[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 18 (Monday, May 6, 2002)]
[Pages 709-711]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following a Roundtable Discussion With Community Leaders in 
South Central Los Angeles, California

April 29, 2002

    The President: Well, thank you all very much, my fellow Americans. 
I'm honored to be here. I want to thank you, John, very much for your 
leadership and your vision. It's nice to see your mother here. My mother 
is still telling me what to do, too. [Laughter] I'm sure you're 
listening. [Laughter] So am I.
    I want to thank you all for giving me a chance to come and just 
share some thoughts with you about what's on my mind. I want to thank 
Reverend Murray. I want to thank him for riding back from the airport 
with me and sharing his thoughts and his vision and his hope.
    I want to thank John Mack. John's reputation had preceded him and 
managed to even make it to the State of Texas. [Laughter] He's a great 
leader of the Urban League, and I want to thank him for his visionary 
and steadfast leadership. As John told me, that in the aftermath of the 
civil unrest, this part of the world began to rebuild, became a more 
hopeful place, and John quickly pointed out, partly because of the 
leadership of the two men I just named. And I want to thank them for 
being such solid citizens in a community that needed leadership.
    I want to thank, as well, Charles Kim and Antonia Hernandez for 
inviting me and helping set up what has been a very interesting and 
important discussion for me. You see, the President is--can still learn. 
And I try to learn and absorb what's best about America, so I can share 
it with other Americans. And the spirit of the discussion we had was 
important for me to see and hear. I wish all of America could have heard 
how optimistic and hopeful people were.
    These are folks from the religious community, community-based 
community, the business leaders. We had bankers. We've got some 
entrepreneurs that are--and I know a little something about 
entrepreneur--the entrepreneurial spirit, and these were the 
entrepreneurs' entrepreneur. [Laughter] I want to thank them for telling 
me their stories.
    You know, I firmly believe God is on the side of justice and 
reconciliation. But as Martin Luther King said, ``God isn't going to do 
it all by Himself.'' And I was with--I like to put it this way, that 
these good folks are soldiers in the armies of compassion. We had some 
generals; we had some sergeants; we had some privates; but all of them a 
part of

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this army; all of them anxious to make the American experience extend 
throughout all neighborhoods. And I feel the same way.
    I fully understand that 10 years ago this city, because of some 
violence--a lot of violence--saw incredible destruction in lives and in 
property. Mr. Kim was talking about the dashed dreams of many of the 
Korean entrepreneurs. A lot of hopes were lost. The violence and the 
lawlessness always affects the most poor, always hurts the weakest. And 
yet out of this violence and ugliness came new hope, and we discussed 
that today.
    I want to congratulate this city. Mr. Mayor, you're the mayor of a 
great city. And I want to congratulate the leaders here and the people 
here, to show the rest of the country what is possible, what can happen, 
what is possible in America when people put aside differences and focus 
on what's best for all.
    And that's what I heard today at the table. We talked about economic 
development. I believe strongly it's important for people to learn to 
own, own their own business. And we talked about the hurdles between 
ownership and reality and what the Government can do about those 
hurdles. I heard from bankers talking about the CRA and how to make that 
more effective. I heard from shopping center developers who believe 
strongly and understand fully that investment in south central L.A. is, 
first and foremost, good business policy. And it obviously is good 
social policy as well. And I want to thank them for sharing that with 
me.
    I heard about the renaissance program. More than once did I hear 
about it. [Laughter] I was about ready to sign up. [Laughter]
    We talked about education. I like to put it this way: Reading is the 
new civil right. Because if you can't read, you cannot possibly be 
educated, and if you're not educated, you can't succeed. And so in order 
to make sure that everybody--and I mean everybody; I don't care how you 
vote--everybody gets a shot, we've got to make sure that everybody gets 
educated.
    And there is a role for the Federal Government to play. We fund, and 
that's important. But I firmly believe that the Federal Government and 
local governments must expect the best from every child--I mean the 
best. Every child can learn. I refuse to accept a system that quits on 
certain children because it's deemed--they're deemed to be too hard to 
educate. We must determine as a society whether our children are 
learning or not. And if they're not, we've got to insist upon change. We 
can't have a system that just simply shuffles children through. That's 
got to end if we're going to make sure that every child gets educated in 
America.
    I am passionate on the subject of education. I also am wise enough 
to know that all wisdom doesn't exist in Washington, DC. We can write a 
pretty good check, but we ought not to be telling the local folks how to 
chart the path to excellence. We ought to be encouraging educational and 
social entrepreneurs to get involved with the education of every single 
child. And when there's failure, we need to blow the whistle on failure. 
And when we find success, we need to praise success.
    We talked about after-school programs. Big Lou Dantzler was talking 
about the Challengers Boys and Girls Clubs, and I want to thank Lou for 
his leadership.
    We talked about--we talked about faith and the importance of faith 
in our society. Now, I don't want Government to be the church, and I 
don't want the church to be the Government. But Government should not 
fear faith and faith-based programs. Government should not worry about 
programs that come out of church or synagogue or a mosque, all aimed at 
loving a neighbor just like you'd like to be loved yourself. The 
universal call to love is something to be nourished, not feared.
    And I--there is a role for Government. When we fund programs, we 
ought not to discriminate against faith-based programs, and we ought not 
to cause the faith-based program to have to change its mission in order 
to receive any money. Otherwise it won't be a faith-based program. It 
will fall into the old Government program. See, Government can hand out 
money, but Government cannot put hope in people's hearts. It cannot put 
faith in people's lives. And faith is a powerful--faith is a powerful 
motivator. Many a program relies upon faith, and we ought to welcome the 
faith-based programs into the compassionate delivery of help.

[[Page 711]]

    I know firsthand. I know what faith can mean in somebody's life. 
That's why I remind people, I'm just a humble sinner who sought 
redemption. And I--[applause].
    Audience member. Preach, Mr. President. [Laughter]
    The President. Well, I don't want to get too far. [Laughter]
    Audience member. Well--[laughter].
    The President. You know, we have a chance to show the world that out 
of the evil that was done on September the 11th can come incredible 
good. I believe that; I truly do. I believe that by being firm and tough 
when it comes to hunting down killers, that eventually we can help bring 
peace to the world. That is my goal. I want the children and their 
children's children to grow up in a peaceful world. And I think we can 
do that; I do.
    And we can show the world the true face of America as well. Oh, it's 
a diverse face, no question about it, which is our strength, not our 
weakness. But it's a face that can be bound by common goals and common 
values. It's a face that can stand squarely in the face of evil by the 
collective acts of people doing good in America.
    And that's what I heard today. The great hope of the country really 
isn't the Government. The great hope of the country lies in the hearts 
and souls of our people. You've showed it in this community. Ten years 
after civil unrest that made history, the community is rebuilding 
herself with great hope and great promise.
    And that's an important lesson. It's an important lesson not only 
for other communities; it's an important lesson for our whole country, 
because out of the evil that was done on September the 11th can come 
incredible good. And it's happening.
    So my job as the President is to rally--rally the spirit of the 
Nation, and to thank those who are integrally involved in helping people 
help themselves. I want to thank John again for such a kind invitation. 
I am so honored that you would invite me, a Texan--[laughter]--to come 
right here to L.A. and to herald what is possible.
    You know, we live in a great country--I mean, the greatest country 
on the face of the Earth. I'm proud of America. I'm proud of our 
country. I'm proud of what we stand for. Oh, I know there's pockets of 
despair. That just means we've got to work harder. It means you can't 
quit. That means we've got to rout it out with love and compassion and 
decency. But this is the greatest country on the face of the Earth. And 
it is such an honor to be the President of such a great land.
    Thank you all for coming today. May God bless you. May God bless 
America.

Note: The President spoke at 4:01 p.m. in the Media Center at the First 
African Methodist Episcopal Renaissance Center. In his remarks, he 
referred to John Bryant, founder, chairman of the board, and chief 
executive officer, Operation HOPE, Inc.; Juanita Smith, Mr. Bryant's 
mother; Rev. Cecil L. Murray, senior minister, First African Methodist 
Episcopal Church of Los Angeles; John W. Mack, president, Los Angeles 
Urban League; Charles Kim, executive director, Korean American 
Coalition, Los Angeles; Antonia Hernandez, president and general 
counsel, Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund; Mayor James 
K. Hahn of Los Angeles; and Lou Dantzler, president and chief executive 
officer, Challengers Boys & Girls Club.