[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 12 (Monday, March 26, 2001)]
[Page 482]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at a SENIORS FIRST Luncheon in Orlando

March 21, 2001

    Thank you very much. Thank you for that warm welcome. I suspect 
you're cheering so loudly because I'm traveling in good company.

[At this point, the President spoke in Spanish, and a translation was 
not provided.]

    I'm honored to be here with my brother, the Governor of Florida. 
He's a good man. You know something about--both of us share something in 
common: We picked a pretty darn good mother, and she's still telling us 
what to do. [Laughter] I'm listening all the time. He's listening about 
half the time. [Laughter]
    What made me think of that is I saw Barbara sitting there. And then 
Mel Martinez--you all know Mel. [Applause] Yes. I think I made a pretty 
darn good pick when I named him to my Cabinet. I love Mel's story. He's 
a good man. [Laughter] He represents the really best about America, 
doesn't he--doesn't he--[applause]--that you can realize dreams in this 
country. And I'm so thrilled that he's agreed to sacrifice and serve the 
country. And he is a good man, as you know.
    I'm honored to be traveling with Members from the United States 
Congress. We've got some Congressmen that are traveling with us today. 
These men are going to be responsible for working with our 
administration to make sure that we keep the promise to the elderly.
    And so I want to tell you all that, for example, in our budget we 
doubled the Medicare budget over the next 10 years. And we're going to 
focus on making sure children are educated, too. We're going to focus on 
keeping the promise to the elderly, and then we're also going to make 
sure that the young have a good chance for realizing the American Dream 
by making sure the schools are strong at the local level, making sure 
children aren't left behind.
    I know you all care about that a lot. Many of you have got 
grandchildren, and you want to make sure the public school system holds 
out the hope for every child, regardless of their background, regardless 
of where they're from. And that's our dream; that's our dream for the 
country.
    This is a fabulous land. I'm so honored to be your President. It is 
a huge, huge honor for me. So I want to thank you for your warm 
greeting. I look forward to walking around and shaking your hands and 
thanking you in person.
    God bless.

Note: The President spoke at 11:28 a.m. in the ballroom at the Sociedad 
de Orlando community center. In his remarks, he referred to his brother, 
Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida, and their mother, 
Barbara Bush.