[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 34 (Monday, August 27, 2001)]
[Pages 1186-1187]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

August 18, 2001

    Good morning. This month, in my travels around the country, I am 
talking about values that make communities strong and our Nation unique. 
One of those essential American values is compassion.
    A little more than a week ago, I visited a Habitat for Humanity 
building site, where volunteers were helping a family find the dignity 
of owning a home. Every community offers its own examples of service: 
shelters for battered women and children; crisis pregnancy centers; 
treatment for drug addiction; care for the homeless; hope for those in 
prison, and their families. The groups behind these caring efforts have 
advantages Government social programs often can't match: the idealism of 
volunteers and intimate knowledge of the communities they serve and 
values stronger than the problems they face.
    A compassionate Government should find ways to support their good 
works. Unfortunately, Government often treats charities and community 
groups as rivals instead of partners. And this week came some new 
evidence. Soon after I took office, I instructed my Office of Faith-
Based and Community Initiatives to examine Federal rules and regulations 
for discrimination against community and faith-based groups. Five 
Cabinet agencies now have issued their findings. Their report, entitled, 
``Unlevel Playing Field,'' documents a Government bias against faith- 
and community-based organizations, a bias that exists even when 
constitutional concerns about church and state have been addressed.
    Government administrators restrict religious groups from even 
applying for funding simply because they are religious. They place 
artificial limits on what programs and how much funding faith-based 
groups can apply for. In some cases, they restrict civil rights these 
faith-based and community-based groups enjoy under Federal law. This is 
wrong.
    Next Wednesday will mark the fifth anniversary of a bipartisan 
charitable choice legislation. This law says faith-based organizations 
should be able to compete for some contracts to provide social services. 
But even this limited charitable choice law has been almost entirely 
ignored by many Federal administrators. They've done little to help or 
require State and local governments to involve faith-based providers, as 
the law requires. I've appointed advocates in five Cabinet agencies to 
end this bias, and soon.
    My Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives is also working 
closely with groups to help them know their civil rights, know how to 
effectively apply for funds so their good works can be expanded. We must 
also broaden charitable choice to more social service areas, removing 
barriers of discrimination against the participation of faith and 
community groups. By doing so, we will welcome them to more fully 
confront the poverty and hopelessness that remain in America.
    The House of Representatives took a key step in leveling the playing 
field by passing my Faith-Based and Community Initiative, which broadens 
charitable choice and encourages charitable giving. I applaud the 
bipartisan House vote and urge the Senate to pass that legislation, with 
the leadership from Senators Joe Lieberman and Rick Santorum. The needs 
are real. The time to act is as soon as Congress returns to work after 
Labor Day.
    If you agree, let your Senator know if you see him or her during the 
congressional recess. Faith-based and community groups cannot replace 
the work of Government, but with Government's help, they can serve many 
more people. And my administration is committed to providing that help.

[[Page 1187]]

    Compassion is one of the values that builds communities of 
character, because every community of character must be a community of 
service.
    Thank you for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 9:45 a.m. on August 16 at the Bush 
Ranch in Crawford, TX, for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on August 18. The 
transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
August 17 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast. The Office 
of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of 
this address.