[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 51 (Monday, December 22, 2003)]
[Pages 1797-1798]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

December 13, 2003

    Good morning. This week I was honored to sign the Medicare Act of 
2003, the greatest advance in health coverage for America's seniors 
since Medicare was founded nearly four decades ago. This new law will 
give seniors better choices and more control over their health care and 
provide a prescription drug benefit.
    Beginning in 2006, most seniors now without prescription coverage 
can expect to see their current drug bills cut roughly in half in 
exchange for a monthly premium of about $35. And for the first time, 
seniors will have peace of mind that they will not face unlimited 
expenses for their Medicare.
    These and other major improvements in Medicare came about because 
Republicans and Democrats in Congress were willing to work together for 
the interests of our senior citizens. We were able to pass this law 
because we listened to the people, set the right priorities, and worked 
hard until we finished the job.
    The reform and modernization of Medicare was one milestone in a year 
of accomplishment. We worked with Congress to take action in a number of 
areas on behalf of the American people. Last May, the House and Senate 
passed my jobs-and-growth package into law, delivering substantial tax 
relief to 91 million Americans. We reduced taxes for everyone who pays 
income taxes, increased the child tax credit, cut the taxes on dividends 
and capital gains, and gave 23 million small-business owners incentives 
to invest for the future.
     And now we are seeing the results. In the third quarter, the 
economy grew at the fastest pace in almost 20 years. Productivity, 
manufacturing, and housing construction are expanding, and we have added 
over 300,000 jobs since August. The tax relief we passed is working, and 
our economy is gaining strength.
    Legislation passed this year also showed the compassion and the good 
heart of America. We created the American Dream Downpayment Fund to help 
low-income citizens afford the downpayment on homes of their own. We 
defended children from the violence of partial birth abortion and passed 
new incentives to promote the adoption of children in foster care. And 
we acted to fight the global spread of AIDS by launching a multiyear 
emergency effort to prevent millions of new infections in Africa and the 
Caribbean and to provide medicine and humane care to millions more who 
suffer.
    This year we took important action to protect the environment. Our 
whole Nation saw the devastation left by wildfires in the West, and we 
passed healthy forest legislation to thin the underbrush that fuels 
catastrophic blazes.
    Our Government also took urgent action on every front in the war on 
terror. Congress appropriated more than $31 billion for the Department 
of Homeland Security to prepare first-responders and safeguard our ports 
and infrastructure and help scientists develop vaccines against 
dangerous biological threats. Our country stood behind the men and women 
of our Armed Forces as they liberated Iraq and helped carry out the work 
of

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reconstruction there and in Afghanistan. In Congress, members of both 
parties worked together to provide vital resources for our troops, who 
are fulfilling their responsibility to defend the Nation.
     All these actions have made us safer, more prosperous, and a better 
country. We confronted problems with determination and bipartisan 
spirit. Yet our work is not done. There will be pressing business in the 
new year on issues from job creation to health care to public schools. 
And above all, we will continue to fight the war on terror until the war 
is won.
    On behalf of all Americans, I thank the Congress for a productive 
year. Working together, we can add to this progress in the year to come.
    Thank you for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 10:35 a.m. on December 12 in the 
Cabinet Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on December 
13. The transcript was made available by the Office of the Press 
Secretary on December 12 but was embargoed for release until the 
broadcast. The Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish 
language transcript of this address.