[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 12 (Monday, March 26, 2001)]
[Page 483]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Proposed Legislation To Implement the Faith-Based 
Initiative

March 21, 2001

    Earlier this year, I sent to the Congress my agenda to rally 
America's armies of compassion to address many of our toughest community 
challenges.
    Government does not have a monopoly on compassion. And while 
Government cannot be replaced by charities, it should welcome them as 
partners, not view them as rivals.
    Today, on a bipartisan basis, Members of the House and Senate took 
important first steps to advance this agenda to aid churches, 
synagogues, mosques, and communities in helping neighbors in need.
    I welcome the bipartisan proposals that have been offered in the 
House by Representative J.C. Watts, Representative Tony Hall, and 
Speaker Dennis Hastert, and in the Senate by Senator Rick Santorum and 
Senator Joseph Lieberman. These new legislative initiatives demonstrate 
that momentum continues to build behind my agenda to rally America's 
armies of compassion. They represent a bipartisan consensus that 
Government must support our quiet heroes who are lifting lives and 
healing neighborhoods one heart and one act of kindness at a time.
    I will continue to work in a bipartisan fashion with Congress to 
help those most in need by encouraging charitable giving and eliminating 
barriers to charitable works.