[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 14 (Monday, April 5, 2004)]
[Pages 489-494]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
 Remarks in a Discussion on Homeownership in Phoenix, Arizona

March 26, 2004

    The President. Thank you all. Thanks a lot. Thank you all very much. 
I appreciate Doug McCarron's leadership in terms of making sure people 
have the skills necessary to work in the jobs of the 21st century. 
Actually, you look like you're dressed the way a president should be--
[laughter]--and I'm dressed like a carpenter --[laughter]--which isn't 
all that bad a deal.
     I want to thank you for having me here. I appreciate Mike McCarron 
for opening up this facility. Thank you, Mike, for inviting us. He 
invited us here so we can have a discussion on job training skills and 
homeownership.
    Before we have the discussion, I do want to say a couple of things. 
First, I want to recognize some people in the audience. Two great United 
States Senators, John McCain and John Kyl, are with us. I don't know if 
you know this, Doug, but John McCain was telling me on the way over from 
the airport that he was here when they opened this facility. He told 
me--he said, ``You're going to find a magnificent training facility.'' 
He forgot to tell me how magnificent it is. This is quite a place--quite 
a place. I know you're proud of it.
    I appreciate Members of the Congress who are here, J.D. Hayworth, 
John Shadegg, Jeff Flake, Trent Franks. Thank you all for coming.
    It's such an impressive place, they even brought old Ron Lewis from 
Kentucky, who's a Member of the House, with us. Ron, thank you for being 
here, glad you came. There he is.
    Mr. Mayor, Phil Gordon, is with us. Thanks for coming, Mr. Mayor. I 
appreciate you being here.
    I want to thank members of the Carpenters Union who have opened up 
this beautiful facility to us. Thank you for working hard. Thank you for 
being responsible citizens who love your family and love your country. 
Most of all, I'm honored to be in your presence. Thanks for building the 
stage. [Laughter]

    Today when I landed, I met a lady named Barbara Lockwood. Barbara, 
where are you? There she is. Thanks for coming, Barbara. Barbara is a 
volunteer of Keep Phoenix Beautiful. The reason I bring that up is, 
communities are really strong when people are willing to volunteer, 
willing to take time out of their lives to improve the community in 
which you live. There's all kinds of ways to do so. Keep Phoenix 
Beautiful is one such idea. Mentoring a child is an idea. Loving a 
neighbor like you'd like to be loved yourself is an idea on how to make 
sure your community is good. I know that many of your members work hard 
on the day job and volunteer to help somebody's life. See, America can 
change for the better, one heart and one soul at a time.Q03
    And the reason I want to bring up Barbara is that she sets such a 
good example by taking time out of her life to make Phoenix, Arizona, a 
better place. Barbara, thank you for your service, and thank you for the 
example you have set for others.

    The housing industry is booming, which means more people own their 
home, and that's positive. It means more carpenters are working, and 
that's positive. It's an amazing statement to say that, given what this 
country has been through. We've been through a recession. We've been 
through an attack on America, and that attack on America affected us. We 
lost jobs after the attack on America. It also changed our way of 
thinking about how we look at the world. We used to think oceans could 
protect us, where we could kind of sit back and see threats gather and 
could deal with them if we felt like it or ignore

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them if we wanted to, because oceans protected us. But that changed on 
September the 11th.
    We're doing everything we can to secure the homeland. I want to 
thank those who are involved with the first-responders or our police and 
firefighters for working hard to be ready. But the best way to protect 
America's homeland is to stay on the offense and bring these people to 
justice before they hurt us again. [Applause] Thank you.
    The Nation is strong. We refuse to be intimidated by these killers. 
And we started to recover, and then we found out that some corporate 
citizens forgot what it meant to be responsible citizens. You know who 
I'm talking about, the people who didn't tell the truth to their 
shareholders and their employees. We passed tough new laws. I want to 
thank the Members of the Senate who are here and the members of the 
congressional delegation for joining together to pass tough laws that 
sends this message: We're not going to tolerate dishonesty in the 
boardrooms of America. That dishonesty affected us. It was another 
hurdle we had to cross. It kind of shook the confidence of the people.
    And then we had another hurdle we had to cross. As I told you, 
September the 11th changed how we should view the world. We must deal 
with threats before they fully materialize. When we see a threat, we've 
got to deal with it. I looked at the intelligence in Iraq, and I saw a 
threat. The Congress looked at the same intelligence, and it saw a 
threat. The United Nations Security Council looked at the same 
intelligence, and it saw a threat as well. We said to Saddam Hussein, 
``Everybody thinks you're a threat, so you disarm.'' We gave him yet 
another choice. It was his choice to make. We said, ``Disarm, for the 
sake of freedom and peace,'' and he defied the world again.
    And therefore, I had a choice to make: Do I trust the word of 
somebody who had used weapons of mass destruction on his own people? Do 
I trust the word of a madman? Or do I take actions necessary to defend 
America? Given that choice, every time, I will defend this country. 
[Applause] Thank you all.
    When you're marching to war to defend the country, it sends a 
negative signal. If you're a homebuyer, it doesn't instill a lot of 
confidence in the future if you think your country is going to war. If 
you're somebody trying to build homes, marching to war is a negative 
thought, not a positive thought. Now we're marching to peace. The world 
is more peaceful.
    But these are hurdles we have overcome as a country. Think about 
these statistics: We're the fastest growing major industrialized nation 
in the world; the unemployment rate right here in Arizona has gone from 
5.9 percent last year to 5.2 percent this year; inflation is low; 
interest rates are low; manufacturing activity is up. No, this economy 
has gone through a lot. And you know why? Because the American workers 
and the American people and the American entrepreneurs are strong, 
steady, and resolute.
    I'm going to tell you another statistic, which is an amazing 
statistic given what we've been through: Housing starts in 2003 were the 
highest in a quarter of a century. Homeownership sales were the highest 
ever. Sixty-eight percent of homeownership--the homeownership rate is 
the highest ever, and that's fantastic news for America.
    We want more people owning their own home. There's nothing like 
saying, ``This home is my home.'' There's nothing better than somebody 
over there saying, ``Welcome to my home.'' And we're about to talk to 
some first-time homeowners. And I want to share their stories with you. 
They're going to share their stories with me, and you're going to get to 
hear it.
    I do want to talk about a challenge for our country, and there is a 
minority homeownership gap in America. Not enough minorities own their 
own homes. And it seems like to me, it makes sense to encourage all to 
own homes. And so we've done some interesting things. Again, I want to 
thank the Congress, but we passed downpayment assistance programs that 
will help low-income folks buy their own home. A lot of times, if you're 
trying to buy your own home, you never bought one, the downpayment seems 
like a little much. Some of you know what I'm talking about. It seems to 
make sense if one of the things we're trying to do is to get--to close 
the minority homeownership gap and to get 5.5 new--million new minority 
homeowners into homes over the next 5 years, that we

[[Page 491]]

ought to help with downpayments, and we have.
    The State of Arizona is going to have $2.6 million to help people 
with downpayments. I proposed that mortgages that have FHA-backed 
insurance pay no downpayment. That will help 150,000 new homeowners.
    What we're trying to do is make it easier for somebody to own a 
home, and there's practical ways the Government can help. We've got 
what's called HUD Section 8 programs that are generally rent programs. 
We've converted those rent programs to self-sufficiency programs, where 
people are helped to be able to set aside money for downpayments. We're 
about to hear somebody who has benefited from such program.
    We've got HUD's home program that provides grants to States to help 
counseling. That's really important. Have you ever seen some of the 
contracts? There's a lot of fine print. And if you've never bought a 
home before, it kind of makes you nervous to sign off on something with 
a lot of fine print. There are counselors all over the State of Arizona 
who are willing to help people understand what it means to sign a 
contract, to understand what it means when they're buying their first 
home, what it means to be a homeowner, what the obligations are.
    I want to thank the counselors who are here. I want to thank the 
people who are here who work with first-time homebuyers. We need to make 
sure that there's affordable houses around the country. That's why I 
proposed a $2.5-billion tax credit for rehabilitation of inner-city 
homes and for the building of affordable homes for low-income citizens. 
We want homes. We want people owning their own home. Ownership is an 
important part of the American experience.
    One other thing I've done is I've called on private sector mortgage 
banks and banks to be more aggressive about lending money to first-time 
homebuyers. And the response has been really good. There's a lot of 
people in this--our communities around the country that deeply care 
about the issue of homeownership, and they've been responsive.
    Senators Kyl and McCain told me about a fellow named Jerry Bisgrove 
here in Arizona. He's not a part of a mortgage banking deal. He's just a 
decent citizen. But like the mortgage bankers who have helped new time--
first-time homeowners, Bisgrove is a successful businessman, evidently, 
has turned back and said, ``I want to help people with affordable 
housing.'' It's that kind of effort--effort at the Federal level, effort 
at the charitable level--that's going to make a big difference in 
closing the minority homeownership gap, and when we do, America will be 
a better place.
    The thing I like about Doug is he understands that when you give 
somebody additional skills, it will improve their lifestyle. You see, 
when a worker becomes more productive, that worker is going to make more 
money. And we're about to hear a story that verifies that point--Jorge. 
Anyway--not yet. [Laughter] Casi.
    But Doug is an innovative leader. And as he mentioned to you, I've 
had the honor of going to some of his training facilities around the 
country, and they're impressive. They're impressive because they're so 
humane, and they take a person who wants to work, give him a little 
additional help, and they become well-paid, more able to do their duty 
as a mom or a dad. So, Doug, thanks. I appreciate you having me.

[Douglas J. McCarron, general president, United Brotherhood of 
Carpenters and Joiners of America, made brief remarks, concluding as 
follows.]

    Mr. McCarron. Mr. President, the men and women that I represent have 
shown that they are willing to work hard. They are willing to train 
hard. And they are willing to compete. Now, I know, Mr. President, over 
the next few months, you'll hear from advisers and pundits, but speaking 
for the Carpenters Union, let me tell you, the most important issue for 
us is jobs.
    The President. Doug, let me say something. Yes. The most important 
issue for me is jobs.

[Mr. McCarron made further remarks.]

    The President. One of the things I forgot to mention to Doug and to 
congratulate Doug and the union on was the work at the World Trade 
Center after September the 11th. A lot of his members went to help clear 
the rubble. And they went in there, and they

[[Page 492]]

worked long, long hours, and there was not one accident. They did an 
unbelievable job, and I want to thank you and thank the membership----
    Mr. McCarron. That's good union labor, Mr. President.
    The President. Good job. All right. Jorge Sotelo. Jorge is a family 
man, hard-working guy. Jorge, tell us about yourself.

[Jorge Sotelo, foreman, DPR Construction, Avondale, AZ, made brief 
remarks.]

    The President. So in other words, let me make sure I understand. 
Before you came here, what were you doing?
    Mr. Sotelo. I was doing the same thing. You know, I was in 
construction but at less wages. You know, I didn't----
    The President. You were just out there working hard and less wages. 
And how did you hear about this facility?
    Mr. Sotelo. They went to the place where we were working before, and 
they told us about the union. And you say, ``Yes, it's time for a 
change. I want to learn something. I want to--better skills for myself 
and get a better life for my family.''
    The President. And so, let me ask you something, Jorge. Were you 
working during the day and coming here at school at night?
    Mr. Sotelo. Yes. After work.
    The President. And how long did it take for you to get the skills 
necessary to get another certification?
    Mr. Sotelo. It depends how many hours--we got the program for 18 
hours, 20 hours. It's just how many hours you can give me here.
    The President. Somebody told me, like this--you bought a home this 
year.
    Mr. Sotelo. Yes.
    The President. First home?
    Mr. Sotelo. Actually, it was the second home, but it's a better home 
now.
    The President. Better home?
    Mr. Sotelo. Yes.
    The President. So you upgraded?
    Mr. Sotelo. Yes, definitely.
    The President. The lesson is, is that you can improve your quality 
of life if you work hard, one, and two, you're willing to go back to 
school.
    I remember coming to Mesa Community College a while ago. Doug, I 
think you'll find this interesting. It's the same exact principle that 
you employ here. And I met a woman who had worked for--as a graphic 
design artist for 15 years, went back to a Mesa Community College 
technical training program, graduated, and got out. And in her first 
year, she made more money than she did after her 15th year as a graphic 
design artist. She gained skills. She upgraded her ability to be a 
productive worker, and she improved her quality of life dramatically.
    And that's exactly what Jorge did. And that's one of the reasons why 
we're heralding programs like this. If people are looking for work, you 
can find work in Phoenix, Arizona. And if you're really interested in 
improving yourself, you can do so by going to programs such as the one 
Doug sponsors here or at the one at Mesa Community College.
    Now, Emily is with us. Are you ready?
    Emily McElhaney. Yes, sir.
    The President. Emily McElhaney. How many homes have you owned in 
your life?
    Ms. McElhaney. This is the first one.
    The President. Would you mind telling us your story?

[Ms. McElhaney, first-time homebuyer, Mesa, AZ, made brief remarks.]

    The President. See, this is a story that's repeated all throughout 
the country. It's a family of five, and they wanted their own home. They 
want a place to say, ``This is my home,'' a place where they raise their 
kids, in their own home. And you had trouble with the downpayment--like, 
you kind of looked at it, ``It might be a little too high for us.''
    So what happened? You went to a HUD home program?
    Ms. McElhaney. The Housing for Mesa was able to set us up with a 
realtor and a lender, and they gave us downpayment assistance to help us 
through that. And then they walked us through every step of the program 
and explained all those contracts that we had to sign that you were 
mentioning earlier.
    The President. Slightly intimidating, aren't they?
    Ms. McElhaney. Exactly, yes.
    The President. It's what we call ``the fine print.'' [Laughter]

[[Page 493]]

    Ms. McElhaney. That's right.
    The President. And they explained it all to you?
    Ms. McElhaney. We had a counselor that was assigned specifically to 
us. And she, even before we went to the title agency to sign all the 
papers, she went over each of them with us, because you can't read all 
of those in that short amount of time, and so we knew what we were 
signing when we got there.
    The President. See, that's a very important part of being a 
homeowner, is you've got to help people understand what they're doing. I 
mean, it's an intimidating process. For some, it might seem like a 
natural process. But here's Emily. She was slightly intimidated by the 
size of the contract, and a good soul stepped up as a result of 
probably--I know Federal money helped, probably State money as well--and 
provided a counseling service. Had the counseling service not been 
there, in all likelihood--I'm not predicting what you would have done, 
but I suspect you might not done it.
    Ms. McElhaney. That's correct. We wouldn't have.
    The President. Is the counselor here? No.
    Ms. McElhaney. Yes, she is.
    The President. She is here? Where?
    Ms. McElhaney. Edna McLaughlin is right here.
    The President. Well, thank you. Thank you. Thank you for doing that. 
It must make you feel pretty good to know you've helped this family 
realize their dreams.
    Edna McLaughlin. Very good.
    The President. Yes. She said, ``Very good.'' [Laughter]
    Monica Mims is with us. Hi, Monica.
    Monica Mims. Hi.
    The President. Hi. Do you own a home?
    Ms. Mims. Yes, I do.
    The President. How many have you had?
    Ms. Mims. This is my first home.
    The President. Tell us about yourself.

[Ms. Mims, first-time homebuyer, Mesa, AZ, made brief remarks.]

    The President. The Section 8 housing program was a rental program, 
and it was important to help people rent. But remember, we want people 
owning. That's what we want. The more people that own their home, the 
more carpenters are going to be working. But more importantly, the more 
people that own their home, the more satisfaction there will be in 
America, in the American experience.
    And so they took the Section 8 program, and what she just told you 
was they helped her, through Section 8 money, get the credit necessary 
and the planning necessary and the ability to buy her own place. Section 
8 helped with the downpayment a little bit too, didn't it?
    Ms. Mims. Yes, they did. What they do is every time you pay your 
rent, they set a little money aside for you in an account. And that 
helped me with my downpayment. My downpayment was 3 percent. So as long 
as you also show that you can save your money, you want to show that you 
can establish your credit, but you can also show that you can save some 
money also. So my downpayment, it wasn't that bad, but I was kind of 
nervous about it.
    The President. Yes. The fine print get you, too?
    Ms. Mims. The fine print got me. So I went through a lot of classes, 
the first-time homebuyers class, through Housing for Mesa. And I went 
through it twice so I could make sure I understood. And they also get 
you prepared to know what you're going to get yourself into, that you're 
going to have to pay your water and the sewer and stuff like that, when 
you're not used to doing that when you live in an apartment.
    The President. Right. Practical lessons, maybe some help on 
budgeting and understanding what it meant to budget.
    Ms. Mims. That's correct.
    The President. You know, I bet somebody is listening out there and 
wonders whether or not he or she can buy a home. I bet there's somebody 
saying, ``Gosh, I don't think a homeownership is--even though I want a 
home, I'm not so sure I'm able to do so.'' I hope you hear the story of 
Monica and Emily. These are people that had a dream and found help and 
are now realizing their dreams. It's the greatness of America, you know 
that? Jorge is sitting here. He's got a family to raise, gets a little 
extra help, making more money, got him a second home, upgrading, family 
is better off.

[[Page 494]]

    What we want is we want this dream to be extended to every 
neighborhood in America. We want people owning their own home. We want 
people getting the skills necessary to make a living.
    Doug, again, thanks for having us. It's an honor to be here. Doug 
said, ``You look a little antsy. Are you heading over to the ranch?'' 
[Laughter] I said, ``I'm not telling you, but I'll be fishing 
tomorrow.'' [Laughter]
    I'm honored to be here. God bless you all, and God bless America. 
Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 2:02 p.m. at the Carpenters Training 
Center. In his remarks, he referred to Mike McCarron, executive 
secretary treasurer, Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters; Mayor 
Phil Gordon of Phoenix, AZ; Jerry Bisgrove, founder, Stardust 
Foundation; and Edna McLaughlin, director of education and counseling, 
Housing for Mesa. This item was not received in time for publication in 
the appropriate issue.