[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 45 (Monday, November 10, 2003)]
[Pages 1556-1560]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks in a Discussion With Students and Faculty at Forsyth Technical 
Community College in Winston-Salem

November 7, 2003

    The President. Yes, Gary. First, I want to thank you very much for 
being a host. It's not easy to host the President and his entourage. 
[Laughter] But we have an interesting opportunity to have a discussion 
for the country. It's a discussion about the importance of education and 
jobs. It's a discussion about the importance of making sure the 
education system is flexible enough to help train people for jobs which 
exist today and will exist tomorrow. So I really want to thank you for 
hosting this. This is an important dialog.
    The economy has obviously taken its toll on parts of North Carolina: 
The manufacturing sector has been hit; the textile industry has been 
hit; people have lost work. And yet in other sectors of the economy here 
in North Carolina are growing. And we've got to make sure we're able to 
match the skills and talent and drive of North Carolina citizens with 
the jobs of the future. And a great place to do that is at the community 
colleges here in North Carolina and all around the country. And that's 
really what we're here to herald.
    So I want to thank you for giving me the chance to visit. I look 
forward to hearing our panelists. I want to thank you all for taking 
time out of your day to come and help educate the country about this 
fantastic program and effort you've got right here. So, Dr. Green, 
you're a good man for hosting us, and I appreciate it.

[The discussion continued.]

    The President. That's what I was going to ask. It's very important 
for this type of education to be demand-driven.
    Lucas Shallua. That is correct.
    The President. I remember the old days in Texas. There would be job 
training programs; they really didn't care whether the jobs actually 
existed. All they want to do is make sure you're trained. [Laughter] So 
you end up with, like, 1,500 hairdressers for 25 jobs.
    And so my question to you is--first of all, let me make it clear. On 
the grant, what we're talking about is a $754,000 grant to Forsyth Tech. 
The Congressman gets a lot of credit for arranging this because we were 
very aware that certain sectors of the country were losing jobs, see. 
The job mix is shifting. The economy, as it grows, sometimes there's a 
different shift in the type of jobs available. You hear a lot of talk 
about productivity increases. You mentioned productivity increases. A 
lot of the manufacturing sector is seeing job loss because the worker is 
more productive. In other words, an hour of a person's time yields more 
product, and unless demand outstrips productivity, it's a pressure on 
the job base.
    But productivity increases, by the way, are going to mean higher 
paying jobs. It's important for our economy to have productivity 
increases, because in the long run, it makes a lot of sense. In the 
short run, it creates some dislocation for workers. We're going to hear 
from some in a minute. And the job grant program recognized that this 
part of the world had had some job losses and yet there were some 
wonderful workers and wonderful people who were anxious to be able to 
employ their skills in a field that was actually growing.
    And so my question to you is, is that as you--and the doc here--as 
you have a curriculum change, explain to people how it is demand-driven, 
the curriculum change--in other words, a curriculum that's actually 
relevant to the job base here in the local communities.

[The discussion continued.]

    The President. First of all, I thank you for the credit, but you get 
the credit, see. You're the person that made the decision that you want 
to do something with your life. I can't make that decision for you. 
That's your call to make, and you get the credit. And for that, I 
really--I appreciate that a lot.
    Let me say something about one of the interesting innovations, and 
it's an important innovation, is these one-stop centers that the 
community college system is plugged into. A one-stop center is a place 
where a person such as Scott can go and say, ``I've got this interest. 
What's available?'' You called it up

[[Page 1557]]

on the web, or you used the high-tech world to help bring information to 
your screen. And the one-stop centers are really kind of a innovative 
idea to allow for people to not only find what may be available. In 
other words, they have a look to judge demand for jobs themselves. They 
say, ``Oh look, these people are looking for work here; this industry is 
looking for work here.'' But it also helps people find job training 
programs. It's very important for the community colleges to be plugged 
into these one-stop centers because they become the bridge to the job, 
become the--help create the skill set necessary for someone to access a 
job. And as well one-stop centers have got, like, resume help.
    And so for those out there who are interested in doing what Scott 
and the others up here have done, I suggest you go to your regional one-
stop centers. You'll find a lot of help. The job of the people there is 
to help you find--match your interests or your inclinations with jobs 
that actually exist.
    I appreciate you bringing it up, Scott. You made the decision. You 
made the decision to go back to school, which isn't easy, particularly 
for an old guy like you, and--[laughter].
    Scott Hiner. Well, there is a lot of government help out there. You 
just have to go find it----
    The President. Yes.
    Mr. Hiner. ----and like I said, I really appreciate it being out 
there.
    The President. Well, I appreciate you saying that. We--as the 
economy changes, as technology changes, the slowest part of change is 
the workforce. And we've just got to understand that we've got to make 
sure our workers, who are the most productive in the world, the hardest 
working people in the world, the finest people in the world, have the 
skills necessary to move on with their lives, and I appreciate the 
example you've set.

[The discussion continued.]

    The President. Yes. So if somebody is listening right now and they 
say ``biotechnology field,'' how would you describe that? Give somebody 
a sense for what it means. I'm sure there's a lot of people frightened--
``biotechnology'' is a long word. It sounds--[laughter]. They may say, 
``Well, I don't know if I'm smart enough to be in biotechnology,'' or 
``It sounds too sophisticated, to be in biotechnology.'' It didn't 
frighten you. Why?
    Sandra Moser. Because I was thinking pharmaceuticals and things like 
that, and they're going to teach me. You know, they're going to teach me 
what I need to know. They're not going to let me out of there until I 
know it. [Laughter]
    Gary Green. That's right.
    The President. And how is your education being paid?
    Ms. Moser. Through the TAA.
    The President. Yes, good. Good. TAA is a program like the Pell grant 
program. The good doctor here mentioned Pell grants. People ought to 
take a look at Pell grants. Many of the community college students in 
our country have their education funded by Pell grants. We've 
dramatically increased the funding of Pell grants. It's up to about 
$12.7 billion now on an annual basis, which means people can be able to 
find a grant. These are grants, not loans, by the way. That's why 
they're called Pell grants. Otherwise, you know, it's Pell loans. 
[Laughter]
    But the budget is up quite dramatically over the last couple years, 
by 45 percent. The reason I say that is, it's important for people to 
know, as both our friends here have mentioned, that there is a way to 
make sure that you get your--your education is funded if you work hard, 
if you look hard. There's money available, and that's important for 
people to know.
    Thank you. Good job.

[The discussion continued.]

    Jan Robertson. When you go, like, into a doctor's office or 
something, you get to dictate what the doctor says and put it on the 
computer, and then you get to put it in the file for the patient, 
whatever, so they can understand them, because--have you ever seen them 
write? Do you understand--[laughter].
    The President. Yes, I have. Some people say my writing is worse than 
the doctor's. [Laughter] But I won't take it personally.
    Ms. Robertson. So they need a little help.
    The President. Tell us why are you--what were you doing before you 
came here?
    Ms. Robertson. I was in a textile plant, and it went overseas. And I 
wanted to get--

[[Page 1558]]

to better myself, so I went to the medical field.
    The President. You're a mother?
    Ms. Robertson.  Yes.
    The President. How old is your child?
    Ms. Robertson.  Five.
    The President. Single mom?
    Ms. Robertson.  Yes.
    The President. You've got the toughest job in America.
    Ms. Robertson. Yes.
    The President. Yes, you do. That's good. And so have you started 
class here?
    Ms. Robertson.  Yes, this fall.
    The President. You making all A's?
    Ms. Robertson.  Not quite, but I'm getting there. [Laughter]
    The President. People are listening. [Laughter] And so you're 
studying medical transcription.
    Ms. Robertson.  Yes.
    The President. And are you good on the computer?
    Ms. Robertson.  I'm getting better.
    The President. That's good. So that's part of the curriculum.
    Ms. Robertson. Yes.
    The President. And so what has happened here is that they've come 
and they've helped this education institution develop a curriculum that 
is actually practical, so you believe that once you finish the 
curriculum you'll be able to walk right out and sign up for work.
    Ms. Robertson.  Yes, and also it helps you where you can do it at 
your own--at your home.
    The President. Oh, good, so you can do your first job, the most 
important job, which is to be a mother----
    Ms. Robertson.  Yes.
    The President. ----and then be a student.
    Thanks. Congratulations. How is your kid doing, learning to read?
    Ms. Robertson.  Oh, yes.
    The President. That's the most important thing you can do right now, 
is teach your child. Get them to read more than they watch TV. Sorry to 
all the TV cameras out there. [Laughter]

[The discussion continued.]

    The President. Well, I appreciate you bringing that up. We had a 
recent report out which--this is the beginning of good news for 
jobseekers--over the last 3 months, the economy, the entrepreneurs, the 
private sector, and others, have driven the job base up by 285,000 jobs, 
new jobs, which is good. So in other words, things are beginning to 
brighten up for people looking for work, which is positive. And 
therefore, we must make sure that people are trained for jobs that 
exist.

[The discussion continued.]

    The President. And by the way, as these jobs get more sophisticated, 
in other words, the training level is higher, no question about it. But 
the pay is better. And that's what productivity increases do in a 
society. As our society, particularly North Carolina economy, shifts 
from textiles to biotechnology, the pay gets better. And all we've got 
to do is bridge from the textile sector to the biotechnology sector with 
smart education practices. And that's what we're here talking about.
    It requires--a smart education system requires a community college 
which is flexible in their curriculum. If they're rigid, this good man 
here wouldn't be designing a curriculum. If they were rigid, they 
wouldn't be listening to the employers of the community say, ``Listen, 
this is what we need. We need this kind of person or that kind of 
person.''
    And the reason I'm here is because this is a model for others to 
follow. In other parts of the country there's also workers being 
displaced. And yet, there's great hope and opportunity because there's 
wonderful job opportunity, so long as the training facilities are modern 
and active and not rigid.
    And I want to thank you for understanding that, and I want to thank 
you for listening to people that are looking for workers. But they're 
not looking for just the average worker, they're looking for a trained 
worker. And so, therefore, job training programs are essential. 
Government spends about $15 billion a year on job training programs.
    I've got to tell you, though, we need a little help from the 
Congress--Congressman--to make sure that there's some flexibility, not 
on how much money we spend but how we

[[Page 1559]]

spend it. Because these job training programs--he listed about three of 
them already, and for every job training program there's kind of a 
Government prescription with it, which means that the more prescriptive 
programs are, the less flexible they are. And the less flexible job 
training money is, it makes it very difficult to be able to meet the 
needs of the local community.
    And therefore, I'm trying to work with Congress, Doc, to make sure 
that these monies coming out of Washington are able to have enough--have 
as few strings attached as possible, so that the States and the local 
community colleges can apply that money to meet the needs of the local 
employers. And then we'll be able to say for certain that the job 
training initiatives are meeting the needs.
    Yes, but thanks for--thanks for being an entrepreneur.

[The discussion continued.]

    The President. The job of the Government is to make sure that the 
entrepreneurial spirit of America is strong, to make sure that people 
feel comfortable in taking risk, that they're willing to start a small 
business and grow it to a big business. And one of the interesting 
aspects of making sure the entrepreneurial spirit is strong is tax 
policy. And there's been a lot of talk--you've heard, I'm sure, the talk 
about the tax relief. Hopefully, you've seen some of it in your pockets, 
like increasing that child credit for your 5-year-old. But what's 
interesting is that most small businesses are sole proprietorships or 
Subchapter S corporations. That's when they're startups. I'm sure you've 
seen that here in North Carolina. And as a result, when you--these are 
companies that pay tax at the individual income tax rate, so that when 
you cut taxes on the individual, you're also providing capital infusion 
into small businesses.
    And one of the very important things for our Government to do is to 
also understand there needs to be certainty in the Tax Code. If you're a 
planner, an entrepreneur, in any field, you've got to know that the tax 
policy today is likely to be the tax policy tomorrow, because 
uncertainty creates--difficult to plan, and therefore, makes it 
difficult for people to hire.
    And so one of the things I'm going to ask Congress to do is make 
sure all this tax relief we pass is permanent. See, it goes away. She, 
unfortunately, is going to have to pay--receive less money in her child 
credit if they don't make the tax relief permanent. The small-business 
owner, if they don't make the tax relief permanent, will have to pay a 
inheritance tax or death tax on the business they've created, which I 
don't think is fair. I think you should only be taxed once, not twice. 
The marriage penalty relief is--it's going to go away. And it's 
important that there be certainty in order to make sure this economy 
continues to grow.
    I want to thank you for bringing up the entrepreneurial spirit. 
That's the thing that makes America such a wonderful place, the kind of 
place where people, if you have a dream, are able to realize your dream. 
That applies not only to the business owner, the person coming to the 
Research Triangle, the person who thinks they've got a better idea than 
their neighbor and is willing to put a little something out there, time 
and capital, on the line. It also applies to our workers, people who 
have got their own dreams, their own set of dreams, the dream of making 
sure the child grows up in a wonderful little comfortable, peaceful 
household. And our job in the Government is to help people realize their 
dreams. That's really what it is. We can't make people dream, but we can 
help people once they start to dream.
    And I thank you all for the compliments on the Government. But the 
compliments really belong here. See, you're doing what needs to be done. 
And that's why I've got such wonderful optimism about our country. I'm 
very optimistic about the fact that we'll keep the peace. I'm very 
optimistic about the fact that people will find work, because there's a 
wonderful spirit here in America.
    I met this guy right there. See him? Put your hand up. He's a 
volunteer firefighter. Well, not you, Burr. [Laughter] He's a volunteer 
firefighter. He came out to the airport to say hello. It's an 
interesting concept, isn't it, volunteer firefighters, people 
volunteering to put their lives on the line in order to save lives.
    I recently went out to California. I explained it to him when I was 
at the airport.

[[Page 1560]]

A lot of people on the frontlines in the fire out there were volunteers. 
The reason I bring that up is, it should remind us that the strength of 
the country is not our military, is not our pocketbooks; it's the heart 
and soul of people. The entrepreneurial spirit is the strength of the 
country. The willingness for people to volunteer in a fire department is 
the strength of the country. And once you realize how strong this 
country is in spirit, you can't help but be optimistic about the future.
      
    Thank you for having me here, Doc. Listen, I want to thank you all 
for sharing your stories. It's not easy to stand up in front of all 
these cameras. I know. [Laughter] Although the cameramen are fine 
people. But it's--you were able to help us make a point, that people who 
have lost work should have hope, that with a little initiative, a little 
ingenuity, a little drive, there's help for you. The economy's growing, 
new jobs are being created. And we--there's an opportunity, and I hope 
you seize it. I hope you seize it, because there's a wonderful, 
wonderful future ahead for people who may at this moment think their 
days are--the future is a little dark. And we've got three citizens 
right up here who are willing to see the--can see that bright light. So 
thanks for coming.

    Thank you all for coming.
      

Note: The discussion began at 1:05 p.m. Participants in the discussion 
included: Gary M. Green, president, Lucas D. Shallua, biotechnology 
program coordinator, and Scott Hiner, Sandra Moser, and Jan Robertson, 
students, Forsyth Technical Community College; Richard Dean, president, 
Wake Forest University Health Sciences; and William Dean, president, 
Idealliance. In his remarks, the President also referred to 
Representative Richard Burr of North Carolina; and Brian Koontz, fire 
chief, County Line Volunteer Fire Department.