    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 32 (Monday, August 12, 2002)]
    [Pages 1319-1325]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Remarks at Madison Central High School in Madison, Mississippi

    August 7, 2002

        Thanks for a warm welcome. Thanks for having me. It's true,
    Congressman, I did bring Laura her coffee this morning. [Laughter] The
    only thing that was different from the past is, I brought it to her in
    Crawford, Texas. [Laughter] I have moved my office to Crawford, and I'm
    so honored my first stop after having moved my office to Crawford is in
    the great State of Mississippi.
        I want to thank you all for coming. I want to talk about three
    important goals for our country: one, win the war on terror; two, to
    protect the homeland; and three, to make it clear we will not rest until
    we have economic security for everybody who lives in America.
        That's a goal shared by the Mississippians for Economic Progress,
    and I want to thank them for hosting me today. I appreciate you all
    coming. I also want to thank the Congressman for introducing me. I also
    appreciate so very much two fine--I mean fine--United States Senators
    from the great State of Mississippi who are here, and that's, of course,
    Thad Cochran and the man I call Leader, Trent Lott.
        I want to thank very much Ronnie Shows for being here. Congressman,
    thank you for coming. I'm honored you're here. I appreciate it. And I
    want to thank Roger Wicker, another member of the Mississippi
    congressional delegation, for coming. We've got Congressmen everywhere.
    [Laughter]
        But there's one special former Congressman with us. It's a man--when
    I'm in Washington, I go to church right across the street from the White
    House, and this fellow always saves me a pew--a spot in the pew. He's
    been a great friend of my family's. He's a great friend of Mississippi.
    He is the namesake of the Montgomery Institute in Meridian, Mississippi,
    and that's Sonny Montgomery. [Applause] It looks like they still
    remember you, Sonny--[laughter]--and love you, just like I do.
        I want to thank members of the statehouse for coming. The Governor
    kindly came out to greet me today, and I'm thankful for the Governor for
    being there. I want to thank the Lieutenant Governor, Governor Tuck, for
    coming today. I want to appreciate the State senator, Travis Little, and
    all the other members of the statehouse who are here. It makes me feel
    welcome for you to come and to greet me. I thank you from the bottom of
    my heart.
        I also want to thank the mayors who are here. Mayor Mary Hawkins-
    Butler of Madison is here. I want to thank you, Madam Mayor, for coming.
    And Mayor Gene McGee, the mayor of Ridgeland, Mississippi, is here.
        David Allen is the vice chairman of the Mississippians for Economic
    Progress, who gathered you all up. And I want to thank you, David, and
    your group for supporting this event.
        I want to thank J. Reeves, who is the principal of the Madison
    Central High School, for having us. I want to thank the Madison High
    band. Listen, you all were great when you serenaded us coming in.
    [Laughter] I tried to pop out of the limousine--[laughter]--to say
    thanks, but it was moving a little too fast. [Laughter] But I do want to
    thank you all. The principal was telling me you're an award-winning
    band, and I so much appreciate the fact that you played. Unfortunately,
    most band members are in the overflow room, so if you're listening,
    thanks. I also want to thank Mike Kent, who is the Madison County
    superintendent of education.
        I want to thank the folks who I just met with, Mississippi citizens
    from all walks of life who expressed their concerns to me on a variety
    of issues. And I'll be discussing some of those issues. I met with some
    of the kindest, most decent doctors you can possibly imagine who are
    with us today, people who love their communities, love their profession,
    are deeply concerned about the future of medicine in this State.
        I met WorldCom employees who no longer have work, who are
    disillusioned, like

    [[Page 1320]]

    me and others, about the corporate fraud which is taking place in our
    country. I met with small-business owners who long to have an
    environment that will allow them to flourish. So I want to thank them
    for coming. I'm going to talk more about some of the issues around these
    participants. But you've got some fine folks in this State, and they
    took time to visit and share their frustrations with me. I want to thank
    them all for coming today, very much.
        I also want to welcome Star Wallin here. One of the things I love to
    do as I travel the country is to meet soldiers in the armies of
    compassion, people who have heard the call to love a neighbor just like
    they'd like to be loved themselves; people who don't wait for a
    President to say, ``You will go love somebody,'' or Congress to pass a
    law; people who understand that part of being an American is to serve
    your community by helping people in need.
        Star is here. She's the founder of what's called Project CARE,
    Compassion in Action creates a Ripple Effect for positive change. The
    unusual thing about Star is, she's 18 years old. She has--that's not
    unusual; there's a lot of 18-year-olds. [Laughter] What is unusual is,
    is that she is signing up people who went to her school to help people
    in need. As a result of her vision and her work and her compassion, 300
    elementary school students were mentored by upperclassmen. The 300
    benefited, as did the mentors. As a result of her vision, she has
    rallied people to feed the needy, to provide furniture for those who
    want. She has helped restore playgrounds on public schools. As a result
    of her vision, her community is better. She has set a fabulous example.
    Star, thank you for being here, and thank you for what you do. And I
    want to thank your family for being here as well. They did a pretty darn
    good job of raising you.
        My most important job as the President of this country is to protect
    the homeland. My most important job is to rally our governments to do
    everything humanly possible to prevent the enemy from taking innocent
    life again. That job goes on because the enemy still exists, an enemy
    that hates freedom and therefore hates America; people who can't stand
    the thought that we worship freely in this country, and therefore hate
    us; coldblooded killers who don't value life the way we value life. And
    so they're still a threat to the homeland. There is still a threat that
    they might attack us again. And therefore, you need to know that your
    Government is doing everything humanly possible. A lot of fine folks are
    working overtime doing everything humanly possible to run down every
    hint, every lead, every piece of evidence to protect the homeland.
        I got to Washington, and after being there for a while, I took a
    look at the homeland security apparatus there in the Nation's Capital.
    There are over 100 different agencies involved with homeland security.
    As I like to say, they're scattered everywhere. And if they're scattered
    everywhere, it makes it hard to hold people accountable. And we need
    accountability all throughout Government--nothing more important,
    though, than to have accountability when it comes to protecting the
    homeland. I felt like, having taken a look at the situation, that in
    order to set the number one priority of all those agencies as the
    protection of the homeland, they needed to be under one agency, one
    Cabinet officer. And so I proposed to the country, to the Congress, that
    we have a Department of Homeland Security that will be in charge--
    enforcing our borders. Listen, we need to know who's coming in the
    country, what they're bringing in the country, why they're coming into
    the country, and, if they're leaving, when they're supposed to be
    leaving the country.
        We need to work with our courageous first-responders, the
    firefighters and the police and the EMS teams, all across our country to
    prepare--prepare as best as we possibly can for emergency. We need to be
    prepared to respond to a terrorism attack using weapons of mass
    destruction. We need to better coordinate intelligence. We get
    intelligence gathered here and there, and we need somebody to analyze
    this, to address the vulnerabilities--assess the vulnerabilities so that
    we can address them to make the homeland more secure. That's a major
    task of the Office of Homeland Security.
        This isn't a Republican issue, folks. This isn't a Democrat issue.
    This is an American issue. This is what we need to do. We need

    [[Page 1321]]

    to leave a legacy behind. And when we create the Department, we've got
    to do it right. See, we're trying to leave a legacy not only for future
    Presidents but future Congress, so they can deal with the true threats
    of the 21st century. We're in a different era here.
        And you need to know that I'm not interested in having to try to run
    a clumsy, slow-moving bureaucracy, that when we fashion a new
    Department, we must be able to react. We've got to be able to put the
    right people in the right job at the right time, without a thick book of
    rules that have little to do with protecting the American people.
        The number one priority of this agency must be the protection of the
    people, as opposed to representing narrow political interests. I want to
    thank the Members of the House of Representatives who heard that
    message, who put their political turf aside and focused on the American
    people. Now the Senate must hear the message. These two Senators have
    heard the message, and I want to thank them for their leadership--I want
    to thank them for their leadership. The leadership of the Senate must
    focus on what's best for America, not what's best on narrow interests,
    and get a bill to my desk that will enable me to say to the American
    people, ``We're doing everything we can to protect the homeland.''
        The best way to protect the homeland in the long run is to hunt the
    killers down, one by one, and bring them to justice, which is what we're
    going to do. This is a different kind of war. The leaders hide in caves
    and send youngsters to their death. But there's no cave deep enough, no
    cave dark enough for an America, a resolved America, that loves our
    freedom. And so no matter how long it takes, no matter what the cost
    might be, for the sake of our freedom and for the sake of our children
    and our children's children, we're going to hunt them down. These are
    nothing but international criminals, and they're going to be treated as
    international criminals.
        And we're making good progress. We really are. It's hard to tell it
    sometimes, because as we make progress, sometimes it doesn't get on your
    cable channel. [Laughter] But you need to know we're making progress.
    We've hauled in or captured--and I say ``we;'' we've got a mighty
    coalition of countries from around the world that love freedom just like
    we love freedom, and they understand the true threats that we face. And
    we've captured over 2,000 of them in a pretty quick period of time.
    Another group of them, just about the same number, weren't quite as
    lucky.
        But we've got a lot of work to do. I want the youngsters here, the
    high school students here, to know that we seek--we don't seek revenge;
    we seek justice. And when we go into a country, we do so not to conquer
    but to liberate. There are young girls going to school in Afghanistan
    for the first time, thanks to the mighty Government--mighty United
    States military and our friends and allies. And that's important for you
    to remember.
        We face threats because we love freedom. Al Qaida represents
    threats, and we're dealing with them. There are countries which harbor
    and develop weapons of mass destruction, countries run by people who
    poison their own people, countries whose leadership has got a terrible
    record when it comes to valuing life, particularly inside their own
    country. And these are real threats, and we owe it to our children to
    deal with these threats.
        I will promise you that I am--will be patient and deliberate, that
    we will continue to consult with Congress, and of course, we'll consult
    with our friends and allies. We will discuss these threats in real
    terms. And I will explore all options and all tools at my disposal,
    diplomacy, international pressure, perhaps the military. But it's
    important for my fellow citizens to know that as we see threats
    evolving, we will deal with them. We must deal with them. History has
    called us into action. We love freedom, and we'll deal with the threats
    that could eventually hurt our freedoms.
        I've asked for the biggest increase in defense spending since Ronald
    Reagan was the President for two reasons. One, any time we commit our
    troops into harm's way, they deserve the best pay, the best training,
    the best equipment possible. And two, the defense budget sends a signal
    to our friends, allies, and to the enemy that we're in this for the

    [[Page 1322]]

    long haul, that we love our freedom so much that we're in it for the
    long pull.
        I appreciate the fact that the House of Representatives has passed
    the defense appropriations bill and the Senate has passed a defense
    appropriations bill. But taking care of our military must be the first
    order of business when Congress returns back to Washington. We owe the
    military every tool they need and every dollar it takes to win this war.
    And therefore, I call upon the leadership of the Congress to resolve,
    quickly resolve the differences between the House appropriations bill
    for defense and the Senate appropriations bill for defense and get that
    bill to my desk first thing when they get back so I can sign it.
        I'm going to continue to work to build the economics--the
    foundations for economic security for our people. And I believe the
    foundation is strong. Listen, our economy is growing. It's getting
    better. Inflation is low. The great news--and I'm not surprised at
    this--is that worker productivity is increasing dramatically. I'm not
    surprised because I know the American people. I know that the true
    strength of the country is our people. But listen, so long as anybody is
    looking for work and can't find work, I think we've got a problem. When
    somebody is out there who says, ``I want to work and can't find a job,''
    we need to do something about it. Look, the role of Government is not to
    create wealth but an environment in which the economy can grow.
    Everybody here knows this: We're not going to tax our way to prosperity;
    we won't regulate our way to prosperity; we certainly won't litigate our
    way to prosperity. What we need to do is--what we need to do is to
    always ask the question, ``How do we increase job growth and honest
    enterprise--and honest enterprise?''
        When I took office, our economy was beginning a recession. That's
    what the facts have shown. Then our economy was hit by terrorists. Then
    our economy was hit by corporate scandals. But I'm certain of this: We
    won't let fear undermine our economy, and we're not going to let fraud
    undermine it either.
        I appreciate the work of both Republicans and Democrats to pass the
    biggest corporate reforms since Franklin Roosevelt was the President.
    And I had the honor of signing that and working with members of both
    parties to get this bill done. We're going to make sure the books are
    honest, the numbers are real, the auditors are audited, and the
    criminals are punished. And the task force I put together is beginning
    to make progress. They're investigating, arresting, and will soon be
    prosecuting those who have betrayed the trust of employee and
    shareholder alike. For corporate leaders found guilty of fraud and
    theft, there will be no more easy money, just hard time.
        And here in Mississippi, you know what I'm talking about. You know
    what it means to be let down by shady corporate practices. Two of the
    good folks with whom I met earlier today had been let down by shady
    corporate practices. They lost their jobs and a good portion of their
    retirement funds because there was corporate malfeasance. They were
    cooking the books. They weren't open and honest. People who dedicate
    their lives to building the company who hired them deserve better, not
    only here in Mississippi but all over the country. People who invested
    in a local company because of State pride deserve better. By raising the
    standards of conduct in corporate America, we're going to protect the
    jobs. By holding people accountable, we'll protect jobs and, as
    importantly, retirement security all across the country.
        And speaking about that, we've got to do more to protect worker
    pensions. Right now too many workers are locked into plans that force
    them to hold a large portion of their accounts in their company stock.
    There are a lot of plans that won't let people diversify, and that's not
    right. I believe workers ought to be able to diversify after 3 years in
    their company's plan. I think we ought to trust workers with their own
    money. Right now workers get an update every year. They ought to get
    updates every 3 months on their plan. They should be able to get sound
    investment advice. After all, it's their money.
        I proposed these reforms months ago. The House acted. The Senate
    hasn't. The Senate leadership, those who are running the Senate now,
    ought to bring these worker reforms forward. They ought to get this
    pension reform bill up and to my desk as soon as they get back from
    their vacations. And I'm not

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    talking about the Senate leaders here on the front row, either.
    [Laughter]
        Here in Mississippi you're learning a hard lesson, that one of the
    biggest obstacles to growth is the lawsuit industry. That's one industry
    we don't want to see grow. Junk and frivolous lawsuits can ruin an
    honest business. Listen, small business is the backbone of our society.
    Most new jobs are created by small business. And when you have junk and
    frivolous lawsuits that could completely wipe out a small business
    hanging over the heads of small-business people, it doesn't help. It
    hurts economic vitality and economic growth, and you've got to
    understand that.
        And in this State, the lawsuit industry is devastating the practice
    of medicine. And people around the country understand this is happening
    here. They're getting the message that the fastest growing industry is
    the lawsuit industry. Too many frivolous lawsuits in this State are
    being filed against doctors. That's a fact. And too many jury awards are
    out of control. You've got too many of your doctors that are being
    forced to settle cases for large amounts of money even when they haven't
    committed an error. And that's not right, because you know who it hurts?
    It hurts the people; it hurts the people of Mississippi. It causes
    medicine, the cost of medicine, to go up, and that means people have to
    pay more money out of their pocket--all people. You may not think so,
    but it's a hidden cost of your health care bill.
        You know what else it does? Because premiums go up, or liabilities
    are threatening--lawsuits are threatening doctors--I mean, some of the
    docs can't get insurance coverage, which means they no longer want to
    provide care. And that hurts people too. Not only does excessive
    lawsuits cause your bill to go up, it makes it awfully hard for people
    in some parts of your State to even get medical care. And that's a
    crime, and that's a shame.
        And that's a problem here in Mississippi and in other States too. I
    just met with some Mississippi doctors. These are people that love their
    communities and care deeply for their patients. But they are practicing
    their medicine in the face of hostile legal environments. These are good
    docs who can't get liability insurance or--giving up their specialties
    or leaving their practices to go somewhere else. It's estimated by some
    that this great State could lose 10 percent of your physicians this
    year, unless you do something about it.
        I want to tell you about Dr. Kooyer. He's sitting right out there.
    He and his wife went to Rolling Fork, Mississippi, in the heart of the
    Delta. They did because, as he said, he felt a Christian calling to care
    for children, children who need help. That's what he heard. Not only did
    he have skills, he's got a heart. But because of frivolous lawsuits,
    because every time he turns the corner somebody might sue him, and
    because of his rising liability insurance premiums, he's leaving your
    State. He doesn't want to leave your State. He loves Mississippi. He
    loves helping those who need help. He loves being a pediatrician, and so
    does his wife, but he's had it. And so he's leaving, which means there
    will be no pediatrician in that county in Mississippi. And that's a
    shame. Lawsuits are driving them out of your State. It's hurting people.
    It's not hurting big institutions, it's hurting the people.
        Dr. Frothingham--you talk about a man with a heart. You think Kooyer
    has got a heart? Wait until you hear Frothingham. [Laughter] He's a
    great Mississippian, grew up here, thought he might try to live in South
    Carolina, realized what he was missing, came back to Mississippi.
    [Laughter] He's a neurosurgeon. He talked with deep compassion about a
    man who suffered a trauma, a fellow he was with--Johnny was with us
    today. He's a guy who understands that practicing medicine is more than
    just technology. It's concern and care. They're running him out of
    business. There's too many frivolous lawsuits. And that hurts the State,
    and it hurts the country. It hurts people.
        Jill Mahaffey says she got lucky. She and her husband are here. They
    live in the Delta too. She got lucky. She heard she's pregnant. She's
    getting there, getting ready. She goes to the doctor. He says, ``I've
    got to leave''--ob-gyn getting ready to leave because of lawsuits,
    because of the threats, because even if you're a doctor who practices
    good medicine, you're going to get sued in this State

    [[Page 1324]]

    and in other States. Believe this or not, fortunately, she was getting
    toxic, and the doc induced labor before he quit his practice. She says
    she was lucky. And she was.
        But these human stories, these stories of people going without or
    could go without have got to end in this country. And it's not just in
    Mississippi. There are other States being affected by the lawsuit
    industry. And we need to do something about it. This State needs to do
    something about it, and so does Washington, DC, need to do something
    about these frivolous lawsuits.
        Well, some say, ``That's not a Federal issue. Here you are in
    Mississippi. You're talking about Mississippi's problem. Leave it in
    Mississippi.'' That's a Federal issue. I'll tell you why. If you agree
    with me that these junk lawsuits run up the cost of medicine, then it
    becomes a Federal issue when you realize all the dollars we spend on
    Medicare. It's a Federal issue when you think about all the money we
    spend on Medicaid to help people. It's a Federal issue when you think
    about all the veterans hospitals around the country.
        No, it's a Federal issue, and it's time for the Congress to pass a
    minimum Federal standard which says this: one, if you're hurt, you ought
    to have your day in court, and you ought to be able to recover full
    economic damages--no problem about that, everybody agrees with that. If
    you get hurt, you ought to be able to go to your court, the courthouse,
    and be treated--you ought to get fair compensation for your economic
    damages. But we cannot have unlimited noneconomic damages and punitive
    damages drive health care away from the people. So I strongly support
    and I urge Congress to have reasonable Federal limits on noneconomic
    damages--$250,000 is reasonable. I think we ought to have a cap on
    punitive damages. I think we ought to have joint and several liability
    reform. And I know we ought to allow doctors and folks who work in
    hospitals to be able to evaluate practice, to be able to analyze best
    practices on behalf of the patients without fear of a frivolous or junk
    lawsuit. It's time for Congress to act. It's time. This liability system
    of ours should serve patients, not trial lawyers.
        There's more we can do, and I look forward to working with Congress
    to make sure economic security is solid in America. You know, I believe
    that when you let a man or a woman keep more of his or her own money, it
    means he or she is going to demand a good or a service. And when they
    demand a good or a service, somebody is going to produce the good and
    service. And when somebody produces the good and service, somebody is
    likely to expand the job base. That's the school of economic thought I
    come from. And that's why I worked closely with then-Leader Lott and
    Speaker Hastert and people from both parties to pass a significant tax
    reduction on behalf of the American people. This tax reduction was well-
    timed. When you look at the fact that our economy was now--as we found
    out--in recession when I took office, it's well-timed. When people have
    more of their own money, it's how you fight a recession. And that was
    important.
        But interestingly enough, as a result of a quirk in the law of the
    Senate, these tax reforms, these tax reductions--not only income tax
    reductions but significantly reducing the marriage penalty and repealing
    the death tax--all those go away, all those reductions, after 10 years.
    For the sake of economic vitality, for the sake of allowing people to
    plan, for the sake of small businesses and farmers and ranchers all
    across the country, we need to make the tax reductions permanent.
        We need to make sure that construction projects go forward. After
    September the 11th, about $8 billion worth of construction projects were
    delayed or killed because people couldn't get lending, couldn't get
    commercial property financing for the lack of terrorism insurance. The
    Congress needs to act on this issue. For the sake of the hardhats here
    in America, for the good, hard-working people in Mississippi that are
    building bridges and commercial projects, for the people's sake--blue-
    collar workers all across America--we need to get a terrorism insurance
    bill that will provide some surety so that these commercial projects can
    go forward, so that our construction workers will be back to work. It's
    time for the House and the Senate to reconcile its differences, and as
    you do so, make sure that you keep the workers in mind and not the
    lawyers.

    [[Page 1325]]

        So I wanted to come to Mississippi to talk to you about our Nation's
    priorities. And I want to thank you for giving me a chance to come. I
    want to tell you how I feel about the country and its future. You're
    looking at an optimist. There is no problem we can't solve in this
    country. I believe out of the evil done to America is going to come some
    incredible good. I say that with certainty because the strength of the
    country is the American people. The American people have got great
    hearts, great resolve, great compassion, and great determination.
        This country is going to lead the world to peace. No, I know all the
    war rhetoric, but it's all aimed at achieving peace. That's my dream. I
    want there to be peace for generations of Americans. I want there to be
    peace for generations of Israelis and Palestinians, peace in South Asia.
    And by being strong and determined, by speaking clearly about good and
    evil, by being patient and resolved, I believe that we can help lead the
    world to peace.
        And here at home--and here at home, we can lead, all of us can lead
    our country to a more compassionate future. There are pockets of despair
    in America. There are pockets of addiction and hopelessness. So long as
    one of us suffers, all of us suffers, as far as I'm concerned. And yet,
    I fully understand the limitations of Government. We can hand out money
    in Washington, DC, but we can't put hope in people's hearts or a sense
    of purpose in people's lives. I wish I knew the law that would say, ``We
    will all love each other.'' Lott would sponsor it. I'd sign it.
    [Laughter] There is no Government law; there's a universal law; there's
    a higher law. And that's really the strength of America.
        People have heard that call. People say, ``What can I do to help
    after September the 11th?'' I've said, ``Love your neighbor.'' If you
    want to help, mentor a child. If you want to help, go see a shut-in and
    tell them you love them. If you want to help, feed the hungry. Build a
    house with Habitat. Run a Boy Scout troop or Girl Scout troop. If you
    want to help, just tell somebody, ``I care for you. I hope you--I hope
    if you've got a problem, you come and call on me.''
        You see, America can be saved one heart, one soul, one conscience at
    a time. One person can't do everything, I know that. The task seems
    large, but one person can do something. I'm asking you to be that one
    person doing something to help make your community and Mississippi and
    our Nation a place of hope, a place of decency, a place of compassion
    for every citizen who is fortunate enough to be an American.
        No, the enemy hit us. They hit us, but they didn't know who they
    were hitting. Oh, they probably thought we'd file a lawsuit or two.
    [Laughter] But they hit a nation that loves freedom, and we'll defend
    our freedoms. They also found out about our heart, that out of the evil
    done to America will come incredible good, because we're the greatest
    nation on the face of the Earth.
        Thank you for coming.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:50 a.m. in the school's gymnasium. In
    his remarks, he referred to Representative Charles W. ``Chip'' Pickering
    of Mississippi; and Gov. Ronnie Musgrove and Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck of
    Mississippi. The Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish
    language transcript of these remarks.