    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 21 (Monday, May 28, 2001)]
    [Pages 788-790]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Remarks to Leaders of Hispanic Faith-Based Organizations

    May 22, 2001

        Thank you, all. I now know why he's a Baptist preacher. [Laughter]
        Thank you, Luis, and thank you, Jesse, and thank you all for coming.
    Before I say a few remarks, I want to introduce some folks. I appreciate
    so very much the Members from the United States Congress who are here:
    Ileana and Lincoln and Henry from the great State of Texas. Thank you so
    much for being here. It's a sign of unity that you're here, and I look
    forward to working with you to get the legislation through.
        I reached into Philadelphia to ask a man to run the Office of the
    Faith-Based Initiative. Fortunately, John DiIulio, who is one of the
    advanced thinkers about how to help people, how the Nation should
    eradicate poverty, has joined my staff. What we're about to talk about
    is an incredibly serious effort to make sure that the American promise
    extends its reach in every neighborhood. And John is leading the office,
    and for that I am most grateful, John. Thank you very much. And Lisa
    Trevino Cummins is helping John, as well.
        This is an important part of my administration, because I want the
    great hope of America to be existent in every household in our country.
    I worry about a society that could become divided between those who have
    and those who don't. I'm concerned about the fact that certain children
    are being left behind in America.
        My vision includes everybody. It's described as compassionate
    conservatism, but I emphasize the compassion. The problem is Government
    is not a very compassionate organization. We can fund--and we should--
    budgets; there is a lot of talk about budgets. We've submitted budgets
    that increase spending on social services. We've got

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    what's called a compassion fund, that matches--a $500 million fund that
    will encourage faith-based initiatives throughout the country.
        But the dilemma and the problem in the past has been that somewhere
    along the line everybody thought Government could make people love one
    another. And that's not the way it works. And if part of the future of
    the country is to love a neighbor like you would like to be loved
    yourself, it seems to follow, then, our Government must welcome, not
    discriminate against, faith-based organizations who are providing that.
        I hope the Congress does not get caught up in the stale, old process
    argument of the legalisms involved with encouraging organizations of
    faith to help people in need. Because, as Luis mentioned, there is
    precedent: We fund religious hospitals through Medicare and Medicaid;
    there is scholarship money for children to use at religious
    institutions. Why does it not follow, I asked the Congress and those
    folks who were elected, that we not allow faith-based programs to
    compete for taxpayers' money if the services they provide are necessary
    and the results are positive? The argument is, ``Let us focus on the
    process.'' We're saying, ``Let us focus on the results.''
        The way I like to put it--I gave a speech at Notre Dame last Sunday.
    It was a speech that said--it started with talking about President
    Lyndon Johnson's speech at the University of Texas kicking off the War
    on Poverty. It recognized that that War on Poverty had some positive
    effects. It also recognized, though, it had created a dependency on
    Government. It had a perverse effect.
        So then the welfare law came along in 1996, signed by my
    predecessor--it had bipartisan support--that tried to address the
    concept of dependency upon Government. But we need to take it a step
    further, because there are still people who hurt and people whose lives
    are affected, people whose hearts need mending. Government must be
    active to fund the services but humble to recognize the power of
    neighborhood healers and helpers, humble to step aside when somebody can
    do a better job.
        I've been so impressed by the faith-based leaders I've met all
    around our country, because there is a genuine commitment to the poor
    and the disadvantaged. And that's a commitment that we must channel and
    a commitment we must harvest. I used to say in the campaign, I look
    forward to rallying the soldiers and the armies of compassion. And I
    mean that.
        Our Nation is so unique in this way: We are a Nation of people who
    have heard a call to love a neighbor. We really are. I was sharing with
    the good leaders that came to visit me about the fact that everywhere I
    go people say, ``Mr. President, I'm praying for you.'' They're not
    saying it's a Democrat prayer or a Republican prayer. [Laughter] It's
    just prayer. [Laughter]
        It reminds me on a daily basis about the great hope and promise of
    America. It also reminds me how lucky I am to be the President of a
    great land, where people truly care about our country. It also reminds
    me about what Government ought to do: We ought to set money out there to
    encourage faith-based initiatives.
        At the same time, we must never be so arrogant as to say, ``You
    can't fulfill your mission if you access Federal money. Therefore, you
    have to change the entire mission of why you exist.'' I understand the
    frustrations with some in the faith-based community and the nervousness
    as they approach this issue. They say to themselves, ``Why would I want
    to access Federal money if the Federal Government then tries to take
    away my mission, to take the cross off the wall or the Star of David off
    the wall? Why would I want to interface with a Government that's going
    to say, `We'll reluctantly give you money, and then force you to change
    your calling?' ''
        Well, I can understand that. And one of our commitments is that we
    will work tirelessly to make sure that bureaucracies don't stifle the
    very reason you exist in the first place and the power of your
    ministries, which is faith--which is faith.
        And so my message to you is, thanks for what you're doing. You'll
    have a friend and an advocate in this administration that marches side
    by side--side by side--that we will do our very level best to make sure
    that the bureaucratic obstacles are cleared and that people in need are
    able to get help.

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        In the course of the campaign, I've tried to explain what a faith-
    based initiative meant to many members of the press that followed me
    and, of course, many citizens. I'll never forget going to Colfax, Iowa,
    for a teen challenge program. You know, sometimes people accuse me of
    not being very articulate. [Laughter] English is my second language.
    [Laughter] But there was nothing more articulate than seeing a person
    who had been hooked on serious drugs stand up and explain to the
    Nation--at least those willing to listen--how he kicked drugs because
    faith had entered into his life.
        It's hard to measure that. There is no formula for that. You can't
    write a regulation or a bureaucratic rule that suggests that that
    happened. But what Government can do is recognize its limitations and,
    more significantly, recognize the power of faith in our society. And
    that's what this initiative does. We don't pick religions. We don't fund
    religion. But we welcome the soldiers of the armies of compassion.
        And to you soldiers, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for
    caring about our great land, and thank you for the service you provide
    on a daily basis.
        God bless.

    Note: The President spoke at 2:40 p.m. in Presidential Hall in the
    Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building. In his remarks, he
    referred to Rev. Dr. Jesse Miranda, president, Alianza de Ministerios
    Evangelicos Nacionales (AMEN), and Rev. Luis Cortes, president, Nueva
    Esperanza and chairman, National Hispanic Religious Partnership.