[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 14 (Monday, April 11, 2005)]
[Page 560]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following a Tour of
the Bureau of the Public Debt
in Parkersburg, West Virginia

April 5, 2005

    The President. See, what's interesting is a lot of people believe 
that the Social Security trust is--the Government takes a person's 
money, invests it, and then pays it back to them upon retirement. It 
doesn't work that way.
    Susan Chapman. That's right. That's exactly right.
    The President. This is what exists. And it's very important, then, 
to make sure that in the future that there's real assets for retirees.
    But I want to thank you all for having me come. I want to thank all 
the workers here for representing the mighty United States. I'm proud to 
work with you. I thank you for what you do. And my message here in town 
is that we have an obligation to take the system that Franklin Roosevelt 
created and make it work for a younger generation of Americans. I'm 
looking forward to working with Congress to do that. That's what the 
American people expect. They expect us to modernize the system.
    Anyway, thanks for having us.
    Ms. Chapman. Well, thank you for coming. We're proud to have you 
visit us.
    The President. Thanks.

Note: The President spoke at 10 a.m. Participating in the tour was Susan 
Chapman, Director, Division of Federal Investments, Bureau of the Public 
Debt. A tape was not available for verification of the content of these 
remarks.