[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 33 (Monday, August 20, 2001)]
[Page 1156]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Signing Agriculture Economic Assistance Legislation in 
Crawford, Texas

August 13, 2001

    Please be seated. Thanks. I want to thank you all for coming. And I 
have the honor of signing a piece of legislation that was passed out of 
the House and the Senate in record time. It's a piece of legislation to 
provide economic assistance to the ag communities all across America. 
It's $5.5 billion in total. This money is on top of the monies in the 
2001 farm bill. And it's necessary. It's necessary for our ranchers and 
our farmers.
    First, I want to thank my neighbors for coming. This is, I guess, 
maybe the first bill signing ceremony ever in Crawford, Texas. 
[Laughter] I don't think it will be the last. It's a meaningful piece of 
legislation for this part of the country because a lot of people make 
their living on the farm and on the ranch. And we want our families to 
be on the farms and ranch. After all, farm families represent the best 
of America. They represent the values that have made this country unique 
and different: values of love of family; values of respect for nature--I 
always tell people that every day is Earth Day when you own your farm, 
when you're working the land--values in understanding that there's some 
things beyond our control, that the Almighty controls the weather, 
sometimes in ways we like, and sometimes in ways we don't like; values 
of hard work; values of the entrepreneurial spirit; and values of 
private property. These are really important values that make America 
different and America unique, and values that we need to keep intact.
    I'm worried about the fact that the ag economy suffers, because 
agriculture is a part of our national security mix. If we can't grow 
enough food to feed our people, we've got a problem. It will complicate 
our foreign policy, needless to say. Well, we've got to make sure our ag 
economy stays strong and healthy, and this supplemental is a way to help 
do that.
    And so I want to thank you all for coming. I was hoping it would 
start raining in the middle of this little talk--[laughter]--and then I 
could take credit for it.
    I think one of the things, as well, that I really appreciate about 
the Crawford area is the fact that there is a concept of neighborliness. 
People say, well--I go downtown, and I have a nice burger the other day 
with some people, and they say--they walk up and say, ``I'm your 
neighbor.'' That's an important concept for our country because a 
neighbor means more than just somebody living next door to somebody 
else. A neighbor means that there's somebody around willing to help 
somebody.
    I tell people all the time that the great strength of this country 
is in the fact that we've got such loving and decent people all across 
America who, when they find a neighbor in need, are willing to help out, 
are willing to help that neighbor. And that doesn't require any 
Government law; you can't pass a law that says, ``Thou shalt love thy 
neighbor,'' or, ``You will be neighborly.'' That's because America is 
full of just such decent people.
    And so I want to welcome my neighbors, and I want to thank you all 
for coming. And it is my honor now to sign this piece of meaningful 
legislation that should make the lives of the people who farm and the 
people who ranch much better off.
    May God bless you all.

Note: The President spoke at noon at the Bush Ranch. H.R. 2213, approved 
August 13, was assigned Public Law No. 107-25.