[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 32 (Monday, August 9, 2004)]
[Pages 1430-1435]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks to the Knights of Columbus Convention in Dallas, Texas

August 3, 2004

    Thanks for the warm welcome. Welcome to Texas. And thanks for 
inviting me so I can

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come home. [Laughter] I really appreciate the Knights of Columbus. This 
strong organization believes in families and faith and compassion for 
those in need. And I'm honored you'd invite me to the 122d Convocation 
of this great organization.
    I appreciate Carl Anderson and his leadership. I've gotten to know 
Carl because, you see, he's more than just an introducer of Presidents. 
[Laughter] He's a person who works with Presidents--at least this 
President. And I'm proud to have his help. It's good to see my family 
friend Virgil Dechant. Virgil, it's good to see you, sir. Thank you for 
such a warm greeting in the photo op line and reminding me of some great 
days gone past.
    I'm proud to be here with Cardinal McCarrick. It's good to see you, 
sir. He's a neighbor in my temporary residence. [Laughter] I appreciate 
Cardinal Egan. I appreciate Cardinal Rigali of the great city of 
Philadelphia, Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, Cardinal Keeler of 
Baltimore, Maryland. I'm honored you all are here. I thank you for your 
presence. I'm honored to be in the presence of Cardinal Macharski, the 
Archbishop of Krakow, who succeeded the Holy Father in that role. 
Welcome to the United States. Appreciate you coming, sir. I appreciate 
Bishop Wilton Gregory's leadership of the Conference of Catholic 
Bishops.
    I appreciate Your Eminences and Your Excellencies, reverends, 
monsignors, fathers, and deacons. Nuestros amigos de Mexico. I 
appreciate the officers and directors, State deputies, board of 
directors, delegates, ladies and gentlemen, Knights, and my fellow 
Americans. Thanks for having me.
    Two months ago, I had the privilege of visiting His Holy Father Pope 
John Paul II at the Vatican. It was my third meeting with His Holy 
Father since I took office, and for those of you who have ever met him, 
you know I'm telling you the truth when I tell you being in his presence 
is an awesome experience. He is a true presence. On the occasion, I had 
the special honor of presenting him with America's highest civil award, 
the Presidential Medal of Freedom. It was my chance to express our 
Nation's respect for a devoted servant of God and a true hero of our 
time.
    Pope John Paul II has been a unique and commanding voice for the 
cause of the poor, the weak, the hungry, and the outcast. He has 
challenged our Nation and the entire world to embrace the culture of 
life. He's called upon us to uphold and affirm the dignity of every 
person, rich and poor, able and disabled, born and unborn. He's called 
us to love and serve our neighbors in need. Few organizations have 
worked harder and done more and met this challenge than the Knights of 
Columbus. I know you're proud of your organization, and you should be.
    The Knights were born in New Haven, Connecticut. Come to think of 
it, so was I. [Laughter] From your foundations in a small church 
basement, you have raised up one of the great America organizations 
dedicated to charity and mutual assistance and the fight for civil 
liberties.
    I'm proud to say that my family has contributed to your ranks. A few 
years ago, Governor Jeb became a Knight. [Applause] And he--yes--and he 
recently took his Third Degree. I'll see him this weekend. His son is 
getting married. I'll pass on the word, aim for the Fourth. [Laughter] 
Jeb knows, as I do, that your works of mercy are making our society more 
compassionate, changing the lives of millions of citizens. Compassionate 
work changes our society one heart and one soul at a time.
    Last year, the Knights raised and donated a record $130 million to 
charity. That's a phenomenal record. You also volunteered for an 
unprecedented 61 million hours of community service. You obviously have 
heard the call.
    I was pleased to hear this story about the Knights in Corpus 
Christi, Texas, at the Mother Teresa Day Shelter. They're a daily 
presence there. They're mopping the floors, collecting laundry soap, 
blankets, and food for 130 homeless men and women. They're not giving 
the orders; they're serving the people. Patricia Henry, the shelter 
director, put it this way: ``If I need help, I just give the Knights a 
call''--such a powerful example. Americans across this great land know 
that they can do the same, that they can serve our country by helping 
someone in need.

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    We're grateful for your service to the men and women in uniform and 
to our Nation's veterans. You've sent hundreds of thousands of prayer 
books to those working to make our country more secure and to bring 
freedom in parts of the world that are desperate for freedom. You bring 
comfort and strength to our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines. I 
want to thank you for taking time to visit our wounded and disabled 
veterans, for providing comfort to their families, to give them a word 
of thanks.
    See, you're--the Knights are soldiers in the armies of compassion. 
You're foot soldiers. You've heard the call. You're helping this Nation 
build a culture of life in which the sick are comforted, the aged are 
honored, the immigrant is welcomed, and the weak and vulnerable are 
never overlooked. You have a friend in this administration. You have 
somebody who wants to work with you to change America for the better.
    We have a responsibility in Government to do things to help overcome 
recession and corporate scandal. It's easier to be a hopeful society 
when people are working. That's why I put forth an economic stimulus 
plan to encourage small-business growth, a plan that will help get jobs 
moving so people can work and do their duty as a mom or a dad and put 
food on the table. And we're making progress.
    When I came to Washington, I was concerned about a school system 
that simply shuffled children through grade after grade, year after 
year, and hoped for the best. Oftentimes, what we found out was kids 
with great hearts were graduating from schools but couldn't read. I 
challenged the soft bigotry of low expectations by raising the bar, 
insisting on high standards, by making sure the money we spent--and we 
did spend more money--went to help those who needed extra help early, 
before it was too late. I believe you've got to measure in order to 
know. If you believe a child can read, you've got to measure to 
determine whether or not that child is reading, and if not, get them 
help early, before it's too late.
    Because we measure, we know that now more minority children are 
learning to read at grade level, and that's good for America. I want to 
thank the Knights for their help in--helping low-income parents in 
Washington, DC, escape from schools--have their children escape from 
schools that will not teach and will not change. Because of the work of 
the Knights of Columbus and other concerned citizens in our Nation's 
Capital, poor parents now have a choice. They will have a $7,500 
scholarship so they can afford to send their school--their child to a 
private school or parochial school--their choice to make.
    You know, one of the great statistics of this modern era is the fact 
that more people are owning their own home. It seems like to me an 
optimistic society is one that encourages ownership, more people owning 
their own business, people being able to own and manage their own health 
care account, people being--own a piece of their retirement policy that 
they can pass on from one generation to the next, and people owning 
their own home. I love a society in which more and more people are able 
to say, ``Welcome to my home; come to my home.'' This country has added 
more than 1.6 million minority homeowners in the past 2 years. Today, 
the American homeownership rate is the highest ever--and the highest 
ever for minorities. When you own something, you have a vital stake in 
the future of your country.
    I want to work with the Knights for reasonable and compassionate 
immigration reform, to bring good, hard-working people out of the 
shadows of American life and to ensure that America is always a 
welcoming nation. I recognize, like you recognize, that amidst the great 
prosperity of America, amongst our great wealth, there are pockets of 
despair in this country, and we've got to do something about it. We must 
address despair so America is hopeful for every single person. See, we 
got fellow citizens who are trapped in the misery of drugs and gang 
violence, collapse of the family.
    Our society and our Government have a responsibility. You have a 
responsibility. Those of us honored to hold high office have a 
responsibility. We're doing some practical things. We've got a 
community-wide effort to help educate kids to the dangers of using 
drugs. We believe in collaborative efforts; people all throughout 
society must work to reduce the demand for drugs. Listen, we'll

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do all we can to bust the thugs, interdict the drugs coming in from 
foreign--overseas. But we've got to work on demand. And teen use of 
drugs is down by 11 percent from 2001 to 2003. That's a hopeful sign. A 
hopeful America is where our children are learning--[applause].
    There's a lot of work to be done on health care, but one place I 
know we can continue to work together on is health care for the poorest 
of the poor. We've expanded and built over 600 community health centers 
in America. I want to double the number so the 16 million poor Americans 
can get primary health care without putting a strain on the emergency 
rooms of our hospitals, whether they be public or private.
    We've got to pay for--we've got to work on additional welfare 
reforms to help people find a job, help them have the skills necessary 
to work so they realize the dignity that comes from being independent 
from Government and, at the same time, strengthen marriage and the 
family as part of welfare reforms.
    But I believe one of the most effective ways our Government can help 
those in need is to help the charities and community groups that are 
doing God's work every day. That's what I believe Government ought to 
do. I believe Government needs to stand on the side of faith-based 
groups, not against faith-based groups, when they come to saving lives.
    Government can hand out money, and of course there will be arguments 
whether we're handing out enough or not. But what Government can never 
do is put love in a person's heart or a sense of purpose in a person's 
life. You see, in order to heal--help the lonely, it works every time 
when a loving soul puts their arm around and says, ``What can I do to 
help you? How can I help you in your life? What can I do to make your 
life better?'' Many are called by God to do so, and Government must 
stand on the side of those millions of acts of mercy and kindness that 
take place on a daily basis.
    And so the Faith-Based Initiative that I've launched recognizes the 
need there be separation of church and state. The state should never be 
the church, and the church certainly should never be the state. But the 
state should never fear the good works of the church. And the truth of 
the matter is, there's a culture inside Government which resents and 
fears religious charities and has discriminated against them. We're 
changing that. I want to thank the Knights for their help in changing 
that attitude in Washington, DC.
    Our goal is to end the unfair discrimination against faith-based 
charities by the Federal Government. And we're making substantial 
progress. In December 2002, I issued an Executive order--I was hoping, 
frankly, that Congress would pass a law. I got tired of waiting. 
[Laughter] I got tired of the process debate. See, I'm focused on 
results. I want there to be positive results. I want lives to be saved 
as best as possible. The process bogged down. For those of you who pay 
attention to Washington, you know what I'm talking about when I say the 
process bogs down.
    So I signed an Executive order mandating equal treatment for faith-
based charities in the Federal grantmaking process. What that means is, 
is that faith-based groups ought to be allowed to apply for Federal 
grants just like everybody else should be allowed to apply. Faith-based 
groups will not be allowed to discriminate against who they serve, and 
they won't use the Federal money to proselytize. But they're allowed to 
use the money to change hearts and souls, to help save lives, to 
embetter the world we live in.
    And so here's the principle we've established: Religious charities 
that are effectively helping the poor should have a fair and equal 
chance to compete for Federal money. That's the new--those are the new 
rules. And this--in 2003, discretionary grants to faith-based programs 
was over a billion dollars. We're making progress. We're using Federal 
taxpayers' money for effective use in helping to save lives. We're 
providing a social network of loving--helping loving souls interface 
with people so they can realize a better tomorrow.
    Three years ago, I established the Compassion Capital Fund. It's an 
innovative idea. It was a--the fund gives money to intermediary 
organizations that provide faith-based and community organizations with 
training, technical assistance--what it is, is like a little incubator: 
``If you want to access Federal money, here's how you do it. If you

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want to start up a faith-based program, here's some of the lessons 
learned.'' In other words, what we're trying to say is not only are we 
going to allow those faith-based programs that already exist to access 
Federal money, we want to help others spring up and understand the 
pitfalls to succeed. The fund provides grants to faith-based and 
community organizations as well to help them fund their programs for the 
poor and the hungry and the homeless. We've awarded $56 million under 
this program. Today I release another $43 million to the compassionate 
Federal grant program.
    We're moving forward on another initiative, which is mentoring for 
the children of prisoners. I mean, if the job of Government is to try to 
set priorities, a priority is to help children of prisoners find love. 
Imagine what a tough life it is for a young boy or girl to go see his or 
her mom or dad behind prison bars. These are children who need help. 
They're vulnerable to gangs and crime and despair. They're desperate for 
responsible adults in their life who can give them what many of them 
long for, which is love and tenderness.
    The best way to do that is to encourage all groups, including faith-
based groups, to provide mentors. And it's happening in America. For 
those of you who are mentoring the children of prisoners, thank you for 
what you're doing to make America a more welcoming place. We've awarded 
grants--today we've unleashed another $45.5 million of grants to 
programs, all aimed at doing this.
    I'll tell you another program that's important is to help the 
addict, is to help the person so stuck on drugs that they can't realize 
the great human potential that God has given them, and they need 
desperate help. I believe that some counseling programs work, no 
question about it. But I also know programs that change the heart works. 
When a person changes their heart, they change their habits. Government 
is not good at changing hearts. The Almighty God is good at changing 
hearts, which happens to be the cornerstone of effective faith-based 
programs. And therefore, when it comes to spending Federal money to help 
addicts, I've asked the Congress, and the Congress has agreed to allow 
us to use vouchers to go to the person who is seeking help. That person 
can use that voucher at any kind of program he or she chooses, including 
faith-based programs, to help heal hearts and save lives.
    In other words, some of these are the ways that--what I'm telling 
you is, things are changing in the Nation's Capital when it comes to 
invigorating the Faith-Based Initiative, and the Knights have helped a 
lot. I appreciate your efforts to level the playing field when it comes 
to grantmaking. And because of your efforts, America is changing for the 
better.
    I needed someone to lead this program, so guess who I turned to? The 
Knights. I found Towey. Jim Towey is the Director of the White House 
Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. He's with me. You know 
what his job is? His job is to help the faith community--by the way, all 
faiths--all faiths, Christian, Jew, or Muslim--all faiths understand 
what is possible now. His job is also to make sure the Federal 
Government is a hospitable place for faith programs to work with. Let's 
be frank about it. Many faith-based programs don't want to interface 
with Government. You know why? They're afraid of losing the ability to 
practice their faith. How can you be a faith-based program if you're not 
allowed to practice your faith? Towey's job--so Towey has got a big job. 
It's to change a culture, a suspicious culture, and we're making 
progress--a suspicious culture in Washington, a suspicious culture in 
the grassroots.
    Here's Towey's story. He goes to meet Mother Teresa for the first 
time. He shows up at one of her homes for the dying in India, and the 
sister who greeted him assumed he was there to work. [Laughter] That's 
what I assume every day that Towey shows up. [Laughter] So she gave Jim 
some cloth and said, ``Go clean the sores of a dying man.'' He says it 
changed his life, that experience. He went on to work full-time for the 
Missionaries of Charity. Incredibly enough, Jim Towey, Director of the 
Office of Faith-Based Initiatives in the White House, was Mother 
Teresa's lawyer. I ask you, what kind of society is it where Mother 
Teresa needs a lawyer? [Laughter] It's a society that needs tort reform. 
[Laughter] I appreciate your good work, friend. Thanks for coming today.

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    The Knights of Columbus are transferring lives with works of 
compassion, and, just as importantly, you're defending the values of 
faith and family that bind us as a nation. I appreciate your fight to 
protect children from obscenity. I appreciate your working to protect 
the Pledge of Allegiance, to keep us ``one Nation under God.'' I want to 
thank you--I want to thank you for the defense of the traditional 
family. That is a most fundamental institution for our society. I 
appreciate the fact you're promoting the culture of life.
    We're making progress here in America. Last November, I signed a law 
to end the brutal practice of partial-birth abortion. This law is 
constitutional. This law is compassionate. This law is urgently needed, 
and my administration will vigorously defend it in the courts. I was 
pleased to sign the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act. I want to thank 
the Knights on that piece of legislation. I signed the Unborn Victims of 
Violence Act. Common sense and conscience tells us that when an 
expectant mother is killed, two lives are ended, and the criminal should 
answer for both crimes.
    I was pleased to sign legislation supporting maternity group homes. 
We'll continue to work to help crisis pregnancy centers. We'll work 
together to strengthen incentives for adoption and parental notification 
laws. The Knights have been helpful, and I appreciate your help. My 2005 
budget, I proposed to more than triple Federal funds for abstinence 
programs in schools and community-based programs above 2001 levels.
    I'll continue to work with Congress to pass a comprehensive and 
effective ban on human cloning. Human life is a creation of God, not a 
commodity to be exploited by man.
    I look forward to working with the Knights to defend the sacred bond 
of marriage. A few activist judges have taken it upon themselves to 
redefine the institution of marriage by court order. I support a 
constitutional amendment to protect the sanctity of marriage by ensuring 
it is always recognized as the union of a man and woman as husband and 
wife. I appreciate the Knights' stand on this issue.
    I also appreciate the Knights of Columbus' stand on the Federal 
judiciary. I have a responsibility as President to make sure the Federal 
judicial system runs well. I have nominated superb men and women for the 
Federal benches who will strictly and fully interpret the law, not 
legislate from the bench.
    In all these areas, caring for the poor and protecting the 
vulnerable, affirming life, and defending the family, we're depending on 
the goodness and compassion of the American people. And that's good, 
because the American people are good and compassionate. See, the 
strength of this country is not our military might. It's not the size of 
our wallet. The strength of this country is the hearts and souls of the 
American people. And it is an incredible honor to be the President of 
such a nation, a President of a nation of compassion and decency and 
honor and such powerful values that we're able to bring people from all 
walks of life under the rubric of being an American.
    I appreciate the prayers of the people of this country. People I'll 
never get to say thanks to in person, lift Laura and me up in prayer. 
It's a remarkable aspect of the Presidency. More significantly, it's a 
remarkable aspect of the life of the United States of America. I'm 
grateful for your prayers. I'm grateful for your great service and the 
example you set for our country.
    Thanks for having me today. May God bless your organization, and may 
God continue to bless our great country. Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 3:05 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Dallas. In 
his remarks, he referred to Carl A. Anderson, Supreme Knight, and Virgil 
Dechant, Past Supreme Knight, Knights of Columbus; Theodore Cardinal 
McCarrick, Archbishop of Washington, DC; Edward Cardinal Egan, 
Archbishop of New York; Justin Cardinal Rigali, Archbishop of 
Philadelphia, PA; Francis Cardinal George, Archbishop of Chicago, IL; 
William Cardinal Keeler, Archbishop of Baltimore, MD; Franciszek 
Cardinal Macharski, Archbishop of Krakow, Poland; and Gov. Jeb Bush of 
Florida.