Remarks at a Dinner for Senator Tim Hutchinson in Little Rock August 29, 2002
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Administration of George W. Bush, 2002 / Aug. 29 Connie, thank you for coming—appreciate can help set the true face of compassion you being here. for this great Nation. The reason I appreciate so very much It is my honor to come to this wonderful Connie coming is, I want all of us, older school. I wish you all the best. May God and younger alike, to realize one person bless you all, and may God bless America. can make a difference. And I hope you do. I hope the youngsters here aim high and shoot high. I hope you set high stand- NOTE: The President spoke at 2:55 p.m. in ards for yourself and work hard. I hope the school’s auditorium. In his remarks, he you make the right choices in life. But I referred to Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas. also hope you understand that here in The Office of the Press Secretary also re- America, helping somebody in need doesn’t leased a Spanish language transcript of these take all that much, but by doing so, you remarks. Remarks at a Dinner for Senator Tim Hutchinson in Little Rock August 29, 2002 The President. Well, thank you all. Thank The President. Yes; I know you are. you all very much. I appreciate your warm [Laughter] You drew the short straw. welcome. Thank you. Thank you all. Well, [Laughter] She’s doing great. I’m really thank you very much for coming out to- proud of Laura. She’s down in Crawford. night. I’m proud to come back to Arkansas. It’s where I’m heading after tonight, for I’m surprised you let a Texan come here a couple more days. She—you know, when this many times. [Laughter] I came here I married her, she was a public school li- today to talk about educational excellence. brarian. She didn’t care for politics and I went to Parkview Magnet School to talk didn’t particularly like politicians. [Laugh- about setting high standards and making ter] Now she’s stuck with one. And she’s sure no child gets left behind. And tonight doing a fabulous job as First Lady. I’m here to urge the good people of this I want to thank John Boozman, who’s State to send Tim Hutchinson back to the a Member of the United States Congress, United States Senate. for being with us today. John, thank you He’s a hard worker. He cares deeply for coming down for the fundraiser. I had about the people of Arkansas. He’s doing the honor of being with your Governor ear- a fine job as the United States Senator. lier today. He’s off working. You need to I’m proud to call him friend. I appreciate send Mike Huckabee back to the Gov- his advice, and I appreciate you all working ernor’s office here in Arkansas. He’s a fine hard to send him back up to Washington, fellow. And so is your Lieutenant Governor, DC. who is with us tonight, Win Rockefeller. I’m so grateful that Randi Hutchinson, Thanks for coming. his wife, is campaigning with him and I want to thank members—two guys who standing by his side during this campaign are running for the United States Congress. for reelection. I appreciate meeting Randi. Former Member Jay Dickey is with us And it’s an honor to have you here, Randi. today. Jay, thank you very much. And the Thank you. And speaking about wives, I’m man they call ‘‘TR,’’ Tommy Robinson, is sorry mine is not here. with us as well. I appreciate my family Audience members. Me, too. friend John Paul Hammerschmidt for being 1509 e Aug 04 2004 12:48 Mar 15, 2005 Jkt 193761 PO 00000 Frm 00357 Fmt 1240 Sfmt 1240 E:\HR\OC\193761.008 193761 Aug. 29 / Administration of George W. Bush, 2002 here tonight and for being the national they can read and write and add and sub- committeeman from the State of Arkansas. tract. If you believe every child can learn, Thank you, John Paul. I want to thank your then you want to know. chairman, Marty Ryall, for his leadership And you see, when you find out children here in the State of Arkansas. aren’t learning, it gives you the tools nec- And I appreciate all the grassroots activ- essary to do something about it. If you be- ists who are here. I appreciate you for what lieve every child can learn, they ought to you have done and what you’re going to show us whether or not every child is learn- do. See, over the next couple of months, ing. And if they’re not, we need to correct you need to go to your coffee shops and problems early, before it’s too late. You see, your churches and your synagogues and there are no second-class children in the your community centers and turn out the State of Arkansas, and no child should be vote. You need to tell the people, when left behind. you find a good one like Tim Hutchinson, I appreciate Tim’s stand on education ‘‘We need to send him back to office.’’ policy, and I appreciate his stand on tax And there are some good reasons why, policy. When I took office, I knew things starting with the fact that he has a good were kind of slow, but I didn’t realize that vision for education. We passed a good we were in the beginning of a recession. piece of legislation out of Washington for The first three quarters of my Presidency education. It’s one that Tim had a lot to were negative growth; that means recession. do with. He worked hard on that legisla- Thankfully, people like Tim Hutchinson tion. And let me describe the principles supported my call for tax relief. See, we and why it’s so important to have this type read from the same textbook. It’s a little of person in Washington. It first starts— different from some of the other ones in the bill says, and he and I both believe, Washington. It says, if you let a person that every child can learn. That sounds sim- keep their own money, they will demand ple, but too often in our society, we’ve low- a good or a service if they have more ered the standards. We don’t believe every money. And when they demand a good or child can learn. Therefore, we have low a service, somebody is likely to produce standards. It’s what I call the soft bigotry the good or a service. And when somebody of low expectations. If you lower the bar, produces the good and service, somebody you’re going to get lousy results. So this is more likely to find jobs in the midst bill believes that if you set high standards of a recession. It is important to let the and believe every child can learn, you start people have their own money. with the right frame of mind. Tim was the original author of the $500- Secondly, it says, we trust the people of per-child tax credit in the House. And he Arkansas, the people of this good State, supported the doubling of that tax credit the people of Little Rock and Jonesboro in the new tax relief plan. Not only does and all the cities, to chart the path for the tax relief plan lower all rates, which, excellence for every child in their commu- by the way, stimulates small-business nity. We believe in local control of schools. growth—see, most of the new jobs in Ar- And finally, at the core of the bill is kansas and around the country are created this principle: It says, we want to know by small businesses. Seventy percent of new whether or not our children are learning. jobs in America are created by the entre- You see, if you believe every child can preneurs who start their own business. Yet learn, the next question is, are they? And most of those small businesses are sole pro- the only way to know is to measure, is prietors or limited partnerships, which to hold people to account, is to let the means they pay taxes at the individual rate. children take a test to see whether or not When you lower the individual rates, you 1510 2004 12:48 Mar 15, 2005 Jkt 193761 PO 00000 Frm 00358 Fmt 1240 Sfmt 1240 E:\HR\OC\193761.008 193761 Administration of George W. Bush, 2002 / Aug. 29 stimulate the growth of our economy by around the world asking for food. We’ve stimulating the entrepreneurial spirit in got a great farm economy, and the farm America. bill we passed recognizes that. And Tim This tax relief plan did more than that. was one of the leaders that helped get that It mitigated the ill effects of a marriage farm bill out of the Senate and to my desk. penalty. The Tax Code ought to promote I was proud to sign the farm bill. It was family, not discourage family. And finally, good for Arkansas farmers. the tax relief plan put the death tax on And finally, I appreciate his leadership its way to extinction. I know there’s a lot on sending a clear message to people who of farmers and ranchers in this State and have got positions of responsibility in Amer- some in this audience.