[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 5 (Monday, February 5, 2001)]
[Pages 243-244]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks in a Meeting With Catholic Charities

January 31, 2001

    Listen, thank you all for coming. It has been my honor and that of 
members of my staff and of my Cabinet to have received leaders from the 
Catholic Church. During my travels around the country, I have been most 
impressed by not only the quality of leadership of the men and women who 
make up the great strength of the Catholic hierarchy but also the 
unwavering commitment to the poor and to the disadvantaged and to those 
who are unable to defend themselves.
    America is a loving and compassionate country, and the leaders here 
reflect that compassion and that love. Here are folks that have heard 
the call from the Lord to love their neighbor and have fostered and 
nourished and led programs all intended to help people, to help people 
help themselves.
    There is no way that Government can create love. Love comes from a 
higher calling. Love is inspirational. But what Government can do is 
fund and welcome programs whose sole intent is to change lives in a 
positive way.
    For the last couple of days I've talked about my office's commitment 
to faith-based programs; I've talked about initiatives, particularly 
mentoring initiatives and after-school programs that will welcome faith-
based programs. Today I do want to talk about one other component of 
making sure the initiative is full, and that is that we must reform the 
tax code, not in the way that I'm going to be talking to a lot of 
Members of Congress about but in an additional way. And that is to allow 
non-itemizers to deduct charitable giving off their income.
    This is a reform of the tax code that will encourage giving from 
people who have received no incentive to do so. There is an independent 
study out today that will show that giving in America will increase 
significantly when Congress passes this reform and I have the 
opportunity to sign it.
    Our mission in the White House is to say, we welcome you; we welcome 
your love; we welcome your finances; we welcome your compassion. And to 
those heroes who live in the neighborhoods all around America who are 
literally transforming our country in

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a positive way, we say, thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
    I'm so honored the leadership came, many of whom I have seen before. 
I've now met new friends, and we welcome you here to Washington, DC.
    Thank you for coming.

Note: The President spoke at 1:55 p.m. in the Indian Treaty Room at the 
Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building.