You can liquefy natural gas; you can put it in a ship, and you can send it long distances and still have an economic product. And they are building liquefied production facilities. And they put them on these ships but we do not have any places to off-load it in the United States. We got some, but not enough. If we are really interested in diversifying our energy sources and making sure the American people have got enough energy to watch this economy grow, we have got to have LNG sites to offload the gas from abroad. And so what we have done is, I signed a new bill, energy bill, that clarifies Federal authority to license new sites, that reduces the bureaucratic obstacles to opening up the terminals and streamlines the development. It is in your interest that we enable liquefied natural gas to come into our country so that we can help take the burden off some of the pricing pressures that we are inevitably going to feel with demand going up and not enough electricity supply. Thirdly, about 6 percent of the continental U.S. is highly suitable for the construction of wind turbines. And this is a really interesting opportunity for the country they ought to put one big one in Washington, DC. They say the experts tell me that this area alone has the potential to supply up to 20 percent of our Nation's electricity. I do not know if it is true or not, but it is certainly worth trying to find out, in order to make sure this country has got a bright future. And so we got $44 million for wind energy research. And the goal is to expand the use and lower the cost of wind turbine technology. In other words, we are constantly researching and looking. I do not know if you know this or not, but the Federal Government does spend money on research in a variety of fronts, and it should. And I intend to double the basic the budget for basic research over the next 10 years. The iPod like, I like to ride my mountain bike and plug in the iPod. The technology for the iPod came as a result of Federal research. The Internet came about because of defense money research. So we are spending money on research. The reason I keep repeating that is not only is it going to help us diversify our energy sources and make us competitive in the world, but it also helps make sure America is always on the leading edge of technological change.


Solar energy the dream in solar energy is to develop technology so that someday your house is like a little generating plant, and if you do not use the power, you feed it back into the grid. It is possible, but it is not going to be possible if we do not spend money on research and development. So we are spending $150 million to combine Government money with private research money in solar technologies to see if we cannot help foster technologies that will be able to capture the sun, feed it into your house, generate enough electricity, and if you have got a little excess, feed it back into the grid. Finally, I want to talk about nuclear power a subject you all are very familiar with. It is a really important way to meet our goals, which is to have abundant, affordable, clean, and safe sources of energy. In other words, you have nuclear powerplants, you can say, we have got an abundant amount of electricity. And once you get the plant up and running, the operating costs of these plants are significantly lower than other forms of electricity plants, which means the energy is affordable. As I mentioned, nuclear power it is the second leading source of electricity here. We have 100 nuclear powerplants that operate in 31 States. Now, we have not built one in a long period of time. People in our country are rightly concerned about greenhouse gases and the environment, and I can understand why; I am too. As a matter of fact, I try to tell people, let us quit the debate about whether greenhouse gases are caused by mankind or by natural causes; let us just focus on technologies that deal with the issue. Nuclear power will help us deal with the issue of greenhouse gases. Without nuclear energy, carbon dioxide emissions would have been 28 percent greater in the electricity industry in 2004. Without nuclear power, we would have had an additional 700 million tons a year of carbon dioxide, and that is nearly equal to the annual emissions from 136 million passenger cars. Nuclear power helps us protect the environment. It is safe because of advances in science and engineering and plant design. It is safe because the workers and managers of our nuclear powerplants are incredibly skilled people who know what they are doing. For the sake of economic security and national security, the United States of America must aggressively move forward with the construction of nuclear power-plants. Interestingly enough, France has built 58 plants since the 1970s and now gets 78 percent of its electricity from nuclear power.

Remarks on Energy in Pottstown, Pennsylvania


The United States has not ordered a plant since the 1970s, and yet France has not only ordered them, they built 58 plants. And 78 percent of their electricity comes from nuclear power. They worry about it, but they do not have to worry about it to the extent that we do. China has 9 nuclear plants in operation, and they got plan to build 40 more over the next two decades. They understand that in order to be an aggressive nation, an economic nation that is flourishing so their people can benefit, they better do something about their sources of electricity. They see it. India I just came from India they are going to build some nuclear powerplants. To maintain our economic leadership, we got to do it again. First, in the energy bill I signed in 2005, there are loan guarantees, production tax credits, Federal risk insurance for the builders of new plants. In other words, we said, this is an industry that had not got much going since the seventies. It is highly risky because of the regulations to try to build a plant. People do not know this, but you get yourself a design for a nuclear powerplant; you start spending money for plans and engineering plans and everything; you get building; and all of the sudden, somebody can shut you down. And that makes it awfully difficult to take risk, if a lawsuit can cause you to spend enormous sums of money and have no productive use of the money spent. And so we got together with the Congress and said, Well, how what can we do to create incentives to show the industry that we are serious about moving forward? Well, one is loan guarantees, and that gives investors confidence that this Government is committed to the construction of nuclear powerplants. Secondly is production tax credits, and those credits will reward investments in the latest advanced nuclear power generation. In other words, there is incentives loan guarantee is an incentive, tax credits are incentives, Federal risk insurance. What the Federal risk insurance says is offered for the first six new powerplant nuclear powerplants. And the insurance helps protect builders of the plants against lawsuits or bureaucratic obstacles and other delays beyond their control. We have got what is called the Nuclear Power 2010 Initiative, which is a $1.1 billion partnership between the Federal Government and the industry to facilitate new plant orders. In other words, I have said, we need more nuclear powerplants, and here is a strategy to get them going, see. Here is a way to say to the industry, we are serious about this.


This time last year, only two companies were seeking to build nuclear powerplants. Now 16 companies have expressed an interest in new construction, and they are considering as many as 25 new plants, trying to get these plants construction started by the end of this decade. I want it to be said that this generation of folks had the foresight necessary to diversify our or to continue to diversify electricity supply and recognize that nuclear power is safe, and we did something about it. We just did not mark our time. We actually did something about it so a generation of Americans coming up will be able to have a better America. I understand the issue of waste, and we have got to do something about it. We have got to be wise about nuclear waste. I am a believer that Yucca Mountain is a scientifically sound place to send the waste, and I would hope that the United States Congress would recognize that as well. I also recognize that we can do something on a reprocessing front. And so I got our administration to commit to the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership. Under the partnership, America is going to work with nations that have already got an advanced civilian nuclear energy program, such as France and Japan and Russia, and we are going to use new technologies that effectively and safely recycle spent nuclear fuel. In other words, we are coming together to say, how can we do a better job of reprocessing and recycling fuel? And the reason that is important, at least for our fellow citizens to understand, is it will reduce the amount of the toxicity of the fuel and reduce the amount we have to store. To me, it is a smart way to combine with others to reduce storage requirements for nuclear waste by up to 90 percent. It is a good way to work with other nations that are spending money on research and development as well. It is a way to, kind of, leverage up an investment. We are going to I have asked Congress to spend $250 million on this partnership. I hope they follow through with it. It is a necessary expenditure of money to make sure that the nuclear power industry can move forward with confidence, and the American people move forward with confidence as well. And so here are some ideas not only ideas; this is what we are doing; this has gone from idea to action. What I am telling you is, is that I understand the need to get off oil. I understand the need to work on renewable sources of energy.


I want to thank Sylvia Ulmer, the principal of George W. Bush Elementary School, for welcoming me. It is such an honor, Sylvia and Jack, thank you, sir it is such an honor to have a school named after me. When I pulled in the parking lot and I saw George W. Bush Elementary, I could not think of a higher tribute to a person, and I thank you all and the citizens of this community for this honor and tribute. Frankly, I was a little emotional when I pulled in I want to thank the teachers and the faculty here. I cannot wait to tell Laura that I went into the Laura Bush Library and saw teachers working hard to teach kids how to read. You know, being at this school reminds us, we have a special responsibility to protect our children. One of the most important jobs of those involved with schools and government is to make sure that children are safe. And Laura and I were saddened and deeply concerned, like a lot of other citizens around the country, about the school shootings that took place in Pennsylvania and Colorado and Wisconsin. We grieve with the parents, and we share the concerns of those who worry about safety in schools. Yesterday I instructed Attorney General Gonzales and Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings to convene a meeting next Tuesday, a meeting of leading experts and stakeholders, to determine how best the Federal Government can help States and local governments improve school safety. Our schoolchildren should never fear their safety when then enter to a classroom. And, of course, the superintendent and principal know that. We also had a reminder of the need for people in positions of responsibility to uphold that responsibility when it comes to children, in the case of Congressman Mark Foley. I was dismayed and shocked to learn about Congressman Foley's unacceptable behavior. I was disgusted by the revelations and disappointed that he would violate the trust of the citizens who placed him in office. Families have every right to expect that when they send their children to be a congressional page in Washington, that those children will be safe. We have every right as citizens to expect people who hold higher office behave responsibly in that office. I fully support Speaker Hastert's call for an investigation by law enforcement into this matter. This investigation should be thorough, and any violations of the law should be prosecuted. Now, I know Denny Hastert; I meet with him a lot. He is a father, teacher, coach, who cares about the children of this country.

Remarks at George W. Bush Elementary School in Stockton


I do not have to tell anyone viewing this program that our country, and in fact the world of facing an unprecedented series of crises. We are dealing with the coronavirus, which is spreading throughout this country and throughout the world. We are dealing with a growing economic meltdown, which will impact tens of millions of workers in this country. We are dealing with a political crisis as well. And I think the main point to be made tonight is that in this moment of crisis, it is imperative that we stand together, understand that right now throughout this country, there are so many of our people wondering, what is going to happen to me tomorrow in my own city? What happens to all the people who lose their jobs? What happens to the people who tonight are worried that they may have the coronavirus but do not have the resources to get the tests they need or the treatment that they need. And what I wanted to do tonight along with you is to talk about a series of proposals that we all working on right now and will introduce to the democratic leadership as to how we can best go forward. And in this unprecedented moment this will require an unprecedented amount of money and my own guess is that we will be spending at least $2 trillion in funding to prevent deaths, job losses, and to avoid an economic catastrophe. So let me just go over some of the issues and we will be posting these ideas tomorrow up on our website, berniesanders.com. And this is what I would like because we certainly do not know it all we want to hear from you, not only your ideas about how we can best go forward, talk about your experiences. So please communicate with us so we can get the best understanding possible about what is going on in our country and how together we can come up with some effective remedies. Let me start off with the basics and that is obviously from my perspective and I know from all of your perspectives. We need to make certain that everybody in our country who needs to go to a doctor can get the healthcare they need regardless of their income. It is something that should have happened in our country many, many years ago. But in the midst of this crisis, what I believe we must do is empower Medicare to cover all medical bills during this emergency. Now, this is not Medicare for all.

Bernie Sanders Coronavirus Speech Transcript on Primary Night March 17


We cannot pass that right now, but what this does say is that if you are uninsured, if you are under insured, if you have high deductibles, if you have high copayments, if you have out of pocket expenses, Medicare will cover those expenses so that everybody, regardless of their healthcare needs, and I am not just talking about the coronavirus, but their health care needs in the midst of this crisis, will get all the healthcare that they need. That is what we should be doing in this moment of crisis. We need to make sure furthermore, that as we go forward, we are effectively prepared to deal with the healthcare crisis that we are facing and that means that we need to make sure that the hospitals have all of the ICU units and the ventilators that are needed to respond to this crisis. What the fear is as you know, is that there will be a surge of patients coming into the hospitals and that we will not have the equipment that we need to deal with that crisis. Now, in my view, I mean, frankly, it is incomprehensible why in the wealthiest country on earth, we are not better prepared, but be that as it may, in my view right now, the federal government must work aggressively with the private sector to make certain that this equipment is available to hospitals and the rest of the medical community. In other words, federal government must take the responsibility of working with the private sector and saying, you know what, this is a major priority. And during this crisis, in addition, of course, we need to mobilize medical residents, people in medical school, retired medical professionals and other medical personnel to help us deal with this crisis. One of the great fears that we are facing right now is that doctors themselves and nurses themselves will become ill. And if our frontline defense in the medical profession is injured, is made sick, is not able to treat the American people, that is only going to make a very difficult situation even worse. We must massively increase the availability of test kits, test kits for coronavirus and the speed at which the tests are processed. We must look to successful coronavirus testing models in other countries and throughout our own country and implement best practices here. And right now there are communities and states all over this country that do not have the test kits. It is taking too long to get the results. We have got to aggressively address that.


In my view, we need to use existing emergency authority under the Defense Production Act to dramatically scale up production in the United States of critical supplies such as masks, ventilators, and protective equipment that our healthcare workers need. It is again, quite unbelievable, but we have a short supply of masks, and if the doctors and nurses do not have the masks that they need, it is going to be very difficult for them to provide the care that patients require. We need to utilize the national guard, the ENTITY Corps of Engineers and other military resources to deal with this crisis. Today our armed forces must be immediately activated to build mobile hospitals and testing facilities, assist providers reopen hospitals that have been shut down and expand our healthcare capacity in underserved areas. One of the ongoing crisis is that our healthcare system faces in many parts of this country under the best of times, people cannot find a doctor or a hospital 200 miles away from them. That is not acceptable and we have to address that reality in the midst of this crisis today. We need to dramatically expand community health centers, which provide primary care, dental care and mental health care, as well as low cost prescription drugs to nearly 30 million Americans, including some of the poorest and most vulnerable. We have a primary healthcare system which is in very, very bad shape. Even people who have insurance having a hard time in many cases finding the doctors that they need. So expanding community health centers will be a significant step forward in making sure that there are locations where people can get the testing they need, get the treatment that they need, get the healthcare that they need in general. And while we are making sure that all of our people have the healthcare that they need, we must also respond to the growing economic crisis that this pandemic is causing. That means that we must make sure that everyone who has a job right now receives the paychecks that they need and does not lose their income. As we speak right now, think about the millions of workers who are being laid off in the tourism industry, in the fast food industry, in the restaurant industry, in the transportation industry. These are folks who do not have a lot of money as all of you know, some 40% of the people in this country cannot afford a $400 emergency. So people are sitting out there and they are saying, My God, what am I going to do? How do I take care of my families?


And that has got, got to be the major, major economic priority that we address. How do we take care of the working families of this country who are negatively impacted by this crisis? Small and medium size businesses, especially those in severely impacted industries such as restaurants, bars, and local retail need immediate relief. We must tell these businesses who are being forced to lay off, in some cases their entire staff or possibly even shut down through no fault of their own, that we will not allow them to go out of business. The federal government will work with affected businesses to provide direct payroll costs for small and medium-sized businesses to keep workers employed until this crisis has passed. In other words, bottom line here, most important point is workers need to continue to get a paycheck even when their businesses are shut down. Further, we need to provide a direct emergency $2,000 cash payment to every household in America every month for the duration of the crisis to provide them with the assistance they need to pay their bills and take care of their families. Now we are throwing out a lot of ideas and when you deal with the United States Congress, you do not get everything that you want. There will be picking and choosing here and there, but I think it is important for us tonight to discuss the various options that they have. And one of those options is to make sure that people at least getting $2,000 a month check to take care of their basic needs. And importantly, we must make certain that the government is getting this money into the hands of working families and the most vulnerable as quickly as possible. In other words, we do not want some kind of bureaucratic arrangement. We were talking about this for weeks and months and people do not get the help that they need. We must provide emergency unemployment assistance to anyone who loses their job through no fault of their own. Under the proposal that I am working on, everyone who loses a job must qualify for unemployment compensation at 100% of their prior salary with a cap of $75,000 a year. In addition, those who depend on tips, waiters and waitresses and others, gig workers, domestic workers, freelancers, and independent contractors must also qualify for unemployment insurance to make up for the income that they lose during this crisis. I think as many of you know, unemployment compensation does not cover every worker in America. We have got to deal with that right now. It does not matter what work you are doing.


If you lose your job, you need unemployment. Further, we need to make certain that seem as people with disabilities and families with children have access to decent quality food. That means expanding the Meals on Wheels program, the school meals program and food stamps so that no one goes hungry during this crisis and everyone who cannot leave that home can receive nutritious meals delivered directly to where they live. In other words, that is as basic as you can get in America during this crisis, people must not go hungry. We must place an immediate moratorium on evictions, on foreclosures and utility shutoffs and suspend payment on mortgage loans for primary residences and utility bills. In other words, it would be unacceptable that people could lose their homes, lose their apartments, see electricity or gas shutoffs during this crisis, so they must be a moratorium in those areas. Furthermore, we must restore utility services to any customers who have had the utilities shut off. Unbelievably in America right now, you have got a whole lot of folks who literally do not have running water in their homes because they have not been able to pay their water bill, they may not have electricity and that has got to be dealt with right now. We must also provide funding for states and localities to provide rental assistance for the duration of this crisis. In addition, we need to waive all student loan payments for the duration of the emergency. Longterm as I think all of you know, it is my view that we must cancel all student debt and make public colleges and universities and trade schools tuition free, and that is the view that I have held for a long time. But right now at the very least, we must make sure that nobody is obliged to pay their student loan right now. Furthermore, we must ensure that the homeless survivors of domestic violence and college students quarantined off campus are able to receive the shelter, the healthcare, and the nutrition they need and connect those individuals with social services to ensure nobody is left behind. We must also utilize empty hotel beds and other vacant properties to ensure that everyone in this country is safely housed during this crisis. We cannot forget that right now, tonight, there are some 500,000 people who are homeless, some in emergency shelters, some who are sleeping out on the street. Our job is to make sure that everyone is safely housed during this crisis.


Further, we must protect farmers by suspending all farm service agency loan payments to protect farmers during this crisis, extend crop insurance and emergency loans to all affected farmers, extend rural development loans, and expand the emergency food assistance program to help alleviate hunger throughout the country and support our farmers during this crisis. We already have a major, major crisis in terms of family-based agriculture in America. Thousands and thousands of family farmers are losing their farms, we have got to stop that process right now during this emergency. Finally, we must make sure that our response to this health and economic crisis is not another moneymaking opportunity for corporate America and for Wall Street. Let me underline that. We must make certain that this health and economic crisis is not another moneymaking opportunity for corporate America and for Wall Street. We need to establish an oversight agency to ensure that no one is profiting off of the economic pain and suffering of our people in the midst of this crisis. Any emergency credit extensions or loans to insolvent companies or industries as a result of this crisis must come with strict protections and benefits for workers, for unions and for customers not no strings attached handouts for large corporations and their executives. During this crisis, we will ban stock buy backs and bonuses for executives. We will put conditions on this financial assistance to make certain that any corporation in America that benefits from emergency aid does not lay off workers, pays workers a livable wage and does not rip off consumers. We must make sure that companies they get bailouts are required to sell equity to the government and put workers on their board of directors. We need to prevent price gouging by pharmaceutical companies. This is not an opportunity for some drug companies to make a fortune by charging an outrageous price for the medicine that people need in order to stay alive. Further all prescription drugs that are developed with taxpayer dollars must be sold at a reasonable price. The pharmaceutical industry must be told in no uncertain terms that the medicines that they manufacture for this crisis will be sold at cost. This is not the time for profiteering or price gouging. So we have covered a lot of territory tonight and this is what I would very much appreciate where I'd appreciate getting your help. Once again, this is an outline of proposals that I will be introducing to the Senate leadership and working with the Democratic leadership to implement. But it is important for me to hear your comments. We will have this outline up tomorrow in a little bit clearer way on our website, berniesanders.com.


Jack, I hope you were not embarrassed by that uniform with the World War I helmet. The way I look at it, you are almost old enough now to run for ENTITY. But, as I say, Jack, do not let the uniform upset you, because, you know, we enlisted in the reserves at about the same time, and believe me, you should have seen my uniform I was in the horse cavalry, which brings up an important point. You know, ladies and gentlemen, I recently disclosed that the real reason I ran for ENTITY was to bring back the horse cavalry. And when I took office some people told me I was now the most powerful man in the world. So, now that you are retiring, Jack, maybe you can tell me why every time I have brought up the horse cavalry in the Oval Office, you and Cap would just smile and nod and say, Yes, Mr. ENTITY, and nothing would happen. Ladies and gentlemen, we are here today to honor and thank Jack Vessey for his years of service and devotion to America. four-star general, Vice Chief of Staff of the United States ENTITY, and ultimately Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and all of this after receiving a battlefield commission. I know Jack was proud of every rank and command he held; in each he performed with skill, competence, and devotion to duty. And yet for Jack Vessey, I suspect the title of which he was proudest was the first one he every held during his 46 count them 46 years of military service, the one he earned the day he joined the Minnesota National Guard, the title that said, Jack Vessey, soldier. as a battlefield hero you have heard today about North Africa, Monte Cassino, Anzio, and that grim night with the 2d Battalion in Vietnam; he will be remembered as a man of patriotism and deep religious belief, an officer who brought character and credit to every billet he ever held; as a military leader who always spoke his mind to civilian authority, respectfully but candidly; as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who presided over the restoration of America's military strength and power at a moment critical to the fate of freedom and his country's security. In all these things, he bore the marks of greatness.

Remarks at a Farewell Ceremony for General John W. Vessey, Jr., Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff


But there is one accomplishment that is not there in Jack Vessey's personnel file, yet it is an accomplishment that made the difference in the lives of so many GI's over so many years in so many places around the globe. Jack Vessey always remembered the soldiers in the ranks; he understood those soldiers are the backbone of any army. He noticed them, spoke to them, looked out for them. Jack Vessey never forgot what it was like to be an enlisted man, to be just a GI. Mark J. Neal, of Las Cruces, New Mexico, remembers. In January of 1975, he was a private at Fort Carson, a member of the drill team there. He said recently that after one drill team event, he was in his residence doing dishes before the volunteer army, way back when Jack and I enlisted, it seems to me they had another name for doing dishes. Anyway, Mark Neal was told the commanding general wanted to see him. He was scared, of course, but he found his meeting and friendly chat with the general something he would always remember. After that, Mark Neal followed General Vessey's career. This short meeting made a lasting impression on me. It was amazing to me that you even knew I was on the premises... even more amazing that you would want to meet me. That moment of thoughtfulness for a lonely enlisted man back at Fort Carson proved the truth of your reputation as a real soldier's general. There were many Mark Neals in Jack Vessey's career, and Jack Vessey made their lives a little easier, a little less lonely. And he made them a little prouder to wear their country's uniform and defend freedom. Jack, in the 5 years or so that I have been doing events like this, I have learned something about people like you. A career like yours, combining as it does heroism, patriotism, competence, wisdom, and kindness, does not need elaboration from commanders in chief or President; it speaks enough all by itself. But what I can do today is thank you. On behalf of your friends here today who've had the honor of working with you and on behalf of some others who could not be here all your fellow Americans, if they had the chance to be here, they would express their gratitude to you for making their lives and the lives of their children safer and more secure.


Last summer, I got a letter from a woman named Elizabeth Paredes from Tucson, Arizona. Elizabeth is the mom of a 3-year-old boy and an assistant manager at a sandwich shop. She earns about $2,000 a month, and she routinely works some 50 hours a week, sometimes even more. But because of outdated overtime regulations, she does not have to be paid a dime of overtime. It is not easy work and requires a lot of time away from my son at times, I find not worth it. Things like the 40-hour workweek and overtime are two of the most basic pillars of a middle class life. But for all the changes we have seen in our economy, our overtime rules have only been updated once since the 1970s just once. In fact, 40 years ago, more than 60 percent of workers were eligible for overtime based on their salaries. But today, that number is down to 7 percent. Only 7 percent of full-time salaried workers are eligible for overtime based on their income. That is why this week, my administration took a step to help more workers get the overtime pay they have earned. The Department of Labor finalized a rule to extend overtime protections to 4.2 million more Americans. It is a move that will boost wages for working Americans by $12 billion over the next 10 years. We are more than doubling the overtime salary threshold. And what that means is, most salaried workers who earn less than about $47,500 a year will qualify for overtime. Or their employers can choose to give them a raise so that they earn more than $47,500. Or if employers do not want to raise wages, they can let them go home after 40 hours and see their families or train for new jobs. Any way you slice it, it is a win for working families. And we are making sure that every 3 years, there will be an automatic update to this threshold so that working families will not fall through the cracks for decades at a time ever again. This is the single biggest step I can take through executive action to raise wages for the American people. It means that millions of hard-working Americans like Elizabeth will either get paid for working more than 40 hours, or they will get more time with their families. We still have more work to do to make sure this economy works for everybody, not just those at the top.

The President's Weekly Address


I am very grateful to have this second .major meeting on how we can save energy in our Nation by the concerted effort of leaders like yourselves and those who are eager, I believe, as patriotic citizens to increase our Nation's security through reducing our dependence, unwarranted and excessive dependence, on imported oil. Today we have formed a council for energy efficiency, and we have the panel members here, the award winners, whom we will recognize in a few minutes, and community leaders, and I want to thank all of you for being present. As you know, millions of our citizens now recognize vividly, as they did not perhaps just 12 months ago, how vital it is for each one of us to join in reducing imports. one is to eliminate the waste of energy, which has never been an integral part of Americans' lives; and secondly, to produce more energy ourselves. The cheapest, most efficient approach between those two, obviously, is to reduce our own consumption of energy, which I believe we can do, as has been proved by many of you already, without reducing the quality of our own lives. For the past 3 1/2 years I and many of you here, all the members of my own administration, almost every Member of the Congress, has fought for and has finally achieved the basic framework of a comprehensive energy policy for our country, something that we have never had before and something which is already paying rich dividends for us. We now import, the first half of this year, almost 15 percent less oil than we did the same 6 months in 1979. That is a remarkable achievement, particularly in view of the fact that in the years preceding this year we had had a steady upward trend in the amount of oil that we had bought from overseas. We have still not reached our goals. And as you know, by 1990 we have set as a goal for ourselves a slashing in half of the actual amount that we import and a reduction by more than two-thirds of the amount that we would have imported had we not put into effect these conservation measures. We have today, this day, imported about 1 1/2 million less barrels than we did an equivalent day 12 months ago. This is a very fine achievement, thanks to many of you. We have still got much to do, and we have made good progress already. We have got two basic approaches, as you well know from the briefing you have had and from the discussion today.

Remarks at a Ceremony To Announce the National Energy Efficiency Program's Second Phase and Present Transportation Efficiency Awards


One is in the area of transportation, and we will recognize some that have achieved superior performance already. And we also are launching, with as effective a program as possible throughout our Nation, a means by which we conserve energy within individual homes. And we think that each home, on the average, can save 25 percent of the energy it has been consuming. This can be done through tax credits to encourage the weatherization of homes, the installation of devices like thermostats, that are timed by day, to prevent excessive air conditioning or heating loads when they are not needed, because somebody might be absent-minded and not change the thermostat when they could have changed it, and of course, the installation of solar heating devices of all kinds. We have received from the transportation industry about 190 different specific commitments derived from the previous meeting that we have had here. The homes will be the second achievement and a third one that we are working for is in the field of agriculture. I have been a farmer almost all my life, except when I have been in government service. All of my people before me for many generations have been full-time farmers, and I know from practical experience that, in my earlier days, we had much less dependence upon bought fuels for the heating or drying of crops and for cultivation and, as any farm agent knows and as any superior farmer knows, minimum tillage can be an advantage and not a disadvantage. And the sun-drying of our crops, instead of using imported oil or natural gas or butane, can be a very efficient way to do an equally superior job. We anticipate that if the farmers can save only 5 percent of the energy they use compared to a year ago and if homeowners can reduce, by an amount that I have already described, that we can cut our oil imports at a $32 per barrel price by roughly $20 billion each year. We have, finally, a need to expand the public awareness of what can be done. A lot of people have feared energy conservation because it is new to them, and they have assumed, incorrectly, that to save energy in their own lives, in their homes, on their farms, in their businesses, in their transportation, would cause them to lead an inferior quality of life compared to what they had been using, to which they had been accustomed.


I am glad you all could join us today for this job forum here at the White House. government, labor, academia, nonprofits, and businesses of all sizes. And I know that your unions or universities or cities or companies do not run themselves, so I appreciate that you have taken the time to be here today. the continuing plight of millions of Americans who are still out of work. Sometimes in this town, we talk about these things in clinical and academic ways. With 1 in 10 Americans out of work and millions more underemployed, not having enough hours to support themselves, this is a struggle that cuts deep, and it touches people across this Nation. Every day, I meet people or I hear from people who talk about sending out resume after resume, and they have been on the job hunt for a year or a year and a half and still cannot find anything and are desperate. They have not just lost the paycheck they need to live; they are losing the sense of dignity and identity that comes from having a job. I hear from businessowners who face the heartbreak of having to lay off longtime employees or shutting their doors altogether, in some cases businesses that they have taken years to build, in some cases businesses that they inherited from their parents or their grandparents. And I see communities devastated by lost jobs and devastated by the fear that those jobs are never coming back. Now, as Joe mentioned, it is true that we have seen a significant turnaround in the economy overall since the beginning of the year. Our economy was in a freefall. Our financial system was on the verge of collapse. We were losing 700,000 jobs per month. And it was clear then that our first order of business was to keep a recession from slipping into a depression, from preventing financial meltdown and getting the economy growing again, because we knew that without economic growth, there would be little to nothing we could do to stem job losses. And we knew that trying to create jobs in an economy based on inflated home prices and maxed-out credit cards and overleveraged banks was akin to building a house on sand. So we implemented plans to stabilize the financial system and revive lending to families and businesses. We passed the Recovery Act, which stopped our freefall and help spur the growth that we have seen. Today, our economy is growing again for the first time in a year and at the fastest pace that we have seen in 2 years, and productivity is surging. Companies are reporting profits.

Remarks at the Opening Session of the Jobs and Economic Growth Forum


But despite the progress we have made, many businesses are still skittish about hiring. Some are still digging themselves out of the losses they incurred over the past year. Many have figured out how to squeeze more productivity out of fewer workers, and that cost-cutting has become embedded in their operations and in their culture. That may result in good profits, but it is not translating into hiring. How do we get businesses to start hiring again? How do we get ourselves to the point where more people are working and more people are spending and you start seeing a virtuous cycle and the recovery starts to feed on itself? Now, we knew from the outset of this recession-particularly a recession of this severity and a recession that is spurred on by financial crisis rather than as a consequence of the business cycle-that it would take time for job growth to catch up with economic growth. We all understood that. That is always been the case with recessions. But we cannot hang back and hope for the best when we have seen the kinds of job losses that we have seen over the last year I am not interested in taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to creating jobs. What I am interested in is taking action right now to help businesses create jobs-right now, in the near term. And that is why we made more credit available to small banks that provide loans to small businesses. That is why we provided tax relief to help small businesses stay afloat and proposed raising SBA loan limits to help them expand. That is why we created the Cash for Clunkers program and made sure the Recovery Act included investments that would start saving and creating jobs this year, as Joe mentioned, as many as 1.6 * so far is estimated, according to the most recent analysis. And that is why I have been working continuously with my economic advisers as well as congressional leaders and others on new job creation ideas. And I will be speaking in greater detail about several ideas that have already surfaced early next week. While I believe that government has a critical role in creating the conditions for economic growth, ultimately, true economic recovery is only going to come from the private sector. We do not have enough public dollars to fill the hole of private dollars that was created as a consequence of the crisis.


It is only when the private sector starts to reinvest again, only when our businesses start hiring again and people start spending again and families start seeing improvement in their own lives again that we are going to have the kind of economy that we want. That is the measure of a real economic recovery. So that is why we have invited all of you here today. Many of you run businesses yourselves. Each of you is an expert on some aspect of job creation. Collectively, your views span the spectrum. We have looking for fresh perspectives and new ideas. I want to hear about what unions and universities can do to better support and prepare our workers, not just for the jobs of today, but for the jobs 5 years from now and 10 years from now and 50 years from now. I want to hear about what mayors and community leaders can do to bring new investment to our cities and towns and help recovery dollars get to where they need to go as quickly as possible. I want to hear from CEOs about what is holding back business investment and how we can increase confidence and spur hiring. And if there are things that we are doing here in Washington that are inhibiting you, then we want to know about it. And I want to continue this conversation outside of Washington, which is why I will be meeting with some of the small-business owners that you saw in the video, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, tomorrow to get their ideas. It is also why we have asked State and local officials and community organizations to hold their own jobs forums over the next week or so and to report back with the ideas and recommendations that result. I am open to every demonstrably good idea, and I want to take every responsible step to accelerate job creation. We also, though, have to face the fact that our resources are limited. When we walked in, there was an enormous fiscal gap between the money that is going out and the money coming in. The recession has made that worse because of fewer tax receipts and more demands made on government for things like unemployment insurance. So we cannot make any ill-considered decisions right now, even with the best of intentions. We will need to look beyond the old standbys and fallbacks and come up with the best ideas that give us the biggest bang for the buck. So I need everybody here to bring their A-game here today. I am going to be asking some tough questions. I will be listening for some good answers.


Laura and I are welcome-are proud to welcome and honored to welcome our friend Prime Minister Koizumi back to the White House. Japan and the United States have built a strong alliance and a close friendship. Decades ago, our two fathers looked across the Pacific and saw adversaries, uncertainty, and war. Today, their sons look across that same ocean and see friends and opportunity and peace. The friendship between our two nations is based on common values. These values include democracy, free enterprise, and a deep and abiding respect for human rights. These values have created a better life for both our peoples, a firm alliance between our two nations, and a common approach to our engagement with the world. These values are under attack by terrorist networks that bring death and destruction to all who oppose their hateful ideology, so the United States and Japan are working together to defend our shared values and win the war on terror. Japanese naval vessels have refueled hundreds of coalition ships as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. Japan is now the third largest donor nation for reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan. In Iraq, Japanese Self-Defense Forces have helped improve the lives of citizens in a key Iraqi Province that will soon return to Iraqi control. And Japan continues to provide critical airlift support to coalition forces in Iraq. The people of Japan can be proud of the contribution their Self-Defense Forces have made in the war on terror, and Americans are proud to serve alongside such courageous allies. Japan and the United States are cooperating to address other threats to our security. Our two nations are working together through the six-party talks, insisting that North Korea meet its pledge to abandon all nuclear weapons and its existing nuclear programs. Japan and the United States are also founding members of the Proliferation Security Initiative that is working to keep dangerous weapons from rogue states and terrorist groups. And our two nations are repositioning our forces to counter the emerging threats of the 21st century. As we meet threats to our security, we are also working together to improve the lives of our people and address common challenges. Our two economies are the largest in the world, and we are working to expand trade and investment opportunities for both our peoples. Japan and the United States are working together for a successful conclusion to the Doha negotiations, which would add to the prosperity of our nations and help lift millions in the developing world out of poverty. With prosperity comes responsibility.

Remarks at a Welcoming Ceremony for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan


We are here to congratulate Mary Peters on becoming our Nation's 15th Secretary of Transportation. Mary is a dedicated public servant, an experienced leader, and one of our Nation's most innovative thinker on transportation issues. Mary brings more than two decades of knowledge and skill to her new post. She also brings to her position the love and support of her friends and her family. I want to thank her family for being here, especially Mary's husband, Terry. I appreciate my Chief of Staff, Josh Bolten, who is here to administer the oath. Presidents cannot administer the oath so I tapped my man, Josh. I want to thank Maria Cino, who is the Deputy Secretary, Acting Secretary. I thank you for your service and your friendship. I appreciate my friend Secretary Norm Mineta. I got some other stuff to say about you here in a minute. I do want to thank Rodney Slater for joining us, former Secretary of Transportation, as well as Jim Burnley. I am proud you are here, and I know Secretary Peters appreciates it as well. The job of Secretary of Transportation is one of the most important in our Federal Government. The American people rely on the Department of Transportation to maintain a safe, reliable, and efficient transportation system. And the future of our growing economy and changing infrastructure depend on the decisions made by the Secretary that will be put into action by this Department. The Secretary of Transportation also plays an important role in our Nation's coordinated efforts to guard against terrorist threats to our aircraft, seaports, and infrastructure. For the past 6 years, these responsibilities have been carried out by Norm Mineta, who served our country with distinction, integrity, and dedication. Norm is our Nation's longest serving Secretary of Transportation, and he served at a time of great consequence for our country. I remember after the attacks of September the 11th, when Norm led the successful effort to bring tens of thousands of passengers aboard commercial aircraft to safe landings. He grounded quite a few planes, including the ones my mom and dad were on. They have always thanked you for that, Norm. After Hurricane Katrina, Norm and his team helped quickly repair and reopen the majorarea's major highways, airports, seaports, and pipelines. He offered incentive-based contracts and used other innovative ideas, and as a result, the Department of Transportation was to get critical infrastructure in place faster than usual.

Remarks at a Swearing-In Ceremony for Mary E. Peters as Secretary of Transportation


I want to thank you for your leadership, Norm, and I want to thank you for your lifetime of service to our country, and I wish you all the very best. And I want to remind you, Maria made you look pretty good while you were in office. Mary Peters is the right person to succeed Norm as the Secretary of Transportation. She worked for several years with Secretary Mineta, and she understands the fine legacy she has to live up to. She also knows firsthand the skills and dedication of the men and women who work here at the Department of Transportation. She understands that to maintain our Nation's competitiveness and to sustain our growing economy, we need a Secretary who can see the challenges and be willing to confront them. Mary Peters will provide strong leadership. She has spent a lifetime working on transportation issues in both the private and public sectors. Most recently, she has served as senior executive for transportation policy at a major engineering firm. For 4 years before that, she led the Federal Highway Administration. Before coming to Washington, she served in the Arizona Department of Transportation. For more than 15 years, she rose through the ranks to become director in 1998. At both the State and Federal level, Mary Peters has worked to improve safety and security on roads and bridges. She is worked to reduce traffic congestion and modernize America's transportation infrastructure. As Secretary of Transportation, Mary will work closely with Federal, State, and local leaders to ensure that America has a state-of-the-art transportation system so that we can meet the needs of our growing economy. In her new position, she will face important challenges. Next year, she will lead the Department's efforts to reauthorize our Nation's aviation programs. Our Nation is outgrowing our aviation capacity. More people are flying every year, and so we must modernize our airports and our air traffic control. We also face the challenges of reducing congestion in our surface and maritime transportation systems. To accomplish these tasks, America needs creative thinking and innovative solutions, and I believe Mary Peters will provide them. As Mary works to build a better transportation system, she will be a careful steward of the people's money. She brings to her new position a reputation for fiscal discipline and integrity. As head of the Federal Highway Administration, Mary introduced better fiscal oversight and accountability. She improved management for the largest transportation projects. She worked closely with her department's inspector general to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse.


To all of you, to our distinguished guests, to all Ticos and all the people of Central America, let me say, Es realmente un nuevo dia. Less than a decade ago, much of the Americas was still dominated by civil war, repression, and hopeless poverty. Today, we celebrate the advance of peace, growing prosperity, and freedom across our hemisphere. And we honor the remarkable men and women of Central America who helped to lead the way. When the history of our region and our time is written, it will record your courage and your strength in ending four decades of conflict, braving the threat of bombs and bullets to cast ballots, embracing the challenge of economic reform, and opening the door to a new era of partnership among all our nations. President Figueres, in that epic struggle, Costa Rica, this nation of brothers, has been a wise leader and set a powerful example. Waging peace as tenaciously as others have waged war, Costa Rica has shown that a country does not need an army to be strong. We thank Costa Rica and its leaders for building a vibrant democracy that takes care of its citizens and shoulders its responsibilities in the world. Three years ago, our hemisphere's 34 democracies met in Miami at the historic Summit of the Americas to secure the hard-won gains our nations have made and to make them work for all our people. Today in San Jose, in the first summit between the leaders of the United States, Central America, and the Dominican Republic in almost three decades, we stand before you united in our course, determined to advance together to help the daily lives of our people in better jobs, safer streets, cleaner air, brighter hopes for our children and their future. We are here to help our economies grow and to grow closer by opening our markets, protecting our workers, and sharing more fairly the benefits of prosperity. We are here to give all our people the tools to succeed in the global economy by making good education the birthright of every citizen of every country here. We are here to strengthen our democracies by standing against the criminals, the drug traffickers, the smugglers who exploit open borders to threaten open societies. And we are here to protect our future by launching new efforts to prevent pollution and protect our precious natural environment. When President Kennedy came to Costa Rica more than three decades ago, he said, Every generation of the Americas has shaped new goals for democracy to suit the demands of a new age.

Remarks at the Central American Summit Welcoming Ceremony in San Jose


I have reviewed the present fiscal situation with Secretary Mellon and Under Secretary Mills this morning, and I can state that there is no ground now for the anticipation that we shall not be able to continue the tax reductions over the next year. The indications of decreasing revenues and increasing expenses shown in the first 6 weeks quite properly furnishes a basis for calculations, but there are some administrative factors that have not been taken into account. The customs are temporarily lower because of anticipation of imports in advance of the passage of the tariff bill. Furthermore, we have been expediting the expenditure on construction work with view to giving maximum employment during the first 9 months of the fiscal year, in order that we might give the most work during the period of maximum unemployment. Further than that, these calculations take no account of the foreign debt payments which are likely to be very helpful this year. And they did not take into account the reduction in expenditure as the result of the drive we are making for the postponement--an actual reduction or economy--of such things as are not necessary at the present time. The reports of which are not in from all of the departments but so far as they have been received they indicate a probable cut of about $75 million in expenditure. One has to bear in mind in reducing the expenditure that about $2,200 million out of the $4,200 million of estimated expenditure this year is in respect to fixed charges for interest and debt redemption, pensions, et cetera. So that the field which we have to work in for economies is less than one-half of the total national expenditure. Out of that there is about $400 million of construction in one department or another, which we have been increasing rather than decreasing as a matter of employment, so that the field for revising expenditure for emergency is more limited on this occasion than most any other. I have an announcement to make for you, and that is that Mr. Henry p. Fletcher will be Chairman of the new Tariff Commission. He will take office at the expiration of the present commission, on September 16th. As you know, Mr. Fletcher has been in the Foreign Service of the Government for somewhere about 18 or 20 years. He has had to deal with economic and tariff matters in great numbers of aspects during this whole period. We will give you a little statement on his life and career, which I will not bother to read to you.

The President's News Conference


I am honored to have the privilege of welcoming Your Imperial Majesties to this dinner this evening. It permits me to, in a small way, in a symbolic gesture, to reciprocate the wonderful hospitality so graciously extended to me this week. It has been a period of enlightenment for me, and I will take home an inspiring impression of the possibilities available for an even greater friendship, greater cooperation, and interdependence of our two nations. America is now approaching its national Bicentennial. Tonight, I would like to recall another meaningful event that took place 114 years ago, on May 14, 1860. That was the day when the first diplomatic mission ever sent by Japan to another nation arrived in Washington, D.C., our National Capital. I am very pleased, Your Majesties, to present on this evening to all of our distinguished guests a token of the durability of American-Japanese friendship. It is a medal bearing the likeness of President Buchanan, who had the honor of welcoming the Japanese delegation to the historic East Room of the White House. Since that occasion, the American Government has never ceased to look to the East as well as to the West. Our visitors then regarded us as Americans, as strange creatures, and observed us in every detail. It was with equal fascination that we viewed our Japanese visitors. We learned from each other then, and we are continuing to learn today. The most important lesson that I have learned during this visit corresponds with a brilliant insight of one of the Japanese envoys on the first mission to the United States. The occasion was a visit to the New York home of the widow of Commodore Perry. The time has come when no nation may remain isolated and refuse to take part in the affairs of the rest of the world. The links between our two nations can serve as a model for a world increasingly aware of the need for greater international cooperation. Accordingly, in recalling that first .Japanese delegation to Washington, I pledge that my Government will not isolate itself from the world or from Japan. On behalf of the Nation that I am privileged to represent, to lead, I reaffirm the spirit of friendship that endures between us. I reaffirm my determination to see that warm relationship continues and grows. Your Majesties, in that spirit and with a heart filled with faith in the future and appreciation of our guests, I offer a toast to the health and to the well-being of Your Imperial Majesties.

Toast at a Dinner Honoring the Emperor and Empress of Japan


I will speak about them in a few moments. Lee Iacocca, chairman of the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, honored guests, and ladies and gentlemen, on this date in 1886, President Grover Cleveland stood on an island in New York Harbor to dedicate a statue entitled Liberty Enlightening the World. Ninety-nine years later, the statue is known by a more familiar affectionate name, the Statue of Liberty or simply Miss Liberty. She is cherished across America, and the torch that she bears is recognized throughout the world as a symbol of human freedom. The Statue of Liberty was conceived and created by the French sculptor Frederic Bartholdi. Legend has it that as he worked, he modeled the statue's face-that face of utter calm and nobility-on the features of his own mother. Completed, the statue rose more than 150 feet and was constructed of 200,000 pounds of hand-hammered copper sheathing hung on an iron frame engineered by Gustav Eiffel, who later designed the Eiffel Tower. On July 4th, 1884, the statue was presented to the American Ambassador to France. Built using funds donated by the French people, she was then dismantled and shipped to the United States. Then, she was rebuilt using funds donated by the American people, including money raised by schoolchildren. Ever since, she is stood on her island in that great harbor lighting the way to freedom. Between 1892 and 1954, nearly 17 million immigrants to the New World passed through the Ellis Island checkpoint. Most immigrants moved through the checkpoint in a few hours to begin their new lives in America and freedom. And I like to picture the scene as a boatload of immigrants leaving Ellis Island for New York, they pass Miss Liberty and crowd the rails to gaze. Someone on board knows English, he reads and translates the inscription that the statue bears, words that have proclaimed the meaning of America for millions of immigrants, for shiploads of returning soldiers in two great wars, for every family that has ever visited that glorious statue. I lift my lamp beside the Golden Door. Well, many of those immigrants remain at the rails until Miss Liberty is lost in the fog. It would be no surprise if some shed tears of joy. In recent years, it became all too apparent that Ellis Island and Miss Liberty, herself, were being ravaged by the passing of decades. Nearly half of all Americans can trace their ancestry to someone who passed through the Ellis Island checkpoint.

Remarks on Signing the Bill Designating the Centennial Year of Liberty in the United States


But that island, which should be a proud memorial to our forbearers, had instead become a sad and ramshackled place. Miss Liberty, for her part, had been badly corroded by decades of salt air; her iron supports had weakened; in places, she'd become pocked with jagged, rusty holes. Well, then, in 1982 the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation was formed to restore Miss Liberty and rebuild Ellis Island, and to do so with private funds. This effort has become one of the largest private sector initiatives in American history. Across America, everyone is lending a hand; major corporations are making contributions; small businesses are helping out. And I am pleased to say that just as schoolchildren helped raise the money to build her pedestal and install Miss Liberty back in the 1880's, today, a century later, they are holding bake sales and car washes to see to it that she gets the restoration she needs. Let me give you just three of many stirring examples. Michael Haverly, of Indianapolis, Indiana, has raised over $5,000 for the statue by going door to door with an appeal to help Miss Liberty. Well, I am proud to be in Michael's company here in the Rose Garden today. And then, there is Amy Nessler, of West Deptford Township, New Jersey, who brought a jar of 365 pennies into her first-grade class to help raise money for the Statue of Liberty. The pennies had been collected 15 years earlier by Amy's mother, who, day by day, put one into a jar to mark the time that her fianc was in Vietnam. And now, after all these years, they felt it was only appropriate to give these special coins to Lady Liberty, who symbolizes what Amy's dad fought for freedom. Well, I am very happy that Amy, her mother, and father are here with us today. When Donna's hometown learned that she was losing her sight to an incurable eye disease, they pitched in to raise money to send her and her family to visit the Statue of Liberty. However, Donna, in the spirit of generosity, donated part of this contribution to the Liberty Restoration Project. And, Donna, you are a fine example to us all. So far, this private sector initiative has raised more than $170 million, well on its way to its goal of 230 million.


And I am delighted to be back here in New Jersey. I wish he were still Governor of this State. While we are talking about good whoops got a Democratic bee here. Let me just say at the beginning that New Jersey needs Bob Franks and Al Palermo in Washington. We have got to clean House. You know, this week on your TV screens you saw a spectacle of intense competition, breathtaking battle of wits and courage, a spine-tingling fight to the finish. I am talking about the Pirates-Braves game, of course. It ain't over until the last batter swings. And we are going to win this election. We are going to surprise the pundits what is this bee here? surprise the pundits, annoy the media, and hit a home run on November 3d. Our ideas are better for America. My opponents, sorry opponents, pathetic, try to tell you that America is in decline, and we are not in decline. Our companies and our workers are still more productive than any other in the entire world. You know, if we'd have listened to this nuclear You know, we have led the United States through a very difficult global transition, and I am very proud that the world is safer for our kids. The fear of nuclear war is less. We have kept our economy afloat when many of those European economies are drowning, and the Europeans would trade with us in one minute. We have kept inflation down. We have kept interest rates down. And I am proud of our leadership. more Government, more regulation, and more taxes; more Government, more regulation, and more taxes. We must not let Clinton do this to our country. Let me tell you about Governor Clinton's program. In June, Governor Clinton promised $150 billion in new taxes, plus $220 billion in new spending. I thought that would satisfy his appetite, but that is just an hors d'oeuvre, because ever since then Bill Clinton has made new promises, $1 billion in new Government spending every single day. Who is going to pay Bill's bill? Of course, Governor Clinton says he is only going to tax the rich. But everybody out there with $22,000 in income better be ready, because he is going to sock it to the working people in this country. He will go after the cab drivers and the teachers and the nurses and the middle class. Higher taxes do not create new jobs. They destroy that.

Remarks to the Community in Edison, New Jersey


You have seen it when their man, Governor Florio, was elected. Governor Florio has too much taxes. That Florio-Clinton combination, they kicked half a million jobs out of New Jersey. When Governor Kean was here, we were building jobs. But I have a very different agenda, a plan to control the growth of mandatory spending and get the taxes down so we can create good jobs, create them. We are going to win the new economic competition. Our Agenda for American Renewal includes the steps that we must take to create good jobs today and build a stronger America, and some of these ideas are being tried. But working with a new Congress, we are going to put this entire agenda into effect and get America moving, get rid of these Democrats from Congress and get them moving. One way to do it is to tear down barriers to free and fair trade so that we can create good jobs for American workers. In the past 3 years, our exports to Japan have increased 12 times faster than our imports from Japan. Whether you shop in Tokyo or Trenton, chances are that the goods do not say Made in Japan or Made in Germany, they say Made in the United States of America. Today in New Jersey one out of every six jobs is tied into foreign trade. And the average export-related job pays 17 percent more than the traditional job. So if we want the sons and daughters of steel workers to have good jobs, we have got to fight for free and fair trade. We have already got a great new trade agreement one that Governor Clinton has waffled on. He waffles on everything. He is on one side and then the other. We have got a good trade agreement, and I am going to fight for more trade agreements. Just as we once used our military alliances to win the cold war, we will use our economic alliances to win the new business war. I wish these draft dodgers would shut up so I can finish my speech. You see these guys. You see, I am glad we have led in foreign policy, because now we will use those alliances that have made the world more peaceful to bring more prosperity to the workers right here in America. I also want to do for the country what Governor Kean has tried to do when he was Governor here, change our schools. Make our education system better for all. I am proud of what we have done already. We have educational standards nationally for the first time in the history of this country.


We want to let the parents choose the schools, public, private, or religious. Every parent should be able to choose his children's schools. You know, I believe that small business is the backbone of our economy creating two out of every three new jobs. Bill Clinton wants to slap a tax on small business. I say if we really want to help small business, let us give them relief from taxation, regulation, and litigation. Now, let me mention just another subject the New Jerseyans know about, and that is auto insurance. At the root of many of our problems is a legal system that is out of control. I want to do something about these crazy lawsuits. Governor Clinton and the trial lawyers do not want to do anything about it. You know, 15 percent of American companies report that they have laid off workers because of high premiums from liability insurance. Experts estimate that over $20 billion of our health care costs come from doctors and nurses doing unnecessary tests because they are afraid that a lawyer is going to sue them, and auto insurance costs continue to rise, as New Jerseyans know better than almost anyone. Thousands of people enter frivolous lawsuits for pain and suffering. But the lion's share of the benefits goes not to people who are injured but to the trial lawyers. I say we must reform our malpractice laws and our product liability laws. When Congress comes back, I am going to introduce a new proposal to allow all Americans to opt out of the so-called pain and suffering standard. You know, this reform allows States to go even further than New Jersey's landmark insurance reforms. But anyway, this proposal will save American drivers 20 to 30 billion dollars in insurance premiums every year. So these are part of our Agenda for American Renewal. But the election is a lot more about other things, the best economic plan. It is about another virtue, and it is called trust. Who do you trust to be President of the United States? You know, I have got to tell you, I enjoyed last night's debate, and I am grateful to have a chance to have Americans compare my views with my opponents'. But it is difficult to debate Clinton because he comes down on every side of every issue. You cannot do that as President of the United States. You have got to make a decision. You cannot be popular to every group. And yes, he ought to tell the truth.


Look, a lot of being President is about respect for that office and about telling the truth and serving your country. You are all familiar with Governor Clinton's various stories on what he did to evade the draft. He still has not leveled with the American people. He still has not told the truth. Last night you heard Governor Clinton state that he was absolutely against allowing parents to use tax dollars to send their kids to private or religious schools. But he used to be for the idea. I am strongly for it. He said he was interested, and now he is against it. Let us limit the terms of Members of Congress. Just this morning in the Los Angeles Times, there is an article suggesting that Governor Clinton is already preparing yet another economic program, with billions of dollars more in new spending. But his advisers will not spell it out until after the election. A pattern of deception is not right for the Oval Office. You cannot be leader of the world, you cannot be leader of this country if you have a pattern of deception. You know, last night Governor Clinton said he was not interested in my character. He said, I quote, I want to change the character of the Presidency. Well, let me tell you something. You cannot separate the character of the President from the character of the Presidency. You cannot be one kind of man and another kind of President. I have had to make some tough decisions in that Oval Office. I hope this does not happen, but the next President who may have to send our young men, women in harm's way. And the next President will have to stand up to the special interests and that big-spending Congress. In the White House you cannot make everybody happy, and you have to level with the American people. He is not capable of doing that. So my problem is this pattern of deception. We cannot have this pattern of deception brought into the Oval Office. I believe you cannot lead the American people by misleading the American people. Now, you know, we have had Presidents from the South and from the North; Presidents who were rich, Presidents who were poor. But rich or poor, southern or northern, you must have integrity. And that is what it takes to lead this great land. Who do you trust? Who do you believe? Who do you trust to be in the Oval Office? You know, last night in that debate I asked the American people to imagine what would happen if a crisis occurred that could affect you and your family.


I want to thank Betsy DeVos for her leadership and for her friendship and for her kind words. I appreciate all she is done for the children of this great State of Michigan. I want to thank you all for coming tonight. You see, you are laying the groundwork for what will be a great victory in November of 2004. I want you to know that I am going to count on you during the course of the election. I am going to count on you to energize the grassroots, to talk to your neighbors, to put signs in the yard, to mail the letters, and to remind people that our message is one that is hopeful and optimistic for every citizen who lives in this country. But the political season will come in its own time. Right now I am focused on the people's business in Washington, DC. We have a lot on the agenda, and I will continue to work hard to earn the confidence of all America by keeping this Nation secure and strong and prosperous and free. My only regret tonight is that Laura is not with me. I know, you drew the short straw. She is a fabulous First Lady, a great wife, and I love her dearly. I want to thank all those who helped. I want to thank Michael Kojaian and the entire team who has put together this fantastic fundraiser. I appreciate so very much my very close friend Mercer Reynolds, who is the national finance chairman for this campaign. I want to thank Terri Lynn Land, who is the secretary of state, and Michael Cox, the State attorney general, for being here tonight. I particularly want to thank Eric Childress, the student from the Cornerstone School. I visited the Cornerstone in May of 2000. I saw the good works of the teachers there and the administrators, all the hard work that goes to prepare the students for success in high school and beyond. I appreciate so very much the high standards set in that school. And I want to thank Eric for coming. But most of all, I want to thank you all for your friendship and your support. It means an awful lot. You know, in the last 2 1/2 years, our Nation has acted decisively to confront great challenges. I came to this office to solve problems, not to pass them on to future Presidents and future generations. I came to seize opportunities instead of letting them slip away, and we are meeting the tests of our time. Terrorists declared war on the United States of America, and war is what they got.

Remarks at a Bush-Cheney Reception in Dearborn, Michigan


We have captured or killed many key leaders of Al Qaida, and the rest of them know we are on their trail. In Afghanistan and in Iraq, we gave ultimatums to terror regimes. Those regimes chose defiance, and those regimes are no more. Fifty million people-50 million people in those two countries once lived under tyranny, and now they live in freedom. Two-and-a-half years ago, our military was not receiving the resources it needed, and morale was beginning to suffer. We increased the defense budget to prepare for the threats of a new era. And today, no one in the world can question the skill and the strength and the spirit of the United States military. Two-and-a-half years ago, we inherited an economy in recession. Then the attacks on our country came. We had scandals in corporate America and war-all affected the people's confidence. We passed up new laws to hold corporate criminals to account. And to get the economy going again, we have twice led the Congress in-to pass historic tax relief on behalf of the American people. We know this, that when people have more money in their pockets, when they have more take-home pay to spend, to save, or to invest, the whole economy grows and people are more likely to find a job. I understand whose money we spend in Washington, DC. We are returning more money to people to help them raise their families. We are reducing taxes on dividends and capital gains to encourage investment. We are giving small businesses incentives to expand and to hire new people. With all these actions, we are laying the foundations for greater prosperity and more jobs across America, so that every single person in this country has a chance to realize the great American Dream. So I called for and Congress passed the No Child Left Behind Act. With a solid bipartisan majority, we delivered the most dramatic education reform in a generation. We bring high standards and strong accountability measures to every public school in America. We believe that every child can learn the basics of reading and math, and we expect every school to teach the basics of reading and math. We are challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations. The days of excuse-making are over. We expect results in every single classroom across America, so that not one single child is left behind. We reorganized the Government and created the Department of Homeland Security to safeguard our borders and ports and to protect the American people.


We passed trade promotion authority to open up new markets for America's entrepreneurs and manufacturers and farmers and ranchers. We passed a budget agreement that is helping to maintain much needed spending discipline in Washington, DC. On issue after issue, this administration has acted on principle, has kept its word, and has made progress for the American people. The United States Congress has shared in these great achievements. I appreciate the leadership of Speaker Hastert and Leader Frist. I will continue to work with Members of the Congress to change the tone in Washington, DC, by focusing on the people's business and by focusing on results. That is the kind of person I have attracted to my administration. I have put together a fantastic team of great Americans to serve the American people. We have had no finer Vice President than Dick Cheney. Mother may have a different opinion. In 2 1/2 years, we have come far, but our work is only beginning. I have set great goals worthy of this great Nation. First, America is committed to expanding the realm of freedom and peace, not only for our own security but for the benefit of the world. And second, in our own country, we must work for a society of prosperity and compassion, so that every citizen has a chance to work and succeed and to realize the promise of our country. It is clear that the future of freedom and peace depends on the actions of America. We welcome this charge of history, and we are keeping it. Our war on terror continues. The enemies of freedom are not idle, and neither are we. This country will not rest; we will not tire; we will not stop until this danger to civilization is removed. Yet our national interest involves more than eliminating aggressive threats to our security. Our greatest security comes from the advance of human liberty because free nations do not support terror, free nations do not attack their neighbors, free nations do not threaten the world with weapons of mass terror. Americans believe that freedom is the deepest need and hope of every human heart. And we believe that freedom is the right of every person and the future of every nation. America also understands that unprecedented influence brings tremendous responsibilities. We have duties in the world. And when we see disease and starvation and hopeless poverty, we will not turn away. On the continent of Africa, America is now committed to bringing the healing power of medicine to millions of men and women and children now suffering with ENTITY. This great land is leading the world in the incredibly important work of human rescue.


We face challenges at home, and our actions prove that we are equal to those challenges. I will continue to work on our economy until everybody who wants to work and who cannot find a job today will be able to find a job. We have a duty to keep our commitment to America's seniors by strengthening and modernizing Medicare. Recently, the Congress took historic action to improve the lives of older Americans. For the first time since the creation of Medicare, the House and the Senate have passed reforms to increase the choices for our seniors and to provide coverage for prescription drugs. It is now time for both Houses to come together and to get a good bill to my desk as soon as possible. For the sake of our health care system, we need to cut down on frivolous lawsuits which increase the cost of medicine. People who have been harmed by a bad doc deserve their day in court. Yet the system should not reward lawyers who are fishing for rich settlements. Because frivolous lawsuits drive up the cost of health care, they affect the Federal budget. Medical liability reform is a national issue that requires a national response. No one has ever been healed by a frivolous lawsuit. I have a responsibility as President to make sure the judicial system runs well. And I have met that duty. I have nominated superb men and women for the Federal courts, people who interpret the law, not legislate from the bench. Yet some Members of the United States Senate are trying to keep my nominees off the bench by blocking up-or-down votes. Here in Michigan, for example, I have nominated four outstanding individuals to serve on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Yet all four have been waiting more than a year for a vote. These kinds of delays create judicial vacancies that harm our legal system. Every judicial nominee deserves a fair hearing and an up-or-down vote on the Senate floor. It is time for some of the Members of the United States Senate to stop playing politics with American justice. The Congress needs to pass a comprehensive energy plan. Our Nation must promote energy efficiency and conservation and develop cleaner technologies to help us explore for more energy in an environmentally friendly way. Yet, for the sake of our economic security and for the sake of our national security, we must be less dependent on foreign sources of energy. I will continue to advance our agenda of compassionate conservatism, applying the best and most innovative ideas to the task of helping our fellow citizens in need.


There is still millions of men and women who want to end their dependence on Government and become independent through hard work. We must build on the success of welfare reform to bring work and dignity into the lives of more of our fellow citizens. Congress should complete the Citizen Service Act so more Americans can serve their communities and their country. And both Houses should reach agreement on my Faith-Based Initiative to support the armies of compassion that are mentoring our children, that are caring for the homeless, and that are offering hope to the addicted. A compassionate society must promote opportunity for all, including the independence and dignity that come from ownership. This administration will constantly strive to promote an ownership society in America. We want more citizens owning their own home. We want our citizens owning and controlling their health care plans. We want our citizens owning and controlling their retirement plans. We want more people to own their own small business, because I understand that when people own something, they own a stake in the future of this great country. In a compassionate society, people respect one another and take responsibility for the decisions they make. We are changing the culture of America from one that has said, If it feels good, do it, and If you have got a problem, blame somebody else --to a culture in which each of us understands that we are responsible for the decisions we make in life. If you are fortunate enough to be a mother or a father, you are responsible for loving your child. If you are concerned about the quality of the education in the community in which you live, you are responsible for doing something about it. If you are a CEO in America, you have the responsibility to tell the truth to your shareholders and your employees. And in the new responsibility society, each of us is responsible for loving our neighbor just like we'd like to be loved ourself. We can see the culture of service and responsibility growing around us. I started the USA Freedom Corps to encourage Americans to extend a compassionate hand to a neighbor in need, and the response has been great. I also know that our faith-based programs and our charities are strong and vibrant all across America. We have neighborhood healers who are performing miracles on a daily basis by helping people change their hearts and their lives. Policemen and firefighters and people who wear our Nation's uniform are reminding us what it means to sacrifice for something greater than yourself. Once again, the children of America believe in heroes, because they see them every day.


And thank you so much, Haben, for that amazing introduction and for working to make sure that students with disabilities get a world-class education, just like you have. So on a sunny day 25 years ago-I do not know if it was as hot as it is today--President George H.W. Bush stood on the South Lawn and declared a new American independence day. With today's signing of the landmark Americans Disabilities Act, he said, every man, woman, and child with a disability can now pass through once-closed doors into a bright new era of equality, freedom, and independence. Twenty-five years later, we come together to celebrate that groundbreaking law and all that the law has made possible. Thanks to the ADA, the places that comprise our shared American life-schools, workplaces, movie theaters, courthouses, buses, baseball stadiums, national parks-they truly belong to everyone. Millions of Americans with disabilities have had the chance to develop their talents and make their unique contributions to the world. And thanks to them, America is stronger and more vibrant; it is a better country because of the ADA. That is what this law has achieved. So today we honor those who made the ADA the law of the land, many of whom are here today. Tom Harkin--Tom Harkin is in the back there, and he-Tom delivered speeches in sign language on the Senate floor in favor of this law, in part inspired by his brother Frank. A war hero whose combat-related disability informed the way he advocated for all Americans with disabilities. Tony Coelho--told he could not become a priest because of his epilepsy, so he became a Congressman instead--and helped to pass the ADA so fewer Americans would find the word no being an obstacle to their dreams In the 1970s, Judy Heumann helped lead the longest sit-in at a Federal building in U.S. history, in support of disability rights. Today, she is at the State Department, advocating for people with disabilities worldwide. She and all the others I mentioned deserve America's thanks for their tireless efforts. I want to thank some of the activists who are here, folks like Ricardo Thornton and Tia Nelis. In 1999, the Supreme Court ruled that institutionalizing people with disabilities-isolating them, keeping them apart from the rest of the community-is not just wrong, it is illegal.

Remarks on the 25th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act


And I am proud of what my administration has done to ensure that people with disabilities are treated like the valuable members of the communities that they are. And I want to thank all the Members of Congress and members of my administration who are here today, including our outstanding Secretary of Labor, Tom Perez, and the White House's fantastic new Disability Community Liaison, Maria Town is here. Now, days like today are a celebration of our history. But they are also a chance to rededicate ourselves to the future, to address the injustices that still linger, to remove the barriers that remain. The ADA offered millions of people the opportunity to earn a living and help support their families. But we all know too many people with disabilities are still unemployed, even though they can work, even though they want to work, even though they have so much to contribute. In some cases, it is a lack of access to skills training. In some cases, it is an employer that cannot see all that these candidates for a job have to offer. Maybe sometimes, people doubt their own self-worth after experiencing a lifetime of discouragement and expectations that were too low. Our country cannot let all that incredible talent go to waste. A few years ago, I issued an Executive order requiring the Federal Government to hire more Americans with disabilities. And in part because of that Executive order, today, more people with disabilities are working with us than at any point in the last 30 years. Some of these folks are some of my closest colleagues and have been incredible leaders on behalf of the administration on a whole host of issues, and I am grateful for their contributions every single day. And we have strengthened the rules for Federal contractors to make sure they have plans in place for hiring people with disabilities. I am hoping more employers follow suit, because Americans with disabilities can do the job, and they are hungry for the chance, and they will make you proud if you give them the chance. The ADA also made our more-made our Government more responsive to Americans with disabilities. But we have still got more to do to live up to our responsibilities. My administration created the first office within FEMA dedicated to disability, so that when disaster strikes, we are prepared to help everybody, including those with physical or mental conditions requiring extra help. And we created the first Special Adviser for International Disability Rights at the State Department, because this is not just about American rights, it is about human rights, and that is something our Nation has to stand for.


So we have still got to do more to make sure that people with disabilities are paid fairly for their labor, to make sure they are safe in their homes and their communities, to make sure they have access to technology, including high-speed Internet, that allows for their full participation in this 21st-century economy. We have still got to do more to make sure that children with disabilities get every opportunity to learn and acquire the skills and the sense of self-worth that will last a lifetime. And we need Republicans and Democrats in Congress to make sure we have a budget that lets us keep that promise and keep that commitment. So I do not have to tell you, this fight is not over. But we are building a stronger foundation. And thanks to generations of Americans who fought for better laws, who demanded better treatment, who in-by just being good and decent people and effective workers and working hard every day and treating others with respect and asking the same in return, folks have overcome ignorance and indifference and made our country better. I am thinking of folks like Hamza Jaka, who is here from Wisconsin with his mom. He gloated that he is a Packers fan--and they have been beating the Bears a lot lately. But Hamza has cerebral palsy. As he puts it, people always assume his condition must limit him. His disability has given him unique experiences and a sense of purpose that he cherishes. He traveled to Syria to meet other young people with disabilities, and together, they created a comic book featuring a Muslim superhero who uses a wheelchair called the Silver Scorpion. This fall, he is starting law school, where he is going to learn how to be an even more effective advocate. And then you have got somebody like Leah Katz-Hernandez. Leah is one of my favorites. She is-her smiling face is one of the first things that people see when they come into the White House. We call her ROTUS. And ROTUS is the first deaf American to hold that job. She is poised, she is talented, and as she puts it, a lot of her accomplishments may not have been possible without the ADA. And just on a very practical level, this law meant she could ask for sign language interpretation on job interviews, very straight forward. But without this law and without enforcement of the law, those things do not happen. On a deeper level, the fact that the ADA was passed a few years after Leah was born opened possibilities to her that previous generations did not always have.


She says that, thanks to this law, I grew up knowing I was equal, not subhuman. And I have told this story before, but whenever I think about the ADA, I think about my father-in-law Fraser Robinson, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in his early thirties. By the time I knew him, he needed crutches to get around. He was holding down a job and raising a family at a time where the ADA had not yet been passed. He never missed a day at work. He had to wake up an hour earlier than everybody else just to put on his shirt, just to get dressed, just to get down to the job, but he was never going to be late. If he went to his son's basketball games, he and the family would have to get there 45 minutes early because he did not want to interrupt people as he climbed one stair at a time on crutches so that he could cheer on his son. Same thing if he went to Michelle's dance receptions. And just through the power of his example, he opened a lot of people's eyes, including mine, to some of the obstacles that folks with disabilities faced and how important it is that the rest of us do our part to remove those obstacles. And just an aside on this, for a long time, he would not get a motorized wheelchair because he had gotten this disability at a time when they were not available and it was expensive and they were not wealthy and insurance did not always cover it. And it just gave you a sense of-Michelle and I would talk sometimes about how much more he could have done, how much more he could have seen. As wonderful as a dad as he was and as wonderful as a coworker as he was, he was very cautious about what he could and could not do, not because he could not do it, but because he did not want to inconvenience his family and he did not want to be seen as somehow holding things up. And that is what, even for folks who had amazing will, was the nature of having a disability before this law was passed. It was also constraining how people thought about what they should or should not do. That is why it is so important for us to remember what this law means. That is what today is all about. We have got to tear down barriers externally, but we also have to tear down barriers internally.