[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 49 (Monday, December 8, 2003)]
[Pages 1724-1728]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks in a Discussion With Employers and Employees at Dynamic Metal 
Treating, Inc., in Canton, Michigan

December 1, 2003

    The President. Loren, thanks for having us. Let me say a couple 
things before we get started here. First, thanks for coming out to say 
hello. We're here, obviously, to talk about one of the great strengths 
of America, which is the entrepreneurial spirit of our country, the 
small-business men and women who create the new jobs. And we're talking 
about jobs. And I want to thank you all for being here today to talk 
about your businesses and/or your personal lives.
    Just a couple of things I want to remind our fellow citizens about. 
We've done a lot; we've overcome a lot, when you think about what this 
country has been through in a short period of time. First of all, as 
Loren mentioned, things starting going bad in 2000 for this business. In 
other words, we were headed into a recession. And that's tough, when 
there's a recession. That means negative growth. It means businesses, in 
order to survive, sometimes lay people off, which, worse, means that 
some of our fellow citizens are looking for work and are having trouble 
feeding their family.
    And then the enemy hit us. Just as things were getting a little 
better, we got attacked. And let me take a step back. I'm never going to 
forget the lessons of September the 11th, 2001. The only way to deal 
with these coldblooded killers is to stay on the offensive and bring 
them to justice, which is precisely what America will do.
    And then we had some CEOs in corporate America forget what it means 
to be a responsible citizen. You might remember, right after the 
attacks, when the great resiliency of America came forth and the country 
began to recover from this unbelievable period of time, it turned out 
that we found--there were some corporate scandals, and that affected our 
confidence. We acted there. We passed some tough laws that sent a pretty 
clear message that if you betray the trust, if you don't tell the truth 
to your shareholders and employees, you need to be held to account. That 
means justice needs to be sent your way, and that's what's happening. 
And then we had a march to war. And that all affected the people's 
confidence.
    And so when we talk about job creation and job growth, it's 
important to understand we have come through a lot, which speaks really 
to the greatness of America, doesn't it? It speaks to the greatness of 
the entrepreneurial spirit, to the high productivity of the American 
workforce. We're the best workers in the world. I think it speaks a 
little bit as well to the policies we put forth.
    I want to thank the Members of the United States Congress who are 
here from the great State of Michigan. A lot of them have come over 
here, for which I am grateful. We passed tax relief, and I want to talk 
a little bit about tax relief, as we go through the panel, and its 
effect on economic recovery. Because when people have more money in 
their pocket, it means they're going to demand an additional good or a 
service, or likely demand a good or a service. And when that happens in 
our economy, somebody will produce it. And when somebody produces the 
good or a service to meet the demand, somebody is more likely to find a 
job. And so not only did the tax relief help hard-working Americans, 
with their pressures on their families and education needs, but it also 
helped the economy.
    And the other thing I want to remind people about is that the tax 
relief was also geared toward small businesses. Most new jobs in America 
are created by small-business owners. You just heard Loren talk about--
they laid off workers; they replaced those workers; and they've added 
workers. Well, there's all kinds of companies like Dynamic Metal across 
the country that are adding workers, one or two or three at a time, and 
that's the vibrancy of our economy. And the Congress wisely cut the--
made it--provided the incentive for small businesses to invest. And if 
the proper incentive is in place, it means people will buy equipment and 
computer software, and that means somebody is likely to find a job as 
they provide that equipment for small businesses.
    The other thing is, most small businesses do not pay corporate 
income tax. They pay tax at the individual level because they're a

[[Page 1725]]

Subchapter S or a limited liability partnership. And therefore, when you 
hear us talking about reducing all taxes on individuals, you really hear 
also the message that we're reducing taxes on small businesses. And when 
small business has got more money in their coffers, they're more likely 
to expand, and someone will find a job.
    So what we're here today is talk about good economic policy. But 
really what we're here about is to make sure people can find a job. I 
mean, things look pretty good; the growth is high. Today the Purchasing 
Managers Index was released, which shows the manufacturing sector of the 
American economy is coming back pretty strong. But my attitude is, so 
long as we have one of our fellow citizens out of work and who wants to 
work, it says we've got a problem. So let's keep a pro-growth policy in 
place. We're here to emphasize the role of the small business in 
providing that job opportunity.
    I want to thank both the small-business managers as well as the 
employees for joining us. And Loren, after that kind of long-winded 
explanation of why I'm here--[laughter]--take over.

[The discussion continued.]

    The President. Yes. I appreciate the story. It's indicative of how 
small businesses work. You'd better be light on your feet and willing to 
change in order to survive, be flexible and fast, and to meet the needs 
of your consumer. Listen, Government can create an environment in which 
the entrepreneurial spirit remains strong, but we can't make you 
successful. That's up to you. And I appreciate the--you just laid out 
your strategy. I hope your competitor isn't listening. [Laughter]
    Loren Epler. We're up to the challenge. [Laughter]
    The President. That's good. But anyway, thank you for sharing that.
    Sam, how about yourself?

[The discussion continued.]

    The President. A couple of points that Sam made: One, we need an 
energy policy. If you noticed, he said energy costs are high. And we 
need clean coal technology. We need an energy policy. We need to 
encourage conservation and certainly efficiencies. But in order for 
manufacturing concerns to be vibrant and vital, they need reliable 
sources of energy. And I appreciate you bringing that up.
    The other thing is, Sam, is I understand these tax cuts save you and 
your family about $2,000.
    Sam Domke. For this next tax year, yes. And that's great. I can 
really use the money, I'm sure.
    The President. The other thing, as I understand--we had a little 
visit beforehand--that Sam had a chance to refinance his home. Maybe 
some of you have done that as well. Part of the vitality of the economy 
is the fact that people are able to refinance because of lower interest 
rates, which puts a little money in the pocket because you've got lower 
monthly payments. But the $2,000 is important part of an economic 
recovery package. You see, it's his money to begin with. And we hear 
people say, well, the Government is giving Government money. It's not 
Government money; it's the people's money we're talking about. It's the 
hard-working people that make this economy grow.
    My attitude is, the more money you've got in your pocket, the more 
likely it is your family is going to be okay, but more importantly, the 
more likely it is it will increase the demand for a good or a service.
    Mr. Domke. I know we had the $800 checks that came back for the 
child credit, and that came in quite useful----
    The President. Yes.
    Mr. Domke. ----to help me pay some bills and----
    The President. Actually, when the Government said, ``The check's in 
the mail,'' it actually was. [Laughter]
    Mr. Domke. Well, I got mine, so--[laughter].
    The President. One of the things about the tax cuts that's important 
for people to understand is, they're not permanent. They're temporary 
because of a quirk in the law, particularly in the United States Senate. 
After a period of time, the tax cuts go away. And so one thing we need 
to do and make sure this economy stays strong is to make the tax cuts 
permanent. We don't want the child credit to go down. That will affect 
you. It's

[[Page 1726]]

like a tax increase. We don't want the marriage penalty to be as onerous 
as it used to be. We want the tax cuts to stay permanent, so that 
people--small businesses can plan and citizens can plan their lives.
    And so one of the ways that Congress can respond to the economic 
recovery and to make sure that this recovery keeps going is to make 
these tax cuts real and long-lasting. I'm for it. I think it's essential 
that we do this. And I hope Congress joins.

[The discussion continued.]

    The President. Again, Government can create an environment to 
encourage investment; it's up to you to produce the product so people 
want to invest with you, want to buy your stuff. And I presume the 
reason why you're doing good is you've got a good workforce.
    Tom Zimmerman. Yes, we do. In fact this is a----
    The President. Two of them happen to be here.
    Mr. Zimmerman. Let me put them on here. This is John Krynak and 
Cliff Daniels. Pass it on to John.
    John Krynak. Mr. President, it's good to be here. It's an honor and 
a privilege to have you here. I'm a family man myself. I was fortunate 
enough not to be one of the 10 percent that was laid off. I'm very 
thankful for that. Spectrum is a wonderful company. I'm blessed to have 
a wonderful wife, Krystal, and I have four children, two daughters, 7 
and 9, and two boys, 11 years old.
    The President. Twins?
    Mr. Krynak. No, we're a blended family.
    The President. Good.
    Mr. Krynak. So we got $1,600 back----
    The President. That's good. [Laughter]
    Mr. Krynak. ----$1,600 back credit this year. And it came in handy. 
Went down to Myrtle Beach and--[laughter].
    The President. Yes? Somebody had to feed you when you were down 
there, so you helped that person keep a job. But you also got some tax 
relief from the reduction of the rates, as I understand it----
    Mr. Krynak. Yes, this year, I----
    The President. ----$2,700, somebody told me.
    Mr. Krynak. Yes.
    The President. I'm not putting numbers in your mouth. [Laughter]
    Mr. Krynak. Yes, the tax relief can be a big help this year. Income 
is still not quite where it was, but I'm thankful that it is on the 
rise. Overtime is back, kicking right now. I'm ready to put my shoulders 
to the wheel, keep it going.
    The President. I suspect old Tom is happy to have you working with 
him.
    Mr. Zimmerman. Very much so. A good person. Same with Cliff.

[The discussion continued.]

    Cliff Daniels. I want to retire. Your plan that you're going to 
sign, your Medicare prescription bill, is going to help me immensely.
    The President. Yes. It is going to help you.
    Mr. Daniels. And I'm figuring that I'm paying about $900 right now. 
And with this plan, I should save about $5,000 a year. And I do want to 
thank you for that very much.
    The President. Well, thanks. Thank the Congress. They finally got 
moving.
    Mr. Daniels. One more thing, sir. Can you make it a Presidential 
order that our local football team, the Detroit Lions, win a road game? 
[Laughter]
    The President. No. [Laughter] If I could, I might be thinking about 
some of those Texas teams. [Laughter]
    I appreciate you bringing up health care. Small businesses have got 
an issue with health care. I think if you were to talk to these owners, 
they'll tell you. Small businesses need to be able to pool risk in 
what's called associated health care plans. Congress needs to allow this 
to happen so that you can share risk across jurisdictional boundaries. 
And that will help with health care costs.
    I appreciate you bringing up Medicare. The people in the Congress 
worked hard to get a good bill out. And I think it's going to make a 
difference in a lot of seniors' lives. It will mean we've kept our 
promise. It's also going to make a difference in the lives of those of 
us who are fixing to be seniors. It means you're going to have more 
choice in the marketplace, plus prescription drugs will be available as 
part of the basic Medicare package. And those who can least afford it

[[Page 1727]]

will get the most help, of course, from the Government. So I thank you 
for bringing that up.
    The other thing for health care, by the way, is it's very important 
that we have a society that allows a person to sue a bad doc if they get 
hurt. But we don't need a society in which there's junk and frivolous 
lawsuits being filed all the time which raise the cost of medicine, 
particularly to these businesses. It hurts these small-business owners 
when these people file these lawsuits over and over and over again. And 
therefore, for a while--I looked at this issue for a while, and then I 
decided it was a national issue because it affected our Medicare 
budgets, the Medicaid budgets, the veteran health care costs, because 
docs practice what's called defensive medicine. If they think they're 
going to get sued, they'll provide more medicine than needed. And you 
would too, if you were a doctor who thought you were going to get sued. 
And that then makes medicine more expensive, and it runs the cost up for 
you as well as the employers all around the country.
    And then the other thing that happens is, docs have to pay a high 
premium for liability reform--insurance, and they're starting to quit 
the practice of medicine, which means now medicine is more expensive and 
less available. And so we need medical liability reform.
    I want to thank the Members of the House who are here who voted with 
us on that bill. It was a good piece of legislation. It's stuck in the 
Senate, however. We need to get it out of the Senate.
    And so that can help us as well. I'll tell you the other thing that 
I think is important for these small-business owners to hear is, at the 
State level--and I know that Terri Lynn is here and the attorney general 
is here and others from the State of Michigan are here--we need less 
paperwork requirements on small business, less regulations and the 
paperwork that these owners have to file--same, by the way, at the 
Federal level. It's one thing to regulate; it's another thing to 
overregulate. And a lot of times Government has a tendency to 
overregulate, which is a nonproductive cost to these small-business 
owners who would rather be employing people and making it easier for 
somebody to find work than filling out reams of paperwork that probably 
doesn't get read anyway.
    Finally, I know there's a lot of talk about trade. I just want you 
to understand my position on trade. If you're good at something, we 
ought to try to find more markets. And we're good at a lot of things. 
We've got the most productive workforce in America. And we've got some 
of the greatest farmers in America. And we've got some of the greatest 
entrepreneurs in America. And therefore, it seems like to make sense to 
me that we ought to be opening up markets for us to sell our goods. But 
the other thing I want you to understand is, we're going to make sure 
it's fair. We want the playing field to be level so we can compete in a 
fair way.
    But those are some of the things that we can do to keep the economy 
growing. And that's important. We're really here to talk about how to 
sustain the economic growth. About 286,000 new jobs were created over 
the last 3 months, and we need more. I think the foundation is laid. 
You've heard these two business owners talk in terms of their hiring new 
people and how confident they are, and that's good. We've just got to 
keep it going. We want everybody in the country working. We want the 
people who have the responsibility to put food on the table to be able 
to find a job to do so. We want to answer that human desire of a 
responsible dad to be able to say to his four children, in this case, 
``Here's something not only for you to eat but something for you to 
maybe put aside for your education.'' That's what we want.
    And a vibrant economy will provide that opportunity for people to 
seize the moment. And we've got some people up here who have--one has 
already seized the moment. He kind of looks like he's going to try to 
quit seizing it. But you never retire, by the way. [Laughter] You never 
retire. And we've got some great workers and great owners up here.
    I want to repeat to you that the entrepreneurial spirit of America 
is strong. And we aim to keep it that way. We want people owning their 
own business. We want people to feel like if you want to be a small-
business

[[Page 1728]]

owner, there's a chance for you. No guarantees of success, but the 
opportunity is available for people from all walks of life, I might add, 
all throughout our society. You know, one of the great strengths of 
America is the fact that we've got a lot of people that say, ``I want to 
own my own company,'' and feel confident in trying to start that 
business and making it work. It's really what makes our society such a 
vibrant and wholesome place.
    We're looking at two people right here who have taken on the tough 
task of running a small business. It's not easy. It may look simple when 
you hear them talk about it, but it's hard work. But it's the creativity 
and the spirit of the entrepreneur in America that I think sets us 
apart, and kind of the backbone and vibrancy of our society.
    I want to say one other thing, and then I promise to be quiet. I met 
a guy at the airport today. Where is he? Did he come out? There he is. 
This is a good man. This is Brad Simmons. You probably never heard of 
Brad; I hadn't either until I landed. The reason I mention Brad is he 
works for Ford, but more importantly, he is in charge of encouraging 
Ford employees to volunteer in your communities. See, he's taken it upon 
himself to tap into the true spirit of the American soul, and that is 
that spirit that says, ``I want to help a neighbor in need.'' And Brad's 
particular focus has been on Boy Scouts. But he's got a broader job at 
Ford, and that is to say--to encourage voluntarism.
    You know, the reason I like to talk about people like Brad--as I 
told Brad, he is a soldier in the army of compassion in our country. 
It's the Brad Simmonses of the world who really define the true 
character of America. You see, our strength is not measured by the size 
of our military or the size of our Treasury. Our strength is measured by 
the size of the hearts and souls of our fellow citizens, people who are 
willing to love a neighbor just like they'd like to be loved themselves. 
Brad reflects the true spirit of America. He's a great credit upon the 
country.
    And for those of you who are doing your duty as responsible 
citizens, whether it being a good mom or a dad or helping a neighbor in 
need, I want to thank you on behalf of a grateful nation. The strength 
of America is the people of this country. And it's my privilege to be 
the President of such a great country.
    God bless you all. Thank you for coming.

Note: The President spoke at 1:24 p.m. In his remarks, he referred to 
Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land and State Attorney General Mike Cox 
of Michigan; Loren Epler, president, and Sam Domke, quality manager, 
Dynamic Metal Treating, Inc.; and Tom Zimmerman, secretary and 
treasurer, Spectrum Automation Co.