[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 33 (Monday, August 20, 2001)]
[Pages 1174-1176]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks to the Hispano Chamber of Commerce in Albuquerque

August 15, 2001

    Thank you very much. Gracias por tu bienvenida. Thank you, all. Es 
un gran honor para me de esta con ustedes--it's an honor to be here with 
you all. Thank you very much for your hospitality. Sientese. [Laughter] 
I appreciate so very much the hospitality. It's nice to come over from 
your neighboring State to New Mexico. I've always held New Mexico in 
high regard. It's such a beautiful land, full of decent and caring 
people, well-represented, I might add, in the United States Senate by my 
close friend Pete Domenici.
    I know this is not a political event, but I can't believe anybody 
would dare challenge Pete. He's doing such a good job on behalf of the 
people of New Mexico.
    I appreciate Jeff Bingaman, the other Senator from the State of New 
Mexico. I appreciate his service to the State. I look forward to working 
with Jeff, to have a coherent energy policy for the United States of 
America. I appreciate Heather Wilson. She's a breath of fresh air in the 
United States Congress.
    I want to thank my friend Joe Skeen for coming up from southeast New 
Mexico. I appreciate el alcalde de Albuquerque, the mayor, for being 
here, as well. But most of all, I want to thank the good folks of the 
Hispano Chamber. I want to thank Loretta and Phil Castillo for their 
hospitality. And I want to thank them for their vision. I want to thank 
them for understanding the importance of community and of the importance 
of small business in our society.
    Archbishop, thank you very much for being here, as well.
    You know, the role of Government is not to try to create wealth. The 
role of Government is to create an environment in which people can 
realize the American Dream. And part of the American Dream is to be able 
to own your own business, to be able to say, ``I want to start my 
business. I want to nurture my business. I want to grow my business.'' 
It's the wonderful thing about America that if you've got an idea, it 
doesn't matter who you are or where you're from, that that experience 
ought to be available to everybody.
    And so I think we're doing some things in Washington, DC, to make it 
easier for people to own their own small business. And by the way, it's 
incredibly important. As my friend Hector Barretto said, most of the new 
employment in America comes from small- business owners. Small business 
is the backbone--is the backbone of our economic system. And one of the 
pieces of incredibly good news about America is, the number of Latino 
businesses is increasingly dramatically. The fastest growing business 
sectors in many of our States is the Hispanic-owned businesses. That's 
good news for America. It's good news for neighborhoods all across our 
great country. I want to congratulate the entrepreneurs who are here 
today.
    We're making good progress about making the environment more 
conducive for ownership, starting by cutting the taxes on the people who 
pay the bills. We didn't just cut the taxes on a few; we said, ``If you 
pay taxes, you ought to get tax relief. We understand that our economy 
was slowing down, that it's not going the way we'd like it to. And one

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way to help kick-start the economy is to give people their own money 
back. After all, that money isn't the Government's money; it's the 
people's money. It's the small-business owner's money.''
    I spent a lot of time reminding people in the United States Congress 
and in Washington that small businesses are oftentimes unincorporated. 
The small-business owner is more than likely to be the sole proprietor 
or have a Subchapter S corporation, which means they pay the highest 
marginal rate. And so when we cut all rates, including the top rate, 
what we're really doing is, we're making the business environment more 
conducive for the small-business owner. We were saying, ``The harder you 
work, the more money you have to reinvest in your business.'' Tax relief 
was an incredibly important part of making sure the environment is 
conducive for the entrepreneurial spirit to flourish in all 
neighborhoods all across America.
    We did the right thing. And by the way, we also did the right thing 
by getting rid of the estate tax, the death tax, so that a small-
business owner--so that somebody that works their life to build up their 
business can leave it to a son or a daughter. That's part of the 
American Dream. It's what America ought to be about.
    Today I had the privilege of going to Griegos Elementary School to 
talk about education. Today is the first day of school for many 
elementary school students here in New Mexico. Education is an important 
part of making sure that the entrepreneurial spirit reaches everybody in 
America. If you're educated, you're more likely to be able to realize 
your dreams. It's so important we get it right.
    I want to thank the Hispano Chamber for the $100,000-a-year 
scholarship money they provide for hard-working high school students so 
they can help realize the college dream.
    And we're making progress in Washington on education matters. First, 
I want you to understand, I always remember where I came from. Local 
control of schools is the best way to make sure every child receives a 
good education. It's important that we trust the local folks.
    I visited with the superintendent of the Albuquerque schools today. 
We talked about high standards. We talked about challenging what I call 
the soft bigotry of low expectations. We believe every child can learn. 
And by the way, we also not only talked about reading and writing and 
adding and subtracting, basic education; we also talked about making 
sure that character education is an integral part of the public school 
system. We want our children to be able to read. We also want them to 
know the difference between right and wrong and to understand the values 
that have made America a great place.
    You hear a lot of talk about the education bill. I want to share 
with you my passion. My passion is to make sure no child gets left 
behind. My passion is to make sure that we clearly understand what's 
taking place in the schools all across America, and therefore, I've 
insisted that we have strong accountability measures. It's says, ``We 
must measure to know whether or not children are learning.''
    Now, you'll hear all kinds of debate on it. You hear some say, 
``Well, that's too much Government.'' I don't think it's too much 
Government to ask--the fundamental question is, can our children read? 
That's legitimate Government to ask that question. We must ask that 
question early and often, because when we find children who can't read, 
we've got to correct the problem early, before it's too late.
    And then you'll hear some say, ``Well, we shouldn't measure. It's 
racist to measure.'' I believe it's racist not to measure. It's so easy 
to quit on a child whose parents don't speak English as a first 
language. It's so easy to walk into a classroom of the so-called hard to 
educate, and to give up and just move them through schools. That's 
wrong. What America must do is insist upon accountability measures. We 
must ask the question, do our children know how to read? And if they do, 
we'll praise and thank the teachers. But if not, we will blow the 
whistle on failure, insist a curriculum change, give parents more 
options and choices to make sure that not one single child is left 
behind in America.
    I want to talk about another subject that's incredibly important for 
not only the border States but all of America, and that's relations with 
our neighbors to the south, Mexico.

[[Page 1176]]

Mexico is a friend of America. Mexico is our neighbor. And we want our 
neighbors to succeed. We want our neighbors to do well. We want our 
neighbors to be successful. We understand that a poor neighbor is 
somebody that's going to be harder to deal with than a neighbor that's 
prospering. And that's why it's so important for us to tear down 
barriers and walls that might separate Mexico from the United States. 
And that's why it's so important for us to stand strong when it comes to 
free trade with our neighbors to the south.
    NAFTA has been good for New Mexico, and it's been good for Mexico. 
And that's an important relationship that I pledge to continue on. I ask 
for the Congress to give me trade promotion authority, so that we can 
not only have free trade with our neighbor to the south, so that we can 
have free trade throughout the hemisphere.
    Oh, I know there's some voices who want to wall us off from Mexico. 
They want to build a wall. I say to them, they want to condemn our 
neighbors to the south in poverty, and I refuse to accept that type of 
isolationist and protectionist attitude.
    And let me say one other thing, one other issue that's important. It 
speaks to the spirit of our Nation. It speaks to whether or not we're 
going to be true friends with the neighbors to the south. And that's the 
issue of trucking. There are some people who say we shouldn't allow our 
friends to the south to send their trucks into the United States. I say 
that's discrimination against Mexico.
    I say that if we're going to have NAFTA, we ought to enforce all of 
NAFTA. I believe strongly we can have safety on our highways without 
discriminating against our neighbors to the south. To the protectionists 
and isolationists, I say if Mexican trucks, if United States trucks and 
Canadian trucks are allowed to move freely on our highways, we can not 
only enforce the laws; it will help prosperity spread its roots 
throughout our neighborhood. And that's important for the future.
    I love the spirit of this facility, the idea of citizens saying, 
``What can I do to improve a neighborhood? What can I do to improve a 
community in which I live?'' It's really the American spirit, isn't it? 
It's the thing that makes our Nation so different and unique, I think, 
is that the fact there are people who are saying, asking the question, 
``What can I do to help a neighbor in need?'' And it's really one of my 
jobs, is to rally the compassion of America.
    I met recently with members of the faith community here in 
Albuquerque. We talked about the power of faith and good works at the 
grassroots level throughout our society. I welcome community-based 
programs. And you should welcome faith-based programs, that all exist--
that all exist because somebody has heard a calling much greater than 
Government, much greater than--much greater than laws that can be passed 
out of the Congress. No, the great spirit of America lies in the hearts 
and souls of our wonderful citizenry, symbolized by this building, the 
willingness of people to help a neighbor in need, the willingness of 
good folks who have done pretty well in life to come together and say, 
``How can I help a neighbor find a job? What can I do to help a neighbor 
develop a skill?''
    No, this is the spirit of America captured right here in 
Albuquerque, New Mexico. I want to applaud you all for giving me a 
chance to come by. I want to thank you for giving me a chance to serve 
the greatest Nation on the face of the Earth, full of the most decent 
people.
    Thank you for coming. May God bless. May God bless New Mexico and 
the United States.

Note: The President spoke at 3:35 p.m. outside the Albuquerque Hispano 
Chamber of Commerce building. In his remarks, he referred to Mayor Jim 
Baca of Albuquerque; Loretta Armenta, president and chief executive 
officer, and Joseph ``Phil'' Castillo, chairman, Albuquerque Hispano 
Chamber of Commerce; Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan, Archdiocese of Santa 
Fe, NM; and H. Bradford Allison, superintendent, Albuquerque Public 
School District.