[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book II)]
[October 9, 2008]
[Pages 1292-1294]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks at a Reception Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month
October 9, 2008
Hola! Sientese. Bienvenidos a la Casa Blanca. [Laughter] Este es el
ultimo ``Mes de la Hispanidad'' que paso como presidente, y por eso, le
dije a mi personal que hoy queria hablarles solo en espanol. Me
contestaron: ``Senor presidente, antes de dar un discurso en espanol,
por que no llega primero a dominar el ingles?'' [Laughter]
I am proud to be with you. I am proud to be with current and former
Latino members of my administration. I want to thank the Ambassadors
from the diplomatic corps for joining us today. We're proud to be your
friends. I want to thank the members of the United States Armed Forces
who have joined us. I want to thank my friend Emilio Estefan, president of Estefan Enterprises. And I want to
thank Andres Cabas from Colombia, who is going
to sing a couple of songs for us. Thank you and your band for joining
us.
Every year at this time, we recognize the great contributions
Hispanic Americans make to our country, and we should. From coast to
coast, people of Hispanic descent enrich our culture and make our Nation
a better place. They serve in top positions throughout business and
government. They bring their strong values of faith and family to our
communities. My family is proud to have Latino blood, mi cunada. Jeb and I both married very
well. [Laughter] Hispanic Americans cherish the limitless promise of our
Nation. During the past 8 years, I've been proud to work with you to
ensure que todos puedan alcanzar las promesas de los Estados Unidos.
One promise is good education. I mean, you can't have a hopeful
nation unless you've got a good education system. And so we worked with
Congress to pass the No Child Left Behind Act. This act raises standards
and accountability across schools in the country, and I'm pleased to
report Hispanic students are scoring at alltime highs on tests, and
therefore, an achievement gap is narrowing.
For hundreds of thousands of Hispanic children, the best hope for
good education is found in America's faith-based schools. Earlier this
year, I proposed a new program called Pell Grants for Kids, which would
help low-income children in underperforming public schools attend a
private, a parochial, or out-of-district public school of their choice.
Earlier this year, I met a very interesting young woman at the White
House Summit on the Inner-City Children and Faith-Based Schools. The
whole purpose was to help these schools realize a comeback and make sure
our communities were able to have these schools as a part of their
future. The woman I met is a woman named
Katrina [Karina]* Ramirez. She grew up in Chicago neighborhood. It was
plagued by gang violence, and she had a tough time
[[Page 1293]]
in school because she didn't speak English. But at Cristo Rey Jesuit
High School, Karina received a top-notch education. She received real
work experience, and she got herself a ticket to college. Karina says,
``My dad went from garbage picking in Mexico to having a daughter going
to Georgetown.'' Karina, thank you for coming. She is proof that el
Sueno Americano es para todos.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
*White House correction.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Economic opportunity is a promise of our country. And the truth of
the matter is, for generations, people have found opportunities in this
country that would have been impossible in the places where they were
born, and that has made us a vibrant country, and it's encouraged
entrepreneurship. Today, the economy obviously is going through a very
tough stretch, and that's why the administration will work with Congress
to pass a financial rescue plan.
The goal of this plan is to free up the flow of capital to help all
Americans get the capital and loans necessary to help weather these
difficult times. Part of the plan is to free up capital for small
businesses. After all, small businesses are the backbone of our economy,
and interestingly enough, according to the most recent data, more than
1.5 million small businesses are owned by Hispanic owners.
In times of economic uncertainty, we need to be promoting free
trade, particularly with friends in our neighborhood. During my time as
President, we've opened up trade agreements with a lot of nations,
including nations in Central America and in South America. But there's a
couple of them that need to be approved by the United States Congress.
We approved the free trade agreement with Peru, but we're waiting on
Congress to approve the free trade agreements with Panama and Colombia.
I'm confident in our economy's long-term prospects. We'll get
through this deal. And the reason why I'm confident is because we got
the most talented and productive workers in the world. And many are
Hispanic men and women who work hard every single day to support their
families.
One promise of America is the compassion of our people. And during
my time in office, I've been proud to work with Hispanic Americans to
lift up nuestros hermanos y hermanas in need. I established the USA
Freedom Corps to foster a culture of citizenship and responsibility and
service. And today, nearly 61 million Americans volunteer their time to
help our fellow citizens, many of them Hispanics.
Through our Faith-Based and Community Initiative, we are harnessing
the compassion of religious groups to reduce homelessness and break the
chains of addiction, give prisoners a second chance, and alleviate
suffering at home and abroad.
Recently I met a woman from San Diego
whose life has been transformed by America's armies of compassion. Edith
Espinoza suffered terrible abuse from her husband. She turned to El Nido
program, an interfaith shelter network supported by the Faith-Based and
Community Initiative. El Nido is a place where Edith received counseling
and learned how to get a job and save money. She and her daughters now
live in an apartment that she pays on her own. Her goal is to become a
social worker so she can help other families like hers. She is showing
that because of the good hearts of our citizens, el Sueno Americano es
por todos.
One promise of America is freedom, freedom for all. Hispanic
Americans are extending this country's promise of freedom and liberty to
others. Hispanics serving in Afghanistan and Iraq to help those young
democracies realize the blessings of freedom. I particularly want to
thank those who are working to hasten the day of freedom for the Cuban
people.
I'm especially proud to be the Commander in Chief of a military in
which there's 225,000 Hispanic men and women. One of these hispanos is
an Army Lieutenant Colonel named Enrique Guerra. Listen to his story. Enrique fled Cuba with his
[[Page 1294]]
parents when he was an infant. They wanted their young child to grow up
in a society that was free and hopeful. He spent more than 22 years in
the Army National Guard and the Army Reserve. Today, he is a battalion
commander at Camp Cropper in Iraq, helping the people in the Middle East
secure their own freedom and therefore lay the foundation of peace for
generations to come.
Enrique puts it this way: ``As a Cuban
America, I was born with a strong sense of patriotism, and that is why I
serve.'' And today I'm proud to honor his service and the service of all
Hispanic Americans who ensure that freedom is available to all. Enrique,
bienvenidos. Thank you for coming. Thank you, sir.
And so today we celebrate the many contributions that generations of
Hispanics have made to the American Dream. Their creativity and
determination help our country to live up to its promise of opportunity
and prosperity and freedom for all our citizens.
During Hispanic Heritage Month, we give thanks for these blessings,
and we ask for God's continued blessings on you and your families y los
Estados Unidos.
And now it's my honor to welcome one of Latin America's most popular
young vocalists, Colombia's Andres Cabas.
Note: The President spoke at 2:10 p.m. on the South Lawn at the White
House. In his remarks, he referred to former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida
and his wife Columba. The Office of the Press Secretary also released a
Spanish language transcript of these remarks. The National Hispanic
Heritage Month proclamation of September 12 is listed in Appendix D at
the end of this volume.