[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 6 (Monday, February 12, 2007)]
[Pages 117-120]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks to the House Democratic Caucus Issues Conference in 
Williamsburg, Virginia

February 3, 2007

    Thank you all. It's nice to be here. Thank you very much. The last 
time I looked at some of your faces, I was at the State of the Union, 
and I saw kind of a strange expression when I referred to something as 
the ``Democrat Party.'' Now, look, my diction isn't all that good. 
[Laughter] I have been accused of occasionally mangling the English 
language. [Laughter] And so I appreciate you inviting the head of the 
Republic Party.
    Thanks for having me, Madam Speaker. I'm proud to be here. I'm proud 
to have met your grandchild. I know the mother well. [Laughter] If the 
child has as much spunk as the mother, she's [he's] * going to have a 
fantastic life. And so thank you for having me.
    * White House correction.
    I want to thank the members for allowing me to come. I'm looking 
forward to visiting with you. I particularly want to thank your 
families. I know how hard it is on a family to support a loved one in 
public life. It takes a lot of sacrifice to encourage your spouse to 
serve the country. Politics can be ugly. Sometimes they say not nice 
things about you in the local newspaper. You're traveling a lot. 
Campaigns are rough on a family. And so I really want to thank--I thank 
the members for serving, but I know full well that you couldn't serve 
without the love and support of your family members. So I really 
appreciate your contribution to the country.
    Madam Speaker, I thank you very much for your leadership. I was 
genuinely touched when I thought about how your dad would be reacting to 
seeing you sitting up there in the House Chamber. It was an historic 
moment, and I know you're proud of the accomplishments, and I appreciate 
you all supporting this fine woman into a really important leadership 
role.
    On the way in, we spent a little time talking about Florida, and I 
talked to the Governor yesterday. The Speaker was concerned, as am I, to 
make sure that the folks get the help they need down there. And, Madam 
Speaker, you and I, and every member here, shares concerns for those 
whose lives were turned upside down by that storm. And as I told you 
earlier, and told the Governor, whatever Federal response is needed, we 
will make it quick and sure. And so thank you for your concerns.
    I'm glad to be here with Steny Hoyer. Good to see you. Thank you, 
Steny. He is a down-to-earth, no-nonsense guy. I'm looking forward to 
working with you. James Clyburn and Rahm Emanuel and John Larson and all 
the leadership, I'm looking forward to working with you. I know you've 
probably heard that, and you doubt whether it's true--it's true. We can 
do some big things together. In order to do big things, we're going to 
have to do it together.
    So I'd like to share some of the thoughts about the big things I'd 
like to see us try to accomplish. First, balancing the budget--that's a 
big thing. Rob Portman is going to submit a budget tomorrow. Some of it 
you'll like; some of it you won't like; but it achieves the goal that we 
have said, which is to balance the budget. And we will show you how to 
do so in 5 years. You will have your own ideas, and we can work 
together, hopefully, to achieve that big goal.
    Inherent in the budget issue is whether or not--is unfunded 
liabilities as a part of entitlement programs. This is a difficult issue 
for members of both parties. I fully understand it's hard to come to the 
table to address Social Security or Medicare, the unfunded liabilities 
inherent in those programs. I've asked members of my party to come to 
the table with ideas. I will bring ideas. I ask members of the 
Democratic Party to come to the table as well.
    I believe we have an obligation to work to solve the problem. Is it 
going to be hard work? You bet it's hard work. A lot of times people 
say, ``Well, why don't we just wait for the crisis to come upon us?'' 
Well, I think the crisis is here. That's why I've included reforms of 
entitlement in every State of the Union Address. And I'm going to keep 
talking--well, I've got one more left; I'll keep talking about it for 
the next time as well. Hopefully I won't have to, if we're able to sit 
and come together. But I'm under no illusions of how hard it's going to 
be. The only

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thing I want to share with you is, is my desire to see if we can't work 
together to get it done.
    Secondly, there's a great goal and--to make sure every child has got 
the foundation necessary to be able to enjoy the great opportunities our 
country affords. As you know, I am a big believer in the No Child Left 
Behind Act. I think it has worked. I fully recognize that some have got 
concerns about it, and I'm willing to work with both Republicans and 
Democrats to address those concerns. My only admonition is, let us don't 
water down the accountability inherent in this good law that enables us 
to detect problems early so we can solve the problems, before it's too 
late.
    Secondly, I know we can work together on passing the American 
Competitiveness Initiative, aimed at making sure that math and science 
is more prevalent amongst our youngsters and doubling the amount of 
basic research at the Federal level, which will enable our country to 
remain the most innovative country in the world.
    Thirdly, we've got to make sure people have got health insurance. I 
mentioned this in the State of the Union. I believe the role of the 
Federal Government is to help the poor, the disabled, and the elderly, 
and we will work with you to make sure that's happened. But I also think 
it's very important to figure out why health insurance is less 
affordable and less available for more of our citizens.
    I believe part of the reason is because the Tax Code discourages 
private individuals from being able to purchase health care. I ask you 
to carefully consider the idea that we have put out. I've already heard 
from some members who thought it was a lousy idea; I understand that. 
But please look at it in depth as a way to address an issue that 
concerns us all, and that is, not enough people having health insurance.
    Secondly, I strongly believe the States are the proper laboratories 
for change. And I think it makes sense to encourage innovation at the 
State level, in terms of helping people on Medicaid get health 
insurance, helping the poor get health insurance, making sure that we 
develop risk pools to enable those who cannot afford insurance because 
of health reasons have coverage. Anyway, it's a comprehensive approach 
that addresses a common goal of ours.
    Thirdly, I set a goal to reduce our gasoline use by 20 percent over 
the next 10 years. And I thank you very much for receiving the idea that 
the country has advanced enough technologically to be able to have a 
mandatory fuel standard that encourages the use of renewables and 
alternatives, up to 37 billion gallons by 2017. We have spent a lot of 
money on developing new technologies. I look forward to working with you 
to continue to do so.
    There's some concern, I know, amongst some of the farm State 
Congressmen that when you use a lot of corn for ethanol, it's going to 
rise--it's going to cause the feed for hogs and cattle to rise. I've 
heard loud and clear those complaints. And to a certain extent, they're 
right. As a matter of fact, that is why we need to spend money on 
cellulosic ethanol, to make sure that we have got substitutes--
[applause]--substitute raw material--in other words, we are able to 
replace corn as the main raw material for the ethanol in order to 
achieve a great goal. And I'm looking forward to working with you on it.
    It's an area where we can show the American people that the 
Republican Party and the Democratic Party has got the capability of 
enabling us to be able to say to the people, ``By being less dependent 
on oil, we've enhanced our national security, we've helped our economic 
security, and we've done something positive on the environment.''
    I believe a great goal is a comprehensive energy--immigration bill. 
This too is a difficult issue. And in order to get it done, it's going 
to require Members in the House and the Senate--Republican Members, 
Democratic Members--finding common ground. And the White House wants to 
help. I believe strongly in this issue. I know that in order to enforce 
our border, which all of us wants to--all of us here want to do, that we 
must have a comprehensive plan to be able to do so.
    I believe it is in the Nation's interests to have a temporary-worker 
program. It's in the interests of small-business owners and farmers to 
be able to have folks that are willing to do work Americans are not 
doing, on a

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temporary basis. I know that in order to enforce this border, we better 
have a plan that doesn't cause people to sneak in. We want our Border 
Patrol agents guarding the border from criminals and drug dealers and 
terrorists, not from folks that are coming to do jobs that Americans 
aren't doing.
    And so this is an important issue. And I repeat to you: I want to 
work with you on it. I went to the Oval Office to address it, because I 
believe strongly that we can achieve an objective. I'm under no 
illusions as to how hard it's going to be, but it will be a lot easier 
when Republicans and Democrats work together to achieve this important 
objective.
    We share a common goal, and that is to keep America safe. You know, 
I welcome debate in a time of war, and I hope you know that. Nor do I 
consider anybody's--nor do I consider a belief that if you don't happen 
to agree with me, you don't share the same sense of patriotism I do. You 
can get that thought out of your mind, if that's what some believe.
    These are tough times, and yet there's no doubt in my mind that you 
want to secure this homeland just as much as I do. You remember the 
lessons of September the 11th just like I do, and you understand a 
fundamental obligation of Government is to do everything in our power to 
protect people here. And I'm looking forward to working with you on 
that, to make sure our intelligence agencies have what they need to be 
able to detect problems before they come, to continue to secure the 
homeland. I believe we can work together in Afghanistan to make sure 
that former safe haven is able to grow as a democracy.
    I put out a plan that has caused a lot of debate on Iraq. I took a 
lot of time thinking about how best to achieve an objective of a country 
governing and sustaining and defending itself, a country that will be an 
ally in this war on terror. I listened to many members here. I listened 
to members of my own party. I listened to the military and came up with 
a plan that I genuinely believe has the best chance of succeeding.
    I do know we agree on some things, and that is that the Maliki 
Government is going to have to show strong leadership. I appreciate the 
fact that the Speaker and many of--the distinguished chairman came and 
briefed me on their trip. She said loud and clear, ``Mr. President, 
you've got to make it clear to the Iraqi people that their Government 
has got to perform.'' And I understand, and I agree, Madam Speaker.
    There's got to be success not only on the military front--in other 
words, the Iraqis have got to be taking the lead in Baghdad to secure 
its capital--but there's also got to be success on the political front. 
They've got to pass an oil law. They've got to amend their Constitution 
so that all segments of that society feel that the Government is for 
them. They've got to spend our money on reconstruction projects that 
help unite the country. They've got to have local elections so people 
feel involved in the Provincial governments. In other words, there's 
benchmarks that they have got to achieve. And I have made it clear to 
the Iraqi Government, just like I made it clear to the American people, 
our commitment is not open-ended.
    We've got other equities in foreign policy that I know we can work 
together on. I cannot thank you enough for supporting the HIV/AIDS 
initiative on the continent of Africa. It's a pleasure to be able to 
stand up in front of the American people and say, ``Your tax dollars 
have made a significant difference in the lives of hundreds of thousands 
of people.'' And this plan would not have been funded without the able 
leadership and support of many people here in this building, and I 
appreciate that.
    We've set another great goal, and that's to reduce malaria in 
countries on the continent of Africa. And I'm convinced we can work 
together with a--[applause]--strategy that will work. I promised people 
in my State of the Union that we will continue to pursue freedom in 
places like Cuba or Belarus or Burma, and that we'll continue to rally 
the world to stay focused on Darfur.
    And so this is a bold agenda for all of us. And I agree, Madam 
Speaker, there's a chance to show people that we can get beyond the 
politics of Washington, DC; that we're able to treat each other with 
civility, and at the same time, accomplish big goals. And so I've come, 
at your kind invitation, to assure the members that I look forward

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to working with you in doing the best we possibly can do for the good of 
all American citizens.
    Thank you for having me.

Note: The President spoke at 10:22 a.m. in Ballroom A at the Kingsmill 
Resort & Spa. In his remarks, he referred to Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of 
the House of Representatives, and her grandson, Paul M. Vos, and 
daughter, Alexandra Pelosi; and Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida.