    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 21 (Monday, May 28, 2001)]
    [Pages 798-801]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Remarks to the St. Augustine Parish Community in Cleveland, Ohio

    May 24, 2001

        Father McNulty, thank you very much, sir, for your hospitality and
    your introduction. It's a privilege for me to be here with Bishop Pilla,
    whose reputation at least has preceded him as far as the President goes.
    I've been looking forward for this opportunity to meet such a fine,
    noble man, firmly committed to helping the poor. So, Bishop, thank you
    so much for being here, sir.
        I'm honored also to be--to have been welcomed by Sister Ambroe. The
    Sister is pretty firm in her--[laughter]--she kept us on time.
    [Laughter] I am thankful to be here with distinguished public servants
    from the State of Ohio, your Governor, Lieutenant Governor, both very
    good friends of mine. Thank you all for being here. Two fine United
    States Senators, Mike DeWine and George Voinovich, traveled with me from
    Washington today. I think you're going back. [Laughter] But Ohio is well
    represented in the Halls of the United States Senate with these two fine
    Americans. And two Members of the United States Congress, Steve
    LaTourette and Tony Hall from south Ohio are here, as well. Thank you
    all for traveling with us today.
        Tony is not from this area, but I can assure you that if you got to
    know him, you would know that he shares the same passion most of us do
    for figuring out ways to help people in need.
        The other thing that I want to make note of is that Tony is a
    Democrat. And what we're going to talk about today is not a party issue.
    The idea of helping people transcends political party. And so, Tony,
    thank you for coming.
        I want to thank Pam Delly, the principal of Our Lady of Angels, for
    the tour and the opportunity to meet the students here. And I want to
    thank Dennis McNulty, the director of Catholic Charity Services, as
    well.
        I want to start off with a comment about some news. This morning a
    distinguished

    [[Page 799]]

    United States Senator chose to leave the Republican Party and become an
    independent. I respect Senator Jeffords. But I respectfully--but
    respectfully, I couldn't disagree more. Our agenda for reforming
    America's public schools and providing tax relief for every taxpayer
    represents the hopes and dreams of Main Street America. Our agenda for
    reforming our military and modernizing our military to defend America
    and our allies represents the best hope for peace.
        I was elected to get things done on behalf of the American people
    and to work with both Republicans and Democrats, and we're doing just
    that. Just yesterday in the United States Senate, Republicans and
    Democrats overwhelmingly agreed that we should provide tax relief for
    every single American who pays taxes.
        The Senate has now passed tax relief, and so has the House. And I
    call on Congress not to recess for Memorial Day until they have finished
    the job and provided tax relief for the American people.
        And we're making great progress on education, as well. Just
    yesterday in the House of Representatives, Republicans and Democrats
    overwhelmingly agreed that we should insist upon local control of
    schools, strong accountability, and greater options for parents when
    their children are trapped in failing schools. The Senate now takes up
    the education bill, and I'm confident we'll enact a plan to improve all
    of America's public schools so that no child is left behind. As well, as
    I mentioned, I'm working hard with both Republicans and Democrats to put
    in place a Faith-Based Initiative that I truly believe will change
    America for the better.
        Last weekend I spoke at one of America's great Catholic
    universities. The chairman of the board, I think, is here somewhere.
    Here you are. Thank you very much, Pat, for letting me come. I was
    deeply honored. Today I'm pleased to visit one of America's great
    Catholic parishes. Notre Dame and St. Augustine may seem to be a world
    apart, but they're united by the same Catholic teaching, that God has a
    special concern for the poor. For some people, Jesus' admonition to care
    for the least of these is an admirable moral teaching. For the folks at
    this center, and centers like it all around America, it's a way of life.
        I'm visiting here to offer praise. I want to praise the volunteers.
    I want to praise the good folks from corporate Cleveland who are
    helping. I want to praise those like the folks we met in the cafeteria,
    who get up at 6 in the morning, before their job, to come and help a
    neighbor in need. I also want to make a pledge that my administration
    will be more supportive of the good works done here than any
    administration in the history of the country, because I understand the
    power of faith, that faith can change lives.
        I also understand the limitations of Government. Government can hand
    out money, and we will. We've increased budgets to work on social
    problems. But what Government cannot do is put hope in people's hearts
    or a sense of purpose in people's lives.
        I wish--I wish I knew the law that says, love a neighbor like you
    would like to be loved yourself. I'd sign it, that would mandate that to
    happen. But I think of all nations of the world, we understand that that
    law comes from a higher calling than Government. And the great challenge
    for our Nation is to rally, what I call, the armies of compassion all
    across America so that nobody is left behind.
        In my speech at Notre Dame, I started by talking about a speech that
    a former President from Texas gave in 1964, and he declared a War on
    Poverty. I then talked about some of the unintended effects of the War
    on Poverty, one of which was people becoming dependent upon Government.
    It's kind of a loss of responsibility in our society. Members of both
    political parties came together in 1996 to address that problem by
    putting time limits on welfare. The bill was signed by my predecessor,
    and it had a positive effect. But there are still people who hurt in
    America.
        Poverty runs deep in this country, and we need to take the War on
    Poverty a step further by recognizing the power and promise of faith-
    based and community-based groups that exist not because of Government,
    but because they've heard the universal call to love somebody in need.
        And so we've laid out an initiative for the United States Congress
    to look at. It's one

    [[Page 800]]

    that says we're going to have a--what's called a compassion capital fund
    of a half a billion dollars to help provide seed money for programs such
    as these we're witnessing here today. It says we ought to expand
    charitable choice, which means faith-based organizations should be
    allowed to receive Federal grants when it comes to helping people in
    need.
        There's some concern in our society about encouraging faith-based
    organizations to meet their challenges. But those are people that want
    to argue the process. They want to make everything legal. And my
    fundamental question to America, after having said this loud and clear,
    ``We'll never fund faith, we'll never fund churches, but we should fund
    the armies of compassion.'' We should not discriminate against faith-
    based programs which exist to help people in need. We provide Medicare
    and Medicaid money, and that money is redeemed at charitable hospitals.
    We provide Pell grants and Government loans for people that redeem
    that--those scholarship monies at religious universities. In order to
    make sure the promise of America is full and whole for every citizen, we
    should not discriminate against faith-based programs that simply exist
    and solely exist to help people who hurt and people in need. The
    neighborhood helpers and healers of America are truly the strength of
    this country.
        In my speech at Notre Dame, I also talked about corporate America.
    And to this end, I'm going to have a convocation next fall calling
    together foundation America and corporate America to figure out a
    strategy of how best to get more money into the coffers of the faith-
    based programs in neighborhoods all across America.
        Interestingly enough, 6 of 10 of the largest corporate givers in
    America explicitly rule out giving money to faith-based programs. My
    attitude is America and its Government should not discriminate against
    faith-based programs and neither should corporate America. And so one of
    my missions is to bring folks who care about our country together and
    tout and herald the great works that are being done in programs such as
    this and centers such as this.
        I've set up an office at the White House, run by a man named John
    DiIulio. He's a--one of the forward thinkers in terms of how we
    encourage faith to help people in need. He's a really interesting guy; I
    haven't checked his party affiliation, but I suspect it's not the same
    as mine--because he understands that this is not an initiative to try to
    gain political gain. Ours is an initiative to make America a better
    place.
        Part of the mission of the office is to encourage programs to
    explain how people can access the Federal grant money, explain what we
    can do with the capital compassion fund. But part of it all, and a very
    important part, is to make sure that Government never interferes with
    the good works that are being done in programs such as this. It's to
    make sure that church and synagogue and mosque don't lose the
    fundamental essence of their mission.
        You know, there are many in our society who fear what interfacing
    with the Federal Government can mean. And my pledge to the faith-based
    community in America is my administration will do everything in our
    power to make sure that those who do interface with Government never
    have to sacrifice their mission, their reason for being, because, again,
    I understand the power of faith and the hope faith brings all across the
    country.
        It is an incredible honor to be the President of a Nation of faith.
    It's hard to describe what it's like to travel our country and have
    literally hundreds of people walk up and say, ``Mr. President, I pray
    for you every day.'' It is--first of all, it's a very comforting
    feeling, needless to say. But it also increases my optimism and hope
    about America because the truth of the matter is, in order for us to
    solve the deep poverty that exists, to solve the hurt in people's souls,
    we need people who are willing to put their arm around a brother in need
    and say, ``I love you.'' We need mentors for young children to provide
    hope and solace.
        America's society will change one heart, one soul, one conscience at
    a time. And each of us must do our part to provide hope for that soul
    and that conscience.
        I've been so incredibly impressed by the universal and strong
    commitment of the Catholic Church and the leaders of the

    [[Page 801]]

    Catholic Church to make sure that nobody in our society is left behind.
    America is better off because of that commitment. Our Nation is well-off
    because of the love and compassion of our citizens. And my hope, in
    working with folks such as yourself, is to gather that compassion so
    that the hope of the greatest Nation of the world reaches every
    neighborhood in America.
        Thank you for giving me the chance to come, and God bless.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:35 a.m. at the Our Lady of Angels/St.
    Joseph Center. In his remarks, he referred to Rev. Joseph D. McNulty,
    pastor, St. Augustine Church; Bishop Anthony M. Pilla, Bishop of
    Cleveland; Sister Corita Ambroe, C.S.J., executive director of programs,
    St. Augustine Hunger Center; Gov. Bob Taft and Lt. Gov. Maureen O'Connor
    of Ohio; and Patrick F. McCartan, chairman, board of trustees,
    University of Notre Dame.