THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all
very much. Tessa, thanks -- a pretty tough act to
follow. (Laughter.)
First, I want to thank the Marich family
for their patience working me through the food line. I had
worked up quite an appetite up top of the mountain, and I'm glad I got
a little of that barbecue.
Thank you for your
hospitality. I want to thank the directors of the Y for
welcoming me to this little slice of heaven. You know, when
I was growing up in Texas, a lot of people say, you know, I spent my
summer in Estes Park -- and now I know why. It's a beautiful
spot, and thanks for having me. (Applause.)
I'm traveling with some folks that you
might want to at least say "hello" to. I picked somebody
from -- to head the Department of the Interior who would understand the
thinking of the West, who would understand that we can have good, sound
environmental policy; that conservation is important.
And so when I named Gale Norton from the
state of Colorado to be the head of the Department of Interior, a lot
of folks came to realize this is an administration that's going to be
wise, full of common sense when it comes to preserving the natural
beauty of our country. And I'm so thankful Gale Norton is
here. Where are you, Gale? Thank you for coming.
(Applause.)
I also needed to find somebody to run our
National Park Service; somebody who was bright and wise, as well;
somebody who shared our commitment to making sure that at the very
minimum, the maintenance backlog in these parks ought to be taken care
of; that the parks are for the
people. (Applause.) That when we just talk about
a national park system that is an incredibly important part of our
nation's heritage and tradition; that the parks be accessible for the
people who pay the bills; that they be well maintained.
We've got $5 billion in the budget for the
next five years, to end this maintenance backlog. And the
person who is going to work with us to do so is the National Park
Service Director, Fran Mainella. Thank you,
Fran. (Applause.) And I want to thank all the
Park Service employees who are here. You've got a tough job
and an important job. And we probably don't thank you enough
for the work you do.
But I want to thank you. It's
great to travel up on the trail and see the wise public policy being
deployed here; public policy to make sure that we reduce the hazards of
forest fires, smart management of our lands; wise, common sense
approach to how we thin out our forests, prevent the hazards of forest
fire. And the Park employees were up there working, along
with the volunteers from the Y Camp.
I also loved meeting the folks making the
trails, so that the American people can access this beautiful part of
the world. So on behalf of the taxpayers of our country and
the administration, I want to thank all the Park Service employees for
your good work. (Applause.)
Also traveling with me today is the
Governor of this great state, a man who has fulfilled every promise he
made. And that's my friend, Bill Owens. Thank you
for coming, Bill. (Applause.) And the Lieutenant Governor is
somewhere. Hey, Joe, thank you. Lieutenant
Governor Rodgers is here, as well. Thank you for being
here. (Applause.)
Two fine United States Senators, Wayne
Allard and Ben Nighthorse Campbell are
here. (Applause.) The Congressman from this
district, Bob Schaffer is here. Bob, where are
you? There he is. (Laughter.) And Tom
Tancredo, the other Congressman. Thank you all for coming.
We are making some progress in Washington,
starting with changing the tone of the nation's
capital. Like a lot of citizens around our country, I was
deeply concerned about the bitterness that seemed to be in every other
voice in the nation's capital. And one of the things I
pledged to do was to at least try to change the tone; try to say if you
don't happen to agree with somebody, you can disagree in an agreeable
way; that party is important, but it's not paramount -- what's more
important is the country.
And I believe we're making good
progress. We've come together and have done some smart
things on behalf of the American people. I think one of the
smartest things we did was cut the taxes, to get people their money
back. (Applause.) I appreciate all the signs I
saw coming in, where people said, thanks for the
$600. (Laughter.) But guess what? It
wasn't mine to give out; it was theirs to begin
with. (Applause.)
So it's important. We've got a
wise budget; we've got a good budget; a good, sound fiscal
policy. We're working hard on getting an education bill out
that makes sense. We're sending a clear message overseas,
that ours is a proud nation that will promote the peace. But
we're not going to sign on to every single agreement that somebody
thought might have been good. We're going to stand tall for
freedom and America; that what's good for America is going to be
paramount to my way of thinking.
I think we're making good progress
explaining to our allies that we'll be loyal friends, but we can't be
all things to all people. I hope we're breaking new ground
when it comes to Mr. Putin, welcoming him to the West; saying to him
that the old days of mistrust, aiming missiles at each other have got
to end. The Cold War is over; it's finally over and now it's
time to have a new strategic thinking about how to keep the
peace. (Applause.)
So we're making good
progress. But there's a role bigger than just initiatives
and legislation for a President in an administration. And
it's really to herald, to capture the spirit of the
country. That's why I'm so thankful that Dave Thomas has
invited me here, to let me come, and the staff. Because the
spirit of the country is reflected, in my judgment, right here in this
beautiful setting.
The spirit of America is found in the
character of our citizens, the value base that makes America, I think,
such a different kind of place -- a place that -- a country that values
family and friendship; a place where people learn values and
character. One of the things that -- when I try to describe
America to somebody who has never been here I say, we're a country
stitched together by communities of character.
This is a community of character, as far
as I'm concerned. Not only does it exist in a beautiful
setting -- and I can see why families have wanted to come back year
after year after year -- but there's also a grand vision embodied in
these mountains. And the vision is that we can teach our
children right from wrong. And we can teach them good, sound
values, so that when they get older they'll make the right choices in
their life.
We can teach our children values that will
make an enormous difference for our country as a whole, the values of
respect: respect the land; respect somebody with whom you
may not agree; respect your neighbor, regardless of where they were
raised or where they were born; respect somebody else's religious
views, be willing to listen. It's an important value to make
our country so different and so unique; a country that's been able to
absorb people from all walks of life under the great umbrella of
freedom and opportunity.
There is also a respect out here, respect
for family. I was up there when I was helping clear the
trail, somebody said they were from Fredericksburg, Texas, which
reminded me of a story, a true story that happened to me. I
was there, as Governor of Texas, for the 50th anniversary at the end of
the war in the Pacific Theater. And my mother and dad were
there, as was Laura, my wife.
And I got up to speak, to welcome
everybody as the Governor, and I said, welcome. And I said,
dad, welcome back to Central Texas, and people cheered. And
I said, mother -- and before I could say another word, everybody was
screaming at the top of their lungs.
And I said, mother -- and still --
everybody here loves you in Texas and so do I, but you are still
telling me what to do after 50 years. (Laughter.) And a guy
in a big cowboy hat steps out in the middle of Main Street,
Fredericksburg and screams, you better listen to her, too, boy.
(Laughter.)
Part of respect is to respect your mom and
dad. So to the campers here, my advice is, listen to your
mother. (Laughter and applause.) In my case, I
don't have any choice. (Laughter.)
You also teach the sense of
responsibility, that each of us must be responsible for the decisions
we make in life. And that's a really important character and
core value for our country. That we must have a responsible
society; that government can't do everything in a society. We've got
to be responsible for loving a neighbor like we'd like to be loved
ourselves.
One of the things that I'm hoping to get
through the Congress is the faith-based initiative, faith and community
based initiative which will capture and stand side by side the programs
all around America that rely upon faith to help change people's lives.
I recognize there is a role for government
sponsored programs, but our society must recognize there is also a role
for faith-based initiatives and faith-based programs; programs that
exist to help people change their heart and, therefore, change their
behavior. We shouldn't fear faith in America; we ought to
welcome the faith-based programs that help define our country as a
unique land. And so responsible society is one that we all
must aim for.
Now, this is a nation of character and
values, and I'm so honored to be in a place that teaches values, that
heralds character, that's not afraid to say there are right choices in
life to make and wrong choices in life to make; a community of
conscious and a community of character that aims to say to our young,
this American experience is a fantastic experience.
Work hard, study hard, respect your family
and respect your friends and our nation will be even greater than it is
today.
So thank you for giving me a chance to
come and herald a wonderful program in an unbelievably beautiful
setting. It's a great honor to be the President of this
country. And the main reason why is because our country is
the greatest there is. And the reason why we are is because
the people of America are so fantastic and so loving and so decent.