[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 33 (Monday, August 18, 2003)]
[Pages 1052-1056]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following a Meeting With Economic Advisers and an Exchange With 
Reporters in Crawford, Texas

August 13, 2003

    The President. Good morning. As you can see, my economic team came 
down. We've had some great briefings. Let me summarize by saying that 
this administration is optimistic about job creation. We believe 
strongly that the tax relief plan that was approved by Congress in '01 
and most recently in '03 is going to have a very positive effect on 
economic growth and vitality. We believe it is more likely in the 
upcoming year that people are going to be able to find a job, and that's 
exactly what--where we focused our policy.
    But I also know there's more that can be done. I think one thing is 
certain, and we've spent a lot of time discussing this, there needs to 
be a strong message to Congress not to overspend, set priorities and 
hold the line on the priorities. As well, we need an energy policy, and 
we need good tort reform. And I appreciate the fact that the House has 
passed a good energy bill and the Senate passed an energy bill. Now is 
the time to get together and reconcile their differences and get a bill 
to my desk. I also appreciate the fact that the House passed good class-
action reform, and the Senate now needs to follow suit.
    And I also look forward to working with the Congress to get 
associated health care plans passed, which will make it easier for small 
businesses to be able to write affordable health care for their 
employees. So there's some things we can do to make sure the economy 
continues to grow and so people can find work. If you'll remember the 
tax relief plan that was passed was called the jobs plan, the growth-
and-jobs creation plan--that's what we're interested in. We're 
interested in people being able to work in America, and we're upbeat 
about the chances for our fellow citizens who are looking for work to be 
able to find a job.
    I'll answer some questions, starting with Scott [Scott Lindlaw, 
Associated Press].

Liberia/Former President Charles Taylor

    Q. Thanks, Mr. President. President Taylor has met your demand to 
leave Liberia.

[[Page 1053]]

You've got a west African peacekeeping force in there. Is the time right 
to send in those 4,500 marines and sailors? And should Nigeria turn 
President Taylor over to the war crimes tribunal?
    The President. They can work that out with--how they deal with 
Taylor. One, I'm glad he's gone. But my focus now is on making sure that 
humanitarian relief gets to the people who are suffering in Liberia. And 
one of the things I have said all along was that we are there to help 
ECOMIL do its job by providing the conditions necessary for the arrival 
of relief. And that's why we've got an assessment team on the ground 
that's dealing with the Nigerian who's in charge of ECOMIL, to determine 
what is necessary to help ECOMIL do its job. They are in the lead, and 
we are there to support and help.
    Obviously, one place we've got to make sure is secure and open is 
the port. And so we're working with ECOMIL, and I will again take 
recommendations from the Defense Department as to what is necessary to 
fulfill the mission.
    Q. What's your timetable, if I may?
    The President. My timetable of listening----
    Q. Making a decision on whether to send those 4,500 in.
    The President. Well, I've already made the decision, Scott. And I 
said this from day one. The decision is for us to help ECOMIL do its job 
of getting humanitarian relief to the people in Liberia. I've made that 
decision, and nothing's changed.
    Yes.

Hemant Lakhani/Homeland Security

    Q. Yesterday there was a sting operation that netted a Brit believed 
to be trying to sell surface-to-air missiles to someone they believed 
who was Al Qaida, highlighting the danger to airlines. Also yesterday, 
there were three lost fisherman who came onshore to JFK Airport, 
breaching security.
    Your Democratic opponents are trying to use homeland security as an 
issue in the campaign, saying that the administration is not doing 
enough to protect the American people. What is your assessment in light 
of what happened yesterday?
    The President. My assessment is people are going to say the darndest 
thing when they run for office, in terms of just the politics. The 
American people know the difference between politics and reality, and 
the reality is we're doing everything we can to protect the homeland.
    And the fact that we were able to sting this guy is a pretty good 
example of what we're doing in order to protect the American people. And 
our homeland security is focused on airport security. And today, the 
airports are much more secure than they were prior to September the 
11th. America is a safe place for people to fly, precisely because we're 
working hard to make sure that our homeland security is strong.
    The other way to make sure the homeland stays strong is to hunt 
terrorists down before they come to America. And that's why we're on the 
global hunt. That's why we've got troops around in places like 
Afghanistan and Iraq dealing with potential terrorists, bringing them to 
justice, finding them before they hurt us.
    Yes, Elisabeth [Elisabeth Bumiller, New York Times].

Tax Policy

    Q. Are you going to go for a new round of tax cuts this fall?
    The President. Elisabeth, we are discussing a lot of things. And we 
believe that the tax relief plan we have in place is robust enough to 
encourage job growth.
    Q. So is that a ``no''?
    The President. Well, as of this moment--you see, things change in 
the economy, as you know, but as of this moment, we feel like the plans 
we have in place are robust enough to create jobs.
    Q. Is there any discussion----
    The President. Please. The other thing that's necessary is to make 
sure we've got spending discipline in Washington, to make sure that 
Congress doesn't overspend. And that will--because that will affect the 
psychology of those who are--risk capital in order to create the job 
base.
    You had a followup, I take it.
    Q. Yes, I was just going to ask you, the discussions in the 
administration, maybe not at the White House level, about a--perhaps

[[Page 1054]]

a business tax credit, that you would get a tax credit if you hired 
somebody to sort of----
    The President. Well, thus far, we--in the discussions today, we feel 
like the tax relief plans that we have passed will be robust enough to 
create the conditions necessary for economic growth, and therefore, 
people will find a job. If we change our opinion, we will let you know. 
You may not be the first to know, but you'll be one of the first to 
know.
    Yes, sir.

North Korea

    Q. Thank you. Russia has proposed a multilateral security pact to 
end the standoff with North Korea. Are you willing to offer incentives 
before North Korea dismantles its nuclear weapons program?
    The President. Here's what we're going to do. We're going to 
continue the dialog with North Korea, to make it clear to them that not 
only does the United States feel strongly that the Peninsula ought to be 
nuclear-free, but other countries which live in the neighborhood feel 
the same way. And remember, the policy has evolved from one of 
bilateral--you know, pressure to negotiate bilaterally with the North 
Koreans. That's what we did in the past, and that policy unfortunately 
failed because the North Koreans didn't keep their word about whether or 
not they would enrich uranium.
    And so now we've taken another tact, which is to--first of all, to 
convince the Chinese to be an active participant in a dialog to make 
sure that the Korean Peninsula is nuclear-free. By the way, the first 
stage of that happened right here in Crawford when Jiang Zemin came to 
visit, and he stated clearly after that visit that it was in China's 
interest that the Korean Peninsula be nuclear-weapons-free. And we're 
just continuing that policy. It's very helpful that the Russians are 
involved with the dialog with the North Koreans. It is also very helpful 
that the South Koreans and the Japanese will be involved. And I think we 
can deal with this issue in a peaceful way, and we're making good 
progress.
    Carl [Carl Cannon, National Journal].

National Economy

    Q. Mr. President, you said that candidates say the darndest things 
when they're running for office. One of the things they're saying is 
that there are fewer jobs now than when you took office.
    The President. Yes.
    Q. A year from now, you are going to be standing for reelection 
yourself. Do you think there will be as many jobs as when you took 
office? And when will we start to see a significant decrease in the 
unemployment rate?
    The President. Right. Let me remind the listeners here about what 
our country has gone through. We--the stock market started to change in 
March of 2000. And there was a precipitous decline in March of 2000. And 
that began to affect savings and money and attitude. And then the 
country went into a recession. The first three quarters of 2001 was a 
recession. And we dealt with that by passing tax relief, which made the 
recession one of the shallowest in history.
    Now, people said, ``Well, maybe you shouldn't have done that. Maybe 
you shouldn't have had tax relief. Maybe you should have let the 
recession run its course.'' But my attitude about that is, is that a 
deep recession would have caused more people to lose work. And I'm more 
worried about families finding a job and putting food on the table than 
I am about economic theory and economic numbers, and so the recession 
was shallow.
    And as the economy was beginning to recover, the enemy hit us on 
September the 11th, and that affected our economy in a big way. And then 
we had corporate scandals which we've dealt with. And then, of course, 
you remember the ``March to War.'' I've reminded people--I think this 
isn't the first time I've said this--that some would put on their TV 
screens that we were ``marching to war.'' As a matter of fact, it was a 
year ago we began the ``March to War.'' During the August vacation, as I 
recall, there was the ``March to War.'' It's hard to have a upbeat view 
of the world when you're ``marching to war.'' I mean, war is not exactly 
a positive thought, particularly when it comes to people willing to take 
risk and consumer confidence.

[[Page 1055]]

    But nevertheless, we dealt with that issue. And so now the economy 
is--having overcome those obstacles, is beginning to recover. And yes, I 
think people are going to go back to work, and I firmly believe that 
what we have done was the absolute right course of action in order to 
help people find a job.
    Mark [Mark Knoller, CBS Radio], you've got a question?
    Q. I do.
    The President. I'm being very generous today, as you can see.
    Q. Yes, you are. Thank you, sir.
    The President. My pleasure.

Federal Deficit

    Q. If a Democrat were President and running for----
    The President. Wait a minute. Let me stop you there.
    Q. Yes.
    The President. They say the silliest things during the political 
season. And sometimes people ask the silliest questions.
    Q. [Inaudible]----try not to do that, sir.
    The President. Now, be careful. Be careful. [Laughter]
    Q. With that in mind, if a Democrat were President----
    The President. Are you adjusting? [Laughter]
    Q. ----and were running a $455-billion deficit, as are you, all 
other things being equal, wouldn't you be upset about it?
    The President. Let me tell you something, the deficit was caused by 
a recession which we inherited and did something about. The deficit was 
caused because we spent more money on fighting a war, and the American 
people expect a President to do what is necessary to win a war. And so I 
look forward to taking this debate on. I really do. We did the right 
thing when it came to tax relief. We inherited a tough situation.
    But most importantly, the American people know that I'm not afraid 
to lead and to make a tough decision. And I made a tough decision, a 
series of tough decisions, one, to make America more secure, a tough 
decision to make the world more peaceful, and I made tough decisions 
when it comes to making sure our economy grows.
    And I believe that we've laid the foundation for good economic 
growth and vitality. I think people are going to be more likely to find 
a job in the upcoming year.
    Thank you all for coming.

California Gubernatorial Candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger

    Q. Are you going to do anything for Arnold? You say he'll be a good 
Governor. You're spending 2 days in California.
    The President. I'm going to campaign for George W., as you know.
    Q. Will he get a plug in the speech, a mention?
    The President. I think I've answered the question, and yes, he would 
be a good Governor, as would others running for Governor of California. 
And like you, I'm most interested in seeing how the process evolves. 
It's a fascinating bit of political drama evolving in the State--in the 
country's largest State.
    Q. It's also the biggest political story in the country. Is it hard 
to go in there and say nothing about it?
    The President. It is the biggest political story in the country? 
That's interesting. That says a lot. That speaks volumes.
    Q. You don't agree?
    The President. It's up to--I don't get to decide the biggest 
political story. You decide the biggest political story. But I find it 
interesting that that is the biggest political story in the country, as 
you just said.
    Q. You don't think it should be?
    The President. Oh, I think there's maybe other political stories. 
Isn't there, like, a Presidential race coming up? [Laughter] Maybe that 
says something. It speaks volumes, if you know what I mean. But yes, 
it's an interesting story; it really is. And I'm looking forward, like 
you are, to seeing the outcome of the interesting story.
    But no, I'm going to go, I'm going to talk about--now that you've 
asked, are you going on the trip?
    Q. Yes, sir.
    The President. Good. Well, you'll see me speak to marines and their 
families, thanking them for their service to our country, reminding them 
that what's taking place in Iraq is essential to U.S. security. Then I'm 
going to go to a national park, talking about the

[[Page 1056]]

fact that we believe parks ought to be revitalized and talk about the 
initiatives that I've laid out to do that. And then, of course, I'll be 
doing a little spadework for the '04 campaign. One of the most important 
political stories--[laughter].
    Have a great day. Thank you all.

Note: The President spoke at 11:44 a.m. at the Bush Ranch. In his 
remarks, he referred to Brig. Gen. Festus Okonkwo, Nigerian commander of 
ECOMIL forces in Liberia; Hemant Lakhani, arms dealer charged with 
selling missiles to U.S. agents posing as terrorists; and former 
President Jiang Zemin of China.