[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 37 (Monday, September 13, 2004)]
[Page 1839]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

September 4, 2004

    Good morning. America is the home to the most dedicated, innovative, 
and decent workers in the world. And thanks to their effort and 
enterprise, America's economy is strong and growing stronger.
    This past week we learned that we added 144,000 new jobs in August 
and nearly 60,000 more jobs in June and July than previously estimated. 
Overall, we've added about 1.7 million new jobs since last August. And 
the unemployment rate has fallen to 5.4 percent, nearly a full point 
below the peak last summer and lower than the average rate of the 1970s, 
1980s, and 1990s. Our Nation is proud of all our workers, and on this 
Labor Day weekend, we say thank you.
    The world is changing dramatically for American workers. The global 
market is expanding, creating new markets for our goods and new 
competition for our people. Workers are changing jobs more often, and 
they need new skills to stay ahead. This time of change can be a time of 
great opportunity for American workers, and Government must take their 
side.
    To create more jobs in America, we must make sure that America 
remains the best place in the world to do business. That starts with 
encouraging investment and expansion by restraining Federal spending, 
reducing regulation, and making tax relief permanent. We also need to 
make America less dependent on foreign sources of energy, to expand 
trade, and to level the playing field for American goods and services 
across the globe. And we must protect workers and small-business owners 
from the frivolous lawsuits that threaten jobs across America.
    Another drag on our economy is the Tax Code, which is a complicated 
mess filled with special interest loopholes and saddling our people with 
more than 6 billion hours of paperwork and headache every year. American 
workers and their families deserve a simpler, fairer, progrowth system, 
so I will lead a bipartisan effort to reform and simplify the Federal 
Tax Code.
    In this time of change, many workers want to go back to school to 
learn new or different skills, so we will double the number of people 
served by our principal job training program and increase funding for 
our community colleges. We will change outdated labor laws to make the 
workplace more family-friendly and give workers more control over their 
schedules through comp-time and flex-time.
    I also have a plan to create American opportunity zones to help 
communities that have lost manufacturing, textile, and other jobs. In 
these areas we'll provide tax relief, investment incentives, and 
regulatory relief specifically designed to attract new businesses and 
create new jobs. We will also improve housing, job training, and 
education in opportunity zones so these communities in transition have 
all the resources they need to succeed.
    We'll also work to build an ownership society in America. Our Nation 
is stronger when more people own their homes, their own health plans, 
and a piece of their retirement. We will strengthen Social Security by 
allowing younger workers to save some of their taxes in a personal 
account, a nest egg they can call their own and Government can never 
take away.
    With all these proposals, we'll provide American workers with a path 
to greater opportunity, more freedom, and more control over their lives.
    American workers built this country, and they continue to build our 
prosperity today. They have our gratitude and our confidence. And all 
Americans have my best wishes for a safe and enjoyable Labor Day 
weekend.
    Thank you for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 4:25 p.m. on September 3 at the Crowne 
Plaza Five Seasons Hotel in Cedar Rapids, IA, for broadcast at 10:06 
a.m. on September 4. The transcript was made available by the Office of 
the Press Secretary on September 3 but was embargoed for release until 
the broadcast. The Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish 
language transcript of this address.