    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 12 (Monday, March 22, 2004)]
    [Pages 408-409]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    The President's Radio Address

    March 13, 2004

        Good morning. This week, I met with entrepreneurs and workers in
    Ohio and New York and talked to them about how we are strengthening
    America's economy. Over the past 3 years, America's economy has faced a
    series of challenges, stock market decline, recession, terrorist
    attacks, corporate scandals, and the uncertainties of war. My
    administration confronted those challenges squarely and acted boldly. We
    reduced taxes on families and small businesses. We encouraged new
    investment, and we're seeing the results.
        America has the fastest growing major industrialized economy in the
    world. American productivity has grown faster over the last 2 years than
    at any time in more than 50 years. More manufacturers have been
    reporting rising activity than at any point in the last 20 years.
    Homeownership rates are the highest ever. Inflation is low, and interest
    rates and mortgage rates are near historic lows. The unemployment rate
    of 5.6 percent is below the average unemployment rate in the 1970s, the
    1980s, and the 1990s. And last month marked the sixth consecutive month
    of increased employment in America.
        Yet, some industries and some parts of the country are still lagging
    behind. In Ohio, where many manufacturers are now so productive, they
    can produce more goods without hiring new workers. In cities like
    Youngstown and Cleveland, many workers are concerned about their future,
    about their benefits, and about the opportunities their children will
    have.
        Some politicians in Washington see this new challenge, and they want
    to respond in old, ineffective ways. They want to increase Federal
    taxes, yet punishing families and small businesses is not a job-creation
    strategy. They want to build up trade walls and isolate America from the
    rest of the world, but economic isolationism would threaten the millions
    of good American jobs that depend on exports. These tired, old policies
    of tax and spend and economic isolationism are a recipe for economic
    disaster. There's a better way to help our workers and help our economy.
        First, we must pursue a confident policy of trade. Millions of
    American jobs depend on our goods being sold overseas, and foreign-owned
    companies employ millions of Americans here at home. We owe those
    workers our best efforts to make sure other nations open up their
    markets and keep them open. We want the entire world to ``Buy
    American,'' because the best products in the world carry the label,
    ``Made in the USA.''
        Second, we must remain the best place in the world to do business,
    to start a company and hire workers. We need fewer mandates and
    unnecessary regulations on small businesses. We need legal reform in
    America to cut down on junk lawsuits. We need to help companies and
    their employees confront the rising costs of health care. We need to
    make sure the tax relief is made permanent to keep our economy on the
    path to growth and job creation.
        Third, we need to make sure American workers are prepared for the
    higher skilled jobs our economy is creating. I worked with Congress to
    pass the No Child Left Behind Act, which is bringing higher standards to
    every public school in America. We have a plan to help our high schools
    and community colleges train people in the skills they need. We're
    helping workers who have been displaced by the effects of trade by
    giving them assistance for job training and health care and relocation
    expenses.
        Again and again, economic pessimists have questioned the skills and
    creativity and energy of America's workers. The pessimists have always
    been wrong. America's workers and entrepreneurs will meet every
    challenge. With the right policies in Washington, we will maintain
    America's economic leadership; we will create more jobs; and we'll help
    our workers achieve a better life.
        Thank you for listening.

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

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