[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 40 (Monday, October 9, 2006)]
[Pages 1758-1760]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at a Reception Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month

October 6, 2006

    The President. Thank you. Hola. Please be seated.
    Audience member. Viva Bush!
    The President. Shhh. [Laughter] Bienvenidos. We are glad you're 
here. Thanks for coming. Laura sends her best. She, like me, greets you 
to come--to welcome you to the Casa Blanca--[laughter]--la casa de 
todos. We are glad you're here. I am glad that so many of you joined us 
for Hispanic Heritage Month. Today we honor the contributions of 
Hispanic Americans to our country, to our culture, and to our national 
character.
    We celebrate the values de la familia y fe. After all, those values 
are at the heart of the Hispanic American community. We welcome the 
diversity that enriches our lives, a diversity that makes America a 
stronger and better country. Thanks for coming.
    I am proud to welcome a friend of my family's, His Royal Highness 
Prince Felipe de Borbon, the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Spain. Thank 
you for coming. His Royal Highness is here to help celebrate Hispanic 
Heritage Month, which I think is a kind gesture and a noble gesture from 
a very important country. We're proud you're here, sir. Thank you for 
coming. Please give your best to His Majesty and your mom. And I will do 
the same on behalf of you to my father and her majesty, my mother. 
[Laughter]

    I am proud to be here with the Attorney General of the United 
States, Alberto Gonzales. The U.S. Treasurer, Anna Cabral. Anna, thank 
you for coming; y su esposo, Victor. Welcome, Victor. Good to see you.

    Today we've got a special guest, Ana Cristina, who will perform two 
songs after I finish speaking, which probably means you want me to 
finish speaking soon, so that Ana can come up here. We're proud you're 
here, Ana. I want to thank my friend Emilio Estefan for arranging for 
the entertainment today. He's a great buddy of ours from Miami. It's 
good to see you, sir.

    I am proud to be here with Lieutenant Colonel Consuelo Kickbusch. 
She's the winner of the Hispanic Heritage Award 2006. Interesting name, 
Kickbusch. [Laughter] It sounds like the political campaign. [Laughter] 
Congratulations.

    I appreciate all the Ambassadors who are here. Thanks for coming. 
We've got Ambassadors from neighboring countries. I like to remind 
people that the best foreign policy is to make sure that we've got good 
foreign policy in our own neighborhood. And so we're glad you're here. 
Thanks for coming.

    We've got distinguished members from the IDB, USO, all kinds of 
organizations. And I'm proud you're here. Thanks for coming.

    We are a blessed nation to have thousands of people who claim 
Hispanic heritage. I firmly believe that. I know that to be true. I 
think our citizens must recognize the great contribution of Hispanic 
Americans to our country. Hispanic Americans are hard-working people. 
They're entrepreneurial people who dream big dreams. They're people who 
love their God and especially love their families. But most of all, they 
love their country, America.

    As we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, we've got to recognize we 
have responsibilities in Government to make sure that all in this 
country can realize the American Dream. In the 21st century, the best 
way to do that

[[Page 1759]]

is to make sure every child gets a good education--not just a few 
children--but every single child must receive a quality education.
    I believe strongly that every child can learn regardless of the 
color of their skin or whether their parents speak English as a first 
language. And I know that in order to make sure every child gets 
educated, we've got to set high standards. And we've got to measure to 
determine whether or not schools are achieving that which we expect. And 
when we find a child cannot read at grade level, then that child 
deserves extra help to make sure that we make--to make sure that we meet 
a national objective, and that is no child should be left behind.
    I'm pleased to report that Hispanic students, in reading and math, 
are scoring higher, and an achievement gap in our country is beginning 
to close. We're making progress, but I assure you we will not rest until 
every child receives a quality education in our country.
    I believe that America should remain the land of the entrepreneur, 
and that ours is a country that benefits when people have a dream and 
work hard to achieve that dream. The small-business community is strong 
here in America. It's strong because we have entrepreneurs in our midst. 
And the role of Government is to encourage the entrepreneurial spirit. 
Government doesn't create wealth, but Government can create an 
environment in which people who dream dreams have a chance to realize 
those dreams.
    I'm proud to report that the number of Hispanic-owned businesses is 
growing at three times the national rate. And that's positive, 
particularly if you're a fellow like me who worries about whether or not 
people can find work, because the truth of the matter is 70 percent of 
new jobs in our country are created by small businesses. And so when the 
small-business sector is growing, the job base is growing. And equally 
importantly, when the small business is growing, it means ownership is 
growing, and the more owners we have in the United States of America, 
the more hopeful country we will have for all of us.
    We take pride in the service of Hispanic Americans. When we 
celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, it's time to thank our fellow 
citizens for serving the country. I thank our Attorney General for 
serving the country. I thank the Secretary of Commerce, Carlos 
Gutierrez, for serving the country. They're in my Cabinet. These are men 
who serve at the highest councils of Government and can walk in the Oval 
Office any time they feel like it and say, ``Mr. President, here is 
what's on my mind.'' I appreciate their counsel in helping me make good 
decisions on behalf of our country.
    We've got Hispanic Americans all across the country who serve our 
country by loving a neighbor like they'd like to be loved themselves. 
Thousands of our fellow citizens feed the hungry or find shelter for the 
homeless or put their arm around a child who needs love in order to help 
create a society that is welcoming to all. And for those of you who are 
involved in our faith-based communities and charitable communities, I 
thank you on behalf of a grateful nation.
    The Hispanic community is also known for its willingness to serve in 
the United States military and protect our freedoms. Today, we have over 
200,000 Hispanic Americans wearing the uniform of the finest military on 
the face of the Earth. Today, we've got members of the Hispanic 
community who wear our uniform with us, representing those 200,000, and 
I want to thank you for your service.
    These fine Americans, like the other Americans in our military, are 
working hard to secure this country. They're answering the call to 
history. They have volunteered to serve in an historic time, a time when 
this United States will do what it takes to defend ourselves from people 
who spread evil by killing the innocent; at a time when the United 
States understands that in order to spread the peace, we will stand with 
those who long for liberty. I'm proud to be the Commander in Chief of 
such a fantastic group of men and women.
    And as we renew our commitment to our Hispanic Americans, we also 
must renew our commitment to make sure we're a welcoming society. We are 
a land of immigrants, and as we debate immigration policy, we must 
always keep that important fact in mind. One of the important things 
about our country is that we provide hope, and that we recognize that 
we're a stronger nation when we're

[[Page 1760]]

bound together under one God--when we bind together under one God, 
different cultures and different heritages.

    We will conduct this debate on immigration in a way that is 
respectful to our heritage. We are a nation of law, and we will enforce 
our law. But at the same time, we must remember that in order to secure 
our borders, in order to make sure we fulfill our heritage, immigration 
reform must be comprehensive in nature. We must understand that you 
can't kick 12 million people out of your country; that we must figure 
out a way to say to those that if you're lawful and if you've 
contributed to the United States of America, there is a way for you to 
eventually earn a citizenship.

    Nobody in our land wants to grant automatic amnesty. But everybody 
in our land understands these people must be treated with respect and 
dignity. There are citizenship lines for people from our neighborhood. 
People ought to be given a chance to get at the back of the citizenship 
line and have a chance. And so I assure my friends here that I will--we 
will enforce the border as people expect us to do. But as we do so, 
we'll do so in a humane way, in a way that honors that great tradition 
of the United States of America, one Nation under God.

    And so on this day that we recognize the contributions of our 
Hispanic Americans, we renew the great--our faith in the greatness of 
our country. I welcome you to the White House. I'm honored, Royal 
Highness, that you have joined us today. I thank you for serving the 
United States of America. And I now welcome to the stage Ana Cristina.

Note: The President spoke at 2:29 p.m. in the East Room at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia 
of Spain; Victor G. Cabral, husband of U.S. Treasurer Anna Escobedo 
Cabral; Ana Cristina Alvarez, Cuban American singer; Emilio Estefan, 
Jr., president, Estefan Enterprises; and Lt. Col. Consuelo Castillo 
Kickbusch, USA, (Ret.). The Office of the Press Secretary also released 
a Spanish language transcript of these remarks.