    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 13 (Monday, March 29, 2004)]
    [Pages 451-460]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Remarks to the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

    March 24, 2004

        Thank you all. Thank you for that warm welcome. Sientese, por favor.
    Bienvenidos. I'm so glad you're here. Thanks for having me. [Laughter] I
    love to be in the presence of entrepreneurs, people who are willing to
    dream and to work to realize their dreams, which is really what America
    has been, is, and should be all about.
        I appreciate the fact that it's the entrepreneurs here in America
    that take the risks and create the new jobs, do the hard work that's
    helping our economy go forward. You see, by pursuing your own dreams
    you're making the American Dream possible for more. You're helping to
    make sure that others can realize the potential of our country. Every
    day you show faith in what we stand for in America, and I'm here to tell
    you, the country is grateful to you. And I want to thank you for what
    you do.
        What I want to do is talk about, today, the challenges facing our
    economy and how to put good policies in place to unleash the
    entrepreneurial spirit of America--that's what we're really here to talk
    about--and talk about the need for--to make sure we've got a small-
    business sector that is vibrant, strong, growing, confident, optimistic
    about the future. And there are some things Government can do.
    Government can't create wealth, but it can create an environment in
    which the entrepreneurial spirit can flourish. And that's what I'm here
    to talk about today.
        I want to thank Hector--he's the Small Business Administration
    head--for joining me. I had the honor of meeting Hector, Sr., right
    before we came out here. Hector and I are lucky. We've both got good
    dads. [Laughter] So, Hector Barreto, Sr., I appreciate you here. He's
    the co-founder of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
        I appreciate my friend John Snow, who is the Secretary of Treasury.
    Mr. Secretary, thanks for coming to share some thoughts.

    [[Page 452]]

    I appreciate your wisdom. He's a smart guy. [Laughter] He knows what I
    know, that it's best not to be thinking about economic theory; it's best
    to be thinking how to unleash the great creativity of the American
    people. It's the best economic policy there is.
        I appreciate so very much J.R. Gonzales, the chairman and acting
    president of the U.S. Chamber. I want to thank Tina Cordova, the vice
    chair, for having me here. I see my friend Massey Villarreal. He's an
    old friend from Texas. I don't know if there's any Texanos here.
    [Applause] Yes. Tell them hello back home. [Laughter] Tell them I
    remember where I came from, and I'm not going to change because of polls
    and focus groups. I'm going to take the--I'm bringing the principles
    that I was raised with here. I'm going to stand on principle. I'm going
    to work as hard as I can for the American people, and I'm not going to
    change what I believe just because some are trying to change me.
        And one of the things I believe is this country is a great country.
    That's what I believe. I believe it is a great country for a lot of
    reasons. You know what I believe? I believe it's a great country because
    if you're willing to work for a dream, you can own your own business. To
    me, that's great, when somebody can start with little and end up with a
    lot, and that's what we've got to encourage here in this country.
        I want to remind you that we have reason to be optimistic about the
    economy, particularly when you realize what we have been through as a
    nation. Beginning in 2001, the economy headed into a recession. The
    definition of a recession, of course, is three quarters of negative
    growth. So in the first three quarters of 2001, we were going backwards.
    That made it hard. I'm sure many of you remember the period. If you're a
    small-business owner, it's difficult to survive in a recession. If
    you're a worker, there's a lot of uncertainty during a recession.
        The stock market, by the way, had begun its decline in March of
    2000, and that affects a lot of people. It affects people's confidence
    when they see their savings begin to dwindle.
        As well--we began to recover, by the way, and then we got attacked.
    And the attack did a couple of things. Obviously, it changed how one
    must conduct foreign policy. In other words, we have to deal with
    threats early, before they materialize. Oceans no longer protect us like
    we used to think. And therefore, when we see a threat, we have to deal
    with it. But the other way it affected us, it hurt our economy. Make no
    mistake about it, we lost nearly a million jobs as a result of the
    attack. But we began to recover from that. We're a strong country. We
    said loud and clear to the enemy, ``You can't intimidate us. We refuse
    to quit. We're determined to move forward as a nation.''
        And then we found out that some of--corporate citizens or U.S.
    citizens who happen to be in corporate America didn't tell the truth,
    and that hurt our confidence. See, the system counts on people being
    honest and open, particularly when it comes to cashflow numbers and
    earnings per share. And the dishonesty of some in corporate America cost
    people their jobs and cost a lot of savings, but we acted. We passed
    tough reforms. As you can see on your TV screens, wrongdoers are being
    held to account. The message is, we're not going to tolerate dishonesty
    in the boardrooms of America.
        And then we overcame a significant hurdle as well. I just told you
    we had to deal with threats before they materialize. I made a tough but
    correct decision to join with the rest of the world--or the United
    Nations Security Council, and say, ``Disarm, Saddam Hussein. For the
    sake of world security and world peace, you disarm. We've told you to do
    so for 12 years, and you haven't. Now you have one final chance to do
    so.'' And he wouldn't, of course, and so we led a coalition to remove
    Saddam Hussein. He was in defiance, and now he's in jail. And by the
    way, the world is better off for it, and America is more secure.
        But that decision affected our economy. The decisionmaking process
    affected the economy. Remember turning on your TV screen and seeing
    ``March to War.'' That's an incredibly negative thought. And in the
    world of finance and job creation, it's important to be hopeful and
    optimistic. People are more likely to invest if they're hopeful and
    optimistic about the future. And when you're looking on your TV screens
    and you see

    [[Page 453]]

    ``March to War,'' it made it difficult for people to see a better
    future. Now we're marching to peace. The march to war is over, and the
    march to peace has begun, and the world is becoming more peaceful.
        My point to you is that we faced a lot of challenges in a brief
    period of time. In 3 years, we've overcome a lot because of the strength
    and the character of the American people and the strength of the
    entrepreneurial spirit. Think about where we are today. Inflation is
    low. Interest rates are low. That's helpful, by the way, if you're a
    businessowner. Mortgage rates are low. Homeownership is at the highest
    rate ever. That's what we want. If we want people--we want people--more
    people to own their own business. We also want people to own their own
    home. It's part of the American experience, and it's happening here.
        Manufacturing activity is on the rise. The unemployment rate today
    is lower than the average rate in the seventies, eighties, and nineties.
    Thanks to our productive workers--and we're very productive--and to the
    visionary business leaders, small and large, the United States is the
    fastest growing major industrialized economy in the world.
        We have overcome a lot because of the strength of our country. And
    members of the Hispanic Chamber are playing an essential part in the
    progress, so I'm here to thank you for that. According to the most
    recent data, Hispanic-owned companies employ about 1.4 million Americans
    and carry a payroll of nearly $30 billion. Our economy is stronger and
    society is better because Hispanic-owned businesses are thriving all
    across the country.
        One of the main reasons why the recession that I described to you is
    the shortest in modern history is because we acted with tax relief. And
    I want to describe to you why I felt it was so strong to promote tax
    relief here in Washington. First, if an American has more of their own
    money in their pocket, they're more likely to demand a good or a
    service. And in our marketplace, when somebody demands a good or a
    service, somebody is going to produce the good or a service. And when
    somebody produces that good or a service, somebody is more likely to
    keep a job or find work. That's the economic theory behind the tax
    relief.
        But there's really more to it than that. When you reduce taxes on
    everybody who pays individual income taxes, the way many small
    businesses are structured in America, you're really helping the small-
    business sector. If you're a sole proprietorship or a Subchapter S
    corporation, you pay tax at the individual income-tax rate, and
    therefore, when you're cutting income taxes on the individual, you're
    really cutting taxes on small businesses. And when a small business gets
    tax relief, it means they've got more money in their company treasury in
    which to invest and/or expand. That's what tax relief does.
        As well, as you may recall, we raised the amount of money you can
    deduct for capital purchases from 25,000 to $100,000 for small
    businesses, all aimed at encouraging investment, all aimed at
    stimulating the economy. Because when you go out and invest, somebody
    has to make the product that you're purchasing, and when somebody makes
    that product, somebody is more likely to find work or keep a job.
        As well we did some other things in the tax relief. We increased the
    child credit to $1,000 per child. That means it makes it easier for moms
    and dads to raise their families. We reduced the marriage penalty. What
    kind of Tax Code is it that penalizes marriage? It's not a very wise Tax
    Code, so we reduced the marriage penalty.
        We also did something else. And that is we put the death tax on its
    way to extinction. I think that's important for--see, I think that's
    important to enhance the entrepreneurial spirit. Look, if you're a
    small-business owner, like many of you are, you know that when you're
    profitable you get to pay taxes to Uncle Sam. But the death tax means
    you not only pay him when you're living, you pay him when you die. And
    that makes it awfully hard for you, who've started your own business,
    who've built up your assets, to pass on your assets to whomever you
    want.
        Most small businesses know what I'm talking about. You know, you
    can't--you have to sell the business just to pay the inheritance taxes.
    And that dims the entrepreneurial spirit. It doesn't increase the
    entrepreneurial

    [[Page 454]]

    spirit. It makes it more difficult for the entrepreneur to realize his
    or her dream, because part of the dream of the entrepreneur is to leave
    his or her business to whomever he or she wants. That's part of the
    experience, and the death tax gets in the way. It's a lousy tax. And we
    passed good policy to get rid of it, for the sake of the entrepreneurial
    spirit.
        What I'm telling you is, these are--this is what we--when you hear
    the word ``progrowth,'' these are progrowth policies, all aimed at
    growing not the Government but all aimed at growing the private sector.
    Seventy percent of most new jobs are--70 percent of new jobs are created
    by small businesses. And so when you hear me talk progrowth, we're
    talking about progrowth in the small-business sector.
        What's interesting about the economy today, and you know this as
    well as I do, that the economy is experiencing some change, some
    fundamental changes. Take, for example, productivity. Productivity has
    grown faster over the last 2 years than at any time in more than 50
    years, because of new technologies, technologies that are changing the
    way we do business. Productivity means one worker can produce 10 widgets
    today, when it took--one worker could produce 2 widgets in the same
    amount of time in years past. It's kind of a simple definition. We call
    that a Texas definition. [Laughter]
        Higher productivity is good, by the way. It's a good thing for the
    economy. It's good for your business. It helps you--when you become more
    productive, it means you're better at competing. You can make a product
    that satisfies consumer demand in a more efficient and, sometimes, less
    costly way. And that's good.
        Productive businesses are more likely to grow, and that's good.
    That's what we want. We want growth in order for people to work.
    Productive workers receive better wages. If you're working in America
    and you become more productive, you get paid better. That's just a fact
    of life. The quality of your life goes up. The more--the better worker
    you are, the more productive you are, the more likely you're going to
    make more money for your family.
        A more productive economy leads to greater national wealth. In other
    words, it helps the individual, but it also helps the Nation. We become
    a wealthier nation.
        But there's some challenges with an economy that is more productive.
    Think of it this way: Companies fill new orders and expand operations
    without needing to hire new workers. If you're more productive, you can
    expand your business to meet expanding demand, and you may not need to
    hire an additional worker to do so. And that creates a problem for
    somebody looking for work. And that's what I'm interested in, by the
    way. You know, the unemployment rate is low, but so long as anybody is
    looking for work and can't find a job, it says to me, we've got an issue
    here in America.
        The other thing that productivity requires is an acknowledgment that
    new jobs require new skills. If you think about it, things are changing
    in the workplace, and we better have an education system that
    encourages--that allows workers to find the new skills necessary to be
    able to meet the challenges and new jobs of the 21st century.
        There's workers who are concerned here in the country. I hear it all
    the time. There are workers concerned about jobs going overseas. They're
    worried about changes in the economy. They wonder whether or not, as the
    economy changes, he or she will have the skills necessary to survive.
    They're worried about whether their children can find a good job close
    to home. They're worried about whether or not their health care and
    their benefits, retirement benefits, will exist.
        Here in Washington, you hear the economists say we're in a time of
    transition. I just want people to understand--know that I know that
    transition is not easy for people in our country. Transition unsettles
    the nerves. And so there's some things we've got to do to help, to help
    our workers and to help our entrepreneurs. And that--and I'm talking
    about something more than just unemployment insurance. There's some
    strategies that need to be in place, progrowth, proworker strategies to
    make sure that the American experience is reached all throughout the
    country.
        One thing we can't do is go back to the old policies of tax and
    spend in Washington.

    [[Page 455]]

    I think you're going to find the old tax-and-spend philosophy will drain
    the entrepreneurial spirit, because when you hear ``tax and spend,'' it
    means somebody has got to pay more taxes. And guess who gets stuck with
    them? Small-business owners, people who are beginning to realize their
    dreams.
        And the other thing we've got to do is reject economic isolationism.
    We can't isolate ourself from the world and expect to have a growing
    economy. There are some here--I'm just going to tell you what you're
    going to hear, when you hear this, ``We're going to raise taxes on the
    rich.'' Just remember, most small businesses are sole proprietorships
    and Subchapter S corporations. And guess what? If you're one of those,
    you're rich, according to the definition here in Washington, DC. Raising
    taxes on small businesses would be a disaster for our economy.
        I know some who want to build barriers to trade. You hear a lot of
    talk about trade and the way to deal with certain problems is to wall us
    off from the world. I think it's wrong. I think it's bad policy, and I
    think a lot of Hispanic-owned businesses know what I'm talking about.
    Rather than building barriers, we need to break down barriers so that
    the American entrepreneur and American companies can sell American
    products on every continent in the world. The best policy to make sure
    jobs stay here at home and somebody can find a job is to open up markets
    for U.S. products. See, pessimistic people say, ``We can't compete.
    Therefore, let's throw up walls.'' Optimistic folks say, ``We can
    compete with anybody just so long as the playing field is level.'' And
    good policy says, ``Let's make the playing field level.''
        Look at it this way: Five percent of the world's population is right
    here in America--means 95 percent of potential customers are elsewhere.
    Ninety-seven percent of all U.S. exporters are small or medium-sized
    businesses. It's a pretty interesting statistic, isn't it? A lot of
    people in America think ``export''; they think ``big guys.'' The facts
    are that small businesses export a lot. Companies with fewer than 20
    employers--employees--make up nearly 70 percent of all exporting firms.
    Of all the businesses that sell overseas, sell a product in demand
    overseas, 70 percent are U.S. companies with less than 20 employees.
    That's small business.
        If we allow ourselves to fall into the trap of trade wars and
    throwing up barriers and walls between America and other markets, those
    small businesses will have little chance to survive. When you hear
    people talk about trade, I want you to remember this: Hispanic-owned
    businesses are selling car and truck parts, food, construction
    equipment, financial services, manufactured goods, and products all over
    the globe.
        I know my friends from Texas have realized and seen the benefits of
    NAFTA. Our trade with our friend Mexico has tripled over the past
    decade. When you triple trade, it means there's opportunity on both
    sides of the border for people to realize their dreams. We must not
    allow people to raise economic barriers.
        Look what it would do to companies like Ruiz Foods in Dinuba,
    California, where I went. The Ruiz family started in the kitchen. The
    story, by the way, may sound familiar to many of you here. It may not
    have started in the kitchen. It may start--your business may have
    started in a garage, or it may have started sitting around a dining room
    table. In this case, they started in a kitchen using Grandma Rosie's
    pots and pans to make enchiladas. They now produce 3.5 million burritos
    a day. And I want you to know, they are selling some of their frozen
    foods into Mexico. That's a pretty darn good burrito. [Laughter]
        Kim Ruiz Beck, the company's vice chairman--I think Kim is the
    daughter of the founder--said it was tough to break into the Mexican
    market. ``At first, there was some skepticism about how authentic we
    are. But there's a lot of trust in products that are made in the United
    States of America.'' What she said is darn wise. There is a lot of trust
    in the products that say ``Made in the USA.'' And therefore, it makes
    sense from a policy perspective to encourage more products to be sold
    that say ``Made in the USA.''
        If you're a person looking for work, you want the United States of
    America selling products and services from our country. It's good for
    job creation. Presidents of both parties have agreed that trade is good
    for the American economy. For over 50 years, that's

    [[Page 456]]

    been the case. In other words, we've opened up our markets. And it's
    been good for consumers, frankly, that people are able to sell into the
    markets. It's been good for small business when you're trying to buy
    something.
        But the real challenge is to make sure other countries open up their
    markets. That's the challenge. As opposed to saying, ``We're going to
    close our market, and we don't care about you,'' we ought to be saying
    the opposite: ``Our markets are open, and if you expect to trade with
    us, we want you to open yours.'' And so when you hear about trade
    agreements, that's what we're doing. We're making sure the playing field
    is level. We've done a trade agreement with Singapore and Chile. We
    recently completed negotiations with Morocco, Australia, and our friends
    in Central America.
        What's that mean? You hear ``trade agreement''--let me see if I can
    shed some light on what it means. There are 6,000 small and medium-sized
    businesses in America that export to Chile. When we opened up an
    agreement with Chile, it made it easier for 6,000 small and medium-sized
    businesses to sell product. When people are able to sell product into
    Chile, it means they're going to--likely somebody--they're more likely
    to hire somebody. That's why it's easy to connect jobs and trade. That's
    what I'm trying to explain. When you're selling into markets, it makes
    it more likely somebody is going to find work.
        There are 4,000 medium and small business that export to Costa Rica;
    3,000 export to Honduras. By making the playing field more level, there
    is a greater opportunity that the small businesses around the United
    States will be able to find new markets and sell additional products and
    goods and services, which means somebody is more likely to find a job.
        A second way to make sure that jobs stay at home and that somebody
    is likely to find a job is to make sure that America is the best place
    in the world to do business, is to make sure the environment is right
    for capital formation, for business expansion, to make it easier, not
    harder, for our small businesses to exist and thrive and grow.
        There are some things we can do. One, there needs to be less
    regulations at the Federal, State, and local level on businesses and
    small businesses. It just doesn't make any sense for you to feel like--I
    see people nodding their heads. I mean, you fill out a lot of forms. I
    can't guarantee whether the form has ever been read, much less looked
    at. [Laughter] But nevertheless, endless regulations make it harder to
    be competitive and make it harder for businesses to stay at home.
        We've got legal problems in our country. Too many small-business
    owners get sued. There are too many frivolous and junk lawsuits. We need
    tort reform in America in order to make sure the job base can grow and
    expand. We're taking on some tort reform here in Washington. We've got a
    good class-action bill moving through the Congress. We've got some
    asbestos reform moving through the Congress. The trial lawyers here are
    awfully tough. I hope the small-business community is even tougher and
    works with Members of the United States Senate to make sure we can get
    meaningful tort reform out of the United States Congress, which will
    make it more likely somebody will be able to find a job.
        We need to make sure we help small businesses control health care
    costs. I've spent a lot of time talking to small businesses in forums
    around the country. I hear--a lot--people saying, ``I can't afford
    health care anymore.'' It's hard to be a compassionate employer if you
    can't provide health care to your employees. There are some practical
    things we can do.
        One, Congress needs to pass what's called associated health care
    plans, to allow small businesses to pool across jurisdictional
    boundary--pool risk across jurisdictional boundary, which will give
    small businesses in the aggregate the same purchasing power that big
    businesses have in order to drive down the cost of health care.
        I hope you all look into what's called health savings account--it's
    a part of the new Medicare law that I've signed--that will allow
    employees to save tax-free for routine medical expenses. You'll be able
    to contribute tax-free into your account, save tax-free in the account,
    withdraw money tax-free out of the account to pay for routine medical
    expenses.

    [[Page 457]]

    And their employers can provide coverage for major medical issues or
    major illnesses or injuries. It's a reasonable way to control costs.
    It's an interesting new product that's now being developed that I think
    you--small businesses will benefit, and so will your employees, most
    importantly.
        And finally, one of the reasons why health care costs are on the
    rise is there are--again, there's too many frivolous and junk lawsuits.
    There's a lot of docs who practice defensive medicine. Why? Because
    they're getting sued all the time. It's kind of like a giant lottery.
    Medicare liability lawsuits are like lotteries. The only problem is
    there's only one winner, and those are the people who take 40 percent of
    the win. That would be your lawyers, the trial lawyers. And we need to
    have national medical liability reform now. It passed the Congress. It
    is stuck in the Senate--passed the House, stuck in the Senate.
        To control health care costs, we need to have a reasonable legal
    system. If people get hurt, they ought to be able to sue a doc, but the
    rewards need to be reasonable. And we need to do things to cut down on
    these massive amounts of frivolous lawsuits. Frivolous lawsuits affect
    your business. They affect your business when you get sued, and they
    affect the cost of doing business.
        We also got to make sure we have affordable and reliable supplies of
    energy. If you're a small business in the manufacturing world, and
    you're wondering whether or not your gas bill is going to be--spikes or
    you're wondering whether or not--whether you're going to get electricity
    at all, it makes it awfully hard to plan and to grow. So we need a
    reasonable energy policy. We need to encourage conservation, of course.
    We need to work on alternative sources of energy. We need clean coal
    technology. We need to explore for more natural gas. But one thing is
    for certain: In order for our economic security and national security,
    we need to be less dependent on foreign sources of energy.
        I think something that will benefit our economy and help the small-
    business sector is to reform our immigration laws to help--I proposed a
    worker program here that says we can match a willing foreign worker with
    a employer in America so long as an American is not willing to do the
    job. Look, I know a lot of you are wondering whether or not you're
    hiring somebody who you should be hiring. And that's because the system
    is broken down. That's why you wonder that. My attitude is, rather than
    have people live in the shadows of our society, let's have an honest
    system. Let's say that if you're--if you need a worker, there's a way to
    help expedite your search for somebody in our country. But if you can't
    find anybody, you ought to be able to hire anybody you want, and
    therefore, we ought to have a temporary-worker card for people.
        And it will help rout out the corruption and the fraud. You know
    what I'm talking about. The paperwork, you don't know where it comes
    from if you're hiring in the construction world. It doesn't make sense
    to have a system where Border Patrol is kind of searching for workers
    simply coming to our--people coming to our country to make a living for
    their families. They ought to be looking for terrorists and
    narcotraffickers, smugglers. And so a worker system would take the
    burden off of many at our borders.
        People often ask me, ``Do you support amnesty?'' I don't. You see--
    and the reason I don't is because I'm afraid it would further illegal
    immigration as well as reward those who haven't lived to the law. We've
    got a lot of honest people who are trying to become citizens of the
    United States of America, who have stood in line for a long period of
    time, and it doesn't seem that we ought to have a worker system that
    allows somebody to cut in line. That's not fair. One of the things we
    are in America is we're fair. And people should--people who have been in
    line shouldn't be penalized for having taken the legal route up to now.
        But one thing is for certain: We've got to respect people who are in
    our country. We've got to treat them with decency, and when the system
    is broke, we need to reform it.
        Finally, in the Tax Code--you probably know this, but all the tax
    cuts I've described are set to expire. It's kind of hard to explain it,
    but that's just the way it is here in Washington. [Laughter] Child
    credit is going down next year, unless Congress acts. The marriage
    penalty goes up next year, unless Congress acts. The 10-percent bracket
    that had been expanded to include more people will go

    [[Page 458]]

    back to its original form, unless Congress acts. All tax rates go up in
    2011, and the death tax comes--the death tax doesn't expire after 2011.
    So it expires, and then in 2011 it shows back up. By the way, in 2010,
    that's going to make a lot of interesting choices for people. [Laughter]
    Anyway, it's hard to explain any rationale behind it. [Laughter]
        There's uncertainty in the Tax Code. If you're somebody thinking
    about investing and you've got an investment plan, a capital investment
    plan scheduled out, and you're uncertain whether or not you're going to
    get $100,000 worth of deduction or $25,000 worth of deduction, it makes
    you less bold when it comes to expanding your business.
        Uncertainty in the Tax Code creates indecision amongst people that
    we want to feel comfortable making decisions, particularly when it comes
    to buying capital goods or expanding the job base. And so rather than
    increasing taxes to pay for new programs, I've got a better idea for
    Congress. To keep the economy expanding, they need to make the tax cuts
    permanent.
        Finally, I do want to talk about how to make sure workers are better
    prepared--workers are prepared for the jobs that you're able to offer.
    There are some new jobs being created, quite a few, as a matter of fact.
    They're just in different sectors. I remember going down to North
    Carolina and hearing a textile worker talk about getting skills
    necessary to become a health worker. And in this particular case, the
    person was doing great. But you notice there had to be a transition.
    There are new jobs being created in fields in which some people don't
    have the skills necessary to fill the jobs. And that's of concern to
    governments at all levels. It should be.
        The place to start with making sure workers have got the skills is
    in early grades. I worked with Congress to pass the No Child Left Behind
    Act. Let me tell you the theory behind the act. I believe every child
    can learn. I know there are some circumstances when certain children are
    just shuffled through the school system, the ``hard to educate.'' Those
    are generally kids, by the way, whose parents don't speak English as a
    first language or inner-city kids. And we had a system in some school
    districts where--``Just shuffle through, please. Let's just get them out
    of the system.'' And as a result, too many of our children ended up not
    being able to read at grade level, and that's really sad.
        So we passed a new law called the No Child Left Behind Act that
    said, ``We're going to increase Federal money for Title I students.''
    Those are the poorest students. But now we're going to ask the question
    whether or not the children can read and write and add and subtract. For
    the first time, the Federal Government is saying, ``In return for
    Federal money, measure. Measure because we believe every child can
    learn. We believe every child has worth, and we want to know. And we
    want to know early, before it's too late.''
        By measuring, we're able to determine whether a curriculum works. By
    measuring, we're able to determine whether a child needs extra help.
    There's money in the Federal budget to provide the extra help. By
    measuring, we can find out whether or not society is doing its duty to
    make sure every child gets a quality education. The No Child Left Behind
    Act is a great piece of legislation, and I will defend it with every
    fiber in my body.
        There are other things we need to do. There needs to be remedial
    education for high school kids. Listen, because we're late in the
    accountability process, we didn't know for a while whether or not kids
    were getting shuffled through, and there's probably some in high school
    that can't read. And now is the time to find those souls and make sure
    they read.
        Laura went down to a program in Florida the other day, a remedial
    education program, where they're able to take 10th graders, with intense
    education in a 6-month period, to get them up to--nearly to grade level
    or at grade level. There's some great things that are happening in
    education. The Federal Government has a responsibility to help State and
    local governments focus resources to make sure people aren't left
    behind.
        By the way, we need to do the same thing with math. It's hard, if
    you're an employer, to hire somebody who doesn't have math skills. I
    guess, maybe there's some businesses where it's not needed, but a lot of
    businesses, it's important to have the basic skills in math.

    [[Page 459]]

        I tell you, another interesting opportunity is community colleges.
    Everybody can identify with the community college in the community in
    which they live, and there's some great community colleges. The
    interesting thing about community colleges is, is that the curriculum
    should be flexible. And when you can find a place of higher learning
    that's got a flexible curriculum, it means if you're an employer or a
    group of employers, you can go to your community college and say,
    ``Look, we need nurses. Help us train nurses. Adjust your education
    system for the jobs which actually exist.''
        We've got a bold initiative coming out of Washington here to help
    the community colleges help people find jobs. And the other day, I was
    in Mesa Community College in the Phoenix area. I met with a lady who had
    worked as a graphic artist. I think she told me she had been there as a
    graphic artist for, like, 13, 15 years, something like that. Anyway, she
    goes back to the community college and takes a 6-month course, if I'm
    not mistaken, that enabled her to become hired by Cable One Company. She
    made more money in her first year at Cable One than she had made in her
    last year as a graphic artist.
        And it's important for us to provide those opportunities for as many
    people as possible. People are going to have to want to do this, by the
    way. Government--we can't say, ``Be ambitious.'' We can't say, ``It's--
    you must change your habits.'' But we can say, ``Here's an opportunity
    for you, and we encourage you to gain the skills necessary so you can
    become an employable person,'' because this economy is generating jobs.
    And we want to be able to match the jobs with the skills needed for the
    job with the people who are looking for work, and that's a challenge.
    And that's something that I'm committed to doing.
        A couple of other things that I want to say, now that I got you.
    [Laughter] There was a period of time in the seventies and eighties--I
    don't know if you remember this or not--when a lot of people doubted
    America, doubted whether we can compete. Do you remember that? The
    Japanese were going to be the predominate economy in the

    world, some would say, or the Germans would be. It was claimed that we
    weren't flexible enough. Our companies were--we had rigid rules, that
    the workers were not disciplined enough, that the American products
    really weren't good enough to compete. That's what a lot of people
    thought. Those were what we called the pessimists. And they were wrong.
    They were just flat wrong, obviously. I mean, America--we improved. We
    changed. We're flexible. Our education systems began to work better. The
    entrepreneurial spirit remained strong. We're the greatest economy in
    the world now, and it's important that we keep it that way with good
    policies.
        The economy is vibrant today. There are still people who hurt and
    looking for work, and that's why we've got to think about pro-growth,
    pro-entrepreneurial policies. We've got to be confident. But think about
    this. We sell computer chips to Japan. We produce BMWs in Greer, South
    Carolina, for export to Germany. We're exporting California wine to
    France. [Laughter] And we're selling Mexican food to Mexico.
        The role of Government is to get policies in place that encourage
    growth, that enhance the spirit of ownership and rely upon the American
    people. It's a safe bet, when we get the policies right, things will be
    great here in America, because--you know why? The American people are
    great. This country is full of people--our country is full of people who
    can rise to the challenge. Many people want to own something and,
    therefore, are willing to work for it, responsible, honorable, decent
    citizens who love their family, love their communities, and love their
    country. And it's a privilege to be the President of such a grand
    nation.
        Thank you for coming. God bless.

    Note: The President spoke at 2:45 p.m. at the Renaissance Hotel. In his
    remarks, he referred to Massey Villarreal, member, Board of Directors,
    U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; and former President Saddam Hussein
    of Iraq.

    [[Page 460]]