[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 25 (Monday, June 25, 2001)]
[Pages 941-944]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at the Summit on the 21st Century Workforce

June 20, 2001

    Thank you all very much. Thank you very much. Please be seated. 
Madam Secretary, thank you very much, and I appreciate so very much your 
service to the country. I made a good pick when I convinced Elaine to 
join my Cabinet; she's doing a terrific job. I think Rod Paige is here, 
too, the Secretary of Education. If he's not--he is here. Hey, Mr. 
Secretary. Thank you, Mr. Secretary.
    Members of Congress, thank you all so very much for being here. I 
spend a lot of quality time with Members of Congress these days. 
[Laughter] I think we're making pretty good progress, and I appreciate 
you all for coming.
    I want to thank the business and labor leaders who are here. And I 
want to thank you all for taking an interest in the American workforce.
    As Elaine mentioned, I just came back from Europe and had a 
fascinating experience. It's such an honor to represent our great Nation 
around the world. We've spent a lot of time talking about industry and 
trade and commerce; after all, we trade over a trillion dollars a year 
between Europe and the United States. And I reminded people a solid 
truth, that the strength of our economy depends upon the people who go 
to work every day--that there is a lot of fiscal matters that we'll take 
up and monetary matters, but the truth of the matter is, the great 
strength of the American economy is our workforce, the hard men and 
women who work every single day to make a living. And that is your 
concern today, and I commend you all very much for giving this 
conference your time and your interest and your talent.
    Our responsibilities are clear: We should try to make it easier for 
people to find good jobs by giving them the education and training they 
need to succeed; second, we should help them keep good jobs and 
encourage employers to do more for their workers; and third, we owe them 
a chance to build a nest egg that will help them maintain a high 
standard of living in their retirement years.
    As you well know, a successful working life usually begins with a 
good education. This has always been true. But it's even more true as 
our economy changes. We live in a time of incredible opportunities to 
succeed, and every child growing up in America, regardless of background 
or accent, deserves an equal chance to take advantage of these 
opportunities. Five months after the day that I was inaugurated, I am 
pleased to say that we are nearing historic reforms in public education. 
This is a victory for every child and for every family in America.
    Last week education reform passed the Senate by a vote of 91 to 8. 
When these reforms become law, schools will have more freedom from 
needless meddling by Washington. There will be fewer mandates and 
regulations for schools to meet, more freedom and more flexibility, as 
schools live up to high standards they will now be required to meet.
    You see, I believe every child can learn. I believe we've got to 
start with the mind-set that every child in America can learn. And we 
need to raise the bar and trust local people to meet the standards and--
the high standards. Every public school, starting next

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year, as well, will be held accountable for its performance.
    It's not enough to promise and proclaim high standards. The American 
people expect results. Families and parents want results. And the law 
will soon require such results with testing every child for every grade, 
three-through-eight, in reading and math.
    The critics say, ``Why?'' The answer is, because we want to know. 
And we want to know early, before it's too late. This business about 
passing children through grades because of age has got the end. This 
society must ask the question, ``What do you know?''
    I'm grateful for the hard work in Capitol Hill by both Republicans 
and Democrats on this measure. We've worked together from the start to 
what I hope is the finish soon. Congress needs to finish this work. The 
conference needs to come together. The House conferees and the Senate 
conferees need to meet, reconcile their differences, and get the bill to 
my desk before public education starts next fall. It's time to act, and 
it's time to act with meaningful, real reforms.
    All of us recognize that education spending should be increased--I 
realize that; the Senate realizes that; the House recognizes that--but 
only where we're certain that the money will be well spent. Additional 
resources must be tied to demonstrated progress and results. As Congress 
writes the final bill, I trust that members of both parties will stay 
true to that principle. We must not repeat the mistakes of years past, 
confusing spending money with progress. We must keep the focus on reform 
and results. It's the least we owe the workforce of tomorrow, the very 
least--which is a good, sound education.
    But at every turn, Federal policy must keep pace with changes of our 
workforce. This morning I took one step, with an Executive order 
formally establishing an Office of the 21st Century Workforce within the 
Department of Labor. This office will be charged with identifying new 
challenges and new opportunities for American workers.
    My Executive order also creates a Presidential council to advise on 
labor issues and especially on those issues affecting the lives of 
workers and their families. Every working person is entitled to expect 
fair treatment from the employers they work for. Wherever possible, we 
should find ways to remove conflicts between home and work. For example, 
more workers should be able to take advantage of comp time. Federal 
workers already enjoy this privilege, and private sector employees 
deserve the same. Many hard-working people would prefer to be able to 
choose a few extra days at home instead of a few extra dollars on 
payday. We've got to trust the workers of America to make the decisions 
that's best for their families.
    Until fairly recently, many Americans have never known paydays at 
all nor the other rewards that work brings. They have been denied jobs 
on account of a disability, and one of the great advances in our time is 
that persons with disabilities have been more welcomed in the workplace. 
But there's still more to do.
    We must speed up the day when the last barrier has been removed to 
full and independent lives for every American, with or without 
disability. I've sent to Congress a set of proposals called the New 
Freedom Initiative. It's an important step to ensuring that all 
Americans with disabilities can participate more fully in the life of 
their communities and of our country. We'll help our fellow Americans 
gain greater access to assistive technology. We'll also help them gain 
access to public transportation and to the workplace, itself, in keeping 
with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
    I've also asked Congress to create a fund to help people with 
disabilities to buy the equipment they need to telecommute. We'll 
provide tax incentives to encourage employers to provide such equipment. 
And we'll protect home offices from needless OSHA regulations.
    Tens of millions of Americans today work out of their homes. For 
most, it's a convenience; for workers with disabilities, it is a 
revolution. And we want as many Americans as possible to share in this 
revolution of independence.
    An urgent issue for many workers today is quality health care. Like 
education reform, this issue is reaching an hour of decision, and before 
this year is out, I want to sign into law a Patients' Bill of Rights. 
And let me be specific again about the type of bill I'd like to sign. It 
must cover everyone, all patients

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and all private health care plans. The standards should be strong enough 
to protect everyone, yet flexible enough to preserve the good work that 
has been done in many States. It must guarantee all patients important 
rights: the right to get emergency treatment at the nearest emergency 
room; the right to see a specialist when they need one; a woman should 
be able to visit her gynecologist, and parents, their children's 
pediatrician, without going through a gatekeeper.
    In any bill that receives my signature, patients will have the right 
to a fair and immediate review when medical care is denied. If a health 
care plan denies care, you should be able to appeal immediately to an 
independent, impartial review panel of medical doctors. And if they say 
you need the care, your health care plan must provide it, period.
    It's important for Americans to know, with that kind of strong, 
independent review process, most disagreements will not wind up in 
court. The law should allow the review process to work, not short-
circuit it by inviting unnecessary lawsuits.
    I believe that an HMO that wrongly denies coverage to a patient 
should be held liable in court. But we must keep our eye on the purpose. 
We want to give patients the care they need when they need it. The idea 
is to serve more patients, not to create more lawsuits in America. We 
can provide meaningful remedies to patients without driving up the cost 
of health care or forcing employers to drop coverage.
    Measured against this criterion I've described, there are some good 
bills and some bad bills. And I want to thank Senators John Breaux, 
Democrat; Senator Bill Frist, Republican; Senator Jim Jeffords, 
independent--[laughter]--for working hard to come up with a reasonable 
solution to this very important problem.
    Finally, the end of a working life should not be the beginning of 
worry and hardship. The tax reform package I signed into law 2 weeks ago 
will help in several ways. For starters, it leaves more money in every 
working person's pocket. We remembered whose money it was we're spending 
up here; it's the working people's money. And it gives workers the 
chance to put more of their own money into an IRA or a 401(k) plan.
    The tax bill also eased the IRS limits on pension benefits that 
you're allowed to receive. We heard from many unions and employers about 
the need for these changes, and we listened. This will help our workers 
prepare for later years, sending less money to Washington and putting 
more money in their own savings accounts.
    And I've also established a bipartisan commission to save and 
strengthen Social Security. With this help and with the support of 
Congress--we need to get beyond the years of delay and finger-pointing 
and quarreling about this incredibly important issue. The days of 
shifting blame must end in order to save this important system.
    To those who are retired and near retired, a promise made will be a 
promise kept by this Government. But to the younger workers who wonder 
whether or not there is going to be a Social Security system around, you 
have an administration and a vehicle now that's willing to think 
differently, to trust you with your own money, to say it's your money to 
begin with, so that you can build your own nest egg that you can pass 
from one generation to the next. It's time.
    One of the great virtues of the country is the value we place on 
hard work--it really makes America unique, in a different place--and the 
respect we have for those who work hard. Mine is an administration that 
understands the important resource of the men and women of America, the 
hard-working people who make this country grow. And ours is an 
administration that will always value hard work and trust the individual 
and understand the limitations of Government.
    I want to thank you all for giving me a chance to come by and visit 
with you. It is a huge honor to be the President of the greatest nation 
on the face of the Earth. And it's a huge honor to be the President of a 
nation full of decent, hard-working, caring, and compassionate people. I 
thank you for the privilege. God bless.

  

  

Note: The President spoke at 9:35 a.m. at the MCI Center. In his 
remarks, he referred to Labor Secretary Elaine Chao.

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