[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 9 (Monday, March 4, 2002)]
[Pages 318-323]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks to Employees of The Printer, Inc., in Des Moines

March 1, 2002

    Well, thanks for that warm welcome. It's nice to be back in Iowa. I 
spent some quality days here in Iowa. [Laughter] I used to tell people 
that Iowa was the friendliest State that I campaigned in, and I want to 
thank you for the hospitality, coming back as your President.
    I appreciate the Governor being here. Governor, thanks for taking 
time. We had the honor of hosting the Governors--the national Governors 
at the White House last Sunday night. I'd just gotten in from China, 
rented my tux, and had the Governors over. [Laughter] But it was good to 
see your Governor, and thanks for being here. I'm honored you're here.
    And I also appreciate so many friends and members of the Iowa House 
who are here. I see my friend Mary Kramer. I see the speaker. I want to 
thank you both for coming. I want to thank all the members. I hope the 
Governor is doing everything you tell him to do. [Laughter] That's not 
the way it's supposed to work.
    I appreciate very much Leonard Boswell, the Congressman, for being 
here, and I want to appreciate my friend Tom Latham, as well, for 
traveling with me--two fine Members of the United States Congress. 
Anyway, I thank all the elected officials for coming. I appreciate a 
chance to say hello.
    I also want to thank the Benskins for inviting me here. I didn't 
realize Bill--I guess

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the employees probably didn't realize it either--he's such a silver-
tongued devil. [Laughter]
    But I appreciate so very much the chance to visit with Bill and some 
of the employees. Let me tell you what my first impression is, is that 
this is a company that deeply cares about the people who work here. And 
Bill and Marty understand that if you treat the folks that work with you 
well, you'll more likely have a good product, that if you care about the 
future of the people who are doing the work for your company, the 
company is going to have a culture of success. And I could feel that 
instantly when I came here, and I want to congratulate the Benskins.
    See, small business is the lifeblood of the American economy. Most 
new jobs are created in small businesses. I'm a big believer in the 
entrepreneurial spirit. I'm a big believer in understanding that the 
role of Government is not to create wealth but an environment in which 
small businesses can flourish and people like the Benskins can realize 
their dream and, in turn, provide good, steady, honorable employment for 
the people who work in this company. So I want to thank you for giving 
me a chance to come and talk about security.
    Before I talk about retirement security, I see people wearing our 
uniform--the uniform--and I've got to talk about national security from 
a defense perspective. I submitted a budget to the United States 
Congress that sets this priority: We will defend freedom at any cost.
    The budget I submitted says basically this: If you wear the uniform 
of the United States of America and you're fighting to defend our 
freedom, you deserve the best equipment, the best training, another pay 
raise. And Congress best heed that call.
    We're in for a long and difficult struggle when it comes to fighting 
terrorists. It's long and difficult because, unlike other wars, these 
kind of faceless folks, nameless folks hide and burrow into countries 
that may be weak. They hide in the caves. These are the kinds of people 
who send young advocates, young believers to their suicide, and they, 
themselves, hide.
    When they attacked our country, they really didn't understand 
America. They thought we were soft. They thought we had a culture that 
was so materialistic that nobody in this land would be willing to 
sacrifice for something greater than ourselves. And they made a huge 
mistake.
    I made it absolutely clear to the world, a couple of points: One, 
that if you harbor a terrorist, if you feed a terrorist, if you hide a 
terrorist, you're just as guilty as the terrorists who attacked America, 
and you'll be held accountable. And that's exactly what happened to the 
Taliban. They wish they'd never heard of America.
    But our country showed up not as conquerors but as liberators. Our 
United States military liberated a nation from the most barbaric--one of 
the most barbaric regimes history has shown, and now young girls get to 
go to school, and women are free. And I can't tell you how proud I am of 
the efforts of the United States military in Afghanistan.
    I also made it clear to our coalition and our country that this is a 
new kind of war, that we've got to think about our children's future, 
that we can't rest until we have routed out terrorists wherever they try 
to hide, wherever they think they can accumulate and gather to hurt us 
again.
    Listen, we're doing everything we can to protect the homeland of the 
country. Our law enforcement is on alert. Our FBI has got thousands of 
agents now chasing down every possible lead, every hint. Every 
opportunity to make the country safe, we're seizing it. We've got a 
national strategy in place to have a good first-time responders 
initiative. I know the Governor is working on that, along with local law 
enforcement officials, to make sure that if we're attacked, there is a 
good response mechanism in place. We're working on a bioterrorism 
initiative. We're strengthening our borders. We're going to have a 
better understanding of who's coming in and who's going out of the 
United States of America. And we've got better intelligence-sharing. 
We're doing everything we can.
    But the best way to secure the homeland is to chase down those that 
would harm us and bring them to justice, and that is precisely what the 
United States of America is going to do. It doesn't matter how long it 
takes; it doesn't matter where we have to go.

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We will protect freedom, and this administration will protect the 
innocent lives of American citizens.
    I'm confident the congressional appropriators will not let our 
military down and will not let the American people down, because the 
American people are united and patient and strong and prepared to defend 
freedom. I can't tell you how proud I am of our country, how proud I am 
of those who understand the task ahead.
    I also understand that part of my job is to battle a recession, and 
I spent a lot of time here in Iowa talking about the need for tax 
relief. And we passed tax relief right about the right time, because the 
best way to battle an economic slowdown is to get people your own money 
back so you can spend it. And as you spend it, it encourages new 
products and jobs.
    There are some in Washington who want to argue that we shouldn't go 
on with tax relief that we passed. They're reading the wrong economic 
textbooks. They are mistaken. Tax relief is good for American workers, 
and tax relief is good for the American economy.
    I know we need to take care of workers whose lives were affected as 
a result of the terrorist attacks on America. We need to extend 
unemployment benefits, and we need to help with health care. And I've 
laid out an initiative to do that. The House of Representatives passed a 
good bill to do that.
    But people want more than an unemployment check in America; they 
want a paycheck. And what people in Washington ought to be asking is 
how--what do we do to create more jobs so people can find work; what 
does it require? And one of the things that I think needs to happen is, 
we need a stimulus bill, an economic growth bill, a jobs bill that will 
encourage more investment in plant and equipment. If companies invest 
more in plant and equipment, companies are more likely to hire more 
workers. We need a stimulus bill out of Washington, DC.
    And we need a good farm bill to help with jobs. And I'm looking 
forward to working with Congress to get a good farm bill, one that 
recognizes a couple of things: One, farming is an incredibly important 
part of our economy. It's a huge industry in America. And the more 
vibrant the farm economy is, the more vibrant our national economy will 
be.
    Secondly, we've got to think about value-added processing when it 
comes to agriculture. I believe in ethanol. I believe ethanol is good 
for the quality of the air. I believe ethanol is important for the 
agricultural sector of our economy. I think it makes sense, and we've 
got to explore additional ways.
    We've got to have a farm bill that provides a safety net but doesn't 
encourage overproduction. And at the same time, we must open up markets 
for Iowa corn growers and soybean growers. When I was in China, I spent 
a lot of time talking to the Chinese leadership, saying, ``Buy those 
Iowa soybeans. You said you would do so. Open your markets.'' Because 
the more markets are open around the world for food products, the more 
likely it is American farmers, who happen to be the best at growing food 
in the world, are going to be able to sell their products. We ought to 
be feeding the world because we're the best at growing food. And so I 
want a good farm bill, and I expect to get one here pretty quick. And I 
look forward to signing it.
    And also, we need an energy bill. Listen, we import over 50 percent 
of our energy from overseas. And that doesn't make sense. We have to do 
it because we're not conserving enough, nor we are producing enough. For 
the good of the national security of our country, we ought to encourage 
more exploration in an environmentally friendly way on American soil. We 
ought to be less dependent on foreign sources of crude oil.
    And I also want to talk about retirement security today. And I came 
here not only because I wanted to herald the importance of small 
business in our society but because this company has a good 401(k) plan. 
A good 401(k) plan has got some features to it, one, that there is an 
encouragement for people to save. And Bill was telling me that one of 
the smart things they did was they put a certain amount of money in 
everybody's 401(k) plans to begin the process, and everybody said, 
``What is a 401(k) plan?'' It got everybody's attention when they saw 
they had a little money, something set aside for them.

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    A good plan is one that--where the company says it's to your 
advantage to put as much money as you can away when you're younger and 
understand the power of compounding interest rates. In other words, 
watching that money grow on a tax-free basis makes a lot of sense. And 
the workers here at The Printer, Inc., understand that.
    You see, we're going to have to encourage more savings in America 
because people are going to live longer lives. I mean, you and I, the 
baby boomers, if we behave ourselves, will live way beyond the average 
lifespan of 20 to 30 years ago. And I don't know about you, but I plan 
to be active after I've reached the so-called retirement age. And 
therefore, it is to our advantage to start putting more money aside 
early so we've got more money to spend and to live on later on.
    And the 401(k) is a great way to encourage savings. And Bill was 
telling me, there's no guarantees, but on bonus years it goes in the 
401(k)s, which is a way to encourage workers to pay attention to the 
plan.
    He also tells me that there's a Web page designed for instant access 
to your money. This isn't the Government's money, by the way. This is 
your money; this is the workers' money; and you ought to be trusted with 
your own money. And a 401(k) recognizes who owns the money. And a good 
company is one that provides the instant access to accounting of your 
money, so you can see how it's growing. And then you have the option, 
obviously, within the law, to make investment decisions that you think 
is important.
    Now, one issue that I am concerned about is that a company like 
right here cannot offer sound investment advice, third-party advice to 
the workers, because they're afraid to get sued. Now, that doesn't make 
any sense to me, that if on the one hand a business such as this sets up 
a 401(k) plan and encourages investment, that they can't bring a third-
party adviser to sit down with the workers, to give people objective 
advice as to what's happening in the marketplace or what makes sense, 
without fear of lawsuits. We've got too many lawsuits in our society, to 
begin with. And it doesn't make any sense to force workers not to be 
able to have good advice because somebody is afraid of getting sued.
    And so it seems like, to me, it makes sense for Congress to help 
reform pension laws by making it easier for people such as Bill to get 
good advice for the workers, without fear of some junk lawsuit or some 
throwaway lawsuit.
    And so I'm proud of what's happening here in this company, and I 
know that we need to do more when it comes to encouraging savings. And 
we did some good stuff in the tax relief--the tax cut--tax relief bill I 
talked about last year. Let me tell you about some of the reforms we 
made to encourage others to save more.
    One, we relaxed the restrictions on how much workers can invest in 
their individual retirement accounts and 401(k) plans; in other words, 
made it easier for people to invest.
    Two, it allows people over the age of 50 to catch up, to put more 
money into their retirement fund. And why would that happen? Well, 
somebody might have been laid off for a while. Or, if you happen to be a 
woman and you stayed at home for a while to raise your kids and came 
back into the workplace late, you ought to be allowed to catch up. You 
ought to be allowed to put more money in to make sure your 401(k) was 
sound and whole.
    We have--as well, we've reduced the tax burden on small businesses 
who want to start a 401(k) plan. As Bill will tell you if you were to 
ask him, it's pretty expensive to start one of these plans. You've got 
to hire a lawyer; you've got to hire an accountant. There are some 
startup costs. And a lot of small businesses take a look at the startup 
costs, and they say, ``What the heck do I want to spend money on this 
for,'' and therefore don't. And the workers lose out on a fantastic 
opportunity.
    And so it makes sense for the Government to make it easier for the 
small businesses to be able to deduct the cost of such startups on the 
tax credit basis, so that we encourage more 401(k) plans in America and, 
therefore, encourage more savings. The more savings there are, as 
Americans grow older, the more likely it is we'll have a vibrant society 
where people are more productive, more happy, and more healthy.

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    I also am deeply concerned about pension plan abuse. I'm worried 
about what's taking place, what we've seen in the newspapers here in 
America. First of all, there's such a thing as corporate responsibility. 
We've seen that here in this company, people responsible for the 
employees. Corporate America has a responsibility to disclose all the 
assets and liabilities of their companies.
    As well, we need to make sure that workers don't lose everything if 
their company were to fail. In other words, there needs to be some 
safeguards in some of these 401(k) plans, particularly as it relates to 
publicly traded companies. And let me cite some of the reforms I think 
that Congress ought to pass.
    First, workers would be free to sell any stock their company 
contributes to their retirement plan after participating for 3 years. In 
other words, if you've been a 3-year employee and your company has used 
stock as part of your retirement plan--which, by the way, is a good 
thing. I hope Congress understands it's a good thing to encourage 
companies to contribute their own stock to their employees as part of an 
incentive plan. On the other hand, an employee ought to be able to sell 
that stock after she or he has worked there for a 3-year period of time.
    Secondly, they have what they call a blackout period sometimes, when 
they change a fund manager, for example. And here's what I believe ought 
to happen: If there's a blackout period in which employees can't conduct 
transactions, first, an executive shouldn't be able to sell if the 
employee can't sell. What's good for the executive ought to be good for 
the employees in America. If the boss sells, so should everybody else. 
And if everybody else can't sell, the boss doesn't get to sell.
    There ought to be a guarantee that employees get to see at least 
quarterly reports on what's taking place in the 401(k) plans. Here, you 
get a minute-by-minute report. You know, the information flows so freely 
these days, it seems like it makes sense to give everybody instant 
access to what's going on in their accounts, and that's what ought to be 
happening. There ought to be, you know, at least quarterly reporting as 
well, as I mentioned, to make sure that small businesses have got an 
incentive to set up a plan, as well as liability protection against 
those employers who are anxious that there be as much information and as 
much knowledge passed between adviser and employee.
    The whole point is this: We ought to do everything we can in 
Washington, DC, to encourage people to own a piece of the future. The 
more somebody owns something, the more somebody builds up an asset base, 
the better off America will be. And whether it be in Social Security or 
401(k)s, we've got to understand the power of compounding interest, the 
importance of savings, and the beauty of ownership in the American 
society.
    And what a great society this is. America--you know, when they hit 
us, they didn't realize that out of this terrible evil was going to come 
some good. Nobody--nobody in America wishes what happened on 9/11 would 
ever occur again, of course. And we're still sad when we think of the 
events--at least I am. But there's going to be some incredible good that 
comes out of this. The world will be more peaceful if we're strong and 
patient and resolved, and we will be. But as a result, I think our 
communities are going to be better. I think the American people have 
taken a good, hard look at what's important in life. They understand 
that loving your child, if you happen to be a mother or dad, is the most 
important job you'll ever have. America knows that.
    I like to tell people that, if you're interested in fighting evil 
and want to join in the war against terror, love your neighbor like 
you'd like to be loved yourself. It's what I call the gathering momentum 
of millions of acts of kindness which define America and which enable 
America to stand tall in the face of evil. It's all these acts of 
goodness that take place in our society. Right here in Des Moines, Iowa, 
somebody walks across the street on a daily basis and says to a shut-in, 
``I love you. What can I do to help you?'' It's that accumulation of all 
those acts which define our country.
    What a great nation we are. We're a strong nation; we're a proud 
nation; and we're showing the world we're a deeply compassionate nation 
as well. Out of evil will come good. They thought they hit a weak 
nation, but instead they found a strong, strong group of people, and I'm 
proud to be your President.

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    God bless.

Note: The President spoke at 10:45 a.m. in the bindery at The Printer, 
Inc. In his remarks, he referred to Gov. Thomas J. Vilsack of Iowa; Mary 
Kramer, president, Iowa State Senate; Brent Siegrist, speaker, Iowa 
State House of Representatives; and William C. Benskin, president, and 
Martin L. Benskin, vice president, The Printer, Inc.