[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 40 (Monday, October 8, 2001)]
[Pages 1409-1412]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following Discussions With Business Leaders and an Exchange With 
Reporters in New York City

October 3, 2001

    The President. It's an honor to be back in New York City. I want to 
thank the mayor and the Governor for welcoming us back. I'm pleased that 
Secretary Don Evans and Larry Lindsey from the White House staff are 
traveling with me, and I want to thank the business leaders from not 
only New York but others who have come from around the country to 
discuss the state of the Nation.
    And we've had a very frank discussion about the state of our 
economy. I think there's no question we all agree that the events of 
September 11th shocked our economy, just like it shocked the conscience 
of our Nation. But like those terrorists, they can't affect our soul; 
they can't affect the greatness of America. We all believe that the 
underpinnings are there for economic recovery.
    And we all must do our part, and the Federal Government has a role 
to play. Today Secretary Paul O'Neill testified at Congress, saying that 
the administration believes that we ought to have 60 to 75 billion 
dollars more of stimulus to encourage consumer confidence, to enhance 
business investment, as well as to take care of displaced workers.
    I have shared that with the business leaders here. They understand 
that there is a role for the Federal Government, a strong and

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active role. And I assured them it's a role that we intend to play.
    I know there are people hurting in America; there are people who 
have lost their jobs. But as I assured these leaders, that our 
Government will do everything we can to get our economy growing, to make 
it as strong as possible. I am saddened by the sight of the World Trade 
Center, again, once again. But through my tears I do see a much better 
future for the country.
    This is a great nation. It's an entrepreneurial nation. It's a 
nation that has got such generous and kind people. The leadership, the 
business leadership here has contributed $150 million to the funds, the 
variety of funds here in the New York City area, to help people, the 
victims. It speaks volumes about what America is about.
    And I want to thank everybody for coming. I'm now going to ask Ken 
Chenault to say a few words.
    Ken.

[At this point, Kenneth I. Chenault, chairman and chief executive 
officer, American Express Company, made brief remarks.]

    The President. Thank you, Ken.
    Betsy.

[Betsy Holden, chief executive, Kraft Foods, made brief remarks]

    The President. I appreciate that. Thanks.
    I'd be glad to take a few questions.

National Economy

    Q. What form might this stimulus take? Are we looking at tax cuts 
for individuals, corporations?
    The President. You bet. I know we need to provide more tax relief to 
individuals to boost consumer confidence. We've just finished passing 
out $40 billion of rebate checks; they were completed by October 1st of 
this year. There is going to be tax relief started next year as a part 
of the package that the Congress and I agreed to. We believe there ought 
to be more, to make sure that the consumer has got money to spend, money 
to spend in the short term.
    Secondly, there needs to be business relief, as well, to encourage 
investment.
    And finally, there needs to be a displaced worker package. We've got 
to recognize that as a result of September 11th, folks have been laid 
off, and we need to make sure they're able to survive until this economy 
gets going again.
    And I've got to tell you, I had a great conversation with the 
leadership of the Congress yesterday. We're coming together on a plan 
that I believe needs to get passed as quickly as possible.

Budget Surplus

    Q. Mr. President, is this going to eat up the rest of the surplus 
for the year, and does it matter?
    The President. Well, as I said in Chicago during the campaign, when 
asked about should the Government ever deficit spend, I said only under 
these circumstances should Government deficit spend: if there is a 
national emergency, if there is a recession, or if there's a war. And 
you know, we've now got a reason to do what it takes to not only provide 
security at home, to do what it takes to win the war on terrorism, but 
we've also got to do what it takes to make sure this economy gets 
growing, so people can find work.
    And we've got the basis for growth. We're an entrepreneurial nation. 
There's a lot of small-business growth in America. By and large, the 
banking system is very solid. The energy prices are reasonable. And now 
we've just got to be aggressive and make sure we do what we need to do 
at the Federal level to provide a kick-start to give people reasons to 
be confident. And we will do that.
    This isn't a Republican idea or Democrat idea; it's an American 
idea. And it's the right time for us to come together to get it done.
    Yes, ma'am.

National Economy

    Q. Mr. President, should the country brace itself for a recession? I 
mean, one of your advisers said yesterday that he can forecast it being 
likely that two negative quarters of growth are----
    The President. We'll leave all that talk up to the statisticians. 
You're asking me about statistics, and we've got people who count 
numbers there in Washington, DC, and that's fine.
    Here's my attitude: One person laid off is one person too many. And 
therefore, we've

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got to do what it takes to make sure that that person who got laid off 
is able to find work. I'm not going to dwell on the past; I'm looking 
forward. And I believe we've got a fantastic opportunity to invigorate 
this economy and to assure the business leaders around America that the 
Government is playing a very active role and that we will take the steps 
necessary to provide growth and stimulus.
    And that's why I believe we need additional stimulus beyond some of 
the spending that we've already put in place, to the tune of about 60 to 
75 billion dollars. We'll let the accountants come up--they call it what 
they want; there's no question that the economy has been affected by 
September 11th.

Congressional Action on the Economy

    Q. [Inaudible]--signed off on that $60 billion to $75 billion----
    The President. No, they have not, yet. But they do understand we 
need to have a range, that as you go into a debate about, or discussions 
about how to stimulate the economy, first and foremost, it's important 
to come up with a total figure so that we don't undershoot or overshoot 
the mark. And they do recognize that some of the actions that we've all 
taken together, including the 40 billion supplemental plus the 15 
billion for the airline, will have a positive effect on economic growth, 
and I do believe they recognize there needs to be more. And so one of 
the things that I'm doing is providing the leadership necessary to try 
to set the parameters on what the definition of ``more'' is.
    Again, I want to repeat: We've just finished with $40 billion of 
rebate from the tax package we agreed upon earlier in the year, plus 
we'll have about 70 billion in the rate reductions starting next year. 
And so, what we're looking at is how to bridge into next year.

National Economy

    Q. Sir, are you confident that the size of the package you're 
talking about will do the stimulating you need at this end, without 
putting pressure on interest rates----
    The President. That's a very good question. I finally got one--no--
anyway--[laughter]--I believe--I think you ought to ask the--I wish you 
could have heard the discussion we had, let me put it to you that way, 
where I believe people around this table, for example, believe it's 
important to be aggressive on the front end; that the risk-reward ratio 
is beneficial to be more aggressive on the front end. And obviously, we 
agree with that; that's why we've proposed up to 60 to 75 billion. But 
we're mindful of the effect on long-term interest rates, and we think 
that number is the right number.

Discussions With Business Leaders

    Q. Mr. President, can you tell us anything specific about these 
discussions with these men and women, specifically about did you speak 
about corporate relief?
    The President. Yes, we did. I can be very specific, just like I have 
been. They do believe we need to stimulate the economy through boosting 
consumer confidence with some kind of money in the hands of consumers. 
And there's a variety of ways to--excuse me? I'm sorry--there's a 
variety of ways to do that. There's rebates; there's acceleration of the 
tax cuts--are the two most effective ways to do that, and we discussed 
both of those.
    Secondly, we discussed a variety of options for corporate relief. 
One, we talked about ways to encourage investment through expensing of 
depreciation. Some people thought we ought to look at one-time ITCs, 
investment tax credits. People talked about the idea of corporate tax 
relief. And so we did have specific discussions about ways to make sure 
that our economy continues to grow.
    And I am most grateful for the input that we have been given here. 
It has been incredibly helpful. The thing I come away with is that these 
are men and women dedicated to America, first and foremost. They're 
dedicated to the workers that work for their company; they're dedicated 
to providing the security for their workers so they can go to work 
feeling safely. And they love their country, and they're going to do 
what it takes to join all of us together to recover from this awful 
incident of September 11th.
    You only get one question a day.

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Travel

    Q. [Inaudible]--ask your average American to do besides spend, to 
help?
    The President. Well, I think the average American must not be afraid 
to travel. We opened Reagan Airport yesterday for a reason: We think 
it's safe and that people ought to feel comfortable about traveling 
around our country. They ought to take their kids on vacations. They 
ought to go to ball games. The mayor wants them to come to the Yankee 
games, of course. [Laughter]
    Mayor Giuliani. The World Series.
    The President. The World Series, yes. [Laughter] No question he's an 
incurable optimist. [Laughter] But people ought to--listen, we ought to 
be aware in America--we are aware; how can you not be aware that we've 
entered into a new era? The imagery is vivid in people's minds. But 
nevertheless, Americans must know that their Government is doing 
everything we can to track down every rumor, every hint, every possible 
evildoer. And therefore, Americans ought to go about their business, and 
they are beginning to do so.
    The load factors were up on the airlines, which means more people 
will be going to hotels and restaurants. I fulfilled my pledge, my 
promise last night to take the Mayor of Washington, DC, for dinner. I 
did--Morton's Steakhouse. We had a nice slice of beef--plus, I paid. 
[Laughter]

Defense Secretary Rumsfeld's Visit to the Middle East

    Q. Mr. President, why did you send Secretary Rumsfeld over to the 
Middle East to visit some countries?
    The President. Pardon me, John [John Dickerson, Time]?
    Q. Why did you send him, and what is he doing over there, visiting 
those countries?
    The President. John, he's visiting with our friends. As you know, 
we've put together a broad coalition of nations that are interested in 
battling, joining us to battle terrorism. And Secretary Rumsfeld went 
over to visit with the leaders of a group of nations to share with them 
information, to discuss the determination of our Nation.
    People need to be able to look us in the eye and know that when we 
say that we're in this for the long run, that we're going to find 
terrorism--terrorists and bring them to justice, we mean it; that this 
is a nation--see, it's hard for people around the world to understand 
the resolve of America. They may hear my speech occasionally, but they 
need to look at the eyes--in the eyes of members of my administration, 
because--and hear them say that not only is this President resolved, but 
America is resolved to rout out terrorism, to make sure that legitimate 
governments can survive as we head into the 21st century, and to make a 
strong stand for freedom.
    And Secretary Rumsfeld is going to do a fine job of delivering that 
message, because he knows exactly how I feel about the mission we have 
ahead of us.
    Thank you all for coming.

Note: The President spoke at 11:20 a.m. in the first floor rotunda of 
the Federal Hall National Memorial. In his remarks, he referred to Mayor 
Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York City and Gov. George E. Pataki of New 
York.