[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 12 (Monday, March 25, 2002)]
[Pages 446-452]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at the Summit on Women Entrepreneurship in the 21st Century

March 19, 2002

    Thank you all very much. Thank you for coming. Thank you very much. 
Gosh, thanks for the warm welcome. Elaine, thanks for your kind words. 
I'm proud of the job you're doing in my Cabinet. I appreciate your 
advice and counsel, I and appreciate the leadership you've shown at the 
U.S. Department of Labor.
    I want to thank those who organized this summit. I think it's a very 
important summit. I think it's important to advance the spirit of 
entrepreneurship and equality and opportunity for everybody who is 
fortunate enough to be an American. I'm honored to be with you, and I'm 
glad you invited me, because I believe small businesses are really 
important to the future of our country.
    I know small businesses are the path to success for many Americans, 
especially women, the newly arrived, minority Americans. Small 
businesses create jobs, and this is incredibly important for our economy 
at this time. Small businesses embody the American values of hard work, 
risktaking, and independence. And so, today I want to discuss with you a 
series of new policies to encourage and reward the work of America's 
small-business women and men.
    Before I do so, I want to thank some of the members of my team who 
are here: Hector Barreto, who is the head of the SBA, is with us today. 
And Hector, I want to thank you very much for coming. I understand the 
Secretary of Treasury was here, Paul O'Neill. He probably went back to 
work. That's a good sign. [Laughter] He heard the boss was coming, so he 
headed out of here--[laughter]--but I appreciate his leadership. Rosario 
Marin, who is the Treasurer of the United States, is here. Thank you, 
Rosario. I see my friend from the State of Arkansas, Tim Hutchinson. 
Thank you for coming, Senator. I appreciate you being here today.
    Not only do I want to thank you all for being here, but I know we've 
got some folks who are watching via satellite from Orlando. You might 
say hello to your Governor down there for me. [Laughter] Tell him to 
keep listening to mother. [Laughter]
    St. Louis, Missouri--we've got some folks tuned in in St. Louis. I 
just was there last night and had a great trip to St. Louis. We've got 
some people from Little Rock, Tim, who are watching, and from Bangor, 
Maine, as well. So welcome via satellite to this important conference, 
and thank you all for listening.
    One of the things this summit recognizes is that there's been a 
fundamental change in our economy. When it comes to entrepreneurship and 
job creation, ours is an increasingly woman's world. The truth of the 
matter is--and the reason why I say that is, women-owned businesses are 
growing at twice the rate--2 times the rate of all other United States 
firms. That's a remarkable accomplishment for the United States of 
America. And the interesting other fact that I want to point out to 
people listening is that women firms now employ 7 million Americans.
    Small-business ownership is a great equalizer in America. The only 
connections you need are happy customers, a good business plan. The only 
credentials you need are good products. The only values you need is to 
be willing to take risk and to work hard. For millions of minorities and 
women and new

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Americans, small businesses provide a great chance to succeed in 
America, a chance to realize your dreams.
    For some women, a small business brings the satisfaction of success 
without having to go through the frustrations of corporate life. I 
suspect there are a lot of women entrepreneurs in this room and around 
the country who tried out corporate life and found out--and agree with 
what this entrepreneur said. Nancy Miller put it this way, ``You succeed 
or fail based on your own abilities, not on politics or anybody else.'' 
She's got a pretty good point there. She talks about the freedom that 
comes with owning your own business. And it's so important that our 
country maintain that flame of freedom, the entrepreneurial spirit of 
America.
    What the other--and the reason I love the entrepreneurial spirit, 
because it provides people a chance to be creative, to build, to 
contribute, and to own.
    Being your own boss, as Sherrin Holder of Virginia describes it, 
brings a sense of pride and accomplishment, a sense of ownership, and a 
growing hope for success. She captures the feeling of every 
entrepreneur. You can advance yourself, and you can do good by doing so. 
As you succeed, you help others to succeed, first and foremost by 
providing somebody with a job.
    You can dream big dreams in America, and my job as the President is 
to make sure that if you've got a good idea, you can realize those 
dreams. And as importantly, when you're successful, you can pass on your 
assets to your children, if you so choose, or to anybody you desire to.
    The thing about America is that people--Americans have got to 
understand, that everybody in our country has a stake in the success of 
small businesses, starting with the fact that small businesses create 
two-thirds of the new jobs created in America on any given year. It's 
really important for people to understand, as we're fighting a 
recession, if small businesses create two-thirds of the new jobs, it 
makes sense that any economic recovery strategy focus on small 
businesses. And that's what I want to talk about today.
    I do not believe the role of Government is to create wealth. That's 
not the role of Government. There are no guarantees in the free 
enterprise system. The role of Government is to create an environment 
that encourages risktaking, an environment that facilitates the flow of 
capital, and an environment in which people can realize their dreams. 
That's the role of Government, and that's exactly what I intend to do as 
the President.
    And it started right after I got sworn in as President, when I went 
before the Congress and insisted that they reduce the tax rates on 
everybody who pays taxes in America. And that tax cut came at the right 
time for our country. Make no mistake about it, the fact that we're 
willing to allow people to keep their own money stimulated demand. And 
when you stimulate demand, that then causes production increases, and 
when you increase production, you increase jobs. The tax cut came just 
at the time our economy was losing steam. It was an important part of 
the fact that our economy is beginning to rebound. And for those who 
think we ought to undo the tax cut, they've got a mighty high hurdle to 
cross; that's me.
    And here's the thing about the tax cut that I know was incredibly 
important for the future of our country. Most small businesses--let me 
put it this--many small businesses, many, many businesses are sole 
proprietorships or are limited partnerships and, therefore, do not pay 
corporate rate in income tax; they pay individual rates. And therefore, 
by cutting all rates, what we did was provide cash flow to the small 
businesses of America. The tax reduction plan was important for small-
business growth and activity. The more businesses--the more cash flow a 
small-business owner has in her pocket, the more likely it is the 
business will succeed and expand and create more jobs. This tax cut not 
only happened at the right time; it was really good for small businesses 
in America.
    A lot of us in Washington didn't feel like that was enough, and so 
we fought for an economic stimulus plan, which I'm proud to report I was 
able to sign in the Rose Garden a couple of weekends ago. And with the 
help of both Republicans and Democrats, the plan made it to my desk. It 
is a plan that says we're going to help people whose lives were affected 
because of the attacks of 9/11 by extending unemployment benefits. But 
it also

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recognized that people don't want an unemployment check; they want a 
permanent paycheck. And therefore, we created additional stimulus, 
mainly encouraging people to invest in plant and equipment.
    If you encourage people to invest in plant and equipment, that will 
help those who are the immediate employer, but also those who 
manufacture the equipment or manufacture the--or construct the plant 
will also have employment. So it's a ripple effect in our economy. And 
so I was pleased to sign that bill, and it's going to help, in my 
judgment, not only in the short term but in the out-years as well.
    And we're seeing some encouraging signs of recovery, but I want to 
tell you something. I'm not a numbers cruncher, I'm not one of these 
bean counters, but I don't believe the economy is strong enough to say 
that we've recovered. I worry about the fact there are too many people 
in our country still looking for work. And if people who want to work 
can't find work, we've got to keep moving on the subject of economic 
security and economic recovery, and that's what I want to talk to you 
about today.
    Again, I'll repeat, if the small-business sector creates two-thirds 
of the new jobs in America, it makes a lot of sense to focus on how to 
stimulate small-business growth. So I want to talk to you about some of 
my plans to do so, starting with this. And basically, the summary is, 
that we're going to lift unfair regulatory burdens; we're going to 
encourage additional cash flow; and we're going to work to make sure 
that American entrepreneurs have got access to Government contracting.
    Because the economic stimulus package only had a 3-year life to it, 
I believe Congress ought to pass additional incentives for small 
businesses to invest in plant and equipment, incentives beyond the 
incentives in the economic stimulus package. As you know, annual tax 
deductions are limited to a certain amount of money on an annual basis 
for small businesses, and the size of the purchase is relatively small. 
I think we ought to increase the size of the purchase of plant and 
equipment as well as increase the annual deductions for small businesses 
in order to enhance cash flow, which will make it easier for people to 
find more jobs in America.
    Secondly, the complexity of the Tax Code is a tremendous burden on 
small business. And we must simplify it. It's an interesting fact I ran 
into: 9 out of 10 small businesses owned by women have fewer than five 
employees. And the amount of time people spend over trying to figure out 
a complicated tax system is enormous. It is a--frankly, not that good a 
use of your time. [Laughter]
    I talked to Secretary O'Neill about this very subject. I'm going to 
share it with you. One, I instructed him to report on ways that the 
Treasury Department can simplify the Tax Code on small businesses as 
quickly as possible. I will give you one idea--not an idea, one thing 
we're going to do immediately by--a revenue rule, it's called. And Paul, 
I promise you, is the kind of fellow that, when he's asked to do 
something, he'll get it done quickly. And I've asked him to do this. 
[Laughter]
    Service businesses with gross revenues of under $10 million will be 
able to use the cash accounting method of accounting, as opposed to 
accrual method of accounting. Simply put, that will eradicate a lot of 
time spent on trying to figure out the accrual method of accounting. It 
simplifies the accounting process for small businesses, which will be a 
timesaver and a moneysaver and will help create more jobs by simplifying 
the regulatory burden on small businesses. We're going to get this done 
quickly.
    Although what I'm about to tell you won't have an immediate effect 
on job creation, it is an important part of any small-business owner's 
plan or strategy, and it's this: We've eliminated the death tax as a 
result of the new tax reform. However, because of a--I guess you would 
call it a quirk in the law, the death tax would not be totally 
eliminated in the year 2011. We must make the repeal of the death tax 
permanent. I call upon Congress to do this immediately.
    It is unfair, patently unfair, for a--any entrepreneur--but a woman 
entrepreneur to develop her own business and have that business taxed 
twice as she tries to leave her assets to whomever she chooses. It is 
not fair. There are a lot of Federal regulations that complicate the 
lives of small-business people all across the country. The SBA has 
calculated that the hidden costs of regulations

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to businesses with fewer than 20 workers--and it's this--it comes down 
to $7,000 per worker. That's a lot of money, particularly if you're 
trying to figure out ways to expand your employment base. And this is a 
drag on our economy. Hidden costs are a drag on the U.S. economy.
    And so today I want to make sure people understand that we're going 
to do everything we can to clean up the regulatory burdens on small 
businesses, starting with this: Every agency--already it's under current 
law--but every agency is required to analyze the impact of new 
regulations on small businesses before issuing them. That's an important 
law. The problem is, it's oftentimes being ignored. The law is on the 
books; the regulators don't care that the law is on the books. From this 
day forward, they will care that the law is on the books.
    Mitch Daniels, who heads the Office of Management and Budget, will 
not accept regulations that do not calculate the cost on American small 
businesses. We want to enforce the law. It is a good law to have a cost 
benefit analysis of any regulation on small business. If regulations 
provide a hidden cost on small businesses, which provide a drag on our 
economy, and if we're trying to stimulate our economy, one way to do so 
is to enforce the law which says that we will not have costly 
regulations on small businesses in America. And that's what we're going 
to do.
    Furthermore, if you've got a problem with regulations, if there are 
nettlesome regulations which are costly for you to operate your 
business, that you don't think makes any sense, I urge you to get on the 
Internet and wire the OMB your problem, so we can analyze it. Now, 
here's who you--if you want to write this down, here it is. [Laughter] 
Gosh, it seems like a lot of people are getting ready to write it down. 
[Laughter] I'm not surprised--www.whitehouse.gov--wait a minute, it's 
getting better--/omb/inforeg, and wire them in.
    I talked to Mitch before I came over here. I said, ``Mitch, I just 
can't stand up here and say, you're going to get rid of regulations and 
ask people to call in or write in. Give us some place to send the 
information.'' And I said, ``If I stand up here in front of the Women 
Entrepreneurs of America and somebody e-mails in, you better respond''--
[laughter]--www.whitehouse.gov/omb/inforeg.
    Fifth, I am proposing measures to make health care more available. I 
understand the drag on small businesses. It is hard for you to attract 
good workers; it is hard for you to keep good workers if your health 
care costs are going sky-high. I understand that.
    There was a lady who wrote in. She said, ``I have 12 employees, and 
I was canceled three times by my insurance company in 2001. And the 
reason they gave me is that they are no longer going to be writing 
small-group plans.'' Perhaps that's happened to some of you all out here 
as well. If we could get into a larger pool where we could get access to 
lower premiums, then I could insure more people and hire some more 
people. I think that's a universal complaint all across America. And 
that's why I strongly support association health plans.
    That means that small businesses will be able to pool together and 
spread their risk across a larger employee base. It makes no sense, no 
sense in America, to isolate small businesses as little health care 
islands unto themselves. We must have association health plans. I know 
the Senator strongly supports that, and Congress ought to support them.
    And here's the way they will work. It means a family restaurant or a 
local hardware store can insure their workers, say, through the National 
Federation of Independent Businesses or the National Restaurant 
Association. It allows association groups to write health care plans 
across jurisdictional boundaries to the benefit--to the benefit not only 
of the small-business owner but to the benefit of those who work for 
small businesses.
    And finally, Government contracting must be more open and more fair 
to small businesses. I believe--I know Government contracting, if wisely 
done, can help us achieve a grand national goal, which is more ownership 
in more communities all across America. But you know as well as I do 
that there are some large hurdles for small businesses. One is, that--
and the main one is that agencies sometimes, many times, only let huge 
contracts with massive requirements, and they tend to go to the same 
group of large corporate bidders. Around--the term of art in Washington 
is called bundling. It effectively

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excludes small businesses, and we need to do something about that.
    Again, I talked to Mitch about this, and I want him to examine--he 
understands, like I understand, the capacity for our Government to 
encourage entrepreneurial growth, the capacity for our Government to 
stimulate small-business ownership in all communities across America.
    And so one of the things we're going to do is, we're going to 
examine the Federal Government's contracting policies, to make sure that 
they encourage competition as opposed to exclude competition, to make 
sure that the process is open, to make sure the process helps achieve a 
noble objective, which is more ownership in our country. And wherever 
possible, we're going to insist that we break down large Federal 
contracts so that small-business owners have got a fair shot at Federal 
contracting.
    The Government can provide an environment that will encourage 
risktaking, and I believe, when we do these, it will encourage 
risktaking. There are no guarantees in the free enterprise system, as 
you all know. But we can make the system more open and more inviting. We 
can encourage people to take risk, and that's exactly what we're going 
to do in this administration. It is important for the economic security 
of the United States of America. Not only am I concerned about economic 
security; I'm also concerned about our national security. And I want to 
share some thoughts with you about my thinking about our national 
security.
    First, I know there are many from New York City here who suffered 
mightily on September the 11th. And I want to say how much I appreciate 
that city showing not only our Nation but the world what it means to be 
resolute and tough and determined to succeed. Not only watching how New 
Yorkers responded but seeing how our Nation responded, leads me to 
conclude that the enemy didn't understand who they were dealing with. 
You see, they thought we were so materialistic and so self-absorbed that 
the only thing I was going to do was sue them. [Laughter] They were 
wrong. They were wrong.
    My most important job is to protect innocent lives in America. My 
most important job is to protect the homeland, and we've got a strategy 
in place to deal with a bioterrorist attack. We've got a first-
responders strategy. We're doing a better job of buttoning up our 
borders. We want to know who's coming in and why they're here and when 
they're leaving. We've got to do a better job.
    But I want to tell you all that the best way to achieve the 
objective of securing the homeland is to chase the killers down, 
wherever they try to hide, and bring them to justice. And I want to 
assure you, that's what's going to happen. And it's going to take a 
while, but the good news is, the American people are patient. I believe 
the American people understand the difficulty that lies ahead. I know 
the United States military does, and I'm so proud of the way they have 
accomplished the mission so far.
    I gave a speech in Washington a while ago--and once you're over 55, 
everything is a while ago--[laughter]--I can't remember if it was a week 
or 2 weeks but, nevertheless, a while ago--[laughter]--that said the 
first phase in the war against terror is over with. And that first phase 
was upholding the doctrine that said, if you harbor a terrorist or feed 
a terrorist or hide a terrorist, you're just as guilty as those who came 
and murdered innocent Americans and others from around the world. And 
the Taliban found out exactly what this great Nation meant. They're no 
longer in business.
    The way I viewed--I was so proud of our country, because we sought 
not revenge but justice. That's what we seek. And we didn't go to 
Afghanistan as conquerors; we arrived as liberators. As Elaine Chao 
mentioned, this week, for the first time, many young girls will be going 
to school. I am so proud of our country. I am proud of our military. I 
am proud of the children who have raised millions of dollars for Afghan 
children. I'm proud of the compassion of our country. We've showed the 
world that not only will we seek justice; we've showed the world that we 
will seek a better society for citizens, starting in Afghanistan, by 
ridding them from the clutches of one of the most barbaric, backward 
regimes history has ever known.
    But there's more to do, and as leaders in your communities, it is 
important for me to share this with you. Anytime Al Qaida

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bunches up, we're going to get them. They did so in the Shahi-Kot 
Mountain Range, and they now regret that. Because you see, there are 
still thousands of these trained killers around. And I want to tell 
you--I cannot make it any more plain than this--they hate America, and 
the reason they hate America is because we're free. We're a free 
society. They can't stand the thought of the President of the United 
States coming to speak to women who own their own business.
    These are people who are irrational, and we will treat them like the 
international criminals they are by keeping them on the run. So the 
second phase, my fellow Americans, of this war is to deny them 
sanctuary. Anywhere they try to light, we will disrupt them. We will be 
patient; we'll be deliberate. But I can assure you, we'll be determined.
    I have submitted a budget that significantly raises the defense 
spending. And the reason I did was because I want those who risk their 
lives on behalf of Americans to get the best pay, the best equipment, 
the best training possible. I recognize--I recognize that the price of 
freedom is high. But as far as I'm concerned, it is never too high.
    The world watches us. The world tests, or really looks at, our will. 
They want to know whether or not we're people who just talk or people 
who are willing to lead. And they're going to find out we're a nation 
that--when somebody attacks our values and murders our citizens and 
still wants to do so, they will find that we are a strong, resolute, 
determined, and united people, much to the chagrin--much to the chagrin 
of terrorist networks around the world. The more firm we are, the more 
likely it is the world will follow. And the more firm and determined we 
are, the more likely it is that we will achieve lasting peace.
    My dream for the world is lasting peace. I want our children to grow 
up in a peaceful world, a world in which freedom, at its very center, is 
the most important value. And we can achieve that. There is no doubt in 
my mind, as the United States remains firm and strong and achieves our 
clearly stated objectives, that we have a chance to solve problems that 
many never think could be solved around the world and leave behind such 
a wonderful legacy, not only for our own children but for children of 
every country. And at the same time, we have an opportunity at home to 
show the world the true face of America, the heart and soul of the 
American people.
    I want to thank very much Suzanne Tufts for being here today. She is 
the president and CEO of American Woman's Economic Development 
Corporation. Right after the enemy attacked, Suzanne and her 
organization moved quickly to help small businesses affected by the 
attack, primarily women-owned businesses, to help them, obviously, deal 
with the shock to their businesses but also help them get back on their 
feet. It is this kind of compassion and care and concern for a neighbor 
that is the true strength of the country.
    Listen, we're a great military power, and that's good. [Laughter] 
But the true strength of America is not in the halls of Government; it's 
in the hearts and the souls of our citizens. The thing that makes our 
country so unique is that we're people that have heard the universal 
call to love a neighbor like you'd like to be loved yourself.
    I'm asked all the time by people, ``What can I do to help in the war 
against terror?'' And the answer is: If you want to stand up to evil, do 
something good for a neighbor in need; if you want to stand up squarely 
in the face of evil, show somebody you love them. And those don't have 
to be magnificent acts of love; they can be small acts of generosity 
which, in their total, help define America for the rest of the world. 
Just walking across the street to a lonely shut-in, is, in itself, part 
of the defiance to evil, or mentoring a child or thanking a teacher or 
generosity with your checkbook or using your time and talents for your 
church or synagogue or mosque to help people who are hopeless in our 
society.
    Out of this incredible evil done to America, I see great good. I see 
not only the good of lasting world peace; I see a nation that is more 
compassionate and hopeful, a nation that understands that by adhering to 
the admonition to love a neighbor just like you'd like to be loved 
yourself, we set a clear example of what's possible in other places 
around the world.

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    I have been not only amazed; I have been so gladdened by what I've 
seen and heard about America in the face of this tragedy. Not only are 
we determined to seek justice; we're determined to right wrongs, to help 
heal souls, and to help people in need.
    It is such an honor to be the President of a country that embraces 
the entrepreneurial spirit for all. But more importantly, it's an honor 
to be the President of a country full of decent and heartfelt and 
compassionate Americans.
    God bless.

Note: The President spoke at 11:10 a.m. in the Atrium Ballroom at the 
Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. In his remarks, 
he referred to Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida.