[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 1 (Monday, January 9, 2006)]
[Pages 12-19]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks to the Economic Club of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois

January 6, 2006

    Thanks for the warm welcome. It's nice to be back. Congratulations 
to the White Sox, all you longtime White Sox fans and you recent 
converts. [Laughter] We choppered in--the Speaker said, ``There's the 
home of the Cubs.'' I said, ``Well, Mr. Speaker, maybe next year.'' 
[Laughter]
    I did come here 3 years ago, and I appreciate the chance to come 
back. And 3 years ago, I came and said that we had an economic plan to 
help this country move forward after the devastating attacks, that we 
had an idea as to how to help this economy grow. And the cornerstone of 
that speech was to tell Congress they needed to accelerate the tax 
relief we passed. And they did, and the plan is working.
    We got some new numbers today to show our economy added 108,000 jobs 
in December, and it's added more than 400,000 jobs in the last 2 months. 
The unemployment rate is down to 4.9 percent. Americans are going to 
work. This economy is strong, and we intend to keep it that way.
    I appreciate the Economic Club of Chicago inviting speakers to come 
and talk about economics. I appreciate you giving me a chance to come 
back. I want to thank Miles White.
     I'm proud to be traveling with the Speaker, Denny Hastert. He's a 
good, solid American. And he's doing a heck of a job as the Speaker of 
the House of Representatives. I appreciate being here with the senior 
Senator from the State of Illinois, Dick Durbin. I think the chairman is 
here--Mr. Chairman, Henry Hyde, thank you for being here, sir.
    Congressman John Shimkus is here, from the south part of your State. 
Thanks for coming all the way up here. Congresswoman Judy Biggert is 
with us. Judy, good to see you. Thanks for coming. Congressman Mark Kirk 
is with us. I appreciate you all. You do what the Speaker tells you to 
do. [Laughter]
    I appreciate Charlie Carey; he's the chairman of the Chicago Board 
of Trade. I just went there. A guy yelled out, in the corn pit, ``Hook 
'em, Horns!'' [Laughter] So I hooked 'em--[laughter]--and now I own a 
lot of corn. [Laughter]
    I want to thank the members of the Chicago Board of Trade. I thank 
Terry Duffy, who is the chairman of the board of the Chicago Merc, where 
I had the honor of traveling in March of 2001. Thank you all for giving 
me a chance to come.
    The American economy heads into 2006 with a full head of steam. Our 
economy grew at more than 4 percent in the third quarter. We've been 
growing at nearly that rate for 2 years. The American consumer is 
confident. More Americans now own their home than at any time in our 
Nation's history. Minority homeownership is at a record high. Real 
disposable income is up. New orders for durable goods like machinery 
have risen sharply. Shipments of manufactured goods are up as well. 
Business activity in our manufacturing sector reported its 31st straight 
month of growth. Our small businesses are thriving. In 2005, the 
American economy turned in a performance that is the envy of the 
industrialized world. And we did this in spite of high oil prices and 
natural disasters.
    We're strong, and I'm optimistic about the future of this economy. 
And one reason I am is because of the rise of American productivity. 
We're an incredibly productive nation. Our productivity has been growing 
at 3.5 percent for the last 5 years. American

[[Page 13]]

workers are now more than 17 percent more productive than they were in 
2001. And why is that important? That's important because productivity 
means America will remain the leader in the world. Productivity is 
important because it helps people live a better life.
    From 1973 to 1995, productivity grew at 1.4 percent per year. At 
that rate, it would take 50 years to double the standard of living for 
Americans. Our economists now project that productivity will grow by 2.6 
percent over the long term. And at that rate, we can double the standard 
of living of Americans nearly twice as fast. And that's important. We 
want to be able to compete, and we want our people being able to realize 
their dreams. In short, we're productive; we're innovative; we're 
entrepreneurial; and the role of Government is to keep it that way.
    Our goal in Washington has got to make sure America is the leader in 
the world when it comes to economic vitality, the best place to realize 
your dream in the world. And the best way to make sure economic 
opportunity reaches throughout our land is to make sure that we have 
economic growth. My administration has pursued and we'll continue to 
pursue progrowth economic policy. American businesses and farmers, 
workers, and entrepreneurs create the wealth in this country. Government 
does not create wealth. The role of Government is to create an 
environment where the entrepreneurial spirit flourishes and where small 
businesses can grow to be big businesses and where people can dream 
about owning their own home and have it become a reality. That's the 
role of Government.
    In our economy, the most precious resource is the talent and 
ingenuity of the American people. And there's no limit to what the 
American people can achieve when they have the skill sets to compete and 
the freedom to make a better life for themselves and their family.
    Our trust in the American people has brought us through some tough 
times. We've been through a lot. In the past 5 years, this economy had 
endured a stock market collapse, a recession, terrorist attacks, 
corporate scandals, high energy costs, and natural disasters. They're 
all shocks to our economy, and they deserved swift action, firm resolve, 
and clear thinking.
    Here's how I started to address--the perspective I took when it came 
time to addressing these challenges. I said, ``The American economy 
grows when the American people are allowed to keep more of their own 
money so they can save and they can invest and they can spend as they 
see fit.'' So I called on the Congress, as I mentioned to you earlier, 
to cut the taxes, and Congress responded. It's been a while since that 
happened. Let me review what took place. [Laughter]
    We lowered the taxes so Americans--so American families could 
thrive. We cut the taxes on the families by lowering the rates and by 
doubling the child credit and by reducing the marriage penalty. I can't 
imagine a Tax Code that penalizes marriage. It seems like to me we ought 
to be encouraging marriage to--our Tax Code.
    We thought it was unfair to say to a farmer and a small-business 
owner, ``The Government is going to tax you twice.'' So we put the death 
tax on the road to extinction. We cut the taxes, and by doing so, we 
helped raise after-tax income for a person by 7 percent since I've been 
your President. Real after-tax income per person is up by 7 percent. And 
that's good for our families. We want our families to have more money in 
their pocket.
    These tax cuts make a real difference in the lives of those who work 
hard in this country. By cutting taxes on income, we helped create jobs. 
You see, when people are allowed to keep more of their own money, it 
means they're going to demand more goods and services. And in the 
marketplace, somebody will produce that--those goods and services to 
meet demand. And when somebody meets the increased demand in the 
marketplace, it's more likely somebody is going to be able to find a 
job. Cutting taxes helps people find a job in the United States of 
America.
    We cut taxes on small businesses. Most small businesses pay 
individual income tax rates--sole proprietorship or a limited 
partnership or a subchapter S corporation. So when you reduce individual 
rates, you're really increasing the amount of capital available for 
small businesses to expand. And

[[Page 14]]

that's important because 70 percent of the new jobs in America are 
created by small businesses. And when you couple the tax--reduction in 
tax rates with incentives for small businesses to invest in new 
equipment, you can understand why this economy is strong. The small-
business sector of the United States of America is flourishing. The 
entrepreneurial spirit is widespread, and more and more Americans are 
starting their own company.
    American families have benefited from the tax cuts on dividends and 
capital gains. Let me repeat that. American families all across this 
country have benefitted from the tax cuts on dividends and capital 
gains. Half of American households--that's more than 50 million 
households--now have some investment in the stock market, either by 
owning shares in individual companies or through owning mutual funds. By 
cutting the taxes on dividends and capital gains, we have boosted 
confidence in our economy. More people have more money to invest. As a 
result, the stock market has added nearly $3 trillion in value.
    I'll never forget going to an automobile manufacturing plant in 
Mississippi. It was a very diverse group of workers. I said, ``How many 
of you own your own 401(k)?'' In other words, ``How many of you have a 
stock portfolio?'' Nearly 90 percent held their hands up. When you cut 
taxes on capital gains and you cut taxes on dividends, you're helping 
the lineworkers in the automobile plant.
    Part of making sure this economy grows is to understand who owns the 
wealth in the United States of America, and it's becoming widespread all 
throughout our society. Cutting taxes has reduced--on capital gains and 
dividends has reduced the cost of capital. If you want your economy to 
grow, you want the cost of capital down. And reducing the cost of the 
capital has made it easier for investment, and investment has increased 
the productivity of the American worker, and the productivity increases 
for the American worker increased the standard of living for the 
American worker.
    There's a mindset in Washington that says, ``You cut the taxes; 
we're going to have less money to spend.'' Well, the growth, the 
economic vitality that has been set off by the tax cuts has been good 
for our Treasury. Since we cut taxes on income, tax revenues from income 
has jumped by 17 percent. Tax revenues from dividends in capital gains 
has increased an estimated 50 percent. By cutting the taxes on the 
American people, this economy is strong, and the overall tax revenues 
have hit at record levels.
    Now, there are a lot of people in Washington that don't believe in 
tax cuts. As a matter of fact, they didn't believe the tax cuts would 
work. Critics said our economy was the worst since the Great Depression. 
The truth of the matter is, by cutting taxes when we did, we've had the 
fastest growing economy of any major industrialized nation. Critics said 
the tax cuts are ruining the economy. They're just wrong. The facts say 
otherwise.
    Since we cut the taxes, household wealth is on the rise; people are 
doing better; we're creating jobs. One Democratic critic described the 
day the House voted for tax relief this way: She said, ``Today the 
Congress of the United States will vote on a reckless, irresponsible tax 
plan that will undermine opportunity in our country.'' Since that 
Congresswoman had uttered those words, the economy has added more than 
4.5 million new jobs.
    By letting people keep more of what they earn, this economy is 
strong. Unfortunately, just as we're seeing the evidence of how the tax 
cuts have created jobs and opportunity, some in Washington are saying we 
need to raise your taxes. See, that's either by saying, ``We're not 
going to make the tax cuts permanent''--in other words, they're going to 
expire--or, ``Why don't we repeal the tax cuts right now.'' When you 
hear somebody say, ``Let's don't make the tax cuts permanent,'' what 
they're telling the American worker and the American family is, ``We're 
going to raise taxes on you.'' If that were to happen, a Chicago family 
of four making $50,000 would see Federal income taxes go up by nearly 50 
percent.
    Just as this economy is getting going, there are some in Washington 
who want to take the money out of your pocket. They think they can spend 
it better than you can. To keep this economy growing, to keep the 
entrepreneurial spirit alive, to make sure that

[[Page 15]]

the United States of America is the most productive nation in the world, 
the United States Congress must make the tax cuts permanent.
    There's been a lot of discussion about the budget in Washington--
there should be. You'll hear the folks say, ``Why don't we just raise 
the taxes to balance the budget?'' Folks, that's not the way Washington 
works. They will raise your taxes and increase Federal spending. The 
best way to deal with the budget deficit is to have progrowth policies 
in place and be fiscally sound with taxpayers' money.
    Listen, we're at war. And by the way, we're going to win the war. 
And so long as we've got our kids--and so long as we've got our men and 
women in uniform in harm's way, this Government will support them with 
all the resources that are necessary to win that war. That means we've 
got to show extra discipline in other areas of the Federal budget.
    Now, our budget has two kinds of spending--it's called discretionary 
spending and mandatory spending. And thanks to working with the Speaker 
and others, we've shown real progress on being fiscally wise when it 
comes to discretionary spending. We've now cut the rate of growth in 
nonsecurity discretionary spending each year since I've been in office. 
Last February, my budget proposed an actual cut in nonsecurity 
discretionary spending. It's the most disciplined budget proposal since 
Ronald Reagan was the President.
    We ended or reduced about 90 low-priority or poorly performing 
Government programs. We cut nonsecurity discretionary spending and kept 
overall discretionary spending growth below the rate of inflation. 
That's what the American people want us to do. They want us to set 
priorities, be wise with the money. And by doing this, we are still on 
track to cut the Federal deficit in half by 2009.
    The bigger challenge to this budget is the long-term deficits driven 
by mandatory spending, or what they call entitlements. And these 
entitlements include Social Security and Medicare, both of which are 
growing faster than our ability to pay for them. The cost of these 
programs are growing faster than the economy. The cost of these programs 
are growing faster than the rate of inflation. The cost of these 
programs are growing faster than the population is growing. It's 
unsustainable growth, because a lot of people like me are getting ready 
to retire. [Laughter] In my case, I turn 60 in 2008--that's a convenient 
date for me--[laughter]--62 in 2008; 60 this year, unfortunately.
    Projected deficits of these programs when these baby boomers like me 
retire are fixing to grow and grow and grow. And we don't have enough 
people paying into the system to cover them. It's what's called unfunded 
liabilities. And they're a problem for our children and our 
grandchildren, and we can solve this problem. It just takes political 
will, political courage. We don't need to cut the programs; we need to 
slow their growth. That's what we need to do.
    Oh, I know some in Washington would like me to stop talking about 
it. I'm not going to. I believe the role of the President of the United 
States--[applause]. I believe my role, and I believe all our roles in 
Washington is to confront problems now and not pass them on to future 
Presidents and future Congresses.
    Congress has an opportunity to show its commitment to controlling 
entitlement spending when it comes back off its recess. Before Members 
of the House and the Senate left Washington, they agreed to rein in 
future spending on entitlements by nearly $40 billion. They did this by 
reforming programs and eliminating waste and reducing the rate of 
spending growth. Now Congress needs to finish the work on this important 
bill. And, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank you for your leadership on this 
important bill.
    Listen, we got a lot of people in Washington who preach fiscal 
discipline and then they go on to vote against spending restraint. By 
passing the first reduction in the growth of entitlement spending in 
nearly a decade, Congress can send a clear signal that the people's 
Representatives can be good stewards of the people's money.
    As we work to keep taxes low and restrain spending, we've also got 
other challenges. One big challenge we face is energy. Again, I want to 
thank the Speaker and the Congress for putting an energy bill on my desk 
that

[[Page 16]]

I signed that encourages conservation, alternative forms of energy, 
encourages the exploration for natural gas in environmentally friendly 
ways. It's a good start. But the truth of the matter is, technology is 
going to lead this country away from our dependence upon hydrocarbon, 
and the United States Government can help speed up technology.
    In order to make sure this economy grows, we've got to have a 
reasonable health care system. I view the role of the Federal Government 
is to help the elderly. And we got good Medicare reforms done. And I 
believe the role of the Federal Government is to help the poor. And 
that's why we've got Medicaid. But I do not believe the role of the 
Federal Government is to tell doctors how to work and patients what to 
do. We need to make sure we connect the doc--the patient-doctor 
relationship to inventive programs like health savings accounts. This 
Congress needs to expand health savings accounts on behalf of good 
health care in America.
    To make sure this is the most competitive country in the world, 
we've got to get rid of some of these junk lawsuits that are running 
capital out of America. We've got a real challenge; the trial bar is 
tough. You need to speak up. You need to let people understand the 
consequences of all these lawsuits.
    Now, I want to thank the Speaker again, and the Senate--we got some 
legal reform done. We got a good class-action piece of legislation. We 
got good bankruptcy law. Hopefully this year, we can get a good asbestos 
reform out of the United States Congress. But one thing is for certain: 
People around this country have got to understand we need a balanced 
legal system if Americans want to be able to find good-paying jobs.
    A growing economy means we've got to have a private pension system 
that is fully funded and one in which those who pay into the private 
pension system keep the promises they make. I'm going to talk more about 
these issues as the legislative session begins.
    I want to talk about two things real quick to make sure that this 
country remains the leader in the world when it comes to economic 
growth, and the first is education. We've got to make sure that our 
citizens have the skills they need to be able to fill the jobs which 
will be created in the 21st century. This country has a moral and an 
economic obligation, a moral and an economic interest in seeing that our 
people have the skills they need to succeed in a competitive world. You 
see, if we don't make sure our people have the skills they need in a 
competitive world, the jobs are going to go somewhere else. And that's 
what we've got to understand.
    Making sure that people have got a good basis of education and 
capacity to fill the jobs which will actually exist really--it's 
important, particularly given the fact that our economy is one that is 
so dynamic and so vibrant that people are changing jobs all the time. Do 
you realize that if the recent pattern continues, the typical American 
worker will have held at least 10 jobs between the ages of 18 and 38? 
This job market of ours is churning. It's creating opportunity. We've 
got to have the skills to be able to fill these new jobs. And that's the 
challenge ahead of us. And having good skills begins with making sure 
our children can read and write and add and subtract. The best job 
training program begins early in life.
    We came together in Congress--with the Congress and passed what's 
called the No Child Left Behind Act. I'd like to remind you about the 
spirit and the philosophy behind that act. It basically says, ``Let's 
raise the standards, and let's measure.'' And the reason the Federal 
Government has got a right to call for measurements is because we spend 
a fair amount of money from Washington, DC, at the local level. And so 
we simply said, ``If you're taking our money''--it's actually your 
money--[laughter]--``do you mind showing us whether or not the children 
can read or write?'' I don't think that's too much to ask, is it? Unless 
you believe that certain kids can't learn to read and write.
    I remember when I was the Governor of Texas, I found some school 
systems that simply, I guess, didn't believe that certain kids could 
read and write, so they just shuffled them through. They said, ``It's 
much easier than taking on the tough task of analyzing and correcting, 
so let's just quit. Let's just say, okay, we'll just kind of socially 
promote you.'' It makes us look good on paper, but it's not treating 
American families well. And it's not setting that foundation to make 
sure our children can get the job skills necessary

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to fill the jobs of--or the skills necessary to fill the jobs of the 
21st century.
    And so the No Child Left Behind Act came into being. And we're now 
measuring, and it's beginning to work. There's an achievement gap in 
America that is beginning to close. You know why I know? Because we're 
measuring. There's what's called the NAEP test. It's a standardized test 
across the country. It's called the Nation's Report Card. It gives us a 
chance to measure. It has shown that American children have made strong 
gains over the last 5 years, especially in the early grades. The results 
have showed that our fourth and eighth graders have improved math scores 
for not only Anglo students but African American students and Hispanic 
students. As a matter of fact, the math scores were the highest ever for 
African American kids and Hispanic kids. Overall scores for fourth grade 
reading matched the alltime high.
    There is an achievement gap in America that is inexcusable, and it's 
beginning to close. And I think one of the main reasons it's closing is 
because we are now measuring. We're posting scores on the Internet for 
people to see, and we're saying to school districts, ``If you've got a 
problem, correct it early, before it is too late. And if you can't 
figure out how to correct it, give parents a different option than 
keeping their child in a school which will not change and will not 
teach.''
    And tell your brother--tell your brother I appreciate his 
understanding of the need to challenge the status quo when it's failing 
the kids of Chicago.
    And if you hear them talking about getting rid of the accountability 
standards, say to the local school folks, ``Don't do it.'' You see, 
we've all got to challenge the soft bigotry of low expectations. We 
cannot revert to a system which quits on kids too early in life. As 
business leaders and community activists, you must stand strong for 
strong accountability systems and systems which correct problems early, 
before it is too late.
    We've got a problem in our high schools. We're beginning to make 
progress at the elementary school level--over the 5 years, the test 
scores have risen. But we've got a problem in our high schools. Our high 
school American students rank below students from around the world when 
it comes to math and science. We measure fine in junior high grades, but 
for some reason, between junior high and high school, our kids are 
falling behind. And that's a problem. If we want to be competitive and 
if we want our children to be able to fill the jobs of the 21st century, 
we must do a better job in high school.
    I think one place to start is to bring the spirit of No Child Left 
Behind, which is K through eight, into the high schools and insist upon 
measuring early and to say, ``If you've got a problem, develop 
remediation programs today.'' Because we just can't guess anymore in 
America. If we want to be competitive, we've got to know, and we've got 
to measure.
    We've got programs to bring professionals from math and science into 
the classrooms as adjunct teachers. We're going to help teachers--
particularly in low-income schools--have the training they need to teach 
advanced placement courses. What I'm telling you is, is that we're going 
to take that very same spirit that's beginning to work in elementary 
school and put it in the high schools.
    And then we've got to make sure our kids go to college. And that's 
one of the important programs that we've worked with both Republicans 
and Democrats alike in Congress, to increase the number of Pell grants 
available for students by a million people. And that's important.
    One of the real assets in our country is the community college 
system. I spent a lot of time going to the community college system 
because, as I tell people, they're available; they're affordable; and 
unlike some institutions of higher education, they know how to change 
their curriculum to meet the needs of society.
    In other words, what's interesting about the community college 
experience is that if you're living in an area where there's a need for 
health care workers, and you got a chancellor of the community college 
system that is any good, that person will devise a program with the 
local health care providers that will help train nurses or whatever is 
needed. I

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mean the health care--the community college system is a fabulous job 
training opportunity for the American people. It's a place to find--to 
match people's desire to work with the jobs that actually exist.
    There's an interesting story about a woman named Julie Duckwitz here 
in this area. She had been a bookkeeper for 11 years, and she's a single 
mom--which happens to be the hardest job in America, by the way--and 
she's laid off. And she doesn't know what to do. You can imagine being a 
single mother with two kids--two young kids--and you get laid off your 
job.
    Fortunately, she went to the job training counselors, and they 
steered her to Lake Land community college. Lake Land had received a 
Federal grant to help fund training programs, and she enrolled in a 
nursing program. Why? Because Lake Land understood there was a need for 
nurses. In other words, it's a demand-driven curriculum in the community 
college system. And they adjusted, not just for her, but for others. And 
she got a nursing degree. And she said, ``Now I feel I can move upward. 
When I lost my old job, I was as high as I could go with that position, 
but health care offers me many more avenues for the future.''
    Gaining additional education to enhance your chance to get a job 
means more productivity. It means you're a more productive worker, which 
means higher pay, which means better news for the American economy. This 
Government must utilize our community college system to make sure people 
have the skills necessary to fill the jobs of the 21st century. I'm 
looking forward to Congress to fully fund my request for these job 
training grants to the community college system of our country.
    I want to tell you one other thing, and then I'll let you eat. 
[Laughter] I want to talk about trade. It's a pretty controversial 
subject in some people's minds. Here's how I think about it. We're home 
to 5 percent of the world's population. That means that 95 percent of 
our potential customers live abroad. I believe this country ought to do 
everything it can to open up markets for our products overseas. I know 
it's going to be necessary to make sure this economy grows, short term 
and long term, to open up markets for our manufacturers, our farmers, 
and our entrepreneurs.
    I believe that trade opens up opportunities for people here at home. 
Now, we've got some people in Washington who are what I call economic 
isolationists. They have a different point of view--good people, just a 
different philosophy. They don't believe trade is good. They believe 
that it's okay to wall ourselves off from the rest of the world. I 
disagree strongly. And that's why my administration has pursued free 
trade agreements around the globe and will continue to do that.
    Do you realize that more than 350,000 people in Illinois have jobs 
that depend on exports? In other words, there's a market overseas; 
somebody is meet the demand for the product or the good and service and 
are manufacturing right here in Illinois, which means somebody is 
working out there, because there's a market overseas. One in every five 
manufacturing jobs in this State is supported by exports.
    Look, I know the manufacturing industry got hit hard here. All I had 
to do is listen to the Speaker every time I met him. He said, ``We got a 
problem. The manufacturing base of this State is getting hit hard.'' He 
said, ``What are you going to do about it?'' I said, one thing I'm not 
going to do about it is deny opportunities for those who are able to 
export, and second, what we're going to do about it is make sure the 
playing field is level, make sure our manufacturers are treated fairly. 
That's all we can expect. We don't expect any special treatment, we just 
want to be treated fairly.
    My view of trade is this: If we can get a level playing field, 
American workers and farmers and entrepreneurs can compete with anybody, 
anytime, anywhere in the world. And now we have a chance, through the 
World Trade Organization, the Doha round of the World Trade 
Organization, to see to it that this world trades more fairly and more 
freely.
    And that's in our interests. I'm telling you, it's in the farmers' 
interests that we're selling soybeans in China. It's in our interests 
that we have a free-trading world. If we wall ourselves off from the 
rest of the world, a bunch of other folks are going to take the--take 
advantage of the opportunity of free trade.

[[Page 19]]

    This is an important issue for our country. We got to be confident 
in our ability to compete. We'll be tough when it comes to the policy to 
make sure you're treated fairly, but I refuse to allow walls to shut our 
producers and entrepreneurs off from opportunities around the world. 
Free and fair trade is an important cornerstone of strong and valid 
economic policy for the creation of jobs here in America.

    So that's what I'm going to be talking about when it comes to our 
economy. We're doing fine, but I believe we can do even better. The 
right policies out of Washington, DC--policies that encourage growth, 
not stifle growth, policies that encourage entrepreneurship, not 
diminish the entrepreneurial hopes, policies that educate our folks so 
we can fill the jobs of the 21st century--will keep the United States 
the economic leader of the world. And that's the way I want it, and 
that's the way you should want it, and that's the way Members of the 
United States Congress on both political parties should want it as well.

    I can't tell you how neat it is to travel the world and represent 
the United States of America. Ours is a land that is so unique--if you 
think about our country where a person can start off with nothing except 
a dream, can start off with just a hope, and own something--own your own 
business, own an opportunity to thrive. And that's what we're about. 
That's what we have been about, and that's what we must remain about.

    We've got to still be the greatest hope for mankind on the face of 
this Earth. We are today, and with the right policies, we'll be 
tomorrow.

    Listen, thanks for letting me come back. God bless.

Note: The President spoke at 11:44 a.m. in the Hilton Chicago. In his 
remarks, he referred to Miles White, CEO, chairman of the board, and 
director, Abbott Laboratories. A tape was not available for verification 
of the content of these remarks.