[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 47 (Monday, November 26, 2001)]
[Pages 1692-1694]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at So Others Might Eat

November 20, 2001

    Thank you. Mel, thank you very much. I appreciate your leadership; I 
appreciate your vision; and I appreciate your heart. Father Adams 
referred to Mel--Mel's rescue from Cuba. He came over in a program 
called Pedro Pan, Peter Pan. And it's when his mother and dad decided 
that life in Cuba would be rough on young people, and they had great 
faith in America and great faith in a program that encouraged them to 
put their little boy on an airplane, and he flew to America.
    When we swore in Mel, I'll never forget meeting his adoptive parents 
that provided a loving home. Mel's a perfect choice to understand what a 
loving home means. He saw one in a foreign land that enabled him to go 
from scared little boy to now Secretary of HUD. It's a marvelous story 
about America. It also helps me to be able to assure people that the 
Secretary who runs HUD has got a heart of gold and a deep compassion 
about all Americans, those newly arrived as well as those who have been 
here for a long period of time. I'm honored that Mel has agreed to serve 
our Government. And I'm absolutely confident America and the needs of 
America will be more easily met as a result of his leadership.
    Oftentimes, when I speak around the Nation, I talk about the great 
strength of the Nation lies in the hearts and souls of our citizens. I 
was using military terms at times even before the war began. I talked 
about armies of compassion. I truly believe that's one of the wonderful 
strengths of America, that we've got armies of compassion all across our 
country.
    And Father Adams is a general in the army of compassion. He won't 
admit it. He'll say he's a lowly foot soldier. [Laughter] But I saw the 
way he got people snapping to when it came time to introduce people in 
the kitchen. [Laughter] I see everybody with green aprons on. I suspect 
the general ordered that to be the case. But anyway--[laughter]--but I 
want to thank Father Adams and everybody else who works here for really 
bringing out the best in our country by helping people in need.
    The other thing that I'm most impressed about the vision of Father 
Adams, besides being a social entrepreneur, somebody willing to think as 
aggressively as possible to help people in need, is that this is a 
program that attracts people from all faiths. That's important for the 
world to see, that our country is a country of a variety of faiths, that 
we respect other faiths, and that we're bound by some common principles: 
Love a neighbor just like you would like to be loved yourself. That's 
common to faith.
    Last night we had an Iftaar dinner at the White House. That's a part 
of breaking the fast of Ramadan. I wanted to assure people that there 
are common values, even though we may have different ways to worship 
God. This program shows those common values. A neighbor in need needs to 
be helped. We need to constantly figure out ways to reach out and help 
somebody who may not be as fortunate as we are.
    And as we come into the holiday season, the Thanksgiving season, the 
traditional holiday seasons of our country, we must always remember 
there are people who hurt in our society. And we will always remember, 
with blessings come the responsibility to help those in need. And so 
that's why I've come to So Others Might Eat, to highlight the successful 
programs that do make a difference in people's lives and to thank people 
for their concern and care for our fellow Americans who are in need.
    There's no question that our country has been deeply wounded. We 
were attacked. After all, we're never used to being attacked. Never did 
we dream--I certainly never dreamt that I'd be the President where there 
is a war on our homefront.
    But the evildoers never really--they must have not known who they 
were attacking. [Laughter] They must have thought we were soft and 
hateful. In fact, the attacks have united our country, have rallied a 
nation. And out of evil will come good, and part of my purpose as the 
President is to remind people of the good that can come out of these 
attacks.
    No question that the outpouring of support for--in the direct 
aftermath of the September 11th attack was astounding. People gave: They 
gave blood; they gave money; they

[[Page 1693]]

gave time to help. And that's great, and I want to thank those Americans 
who have helped.
    But in order to make sure the homefront is secure, in order to make 
sure that we don't allow the terrorists to achieve any objective, 
Americans must give generously to programs like SOME, community-based 
programs that help make their neighborhoods a better place for all.
    I have been disturbed by reports that charitable giving has dropped 
off. I hope Americans will not substitute the gifts they've given in the 
aftermath of September 11th for neighborhood groups such as SOME or 
mentoring programs or programs that understand that when you change a 
person's heart, you can change their life for the better, that faith is 
such an integral part of our society and faith is such an integral part 
of helping people help themselves, and that as we think about ways to 
recognize the true blessings we have in America, that we must never 
forget the food banks and the hungry and the poor, and that the most 
effective programs are those that have sprung from the hearts and souls 
of social entrepreneurs such as Father Adams.
    And so, I hope America--I encourage America--that as we head into 
Thanksgiving, to find a program that needs help. Or, if you have been 
helping a program in the past, continue your help. The generosity of 
this country will say to the world that we're a nation that will not be 
affected by terror and evil; that, in fact, we encourage good to 
overcome evil through our actions and deeds, not just our bravado, not 
just our waving of flag but true actions and true compassionate acts of 
giving, in order to make sure this Nation remains whole and strong and 
complete.
    Government's got a responsibility, as well. There is a role for the 
Federal Government in making sure that charitable organizations thrive 
and flourish. Today I am pleased to announce that the Department of 
Housing and Urban Development is distributing more than $1 billion this 
year in grants to community charities which serve the homeless. It is 
the largest such grant in the history of the country. It is a grant 
program that will help provide food and shelter, drug treatment, job 
training, and other vital services. It is a part of our Government's 
desire to support the armies of compassion. We don't want Government to 
take the good Father's place. We want the Government to stand side by 
side with the good people of SOME and programs like it all around the 
country.
    We must also promote more private-sector giving, besides just words 
of encouragement. And so I want to make sure that the Tax Code is 
changed, and we've got time to do so with the Congress. I've been 
working closely with Joe Lieberman and Rick Santorum to say that you can 
deduct--non-itemizers can deduct charitable giving, or that out of your 
IRA you should be allowed to give gifts to charitable organizations. It 
is a wise use of the Tax Code to encourage more charitable giving to 
programs that are positively affecting people's lives, and I think we 
can get a bill out of Congress to do just that.
    I know that the House has responded; J.C. Watts and Tony Hall, 
Republican and Democrat, work closely together. Lieberman and Santorum 
are doing the same thing. And so why doesn't Congress, in order to help 
fight poverty and fight hopelessness, do something smart with 
legislation and bring it to my desk so I can sign it before Christmas? 
[Laughter] It makes a lot of sense.
    I think, as well, we ought to have a tax incentive for food 
donation. I know that we ought to create what's called a Compassion 
Capital Fund that will give community-based organizations needed 
resources and training. I suspect that if we have kind of a capital fund 
that will encourage people to duplicate that which works, there will be 
a lot of people coming here to SOME to see why this program is so 
successful. And I suspect the good Father will be willing to share with 
others from different communities as to how to make a program like this 
work.
    And the Federal Government ought to be in the process of encouraging 
the formation of community-based programs, and to that end, we need to 
simplify the process by which community-based organizations gain tax-
exempt status.
    The mindset of the Federal Government has been that only Government-
sponsored programs should receive Federal money.

[[Page 1694]]

That's not my attitude. My attitude is, Government should be 
nondiscriminatory about how we use taxpayers' money. We ought to ask the 
question, does the program work? And if faith is the integral part of a 
program being successful, the Government ought to say, ``Hallelujah.'' 
We ought to say, ``We welcome the good work of faith in our society.'' 
We ought not to fear it. We ought to welcome it and encourage it.
    And so the faith-based initiative that has passed the House and, 
hopefully, will pass the Senate recognizes the great power of faith in 
our society and says that Government ought to encourage the social 
entrepreneurship that we find here at SOME, and Government ought to 
encourage the armies of compassion to flourish all around our 
neighborhoods, that Government ought to welcome faith and not shy away 
from it.
    And as well as in this piece of legislation, we recognize there are 
some specific tasks that the social entrepreneurial system can deal 
with, such as a son or daughter of a person in prison. I can't think of 
anything more profound than to have a national mentoring program, where 
somebody whose dad or mother is in prison will have somebody put their 
arm around them and say, ``I love you; somebody loves you in our 
society.'' There's nothing more profound for a child than to be 
surrounded by love and care and compassion. So part of this initiative 
is to encourage the funding of a national mentoring program aimed at 
some of the most vulnerable in our society--those whose mom or dad may 
be sitting in prison right now.
    The fundamental question is, can America address these problems? And 
certainly, we can't address them with money alone. But as I'm sure 
Father Adams will testify, money can help. [Laughter] It's part of how a 
program succeeds. [Laughter]
    And so, therefore, I ask Americans to dig a little deeper in their 
pocket. In the aftermath of the tragedy that so deeply affected our 
Nation, I ask the American people to understand that in order to make 
America whole, that programs such as SOME make an enormous difference in 
people's lives; that we are a blessed nation, and as we go into 
Thanksgiving we ought to thank God for our blessings--for our families, 
for our fantastic country, for the greatest country on the face of the 
Earth--we ought to thank Him for the protection that we've received 
since the attack, thank Him for our blessings, but at the same time seek 
ways to help, seek ways to help our fellow human, seek ways to save a 
heart, seek ways to save a soul.
    I am so honored to be able to come to this program and highlight the 
great successes that can take place in neighborhoods when loving 
Americans come together with the singular purpose of helping a neighbor 
in need.
    May God bless SOME. May God bless America.

Note: The President spoke at 10:23 a.m. in the dining room at SOME's 71 
O St. NW location. In his remarks, he referred to Father John Adams, 
executive director, So Others Might Eat.