[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 50 (Monday, December 16, 2002)]
[Pages 2152-2156]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at the White House Conference on Faith-Based and Community 
Initiatives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

December 12, 2002

    The President. Thanks a lot for the warm welcome. It's a pleasure to 
be back in Philadelphia, a city known for the history that was made here 
and the spirit of compassion which is found here.
    I'm honored to spend the time with you all. I thank you for your 
interest in our country. You love God with all your heart and all your 
soul and all your strength. You love your neighbor. And by the works 
that come from your faith, you are building a more just

[[Page 2153]]

and generous nation. And we are grateful for your efforts.
    I appreciate the tremendous turnout for this White House Conference 
on Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. I think it's a really 
important conference. Many faiths and many traditions are represented 
here. Yet we share the same belief that every person in need is a worthy 
child of God. And we share the same goal: We must bring the hope and 
healing of faith-based services to more and more Americans.
    Government has often been slow to recognize the importance of faith-
based and community efforts. That's changing, and more changes are 
needed. So today I'm announcing a series of actions to stop the unfair 
treatment of religious charities by the Federal Government.
    If a charity is helping the needy, it should not matter if there is 
a rabbi on the board or a cross or a crescent on the wall or a religious 
commitment in the charter. The days of discriminating against religious 
groups just because they are religious are coming to an end.
    And I want to thank the members of my Cabinet who have traveled here 
today, Mel Martinez and Ann Veneman. I appreciate the fact that two fine 
United States Senators from Pennsylvania are here, Rick Santorum and 
Arlen Specter. I'm honored they have traveled with me to this fine 
event. I see Congressman Greenwood is with us as well. Thank you for 
coming. Anybody else from the Congress? They'll get the message.
    I want to thank Mike Brown, who's the Deputy Director of FEMA, who 
is here. Of course, I want to thank your mayor, John Street. I 
appreciate the fact--I appreciate the very fact that the mayor 
understands the importance of encouraging faith-based programs to change 
the neighborhoods and the lives of the good people of Philadelphia.
    I want to thank Cardinal Bevilacqua for coming. Your Eminence, it's 
good to see you, sir. I want to thank Franklin Graham. I want to thank 
all the leaders, the generals, the soldiers in the armies of compassion 
who are here with us today.
    Today I landed Air Force One--one of the things I try to do is 
herald the heroes of our society. I met Gary Hobbs, the USA Freedom 
Corps greeter, the former NFL player for, of course, the Eagles, who 
volunteers as a mentor for disadvantaged children. I want to thank Gary 
for his support and his service.
    Every generation of Americans must rise to its own challenges, and 
the challenges facing this generation are very clear. We must overcome 
great dangers to our country, wherever they gather. We're waging a war--
we're waging an unrelenting effort in this war to dismantle a terrorist 
network which has attacked America.
    I have no greater obligation than to protect our country and to 
defend our freedoms. We will confront outlaw regimes which hate our 
country and arm to threaten civilization, itself. We have that 
obligation, to recognize the world changed for America on September the 
11th, 2001. Before that date, it seemed like we could use the oceans to 
protect us from gathering dangers. We could be confident that nobody 
could possibly hurt America--hurt Americans on American soil, and that 
changed. And therefore, our Government and your leadership must have a 
realistic assessment of the dangers we have faced and we will face. We 
have acted, and we will act again, to protect the American people and to 
keep the peace.
    We must also rise to a second challenge facing our country. This 
great and prosperous land must become a single nation of justice and 
opportunity. We must continue our advance toward full equality for every 
citizen, which demands the guarantee of civil rights for all. Any 
suggestion that the segregated past was acceptable or positive is 
offensive, and it is wrong.
    Recent comments by Senator Lott do not reflect the spirit of our 
country. He has apologized, and rightly so. Every day our Nation was 
segregated was a day that America was unfaithful to our founding ideals. 
And the founding ideals of our Nation and, in fact, the founding ideals 
of the political party I represent was, and remains today, the equal 
dignity and equal rights of every American.
    And so the--and this is the principle that guides my administration. 
We will not, and we must not, rest until every person of every race 
believes in the promise of America because they see it in their own 
eyes, with their

[[Page 2154]]

own eyes, and they live it and feel it in their own lives.
    We have work to do. We must be honest about it. We have got a lot of 
work to do in this country, because there are pockets of despair in 
America. There are men and women who doubt the American Dream is meant 
for them. There are people who face the struggles of illness and old age 
with no one to help them or pray with them. There are men and women who 
fight every minute of the day against terrible addictions. There are 
boys with no family but a gang and teenage moms who are abandoned and 
alone. And then there are the children who wonder if anybody loves them.
    We've reformed welfare in America to help many; yet welfare policy 
will not solve the deepest problems of the spirit. Our economy is 
growing; yet there are some needs that prosperity can never fill. We 
arrest and convict dangerous criminals; yet building more prisons is no 
substitute for responsibility and order in our souls.
    No Government policy can put hope in people's hearts or a sense of 
purpose in people's lives. That is done when someone, some good soul, 
puts an arm around a neighbor and says, ``God loves you, and I love, and 
you can count on us both.''
    And we find that powerful spirit of compassion in faith-based and 
community groups across our Nation: People giving shelter to the 
homeless, providing safety for battered women, giving care and comfort 
to AIDS victims, bringing companionship to lonely seniors.
    I saw that spirit of compassion earlier today when I visited adults 
and children involved in a program called Amachi at the Bright Hope 
Baptist Church right here in Philadelphia. In the Amachi program, good 
people from more than 50 churches in this area serve as mentors to the 
children of prisoners. They share their time and attention. They just 
serve as a friend.
    Most of us find it difficult to imagine the life of a child who has 
to go through a prison gate to be hugged by their mom or dad. Yet this 
is the reality for almost a million-and-a-half American boys and girls. 
They face terrible challenges that no child deserves to face. Without 
guidance, they have a higher risk of failing in school and committing 
crimes themselves. The volunteers of Amachi, who are with us here today 
with the children they are loving, are such wonderful givers of guidance 
and love.
    I'm told that ``amachi'' is a Western African word that means, ``Who 
knows what God has brought us through this child.'' That attitude is the 
inspiration of a good mentoring program. No child is a problem or a 
burden. Every child is a priority and a blessing. That is the message of 
the Almighty God who cares for these, and that is the message carried to 
the city by the volunteers of Amachi. And I want thank them for being 
here today. And I want to thank them for their love. And I want to thank 
them for their example for other Americans to follow.
    Faith-based charities work daily miracles because they have 
idealistic volunteers. They're guided by moral principles. They know the 
problems of their own communities, and above all, they recognize the 
dignity of every citizen and the possibilities of every life. These 
groups and many good charities that are not specifically religious have 
the heart to serve others. Yet many lack the resources they need to meet 
the needs around them.
    They deserve the support of the rest of us. They deserve the support 
of foundations. They deserve the support of corporate America. They 
deserve the support of individual donors, of church congregations, of 
synagogues and mosques, and they deserve, when appropriate, the support 
of the Federal Government.
    Faith-based groups will never replace Government when it comes to 
helping those in need. Yet Government must recognize the power and 
unique contribution of faith-based groups in every part of our country. 
And when the Federal Government gives contracts to private groups to 
provide social services, religious groups should have an equal chance to 
compete. When decisions are made on public funding, we should not focus 
on the religion you practice; we should focus on the results you 
deliver.
    The Amachi program receives 38 percent of its funding from the 
Federal Government. My administration has been working for

[[Page 2155]]

nearly 2 years to encourage this kind of support to good faith-based 
programs. And we're making some progress. The Department of Housing and 
Urban Development, run by Mel--we've changes regulations in eight 
programs which cover over $8 billion in grants to encourage competition 
that includes faith-based groups. We've opened up more than $1 billion 
in after-school programs to competition, including faith-based groups. 
We're reaching out to grassroots community groups and helping them learn 
the complicated process of grantmaking. I see a lot of heads nodding 
when it comes to complicated process. [Laughter]
    Yet there's a lot to do. In Government, we're still fighting old 
attitudes, habits, and rules that discriminate against religious groups 
for no good purpose. In Iowa, for example, the Victory Center Rescue 
Mission was told to return grant money to the Government because the 
mission's board of directors was not secular enough. The St. Francis 
House Homeless Shelter in South Dakota was denied a grant because 
voluntary prayers were offered before meals. A few years ago in New 
York, the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty was discouraged from 
even applying for Federal funds because it had the word ``Jewish'' in 
its name.
    These are examples of a larger pattern, a pattern of discrimination. 
And this discrimination shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the law. 
I recognize that Government has no business endorsing a religious creed 
or directly funding religious worship or religious teaching. That is not 
the business of the Government. Yet Government can and should support 
social services provided by religious people, as long as those services 
go to anyone in need, regardless of their faith. And when Government 
gives that support, charities and faith-based programs should not be 
forced to change their character or compromise their mission.
    And I don't intend to compromise either. I have worked for a Faith-
Based Initiative to rally and encourage the armies of compassion. I will 
continue to work with Congress on this agenda. But the needs of our 
country are urgent, and as President, I have an authority I intend to 
use. Many acts of discrimination against faith-based groups are 
committed by executive branch agencies. And as the leader of the 
executive branch, I'm going to make some changes, effective today.
    First, in a few minutes--you'll be happy to hear--[laughter]--I am 
going to sign an Executive order directing all Federal agencies to 
follow the principle of equal treatment in rewarding social service 
grants.
    Every person in every Government agency will know where the 
President stands. And every person will have the responsibility to 
ensure a level playing field for faith-based organizations in Federal 
programs. No funds will be used to directly support inherently religious 
activities; yet no organization that qualifies for funds will ever been 
forced to change its identity.
    And secondly, I have directed specific action in several Federal 
agencies with a history of discrimination against faith-based groups. 
FEMA will revise its policy on emergency relief so that religious 
nonprofit groups can qualify for assistance after disasters like 
hurricanes and earthquakes. HUD and HHS, who provide so much grant money 
to communities across America, will revise their regulations to reflect 
the principle of nondiscrimination.
    In addition, we're issuing a guidebook which you've received. The 
book explains in plain English--[laughter]--how faith-based groups can 
qualify for Government grants. It gives guidance on what you can and 
cannot do with taxpayers' money. We're going to distribute this 
guidebook widely. We will continue to hold regional conferences like 
this one all around the United States of America. The rules for dealing 
with the Government are clear, and we want more and more faith-based 
charities to become partners in our efforts, our unyielding efforts to 
change America one heart, one conscience, one soul at a time.
    Through all these actions, I hope that every faith-based group in 
America, the social entrepreneurs of America, understand that this 
Government respects your work, and we respect the motivation behind your 
work. We do not want you to become carbon copies of public programs. We 
want you to follow your heart. We want you to follow the

[[Page 2156]]

Word. We want you to do the works of kindness and mercy you are called 
upon to do. [Applause] Thank you.
    For too long, for too long, some in Government believed there was no 
room for faith in the public square.
    Audience members. Preach on, brother!
    The President. I guess they've forgotten the history of this great 
country. People of faith led the struggle against slavery. People of 
faith fought against child labor. People of faith worked for women's 
equality and civil rights. Every expansion of justice in American 
history received inspiration from men and women of moral conviction and 
religious belief. And in America today, people of faith are waging a 
determined campaign against need and suffering.
    When Government discriminates against religious groups, it is not 
the groups that suffer most. The loss comes to the hungry who don't get 
fed, to the addicts who don't get help, to the children who drift toward 
self-destruction. For the sake of so many brothers and sisters in needs, 
we must and we will support the armies of compassion in America.
    The steps we take today will help clear away a legacy of 
discrimination against faith-based charities. In the new year, I will 
announce further initiatives to help community groups that serve their 
neighbors.
    Our Nation needs more mentors, particularly, mentors for children 
whose mom or dad is in prison. Our Nation needs more centers to treat 
addiction. Our Nation must recognize that if we can change a heart, 
we're more than likely to change someone's habits and addiction on drugs 
and alcohol. Instead of building towering bureaucracies, Government 
should be finding new and creative ways to support local efforts.
    I call this approach compassionate conservatism. And in my State of 
the Union Message, I will ask members of both political parties to move 
forward with me on this vision. By promoting the compassion of our 
people, by promoting the great strength of America, we will bring new 
hope to neighborhoods all across this land.
    You know something about America? We meet every challenge that faces 
our country. That's why I'm so optimistic about our future. And we will 
answer the call of our times. We will defend our freedoms, and we will 
lead the world toward peace. And we will unite America behind the great 
goals of justice and compassion.
    In the work of compassion, it is not the people in Government who 
are the experts; the people in this room are the experts. The people in 
this room are helping lead America to a better day. You just need to 
know that. And you need to know that I am incredibly grateful for what 
you do. There is a saying: Nobody can teach you how to be a good servant 
of God; you have to learn it on the job. And you are doing that job so 
incredibly well.
    Audience members. And you are, too!
    The President. I appreciate your commitment--I appreciate your 
commitment. I appreciate your service. I appreciate your love. And now 
I'm proud to sign this Executive order providing equal treatment for 
faith-based charities all across the greatest land on the face of the 
Earth, the United States of America. May God bless you all.

Note: The President spoke at 12:45 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom at the 
Downtown Marriott Hotel. In his remarks, he referred to Anthony Cardinal 
Bevilacqua, Archbishop of Philadelphia; and Franklin Graham, chairman 
and chief executive officer, Samaritan's Purse. The Office of the Press 
Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of these remarks.