[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 32 (Monday, August 9, 2004)]
[Pages 1454-1471]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks in a Discussion in Columbus, Ohio

August 5, 2004

    The President. Thank you all. Please be seated. Thank you all. 
That's what I'm here asking for, for 4 more years. Yes, I'm traveling 
our country--coming to Ohio a lot, by the way. I think you have to ask 
for the vote, and that's what I'm here doing. I want your vote and want 
your help.
    I want to thank those of you who are involved with grassroots 
politics, the people who are helping to register the voters and the 
people who are going to be asking the voters to do their duty in 
democracy and go to the polls. I appreciate your work. And by the way, 
when you get them headed to the polls, kind of nudge them our way.
    There's more to do for this country. That's what I want to talk 
about. We've got an unusual way of talking about the agenda for the 
future today. I want to share some thoughts with you. We've got some 
citizens from the Columbus area who are going to talk about some of the 
ideas that we're going to use to make America a compassionate place, a 
better place. And then I'll be glad to answer some of your questions.
    First, let me tell you I'm sorry Laura is not here. She's got a 
valid excuse. Governor

[[Page 1455]]

Bush's oldest son--that would be my youngest brother--oldest son is 
getting married. [Applause] Yes. And she's there early. I'm going late, 
because I'm working. [Laughter] But she is a wonderful wife, a loving 
mother, and a great First Lady. I'm really proud of her. [Applause] 
Thank you all.
    I was hoping she would come with me because I wanted her to come to 
the site where my grandfather was raised. I don't know if you know that 
or not--there you go--Grandfather Bush, raised right here in Columbus, 
Ohio. You know how we are in the political arena; we're always trying to 
find a local peg--[laughter]. I've got one here. [Laughter] And my 
family is better off having those Ohio roots in our background.
    I also picked a good man to run with. I admit it, Dick Cheney is not 
the prettiest candidate in the race. [Laughter] I didn't pick him 
because of his looks. I picked him because he knows what he's doing. 
He's a sound man with good judgment.
    Before we get started here, I do want to thank my friend your 
Governor, Bob Taft, for joining me today. Thanks for coming, Governor. 
Appreciate your service. I've known him for quite a while. We were both 
Governors together, and we're both members of the famous father club.
    I appreciate Congressman Pat Tiberi. He's from this area; he's doing 
a fine job. Who you got there? Tiberi tells me coming in that this is 
his daughter's first political speech. So when she starts dozing off, 
you know the reason why: I've been going on too long. But I appreciate 
the congressman coming. Thank you. I also appreciate my friend Deborah 
Pryce, Congresswoman Pryce, for being here too.
    Governor Jennette Bradley is with us. She's a good friend of mine. I 
appreciate her service to the State. Thank you, Jennette.
    I want to thank Doug Preisse, who emceed the event. He's also head 
of the grassroots. He's what we call the party chairman. That's the 
person in charge of making sure people who want to help have an 
opportunity to help to find the vote and turn people out to vote.
    I want to thank my friend Bernie Kosar. I reminded him that the 
Dallas Cowboys are going to be starting a 40-year-old quarterback this 
year. It's not too late, Bernie. [Laughter] He got his ring, he said; he 
doesn't want another one. But I really appreciate you coming. Thank you 
all for being here.
    Today I met a fellow named Jack Lehr. He's a soldier in the army of 
compassion. That means he's a person who is taking time out of his life 
to volunteer to help people. Jack has been involved with tutoring people 
in GED preparation programs. That means he's a mentor, see. Jack has 
taken time out of his life to help somebody who needs some help.
    One of the reasons I'm running--where are you, Jack? Oh, there he 
is. Thanks for coming out at the airport. I appreciate you. He's also 
involved with Hospice. I know a lot of you are doing the same thing in 
your lives: You're coaching Little League; or you're involved with Boy 
Scouts or Girl Scouts; or you're feeding the hungry; or you're finding 
shelter for the homeless. All of you are soldiers in the army of 
compassion. And one of the reasons I'm seeking the office for 4 more 
years is to continue to call upon our fellow citizens to love a neighbor 
just like you'd like to be loved yourself. See, that means I understand 
the strength of our country is the heart and souls of our citizens. 
That's the true strength of America, and we can change America one soul 
at a time by encouraging people to spread something Government cannot 
spread, which is love.
    One of the most important initiatives of this administration is what 
is called the Faith-Based and Community Initiative, that allows faith-
based programs--people from all faiths--to access Federal monies to help 
them do their job of spreading love and compassion. If you're an addict, 
if you're hooked on drugs or alcohol, sometimes government counseling 
can work. But sometimes it requires a change of heart in order to change 
habit. There are people who are empowered to change hearts in our 
society--not by Government, by a higher calling. And therefore, 
Government ought to welcome these works of compassion and healing.
    I know we can change America for the better by calling on those who 
are change agents, those who are willing to put an arm around somebody 
who needs love and say, ``I love you, brother. I love you, sister. What

[[Page 1456]]

can I do to help you have a better life here in America?''
    I'm running--I'm asking for your vote again, and I'm running because 
there's more to do to keep this country safer. You know, it's very 
important that we never forget the lessons of September the 11th, 2001. 
I know I won't; I know many of you will never forget it, either.
    Audience member. We'll never forget.
    The President. There you go. Let me share with you some of the 
lessons that I remember. One, we're facing an enemy which has no heart, 
no compassion. And that puts them at an advantage, in a way, because 
we're a country of heart and compassion. See, these are ideological 
extremists who are willing to use terror to affect the conscience of the 
free world. They're willing to try to have their way by wanton 
destruction of innocent life. That stands the opposite of what America 
stands for, isn't it? We don't believe in that, yet they do. They're 
trying to shake our will and our confidence. One of the lessons of 
September the 11th is we face deadly foe who will kill on a moment's 
notice to try to shake our confidence and our will.
    The second lesson of September the 11th is, is that in order to 
protect ourselves--and that's my most solemn duty, is to protect the 
American people--and by the way, it's the solemn duty of first-
responders all across our country; it's the solemn duty of those who 
wear our uniform. There's a lot of people who understand the seriousness 
of the job and the responsibilities we have. We're lucky to have a 
nation of so many responsible citizens who are willing to work hard to 
defend our homeland.
    The second lesson is, though, that in order to defend the homeland, 
we've got to be on the offense. We must deal with those people overseas 
so we don't have to face them here at home, and that's what we're doing. 
We've got a lot of fine troops out there. We've got other nations 
working with us to bring people to justice. And we're making progress, 
slowly but surely making progress. This is a different kind of war. 
Sometimes you'll see action; sometimes you won't. We're chasing people 
down in caves, in the dark recesses of the world. About two-thirds of 
the known Al Qaida leadership has been brought to justice, and we're 
safer for it.
    Another lesson of September the 11th is, in order to be able to 
defend ourselves, we've got to say to people who are willing to harbor a 
terrorist or feed a terrorist, ``You're just as guilty as the 
terrorist.'' And let me tell you something about leadership and about 
being the American President. If you say something, you'd better mean 
it. [Applause] Thank you all. And when I said to the Taliban--those are 
the folks running Afghanistan--``Give up your evil ways or face the 
consequences,'' I meant it. They ignored us, and they paid the price. 
They're no longer in power, no longer can Al Qaida use Afghanistan as a 
safe haven for training. Remember, thousands of people were trained in 
Afghanistan and then dispersed throughout the world, some of whom came 
here to inflict great harm on our people. The world is better off and 
America is safer because of the actions we have taken in Afghanistan.
    Think about this: Afghanistan is going to hold elections this fall. 
It's amazing, isn't it, when you think about it. What a change--what a 
change in a part of the world that is desperate for freedom. Listen, it 
wasn't but 3 years ago or so that these people lived under the clutches 
of one of the most brutal groups of people known to mankind, the 
Taliban. They wouldn't let young girls go to school in Afghanistan. They 
were so backward, their vision was so dim, that if you dared express an 
opinion that they didn't agree with, you were in trouble.
    You know, I was in Cleveland the other day, and we went to the 
International Children's Games kickoff, and guess who was there--a girls 
soccer team from Afghanistan, right here in America. What I'm saying is, 
Afghanistan is a better place. They're an emerging democracy. Over 8 
million people have registered to vote. They're an ally in the war on 
terror. And the world is better off because young girls and moms and 
dads have a chance to realize their ambitions for their families, not 
the ambitions of backward, barbaric people like the Taliban.
    We've taken the lead in the world, and the world has changed for the 
better. Just think about Afghanistan's neighbor, Pakistan, for a minute. 
Because of our leadership and

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work with the Pakistan authorities, Al Qaida is now on the run in 
Pakistan. We've got an ally in the war on terror with President 
Musharraf. No, this world is getting better off.
    A very important lesson of September the 11th, one this Nation must 
never forget, is that when we see threats, we must deal with them before 
they fully materialize. That's one of the vital lessons of that fateful 
day. See, with these people--remember, I described what they're like--
you cannot negotiate with them; you cannot hope for the best. I like to 
say therapy doesn't work. [Laughter] They made up their minds--they made 
up their minds to inflict terrible harm on those who disagree with them.
    That's why people who say that because we've been on the offense to 
protect America, we've created more enemies than before, just don't 
understand the war on terror. They do not understand. These were people 
plotting prior to us taking action around the world. These are people 
who look for weakness in the free world. These are people who are 
willing to exploit fear in the free world. And the United States of 
America will stand strong and resolute in the face of this new 
challenge.
    Another lesson of September the 11th: I said if we see a threat, we 
must deal with it before it fully materializes. We saw a threat in Iraq. 
And let me tell you why. Not only the intelligence say there was a 
threat there, but we remembered the history of the man. He was a sworn 
enemy of America. Terrorists were able to--and terrorist networks were 
able to operate in and out of his country. Remember Abu Nidal? He was 
the guy that killed the man, an American citizen, because he was Jewish. 
His network was there inside of Iraq. Zarqawi, who's still is running 
around in Iraq--his network was in Iraq. He is a--Saddam was a fellow 
who paid the families of suicide bombers. That's one of the--suiciding 
to kill innocent people as an act of terror. He paid the families as an 
incentive to do so. He had used weapons of mass destruction. Remember 
that? He had used them on his own people. He had used them against 
countries in his neighborhood. He was a source of instability. He was a 
threat, and we saw him as a threat.
    Now, the United States Congress looked at the same intelligence I 
looked at, the exact same intelligence, and came to the same conclusion. 
Members of both political parties looked at the intelligence. My 
opponent looked at the very same intelligence and came to the same 
conclusion. The United Nations--remember I went to the U.N. and said, 
``You have forever condemned him. You've told him to get rid of his 
weapons, yet nothing has happened, so let's try her one more time.'' And 
the United Nations looked at the intelligence, saw a threat, and passed 
a resolution 15 to nothing. That was what the Security Council said. 
They said, ``Disclose, disarm, or face serious consequences.''
    And so the world spoke, and again he defied us. And not only did he 
defy us, he systematically deceived the inspectors. You remember the 
period of time; we said, ``Well, let's give the inspectors the chance to 
work.'' We agreed, until we found out he was deceiving them. What he was 
trying to do was buy time. Why? Because he wanted to reconstitute a 
weapons program. He wanted to make sure he had the capacity to make 
weapons. And if he had any, like we thought he did, he didn't want 
anybody to find them, that's why. I had a choice to make then: forget 
the lessons of September the 11th, trust a madman; or take action to 
defend our country. Every time, I will defend America.
    We are safer--we are safer and the world is better off because 
Saddam is sitting in a prison cell. I want to share something with you. 
Committing troops into harm's way is--in harm's way is the most 
difficult decision a President can make. That decision must always be 
last resort. That decision must be done when our vital interests are at 
stake, but after we've tried everything else. There must be a compelling 
national need to put our troops into harm's way. I felt that. I felt we 
had a compelling national need. I know we had tried diplomacy. I knew 
that diplomacy at this point couldn't possibly work because he had no 
intention of listening to demands of the free world. And when you put 
your troops in harm's way, they better have the best--the best 
equipment, the best support, and the best possible pay.
    That's why I went to the Congress and said--last September--said we 
need more

[[Page 1458]]

money for our troops, $87 billion more money. Some of it was for 
reconstruction; most of it was for the troops, over $60 billion for the 
troops--Humvees, spare parts, body armor, the things necessary that you 
would want. If you are a mom or dad--we probably got a mom or dad here 
whose child is in Iraq--you want your son or daughter to have the best. 
[Applause] Thank you, appreciate you.
    There were two Senators--there were 12 Senators who voted against 
more funding for the troops, two of whom are my opponent and his 
runningmate.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. I don't know if you heard the explanation. He said, 
``I actually did vote for the $87 billion, before I voted against it.'' 
[Laughter] That's not the way most folks speak in Ohio. As the Commander 
in Chief, I'll see to it our troops have the best--the best possible 
pay, the best possible training, the best possible equipment to defend 
the United States of America. [Applause] Thank you all. By the way, I 
know we've got some veterans here. Thanks for setting such a good 
example for those who wear our uniform today. I appreciate your service.
    The world is changing. This is an historic times. Freedom equals 
peace. Listen, we've done the hard work, and there's more hard work to 
do. But I want you to know that we're headed for a peaceful world. 
That's my hope. My hope is that young children can grow up in a peaceful 
world. My hope is that we never have to live another day like we did on 
September the 11th.
    And you achieve peace by spreading freedom. That's what America 
believes. And that's hard work. Free nations are peaceful nations. Free 
nations, nations that listen to the aspirations of their people, are 
nations in which it's hard to recruit people willing to kill themselves 
for a radical philosophy. That's what Americans believe. We believe that 
freedom is the Almighty God's gift to every man and woman in this world.
    And therefore, our strategy for peace is to do everything we can to 
protect the homeland by being on the offense against an enemy. But it's 
also to spread liberty. These are historic times. That's why it's vital 
we stand with those who love freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq. Now, it's 
not easy to be a free society in a place like Iraq; it's just not. You 
can understand why. These people were brutalized. There were mass graves 
of thousands of--of a thousand citizens.
    I'll tell you an interesting story, and it's one that touched my 
heart. Seven people came to the Oval Office, seven Iraqi men. Walking in 
that Oval Office, by the way, is a pretty interesting experience--the 
kind of place people stand outside and say, ``When I get in, I'm going 
to tell him what-for.'' And they walk in, they get overwhelmed by the 
Oval Office, say, ``Man, you're looking good, Mr. President.'' 
[Laughter]
    These people came in, and they said, ``Liberator.'' I said, ``You 
don't need to thank me; you need to thank the American people. You need 
to thank the mothers and fathers of those, and the husbands and wives of 
those, who served to free you.'' They had something in common besides 
being Iraqi men; all of them had their right hands cut off by Saddam 
Hussein. That's the society that we've liberated. You know why? Because 
his currency had devalued and he needed a scapegoat. So he found seven 
small-business men. For example, one of them was a jeweler, and he told 
me, he said, ``I sold dinars to buy''--I think he said euros--``to buy 
gold so I could make a watch.'' And so what they were looking for, the 
authority, Saddam and his thugs, were looking for people who sold dinars 
that caused the currency to be devalued at that particular moment. They 
put them in prison, and he cut off their right hands and burned an X in 
their forehead. So in come seven guys who have got an X in their 
forehead. The good news is that they had been discovered by an American 
named Marvin Zindler from Houston, and he had a foundation to help 
people from around the world. They flew them into Houston. These seven 
guys had new hands, new prosthesis.
    A guy took my Sharpie, wrapped his new fingers, and wrote ``God 
bless America'' in Arabic. What a contrast--what a contrast in 
societies: On the one hand, a society that was so brutalized by a 
dictator that he could just say, ``I'm going to cut off their hands,'' 
to a society which says, ``We want to heal you,

[[Page 1459]]

no matter who you are, no matter your religion, no matter where you're 
from.'' We believe in human dignity and human rights in the United 
States of America.
    There's good people now running those countries, Karzai and Alawi. 
These are tough guys. Alawi, I'm told, woke up one night in London to a 
axe-wielding group of men that had been sent by Saddam Hussein to kill 
him with an axe. He got away from the axe-wielding thugs severely 
wounded. In other words, this guy has seen the worst of tyranny, and now 
he's leading the country. He believes in a free Iraq. He believes in a 
self-governing Iraq. He believes in listening to the aspirations of the 
people. And he's plenty tough to do the job.
    And so we've got to stand with these people, see, because, you know 
what, a free world--a free Iraq in a part of the world that's desperate 
for freedom is an historic opportunity. Maybe I can put it to you best 
this way: You know, my dad, I'm sure some of your dads, fought in World 
War II against Japan. And right after World War II, there was a movement 
to rebuild Japan so it would be a self-governing nation. Some doubted 
whether that was possible. Some people in our country, they said, ``Why 
are you wasting your time? Why worry about a self-governing Japan?'' 
Fortunately, there were some optimists, some people who believed in the 
power of liberty to change societies and lives who stood the line and 
finally succeeded. We succeeded in helping Japan self-govern.
    So I'm having Kobe beef one night with Prime Minister Koizumi. He's 
the Prime Minister of Japan and a good friend of mine. We're talking 
about how to keep the peace. We're talking about how to deal with Mr. 
Kim Chong-il of North Korea--people are starving, by the way, and who 
wants to try to blackmail the free world with a nuclear weapon. And here 
we are talking about peace. That's what we're talking about. See, free 
societies are peaceful societies. Someday, an American President will be 
talking to a duly-elected leader of Iraq, talking about the peace, and 
America will be better for it.
    And the people of Iraq are watching carefully right now. Are we 
going to be a country of our word? When we say we believe people should 
be free, are we willing to stand by our word? Or are we going to go 
timid and weary and afraid of the barbaric behavior of a few? I want to 
be your President for 4 more years because I believe that freedom can 
change the world and the world will be more peaceful.
    A couple of other--[applause]. Thank you all. Let me talk about 
domestic policies. And then we're going to call on some of our--some of 
your citizens to help me make some points. First of all, when I came to 
Washington, I said we're going to challenge the soft bigotry of low 
expectations. That means the attitude that some kids can't learn; 
therefore, let's just shuffle them through the school. You know what I'm 
talking about. And people got shuffled from grade to grade, and society 
woke up, said, ``Oh, what happened?'' Well, what happened was, was that 
we didn't set high expectations and we never measured, really. We 
never--you see, if you believe a child can read, then you want to know 
whether that child is reading. And you want to know early, before it's 
too late. And when you can figure out whether a child is not reading 
early, it gives you a chance to correct the problems so that no child is 
left behind. That's why we called it the No Child Left Behind Act.
    And we made good progress. There is more to do. That's what I'm here 
to tell you. There's more to do. We need intensive reading programs for 
junior high kids. We need to make sure that they've got the basic 
education as they head to high school. We must make sure that the 
Internet is in classrooms so that the free flow of information is 
vibrant and well. The broadbrand technology initiative of mine is 
essential to making sure information flows into our schools. We want to 
make sure the high school diploma means something.
    There's more work to do. We want to make sure the community colleges 
are vibrant. We're about to talk to one of your citizens who has gone 
back to school, after years, to upgrade her skill level. If we want them 
to keep jobs here in America, we've got to make sure our kids are 
educated so they can compete. And we've got to make sure people have got 
the capacity to retrain for the jobs which exist. You've got jobs here.

[[Page 1460]]

    Listen, I understand something about the job base in Ohio. I know 
people are nervous. People are skittish. But there's jobs being created, 
and we're going to talk to a job creator here as well. But one of the 
ways to make sure jobs stay here is that we train people for the jobs 
which actually exist. And we're going to talk to one of your citizens 
here pretty quick--or two citizens, actually, that are involved with 
work training.
    Health care is an issue in this campaign--how do we keep it 
affordable and available. We've made some good progress in health care. 
We've expanded what's called community health centers. Those are for 
low-income Americans to get help with primary care so they're not 
getting help in your emergency rooms. One way to hold down costs--which 
I think is the crux of much of the problems; health care costs too 
much--is to provide care for people who can't afford health care in a 
cost-effective manner. And we're doing that by expanding community 
health centers.
    We've got to make sure that small-business owners have the capacity 
to pool risk. See, most people who are working uninsured work for small 
businesses. And small businesses must be allowed to pool risk across 
jurisdictional boundaries--associated health plans, they're called--so 
they get the same purchasing power as big companies do in order to make 
sure there is health insurance available for employees.
    We want to make sure there's health savings accounts available for 
people. We're going to talk to a new purchaser of a health savings 
account. You've probably heard of them, aren't sure what they mean. 
You're about to learn what they are. They are wonderful ways for people 
to save money, to make sure that the person or the family is in charge 
of their own health care decisions so that bureaucrats aren't making the 
decisions for people. And there are ways to save money. You'll hear--
[laughter]--you'll like it. [Laughter]
    We strengthened Medicare. Think back, now. You know, President after 
President, candidate after candidate said, ``Elect me; I'll do something 
about Medicare.'' I got the job done, along with Congress. Medicare is 
better off. Four million seniors have signed up for drug discount cards. 
If you haven't, if you're eligible, sign up for one. You'll save money 
when it comes to purchasing prescription drugs. Next year, we're going 
to actually start screening seniors. Doesn't that make sense, to have a 
health care system that says let's screen you first so we can detect 
problems early, before they're too late. That was never a part of 
Medicare. Thanks to the reforms we worked together on, it's now an 
essential part and will save taxpayers money.
    In 2006, prescription drugs will become available for the first time 
in Medicare, and seniors will have more choices. Seniors will be able to 
design the health care plan that meets their needs. That's never been a 
part of Medicare. And here's how you save money. Medicare would pay for 
the $100,000 or so heart operation. Medicare would not pay for the 
prescription drugs to prevent the heart condition from happening in the 
first place. See, you spend $2,000 of drugs to save the Government 
$100,000 of operating expenses. Inherent in my philosophy for health 
care is we want the patient and the doctor to be central to the 
decisionmaking process in health care, not Washington, DC, bureaucrats.
    Finally, let me tell you one other thing about health care. One 
reason your health care costs are going up, and one reason doctors are 
nervous and many doctors are leaving the practice of medicine is because 
of junk and frivolous lawsuits. See, you can't be pro-patient, pro-
doctor, and pro-trial-lawyer at the same time. You have to choose, see. 
I think those of us in public life have to choose. My opponent made his 
choice, and he put him on the ticket. [Laughter] I made my choice. We 
need medical liability reform in Washington, DC, to help our patients 
and doctors.
    A couple of other points. We've been through a lot. Ohio has been 
through a lot. Listen, when you go through a recession, corporate 
scandal, emergency, and war, you've been through a lot in a quick period 
of time, if you really think about it. Think about what we have been 
through as an economy and as a nation, and yet we're strong. You know 
why? We've got great workers. We've got the most productive workforce in 
the world. We've got great entrepreneurs. We've got wonderful farmers 
and ranchers. In other

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words, we've got good people in this country that are willing to work 
together to overcome obstacles. But Government can help.
    I think one of the reasons why our economy is strong and getting 
stronger is because of tax relief. Remember what the tax relief was 
like. If you're a mother or a dad, you've got a child, you got--your 
child credit went up to 1,000. If you're married, we did something about 
the marriage penalty. I like to remind people, it's a different kind of 
Tax Code, isn't it, that says we'll penalize marriage. [Laughter] That's 
not what we believe. We ought to be strengthening marriage in America, 
not penalizing marriage.
    A lot of the relief--a lot of the tax relief--also remember, when 
you're out there gathering the vote, what I'm trying to do is arm you up 
to get ready to convince the undecideds. [Laughter] Just remember this: 
When we were for tax relief, we said if you pay taxes, you ought to get 
relief. In other words, we didn't try to play favorites. If you're going 
to have tax relief, the fairest way to do it at Government is to say if 
you pay taxes, you get relief. And it's working.
    Part of the tax relief plan that's really important is the small-
business tax relief. Most new jobs in America are created by small-
business owners. Therefore, it makes sense to cut taxes on small 
businesses, doesn't it? Actually, I'll answer my own question: It only 
makes sense to cut taxes on small businesses if you understand the role 
of Government is not to create wealth but an environment in which the 
entrepreneurial spirit can flourish.
    Let me make one other point on the small-business tax relief, so 
everybody understands it. Most small businesses are Subchapter S 
corporations or sole proprietorships. Now, what that means is they pay 
tax at the individual income tax level. And so when you hear me talking 
about cutting individual income taxes, you've got to be thinking about 
the small businesses that are getting relief as well. See, one of the 
cornerstones of the economic recovery package, the economic stimulus 
package, was letting small businesses keep more money, which means it's 
more likely they're going to stay in business or more likely to hire 
somebody. It also encouraged small businesses to buy capital goods. 
We'll talk about a capital good purchaser here in a minute.
    And so the economy is strong. There's more work to do. But remember, 
we created 1.5 million new jobs in the last year. Ohio's unemployment 
rate is 5.8 percent. It's getting better, is what I'm telling you--5.8 
percent is good; we can do better. I'll tell you how you can do better: 
Don't raise taxes on the American people, for starters.
    Just remember, they're out there promising every day. I think 
they're over $2 trillion--``they'' being our opponents--have promised 
more than $2 trillion in new spending. They just haven't said how 
they're going to pay for it. Well, they have--they have to a certain 
extent. They said they're going to tax the rich. They're going to raise 
the rates. Well, first of all, I don't think anybody ought to pay more 
than 35 percent to the Federal Government. I think that's a fair amount 
of money that somebody ought to pay.
    Secondly, when they say they're going to tax the rich, remember, 
when they're raising those income taxes, they're also taxing small 
businesses. Most small businesses pay individual income taxes. Thirdly, 
you know how the Tax Code works. When they say ``tax the rich,'' those 
are the folks who have got the accountants to see to it they don't pay 
tax, so guess who gets stuck with the bill? You're going to get stuck 
with the bill. The worst thing for job creation is to be running up the 
taxes on the working people of this country, and we're not going to let 
him have a chance to do so.
    I'm winding down here. [Laughter] Nobody started to fall out yet. A 
couple other points I want to make. I'm running because I understand 
there's some things we need to do to keep jobs here in America. We need 
tort reform to keep jobs here in America. We need good health policy to 
keep jobs here in America. We need an energy plan to keep jobs here in 
America. We need to become less dependent on foreign sources of energy.
    Audience member. Get it done, George!
    The President. I am going to get it done. I told you when I ran we 
would reform the schools, and we did. I told you when I ran we would 
reform Medicare, and we did. I told you when I ran we would cut the 
taxes on the working people, and we did. When

[[Page 1462]]

this administration says something, we mean it, and we get it done.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. Thank you all. Okay. I've asked some citizens to come 
and help me make my points. First of all, the cornerstone of good 
policy, in my opinion, is to encourage people to own something. See, I 
believe a society in which there is widespread ownership is a hopeful 
and helpful society. If you own something, you really care about the 
future of the country. That's why I like ownership. We want to have an 
environment so more people own their own business. We're going to talk 
to the CEO of a small business here in a minute. There's nothing more 
hopeful, is there, than saying, ``Welcome to my home.'' We want more 
people owning their own home. And I'm proud to report the homeownership 
rates are at an alltime high in America today. We're going to talk about 
owning your own health care account. I also believe that younger workers 
ought to be allowed, at their option, to have personal savings accounts 
in Social Security so that the Social Security system can survive.
    For us old guys, retired or nearly retired, nothing will change. But 
to make sure there's a Social Security system around for younger 
workers--I'm talking about down there in the 30s--[laughter]--they ought 
to be allowed to take some of their own money and have a personal 
savings account that they can pass on from one generation to the next.
    The Jaminets are with us, Emily and John. Thanks for coming. As you 
can see, Emily is about ready to have her fourth child. She doesn't look 
old enough, does she, to have four children. Thanks for coming. Tell 
us--first of all, they have told me that they bought a home.
    Mr. Jaminet. That's right.
    The President. First-time homebuyer.
    Mr. Jaminet. That's right.
    The President. Why?
    Mr. Jaminet. Why? For our family.
    The President. Good, well, most people buy a home for their 
families. That's good. [Laughter] And, so, like, tell--go ahead, tell me 
what you told me earlier. Refinanced it.

[Mr. Jaminet made brief remarks.]

    The President. You like having your own home. First, the reason I 
asked him to come is, is that I told you I believe in ownership. There's 
nothing better than a story when somebody says, ``We own our first 
home.'' They own their own home. That's what we want. We want people 
from all walks of life to stand up in America and say, ``Hey, I own my 
own home. Welcome to my home''--not, ``Welcome to the Government's 
home,'' but, ``Welcome to my home.''
    These good folks saved money in the tax relief. That's what I wanted 
to share with you as well--2,200 in 2003.
    Mr. Jaminet. That's right.
    The President. Two thousand four--how much?
    Mr. Jaminet. About the same.
    The President. Same, okay. This is $2,300. Now, that's not a lot to 
people in Washington, I guess, the numbers counters up there. It's a lot 
to them. See, here's what I believe about tax relief. Government can set 
priority and it needs--and that's hard in Washington. Everybody has got 
their own priorities. My job is to set priorities: It's been the defense 
of the homeland; it's been winning the war on terror; it's been making 
sure education works well; making sure our seniors have a health care 
system that's reasonable. But I believe once Government sets priorities, 
these folks can spend their money better than the Federal Government can 
spend their money.
    What did you do with all that money? First of all, it's your money. 
Get nervous when you hear people in Washington say, ``Well, we're 
spending the Government's money.'' [Laughter] It's not the Government's 
money. It's John and Emily's money that we're spending. Now they've got 
more of their own to spend. It's an important distinction in the 
campaign. People have got to listen carefully to the words. I think 
they'll get a difference of philosophy.
    Now, what did you do with all your own money? [Laughter]
    Mrs. Jaminet. Well, I'm a stay-at-home mom, so it's allowed me to do 
that.
    The President. Good.
    Mrs. Jaminet. I'm just really--keep focused on our family values and 
continue, like John said, to pay off debt, and him going

[[Page 1463]]

back to school is such a huge blessing to be able to work at Honda and 
have a career that provides for all of us.
    The President. You work at Honda?
    Mr. Jaminet. Yes.
    The President. That's good. It's interesting, isn't it, a foreign 
company investing in the United States. That's positive. I can see why 
they did. We've got great people here in America. They need to keep 
coming with their money. They'll find great workers here. Thank you all 
for coming.
    One think I want to remind you of is, parts of the tax relief 
package expire. That's what happened when Congress passed the deal. It's 
going to stay low for a while, and then they go away. See, I've been 
calling on the Congress to make the tax relief permanent. Now, if they 
don't make it permanent, these good folks will pay $1,300 more in taxes. 
They'll have less of their own money. In other words, they'll have 
$1,300 less to spend. And I don't think that's good for the economy, to 
be taking--I know it's not good for their family. They're worried about 
their family. I'm worried about their family. I'm worried about the 
economy too. And taking that money out of their pockets is not good. Tax 
relief has got to be permanent in order to make sure this economy 
continues to grow. [Applause] Thank you all.
    We've got an interesting story with Linda Wagner. Linda, thanks for 
coming. What's your job description?
    Ms. Wagner. Well, I happen to be a registered nurse, and I'm 
director of employee education for Ohio Health Corporation.
    The President. Great. And how does it work?

[Ms. Wagner made brief remarks.]

    The President. Let me ask you something. Obviously somebody is 
looking for workers in those fields, I guess is why they're retraining 
people.
    Ms. Wagner. Yes, that's a desperate need. Health care----
    The President. Desperate need--there are jobs in this new society, 
jobs in a high-tech world that--where people need help in order to gain 
the skills necessary to fill the jobs. That's what we're talking about. 
A compassionate America is willing to retrain people for the jobs which 
exist.

[Ms. Wagner made further remarks.]

    The President. Right, and there's Government money for that, trade 
adjustment assistance, displaced workers programs. I think it's a wise 
use of taxpayers' money, frankly, to help people who have been displaced 
from their work go back to school and gain the skills necessary to fill 
the jobs which exist. Interestingly enough--I don't know if, Linda, 
you're in a position to say this--but most people who go back to school 
for the new jobs end up making more money.
    Ms. Wagner. Absolutely.
    The President. Yes, she was. That's good. [Laughter]
    Ms. Wagner. You're talking somewhere between 200 and 300 percent 
difference in salaries between an unlicensed person and somebody who has 
got a license.
    The President. Listen, if you're out there looking for work and you 
don't think there's work available, go to your one-stops, ask and look 
for what's available. Good Government policy has made money available 
for people to be retrained in institutions which are flexible and 
available and affordable. The community colleges, for example, are 
willing to change curriculum to help meet the needs of the workplace. 
And this is a private institution that's doing the same thing. You're 
doing great work.
    Ms. Wagner. Well, we're pretty proud of our program.
    The President. You ought to be.
    Ms. Wagner. We pay for the tuition, expenses, books, and we also 
fund three clinical instructors to also assist Columbus State in getting 
our people educated.
    The President. Well, thank you, Linda. Appreciate you. Good job. 
Pass that over to Jerry. See, the reason Linda came is because I was 
convinced that she would be able to explain it better than me, and she 
did. [Laughter]
    Jerry Hurley. Absolutely.
    The President. But I appreciate that. You didn't have to agree with 
her, Jerry. [Laughter] All right, Jerry.
    Ms. Hurley. Hello, Mr. President.
    The President. How are you?

[[Page 1464]]

    Ms. Hurley. I am great today.
    The President. Okay. You don't need to tell us your age, like you 
told me earlier.
    Ms. Hurley. I am 53.
    The President. And proud of it, I want you to know.
    Ms. Hurley. Yes, I am.
    The President. And you're probably a grandmother.
    Ms. Hurley. I am a proud grandmother.
    The President. There you go. Okay, tell us about--this is an 
interesting story. I hope people out there are listening to Jerry's 
story. Go ahead. I feel like a talk show host. [Laughter]

[Ms. Hurley made brief remarks.]

    The President. There you go. Listen, the reason I asked--isn't that 
a great story? Thanks, Jerry. What a fabulous story. And, see, that's 
going to be the story of the 21st century, when you think about it. This 
is a changing world. The job picture changes quite rapidly. Some jobs 
don't change--like firefighters, guys. We'll need you forever. You don't 
have to worry about these guys. Thanks for your service.
    But jobs change. When most of you were coming up, your dad worked, 
your mom stayed at home, your dad had the job at the same company, and 
everything was fine. But it's a different world we live in today. And 
the job picture changes, and it requires new skill sets. In order to 
make sure America is a competitive place, we've got to make sure 
education not only gets it right for the youngsters but that there's 
continuing education opportunity for people like Jerry.
    Now, Government can't say, ``Go back to school.'' Somebody has to 
make that choice herself or himself. But we darn sure can help. And the 
community college system is a great place to get people retrained for 
the jobs which exist. Not only is there great job satisfaction achieved 
by somebody choosing to take advantage of educational opportunities; 
they're making more money too. And that's what's important to realize. 
If you gain new skills and you become a more productive worker, 
productivity increases yield higher wages. And that's what's happening 
in America.
    Some people are nervous--of course they're nervous--but there are 
jobs out there, and the role of Government is to help people train for 
the jobs which exist, just like Jerry. And I want to thank you for 
coming.
    We've got an interesting story that Russ and Kathy Griffith are 
going to share with you. They're here with us. Russ is a self-employed 
consultant, engineering consultant. And he is--well, he's going to talk 
to you about health savings accounts, let me put it to you that way. 
Tell everybody what a health savings account is.

[Mr. Griffith made brief remarks.]

    The President. Right, so let's put it this way. Say you've got a--
you buy a insurance policy that says they'll cover everything above the 
first $1,000 of expenses, which is not a very high premium policy. And 
then, you put $1,000--in his case, he's self-employed, so he puts $1,000 
of his own money, tax-free, into a savings account which earns money 
tax-free, which he can withdraw tax-free to cover up the first $1,000 of 
expenses before the insurance policy kicks in. So in his case, the 
expense is the cost of the insurance policy plus the $1,000 tax-free 
money into the account, is that accurate?
    Mr. Griffith. That's true, yes.
    The President. All right--and this is a new product, by the way, and 
it's going to take a while for the American people to figure it out, but 
it's a product that says he's in control of his health care decisions. 
See, he decides how the $1,000 is spent, not somebody you never see 
before, you know, somebody writing the insurance. It's his call to make. 
After all, it's his money. Probably going to cause him to make better 
health care choices, for starters, like exercise. [Laughter]
    Now, let me ask you something, what were you spending prior to your 
health savings account, and give people a sense of the savings.
    Mr. Griffith. We established our health savings account and 
insurance policy in the middle of June, and before that, we were 
spending $1,111 a month for our insurance policy. Since we established 
the HSA account and the insurance policy, we're now spending less than 
one-third of that on our monthly premium. We expect that on an annual 
basis, we will spend less than half--when you count

[[Page 1465]]

the insurance premium as well as our out-of-pocket medical expenses--
we'll be spending less than half of what we spent with our previous 
medical insurance.
    The President. So he's saving money. So people say, ``How can you--
what can you put in place to help people save money in health care?'' 
Well, here's the plan right here. And let me tell you the interesting 
thing about the plan, is, see, Russ and Kathy are responsible for the 
$1,000. It's their money they put in tax-free, so therefore, they're 
going to be wise shoppers when it comes to health care. They're going to 
be a better decisionmaker. If the doctor says, ``You've got to spend 
$800 on this,'' they may say, ``Well, I'm not so sure we want to spend 
8, doc, you know.'' [Laughter]
    Mr. Griffith. Tell me I need that----
    The President. Go ahead. Seriously.
    Mr. Griffith. I was going to say, ``Tell me, doctor, that I need 
that.''
    The President. Yes, see, rational decisionmaking by patients where 
they're in control of the decisionmaking process, is part of how you 
hold costs down. If you've got people just spending your money and you 
just take it for granted that the decisionmaking process is wise, that's 
inflationary. As you're a part of the process of, kind of, discerning 
which is what's necessary and what's not, it also is when it's your 
money on the line and you see it on your line--on the line, you'll make 
better choices about your body. You'll realize savings by living healthy 
lives, which isn't the way the system is today. It's an interesting 
system.
    And see, the way it works for small businesses--let's say Russ hires 
somebody and is doing quite well in his business, he can set up an HSA 
for his employee, and he can kick in the $1,000. The employer can kick 
in the $1,000 tax-free for the employee. That's how you fund a better 
health care system. It's going to take awhile for this product to 
evolve, but in the heart of it, the heart of the system, is that rather 
than bureaucrats making decisions for Russ, he and Kathy are making 
decisions for themselves and are rewarded on a tax-free return by making 
good and wise decisions in the health care.
    Listen, thanks for coming. I appreciate you explaining this. Go 
ahead. Got anything else? Yes, hold on.
    Mr. Griffith. I'd like to say also that even though we made that 
change, we were able to keep the doctors that we had under our previous 
policy. So we had no--have had no change at all in the health care we 
received, either in hospitals or doctors.
    The President. Yes, the docs will like this because they like 
dealing directly with their patients. They'd rather be spending time 
healing than filling out paperwork, I can assure you. And at any rate, 
it's an interesting idea. Thank you all for coming. Very good job. It's 
working, in other words. A man just stood up and said he saved half--
from what he was spending, saved half of his previous expenses. That's a 
good deal. People ought to look into it.
    Finally, Phil Derrow is with us, small-business guy, CEO and 
president, Ohio Transmission Corporation, New Albany, Ohio. Welcome.
    Mr. Derrow. Thank you.
    The President. What's your business do?

[Mr. Derrow made brief remarks.]

    The President. Good, that's--keep saying that, will you? [Laughter] 
Let me ask you, are you adding any jobs this year? That's what I'm 
interested in, and so are the people looking for work.
    Mr. Derrow. We are.
    The President. How many?
    Mr. Derrow. We expect to add anywhere from 10 to 36 jobs this year 
depending on the business that we----
    The President. See, here's what's happening in America today. 
Remember, I told you most new jobs are created by small businesses? 
That's what he's saying, 10 to 35 jobs here, 10 to 35 jobs there. The 
entrepreneurial sector of this country is strong. The small-business 
sector is vibrant and alive. We've been through tough times. He's 
growing. A lot of it had to do with tax policy. Let me ask you 
something. Are you going to make investment?
    Mr. Derrow. Absolutely. We make investments each year. The reduction 
or the accelerated depreciation allowance has allowed us to make more 
investment than maybe we

[[Page 1466]]

otherwise would have. It's also allowed our customers to purchase 
capital equipment that they may not have. We've had a number of 
customers tell us that they made capital equipment purchases because of 
the accelerated depreciation schedule.
    The President. Yes, see, what that means is--that's accountant talk. 
He's not an accountant, though. He hires accountants, right?
    Mr. Derrow. I do. I have one here.
    The President. That's good. [Laughter] Okay. What he's telling you 
is that the tax relief we passed said that if you make an investment, 
you save money; you get a little tax break for making an investment. 
What will you invest in? Like, when you say ``investment,'' what will 
you be buying?
    Mr. Derrow. We purchase information technology equipment. We 
purchase capital equipment. We own and operate air compressor stations 
that deliver compressed air to our customers, and we have to make 
investments anywhere from several hundred thousand dollars to a couple 
of million dollars to purchase the equipment to build that station. And 
then we sell air to our customers.
    The President. You and I are in the same business. [Laughter] Is it 
hot air, by any chance?
    Mr. Derrow. Oh, no.
    The President. When he makes an investment--listen, I want you to 
understand how the economy works. See, the tax relief said we're going 
to encourage him to make investment. He just said, ``I'm going to 
purchase equipment.'' Somebody has to make the equipment that he is 
going to purchase. And that's how the economy--that's how good tax 
policy works. It says to Phil, ``We want tax policy to make it more 
likely you'll make an investment,'' because when he makes an investment, 
somebody has got to build the product. And when somebody builds the 
product, somebody is more likely to keep a job or find work. That's why 
good tax policy has been working. And the key is to make sure that we 
don't disincent Phil--in other words, we changed the taxes at a time 
when he's still thinking about investing. Because if he chooses not to 
buy the equipment, then the person who is making the equipment may lose 
the job. That's how I think. I think about how to make the decisions of 
Phil easier, so he can stay in business and expand.
    Tell me--he's got another interesting idea that I think is very 
important for the country to adopt: flex-time.
    Mr. Derrow. I'm glad you told me what my interesting idea was. 
[Laughter]
    The President. I'm not a lawyer, but it looks like I'm leading the 
witness. [Laughter]
    Mr. Derrow. I always appreciate the help.
    The President. You appreciate the fact I'm not a lawyer? That's 
good. A lot of people just say----
    Mr. Derrow. I appreciate that quite a bit, actually.
    The President. Nothing wrong with lawyers. We occasionally need a 
good one. But go ahead.

[Mr. Derrow made further remarks.]

    The President. Yes, see, I think the Government ought to change 
that. What I'm telling you is, I think the Government ought to allow 
employers to say to an employee, if you want some time off and work 
different hours, you're allowed to do so. If you want to accumulate time 
to spend with your family, spend with your parents, spend for being 
reeducated, you're allowed to do so. Government ought to be standing 
side by side with people, not against people. Government ought to be 
helping families. Good job. Thanks, Phil.
    Listen, I've got time for some questions. Yes, ma'am. Why don't you 
get up there and ask a question. Fire away.

Opportunities for Non-High-School Graduates/Association Health Care 
Plans

    Q. I'm a small-business owner. We employ roughly--and I could talk 
to you about--20 percent increase every year in the last 7 years. 
However, we happen to be a trade school. We train people for 
hairdressing, barbering, manicuring, what have you. My people 
necessarily--are not necessarily college material, not necessarily 
community college material. There is a lack of ability for the people 
who are not high school graduates to take advantage of the kind of 
training that we offer, and we would have the ability to put many, many 
more people per year in the workforce if trade schools all over America

[[Page 1467]]

had the ability to have discretion about accepting non-high-school 
graduates or people who do not have GEDs.
    The President. Well, I appreciate that. Thanks. I'll look into that. 
Let me tell you something, though, what you need to do, you need to be 
able to pool risk. You're talking about the health care--you need to be 
able to pool risk with people who do the same thing you do, whether they 
be in Texas, Michigan, California, or Ohio. You're prevented from doing 
so now. In other words, the more people that she can insure or seek 
insurance for in a larger pool, the more likely it is she's got a better 
price. And that's what we need to be able to do. Your other issue, I 
need to look into it. Thanks.
    Whoever made that grunt, please get up and yell a question. 
[Laughter] Sounded like a friendly grunt, doesn't it? [Laughter] Yes, 
sir. Okay. Yes, sir, go ahead. Right here. You didn't grunt, but go 
ahead.

[At this point, a baby in the audience cried.]

    The President. Tell him to be steady; we're almost out of here. 
[Laughter] I don't blame you. [Laughter]
    Yes, sir.

Faith-Based Initiative

    Q. I'm a pastor of a church in Lincoln County, which is just east of 
here. And I've agreed to be the chairman of a Christian coalition for 
that county. Our church has grown, and we're very interested in trying 
to acquire two old buildings in the Newark City that are kind of 
dilapidated or falling down to put a rehabilitation, reorientation kind 
of job vocational training there for people to finish their GEDs, for 
men and women to give them some basic faith training and to help them 
rediscover what they can become. But it's been difficult to know how to 
acquire or plug into faith-based funds----
    The President. Yes, I appreciate that.
    Q. ----and I could use your support.
    The President. Sure. He's got a great question. His question is, 
``How can I, somebody who is trying to set up a program to help people, 
understand how the faith-based program works?'' First of all, you've got 
to understand this has been a struggle to change the culture in 
Washington. There's a lot of people in Washington who argue process 
rather than results. They say, ``Well, we better not do this; it might 
obscure a very important line in our society, which is the separation of 
church and state.''
    I happen to believe that the better question is, does the program 
work; are we changing somebody's life for the better and, therefore, 
society is better off; and let's figure out how to make the process 
work, which is what we've done. This is a long answer I'm going to give 
you. I'm going to tell you how to do it in a minute. I'm just telling 
you there's a cultural issue, because nobody wants the church to become 
the state or the state to become a church. On the other hand, if a 
program is effective, we want that program to be able to compete for 
funds.
    Now, there are some rules that you've got to understand. One, you 
can't proselytize. In other words, you've got to take all comers. If 
you're a faith-based program and a Christian faith-based program, and a 
Jewish person walks in looking for help, you've got to provide the help. 
In other words, it's open, which--that's not a problem for faith-based 
programs. People are willing to help cure and solve lives.
    The other problem people have in the faith-based field, they're 
worried about interfacing with Government because they're afraid 
Government is going to give them so many rules and regulations they 
won't be able to actually practice their faith. It's hard to be a faith-
based program if you can't practice your faith. That's our theory.
    Now, so what I've had to do is set up offices, and we've got an 
Office of Faith-Based Initiatives in the White House. So, step one, 
contact the White House Faith-Based Office. Incredibly enough, you're 
not going to believe this, this guy is a great guy running the office. 
His name is Jim Towey. Guess what one of his jobs was. He was Mother 
Teresa's lawyer. [Laughter] Imagine--what kind of society is it where 
Mother Teresa needs a lawyer? [Laughter] That's what he was.
    And the other thing is, sir, is that the State--have you got one? 
Yes, the State government has got an Office of Faith-Based Initiatives. 
Their purpose is to expedite the grant money that comes from the Federal

[[Page 1468]]

Government. Some of the grant money is directly--goes directly to the 
programs, and you can apply for that through HHS, HUD, for example--
Health and Human Services-- the Justice Department grants. There are 
grants that people can apply to directly. There are grants that come 
through formula to the State, and then it's up to the State to see to it 
that the faith-based community has got appropriate access to the money. 
Bob has done a good job of setting up that office.
    Thanks for that question. I appreciate it.
    Yes.

Support for the President

    Q. [Inaudible]
    The President. Thank you. Thank you, sir. I appreciate that a lot.
    Yes, sir. If you don't have a mike, just yell it out.

Antidrug Efforts/Faith-Based Initiative

    Q. Good afternoon, Mr. President. My name is Andre Porter. I'm a 24-
year-old law student here in Columbus and a proud member of FBA. We sang 
a song for you today before you got here.
    The President. Thank you very much. I appreciate that.
    Q. Just wanted to let you know.
    The President. Thank you.
    Q. We sang two songs. The second song was about antiviolence and 
antidrugs. And we grow up in an era right now where the culture is so 
centered on violence and drugs, and so our group--the song that we 
wrote, these gentlemen here, FBA, we wanted to know what you have 
planned for our generation to stop violence and increase the goodness of 
our culture?
    The President. No, I appreciate you saying that. That's a great 
question. First, I think we have a duty to go on an education campaign 
to explain to people that drugs will destroy your life. In other words, 
the drug strategy has been interdiction, which is important--in other 
words, stop them from coming in from Colombia or wherever they may be 
coming in from.
    There's two other aspects, though, that we need to really stay 
focused on, and one is the reduction in demand. You know, the way the 
market works, unfortunately, where there is demand, somebody will figure 
out how to supply. And so we've got to get into people's minds and heads 
early in life that drugs will destroy your life. There's community-based 
effort that Washington helps fund, but it requires grassroots 
organizations dedicated to suppressing demand for drugs.
    We actually have got a national advertising campaign going on. The 
whole idea is to send a message to the kids that drugs will destroy your 
life. So that's a useful role for the Federal Government, is to be 
advertising and then stimulating community-based programs.
    I happen to think the Faith-Based Initiative is a very important 
program to help teach kids that drugs can destroy. I'll give you an 
example of a program I'm talking about. I think we ought to have--I know 
we need to have a mentoring program for children whose moms or dads may 
be in prison, and surround that child with a loving adult that helps 
that child understand that right choices in life--in America, if you 
make the right choices, you have a chance to realizing your dreams. 
Obviously, you guys made the right choices. Somebody told you, somewhere 
in your life, about right choices. Now I don't know who it was--probably 
mom or dad. But if not mom or dad, somebody did. And they told you about 
the right choices because they had love in their hearts. And so, 
therefore, one of the most--I think best ways to help kids get the right 
message is through vibrant mentoring programs. And many of those 
mentoring programs come out of the faith community.
    Thirdly, third aspect of a strategy on drugs is to help the addict. 
There are--you know, the truth of the matter is, a few consume most of 
the drugs, relatively few. The addicts are really the big drug users. I 
don't know all the statistics off the top of my head. I'm going to 
guess, maybe 15 percent of the drug users consume by far the vast 
majority of the drugs. They're hooked. They can't get off.
    And so one of the things we've got to do at the Federal level, it 
seems like to me, and State and local level, is focus efforts on helping 
the addicts kick the habit. And you heard me say earlier that addiction 
sometimes requires more than just a counseling session.

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Addiction requires a change of heart, and that's where the faith 
community can play an integral role. And so I've asked Congress, and 
Congress has passed money to give a voucher to an addict, where the 
addict gets to make the decision of the type of program he or she thinks 
will best help save their life, faith-based or otherwise. And so there's 
a--that's our comprehensive strategy.
    I've got some positive news to report: Drug use for youngsters is 
down 11 percent over the last couple of years. That's good. It depends 
on where we started from. But the point is, the trend line is good. And 
the role of Government, in my judgment, is to stand on the side of 
people in confirming the fact that people can and should make healthy 
choices with their life.

Counternarcotics Efforts in Colombia

    Q. I'm from Colombia.
    The President. Colombia, que bueno. Bienvenidos. We'll have the 
whole--conduct in Spanish. [Laughter] Actually, go ahead.
    Q. I've been here for 20 years. I just took my wife and my kids to 
Colombia. Colombia is a country that has a lot of problems. At this 
point--[inaudible].
    The President. Gracias, senor. I tell you, let me say something--
[applause]. Thank you very much. We're standing strong with the 
Colombian Government. I want to thank you. You know why? I've got 
confidence in Uribe. He's the President, Uribe. He said, ``Help us help 
ourselves.'' He understands that he has got to battle narcotraffickers 
in Colombia, for the sake of his own country. And so when he comes to 
the Oval Office, I take a look at him in the eye when he says, ``I want 
your help.'' And I say, ``Why?'' And he says, ``Because I want our 
country to be free from these narcotraffickers.'' It makes me feel 
comfortable that we're doing the right thing with the taxpayers' money 
to support Colombia. It's in our interest we do so. It's also in the 
interest of the Colombian people that we help.
    And he's a freedom--this guy loves freedom. I mean, he is a strong 
leader. Tell him thanks, if you talk--I'll probably talk to him before 
you do. [Laughter]
    Yes, ma'am.

Religious Freedom/President's Faith

    Q. Hello. I just wanted to say that, being a young Christian, it's 
been very encouraging to me to see you, as our country's leader, being 
so open about your faith.
    The President. Thank you. Thanks a lot.
    Q. And I was just wondering, do you feel that your faith has been 
beneficial to your decisionmaking process? And if so, how?
    The President. First, let me talk about faith in politics. It is 
essential that this country always guard the right for people to worship 
as they see fit. It's essential that people understand, if you choose to 
worship or choose not to worship, you're equally an American. It's very 
important for all our citizens to understand that--that you can worship 
or not worship, and you're equally patriotic.
    Now, secondly, if you choose to worship, you're just as an American 
if you're a Jew, Christian, Muslim, or Hindu. That's what freedom of 
religion means. I want the youngsters out there to hear me on this. It's 
an essential part of the value of our country. It is an essential 
tradition and truth that we must pass from one generation to the next.
    Now, having said that, I do have faith. And I want to thank--I'll 
tell you, the most sustaining aspect of the Presidency, one of the most 
interesting parts of the Presidency, one of the most touching parts of 
the Presidency is that people whom I have never known in my life take 
time to pray for me and Laura and our family.
    And what that means is that's--it sustains us. It strengthens us. 
It--the prayers comfort us, and so do my own prayers. And so that's what 
religion means to me as the President. And I want to thank you for your 
question.
    Yes, ma'am.

Constitutional Amendment on Marriage

    Q. Mr. President, thank you for your stance on the sanctity of 
marriage between men and women. What can we do to keep judges who find 
in favor of relationships between homosexuals?
    The President. Let me--again, this is an issue that people need to 
address with the utmost sensitivity and sincerity. It is an issue that 
is a--an issue that we must not allow

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to denigrate into emotional debate. It's an issue that requires 
thoughtful discussion.
    I believe society is better off by a clear definition of traditional 
marriage. And the reason I do is because, one, traditional marriage 
between man and a woman has served society and civilization well. 
Secondly, there is a firm commitment required in a marriage between a 
man and a woman that must not be undermined by redefinition. That 
commitment in itself provides stable, loving environments for families.
    I am deeply concerned about the fact, on this very sensitive issue 
is being redefined by the courts, not by the people. I think that to the 
extent that--there needs to be a honest and open dialog about this issue 
amongst the people.
    Now, Congress passed what's called DOMA, Defense of Marriage Act, 
signed by my predecessor, which defined marriage as between a man or a 
woman and prevented States from making a decision that would cause 
another State to have to accept that decision. Now, I think that law is 
a good law. I am worried about its constitutionality--in other words, 
whether or not it will be overturned by activist judges. As a matter of 
fact, a judge overturned the DOMA law of Washington State yesterday. In 
other words, judges are beginning to define the nature of marriage.
    So I said that if you believe like I believe, that traditional 
marriage is important, that the best way to see to it that society--our 
society will continue to define marriage as between a man or woman, is 
to--is the constitutional process, is to amend the Constitution so that 
a judge cannot define.
    Now, the other thing that that will do is it will enable the people 
to be involved through the State legislatures. In other words, you've 
got to get it out of the Congress, the amendment, and then it has to be 
ratified by the States, which I think is a healthy process. In other 
words, it's the legislative branch that will be deciding the definition 
of marriage on this very important issue, and not the judicial branch. 
And so that's why I advocated what I advocated, and it's the right 
position for the country.
    Go ahead, yell it out. If you don't like--if I don't like the 
question, I'll reinvent it. [Laughter] Oops, he didn't believe me. 
[Laughter]

Support for the President

    Q. Mr. President, I don't have a question; I have three thank-yous.

    The President. Thank you.

    Q. One, thank you for your availability to serve.

    The President. Thank you, sir.

    Q. Two, your candle is burning brightly.

    The President. Thank you.

    Q. And three, thanks for accepting the call and answering the call 
to work for what's right in the country and in the world.

    The President. Thank you, sir. God bless. Thank you. Thanks a lot. 
I'll tell you what, a guy just gave me the hook. I'm off to Saginaw, 
Michigan. I want to conclude by telling you this: It is an honor to be 
the President of such a great nation.

    Audience member. [Inaudible]

    The President. Yes, sir. I appreciate you giving me a chance to come 
and share some thoughts with you. I have a desire, a deep desire to 
serve this country for 4 more years, to make us a safer place, a 
stronger place, and a better place.

    May God bless you all. Thanks for coming.

Note: The President spoke at 1 p.m. at the Aladdin Shrine Center. In his 
remarks, he referred to Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida; Gov. Bob Taft and Lt. 
Gov. Jennette Bradley of Ohio; Doug Preisse, executive chairman, 
Franklin County Republican Party; former professional football player 
Bernie Kosar; President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan; Palestinian 
terrorist Abu Nidal, who was found dead in Baghdad, Iraq, on August 19, 
2002; senior Al Qaida associate Abu Musab al Zarqawi; President Hamid 
Karzai of Afghanistan; Prime Minister Ayad al-Alawi of the Iraqi Interim 
Government; Chairman Kim Chong-il of North Korea; and President Alvaro 
Uribe of Colombia.

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