[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 28 (Monday, July 18, 2005)]
[Pages 1158-1163]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at the Indiana Black Expo Corporate Luncheon in Indianapolis, 
Indiana

July 14, 2005

    Thank you all very much. Thanks for the warm welcome. Be seated. It 
is an honor to be here. Thanks for having me. I can't tell you how 
thrilled I am to be here with the men and women of the Indiana Black 
Expo as you celebrate your 35th anniversary.
    You know, I was reading about this organization--it is a--it shows 
the entrepreneurial spirit deep within the hearts of the founders of 
this organization and the people who are carrying on the proud 
tradition. I appreciate the fact that you provide scholarships, support 
programs that are transforming local communities, and as a result, 
you're lifting up thousands of citizens. I appreciate the example of 
leadership you set, and it's my honor to join you. Thanks for having me.
    I was proud to be introduced by Governor Mitch Daniels. I knew he'd 
amount to something one of these days. [Laughter] And I'm particularly 
thrilled to be with his wife, Cheri, the fine first lady of the State of 
Indiana. Laura sends her love to both you and Mitch. She is, by the way, 
still on the continent of Africa. She'll be coming home tomorrow. She's 
probably expecting me to fix the dinner. [Laughter] I hope she's not 
hungry. [Laughter]
    I want to thank Lieutenant Governor Becky Skillman for being here. I 
want to thank Congresswoman Julia Carson for being here today. 
[Applause] It looks like they still remember you here, Julia. She was on 
Air Force One, and I went back to have a visit with her. Now, if you've 
never had a visit with Julia--[laughter]--she's got a lot of wisdom. 
[Laughter] And she's not afraid to speak her mind. She kind of reminds 
me of my mother. Thanks for being here. Thanks for coming down.
    I want to thank the mayor, Bart Peterson, of the city of 
Indianapolis for joining us today. Mayor Peterson, appreciate, you. 
Thanks for coming.
    I thank Arvis Dawson and Joyce Rogers and Jim Cummings for this 
fantastic invitation to come. And I want to thank you for your 
leadership. Appreciate you all being here.
    They tell me Quinn Buckner is here--somewhere out there. There he 
is. I appreciate you coming. I'm old enough to remember--[laughter]--the 
good old days in Indiana. [Laughter] Thanks for being here, Quinn. I'm 
honored you're here.
    I appreciate the fact that Vernice Williams came out to the airport 
today. I don't know if you know Vernice or not, but I find it very 
interesting--her story interesting, and it's a good example for all of 
us to listen to. Vernice has been a volunteer with Black Expo for 35 
years. In other words, once this association got started, she said, ``I 
want to volunteer to help.'' She's involved with the IBE Youth Corps 
program, all aimed at helping at-risk youth to achieve academic 
achievement, to instill in them the desire to excel. In other words, 
she's a soldier in the army of compassion. And I appreciate the example 
that Vernice has set. And if you want to serve your State and serve our 
Nation, help somebody in need.
    It's an honor to be here with so many charitable and civic leaders. 
You see, we share a belief in the founding promises of this Nation, a 
sense of optimism about our future, the future for all citizens, 
including African Americans. We believe in the power of the

[[Page 1159]]

human spirit to lift communities and to change lives. Together, we're 
working to achieve a great national goal, making our country a place 
where opportunity and prosperity are within reach for all Americans.
    I see an America where all our children are taught the basic skills 
they need to live up to their God-given potential. I see an America 
where every citizen owns a stake in the future of our country and where 
a growing economy creates jobs and opportunity for everyone. I see an 
America where most troubled neighborhoods become safe places of kinship 
and community. I see an America where every person of every race has the 
opportunity to strive for a better future and to take part of the 
promise of America. That's what I see. And I believe the Government has 
a role to play in helping people gain the tools they need to build lives 
of dignity and purpose. That's at the heart of what I call compassionate 
conservatism.
    To ensure that the promise of America reaches all our citizens, we 
must begin with education. I don't believe you can succeed in America 
unless you get a good education. Our Nation took an historic step toward 
that goal of making sure every child is educated--3 years ago when 
Republicans and Democrats came together to pass the No Child Left Behind 
Act. The No Child Left Behind Act is based on this straightforward 
principle: We'll spend money, but we want to make sure we get results.
    See, if you believe certain children can't read and write and can't 
possibly learn, then you don't care about results. But if you believe 
every child can read and every child can learn to write and add and 
subtract, then you want to know, don't you? How can you solve a problem 
unless you measure? And so as a part of the No Child Left Behind Act, we 
raised the bar. We raised the standards, and we said to local school 
districts, ``Show us. That's all we want to know. We want to know 
whether or not a child can read.''
    And we're making good progress as result of this new way of 
thinking. This morning the latest scores for the long-term National 
Assessment of Educational Progress were announced. See, this test is 
called the Nation's Report Card. It measures student achievement at age 
9, 13, and 17, across the country with the same set of standards. In 
other words, we want to know how students are doing in California, 
Texas, and Indiana. So we measure on the same set of standards. You see, 
measurement helps us understand how we're doing. You can't guess when it 
comes to a child's life. You got to measure.
    And the test results were released today. I'm proud to come here to 
talk about the new results. They're from the first long-term test, by 
the way, since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act. Over the 
last 5 years, American children have made significant gains. Math scores 
for 13-year-olds have increased by 5 points. Math scores for 9-year-olds 
have increased by 9 points. And reading scores for 9-year-olds jumped 7 
points. America's 13-year-olds have earned the highest math scores ever 
recorded. Nine-year-olds posted the best scores ever in reading and 
math.
    What I'm telling you is, across America, more children are learning. 
And the success of young students is setting them on the path to a 
lifetime of achievement, and we're making big differences in the lives 
of African Americans. I say, ``we''--let me get this straight--I'm 
talking about good teachers and good principals and engaged parents. 
This is not the Federal Government. It is the people at the local level 
who are making a huge difference in the lives of their students.
    We've had an achievement gap in America, and we need to do something 
about it. The No Child Left Behind Act is helping to do something about 
it. See, I refuse to accept this belief that certain people can't learn. 
I called it the soft bigotry of low expectations. Think about that 
phrase. It says if you lower the standards, you get lousy results. I 
believe you need to challenge that soft bigotry of low expectation, and 
we are. The Nation's Report Card shows that reading scores for African 
American 9-year-olds have jumped 14 points over the past 5 years. Math 
scores have jumped 13 points in the same period of time. These are the 
highest scores ever in the history of the test. The achievement gap is 
starting to close, and that's good for the future of America.

[[Page 1160]]

    The gap between white and African American 9-year-olds in reading is 
the narrowest it's ever been in the history of the 30-year test. These 
results show that when performance is measured and schools are held 
accountable, every child can succeed. That's what it shows. And we're 
making progress toward achieving a dream where every single child in 
America gets a good education and not one child is left behind.
    No Child Left Behind is making a difference in the elementary and 
middle schools, and I believe we need to expand this process to our high 
schools. Do you realize that according to the most recent data, only 68 
out of every 100 students entering our public high schools make it to 
graduation 4 years later? That is an unacceptable statistic for America.
    See, here's what I think we need to do: I think we need to measure 
and determine why. You can't solve a problem unless you diagnose the 
problem. I think we need to measure to make sure we understand what is 
going wrong and correct the problems early, before it's too late. And I 
believe the Federal Government has a role in providing money for early 
intervention for students falling behind. I know we need to do this. We 
need to make sure a high school diploma is the ticket to success.
    Most new jobs in the 21st century are filled by people with at least 
2 years of college. Think about that. Most new jobs in America today are 
filled by people with at least 2 years of college. And so we need to 
make higher education more affordable. And I proposed to the United 
States Congress that we reform the student aid system and increase 
college assistance for low-income students through the Pell grant 
program. I think we need to increase the maximum award for Pell grants 
and make them available to students year-round so they can be used for 
summer school as well.
    We'll expand access to community colleges so more Americans can 
develop the skills and knowledge they need. And to help African American 
students get a higher education, we have continued to fund historically 
black colleges and historically black graduate institutions at record 
levels.
    My point to you is that if you're willing to work hard and stay in 
school, the Federal Government will take your side and help you. To 
ensure that the promise of America reaches all our citizens, we're 
working to build an ownership society in which more of our citizens have 
a personal stake in the future of our country. When you own something, 
your life is more secure. When you own something, you have more dignity. 
When you own something, you have greater independence. The more people 
who own something in America means this country is better off. So we've 
been working to promote an ownership society. I want more people from 
all walks of life, including African Americans, to have a chance to own 
their own business.
    You can't expand business ownership unless you have a growing 
economy, and our economy is growing. It is the fastest growing of any 
major industrialized nation in the world. Our unemployment rate is down 
to 5 percent. In the last 12 months, we've created more than 2 million 
jobs. More Americans are working today than ever before in our Nation's 
history.
    I believe the Federal Government can play a positive role in helping 
African Americans achieve the goal of owning their own business. Last 
year, the Small Business Administration increased the number of loans to 
African American businesses by 28 percent, and we're on track to beat 
that number this year. We're also working to ensure minority businesses 
are getting a better chance to compete for Federal contracts. We've 
provided $8 billion in new market tax credits to boost investment and 
community development in low-income areas. Because of sound policy and 
low taxes, by the way, and the hard work of our citizens, we're getting 
results. African American business ownership is at an alltime high in 
America today.
    We got some interesting ideas on how to build on this progress. 
We're working on a new initiative to help more African Americans and 
other minorities become businessowners. My administration is joined with 
the Urban League, the Business Roundtable, the Ewing Marion Kauffman 
Foundation, and others to create what we call the Urban Entrepreneur 
Partnership. I think it's

[[Page 1161]]

a smart idea. This partnership will develop one-stop economic 
empowerment centers in many of our Nation's poorest communities. In 
other words, we're trying to reach out and help people understand what 
it means to become a small-business owner, through training and access 
to financing contracts for minority entrepreneurs. And the first pilot 
center will open next Monday in Kansas City and will serve as a model 
for the rest of the Nation. I hope Black Expo, in its leadership 
position, will take a look at these kind of programs. I think you're 
going to find it really interesting.
    Listen, the entrepreneurial spirit is strong in the African American 
community. It's strong. There's a lot of great business leaders today, 
and there's a lot of would-be great business leaders tomorrow, just with 
some help. And what I'm telling you is, through good economic policy and 
through good social policy, this administration, in working with others, 
is willing to help. We want more people owning their own business.
    And we want more people owning their own homes. I like the idea of 
homeownership, and I hope you do as well. Three years ago, I set a goal 
of creating 5.5 million new minority homeowners by the end of this 
decade. And we're getting results. We've already added 2.3 million new 
homeowners, minority homeowners, putting us ahead of schedule. Today, 
nearly half of all African Americans own their own homes, and that's 
good for our country.
    And there's more we can do. We're going to provide downpayment 
assistance for families, counseling for new homebuyers. I don't know if 
you've ever seen one of those contracts, but the print's really small. 
We need to help people. Perhaps a good project for Black Expo is to join 
with Alphonso Jackson and the Housing of Urban Development to help 
people understand what's in the print so it doesn't--that small print 
doesn't frighten them off from becoming a first-time homebuyer.
    I believe we ought to have tax credits to encourage construction of 
more affordable housing in low-income areas. See, what I want is more 
and more people from all walks of life, including our African Americans, 
opening up the door where they live and saying, ``Welcome to my home. 
Welcome to my piece property.''
    And I believe that we also got to expand ownership through our 
retirement system. We got a problem in Social Security. If you've 
retired, you have nothing to worry about. You're going to get your 
check. Believe me, there's enough money there for you. It's just for the 
younger folks coming up, you're going to be paying--you're going to be 
paying payroll taxes into a system that simply cannot sustain itself. 
It's going broke. I know some in Washington don't like to hear that. 
They kind of wish the issue would go away. It's not going away. In my 
judgment, now is the time to address it. The job of the President is to 
confront problems, not pass them on to future Presidents or future 
generations. And we got a problem.
    I put some ideas out there. I hope both Republicans and Democrats 
forget politics for once in Washington, DC, and focus on what's good for 
the younger folks in America. But I got another idea to make the system 
work better. I think younger workers ought to be allowed to take some of 
their own money and set it aside in a personal savings account that they 
can call their own.
    Now, this isn't a new idea. See, this isn't a new idea. I wasn't the 
one who thought about it. Guess who thought about it first? Members of 
the United States Congress. See, they get to have their own retirement 
system, and so do Federal employees. And you can invest some of your own 
money, if you so choose, in a conservative mix of bonds and stocks, so 
you get a good rate of return on your money over time. See, it's your 
money. You get to watch it grow. My idea is this: If this idea is good 
enough for Members of the United States Congress, it's good enough for 
working people all across the United States of America.
    To ensure that the promise of America reaches all of our citizens, 
we must do more to improve the safety of our most troubled 
neighborhoods. It is difficult for a young person to study and to learn 
and grow in the midst of violence, addiction, and despair. So we're 
fighting the scourge of drugs that destroys lives and wounds families 
and tears our community apart. We're aggressively prosecuting drug 
dealers and gun criminals.

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We're after them. You expect us to enforce the law. We're enforcing the 
law, because we don't believe people should be allowed to commit crimes 
with guns. And people ought not to be allowed to sell drugs on the 
streets. And as a result, violent crime is at its lowest point in 30 
years.
    As we work to combat crime and keep our streets safe, we must ensure 
our criminal justice system is fair and effective. Americans of all 
races and backgrounds must be able to trust the legal system. They must 
be able to trust it so that no person is held to account for a crime he 
or she did not commit. We're dramatically expanding the use of DNA 
evidence to prevent wrongful conviction. See, progress for African 
Americans and, for that matter, all Americans depends on the full 
protection of civil rights and equality under the law.
    To ensure that the promise of America reaches all our citizens, we 
must encourage those who are healing our neighborhoods with good works. 
We must stand with people of faith, not stand against them at the 
Government level. See, Government can hand out money, but it cannot put 
hope in a person's heart or a sense of purpose in a person's life. That 
happens when somebody puts an arm around somebody and says, ``I love 
you. What can I do to help you? How can I be a part of making your life 
a better way?''
    See, the Nation's faith-based and community groups bring kindness 
and acts of charity to harsh places across America. I call these folks 
the social entrepreneurs of America. They're trying to figure out ways 
to listen to that universal call to love a neighbor just like you'd like 
to be loved yourself and help heal the broken heart. And oftentimes, 
those programs are a heck of a lot more effective than Government 
programs. And therefore, it seems like to me that instead of just 
applauding the leaders, we got to support the leaders. And one of the 
most important initiatives that I put out is to say to faith-based 
programs, ``You can access Federal money. You have the right to be able 
to apply for grants without having to take the cross off the wall or the 
Star of David off your wall. You can interface with Government without 
losing your mission.''
    And we're making a difference. We're getting results. Last year, we 
awarded $2 billion in competitive grants to faith-based institutions 
that are transforming our Nation and our neighborhoods one heart and one 
soul at a time.
    Let me give you an example of what I'm talking about. Here in 
Indianapolis, the Zion Tabernacle Apostolic Church is reaching out to 
neighbors and helping lift up their communities. A social entrepreneur, 
a leader of the effort is Bishop Farris, who is with us today. Let me 
tell you what the Bishop has in mind and how he's going to be helped by 
the Federal Government. Secretary Alphonso Jackson, by the way, is a 
believer when it comes to the faith-based and community-based 
initiative. And so the Department of Housing and Urban Development has 
entered into a collaborative effort with his church, and they plan to 
break ground in October on 49 housing units for low-income elderly. And 
their new development will provide residents with shuttle services to 
stores and counseling and doctor appointments.
    I think this is a good use of taxpayers' money. I think it's a good 
way to say, we're going to try to help improve people's lives. 
[Laughter] And the delivery systems don't have to be Government. They 
can be people of compassion, people who have heard the call, people who 
want to make somebody's life better. So I want to thank you, Bishop, for 
doing what you're doing. And by the way, there's thousands of examples 
just like the Bishop's all across the country.
    As we ensure that America's promise reaches all our citizens, we're 
defending the freedom that makes this progress possible. Our foreign 
policy is tough, and it is compassionate. The bombings in London last 
week are a grim reminder that free nations face dangerous enemies who 
hate our freedom and who'll kill in cold blood. We're on the offense 
against these terrorists overseas. We will bring them to justice so they 
don't murder more of our citizens and other citizens around the world.
    And as we hunt down the terrorists, we're offering an alternative to 
their hateful ideology. You see, we're spreading freedom and hope to 
millions. Because we acted, more

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than 50 million people--50 million--in Iraq and Afghanistan now live in 
freedom. And across the broader Middle East, many are claiming their 
liberty as well. By spreading freedom in a troubled region, we're making 
this country more secure. We're laying the foundation of peace for 
generations to come. I believe that freedom is not America's gift to the 
world; it is the Almighty God's gift to each man and woman in this 
world.
    I believe that human rights are not determined by race or 
nationality or diminished by distance. As Americans are moved to 
action--we are moved to action when we see millions in Africa who are 
facing famine or dying of malaria or the AIDS pandemic. Last year, the 
United States of America provided nearly 60 percent of the global food 
aid to the continent of Africa. We're supporting an aggressive campaign 
to cut the mortality rate of malaria in half.
    We're taking the lead when it comes to compassion around the world. 
And since 2003, the United States of America has led the world. We've 
undertaken an historic initiative to help the nations of Africa combat 
HIV/AIDS. So far, thanks to the leadership of a former Hoosier, Randy 
Tobias, we have delivered lifesaving treatment to more than 230,000 
people on the continent of Africa, and there's more work to be done.
    We seek progress in Africa because our conscience demands it and 
because we have an interest in the long-term stability of the continent. 
Instability and lawlessness in any distant country can bring danger to 
our own shores. That's the lesson that we're learning in the 21st 
century. The United States of America will help Africa's leaders bring 
democracy and prosperity and hope, and this will bring security to our 
country and peace to the world.
    Today, we live in the most hopeful time in human history. These are 
exciting times. The hope of liberty is spreading across the world. Just 
watch what's happening. And the hope and opportunity is spreading across 
our country as well. We will continue to work for the day when the 
blessings of freedom reach everybody who lives in this country.
    The reason I've come today is because your work shows the dignity 
and equality and potential of every person. I'm here to herald the good 
works of good people of good heart. You've inspired Americans with your 
commitment to serve us in education and opportunity. You're helping to 
unite people of all races. I'm proud of your work. May God continue to 
bless your families, and may God continue to bless our great Nation.
    Thanks for letting me come.

Note: The President spoke at 11:51 a.m. at the RCA Dome. In his remarks, 
he referred to Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana and his wife, Cheri; Lt. 
Gov. Becky Skillman of Indiana; Arvis Dawson, chairman of the board of 
directors, Joyce Rogers, chief executive officer and president, and 
James C. Cummings, co-founder and former president, Indiana Black Expo, 
Inc.; Quinn Buckner, vice president of communications, National 
Basketball Association's Indiana Pacers; and Joseph D. Farris, pastor, 
Zion Tabernacle Apostolic Faith Church.