For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
June 22, 2001
Remarks by the President
at
Senate Dinner for Senator Jeff Sessions
Jefferson Convention Complex
Birmingham,
Alabama
View the
President's Remarks
6:40 P.M. CDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very
much. Thank you, all. Be seated. Jeff said, why
don't you come over to Birmingham and have dinner with a couple of my
buddies. (Laughter.) I said, okay. I'm
glad I came. Thank you for that warm
welcome. (Applause.) And thank you for giving me
the chance to be the President of the greatest nation on the face of
the earth. (Applause.)
First, I'm here to urge the people of Alabama
to send this good man, Jeff Sessions, back to the United States
Senate. (Applause.) He's doing a great
job. He's a solid citizen who brings integrity to the
office. Plus, he's got a friend in the White
House. (Laughter and applause.) He married well,
too. (Laughter.) It's good to be here with Mary.
I'm so sorry that my wife isn't
here. I can't tell you how proud I am of
Laura. She's made a big difference already in the White
House. She has trained one small
puppy. (Laughter.) She keeps her husband in
line. And she brings a lot of class to the Office of the
First Lady and I'm proud of her. (Applause.)
After I speak, I'm heading to our ranch in
central Texas, where I will spend some quality time with
Laura. And, frankly, I'm honored to be here, I'm looking
forward to sharing some wisdom -- but I can't wait to get back
home. (Laughter.) Washington, D.C. is a great
place to work, but Texas is a great place to
relax. (Applause.)
I'm honored to be here as well with the
Lieutenant Governor of the state of Alabama, Steve
Windom. The Attorney General, Bill Pryor. I'm so
pleased that my friend, Bill Cabaniss, is here. I want to
thank the members of the United States Congress who have traveled here
with me today. The congressman from this district, Spencer
Bachus. (Applause.) Robert
Aderholt. (Applause.) Terry
Everett. (Applause.) Congressman Bob Riley.
(Applause.) And Sonny Callahan. (Applause.)
This is a fine delegation from Alabama who are
conservative and compassionate and I'm proud to call them friends and
you ought to be proud to call them members of the United States
Congress. (Applause.)
I want to thank -- I don't know if Red Blount
is here or not, but I spent a little time in Alabama in 1972 working
for Red Blount's senatorial campaign. It's a pretty good
lesson of Alabama politics. But I've made a lot of friends
in this state from those days, friends that I'll never
forget. And I thank you for your friendship and I thank you
for giving me a pretty good lesson on southern politics. It
paid off in the year 2000. (Laughter and applause.)
I want to thank Mary Connors -- Marty Connors,
the Chairman of the Party; Edgar Welden and Betty Fine Collins for
their leadership for the Republican effort. Thank you all
very much. (Applause.)
One reason I'm so nice to the Alabama
delegation is because they've been steady in their votes for
reform. We're making some pretty good progress in
Washington, D.C., about defusing the old way of doing business. The
old way was you didn't worry about results, you just worried about how
loud you yelled at somebody, or how you pointed your finger.
I came up to the nation's capital intent upon
changing the tone in Washington, D.C., of setting an agenda that's
positive and hopeful for every American, and to working with Congress
to get things done. And I'm proud to report, we are getting
things done on behalf of the American people. (Applause.)
I was honored the other day to sign the first
broad tax relief in a generation. (Applause.) And
I want to thank the members of the Alabama congressional delegation and
the two United States senators for voting with us, to say that the
American people ought to be trusted with their own
money. (Applause.)
This was an important issue for America,
because it set the stage for a new way of thinking about the
budget. It said that we can meet our obligations by growing
the budget at a reasonable rate. But it also recognized the
that surplus is not the government's money. The surplus is
the people's money, and we ought to trust the people with their own
money. (Applause.)
So we cut rates on everybody who pays
taxes. The old way in Washington was to have what they call
targeted tax cuts. That meant that folks in Washington, D.C.
got to say, this side of the room got tax relief and this side
didn't. But we didn't think that was fair and we didn't
think that was right.
We felt that if you're going to give tax
relief, everybody who paid taxes ought to get tax relief, so we reduced
the rates on every taxpayer in the United States of America -- and
we're going to start sending out checks this July to the taxpayers of
America. (Applause.)
We also recognize that the marriage penalty
sent the wrong signals, and we mitigated the marriage
penalty. And we also understood that the death tax was
onerous on small businesses and ranchers and farmers in Alabama and all
across the state, all across the country, so we eliminated the death
tax. (Applause.)
And this tax relief came at the right
time. Our economy is kind of sputtering a little
bit. And it's important to send money back to the people so
they can spend it and they can invest it, to make sure our economy gets
second wind. No, I was proud to do something that President
John Kennedy was able to do and President Ronald Reagan was able to do,
and that's to listen to the American people and to sign broad,
meaningful, real tax relief. And I want to thank you, Jeff,
for your support. (Applause.)
We're also making progress on an incredibly
important issue, and that's education. I believe in short
order I'm going to have the opportunity to sign one of the most
far-reaching education reform bills in our nation's
history. The bill passed the House, it passed the Senate 91
to 8. It's now going to conference. And I urge
the conferees not to play politics with public education in
America. Get that bill out and get it to my desk so I can
sign it, so that the public schools all across America can plan for
next fall when they open their doors for America's children.
The education bill is important because it
embodies certain principles. One principle is that it's
important to set high standards, to believe that every child,
regardless of background, birth or accent can learn in America.
Secondly, it says that we must trust local
people to run the schools all across America. One size does
not fit all when it comes to the education of the children in
America. (Applause.)
And, thirdly, it says that if you receive
federal help -- you, the state of Alabama or the state of Texas or any
other state or jurisdiction -- must measure in return for federal
dollars, you must measure so that we as a society know whether children
are being left behind. The old, tired way of public
education used to ask the question, how old are you? And if
you're 10, we'll put you in this grade; and if you're 12, we'll put you
here; and if you're 14, you go there. And guess what
happened?
Children would simply get shuffled through the
system. Children would get moved on, regardless if they knew
what they were supposed to know. And that's fundamentally
wrong in America. And that's not right. And when
I sign that bill, we're going to start asking this
question: what do you know? And if you do not
know what you're supposed to know, we'll make sure you do early, before
it's too late. There are no second-rate children in America
and there are no second-rate dreams. (Applause.)
Dick Cheney and I -- and, by the way, the Vice
President is doing a fabulous job. (Applause.) We
said we would boost the morale of the United States
military. It started with treating people better who wear
the uniform. That means better pay and better
housing. And the budget I submitted does just that.
But it also means having a Commander-in-Chief
who sets a clear mission for the military. The mission of
the military is to be prepared to fight and win war and, therefore,
prevent war from happening in the first place. Our military must be
properly trained and ready to go, so that the Commander-in-Chief, if he
needs to call upon them, can do to keep the peace. Things
are getting better in the military. And throughout my tenure
in Washington, we will rebuild the military, so that we are more likely
to keep the peace. (Applause.)
But it also requires thinking differently as
we head into the 21st century. The old way of thinking about
military strategy must be addressed. Our troops need to be
lighter, harder to find, more lethal when they act. And we
must be prepared to deal with the true threats of the 21st century.
I had the honor of meeting with the President
of Russia and Slovenia last weekend. I told him, I said,
it's time for new leadership to cast aside the old way of thinking
about Russia and America. I told him, I said, Russia is no
longer our nation's enemy. And, therefore, we should not
allow a treaty, signed when Russia and America were the enemy, to
determine how our two nations can best come together to keep the
peace.
The ABM Treaty codified a day when we were
hostile to each other. It's time to come together and to think about a
new security arrangement that addresses the threats of the 21st
century. (Applause.) And the threats of the 21st
century will be terrorist in nature, terror when it comes to
weaponry. What we must do -- freedom-loving people must be
willing to think differently and develop anti-ballistic missile systems
that will say to rogue nations and leaders who cannot stand America, or
what we stand for: you will not blackmail us, nor will you
blackmail our allies. It's time for new leadership when it
comes to how the military thinks about keeping the
peace. (Applause.)
Earlier this year, I put together a commission
to think differently about how our retirement systems must
work. I'm deeply concerned about Social
Security. I'm not concerned about those who receive Social
Security today or those who are near retirement, because the Congress
and the White House has taken the sacred pledge that we will not touch
the Social Security, that Social Security will be spent on only one
thing, Social Security.
But I'm concerned about younger
workers. I worry that the Social Security system will not
fulfill the promise of people who are coming up in our
society. This issue requires new thinking, a new way of
looking at the problem. I put together a commission of both
Republicans and Democrats charged with making sure there's a Social
Security system in the future.
And a key component of that thinking says that
we, as a nation, must trust younger workers to manage their own money,
if they so choose, in the private markets, to take advantage of the
compounding rate of return, to make sure that not only is there a
Social Security system available, that workers from all walks of life
have got an asset that they can call their own to pass from one
generation to the next. Ownership of assets is an incredible
part of holding out hope and promise for the American Dream for every
citizen. It's time to think differently in Washington, D.C.,
about the crucial issues. (Applause.)
Just before we came, I had the honor of
meeting many religious leaders from around the state of
Alabama. I did so, because I wanted to share my vision of
how best to make sure the welfare system fulfills its promise. At
Notre Dame a while ago, I gave a speech that talked about how our
nation can be a more compassionate country. I talked about
the fact that Lyndon Johnson at the University of Texas gave a speech
that declared a war on poverty. I mentioned the fact that
that war, noble in effort, created some consequences that our society
has had to deal with.
On the one hand, the welfare system that he
envisioned created dependency upon government and, on the other hand,
the welfare system that he envisioned created a government that crowded
out people's aspirations to help a neighbor. People across
America said, why should I be a compassionate neighbor -- the federal
government will solve the problem; why should I care -- the government
will take care. And what we ended up with is dependency upon
government on the one hand and complacency on the other.
In that speech, I said in 1996, the United
States Congress in a bipartisan fashion passed a bill signed by my
predecessor that addressed one-half of the equation. The
bill and the law reduced dependency upon government. It said
that you must work. And, as a result, thousands of people
are now gainfully employed in America, are less dependent upon our
government.
But it did not address the second half of the
equation, how best to capture the great compassion of
America. I believe our government ought to be a partner with
faith-based and community-based programs. I believe it is
essential we pass laws in the United States Congress that expand
charitable choice, that we clearly say in America the great strength of
our country lies in the hearts and souls of loving
citizens. The great strength of America is in our is in our
churches and synagogues and mosques. And we must welcome
faith-based programs that have got the capacity to change lives by
changing hearts into the very fabric of our
society. (Applause.)
I know I can count on Senator Sessions when
the bill comes before the United States Senate. And I feel
strongly I can count on the members of the congressional delegation who
have traveled with me from Washington, D.C. This is an
important initiative. It is an initiative that addresses our
nation's culture. It is an issue that helps us realize the
full potential of America. It is an issue that recognizes
that government can hand out money, but what it cannot do is put hope
in people's hearts or a sense of purpose in people's lives.
It is an incredibly important issue, because
our great nation must make this dedicated promise: no person
will be left behind in America. That every American counts regardless
of their status. But we recognize that some hurt, some lack
hope.
So what I hope to do in the faith-based
initiative is to call upon mentors all across the
country. There is nothing more meaningful and important
than, say, for a child whose parent may be in prison, to have an arm of
an adult or a loving soul say, I love you, brother. America
means as much for you as it does for me and my children.
A faith-based initiative understands that in
order to solve the problems of those hooked on alcohol and drugs, that
sometimes the only way is to call upon a higher being. The
faith-based initiative recognizes the power of faith and hope in
America. And I urge Congress not to get stuck on the process
but to focus on results so that we can change America in an incredibly
positive, hopeful and optimistic way. (Applause.)
That's really the job of the
President. The job of the President is to lift the nation's
spirit.
On my wall in the Oval Office is a picture of
Abraham Lincoln. I hang that portrait because it reminds me
my job is to unify our nation. I recognize we will have
differences when it comes to tax policy and education
policy. But the job of the President is obviously to stand
on principle and to fight for legislative matters that I think are
important. But it's also to unite America, to unite the country around
the fantastic values that make us unique, the values of freedom,
freedom to speak your mind, freedom to worship where you want, freedom
of the press to occasionally say something that I don't agree
with. (Laughter.)
Freedom, freedom to express yourself at the
ballot box. Freedom to be anything you dream to be in
America, regardless of your birth or where you're
from. Those values set us aside as a nation. They
are incredibly important values.
But uniting the nation understands and begins
with the understanding of responsibility of the offices we
hold. I admire Jeff Sessions because he
understands. He has the responsibility not only to represent
the great state of Alabama, but he has the responsibility to uphold the
honor and dignity of the office to which he has been
elected. And he will not let the people of Alabama
down. (Applause.)
I love traveling outside of
Washington. Listen, I like my job. And the public
housing is pretty darn good
there. (Laughter.) But I love to come out to the
countryside. I can't thank the people of Alabama enough for
lining the roads.
We went to an initiative today in one of the
parks outside of Birmingham, where I was able to say that this
administration, for the first time, is going to fully fund the Land and
Water Conservation Fund, so that the people of Alabama will be able to
make the conservation decisions necessary for the great state of
Alabama. (Applause.)
But as we traveled the road, hundreds of
people lined the road to wave and to hold up signs encouraging the
President. It reminds me of what I said earlier, and I truly
believe. I am blessed to be the President of a nation full
of decent and loving and caring and compassionate people, people who
respect their country, respect the office of the Presidency --
sometimes like the President, sometimes not -- but respect the office
of the President, who care deeply about the future, who love their
families, who worship in houses of worship and are proud to call
themselves American.
I can't tell you what an honor it is to have
recently traveled overseas and to stand proudly for a country that
represents the best of mankind, that holds up the best for every single
citizen. I'm so honored to be here to represent and to urge
you to support my friend. And I am honored to tell you, I
love being your President and thank you for the
opportunity. God bless. (Applause.)