[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 44 (Monday, November 3, 2003)]
[Pages 1499-1503]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at the Central Aluminum Company in Columbus

October 30, 2003

    Thanks for coming. I'm honored to be here in Columbus, Ohio. I 
appreciate so very much the warm hospitality. I like to come to good 
football country. I like to be with good, hard-working people, like the 
people here who are sharing the stage with me. I like to be with 
entrepreneurs. I like to be in the State where both my grandfathers were 
raised. My dad's dad was raised right here in Columbus. My mother's dad 
was raised in Dayton. So I feel quite at home here in the great State of 
Ohio.
    I appreciate the good folks at Central Aluminum for letting me come 
and interrupt the work day. I've got some important things to talk 
about. The first thing I want to remind people of is, we're a great 
country because we've got great workers in America. The most productive 
workforce in the world is right here in America. Because of the spirit--
the entrepreneurial spirit and the work ethic of America, our economy is 
strong, and it's getting stronger.
    The figures for the third quarter--the economic figures for the 
third quarter show that the economy grew at an annual rate of 7.2 
percent. That's the fastest growth we've had in nearly 20 years. Exports 
are expanding. Investment is rising. Housing construction is growing. 
The tax relief we passed is working. We left more money in the hands of 
the American people, and the American people are moving this economy 
forward.
    We cannot expect economic growth numbers like this every quarter. 
Yet, by continuing a pro-growth agenda, we will sustain growth and job 
creation in this country. We're on the right track, but we've got work 
to do, and I want to talk today about the need for this Nation to 
develop a comprehensive energy plan to make sure our fellow citizens can 
find work.
    I appreciate Gale Roshon for opening up the plant. Thank you, sir. I 
want to thank John Wright. And I want to thank Bill, who showed me how 
the machine works. [Laughter] I'm honored that the State officials are 
with us today. Your fine Governor, Bob Taft, and the Lieutenant Governor 
have joined us, for which I'm grateful. The secretary of state and State 
auditor are with us. We've got local officials. We've got a lot of 
people who just came to say hello to the President, and I'm grateful. 
Thank you for coming.
    This Nation has been through a lot in the last 2\1/2\ years. We have 
been challenged. And I've set some big goals for our country. One, we 
believe in freedom and peace. That's what we believe. And I also accept 
the responsibility of making sure this Nation is secure. This Nation 
must never forget the lessons of September the 11th in 2001. We must 
stay on the offensive against terrorists who would do harm to the 
American people.
    We can't forget the lessons of September the 11th. We must 
understand there are people who hate what we stand for. And so we must 
find them and bring them to justice. We must defeat them where they hide 
so we don't have to face them in our own cities. I'm confident in the 
justice of our cause. I'm confident in the character and resolve of the 
American people. I'm confident in the skill and the honor of the 
American military.
    And likewise, I am confident in the entrepreneurial spirit of this 
country, and I'm confident in our workforce. And the reason I'm 
confident is because I know what we've been through. We've been through 
a lot. The country was in recession when we first showed up in 
Washington, DC. And then the terrorists attacked us, and it hurt our 
economy. We went through a lot when the terrorists attacked. Not only do 
we have to reorder our thinking about how to make America secure, we had 
to remember the lessons when it came to protecting our country. But it 
also hurt our--the attacks hurt our country, hurt our economy. It set us 
back, and we began to recover from the attacks, in and out of recession. 
And then unfortunately we had some corporate citizens who forgot to tell 
the truth. They forgot what it meant to be a responsible citizen and 
didn't tell the truth to their shareholders and employees.

[[Page 1500]]

    And then, as you know, we took decisive action to uphold doctrine. 
One doctrine was, ``If you harbor a terrorist, you're just as guilty as 
the terrorists.'' And we went into Afghanistan and freed the people of 
Afghanistan from the clutches of a barbaric regime, at the same time 
made our country more secure.
    We upheld the demands of the world by removing Saddam Hussein from 
power, not only for the benefit of the Iraqi people who suffered under 
this brutal tyrant but for the benefit of the security of the American 
people and peace in the world. And as we did so, it shook the confidence 
of the people. It's not a very--it doesn't inspire a lot of confidence 
when people turn on the TV and say, ``march to war.'' In other words, it 
creates uncertainty and doubt.
    And yet we've overcome all this. We sent a clear signal to the 
people that forgot to be responsible citizens that if you don't tell the 
truth, there is going to be serious consequences. And the American 
people are beginning to see what I meant about serious consequences for 
those who betrayed the trust. We're obviously doing everything we can to 
make the country more secure.
    We also acted when it came to putting a little wind behind the sails 
of the entrepreneurs by letting people keep more of their own money. The 
tax cuts were an important part of our economic recovery. I believe that 
when people have more money in their pocket, they--you know, they're 
obviously--they're going to demand an additional good or a service. And 
in our society, when they demand a good or a service, somebody will 
produce a good or a service. And when somebody produces that good or a 
service, it is more likely somebody is going to find a job.
    I'm concerned about the stories I read, where people want to find 
work and can't find work. It means we've got a problem. If there's one 
person looking for work and can't find work, it says we have a problem. 
We've got to continue to create the conditions for economic growth. And 
the tax cut, the two tax cuts were an integral part of creating the 
conditions for growth.
    And so we advocated and the Congress passed broad tax relief. I 
believe that if you're going to have tax relief you want it to be fair, 
and everybody who pays taxes ought to get tax relief. The Government 
should not try to pick and choose winners when it comes to tax relief.
    We also understand that the Tax Code should not discourage marriage. 
So we provided relief--so we reduced the penalty on the marriage 
penalty. I understand it's hard to raise children, so we raised the 
child credit from $600 to $1,000 per child. We said the check was going 
to be in the mail. If you happen to be a mom or a dad raising children, 
it actually turned out to be in the mail, which was positive for our 
economy.
    We wanted to encourage investment, not discourage investment, in 
order to enhance the economic recovery, so we cut taxes on dividends and 
capital gains, and we quadrupled the expense deduction for small-
business investment. And that's important. In other words, this tax 
relief plan not only helped families and individuals, but it also helps 
small businesses. You say, ``Well, why would you want to help small 
business?'' Well, small businesses like this business create the most 
new jobs. If you're interested in job creation, you've got to focus your 
plan on small businesses.
    So not only do we encourage small businesses to invest, we also, by 
cutting the taxes on the individuals, allow small businesses to keep 
more money, because most small businesses are Subchapter S or sole 
proprietorships, which means they pay tax at the individual income tax 
rates. Cutting individual income taxes provides capital for small 
businesses. Small businesses create more jobs, most new jobs in America. 
The tax cut was good for small businesses. The tax cut was good for job 
creation.
    Not only were the third-quarter growth figures encouraging, there's 
some--also other encouraging signs. Housing starts are strong, and 
that's important, particularly if you're making aluminum siding--
[laughter]--if you know what I mean. [Laughter] After-tax incomes are 
rising. Inflation is low. Productivity is high. Businesses are now 
receiving strong orders. Things are improving.
    And we've got a choice to make. Just as the economy is coming 
around, some over in Washington say now is the time to raise taxes. To 
be fair, they think anytime is a good

[[Page 1501]]

time to raise taxes. [Laughter] At least they're consistent. [Laughter] 
I strongly disagree. Tax relief put this Nation on the right path, and I 
intend to keep America on the path to prosperity.
    There is still more to do to make sure our fellow citizens can find 
a job. And so I presented a six-point plan that Congress must act on. 
I'm going to talk about five parts of it, and then I'm going to spend a 
little time on the energy part of it.
    Small businesses must have affordable health care for their 
employees. That's why we need association health care plans, so small 
businesses can pool risk just like big businesses do. Small businesses 
must be allowed to come together in order to pool risk to provide their 
employees with reasonably priced health care. And we need to have 
medical liability reform so that the frivolous lawsuits do not drive up 
the cost of health care.
    Congress must act on medical liability reform. They ought to act to 
limit the junk lawsuits that harm good businesses. We need to cut 
useless regulations. We must work to open up markets for Ohio's 
manufacturers and Ohio's farmers. I want the markets to be open, and I 
want the playing field to be level, so that we have access.
    The tax relief we passed is scheduled to go away. There is a--I'm 
not sure how to describe it--it's like the Congress giveth, and the 
Congress taketh away. [Laughter] But there is a quirk in the rules which 
says that a lot of the tax relief had to expire after 10 years. And in 
the recent tax package, they accelerated some of the expiration dates, 
which means the child credit will go down, the marriage penalty will go 
up, individual rates will change. For the sake of job creation, there 
needs to be certainty in the Tax Code. Entrepreneurs and small-business 
owners don't need to be trying to constantly guess where the taxes are 
going to be. People need to plan, and they need to plan for more than--
on a more than a one-year horizon. If Congress is truly interested in 
job creation, they will make all the tax cuts we passed permanent.
    To keep this economy moving, to sustain growth far in the future so 
people can work, we need a sound national energy policy. Every person 
who owns a home, every person who works on an assembly line, every 
person who drives a truck or runs a small business depends on reliable, 
affordable energy. That's what we depend upon. Our economic security and 
our national security requires secure sources of energy. We must become 
less reliant on foreign sources of energy.
    I've come to Central Aluminum because this company and these 
employees rely upon reliable sources of energy. The company spends about 
30 percent more on natural gas this year than it did last year. That's a 
cost that makes it hard to expand the workforce, when money goes into a 
30-percent increase in your energy bill. By not having enough energy at 
home, our manufacturing sector is not doing as well as it should be. 
When the gas prices go up, the manufacturing sector hurts here in Ohio 
and around the country.
    Congress needs to pass a sound energy plan to help deal with the 
issues that confront this good company, Central Aluminum. First, we need 
more energy production close to home. We need to produce in our own 
country, and we need to encourage exploration in our own hemisphere so 
we're less dependent from other parts of the world. Our Nation and our 
hemisphere have got natural gas, the energy used right here in this 
plant. But this resource has been hampered by restrictions on 
exploration.
    Congress should allow reasonable exploration and responsible 
exploration to bring more natural gas to the market, which will lower 
the costs of the product. Congress should promote research into the next 
generation of nuclear plants and encourage investment in existing 
nuclear plants to expand a clean and unlimited source of energy.
    Congress should encourage clean coal technology so that we can use 
our Nation's most plentiful energy resource in an environmentally 
responsible way. In other words, the energy bill ought to encourage the 
use of resources close to home. When you increase supply, it takes 
pressure off price. We need a commonsense, reasonable energy policy. I 
call upon Congress to pass that commonsense, reasonable energy policy.

[[Page 1502]]

    Part of the energy bill I submitted--and by the way, we submitted a 
package to Congress 2 years ago and are kind of grinding through all the 
details now--but part of that package says America needs a better 
infrastructure as well. We need better pipelines, gas terminals, and 
powerlines so that the flow of energy is reliable.
    You might remember what happened last summer. I certainly do. The 
rolling blackout affected this State of Ohio. That ought to be a signal 
that we need to modernize the electricity grid. The bill we're trying to 
get out of Congress understands that. The current grid is old, and it's 
inefficient in places. Incredibly enough, Federal law discourages new 
investment in the infrastructure. You got old laws on the books that 
need to be changed. We're heading into a new era. We've got to think 
new. We've got to be ready for the 21st century. By keeping investors 
from entering the electricity and the natural gas business, it stifles 
the capacity to provide more electricity and more natural gas. And 
remember, when you increase the supply of a product, it takes pressure 
off a price, which means people are more likely to be able to find a 
job.
    We need to encourage new investment in a modern electric grid, 
ending old rules. We need mandatory, not voluntary, reliability 
standards for our power companies. We now need to make sure that the 
placement of new powerlines, which oftentimes get bogged down because 
local authorities block transmission lines, that the Federal energy 
officials have the authority to site new powerlines. That's what we need 
to do. We need to modernize our grid so the lights don't go off in 
people's homes, so that business owners are able to plan for a stable 
and expanding workforce. We need to wake up and realize we're heading 
into the 21st century, and we need a 21st century energy policy, is what 
we need to do.
    And a 21st century energy policy says this country must develop and 
deploy the latest technology to provide a new generation, a different 
kind of energy, new sources of energy, cleaner and more efficient energy 
sources. A lot of companies in Columbus are doing some groundbreaking 
research on what I'm talking about. For example, we ought to expand tax 
credits for renewable energy sources like wind and solar power. We ought 
to see if we can't use technology to diversify our energy supply in a 
smart way. Congress should fund research in a new hydrogen fuel 
technology that I called for in my State of the Union. We ought to make 
sure that we use ethanol from corn and biodiesel made from soybeans. It 
seems to me to make sense that we ought to use our technology and know-
how to grow our way out of dependence on foreign sources of energy.
    In other words, we need a comprehensive plan. We need to encourage 
production, and we need to encourage conservation. We need to use the 
energy resources we've got at hand in an environmentally friendly way. 
And we need to advance new kinds of energy. But we've got to get after 
it. And that's my message to the United States Congress: Resolve your 
differences; understand that if you're interested in people finding a 
job, we need an energy policy. That's why I'm here. I want these people 
working. I want their friends to be able to find jobs. Get the bill 
done.
    Now, we've overcome a lot in this country, and there's still more to 
do. We're making tremendous progress. But we can't rest. We can't rest. 
We're making great progress in helping people find a job. But as I said, 
so long as one person is looking for work, this administration will 
continue to figure out ways to encourage economic growth by empowering 
the entrepreneurs of America and the small businesses to do smart things 
to create a condition for economic growth. We'll continue to stay on the 
offensive when it comes to keeping the Nation secure.
    As well I will continue to speak to the great character of the 
American people and to call people to action in order to help people 
understand that the American Dream is meant for them. Listen, there are 
people amidst our plenty who hurt, people who wonder whether or not 
America is meant for them. And I understand those challenges, but I also 
understand the strength of the country. It lies in the hearts and souls 
of our fellow citizens. I'm probably looking at people who are doing 
what I'm about to say--ask you to do, but there are thousands of people 
in our country who love a neighbor just like they'd like to be loved 
themselves, who are mentoring a

[[Page 1503]]

child, who are helping feed the hungry, who are providing shelter for 
the homeless.
    See, our society is changing and will continue to change one heart 
and one soul at a time, because our fellow citizens have heard the call 
to love a neighbor. And my call to you all is if you see somebody who 
hurts, help him. Remember that Government can hand out money--we do a 
pretty good job of it at times--but what we can't do is put hope in a 
person's heart or a sense of purpose in people's lives. That's done when 
a fellow citizen puts their arm around somebody who hurts and says, ``I 
love you. What can I do to help you?''
    Now, this is a fabulous country. We've met the challenges that have 
been put to us. There will be other challenges to come. I stand 
confident before you, knowing that we can meet any challenge because of 
the greatness of the people who live in America.
    Thanks for coming by today. May God bless you all, and may God 
continue to bless America. Thank you all.

Note: The President spoke at 1:54 p.m. in the plant. In his remarks, he 
referred to Gale Roshon, owner, John Wright, general manager, and Bill 
Haines, press operator, Central Aluminum Co.; Gov. Bob Taft, Lt. Gov. 
Jennette Bradley, Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, and State 
Auditor Betty Montgomery of Ohio; and former President Saddam Hussein of 
Iraq. The Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language 
transcript of these remarks.