[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 40 (Monday, October 9, 2006)]
[Pages 1757-1758]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on the National Economy

October 6, 2006

    Secretary Paulson and I want to thank FedEx for inviting us here 
today to have a discussion about our economy and about entrepreneurship. 
We just met with a handful of small-business owners, business creators, 
people who had an innovative idea, followed up on their idea, and have 
now built healthy little businesses that are growing and employing 
people.
    I don't necessarily want to speak for the Secretary, but I will tell 
you that it does my spirits good to be able to talk to risk-takers and 
dreamers and doers. And one of the jobs of Government is to make sure 
the entrepreneurial spirit is strong by creating an environment that 
encourages entrepreneurship--which means low taxes, less regulation, 
rational spending at the Government level, opening markets overseas so 
that the entrepreneur can trade but is treated fairly, and making sure 
that foreign countries don't steal products--that's called intellectual 
property rights. It's to really say to the good folks in America that 
Government will help you as opposed to impede your ability to expand 
your company. And the entrepreneurial spirit is strong in America. Our 
economy is strong.
    I say that because today we got more good news. The national 
unemployment rate is down to 4.6 percent. We have added 6.6 million new 
jobs since August of 2003. The wages are going up; energy prices are 
falling, which means people are going to have more money in their pocket 
to save, invest, or spend. And the fundamental question is, how do we 
make sure we sustain the economic growth? And one way to do so is to 
make the tax cuts we passed permanent. One sure way to hurt this economy 
is to take money out of the pockets of consumers or small-business 
owners and send it to Washington, DC.

[[Page 1758]]

    And so I'm pleased with the economic progress we're making. The 
Secretary of the Treasury and I will continue to work as hard as we can 
to encourage entrepreneurial--entrepreneurship and small-business 
growth.
    And so, again, I want to thank the people of FedEx. This is a great 
example of what is possible in America. A fellow I knew long years ago, 
named Fred Smith, had a dream about how to better distribute mail and 
product. And he and a lot of other good folks built this into a great 
American company.
    So I want to thank the folks here for letting us come by to say 
hello.

Note: The President spoke at 11:27 a.m. at the FedEx Express DCA 
Facility. In his remarks, he referred to Frederick W. Smith, chairman, 
president, and chief executive officer, FedEx Corp.