    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 32 (Monday, August 13, 2001)]
    [Pages 1144-1146]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Remarks to Participants in Habitat for Humanity's ``World Leaders
    Build'' in Waco, Texas

    August 8, 2001

        Thank you, all. Please be seated, before you melt. [Laughter] Mel,
    thank you very much. Laura and I had the honor of welcoming Mel and
    Kitty to our little slice of heaven last night in Crawford, Texas. He's
    doing a fabulous job. I don't know if you know the story about Mel
    Martinez, but as a young boy, his parents put him on a boat from Cuba,
    hoping that he could find freedom--and did, and now is a Cabinet
    Secretary in the Cabinet of the 43d President, and he is doing a
    fabulous job on behalf of America. And Mel, it's a lot cooler here in
    Texas than it is in Tampa, Florida. [Laughter]
        I'm honored to be here with Laura. She is--I know most of my Texas
    friends know this was going to be the case, but she is a great First
    Lady. I want to thank the Gowan family for your hospitality. I asked him
    about that New York Yankee hat. [Laughter] He said it was the only one
    he could find. [Laughter] Either that or he was showing off for the
    national press corps. [Laughter]
        I want to thank, as well, the Evans family, Bubba and Destini and
    Gladys. I told Bubba, if he wanted some advice, it's always to listen to
    his mother, something I understand quite well. [Laughter] But Bubba and
    Destini promised Laura and me that they're going to go to college.
    They're going to use that home as a place to study. You're now on
    record, Bubba. [Laughter]
        Tom, it's good to see you again, sir. Thank you for coming down from
    Washington today. I had the honor of welcoming Jimmy Carter to the Oval
    Office the other day, and he asked me about the international home
    build, and I said I was going to participate--in God's country.
    [Laughter] He said, ``I didn't realize you were going to be in
    Georgia.'' [Laughter] I said, ``No, Texas.'' [Laughter] And so it's an
    honor to be participating today along with President Carter, who is in
    South Korea, and other world leaders all around the globe.
        I want to thank my fellow Texans who are here, as well. I
    particularly want to thank David Ward, and I want to thank the Baylor
    University Habitat for Humanity crowd. It's one of the oldest in the
    country. I think it's the first Habitat for Humanity college building
    program, and I want to thank the Baylor students who are here today and
    those who have kept the tradition alive up to now.
        I'm glad to welcome the Governor. It's good to see you, Gov, I'm
    glad you're here. I played golf with my State senator, David Sibley.
    You're supposed to play: President wins. [Laughter] I guess you know me
    too well. I know you better now. [Laughter] It's good to see you and
    Pam. It's good to see Kip and Dianne, thank you all for both coming
    over. I miss you. I miss the--they're both members of the State house.
    Sibley is in the Senate.
        Dealing with the United States Congress is an interesting experience
    compared to dealing with our legislature. It seems like people there
    want to harden their positions pretty quickly because they're, a lot of
    times, more interested in politics than they are in good policy. I want
    to assure you all I'm working hard to change that attitude. I'm trying
    to erode the old bias, the old prejudice of putting politics ahead of
    what's right for America. I think we're making good progress. I do miss
    the days when Democrat and Republican could sit down together here in
    Texas and work things out.
        I was telling David yesterday that we're making some pretty good
    progress on the Patients' Bill of Rights by focusing with people to find
    common ground. It's an experience

    [[Page 1145]]

    he and I had together. I gave him some pretty good lessons on how to get
    positive things done.
        It's great to have the statewide officeholders here, members of the
    supreme court--Phillips and Enoch, thank you all for coming. And new
    judge, too--thank you, Judge, for being here. We've got one-third of the
    court here. [Laughter] Almost enough for a quorum. [Laughter]
        I want to thank the railroad commission for being here: Garza,
    Williams, and Matthews, it's good to see all three of you. You're
    looking pretty darn good, in spite of the fact that I know you're
    working hard. It's also good to see Greg Abbott and David Dewhurst.
    Thank you all for coming, as well; we're honored that you're here. I
    appreciate you taking time to be here.
        One of the things I love to remind people around our country is that
    the great strength of America is not in our government. It may be in the
    form of government but not in the halls of government. The great
    strength of America is in the hearts and souls of citizens all around
    our country. And we have a chance to see that today here in Waco, Texas,
    people who have heard the universal call to help a neighbor in need and
    have come out in 100-degree temperature to do so, people that understand
    that owning a home is part of the American Dream. Owning something is
    what America is all about. The ability to own a piece of property,
    regardless of who you are or how you were raised or where you're from,
    is the thing that really has made America so unique and so different.
        But the thing that makes it more interesting to people from around
    the world is that we've got hundreds of citizens who are willing to help
    those who may not be able to afford a house to be able to move into a
    house. It's the beauty of America.
        You know, I've told the people of the Nation's Capital there that I
    was coming back to the heartland to herald the values of the heartland,
    the values that make America so different and so unique. And one of
    those values is neighbors helping neighbors. It's a value that has
    existed for a long period of time. But no President should ever take
    that value for granted. And so that's why Laura and I are so honored to
    thank the volunteers who are here and to remind our fellow Americans
    that, if we're interested in a decent tomorrow for every citizen, if we
    want the American Dream to extend its reach in every community, that all
    of us must work hard in our communities to help a neighbor in need.
        One of the most interesting initiatives that we have proposed is a
    Faith- and Community-Based Initiative. There's great debate in
    Washington about the process, the legalities of the initiative. What my
    administration talks about is, the results of the initiative. If a
    faith-based program helps a family find a home, then we ought to welcome
    it and nourish it. And Secretary Martinez talked about how we're going
    to do that, by putting more money in our budget.
        If a faith-based initiative helps someone kick drugs or alcohol, we
    ought to welcome that initiative and welcome that program and say to the
    folks who are involved, ``Government stands squarely on your side.'' In
    our society, we should not fear faith and the power of faith and the
    volunteers who are motivated by faith. We need to welcome it. And as far
    as I'm concerned, the Federal Government will be a welcoming agency,
    will put money up to allow faith-based programs to compete, side by
    side, with secular programs, all aimed at making sure America is the
    greatest country possible for every single citizen.
        And it's going to happen in this country. I've had the honor of
    traveling the world for our country. I went to Europe. And we're
    different in a positive way; we're unique in an incredibly positive way.
    It's important for our Nation to never lose sight of that. And for those
    who worship in houses of faith, regardless of their religion, whether it
    be Christian or Muslim or Jewish, and you want to help a neighbor in
    need and you want to access grant money, as far as I'm concerned, please
    come on. Please come on and hear the universal call to love a neighbor
    just like you'd like to be loved, yourself.
        We're making great progress in Washington changing the tone of our
    country. We're making great progress reminding people that the values of
    the heartland are the values that make America unique and different.

    [[Page 1146]]

        I want to thank all the volunteers here in Waco, Texas, and all the
    volunteers all across this State and all across our Nation who, on a
    daily basis, make this country so wonderful and so different. I also
    want to thank my fellow Texans for coming out to give me a warm welcome.
    It's great to see you all again.
        May God bless Texas, and may God bless America. Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 9:35 a.m. at the home of Otis and Thresa
    Gowan, which was a Habitat for Humanity project 11 years ago. In his
    remarks, he referred to Kitty Martinez, wife of Housing and Urban
    Development Secretary Mel R. Martinez; Gladys Evans and her children
    Edwinn ``Bubba'' and Destini, whose home the President helped build;
    Diana Ward, board chair, Waco Habitat for Humanity; Gov. Rick Perry of
    Texas; Pam Sibley, wife of State Senator David Sibley; State
    Representatives Kip Averitt and Dianne White Delisi; Chief Justice
    Thomas R. Phillips, and Justices Craig T. Enoch and Wallace B.
    Jefferson, Texas Supreme Court; Chairman Michael L. Williams and
    Commissioners Tony Garza and Charles R. Matthews, Texas Railroad
    Commission; and Greg Abbott and David Dewhurst, candidates for Texas
    Lieutenant Governor.