[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 2 (Monday, January 13, 2003)]
[Pages 33-38]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks to the Economic Club of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois

January 7, 2003

    Thank you all very much. It's a windy day out there, which is--
[laughter]--a good day for a windy speaker. [Laughter] I'm honored to be 
your guest here at the Economic Club of Chicago. I want to thank Michael 
for the invitation. I like a short introduction. He didn't let me down. 
[Laughter]
    For 75 years, the business leaders and the entrepreneurs in the club 
have helped make Chicago a prosperous and energetic city. You understand 
the concerns facing American workers and employers, and you believe, as 
I do, that we must address those concerns honestly and aggressively.
    Today in Washington, a new Congress convenes, and I will ask members 
of both parties to work with me to secure our economic future. We cannot 
be satisfied until every part of our economy is healthy and vigorous. We 
will not rest until every business has a chance to grow and every person 
who wants to find work can find a job. So today I'm announcing a growth-
and-jobs plan to strengthen America's economy, specific proposals to 
increase the momentum of our economic recovery.
    And this is a good city to give it in. This is one of America's 
great cities. And one of the reasons why is because you have a great 
mayor in Richard Daley. We're from different political parties, but we 
have some things in common: We both married above ourselves. [Laughter] 
It is good to see the first lady of Chicago here. Thank you for coming. 
We both have famous and influential brothers. [Laughter] Our dads spent 
a little time in politics. [Laughter] And we love our country more than 
we love our political parties.
    The thing I like most about the mayor is he gets the job done for 
the people of Chicago. And Mr. Mayor, I'm proud to call you friend.
    And I want to thank another proud son of Chicago, Rod Blagojevich, 
for being with us today as well. He's soon to have the second-best job 
in America, being a Governor. I congratulate him on his election. I look 
forward to working with him for the good of Illinois and for the good of 
our country. Thank you for coming, Governor-elect. I appreciate you 
being here.
    I flew in today with the Senator from Illinois, Peter Fitzgerald. I 
appreciate his leadership. I appreciate his friendship. And as we speak, 
the Senate is debating the Fitzgerald bill which will extend 
unemployment benefits to those who are looking for work in America. And 
Peter, I want to thank you for your leadership on this important issue.
    And on that very same airplane was traveling with me Steve Friedman, 
who is the new Director of the National Economic Council. I'm honored 
that such a respected economic leader has agreed to join my 
administration. I appreciate the fact that he's willing to take time 
away from a comfortable private life to serve our country. He is a 
strong addition to a great economic team, and I want to thank him for 
his willingness to serve America. Thank you for coming, Steve.
    I've also named two other good people to join this team. John Snow 
is my nominee to serve as the Secretary of Treasury. Bill Donaldson is 
my nominee to be the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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They will fill essential positions in my administration, and I urge the 
Congress to confirm them quickly.
    As the new Congress meets today, our duties to this Nation are 
clear. We have a responsibility to meet great dangers to our country, 
wherever they gather. We will continue to hunt down the terrorists all 
across the world. Cell by cell, we are disrupting their plans. One by 
one, we're showing these merciless killers the meaning of justice.
    We're also confronting the outlaw regime in Iraq that lives by 
violence and deception and is arming to threaten the civilized world. 
The world's demands are clear: For the sake of peace, Saddam Hussein 
must disarm himself of all weapons of mass destruction and prove that he 
has done so. Should he choose the other course, in the name of peace, 
the United States will lead a coalition of the willing to disarm the 
Iraqi regime of weapons of mass destruction and free the Iraqi people.
    And we're dealing with North Korea as well. It's a regime that has 
expelled international inspectors and is attempting to defy the world 
through its nuclear weapons program. The United States and other nations 
will confront this threat as well. In this case, I believe that by 
working with countries in the region, diplomacy will work. We have no 
aggressive intent, no argument with the North Korean people. We're 
interested in peace on the Korean Peninsula.
    As we deal with the dangers of our time, different circumstances 
require different strategies. Yet our resolve in each case will be 
clear: We will not permit any regime to threaten the freedom and 
security of the American people or our allies and friends around the 
world.
    Even as we confront these dangers, you need to know I know we have 
needs here at home, especially the need for a vigorous and growing 
economy. Too many Americans today are wondering about our economy. 
They're asking, ``How is the economy really doing?'' Well, the American 
economy is the strongest and most resilient economy in the world. In 
spite of the terrible shocks that our Nation has received, our economy 
is growing, and the entrepreneurial spirit in America is strong.
    We've made great progress these past 2 years. Remember, in the 
summer of 2000, during the Presidential campaign, the market had started 
on a steady decline. Job growth started to dwindle. The economy had 
begun to slow. When I took office, the signs of recession were real.
    So I worked with the United States Congress to reduce income taxes 
for everyone who pays them. More than 100 million individuals, families, 
and sole proprietorships received tax relief. This tax relief was the 
largest in a generation, and it gave the economy a boost just at the 
right time, ensuring that the recession was one of the shortest and 
shallowest in modern American history.
    Americans should be able to count on those tax cuts as they plan 
their financial futures. So I will continue to press the Congress to 
make these tax cuts, including the end of the death tax, permanent. We 
know that the tax cuts worked, and Americans deserve to know their tax 
cuts will not be taken away.
    We faced a second test with the attacks of September the 11th, 2001. 
These attacks caused terrible suffering and a massive disruption of the 
economy. Flights were canceled. Many hotels and stores were empty. Stock 
trading was halted for nearly a week. So we acted: We reopened the 
markets; we helped the people of New York City recover; we assisted the 
airlines; we provided tax incentives for business investment; and we 
passed terrorism insurance so building and real estate projects could go 
forward.
    And then our economy was tested a third time, when Americans 
discovered serious abuses of trust by some corporate leaders. So we 
passed historic reforms to assure corporate integrity, to punish 
wrongdoers, and defend the interests of workers and investors. Corporate 
greed and malfeasance cause innocent people to lose their jobs, their 
savings, and often their confidence in the American system. For the sake 
of justice, and for the sake of every honest business in America, I have 
made this commitment: Corporate misdeeds will be investigated; they will 
be prosecuted; and they will be punished.
    We have met the tests before us because the American people have 
worked hard through difficult times. And now our country

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has entered its second year of economic growth. Our trade with other 
nations is expanding, bringing lower prices that come from imports and 
better jobs that come from exports. More Americans are buying and 
building houses, a central part of the American Dream. The homeownership 
rate is now 68 percent, close to the highest ever. Low interest rates 
have allowed Americans to tap the rising value of their homes. In 2002, 
refinancings added more than $100 billion to American pocketbooks, money 
that helped renovate homes or pay off debt or cover tuition or purchase 
other goods.
    The most important indicator of our economic strength is the growing 
skill and efficiency of the American worker. The productivity of 
American workers went up by 5.6 percent over the last four quarters for 
which we have data, the best increase since 1973. As productivity rises, 
so do wages and our standard of living. Nationwide, incomes are rising 
faster than inflation.
    We have the most productive, creative, and promising economic system 
the world has ever seen. America sets the standard for scientific 
research, engineering skill, and medical innovation. Our companies and 
universities attract talent from every single continent. Investors from 
around the world know America is the safest place to put their money. 
People around the world who search for a better life still dream of 
working and living in the United States of America.
    All these conditions create a platform for long-term growth and 
prosperity. Yet, in spite of successes, we have more work to do, because 
too many of our citizens who want to work cannot find a job and many 
employers lack the confidence to invest and create new jobs.
    We can help assure greater success tomorrow with the policies we 
choose today. Now, these policies must recognize that our $10-trillion 
economy is sustained by the labor and enterprise of the American people. 
Government spends a lot of money, but it doesn't build factories. It 
doesn't invest in companies or do the work that makes the economy go. 
The role of Government is not to manage or control the economy from 
Washington, DC, but to remove obstacles standing in the way for faster 
economic growth. That's our role.
    And those obstacles are clear. Many jobs are lost in America because 
Government imposes unreasonable regulations, and many jobs are lost 
because the lawsuit culture of this country imposes unreasonable costs.
    I will continue to press for legal and regulatory reform. But 
today--today I want to talk about these concerns: Americans carry a 
heavy burden of taxes and debt that could slow consumer spending. I'm 
troubled by that. I'm also troubled by the fact that our tax system 
unfairly penalizes some productive investments. And I worry about people 
who are out of work. They need our help, both in short-term benefits and 
long-term opportunity. By directly confronting each of these challenges, 
we can preserve the hard-won gains our economy has made and advance 
toward greater prosperity.
    Our first challenge is to allow Americans to keep more of their 
money so they can spend and save and invest--the millions of individual 
decisions that support the market, that support business, and help 
create jobs.
    Consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of our economy. It 
has been the driving force of our recovery. Yet there are warning signs 
I won't ignore, and I hope the Congress doesn't ignore either. Many 
Americans live in constant and increasing personal debt, with credit 
card bills so heavy they often cannot pay much more than the monthly 
minimum. Millions of citizens spend their entire adult lives living 
paycheck to paycheck, never getting a chance to save for their 
children's education or their own retirement. Americans today are paying 
about a third of their income in taxes. All of this puts pressure on 
family budget and therefore clouds our economic future.
    Americans facing these struggles are due to receive additional tax 
relief in 2004 and again in 2006. Republicans and Democrats in Congress 
already approved these tax rate reductions. And the time to deliver the 
tax rate reductions is now, when they can do the most good for the 
American businesses.
    For the sake of economic vitality, I'm asking Congress to make all 
the tax rate reductions effective this year. The tax cuts should be 
retroactive to January 1st. Upon passage,

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I'll order the Treasury Department to immediately adjust the amount of 
money withheld for income taxes, so that Americans will keep more of 
their paychecks right away. By speeding up the income tax cuts, we will 
speed economic recovery and the pace of job creation. If tax relief is 
good enough for Americans 3 years from now, it is good enough for 
Americans today.
    An additional beneficiary of this tax cut will be small businesses. 
About 30 million Americans include small-business income when they file 
their individual tax returns with the IRS. Faster tax relief will help 
these businesses to expand sooner, to hire new people faster, and to 
build a stronger foundation for the recovery.
    We also know that middle-income families need additional relief. So 
today I'm asking Congress to speed up three other tax reductions 
promised in 2001, tax reductions that will help our middle-income 
families. Instead of slowly reducing the marriage penalty until 2009, we 
should do it now, to help 35 million married couples. Instead of waiting 
until 2008 to move more taxpayers from the 15-percent bracket to the 
lowest bracket of 10 percent, we should make that change now and help 2 
million working Americans. And instead of gradually raising the child 
tax credit from $600 to $1,000 per child by the year of 2010, for the 
benefit of 26 million families, we should raise it now.
    These tax reductions will bring real and immediate benefits to 
middle-income Americans. Ninety-two million Americans will keep an 
average of $1,083 more of their own money. A family of four with two 
earners and $39,000 in income will receive more than $1,100 in tax 
relief, real money to help pay the bills and push the economy forward. 
And the sooner Congress acts, the sooner the help will come.
    Taken together, these income tax cuts will put an additional $70 
billion to work in the private economy over the next 18 months. And 
there's no better way to help our economy grow than to leave more money 
in the hands of the men and women who earned it.
    Our second challenge is to encourage greater investment by 
individuals and small businesses, the kind of investing that builds 
personal wealth and helps company expand and creates new jobs.
    We are increasingly a nation of owners, who invest for retirement 
and the other financial challenges of life. One-half of American 
households own stock, either directly or through pension funds. And we 
have an obligation to make sure, now more than ever, that American 
investors are treated fairly.
    We can begin by treating investors fairly and equally in our tax 
laws. As it is now, many investments are taxed not once but twice. 
First, the IRS taxes a company on its profit. Then it taxes the 
investors who receive the profits as dividends. The result of this 
double taxation is that for all the profit a company earns, shareholders 
who receive dividends keep as little as 40 cents on the dollar.
    Double taxation is bad for our economy. Double taxation is wrong. 
Double taxation falls especially hard on retired people. About half of 
all dividend income goes to America's seniors, and they often rely on 
those checks for a steady source of income in their retirement.
    It's fair to tax a company's profits. It's not fair to double-tax by 
taxing the shareholder on the same profits. So today, for the good of 
our senior citizens and to support capital formation across the land, 
I'm asking the United States Congress to abolish the double taxation of 
dividends.
    The benefits of this tax relief will be felt throughout the economy. 
Abolishing double taxation of dividends will leave nearly 35 million 
Americans with more of their own money to spend and invest, which will 
promote savings and return as much as $20 billion this year to the 
private economy.
    By ending this investment penalty, we will strengthen investor 
confidence. See, by ending double taxation of dividends, we will 
increase the return on investing, which will draw more money into the 
markets to provide capital to build factories, to buy equipment, hire 
more people.
    We must also encourage the investments that help turn small 
businesses into larger ones. Small businesses create the majority of new 
jobs in America, and they account for half the output of the economy. 
Currently, tax law permits small firms to write off as expenses up to 
$25,000 worth of equipment,

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like computers or machinery that they need. I'm asking the Congress to 
raise that limit to $75,000 and index that number for inflation. This 
change, together with the faster rate reductions, will benefit more than 
23 million small-business owners. My view is this economy can thrive 
only if our small businesses thrive. And we will provide them every 
incentive to grow and create more jobs.
    A third challenge facing our country is the need to help unemployed 
workers and prepare them for the new jobs of a growing economy. The 
unemployment rate today is 6 percent. That's low for an economy coming 
out of recession. It's higher than it should be, and the unemployment 
rate is projected to rise even further in the short run.
    This hardship is concentrated in certain regions and in certain 
industries. Manufacturing jobs have declined for 28 months in a row. You 
know what I'm talking about here in the Midwest. You're showing signs of 
recovery here; yet many people here and across this country are still 
looking for work.
    A woman in Arkansas tells a typical story. She talked about the fact 
that her husband was laid off from his job at a local steel mill. And 
both she and the husband have been looking for a job for quite a while. 
Here's what she said: ``There's just nothing for me to find. We're 
trying to save up what little money we have and move to another 
community and look for jobs there.'' Got to be worried about those kind 
of stories here in America. As we encourage long-term growth, we will 
not forget the men and women who are struggling today.
    Close to 70,000 workers each week exhaust their unemployment 
benefits, and we have an obligation to help our fellow citizens. So I'm 
asking this new Congress to extend unemployment benefits that expired on 
December the 28th. And the benefits Congress approves should be 
retroactive, like the Fitzgerald bill, so that people who lost their 
benefits last month can receive their benefits in full. Helping 
America's unemployed workers should be a first order of business in the 
new Congress, and it looks like it's going to be.
    We must be more creative when we help those who have the hardest 
time finding work. To encourage innovation and more choices and to help 
those who are out of work find the dignity of a new job, today I'm 
unveiling a new approach to helping unemployed Americans through 
Personal Reemployment Accounts. Under this new program, Americans who 
face the greatest difficulties in finding work will receive up to $3,000 
to use in their job search. They will have great flexibility in how they 
use that money. A person with a Reemployment Account will be able to 
decide whether to use the funds for job training or child care or 
transportation or even to cover the costs of relocating to another city 
for a new job. If the job is obtained quickly--within 13 weeks--the 
worker will be able to keep the cash balance as a ``reemployment 
bonus.''
    As we see new economic growth, we will need well-trained workers to 
fill new jobs. So I'm going to ask the Congress to provide $3.6 billion 
to the States to pay for the Reemployment Accounts, enough money to help 
more than a million unemployed men and women across America. In order to 
strengthen this economy in the future, we must help these Americans 
today.
    The jobs-and-growth proposals I've outlined today are a focused plan 
to encourage consumer spending, to promote small-business growth, to 
boost confidence in our markets, and to give critical help to unemployed 
citizens. Overall, this growth package will reduce the tax burden of 
Americans by $98 billion this year and $670 billion over the next 
decade. I proposed a bold plan because the need for this plan is urgent, 
and I urge the Congress to act swiftly and pass this bill.
    Our Nation has seen 2 years of serious and steady challenges. The 
recession and the decline in the stock market slowed earnings and cut 
into tax revenues and created a budget deficit. And in this time of war, 
I can assure you this Government is spending what is necessary to win 
the war. But the Congress must also understand this: The American people 
deserve and expect spending discipline in Washington, DC. With spending 
discipline and with pro-growth policies, we will expand the economy and 
help bring down this deficit.
    This growth-and-jobs package is essential in the short run; it's an 
immediate boost to the economy. And these proposals will help stimulate 
investment and put more people

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back to work, is what we want to have happen. They are essential for the 
long run, as well, to lay the groundwork for future growth and future 
prosperity. That growth will bring the added benefit of higher revenues 
for the Government, revenues that will keep tax rates low while 
fulfilling key obligations and protecting programs such as Medicare and 
Social Security.
    We're meeting the challenges to America. We're strengthening our 
economy, and we're taking a battle to our enemies. And we're not going 
to leave our work half-finished. In the months ahead, we'll confront 
every threat to the safety and security of the American people. We'll 
press on to turn our recovery into lasting growth and opportunity that 
reaches every corner of America. By the courage and by the enterprise of 
the American people, this great Nation will prosper, and there's no 
doubt in my mind this great Nation will prevail.
    May God bless you all, and may God bless America.

Note: The President spoke at 12:07 p.m. in the Sheraton Chicago Ballroom 
at the Sheraton Chicago. In his remarks, he referred to Michael H. 
Moskow, president and chief executive officer, Federal Reserve Bank of 
Chicago; Mayor Richard M. Daley of Chicago, and his wife, Maggie; 
Governor-elect Rod R. Blagojevich of Illinois; and President Saddam 
Hussein of Iraq. The Office of the Press Secretary also released a 
Spanish language transcript of these remarks.