[House Document 107-1]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
107th Congress, 1st Session - - - - - - - - - - - - - House Document 107-1
AN ADDRESS TO A JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS
__________
MESSAGE
FROM
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
TRANSMITTING
THE TEXT OF REMARKS IN AN ADDRESS TO A JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS
February 28, 2001.--Message and accompanying papers referred to the
Committee on the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to
be printed
To the Congress of the United States:
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress: It is
a great privilege to be here to outline a new budget and a new
approach for governing our great country.
I thank you for your invitation to speak here tonight. I
want to thank so many of you who have accepted my invitation to
come to the White House to discuss important issues. We are off
to a good start. I will continue to meet with you and ask for
your input. You have been kind and candid, and I thank you for
making a new President feel welcome.
The last time I visited the Capitol, I came to take an
oath. On the steps of this building, I pledged to honor our
Constitution and laws, and I asked you to join me in setting a
tone of civility and respect in Washington. I hope America is
noticing the difference. We are making progress. Together, we
are changing the tone of our Nation's capital. And this spirit
of respect and cooperation is vital--because in the end, we
will be judged not only by what we say or how we say it, but by
what we are able to accomplish.
America today is a nation with great challenges--but
greater resources. An artist using statistics as a brush could
paint two very different pictures of our country. One would
have warning signs: increasing layoffs, rising energy prices,
too many failing schools, persistent poverty, the stubborn
vestiges of racism. Another picture would be full of blessings:
a balanced budget, big surpluses, a military that is second to
none, a country at peace with its neighbors, technology that is
revolutionizing the world, and our greatest strength, concerned
citizens who care for our country and for each other.
Neither picture is complete in and of itself. And tonight I
challenge and invite Congress to work with me to use the
resources of one picture to repaint the other--to direct the
advantages of our time to solve the problems of our people.
Some of these resources will come from government--some,
but not all. Year after year in Washington, budget debates seem
to come down to an old, tired argument: on one side, those who
want more government, regardless of the cost; on the other,
those who want less government, regardless of the need.
We should leave those arguments to the last century and
chart a different course. Government has a role, and an
important one. Yet too much government crowds out initiative
and hard work, private charity and the private economy. Our new
governing vision says government should be active, but limited,
engaged, but not overbearing.
My budget is based on that philosophy. It is reasonable and
it is responsible. It meets our obligations and funds our
growing needs. We increase spending next year for Social
Security and Medicare and other entitlement programs by $81
billion. We have increased spending for discretionary programs
by a very responsible 4 percent, above the rate of inflation.
My plan pays down an unprecedented amount of our national debt,
and then when money is still left over, my plan returns it to
the people who earned it in the first place.
A budget's impact is counted in dollars, but measured in
lives. Excellent schools, quality health care, a secure
retirement, a cleaner environment, a stronger defense--these
are all important needs and we fund them.
The highest percentage increase in our budget should go to
our children's education. Education is my top priority and by
supporting this budget, you will make it yours as well.
Reading is the foundation of all learning, so during the
next 5 years, we triple spending, adding another $5 billion to
help every child in America learn to read. Values are
important, so we have tripled funding for character education
to teach our children not only reading and writing, but right
from wrong.
We have increased funding to train and recruit teachers,
because we know a good education starts with a good teacher.
And I have a wonderful partner in this effort. I like teachers
so much, I married one. Please help me salute our gracious
First Lady, Laura Bush.
Laura has begun a new effort to recruit Americans to the
profession that will shape our future: teaching. Laura will
travel across America, to promote sound teaching practices and
early reading skills in our schools and in programs such as
Head Start.
When it comes to our schools, dollars alone do not always
make the difference. Funding is important, and so is reform. So
we must tie funding to higher standards and accountability for
results.
I believe in local control of schools: we should not and we
will not run our public schools from Washington. Yet when the
Federal Government spends tax dollars, we must insist on
results.
Children should be tested on basic reading and math skills
every year, between grades three and eight. Measuring is the
only way to know whether all our children are learning--and I
want to know, because I refuse to leave any child behind.
Critics of testing contend it distracts from learning. They
talk about ``teaching to the test.'' But let us put that logic
to the test. If you test children on basic math and reading
skills, and you are ``teaching to the test,'' you are teaching
. . . math and reading. And that is the whole idea.
As standards rise, local schools will need more flexibility
to meet them. So we must streamline the dozens of Federal
education programs into five and let States spend money in
those categories as they see fit.
Schools will be given a reasonable chance to improve, and
the support to do so. Yet if they do not, if they continue to
fail, we must give parents and students different options--a
better public school, a private school, tutoring, or a
charterschool. In the end, every child in a bad situation must be given
a better choice, because when it comes to our children, failure is not
an option.
Another priority in my budget is to keep the vital promises
of Medicare and Social Security, and together we will do so. To
meet the health care needs of all America's seniors, we double
the Medicare budget over the next 10 years.
My budget dedicates $238 billion to Medicare next year
alone, enough to fund all current programs and to begin a new
prescription drug benefit for low-income seniors. No senior in
America should have to choose between buying food and buying
prescriptions.
To make sure the retirement savings of America's seniors
are not diverted to any other program--my budget protects all
$2.6 trillion of the Social Security surplus for Social
Security and for Social Security alone.
My budget puts a priority on access to health care--without
telling Americans what doctor they have to see or what coverage
they must choose.
Many working Americans do not have health care coverage. We
will help them buy their own insurance with refundable tax
credits. And to provide quality care in low-income
neighborhoods, over the next 5 years we will double the number
of people served at community health care centers.
And we will address the concerns of those who have health
coverage yet worry their insurance company does not care and
will not pay. Together, this Congress and this President will
find common ground to make sure doctors make medical decisions
and patients get the health care they deserve with a Patients'
Bill of Rights.
When it comes to their health, people want to get the
medical care they need, not be forced to go to court because
they did not get it. We will ensure access to the courts for
those with legitimate claims, but first, let us put in place a
strong independent review so we promote quality health care,
not frivolous lawsuits.
My budget also increases funding for medical research,
which gives hope to many who struggle with serious disease. Our
prayers tonight are with one of your own who is engaged in his
own fight against cancer, a fine representative and a good man,
Congressman Joe Moakley. God bless you, Joe. And I can think of
no more appropriate tribute to Joe than to have the Congress
finish the job of doubling the budget for the National
Institutes of Health.
My New Freedom Initiative for Americans with Disabilities
funds new technologies, expands opportunities to work, and
makes our society more welcoming. For the more than 50 million
Americans with disabilities, we must continue to break down
barriers to equality.
The budget I propose to you also supports the people who
keep our country strong and free, the men and women who serve
in the United States military. I am requesting $5.7 billion in
increased military pay and benefits, and health care and
housing. Our men and women in uniform give America their best
and we owe them our support.
America's veterans honored their commitment to our country
through their military service. I will honor our commitment to
them with a billion dollar increase to ensure better access to
quality care and faster decisions on benefit claims.
My budget will improve our environment by accelerating the
cleanup of toxic Brownfields. And I propose we make a major
investment in conservation by fully funding the Land and Water
Conservation Fund.
Our National Parks have a special place in our country's
life. Our parks are places of great natural beauty and history.
As good stewards, we must leave them better than we have found
them, so I propose providing $4.9 billion in resources over 5
years for the upkeep of these national treasures.
And my budget adopts a hopeful new approach to help the
poor and disadvantaged. We must encourage and support the work
of charities and faith-based and community groups that offer
help and love one person at a time. These groups are working in
every neighborhood in America, to fight homelessness and
addiction and domestic violence, to provide a hot meal or a
mentor or a safe haven for our children. Government should
welcome these groups to apply for funds, not discriminate
against them.
Government cannot be replaced by charities or volunteers.
And government should not fund religious activities. But our
Nation should support the good works of these good people who
are helping neighbors in need.
So I am proposing allowing all taxpayers, whether they
itemize or not, to deduct their charitable contributions.
Estimates show this could encourage as much as $14 billion a
year in new charitable giving--money that will save and change
lives.
Our budget provides more than $700 million over the next 10
years for a Federal Compassion Capital Fund with a focused and
noble mission: to provide a mentor to the more than 1 million
children with a parent in prison, and to support other local
efforts to fight illiteracy, teen pregnancy, drug addiction,
and other difficult problems.
With us tonight is the Mayor of Philadelphia. Please help
me welcome Mayor John Street. Mayor Street has encouraged
faith-based and community organizations to make a difference in
Philadelphia and he has invited me to his city this summer, to
see compassion in action.
I am personally aware of just how effective the Mayor is.
Mayor Street is a Democrat. Let the record show that I lost his
city. But some things are bigger than politics. So I look
forward to coming to your city to see your faith-based programs
in action.
As government promotes compassion, it also must promote
justice. Too many of our citizens have cause to doubt our
Nation's justice when the law points a finger of suspicion at
groups, instead of individuals. All our citizens are created
equal and must be treated equally. Earlier today I asked
Attorney General Ashcroft to develop specific recommendations
to end racial profiling. It is wrong and we must end it.
In so doing, we will not hinder the work of our Nation's
brave police officers. They protect us every day, often at
great risk. But by stopping the abuses of a few, we will add to
the public confidence our police officers earn and deserve.
My budget has funded a responsible increase in our ongoing
operations, it has funded our Nation's important priorities, it
has protected Social Security and Medicare, and our surpluses
are big enough that there is still money left over.
Many of you have talked about the need to pay down our
national debt. I have listened, and I agree.
My budget proposal pays down an unprecedented amount of
public debt. We owe it to our children and grandchildren to act
now, and I hope you will join me to pay down $2 trillion in
debt during the next 10 years.
At the end of those 10 years, we will have paid down all
the debt that is available to retire. That is more debt repaid
more quickly than has ever been repaid by any nation at any
time in history.
We should also prepare for the unexpected, for the
uncertainties of the future. We should approach our Nation's
budget as any prudent family would, with a contingency fund for
emergencies or additional spending needs. For example, after a
strategic review, we may need to increase defense spending, we
may need additional money for our farmers, or additional money
to reform Medicare. And so my budget sets aside almost a
trillion dollars over 10 years for additional needs . . . that
is one trillion additional reasons you can feel comfortable
supporting this budget.
We have increased our budget at a responsible 4 percent, we
have funded our priorities, we have paid down all the available
debt, we have prepared for contingencies--and we still have
money left over.
Yogi Berra once said: ``When you come to a form in the
road, take it.'' Now we come to a fork in the road. We have two
choices. Even though we have already met our needs, we could
spend the money on more and bigger government. That is the road
our Nation has traveled in recent years. Last year, government
spending shot up 8 percent. That is far more than our economy
grew, far more than personal income grew and far more than the
rate of inflation. If you continue on that road, you will spend
the surplus and have to dip into Social Security to pay other
bills.
Unrestrained government spending is a dangerous road to
deficits, so we must take a different path. The other choice is
to let the American people spend their own money to meet their
own needs, to fund their own priorities and pay down their own
debts. I hope you will join me and stand firmly on the side of
the people.
The growing surplus exists because taxes are too high and
government is charging more than it needs. The people of
America have been overcharged and on their behalf, I am here to
ask for a refund.
Some say my tax plan is too big, others say it is too
small. I respectfully disagree. This tax relief is just right.
I did not throw darts at a board to come up with a number
for tax relief. I did not take a poll, or develop an arbitrary
formula that might sound good. I looked at problems in the tax
code and calculated the cost to fix them.
A tax rate of 15 percent is too high for those who earn low
wages, so we lowered the rate to 10 percent. No one should pay
more than a third of the money they earn in Federal income
taxes, so we lowered the top rate to 33 percent. This reform
will be welcome relief for America's small businesses, which
often pay taxes at the highest rate, and help for small
business means jobs for Americans.
We simplified the tax code by reducing the number of tax
rates from the current five rates to four lower ones: 10, 15,
25, and 33 percent. In my plan, no one is targeted in or
targeted out . . . everyone who pays income taxes will get tax
relief.
Our government should not tax, and thereby discourage
marriage, so we reduced the marriage penalty. I want to help
families rear and support their children, so we doubled the
child credit to $1,000 per child. It is not fair to tax the
same earnings twice--once when you earn them, and again when
you die, so we must repeal the death tax.
These changes add up to significant help. A typical family
with two children will save $1,600 a year on the Federal income
taxes. Sixteen hundred dollars may not sound like a lot to
some, but it means a lot to many families. Sixteen hundred
dollars buys gas for two cars for an entire year, it pays
tuition for a year at a community college, it pays the average
family grocery bill for 3 months. That is real money.
With us tonight, representing many American families, are
Steven and Josefina Ramos. Please help me welcome them. The
Ramoses are from Pennsylvania, but they could be from any one
of your districts. Steven is a network administrator for a
school district, Josefina is a Spanish teacher at a charter
school, and they have a 2-year-old daughter, Lianna. Steven and
Josefina tell me they pay almost $8,000 a year in Federal
income taxes; my plan will save them more than $2,000. Let me
tell you what Steven says: ``Two thousand dollars a year means
a lot to my family. If we had this money, it would help us
reach our goal of paying off our personal debt in two years.''
After that, Steven and Josefina want to start saving for
Lianna'scollege education. Government should never stand in the
way of families achieving their dreams. The surplus is not the
government's money, the surplus is the people's money.
For lower-income families, my tax relief plan restores
basic fairness. Right now, complicated tax rules punish hard
work. A waitress supporting two children on $25,000 a year can
lose nearly half of every additional dollar she earns. Her
overtime, her hardest hours, are taxed at nearly 50 percent.
This sends a terrible message: You will never get ahead. But
America's message must be different: We must honor hard work,
never punish it.
With tax relief, overtime will no longer be overtax time
for the waitress. People with the smallest incomes will get the
highest percentage reductions. And millions of additional
American families will be removed from the income tax rolls
entirely.
Tax relief is right and tax relief is urgent. The long
economic expansion that began almost 10 years ago is faltering.
Lower interest rates will eventually help, but we cannot assume
they will do the job all by themselves.
Forty years ago and then twenty years ago, two Presidents,
one Democrat and one Republican, John F. Kennedy and Ronald
Reagan, advocated tax cuts to--in President Kennedy's words
``get this country moving again.''
They knew then, what we must do now: To create economic
growth and opportunity, we must put money back into the hands
of the people who buy goods and create jobs.
We must act quickly. The Chairman of the Federal Reserve
has testified before Congress that tax cuts often come too late
to stimulate economic recovery. So I want to work with you to
give our economy an important jump start by making tax relief
retroactive.
We must act now because it is the right thing to do. We
must also act now because we have other things to do. We must
show courage to confront and resolve tough challenges: to
restructure our Nation's defenses, to meet our growing need for
energy, and to reform Medicare and Social Security.
America has a window of opportunity to extend and secure
our present peace by promoting a distinctly American inter-
nationalism. We will work with our allies and friends to be a
force for good and a champion of freedom. We will work for free
markets and free trade and freedom from oppression. Nations
making progress toward freedom will find America is their
friend.
We will promote our values, and we will promote peace. And
we need a strong military to keep the peace. But our military
was shaped to confront the challenges of the past. So I have
asked the Secretary of Defense to review America's armed forces
and prepare to transform them to meet emerging threats. My
budget makes a downpayment on the research and development that
will be required. Yet, in our broader transformation effort, we
must put strategy first, then spending. Our defense vision will
drive our defense budget, not the other way around.
Our Nation also needs a clear strategy to confront the
threats of the 21st century, threats that are more widespread
and less certain. They range from terrorists who threaten with
bombs to tyrants and rogue nations intent on developing weapons
of mass destruction. To protect our own people, our allies and
friends, we must develop and we must deploy effective missile
defenses.
And as we transform our military, we can discard Cold War
relics, and reduce our own nuclear forces to reflect today's
needs.
A strong America is the world's best hope for peace and
freedom. Yet the cause of freedom rests on more than our
ability to defend ourselves and our allies. Freedom is exported
every day, as we ship goods and products that improve the lives
of millions of people. Free trade brings greater political and
personal freedom.
Each of the previous five Presidents has had the ability to
negotiate far-reaching trade agreements. Tonight I ask you to
give me the strong hand of presidential trade promotion
authority, and to do so quickly.
As we meet tonight, many citizens are struggling with the
high costs of energy. We have a serious energy problem that
demands a national energy policy. The West is confronting a
major energy shortage that has resulted in high prices and
uncertainty. I have asked Federal agencies to work with
California officials to help speed construction of new energy
sources. And I have directed Vice President Cheney, Commerce
Secretary Evans, Energy Secretary Abraham, and other senior
members of my Administration to recommend a national energy
policy.
Our energy demand outstrips our supply. We can produce more
energy at home while protecting our environment, and we must.
We can produce more electricity to meet demand, and we must. We
can promote alternative energy sources and conservation, and we
must. America must become more energy independent.
Perhaps the biggest test of our foresight and courage will
be reforming Medicare and Social Security.
Medicare's finances are strained and its coverage is
outdated. Ninety-nine percent of employer-provided health plans
offer some form of prescription drug coverage . . . Medicare
does not. The framework for reform has been developed by
Senators Frist and Breaux and Congressman Thomas, and now, it
is time to act. Medicare must be modernized. And we must make
sure that every senior on Medicare can choose a health plan
that offers prescription drugs.
Seven years from now, the baby boom generation will begin
to claim Social Security benefits. Everyone in this chamber
knows that Social Security is not prepared to fully fund their
retirement. And we only have a couple of yearsto get prepared.
Without reform, this country will one day awaken to a stark choice:
either a drastic rise in payroll taxes, or a radical cut in retirement
benefits. There is a better way.
This spring I will form a presidential commission to reform
Social Security. The commission will make its recommendations
by next fall. Reform should be based on these principles: It
must preserve the benefits of all current retirees and those
nearing retirement. It must return Social Security to sound
financial footing. And it must offer personal savings accounts
to younger workers who want them.
Social Security now offers workers a return of less than 2
percent on the money they pay into the system. To save the
system, we must increase that by allowing younger workers to
make safe, sound investments at a higher rate of return.
Ownership, access to wealth, and independence should not be
the privilege of a few. They are the hope of every American . .
. and we must make them the foundation of Social Security.
By confronting the tough challenge of reform, by being
responsible with out budget, we can earn the trust of the
American people. And, we can add to that trust by enacting fair
and balanced election and campaign finance reforms.
The agenda I have set before you tonight is worthy of a
great country. America is a nation at peace, but not a nation
at rest. Much has been given to us, and much is expected.
Let us agree to bridge old divides. But let us also agree
that our good will must be dedicated to great goals.
Bipartisanship is more than minding our manners, it is doing
our duty.
No one can speak in this Capitol and not be awed by its
history. At so many turning point, debates in these chambers
have reflected the collected or divided conscience of our
country. And when we walk through Statuary Hall, and see those
men and women of marble, we are reminded of their courage and
achievement.
Yet America's purpose is never found only in statues or
history. America's purpose always stands before us.
Our generation must show courage in a time of blessing, as
our Nation has always shown in times of crisis. And our
courage, issue by issue, can gather to greatness, and serve our
country. This is the privilege, and responsibility, we share.
And if we work together, we can prove that public service is
noble.
We all came here for a reason. We all have things we want
to accomplish, and promises to keep. Juntos podemos, together
we can. We can make Americans proud of their government.
Together, we can share in the credit of making our country more
prosperous and generous and just--and earn from our conscience
and from our fellow citizens, the highest possible praise: well
done, good and faithful servants.
Thank you. Good night. And God Bless America.
George W. Bush.
The White House, February 27, 2001.