[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 36 (Monday, September 10, 2001)]
[Pages 1258-1261]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Departure From Green Bay, Wisconsin

September 3, 2001

    Happy Labor Day. Thank you all for coming out to say hello. Every 
time I've come to Wisconsin, I've been greeted by the friendliest folks 
that I've ever met. I'm so honored that you would take time out of your 
Labor Day celebrations to come and say hello to Laura and me. I look 
forward to saying hello to you after I give you a couple of remarks.

[[Page 1259]]

    First, let me say something about your Governor. I appreciate so 
very much his hospitality. I know you appreciate his leadership. You've 
got a good one as Governor of Wisconsin, and make sure you send him back 
here in 2 years' time. And like me, he married well. [Laughter] We're 
honored to be here with the First Lady of Wisconsin.
    And of course, I'm honored to be traveling with the First Lady of 
the United States. I'm really proud of the job that Laura is doing. 
She's spending a lot of time heralding literacy all across America. And 
she's also working on making sure we convince folks to spend time in the 
classroom. We need more teachers in America. We need to herald those who 
teach. We need to welcome new folks into the classrooms all across the 
country. And Laura's doing a great job of promoting the noble profession 
of teaching.
    I'm also here with your fantastic United States Congressmen. I can't 
tell you what a great job Mark Green is doing on behalf-- [applause]. 
We're also traveling today with Congressman Tom Petri, who is right 
south of here. I appreciate you reducing your immigration standards and 
letting him in. [Laughter]
    I put together a fabulous Cabinet. A President can't do the job 
alone; it requires putting together a good team. And I brought one of my 
Cabinet officials with me. After all, today we're celebrating Labor Day, 
and so the Secretary of Labor, Elaine Chao, is traveling with me. Please 
welcome Elaine Chao. [Applause]
    By the way, my Cabinet has got a good man from Wisconsin in it. Your 
former Governor is doing a fabulous job, and that's Tommy Thompson.
    Today is Labor Day. We had the honor of going down the road to meet 
with some carpenters and joiners, to thank them for their hard work, to 
remind our fellow Americans that the strength of our country is the fact 
that we've got hard-working people all across our land, people who 
aren't afraid of labor, people who work hard to enhance their 
communities.
    Traveling with me today is a good, solid leader. He's the president 
of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, a man named Doug 
McCarron. I'm proud to call him friend; the Carpenters are proud to call 
him boss; and he's a good American. Doug, thank you for coming.
    I hope Coach Sherman noticed what kind of jacket I was wearing. A 
while ago, I had the honor of meeting Coach Sherman and members of the 
mighty Green Bay Packer team as they were working out at the stadium. He 
asked me if I was old enough to remember the Ice Bowl. I told him, 
``Just barely.'' [Laughter]
    But Coach, I can't thank you enough for being here, and I want to 
thank Bob Harlan, as well. I wish you all the best this season. You've 
got a good man as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers.
    And I want to thank the Bishop for being here as well. I'm so 
honored you're here, sir. Thank you very much for coming. And I want to 
thank my fellow Americans for giving me the opportunity to serve as 
President of the greatest nation on the face of the Earth.
    We've been there 8 months. It has been a fantastic 8 months to 
represent our country. And I believe we're making a difference. I told 
the American people, if you gave me a chance to be President, I would 
work hard to get some things accomplished. I would work hard to try to 
change the tone in Washington, DC, to get rid of all the bitterness and 
all the ugliness and finger-pointing and name-calling. I felt that it 
wasn't serving our Nation well, that people would rather tear each other 
down than lift our Nation up.
    And so I believe we're making progress on changing the tone in 
Washington, DC. It's going to require a lot of work. Old habits are hard 
to break. But one way to do it is to focus on getting things done. It's 
to say to the people up there in Washington, ``Let's get some things 
done on behalf of the American people.'' And I'm proud to report we're 
making progress.
    I had the honor of signing the first major tax relief in a 
generation. When I came to Wisconsin all those times during the 
campaign, I said, ``Give me a chance, and I'll take your message of tax 
relief to Washington, DC.'' And guess what? It worked. They heard your 
voice. Mark Green didn't require much convincing. Evidently some of the 
Members of the Senate didn't hear too well. [Laughter]

[[Page 1260]]

    But nevertheless, we did the right thing. Tax relief was the right 
thing for our country. Our economy is not clicking on all cylinders. As 
some of you all know, for the past 12 months our economic growth has 
been anemic at best. We haven't achieved the kind of growth levels 
necessary to keep our folks working. There's people in Wisconsin who 
hurt because they laid off their--they've been laid off their job. There 
are families who are hurting, and I understood that was taking place.
    And one thing the Federal Government can do is to stimulate the 
economy, and we believe the best stimulus package is to give people 
their own money back. So tax relief was important for economic growth 
and economic vitality.
    But it's also an important philosophical statement. You see, we said 
loud and clear that once the Federal Government meets its needs, we 
ought to trust the people with their own money. It's a fundamental 
question of, who do you trust? Do you trust the Government, or do you 
trust the people with their own money? I'd rather have the Wisconsin 
families--[applause].
    So those checks are hitting home. I saw a sign coming in that said, 
``Mr. President, thanks for the $600.'' I felt like stopping the limo--
[laughter]--and giving her a big hug, but reminding her, it wasn't the 
Government's money to begin with. It's not the Government's money. It's 
your money.
    I'm proud of the tax relief package. It's going to make sense for 
our economy. It says loud and clear, we trust you with your own money. 
And by the way, there's a good feature in the tax relief plan that makes 
a lot of sense for Wisconsin farmers, and that is we're finally getting 
rid of the death tax, so people can pass their farm from one generation 
to the next without getting taxed twice.`
    We have been working hard to fulfill another promise, and that's the 
promise of making sure every child in America gets a good education. A 
domestic priority of mine is to make sure every child--I mean every 
child--learns to read. I fully understand a literate child is one more 
likely to be able to learn. And yet, we've got to admit there's too many 
children that can't read in America.
    Now, lest you think I forgot where I came from, inherent in the 
education bill that I proposed is this solid principle: I trust local 
people to run their schools. I would rather the people of Green Bay, 
Wisconsin, make the decisions on the public education than people in 
Washington, DC. So we passed legislation that has bills--has power 
coming out of Washington to empower local people to run the schools.
    But inherent also in the education bill, as passed the House and 
passed the Senate--not only says we're going to spend more money, we're 
going to spend it more wisely. And in return for more money, we're going 
to ask the question, can our children read and write and add and 
subtract? We expect there to be accountability because by measuring, we 
will know. By measuring, we will make sure we correct problems early, 
before it's too late. By measuring, we will make sure that no child gets 
simply shuffled through the system.
    And so we've got a plan that makes sense. And I call upon the House, 
and I call upon the Senate conferees to get together and get that 
education bill on my desk so I can sign it, so that public education 
fulfills its hope and promise for every child in America.
    Dick Cheney and I made this promise. And by the way, he's doing just 
fine. I couldn't have picked a better man as Vice President of the 
United States than Dick Cheney.
    We say this: We say we'll have a foreign policy that's clear-eyed 
and steady and realistic. And good foreign policy starts with making 
sure our military is well funded and that there's high morale amongst 
those who wear the uniform. And we're making good on that promise.
    It starts with making sure our troops get paid well and are housed 
better. Morale begins with the understanding that those who wear the 
uniform deserve the utmost respect and the utmost help by their Federal 
Government. I signed an appropriations bill that does just that.
    I also requested the highest increase in defense spending since 
Ronald Reagan was the President. A strong defense means we'll have a 
more peaceful world.

[[Page 1261]]

    And I call upon the appropriators in Washington, DC, to let the 
country know the level of defense appropriations and the level of 
education appropriations early in the process, rather than late. These 
are national priorities, and they ought to be priorities of our 
appropriators in the Halls of Congress, as well.
    And finally, we're making good progress--I want to thank Congressman 
Green for his work--on what I call a faith-based initiative. It's an 
initiative that recognizes there are still people who hurt in America. 
There are people who suffer. There are people who are trapped in 
addiction, in neighborhoods without hope. And yet, this Nation doesn't 
believe in leaving people behind. And so I proposed to the United States 
Congress that we capture the true strength of the country, and the 
strength of the country lies in the hearts and souls of our citizens. We 
are a compassionate nation because we are a compassionate people. And 
there are faith-based programs and community-based programs all across 
our country that ask the question, ``What can I do to make my 
neighborhood a better place? What can I do to love a child who needs 
love? What can I do to help a citizen who needs help?''
    And the Federal Government ought not to fear faith-based programs. 
We ought to welcome faith-based programs. We ought not to discriminate 
against those programs based upon a universal call to love a neighbor 
just like we'd like to be loved ourselves.
    We passed a good bill out of the House. I call upon the United 
States Senate to get the faith-based initiative moving, to make sure 
that no person in America is left out of the great American experience.
    No, we're making good progress, I believe, in Washington, DC. It's 
because I'm listening to the people. I understand the strength of the 
country lies not in the halls of our Government but lies in the hearts 
and souls of our people all across America. And that's why it's such a 
huge honor to be your President. It's an honor to be a President of a 
nation that's been blessed by great values and blessed with wonderful 
people.
    Laura and I love the challenge. We respect the process, but we also 
understand we have responsibilities. And the responsibilities inherent 
in our job are to call upon the best of every American, and that begins 
by making sure that we set the right example for young and old alike. 
It's a challenge I accept. It's a challenge I welcome. And it's a 
challenge that--I am bolstered because of the prayers and thoughts of 
people such as yourselves.
    Thank you all for coming. May God bless you, and may God bless 
America.

Note: The President spoke at 11:01 a.m. at Austin Straubel International 
Airport. In his remarks, he referred to Gov. Scott McCallum of 
Wisconsin, and his wife, Laurie; Mike Sherman, head coach, and Bob 
Harlan, president and chief executive officer, Green Bay Packers; and 
the Most Reverend Robert J. Banks, Bishop of Green Bay.