to be a Federal response, we will be
ready to give one. And obviously, for those who've lost their property
today, we send our heartfelt condolences, and just want you to know that
when natural disaster strikes, if the disaster is--merits it, there will
be a ample and robust government response. So thanks for coming,
Governor.
I'm also proud to be here with the United States Senator, Kit
Bond from Missouri. Needless to
say, he used his time on Air Force One to make sure I understood the
issues that were facing the State of Missouri. We spent a little time
talking about the Missouri River. And Todd Akin
is with us too. Congressman, I'm proud you're here. Thanks for coming.
So we're getting economic news. There's a lot of data beginning to
move. On Wednesday, the--they talked about the fact that the economy in
the first quarter grew at 0.6 percent. That's the same as it grew in the
fourth quarter of last year. That's not good enough for America. It's
positive growth, but we can do better than that. Today there was another
report out that showed that we lost 20,000 jobs last month, even though
the unemployment rate dropped to 5 percent. In other words, the
unemployment rate went down. And again, that's a sign that this economy
is not as robust as any of us would like it.
The good news is, is that we anticipated this. Last fall, we started
to get indications that the economy was going to slow down. And so I--
believe it or not, you can actually work with Congress sometimes on--
with people on both sides of the aisle, which is what we did; these
two Members were incredibly constructive--to pass a stimulus
package, progrowth package.
There's two aspects to that package I want to spend some time
talking about. One of them is, is that you're going to get some money--
turns out, it's your own money, but you're going to get it back.
[Laughter] Six hundred dollars per person, $1,200 per couple, $300 per
child; a family of four will be getting a $1,800 check. And the reason
why--and by the way, it's going to affect 130 million families. And the
reason why that is good policy, first of all, it's a temporary tax
relief, recognizing that we're going to recover. And this is to help
stimulate that recovery.
Secondly, we wanted to make sure that people were encouraged to be
consumers. We wanted there to be consumption in our society, and no
better way to stimulate consumption than to let you have some of your
own money back.
Thirdly, it turns out that this money is going to be very helpful in
helping people deal with high energy prices and food price. I'm going to
spend a little time on energy here in a minute.
And fourthly, it's big enough. In other words, we didn't want to
make a political statement. We wanted to make a statement that will
affect this economy. When you're affecting 130 million households, with
over $150 billion of progrowth package, it's going to affect us
positively. The experts say that beginning--toward the end of this
quarter and the beginning of next quarter, we should see some positive
signs as a result of the progrowth economic package.
Now, some of you are saying, ``You think I'm ever going to see my
money? We've heard `the check is in the mail' deal before.'' Well, it's
coming. They started hitting last Monday. And Secretary of the Treasury
Paulson is on top of this, and so
you'll start seeing--if you're not--if you didn't get your money
electronically, you're going to start seeing it come in the check form.
[[Page 621]]
And for those people in Missouri and around the Nation that do not
file income taxes, you need to contact the local IRS office because
you're likely to be eligible. And therefore, you got to make sure you
sign up for the program in order to get the money. We want you to get
the money. And so if you're involved in a church group that's worried
about helping people, then make sure that parishioners, or make sure
people in the community centers understand that if you're not a filer,
you're still eligible to get a check.
Now, the other aspect of the program was to stimulate investment for
companies like World Wide. In other words, there's a--you can affect the
Tax Code that provides incentives for the CEOs to say, ``I think we
need--we ought to buy some equipment.'' And that's important for a
couple of reasons: One, it makes you more productive; it makes you more
competitive; it gives the employees a better chance to keep this company
on a cutting edge.
Secondly, somebody has to make that which you purchase. So if the
Tax Code says it's in your interest to buy a piece of equipment or to
buy software or to buy something to make this company a better company,
then somewhere in the economy somebody is going to make it for you. And
that also creates jobs. There's a ripple effect for using the Tax Code
to stimulate investment.
I was talking to Dave and
Jim, and they were telling me that the
incentives built in the progrowth plan for businesses will--have--are
causing them to make new investments for you that they may have put off
for later years. And the effects of this aspect of the progrowth plan
are beginning to kick in as well; in other words, it's just starting. We
passed the deal in February.
The point I'm trying to tell you is, is that we worked well with
Congress, and that the effects of a robust attempt to inject life hasn't
really kicked in yet. And I'm--if you believe these economists, if they
had three hands they'd say, ``On the one hand, on the other hand, and
then on the third hand.'' [Laughter] But we've got some smart folks
around that are analyzing what this means, and they feel confident about
it.
I've been--since I've been your President, I want to remind you, we
have been through a recession, we have been through a terrorist attack,
we have been at war, we have had corporate scandals, we have had major
natural disasters, and yet this economy always recovers. We're a
resilient economy because we've got good, capable, smart, hard-working
people in America. And I know it's tough times, and I know you're having
to pay more at the fuel pump than you want, but this economy is going to
come on. I'm confident it will. And I want to thank the folks at World
Wide for being a part of the leading edge of optimism here in America
and the leading edge in making sure that people can find good, hard--
paying jobs.
Let me talk about energy very quickly. I'm fully aware that people
are paying dearly at the pump. The other day at a press conference I
said it's like a tax; it's a tax on you. The more that gasoline goes up,
the more you're paying for the pump, the less money you have in your
pocket to spend for your family. I will tell you, it's taken us awhile
to get in this fix, and therefore, it's going to take us awhile to get
out of the fix. But I want to remind you that an energy policy that
basically prohibits America from finding oil in our own land is an
energy policy that has led to high gasoline prices.
When I first got to the Congress, I suggested that we have a
comprehensive energy policy: one that recognizes the short-term effects
of being reliant upon foreign oil; one that says we can use new
technologies that will enable us to power our automobiles in different
kinds of ways, using ethanol, for example, or battery technology; and
one ultimately that will allow hydrogen to power the car.
[[Page 622]]
So we worked well with Congress on the interim step. As you know,
ethanol is beginning to take off. And I'm convinced we're going to be
able to make ethanol out of something other than corn here relatively
quickly, like wood chips or grasses grown in the desert, which will be
very exciting for the American people. Hydrogen, we're doing a lot of
research on your behalf to have hydrogen-powered automobiles, which
means you're running on hydrogen, the waste product of which is water.
But in the meantime, in the short run, we didn't allow exploration
for oil and gas in places like Alaska or Outer Continental Shelf. And
guess what happened? World demand exceeded supply, and now you're paying
for it. If Congress truly is interested in helping relieve the price of
gasoline, they would do two things. They would recognize that we can
drill for oil and gas in environmentally friendly ways here in the
United States, where there is good reserves. And they would build
refineries; they would encourage the construction of refineries. Do you
know that there hasn't been a new refinery built in America since 1976?
No wonder there's constricted supplies. If you want more of something,
in this case, you got to build the additional manufacturing capability.
And so our gasoline supplies are restricted as well.
My attitude is, I understand the pain, but I also understand if we
don't allow us to explore in environmentally friendly ways for oil and
gas reserves in the United States of America, we'll remain dependent in
the short term on foreign oil. And that's not good for us.
I want to talk about housing very quickly. The key to the housing
market is for the market to adjust--you know, built too many houses. We
just got to work through the system. But there's things Government
should and can do that is responsible--mainly, is to help creditworthy
people stay in their home. That's the best thing we can do, is to help
somebody who is capable of paying the mortgage, and if they just need a
little help to be able to stay in the home, is to help provide that
help.
And here's the dilemma: If you got a--bought yourself a mortgage, in
the old days when you--the originator of your mortgage, like a savings
and loan, was somebody that you could go and talk in the office, say,
``Listen, man, I got a little bit of a problem. I'm in a bind. I need a
little help on my interest payment. Or can you extend my note out a
little bit?'' The originator of the mortgage, the guy who loaned you the
money, still owned the paper. In this day and age, the person that
loaned you the money for the mortgage may not own the mortgage anymore.
And so we came together--the Treasury Department and groups that
help people understand the mortgage market and refinancing experts--and
put together what's called the HOPE NOW Alliance, which enables people
to go and renegotiate loans. That's what we want to do. We want to help
people stay in their homes. The market is going to correct. And what we
want to do is to say, here's a way for you to stay in your home. They go
to these lenders, big lenders and say, look, just help them out a little
bit--delay interest or renegotiate the interest rates or extend the
payments. We've helped about 1,400,000 homeowners stay in their homes.
I know there's all kinds of proposals coming out of Congress. I
mean, one such proposal was: Why don't you use your money to buy empty
houses? Well, that doesn't help the person who's no longer in the house.
That may help the lender; that may help the speculator. I'm interested
in helping the homeowner. And so I--we'll work with Congress on
legislation, but in my judgment, the best kind of legislation focuses on
the person that actually owns the home.
Now, look, some people were in there speculating. I don't think
Government ought to help speculators. And Government--you know, the
truth of the matter is, some folks probably shouldn't have tried
[[Page 623]]
to buy a home in the first place. But there's a lot of good,
creditworthy people; they just need a little relief to stay in the home.
The other thing I'm worried about is these reset mortgages. What I'm
very concerned about is somebody went out and got them a mortgage, and
the person that sold them the mortgage said, ``Boy, this is a good, low
interest rate for you.'' They forgot to tell them the second half: that
in a couple of years, it's going to bump up. These resets, as you know,
you buy a low interest rate, and you get on the paper, and then by a
couple of years later, all of a sudden, the interest rate booms up.
And I'm--what I'm really concerned about is fraudulent tactics that
didn't tell people that didn't really quite understand what was going
on, the full story. And it's a Federal responsibility to make sure if
that stuff goes on, people are held to account. We don't want people
being cheated in America.
The other thing that the Government can do is to reform what's
called these GSEs. These are big Government-backed lending institutions.
And we can reform them and get them focused on their core mission, which
is to help the mortgage industry move forward, help people in homes.
And finally, another interesting idea is to let the States' housing
authorities issue tax-free bonds, which will then provide more money for
refinancing.
Finally, I do want to talk about trade. It's an interesting subject
here in America. There's a lot of people who say trade is bad for our
country. We shouldn't be a nation that opens up markets, that's what
they're saying. Unless, of course, you're a Missouri farmer who's
selling your product into foreign markets. Unless, of course, you're
World Wide Technology, which is expanding in a robust way and is looking
for new markets. By the way, it's in your interests if you're working
for World Wide that markets be open. If you're good at what you're
doing--and you are, obviously; otherwise, you wouldn't be successful--
then trade policy ought to make it easier for you to enter foreign
markets.
All I want is for America to be treated the way we treat other
nations. I think that's a reasonable thing to ask. And so let me talk
about the Colombia free trade agreement. You might have been reading
about that lately. It's one of these issues that has created
consternation, at least in Washington. Most goods from Colombia come
into the United States duty free. That's a result of longstanding
congressional policy. Most of our goods and services are taxed going
into Colombia. Most goods coming here come in duty free; most goods
produced in the United States, or services like yours, pay a tariff.
That means a tax. It's more expensive. It's harder to get into the
market because what you charge is upped by tax.
I think it makes sense to have Congress say, ``We want Colombia to
treat us just the way we treat Colombia.'' It turns out, 9,000
businesses export into Colombia in the United States, 8,000 of which are
small and midsized businesses. Isn't that interesting? Many of the
people benefiting, people working for companies that export into
Colombia, work for small businesses and medium-sized businesses.
But Congress doesn't see it that way right now. A lot of Members of
Congress do, but they have absolutely shut down the vote on the Colombia
free trade agreement. And I think it's irresponsible. If you're worried
about the state of the economy, we ought to be opening up markets, not
shutting down markets. We ought to be insisting we're treated fairly.
And I'll tell you another problem. In not moving the Colombia free
trade agreement, we are turning our back on a very strong ally of the
United States of America. There's a President of Colombia named
Uribe, and he's got a tough situation
down there because he's dealing with what's called FARC, which is an
extremist group
[[Page 624]]
that uses drug dollars to perpetuate violence and to move their products
mainly to here. And here's a man who says, ``I'm going to deal with
them, and I'm going to be tough with them.'' And then all of a sudden,
the United States Congress turns its back on him. What kind of message
is that?
And so I'm--I strongly urge the Congress to understand that opening
up markets is good for our economy. But I also strongly urge the
Congress to understand, whether it would be Colombia or Panama or Korea,
that we can't be turning our backs on our allies. This is good
economics, and it's good national security.
Those are some of the things on my mind. I've got a lot on my mind,
by the way. [Laughter] Getting ready to march down the aisle and--
[laughter].
What I thought I'd do is answer some questions--any question, any
topic. I've been around long enough to dodge them if I can't figure out
the answer. [Laughter] I can ask myself one.
Yes, sir, Mr. Chairman--oh, Mr. President. Fine. [Laughter]
Health Care
Q. So as Dave mentioned, we're doing very well as a company. Had a
very good first quarter, best first quarter ever. Last year, last 3
years, we've grown about 29 percent. One of the challenges that we have
is managing the cost of health care. So with all of our employees here,
can you give some of your thoughts in regards to how do we manage the
continuing increased cost of health care?
The President. Absolutely. In essence, there's two paths. One is for
the Government to basically make most of the decisions. In other words,
say, we're going to make sure you have health care, and we'll make sure
it's available for you. And the problem with that system is, they
basically make decisions for you.
I happen to believe in private medicine. I think it is by far the
best route to go because private medicine has made American health care
the best in the world. I don't care what people tell you, America's
health care is on the leading edge of change, and our American people
get really good health care.
Now the question is, who pays for it? The question is, is it
available and is it affordable? And so the approach I've taken is to,
one, remember the most important element in any system is the buyer, is
the consumer, is the customer. That would be you, if you're a patient.
And therefore, the policies that I've articulated have been all aimed at
empowering you to have more decisionmaking in the health care system, so
as to help deal with costs. If there's no decisionmaking in the system--
in other words, there's no shopping, there's no consumerism--price goes
up. It's just--it's an economic fact.
And so I'm a strong believer in health savings accounts. I don't
know if you have them here, but they are very empowering instruments.
They let you make the decisions. They let you save when you don't spend
money. They let you roll the money over, tax free. They let you pull it
out, tax free, for medical care. It's your money, and it grows.
The other thing is, is that it's portable. When you go from one job
to the next, it follows you. So I think it's a very important aspect in
a society in which, if you're under 30 years old, you're likely to have
worked for seven or eight jobs. In other words, this is a very highly
mobile workplace we have now.
Secondly, if you're a small business, you ought to be allowed to
pool risk, just like big companies can do. But you ought to be able to
do it across jurisdictional boundaries. That's fancy words for, if
you're a restaurant in Missouri, you ought to be able to put your
employees in a risk pool with a restaurant in Texas. The larger the risk
pool--in other words, the more people involved in the insurance--the
less price goes up, the easier it is for somebody to find
[[Page 625]]
affordable product. But now it's against the law to do that. So small
businesses ought to be allowed to pool risk. That's what big companies
do. And I believe we ought to treat World Wide just like--give World
Wide the same advantages in the marketplace that big companies get to
do. Those are called association health plans.
The Tax Code is discriminatory. It says that if you work for a
company, you get tax benefits. If you don't, you don't get tax benefits.
If you're a very small company trying to provide health care, the Tax
Code discriminates against your employees. We ought to change the Tax
Code. We ought to treat everybody the same in the Tax Code, all aiming
to drive the establishment of an individual market so that people can
better afford health care.
Now, look, we spend a lot of money, by the way, on people who need
help. My view of America is that we're rich enough to take care of
people who can't help themselves, and we do. We got a robust Medicare
system, which, by the way, my administration reformed for the first time
since Lyndon Johnson--substantially reformed it since Lyndon Johnson was
the President. And now you get a prescription drug benefit. So for all
you guys my age, get yourself a prescription drug benefit pretty soon.
[Laughter]
We take care of the--through Medicaid--community health centers all
throughout the country, and we're expanding them so that people can get
primary care in a place other than an emergency room.
Thirdly, there needs to be transparency in pricing. How many of you
ever asked a doctor how much something costs? Have you ever shopped? And
the answer is, no, you likely haven't. It's because the system--somebody
else pays your bill in a third-party payer system. And so when somebody
else pays the bill, there is no incentive to worry about cost. ``Hey,
what do I care? Somebody else is paying the bill,'' you think, until
your benefit structure starts to change because of inflation in the
health care system.
And so the whole purpose is to have transparency in the system. One
of the things we're doing--you know, we're a big purchaser of health
care, thanks to you--like, veterans, Medicare, Medicaid. And so we're
now saying that if you participate with the Government, post price, let
people see what the different prices are; post quality ratings. It's
nice to know, if you're a consumer, isn't it? Whether or not you got a--
whether or not somebody you're thinking about paying has got a good
record.
The other thing is, is that one of the real cost drivers--there are
other cost drivers I want to discuss--so in other words, consumerism
helps deal with cost; transparency helps deal with cost. This is a
system in which there's been no cost consciousness whatsoever.
Thirdly, there--information technology--the best way to describe
this in health care is that people are still taking handwritten files,
putting them under their arms, and delivering it from one office to the
next. And that means oftentimes there's medical errors because the files
get lost. Doctors can't write very clearly anyway. And so you--something
gets illegible.
Most industries--your industry is using high-tech to modernize.
There's a lot of cost efficiencies that can be wrung out of the system
by the advent of information technology. The dream is that someday
you've got a medical record, your own medical record--by the way, tamper
proof, in other words, protected--that you can use from one office to
the next. It's a sign that efficiencies in the system have taken hold.
I'll tell you an interesting story about that. The Veterans
Administration in New Orleans was clobbered during Katrina. And so you
had a lot of veterans leaving the New Orleans area--many of them going
to Houston, for example--but they had electronic medical records. It
turns out, the Veterans Affairs is generally ahead of the
[[Page 626]]
rest of the field. And all they did was take their chip and they plugged
it into the computers in Houston, and the whole medical records was
available. That's--not only it's good for the customer, the patient, but
what I'm telling you is, it'll help wring out the inefficiencies in the
system. Health care is an inefficient system right now.
And finally--it's a long answer, sorry. [Laughter] I've thought a
lot about it. [Laughter] I've analyzed what's best on how to deal with
this. It's a very--it's a tough issue for you, and it's a tough issue
for small businesses. It's a tough issue. But one of the cost drivers,
just so you know, is lawsuits. And if you're an attorney, I don't mean
to be stepping on your toe. Well, everybody needs a good attorney, you
know--particularly me, since I'm getting sued all the time. But it's a--
[laughter]--I think I am.
If you're a doctor and you're afraid you're going to get sued, you
practice additional medicine. It's called defensive medicine. You
prescribe tests and procedures and perhaps medications that really may
not be necessary, but are necessary if you're getting sued, and the suit
could drive you out of business. I--and therefore, I'm a big believer in
medical liability reform. If you've got an egregious suit, you should be
able to take it to the courthouse.
But it's these junk lawsuits that are doing two things around
America. They're running good doctors out of practice. I mean, people
say, ``I can't afford liability insurance,'' and when they can, they're
going to pass it on to you in higher bills. But since you're not paying
the bills--somebody else is--it's okay by you. The problem is, it's part
of a cost driver. It's making medicine more expensive than it should be.
I really think, at the core of this issue, America has got to be
very careful about what kind of health care system to embrace. It's
essential that we not undermine private medicine. If you really think
about the health care advances in America relative to the rest of the
world, they've been phenomenal. And to me it's that entrepreneurial
spirit that's important to maintain on the kind of forefront here in
America, and at the same time, make sure we've got a rational approach
to health care. There's a long answer to a short question.
Any other questions?
Yes, sir. Everybody gets nervous. I used to hate to ask questions in
class. [Laughter] ``I hope he doesn't call on me.'' [Laughter]
Domestic Agenda/War on Terror
Q. I have a statement and a question.
The President. Okay.
Q. First of all, I want to thank you for encouraging World Wide to
sell more CISCO equipment. [Laughter] As an employee at CISCO, we
greatly appreciate it.
The President. Yes. There's a marketing genius. [Laughter] The guy
has got the national TV cameras on him, and he's going to leave here on
his cell phone and say, ``Hey, boss, did you see me on C-SPAN?''
[Laughter]
Q. And the question is, outside of the economy, what do you see as
your single biggest domestic challenge through the end of your term?
The President. The biggest domestic challenge is to protect America
from attack. That's the biggest domestic challenge.
I wish I didn't have to say that. You know, it's--but that's
reality. The President doesn't have the luxury of dealing with the world
the way he wished it was. My job is to do everything I can to rally
forces to protect you. And I never thought I would be a war President,
never wanted to be a war President, didn't campaign in 2000 saying, I'm
going to be a war President. The interesting thing about life is that
sometimes you get dealt a hand you didn't expect--oftentimes you do. And
the question isn't whether you get dealt the hand. The question is, how
do you play it? And here's how I'm playing it.
First, I expect the Congress to give our professionals all the tools
they need to protect you again. Let me just start--let me
[[Page 627]]
just take a step back. There must be some in the country who don't
believe that the enemy is a threat. I just completely disagree with you.
And I would remind people, since September the 11th, a day which
affected me deeply, there have been a lot of attacks on innocent people
by extremists who use murder as a tool to advance their ideology.
The Government--and this is--the reason I say it's the biggest
domestic challenge is because it's our most important responsibility. I
mean, there's a lot of important issues, but protecting the people is by
far the most important thing. It's the thing I think about the most.
This is a different kind of war, and it's hard for some Americans to get
their hands around it.
This is a war where we're dealing with nonstate actors. World War
II, there was Germany and Japan and Italy. Cold war, there's a big
standoff between the Soviet and the United States. There is no nation
involved in this war. These are people who, however, share an ideology.
Just think about what life was like in Afghanistan under the Taliban
with Al Qaida driving the agenda. This is where girls have no rights.
You can't worship freely. This is a very dark, grim vision that they
believe they must spread far and wide. That's what they think.
And they--one way they achieve their objectives, of course, is to
intimidate by death. There's no rules with these people. There's just--
so America has got to understand that in order to find them, we've got
to get in their heads. If you're facing a nation, you can find the
nation. If you're facing people that bury in failed states, you've got
to understand how to find them.
One of the interesting debates in Washington, DC, is whether or not
we ought to be using modern technologies to understand how this enemy
thinks and to get in and figure out what they're planning. And a lot of
times that comes over communications companies. The way I put it, just
so people can understand in plain English: If Al Qaida is making a phone
call into the United States of America, we better know why. If you're
interested in protecting an attack and there's a dirty number being
called, the Government of the United States better understand the
intentions and why that phone call is being made. And so--and we had
that bill passed, thanks to Senator Bond, and yet, curiously enough, the Congress decided to
allow the bill to expire. It's called the Protect America Act. And now
the Protect America Act is expired, as if the enemy has gone away.
And so I--one huge issue for us is to make sure that the American
people understand the facts. You see, what's happened is, is that these
phone companies which have allegedly helped the United States monitor
conversations are now being sued for billions of dollars of lawsuits.
Isn't that interesting? All I'm asking for is the Congress to provide
liability protection for patriotic companies that are serving to help
you. And yet we can't get them to do it. They're not going to let it
vote. They passed it out of the Senate--Kit did a really good job of
working with his Democrat counterpart--and they buried that bill in the
House of Representatives.
And this is bad for America. I'm telling you, if you expect me to do
my job, you better make sure Congress gives our professionals the tools.
And we can do this, by the way, in a way that, I promise you, guarantees
your civil liberties. We just shouldn't be extending the same liberties
to you--to a bunch of thugs that want to murder the American people.
This is another long answer. [Laughter] But I--it's very important
for you to understand my thinking. I spend a lot of time on this issue,
as you can imagine. Second aspect--so in other words, we'll give our
professionals tools. We got a lot of really good people working. We meet
all the time, Government is meeting constantly, ferreting out any
information.
And by the way, just so you know, we're picking up people on the
battlefield, and
[[Page 628]]
the battlefield is varied. I mean, we're finding Al Qaida in Iraq.
That's--they're trying to kill people in Iraq to drive us out. We're
finding them in remote regions of Afghanistan. And a lot of times,
they're carrying computers. And so you say, ``Where do you get
numbers?'' We're getting them off the computers of the people we're
capturing or bringing to justice. And if there's a phone number on one
of those computers of one of these thugs and it links to a phone number
somewhere in America, I really think it's in our interest to find out
why.
The other thing is just to keep the pressure on them. It's hard to
plot and plan if you're moving, if there's enormous pressure, which
really is important that we deny safe haven. You hear a lot of
discussion about safe haven. Well, safe haven means that these nonstate
actors are able to find breathing space to be able to plot. And they're
sophisticated. You know, 19 kids on 3 airplanes, it's a sophisticated
operation--4 airplanes, excuse me. This is a sophisticated operation.
And they're good communicators. These people are--they're a tough enemy.
And so we're pressuring all the time. You probably read your
newspaper today. I can understand if you didn't, but you probably--
[laughter]--there's--well anyway, there was a strike in Somalia, and the
headline says ``Al Qaida operative.'' We're constantly trying to find
these people before they hurt you and pressuring all the time.
Finally--and by the way, Afghanistan was denial of a safe haven,
and--as well as I saw an existential threat, as did most of Congress, in
Saddam Hussein. I understand there's a lot of looking back. But getting
rid of Saddam Hussein was the right thing.
And now the question is, will we help the 50 million people in
Afghanistan and in Iraq that we liberated realize the blessings of
freedom? I'm telling you, it's essential that we do so. This is an
ideological war. The people we face have an ideology. Those that came
and killed nearly 3,000 citizens on our soil, in the largest attack in
American history on U.S. soil, believe something, and so do we.
We believe in human rights and human dignity. We believe in the
right to a person to worship or not worship and be equally American. We
say loud and clear, ``It doesn't matter whether you're Christian, Hindu,
Muslim, Jewish, don't believe in anything, you're equally American.''
They say, ``We'll kill you if you don't worship the way we tell you
to.'' And so it's the advance of liberty and freedom which will
ultimately achieve the peace we want for our children.
Someday, an American President is going to be saying, this is not
that big an issue anymore. But it's going to take an ideology to spread.
And so when you see hopelessness as an American President, you got to
understand that the only way these thugs can recruit is when they find
hopeless people. I mean, who wants to be a suicide bomber except a
hopeless person. You notice none of the leaders ever become suicide
bombers, by the way. [Laughter]
And so it's--so what you're watching is, you're watching democracy
unfold. And some say: ``It's not worth it. Who cares how they live?''
I'm telling you that we better care how people live. That's why, for
example, the HIV/AIDS initiative in Africa is a cornerstone of Bush
foreign policy; or helping moms whose little babies are needlessly dying
because of mosquito bites is a cornerstone of Bush foreign policy; just
like helping Afghan citizens and Iraqi citizens realize the blessings of
a free society is a cornerstone of my policy--because in all cases,
we're helping people deal with hopelessness. And it's worth it, and it's
necessary.
And I operate on this principle--it's a cornerstone principle: I
believe in an Almighty, and I believe a gift of that Almighty to every
man, woman, and child--every man, woman, and child--is freedom. That's
what I believe. I believe deep--[applause]. And if you believe that and
you happen
[[Page 629]]
to be the President of the most influential nation, shouldn't you use
the influence to help people realize the blessings of freedom? And
that's what you're watching happen. And it's going to happen, unless, of
course, America grows tired and weary; unless we say it's not worth it
and we become isolationist and protectionist.
And so to answer your question, I thank you for giving me a chance
to share that with you; it's a big issue for the American people. It's
a--what you just asked about is a really important thing for our people
to understand. We've been in ideological struggles before.
Let me end--finish this really long answer with--[laughter]--I want
to tell you something interesting about my Presidency. One of my best
buddies in this war against extremists was the Prime Minister of Japan,
Prime Minister Koizumi. You might
remember, he's the guy that Laura and I took to
Elvis's shop--Elvis's place in Memphis. [Laughter] People go: ``So what?
So what's the big deal? Other Presidents have had relations with the
Japanese Prime Minister.'' Yes, but other Presidents haven't necessarily
been in this kind of struggle before.
And my dad fought the Japanese--that's
what's interesting--just like many of your relatives did. They were the
sworn enemy of the United States of America. If you think back to 1940--
forties, midforties--if you'd have thought an American President would
stand up and say, ``My close buddy in dealing with the threats to our
countries would be the Prime Minister of Japan,'' they'd say, ``Man,
you're nuts, hopelessly idealistic.'' Except the truth is, 60 years
after 19-year-old Navy fighter pilot George H.W. Bush took off on a
mission serving his country, his son sits down with Prime Minister
Koizumi talking about how we can spread
freedom as the great alternative to these jihadists that kill. And I
have found that to be one of the really ironic twists of history.
What happened between 41--that's what
they call the old man, 41; I'm the 43d President, 43--something
happened: Democracy took hold. What I'm telling you is, liberty is
transformative, freedom is powerful, and if you believe in the
universality of freedom, then it makes sense to encourage others to
realize the blessings of freedom for the sake of peace.
Any other questions? Look, as you can tell, I can talk all day long.
[Laughter]
Yes, sir. Name--[laughter]--in case I'm a talk show host afterwards,
you know? [Laughter]
Price of Food
Q. [Inaudible]--I'm Japanese.
The President. And American?
Q. Yes.
The President. Well, then you're American first.
Q. That's right. [Laughter] Good point. And I ask this partly
because I'm hungry, but your thoughts on rising food prices?
The President. Yes, thank you. [Laughter] By the way, that's a
polite way of saying, ``Hey, man, how about cutting it short.''
[Laughter]
You know, it's a very interesting debate that's taking place.
There's two aspects of rising food prices: one, how it affects our own
citizens. And again, I'm--we're spending billions of dollars on people
who can't afford food, and that's good. We don't have a scarcity issue
in America, interestingly enough; we got a price issue. Our shelves
aren't going empty, it's just costing more money. And it's why, for
example, we've expanded Women and Infants with Children's program to
make sure we can help the poor.
Secondly, there is scarcity in the world, and I happen to believe
when we find people who can't find food, we ought to help them find it.
I just told you why. There's nothing more hopeless than to be a mom
wondering whether or not their child is going to get food the next day.
And so I announced a major initiative.
[[Page 630]]
By the way, just so you know, America is by far the most generous
nation when it comes to helping the hungry, no contest. We're an
unbelievably compassionate nation. And so I asked Congress to put some
more money out. It will be over--it's about $5 billion, over a 2-year
period of time, of food. Now, keep in mind, we're spending about 19
billion here at home.
Secondly, I think we ought to change our food policy in Africa and
other third--developing countries. I think we ought to be buying food
directly from farmers as opposed to giving people food. I think we ought
to be saying, why don't we help you be able to deal with scarcity by
encouraging your farmers to grow and be efficient growers. Otherwise,
we're going to be in this cycle forever.
Now, let me talk about price. As you know, I'm a ethanol person. I
believe, as I told you, the interim step to getting away from oil and
gas is to go to ethanol and battery technologies for your automobiles. I
think it makes sense for America to be growing energy. I'd much rather
be paying our farmers when we go to the gas pump than paying some nation
that may not like us.
And so--but most of ethanol now--or nearly all of ethanol now is
produced as a result of corn. And the price of corn is real high now.
And so people say, ``Well, it's your renewable fuels policy that is
causing the price of food to go up.'' I've looked at this issue a lot.
Actually, the reason why food prices are high now is because, one,
energy costs are high. And if you're a farmer, you're going to pass on
your cost of energy in the product you sell; otherwise, you go broke.
And when you're paying more for your diesel, paying more for your
fertilizer, because it's got a lot of natural gas in it--in other words,
when your basic costs are going up, so does the cost of food.
Worldwide, there is increasing demand. There turns out to be
prosperity in the developing world, which is good. It's going to be good
for you, because you'll be selling products into countries--big
countries perhaps--and it's hard to sell products into countries that
aren't prosperous. In other words, the more prosperous the world is, the
more opportunity there is.
It also, however, increases demand. So, for example, just as an
interesting thought for you, there are 350 million people in India who
are classified as middle class. That's bigger than America. Their middle
class is larger than our entire population. And when you start getting
wealth, you start demanding better nutrition and better food. And so
demand is high, and that causes the price to go up.
And finally, there's been weather-related problems. Some of the
major producers of food have had drought. That's what happens. Weather
patterns change. And so there's a lot of reasons why the price of food
is high. And no question that ethanol has had a part of it, but I simply
do not subscribe to the notion that it is the main cost driver for your
food going up.
Anyway, it's a good question. You don't look hungry. [Laughter]
Yes.
President's Legacy/Faith-Based and Community Organizations
Q. First off, I would like to thank you for--[inaudible].
The President. Thank you.
Q. Secondly, maybe on a more lighter note, what are your plans after
you--[inaudible]?
The President. Thank you. Yes. I'm heading home. I tell people that,
first of all, it's been a huge honor to serve the country, and I'm
really glad I did. And I thank the American people for giving me a
chance to serve. It's--as you can imagine, it's been a remarkable
experience.
A couple of points on that--what's probably counterintuitive to you
is that this has been a great experience for our family. I've lived in
the White House now for 7\1/2\ years, and the furniture is interesting--
[[Page 631]]
[laughter]--but it's like a museum. [Laughter] And there's love in that
White House, thanks to a good wife. She's great.
Laura is a--[applause]--which is one of the reasons this has been a
fabulous experience.
You know, obviously, there's some good days and some bad days. I
feel so strongly about my principles and my values, and I'm an
optimistic guy, that what may appear to be really difficult to deal
with--like my buddies from Midland, Texas--that, for me, it's just part
of the job. Interestingly enough, it is a lot harder to have been the
son of the President than to be the
President.
And so it's been a joyous experience. You know, one of the great,
really fun things we do is we welcome our pals from west Texas to the
White House, and they come to the Oval Office. And they're walking
around, they say, ``Man, I can't believe I'm here.'' And then they take
a look at me--[laughter].
So the first thing is, I'm heading home. I came from Texas with a
set of values, and I'm going to go home with the same set of values. In
order to be making consistent decisions in this complex world, you can't
be shifting your principles in order to be the popular guy. I guess I'll
go home and mow the lawn. I don't--[laughter].
I'm interested in promoting the whole--what I talked to you about--
the whole philosophy behind the freedom agenda. I think it's going to be
very important to be kept in the forefront of American philosophical
thought. And I'm going to build a Presidential library at SMU. It's
where Laura went to university, there in Dallas.
And I'd like to have a think tank. This isn't a political precinct; this
will be a place where we get the thinkers from around the world to come
and write about and articulate the transformative power of freedom,
abroad and at home.
One of the initiatives that I'm very proud of is the interface
between government and faith-based and community groups. I believe that
government ought to empower people who have been called to serve for
reasons other than just government law. And there are thousands, by the
way, of social entrepreneurs all throughout the country, little healers
and helpers that just can make a difference in somebody's lives. And I
think it's in our interests to empower groups through the use of your--
taxpayers' money, without using your money to proselytize. And let me
give you an example.
If you're a drug addict or a heavy boozer, sometimes it requires
more than a psychological counseling session to convince you to quit. As
a matter of fact, a lot of people have turned to a higher power, which
is not part of a government program. And so I'm--strongly support
taxpayers' money going to an individual that seeks help and allowing
that person, if he or she so chooses, to seek the redemptive power of a
higher being as part of a government program.
And so I'd like to--and that's something else I'd like to foster.
But other than that, I mean, that's as far as I've--I got a lot to do. I
mean, I really do have a lot to do. It's--which makes the job exciting.
Now that you didn't ask, I'll tell you something interesting about--
so if you walk in the Oval Office, I hope you'd be struck by a beautiful
rug that's there. And so I was getting ready to be sworn in as
President. And we're at the Blair House, which is right across the
street from the White House. And as you can imagine, it was a slightly
nerve-wracking moment, when I was preparing the Inaugural Address to be
sworn in as your President. And the guy calls and says, like, ``You're
supposed to pick the rug.'' I said, ``Huh?'' [Laughter] He said, ``So
you're supposed to pick the color rug you want in the Oval Office.'' And
the first lesson there is, when you're short on a subject--and I'm short
on rugs--delegate. [Laughter]
And I think it's going to be very important, as you pay attention to
the Presidential race, to try to come up with not only who you agree
with, obviously, but
[[Page 632]]
whether that person knows how to delegate, knows how to set up a
structure so that good information can make it into the Oval Office in a
way that enables good decisionmaking. The temptation, of course, is to
walk in the Oval Office and say, ``Oh, man, you're looking beautiful.''
And the President doesn't need somebody--because generally he's not
looking beautiful. The President needs somebody to walk in and say,
``Here's what I think.''
So when you think about good, solid advisers--at least in my case--
think about somebody like Condoleezza Rice
or Hank Paulson--used to run Goldman
Sachs--or Bob Gates. These are strong,
capable people. And my job is to make sure that the environment is such
that they can walk in and say, ``Mr. President, here's what I'm
thinking; here's my advice.'' And their job, by the way, once the
President makes up his mind, is say, ``Yes, sir, Mr. President.''
[Laughter] And so in this case, I delegated to Laura. [Laughter] And I should--and it's--and by the way, it's
not ``Yes, sir, Mr. President,'' it's--[laughter]--``Yes, ma'am, First
Lady.'' [Laughter]
I said--here's an interesting lesson about the Presidency and life
in general if you're delegating. I said to
Laura--I said, ``I want the rug to say `optimistic person comes to
work.' '' I didn't say, ``Here are the colors.'' In other words, I left
the tactics to her, and the strategic thought was mine. The strategic
thought is--behind that is that you can't possibly lead unless you're
optimistic that tomorrow is going to be better. And just so you know, I
hope at least one thing you come away from this is, I am absolutely
optimistic, in my very soul and very core, that in the defense of
America, we're laying the foundation for peace.
And so the rug looks like the sun. And you walk in, man, I'm telling
you, it is optimistic. [Laughter] It's a fabulous rug.
Yes.
Faith-Based and Community Organizations/Pope Benedict XVI/President's Visit to Romania
Q. I just want to start by saying that my mom prays for you every
day.
The President. Yes. Thank you.
Q. All right. I'm Dan Buck. I'm with St. Patrick's Center, and we
help end homelessness for thousands of folks in St. Louis.
The President. There you go.
Q. But your Faith-Based and Community Initiative has truly broken
down walls between government and faith-based organizations.
The President. Thank you for saying that.
Q. We have grown from 4 million to 12 million. We serve more people
more effectively because of that partnership. How do we grow it after
your administration? Will this continue, and is there plans in place
that the FBCI will continue?
The President. Well, I think--thank you for asking that, and thanks
for your kind words. It's just going to be very important for
organizations that understand the power and the leverage that can be
gained by the use of money that could be going elsewhere to stay in the
program. It's going to require Governors to open up faith-based offices,
as well, and just get it ingrained in the system. And then your elected
officials have to understand how powerful this has been. It's--again it
recognize--there's some great Federal programs, some State programs, but
there's a lot of programs that are really effective that can be helped
by empowering individuals to have a script or money that they can redeem
at their services.
And so thanks for saying--are you a Catholic? Yes. So here's one of
the great moments of the Presidency: the Holy Father coming to the South
Lawn. I'm telling you, it was a magnificent moment. It's the largest
crowd we've ever had on the South Lawn. And it was really interesting,
from this Methodist's perspective, was to watch
[[Page 633]]
the reaction for our fellow citizens to His Holy Father. And it was a
magnificent moment. The day--it was a beautiful day, and the Army choir
sang ``The Battle Hymn of the Republic.'' That was just great. Anyway,
we had a wonderful trip, and it was such an honor.
I mean, you get to do some fabulous things as President. You asked
about the--and one of them is welcoming the Holy Father to the south
ground of the White House. You know, we--Laura
and I went out to Andrews Air Force Base to see him, and then his first
public event was there, and then he went on from there for the rest of
his trip.
It was--you know, representing our country has been a fabulous
experience--I want to conclude by one story, and then I got to--I'm
heading out of here. And this guy is hungry. [Laughter] So am I. Yes.
[Laughter]
I'm going to tell you an interesting story about this experience
in--so I was going to Bucharest, Romania. Romania had just been admitted
into NATO. And the big deal there for the Romanian citizens that had
come under the--come out from underneath the clutch of a brutal dictator
named Ceausescu was, if you're a member of NATO, there's a clause that
says, ``An attack on one is an attack on all.'' In essence, if there's--
they get the--they have the United States of America, the great United
States of America, as somebody to help them, as an ally. And that's
really important for a lot of countries. And they had just been accepted
into NATO, and the President asked me and
Laura to go. And there was 225,000 people, more
or less, in the town square to see the American President, and it was
raining.
Now the interesting thing from my perspective was that I was here,
and there was a balcony lit in the town square, and I was told this was
where the tyrant Ceausescu and his wife had made their last public
appearance. And the story has it that he--somebody started chanting,
``Liar,'' and he realized his power was slipping away, and then he tried
to get out of there. And anyway, he was done in by the people. They were
tired of him. He was a brutal guy.
And so that was my line of sight. And the President introduced me, and just as I got up to speak, a full
rainbow appeared. And it was a startling moment. And I turned back--
Laura was, like, from me to you back there--I
went, ``Look, baby, look up there.'' And so when I pointed up, 225,000
heads whipped around to look at the rainbow. I then ad-libbed, ``God is
smiling on Bucharest.'' And the reason I did is because the rainbow
ended right behind the balcony where the tyrant had given his last
speech. Liberty is transformative, and it will yield the peace we want.
Thanks for coming by. God bless.
Note: The President spoke at 11:11 a.m. at World Wide Technology, Inc.
In his remarks, he referred to David L. Steward, chairman of the board,
James P. Kavanaugh, chief executive officer, and Joseph G. Koenig,
president, World Wide Technology, Inc; President Alvaro Uribe Velez of
Colombia; Pope Benedict XVI; and former President Ion Iliescu of
Romania.