Administration of George W. Bush, 2003 / Sept. 1

their homes. These are the signs of a reviv- ing so that we can bring the deficit down ing economy. by half within the next 5 years. Now we must build on this progress and We must negotiate trade agreements make sure that the economy creates enough with other nations. My administration will new jobs for American workers. Next week be vigilant in making sure our agreements I will travel to , Missouri, and Indiana are followed by all our trading partners. to talk about my agenda for job creation With free trade and a level playing field, across America. American workers can successfully compete As part of this agenda, our Nation needs with any workers in the world. a comprehensive energy plan so that our This long weekend is a well-deserved re- businesses and homes can rely on a steady ward for the millions of men and women and affordable supply of energy. The recent who make this economy go. I wish all blackout in the Northeast shows how im- Americans a happy and restful Labor Day. portant reliable energy is to the American Thank you for listening. economy and demonstrates the need to take action on good energy policy. So when NOTE: The address was recorded at 9:55 a.m. Members of Congress return from the sum- on August 29 at the Bush Ranch in Crawford, mer recess, I will again ask them to pass TX, for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on August a sound energy bill as soon as possible. 30. The transcript was made available by the America needs legal reform, because Office of the Press Secretary on August 29 junk lawsuits can destroy a business, and but was embargoed for release until the they’re making health care coverage less broadcast. The Office of the Press Secretary affordable for employers and workers. And also released a Spanish language transcript Congress must restrain Government spend- of this address.

Remarks on Labor Day in Richfield, Ohio September 1, 2003

Thank you all. I don’t know about you, stands this, and who loves his country, is but we needed a little rain in Crawford. Mr. Frank Hanley. I’m proud to be trav- [Laughter] Send it that way, if you don’t eling with him, and I know you’re proud mind. [Laughter] Thank you so much for to have him as your president. coming out on Labor Day. I appreciate so You know, it’s interesting that it was many folks enduring the rain to say hello union leaders who first suggested a day to to the President. I am thrilled you are here, honor America’s workers. And I’m glad we and I’m thrilled I’m here. do. And I’m proud to be here in Ohio The working people of this country de- with Ohio families celebrating Labor Day. serve a day off, and it looks like you’re I’m grateful to the Operating Engineers for enjoying it. [Laughter] I want you to know hosting us today. This union represents that I know the strength of the American men and women of great skill and great economy comes from hard-working men professional pride. and women. This country prospers because I want you to think back to that fateful of people who give their best effort every day, September the 11th, and what hap- day to support their families, to go to work, pened afterwards. It was then that the to make America a better place. One man whole world saw the skill and commitment who traveled with me today, who under-

1075

g 31 2005 08:31 Aug 02, 2006 Jkt 198803 PO 00000 Frm 00271 Fmt 1240 Sfmt 1240 \\ALPHA3\E\HR\OC\198803.009 198803 Sept. 1 / Administration of George W. Bush, 2003

and incredible work of the Operating Engi- I like to remind people that a culture neers who manned the heavy equipment of responsibility is coming in America. One to clear Ground Zero. You overcame un- of the reasons why is that we see every imaginable challenges; you removed the day people who are willing to serve some- rubble in record time. You are now working thing greater than themself in life. Our to make sure America is prepared for any children see heroes again, because they see emergency, and this Nation is grateful for police men and women and firefighters and your skill and your sacrifice. emergency teams and military personnel We’re also grateful to some other hard- who sacrifice for something greater than working Americans who don’t have the day themselves in life. And for all the officers off, the people of the military who are with us today, I thank you for who are winning the war against terror. your line of service for America. The war against terror goes on. It goes I want to thank Governor for on because we love freedom, and we’re greeting me at the airport today. I appre- not going to change, and our enemies hate ciate so very much two United States— freedom. It goes on because there are cold- the two United States Senators from the blooded killers who have hijacked a reli- State of Ohio who are with me today, and gion. It goes on because we refuse to re- I suspect may be looking for a ride back lent. And the best way to protect our to Washington—[laughter]—Senator homeland, the best way to make sure that and Senator Mike we listen to the lessons of September the DeWine. Steve LaTourette and Ralph Reg- ula, Members of the House of Representa- 11th, 2001, the best way to do our solemn tives, are with us today as well, and I ap- duty to the American people is to chase preciate them coming. I mentioned Gov- the killers down, one by one, and bring ernor Taft, and Jennette Bradley, the Lieu- them to justice. tenant Governor, is with us. Jim Trakas is And so on this Labor Day, when many with us, who is the Ohio State house major- have the day off, we thank our men and ity leader. I want to thank all the local women who wear our uniform. We thank officials for coming out to say hello. them and their families. We thank their Today I want to talk about our economy. sacrifice, and we want all to know, you I want people to understand that when make our Nation proud. somebody wants to work and can’t find a I appreciate our Secretary of Labor, job, it says we’ve got a problem in America Elaine Chao, for her hard work and her that we’re going to deal with. We want outreach to labor leaders all across the everybody in this country working. We country. want people to be able to realize their per- I want to thank Jim Gardner, the general sonal dreams by finding a job. And we’ve vice president and business manager of got a lot of strengths in this economy. One Local 18 for—he’s the host of this event. of the greatest strengths, of course, is the I want to thank Jim for setting up this workforce. We’ve got the best workers in beautiful site and for the weather. [Laugh- the world. We’re the most productive work- ter] ers in the entire world. Productivity is up. I traveled today as well with Chuck Can- What productivity means is that we’ve got terbury. He’s the president of the Fraternal a lot of hard work, and we’re using new Order of Police. I appreciate you coming, technologies to make people more effective Chuck. I want to thank those who wear when it comes to the job, and that’s impor- our Nation’s uniform when it comes to pro- tant. viding police protection and fire protection. You see, in 1979, it took more than 40 We appreciate your service. hours of labor to make a car, and now

1076

31 2005 08:31 Aug 02, 2006 Jkt 198803 PO 00000 Frm 00272 Fmt 1240 Sfmt 1240 \\ALPHA3\E\HR\OC\198803.009 198803 Administration of George W. Bush, 2003 / Sept. 1

it takes 18 hours. We’re productive. Our cession should have been deeper.’’ That workers are really productive in America. bothers me when people say that. You see, Higher productivity not only means we can a deeper recession would have meant more produce better products, but it means our families would have been out of work. I’m people are better off. The more productive interested in solving problems quickly. I you are, the better off our workers are. want more people working. You see, it’s better to operate a backhoe No, we did the right thing with tax relief, than it is a shovel. That’s what we mean and we were beginning to pull out when by productivity. Higher productivity means the terrorists hit us. And they struck us that workers earn more, and it means it hard. Cost our American economy about takes less time for workers to earn the $80 billion. The attack of September the money to buy the things they need. 11th had a high price tag to it. That’s the In 1908, the average factory worker had equivalent of wiping out about one-fifth of to labor for more than 2 years to buy a Ohio’s economy. But we acted. Not only Model T—more than 2 years of work to did we go on the offensive with a mighty buy a car. Today, you can buy a family and skilled military; we did some things vehicle for about 7 months of salary. The to keep our people back at work. higher the productivity rates, the better it And one of the things that the Operating is for American workers. We’re a produc- Engineers know we did—and I want to tive nation because of the good, hard-work- thank Frank for working with us—is that ing Americans, and that’s what we’re here we fought for terrorism reinsurance to to celebrate today. make sure big construction projects stayed You know, I also want you to focus on on schedule. We worked to preserve thou- what we have overcome. I mean, we’re a sands of jobs for America’s construction strong nation. We’ve got great foundations workers, because we want people working for growth, and we’ve overcome a lot as in America. We want people to put food a country over the last couple of years. on the table. We want moms and dads to In early 2000, the stock market started to be able to do their duty as a mom or a decline. That affects you. It affects your dad. savings. It affects your pension accounts. And so we began to recover from the It was a forerunner of the recession that terrorist attacks, and then we found out came. First quarter of 2001, we were in some of the citizens, some of the corporate recession, but we acted to come out of CEOs, forgot what it means to be a respon- that recession. We acted with tax relief, sible American. They forgot to do their and it created big noise and big debate duty. They didn’t tell the truth to their in Washington. But here’s what I believe, shareholders and their employees. So we and here’s what I know: When you’ve got acted. We passed two new tough laws. And more money in your pocket, it means now the message is clear: If you don’t tell you’re going to spend or save and invest. the truth, there is going to be serious con- And when you spend and save or invest, sequences. We expect the best out of cor- somebody is going to produce a product porate America. for you to be able to spend your money Yet the economy was still bumping along. on. When somebody produces a product, We hadn’t recovered from all the chal- it’s more likely somebody is going to be lenges, and so we passed tax relief again. able to find a job. Tax relief was needed I called upon Congress to pass the jobs- to stem the recession. and-growth package, and we lowered taxes They tell me it was a shallow recession. once again to create jobs. When you reduce It was a shallow recession because of the taxes, people have more money. And I’m tax relief. Some say, ‘‘Well, maybe the re- going to remind you of what we did. If

1077

g 31 2005 08:31 Aug 02, 2006 Jkt 198803 PO 00000 Frm 00273 Fmt 1240 Sfmt 1240 \\ALPHA3\E\HR\OC\198803.009 198803 Sept. 1 / Administration of George W. Bush, 2003

you’re a mom or a dad, we increased the output with fewer people—but some of it child credit to $1,000 per child, and we because production moved overseas. put the checks in the mail, $400 additional So I told Secretary Don Evans of the per child for American families, so you get Commerce Department, I want him to ap- to decide to do with—with the money. It’s point an Assistant Secretary to focus on your choice. You see, after all, in Wash- the needs of manufacturers, to make sure ington, we don’t spend the Government’s our manufacturing job base is strong and money; we spend your money. vibrant. In other words, any part of a good We reduced the marriage penalty. What recovery for the State of Ohio and other kind of Tax Code is it that discourages mar- manufacturing States has got to be for the riage? [Laughter] We want to encourage manufacturing sector to come around. One marriage. We gave incentives to small busi- way to make sure that we—the manufac- nesses so that they can hire more people. turing sector does well is to send a message We reduced taxes on capital gains and divi- overseas, say, ‘‘Look, we expect there to dends to protect your savings accounts. We be a fair playing field when it comes to want the pension plans strong. We want trade.’’ See, we in America believe we can the 401(k)s doing well. We reduced all compete with anybody just so long as the taxes. We thought it was fairer not to try rules are fair, and we intend to keep the to pick and choose winners. If you pay rules fair. taxes, you deserve relief. Three million peo- We have a responsibility that when some- ple are now off the tax rolls; 3.9 million body hurts, Government has got to move. households received tax relief. And that’s why we’ve signed extensions to No, we’re making a difference. And the the unemployment insurance, so people can economy is beginning to grow, and that’s get their feet back on the ground. Elaine’s what I’m interested in. I come with an Department, the Department of Labor, optimistic message. I believe there are bet- passes out emergency grants for people ter days ahead for people who are working who are hurting to cover health care costs and looking for work. Economic output is and child care costs and other critical rising faster than expected. Low interest needs. And that’s a useful role for the Gov- rates mean that families can save billions ernment. by refinancing their homes. I bet some of I proposed to Congress a new idea to you have refinanced your homes, put a lit- help people get back to work, particularly tle extra money into your pocket. Con- those that are—have the hardest time find- sumer spending is on the rise. Companies ing work. We call them reemployment ac- are seeing more orders, especially orders counts. I proposed spending $3.6 billion to for heavy equipment. help a million Americans find work. We’d No, things are getting better. But there write—put some money aside for somebody are some things we’ve got to do to make to use for daycare or retraining, to be able sure the economy continues to grow. I want to move. If they’re able to find a job in you to understand that I understand that a prescribed period of time, they’d be able Ohio manufacturers are hurting, that to keep the difference between what we there’s a problem with the manufacturing gave them to begin with and what was sector. And I understand for a full recovery, unspent, in other words, a reemployment to make sure people can find work, that bonus. It’s a novel approach to help a mil- manufacturing must do better. And we’ve lion Americans who are having a tough lost thousands of jobs in manufacturing, time finding work to find work. Reemploy- some of it because of productivity gains— ment accounts make sense. Congress needs in other words, people can have the same to act.

1078

31 2005 08:31 Aug 02, 2006 Jkt 198803 PO 00000 Frm 00274 Fmt 1240 Sfmt 1240 \\ALPHA3\E\HR\OC\198803.009 198803 Administration of George W. Bush, 2003 / Sept. 1

We’ve also got to make sure that our in the law they had, you know, said these people get the right skills. Listen, tech- electricity deliverers could have voluntary nology changes. I understand that. You reliability standards. We don’t need vol- know that. We want our people to be untary reliability standards. We need man- trained, to keep up with new technology, datory reliability standards. We want to just like they do right here. I want to thank make sure there’s incentives for people to the Operating Engineers. I want to thank put new poles in the ground and invest. Frank for his leadership. I want to thank The energy sector has been hamstrung the local leaders for their leadership and by old laws. We need new laws. And I’ve understanding that in order for a man or been calling on Congress to do this. And woman to stay up, there needs to be re- when they get back, they need to stop poli- training opportunities. As our economy ticking and get a good energy plan, so that changes, people need to be retrained. The we can make sure the economy continues Operating Engineers do a great job right to grow. here of helping people. That’s all the work- I’ll tell you what else we need to do. er wants, is to be helped, be given the We need to use our technologies to be skills necessary to realize his or her dreams. able to explore for energy in environ- The high-growth job training initiative in mentally friendly ways. For the sake of na- this administration is aiming just to do that. tional security, for the sake of economic It’s a collaborative effort with community security, we need to become less depend- colleges to help team up people with the ent on foreign sources of energy. jobs that are needed, to make sure that the changes in our economy don’t leave A sound energy policy makes sense. And people behind. And education can help a so does good highway policy. We proposed lot, and we’re going to continue to stay some increases over the last 6 years. These focused on education in this administration. highway bills come in 6-year increments. We not only want our little ones to be I proposed $30 billion more spending on able to read and write and add and sub- highways over the next 6 than the last 6. tract; we want to make sure the older ones We not only want to make sure our people have a chance to realize the opportunities can find jobs and work, like the people of tomorrow as well. And we will. who are pushing these big equipment And finally, I want to talk about another around, but we want people driving on bet- issue right quick—or two other issues right ter roads. We want to be able to deal with quick. One of them is, this country needs congestion so we can get our people mov- an energy policy. If you rely upon a manu- ing around. facturing base for job employment, you There’s a lot we can do. We’ve done need energy. We need a policy. I’ve been a lot to lay the foundation for economic talking about this for a couple of years. growth. And there’s a lot we can do when Congress needs to get me an energy bill. Congress gets back to make sure that this You learned firsthand what it means to economic recovery continues so people can have a—what it means to modernize the find work. On Labor Day, we’re committed electricity grid, if you know what I mean. to helping those who have got a job keep [Laughter] The grid needs to be modern- a job and committed to those who are look- ized. ing for work to find a job. That’s the com- First, we need to find out—and will find mitment of this Labor Day. out—what went wrong, why you had your We’re also committed to our freedom electricity shut down out here. But we and to peace, and we will stay on the offen- ought to use this as an opportunity to mod- sive to protect our freedom. And we will ernize the system. They used to have— stay with the notion that the more free

1079

g 31 2005 08:31 Aug 02, 2006 Jkt 198803 PO 00000 Frm 00275 Fmt 1240 Sfmt 1240 \\ALPHA3\E\HR\OC\198803.009 198803 Sept. 1 / Administration of George W. Bush, 2003

societies are, the more peaceful they be- need. You see, the great strength of the come. See, we love freedom and we love country is not our military might or eco- peace in America, and we intend to make nomic prowess; the great strength of the the world a more peaceful place. This country is the heart and soul of the Amer- country will lead the world to peace. ican people. Millions of acts of kindness I really enjoy coming out and seeing peo- and decency go on on a daily basis. Millions ple bring their kids out. I want to thank of acts of decency and kindness help define you for bringing them. It reminds me of the true worth and the true strength of one of the things that’s happening in our this great American country. country. It’s a new spirit in America. And so on Labor Day, a day in which There’s a cultural change taking place, it we honor the worker, let us honor those seems like to me, and that is, we’re getting who work to make our society and country away from the era that said, ‘‘If it feels a more compassionate place by helping a good, just go ahead and do it,’’ and ‘‘If neighbor in need, by doing your job as you’ve got a problem, blame somebody a citizen of the country, by being a patriotic else,’’ to an era in which each of under- person, which means more than just putting stands we’re responsible for the decisions your hand over your heart. It means serving we make in life. your country in ways large and small, all If you’re a mom or a dad, if you’re lucky aimed at lifting up this Nation, all aimed enough to be a parent, you’re responsible at keeping us the greatest nation on the for loving your child with all your heart face of the Earth. and all your soul. That’s your job. If you’re May God bless you all, and may God worried about the quality of education in continue to bless America. Thank you all. the neighborhood in which you live, then you’re responsible for doing something NOTE: The President spoke at 11:12 a.m. at about it. As I mentioned, if you happen the Richfield Training Center. In his re- to be a CEO in corporate America, you’re marks, he referred to Frank Hanley, general responsible for telling the truth. You’re re- president, International Union of Operating sponsible for treating your employees with Engineers; James H. Gardner, business man- respect. If you’re an American in the re- ager, International Union of Operating Engi- sponsibility era, you’re responsible for lov- neers Local 18; Chuck Canterbury, national ing a neighbor like you’d like to be loved president, Fraternal Order of Police; Gov. yourself. Bob Taft and Lt. Gov. Jennette Bradley of I want to thank those of you who reach Ohio; and James Trakas, majority whip, Ohio out to somebody who hurts, somebody in State House of Representatives.

Message to the Senate Transmitting the Protocol to the Denmark-United States Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation September 2, 2003

To the Senate of the United States: mark of October 1, 1951, signed at Copen- With a view to receiving the advice and hagen on May 2, 2001. I transmit also, for consent of the Senate to ratification, I the information of the Senate, the report transmit herewith the Protocol to the Trea- of the Department of State with respect ty of Friendship, Commerce, and Naviga- to this protocol. tion Between the United States and Den-

1080

31 2005 08:31 Aug 02, 2006 Jkt 198803 PO 00000 Frm 00276 Fmt 1240 Sfmt 1240 \\ALPHA3\E\HR\OC\198803.009 198803