President Calls for Strengthened and Reformed Medicare Program
Devos Performance Hall
Grand Rapids, Michigan
12:40 P.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. I'm anxious to get started.
(Laughter.) So I woke up this morning, and Laura said, "Where are you
going? I said, "Grand Rapids, thankfully." (Applause.) And she said,
"Home of a great American, Gerald Ford." (Applause.) And home to many
great Americans.
I want to thank you for your hospitality. She said, "I've got a
suggestion for you, shorten your speech." (Laughter.) I want to share
some of my thoughts about that speech I gave last night. It's
important for me to come to parts of our country and explain why I said
what I said, so that you and others around our country clearly
understand some things about the country and the problems we face.
First thing I want you to know is that there's no doubt in my mind
that we can accomplish our objectives, because we're the finest nation,
full of the greatest people on the face of this Earth. (Applause.)
Thanks for coming. I also want to thank my friend, Tommy Thompson,
who is the Secretary of Health and Human Services, for leaving a
comfortable life and serving our nation. You may remember, he was the
governor of Wisconsin. Don't hold it against him, here in Michigan.
(Laughter.) He's a great governor and he's a great Secretary of Health
and Human Service. And I'm honored Tommy is serving with me.
(Applause.)
And I want to thank your Governor and Attorney General and
Secretary of State for joining us today. I'm honored you all are
here. Thanks for taking time out of your schedules to come and greet
the President and hear what I have to say.
I travel today from Washington with members of the mighty Michigan
congressional delegation -- your Congressman, Vern Ehlers. (Applause.)
Neighboring Congressman Peter Hoekstra. (Applause.) Dave Camp and
Nick Smith, also of the congressional delegation. (Applause.) I
appreciate these members traveling with me. I was honored to speak in
their chamber last night. I talked about things that mattered to the
future of this country.
Today, before I came here, I had the honor of going to Spectrum
Hospital, where I visited with docs and hospital administrators and
Medicare -- folks on Medicare, people who hurt -- and heard their
stories. I will share some of that with you, because I believe part of
making sure that we've got a great country is we've got a great health
care system that addresses the needs of all our citizens.
Our biggest need at home, seems like to me, is to make sure that
anybody who wants a job and can't find one -- and if they can't find a
job, we've got a problem. We've got to make sure this economy is as
strong as it possibly can be.
My philosophy is the role of government is not to create wealth,
but an environment in which the small business owner can grow to be a
big business owner; in which the entrepreneur feels confident about the
future; in which people are willing to take risk and invest, which will
equal jobs. And that's why I feel so strongly about making sure that
people get to keep more of their own money. (Applause.)
We've come out of a recession. We've withstood terrorist attacks.
We had some of our fellow citizens think they could fudge the books,
and we're routing them out and bringing them to justice, because we
believe in honesty in America. And our economy is still kind of
nudging along, in spite of those setbacks. But there's more we need to
do.
When a fellow American has more money in his or her pocket, they're
more likely to demand a good or a service. And in the marketplace
which we have in America, when somebody demands a good or a service,
somebody is more likely willing to produce that good or a service. And
when somebody produces a good or a service, it means somebody is more
likely to find work. That's why tax relief is such an important
component about creating the environment for economic growth. It is
important for the people of Michigan and America to know that when I
talk about tax relief, it equals jobs. (Applause.)
You hear a lot of rhetoric in Washington, D.C. about tax relief.
You hear a lot of rhetoric about tax relief in Washington, D.C., the
old rhetoric of class warfare. My attitude is, if you pay taxes, you
ought to get relief; the government ought not to try to pick and
choose. (Applause.)
Seventy percent of new jobs in America are created by small
business owners. It makes sense to try to create an environment in
which the small business owner feels confident about the future, is
willing to take risks and expand jobs. It just so happens that most
small businesses in America pay taxes at the income tax level because
they're sole proprietorships or limited partnerships or sub-chapter
S's.
So when you hear me talk about tax relief, I want you to know that
that will help stimulate small business growth in America. More money
in the pockets of our small business owners means it's more likely
somebody in western Michigan is able to find work. (Applause.)
We're trying to get rid of the effects of the marriage penalty. It
doesn't make any sense to me that we tax marriage. (Laughter and
applause.) It seems like we ought to encourage marriage in America.
(Applause.) We ought to accelerate the increase of the child credit
from $600 to $1,000 as quickly as possible. (Applause.) We ought to
drop that lowest rate from 15 percent to 10 percent. (Applause.) All
these measures have been passed. You see, what I'm talking about today
is what I argued for to Congress two years ago. They're all law.
Congress decided these were good measures. It's just that they phased
them in over three or five or seven years. We need some life in this
economy. We've got people looking for jobs who can't find them. If
the tax relief is good five years from now, it makes a lot of sense to
put the tax relief in today. For the sake of our economic vitality,
Congress must act. (Applause.)
Ten million seniors receive dividends. It's a part of their
retirement package. It's a part of making sure the quality of life is
high. A dividend is a part of a dollar that has gone through our
system that has been taxed twice. A company first pays taxes on
profits, and that's right. And then they distribute the money out to a
shareholder, somebody who has invested in that company, and then the
shareholder gets to pay it again. The double taxation of dividends is
not fair, it hurts our seniors. Congress needs to end the double
taxation of dividends, for the sake of capital formation and for the
sake of the quality of life for the seniors in America. (Applause.)
These measures will help our economy grow, and that's important for
the federal budget. It's important for state budgets. If you're
worried about budgets, which we should be worried about budgets, the
first question you ask is, how do you create growth in the economy?
The more growth there is, the more likely it is you'll have tax
revenues. Policies that stimulate growth ought to be the centerplace
of public policy, not policies which discourage growth. And the growth
packages I talk about will encourage economic vitality, means more tax
revenues at the federal level.
But there's two equations when it comes to deficits and balanced
budgets. There's the revenue side, and then there's the spending
side. I call upon the United States Congress to set clear and
important priorities and not overspend the people's money. (Applause.)
And we have some important priorities that's reflected in my
budget, not only the budget this year, but the budget the last couple
of years. A significant, important, vital priority is education. Our
federal government has substantially increased the amount of federal
money we have spent on education, particularly over the last two
years. We've increased it by another 6 percent in the budget I've
submitted to Congress.
Spending money is important for education, but so is making sure
that every child gets educated. It's important to spend money on
priorities. It is essential that we set high standards for our
children; that we challenge the soft bigotry of low expectations; that
we insist that states measure so we can determine whether programs are
working, so we know whether or not children are learning to read and
write and add and subtract. And equally important, it is essential
that when we find children trapped in schools which will not teach and
will not change, we give parents different opportunities for their
children. (Applause.)
Yesterday, I talked about an immeasurable part of America's
strength, and that is our hearts. Compassion in this country runs
deep. It's one of the really great blessings to be the President of a
country where people love their neighbor like they'd like to be loved
themselves -- and it doesn't even require a government program.
(Laughter and applause.)
I do think there's a role of government, though, when it comes to
helping people in need. The government ought to help people who cannot
help themselves. And we need to recognize in Washington that there are
pockets of despair and hopelessness all around our country; that in
this land of plenty there are those who hurt, there are neighborhoods
where the concept of the American Dream just doesn't exist. There are
people who need love and affection and direction. There are people who
are hopelessly addicted to drugs.
The government can spend money, and should. But government cannot
put hope in people's hearts or a sense of purpose in people's lives.
That happens when a fellow neighbor puts their arm around somebody who
hurts and says, I love you, can I help you, what can I do to help you,
young lady or young man, understand that this country belongs to you
and its future if you make the right decisions, and I'm here to help
you make those right decisions.
Yesterday, I talked about the need to rally the great compassion of
America to focus on those who hurt. Think about what it must be to be
a child whose mother or dad is in prison. Imagine what kind of life
that would be, growing up in this society. I have hope for those
citizens because I know there is somebody there in our society who can
provide the love and direction and guidance to make sure that child has
a chance to succeed.
Today, I came out -- when I landed here at the Ford Airport, I had
the honor of meeting Jerry Nienhuis. He works for Kids Hope USA. I
want my fellow -- (applause.) Hi, Jerry. This program, as Vern Ehlers
was telling me, is an inspiration to many here in Grand Rapids,
Michigan. I think Vern said it started right here. It shows the great
social entrepreneurial spirit of our country. It's a faith-based
program. It's a program -- a call went out to churches in the area;
they said, if you truly love the Almighty, help somebody who hurts,
mentor a child. Mentor a child.
I said last night that we can save our society one heart, one soul,
one conscience at a time. Each of can be somebody helping. I urge you
to mentor, just like Jerry has done. I urge those who are addicted to
find a program that will help heal your heart. People care about you
in our society. A better America is a compassionate America, where we
save our country, one person at a time. And I'm confident it will
happen. (Applause.)
A better America is one in which our health care systems work. One
of the commitments we have made to our seniors is that they get good
health care. This system is called Medicare. Medicare has been used
as a political football, however. It's old -- it's important -- but it
hadn't changed. I like to remind people, medicine has changed, and
Medicare hadn't. It's stuck in the past. It requires all kinds of
bureaucracies to allow new medicines to come forth so our seniors can
take advantage of the technologies and changes in medicine.
I urged the Congress last night to put aside all the politics and
to make sure the Medicare system fulfills its promise to our seniors.
I believe that seniors, if they're happy with the current Medicare
system, should stay on the current Medicare system. That makes sense.
If you like the way things are, you shouldn't change. However,
Medicare must be more flexible. Medicare must include prescription
drugs. Medicare must be available to seniors in a variety of forms.
The Congress has got a good health care system for themselves and
their employees, and other federal employees, which is fine. It's
based upon trusting each member of Congress to make decisions for his
or her family. There's a variety of plans from which to choose. I
believe it's very important for seniors to be given the same
opportunities that members of the Congress, members of the Senate
have. They ought to be able to choose their own health care plan,
including fee-for-service plans. If it's good enough for the Congress,
it's good enough for the senior citizens of America. (Applause.)
Any good plan provides options, and any good plan makes sure
seniors who cannot afford help receive help from the federal
government. I proposed a budget where the discretionary spending grew
at 4 percent. Within that budget I proposed last night is a
substantial increase in Medicare funding of $400 billion on top of what
we already spend, over the next 10 years. This is a commitment that
America must make to our seniors. A reformed and strengthened Medicare
system, plus a healthy dosage of Medicare spending in the budget, will
make us say firmly, we fulfilled our promise to the seniors of
America. (Applause.)
We want health care to be affordable and accessible for our all our
citizens, of course. One of the problems we have in our society is
we've got too many junk lawsuits. (Applause.) Too many lawsuits
against docs and hospitals; too many frivolous lawsuits which cause
people to practice preventative medicine. Procedure after procedure,
just in case they get sued. Too many people being forced to settle out
of court just to get rid of the lawsuits, which drives up your cost,
and drives doctors and nurses out of the practice of medicine.
(Applause.)
And it's a problem. I visited states where it's a real problem,
where I've had docs come and see me and say, I can't practice medicine
anymore. I remember a baby doc that came to see me when I was in
Pennsylvania. She had tears in her eyes. She said, I love to deliver
babies, I can't do it anymore. I'm being sued so much, my premiums are
out of sight.
It is essential, it is essential that Congress understand what
excessive litigation is doing to patients. It's driving up the cost.
It makes it hard for people to get access to care, because there's
fewer providers.
I've come to the conclusion that this is a federal issue, because
excessive lawsuits are driving up the cost of health care at the
federal level. Medicare costs more, Medicaid costs more, veterans
benefits cost more. We need a national, federal medical liability
policy. (Applause.)
We can get one, but I need your help. The trial lawyers are
powerful. They don't see the problem the way we see it. You need to
write your senators and make it clear to them that you, like me, expect
people who have had injury to be able to have their day in court. And
that's what we want. We want a judicial system that works.
If somebody is hurt, they ought to have their day in court. But we
need reasonable caps. We need to make sure that this lottery, this
lawsuit lottery doesn't ruin the health care for citizens all across
our country. It's an important piece of legislation, to help get
control of costs that are running out of sight here in the medical
industry today.
Domestic policy is incredibly important, and I'll spend a lot of
time on it. But there's nothing more important than protecting the
American people from harm. (Applause.) I knew one my challenges was
going to be to make sure people understood that distance between
September the 11th, 2001, did not necessarily mean war had ended and
your government can relax. War has not ended. The war that people
brought to our soil still goes on.
We're doing everything we can in Washington to protect our soil.
We've got a new Department of Homeland Security that will be up and
running here pretty quickly. It's a better way to coordinate all the
assets at our disposal, to protect our borders and protect our
airports, protect our infrastructure -- if need be, respond in an
efficient way on your behalf.
Our intelligence services, FBI, are working a lot better than ever
before. The FBI's whole culture has changed from one that, we will
haul you in, to one that says, we'll prevent a danger from happening in
the first place as best we can. In other words, we're on alert.
We know that there is still an enemy which lurks -- and there is;
there is. And they're nothing but a bunch of cold-blooded killers, by
the way. (Applause.) You know, they just don't value life like we
do. The great thing about America is we say every life is precious,
everybody counts. (Applause.) Everybody has worth. And they just
don't view it that way. They kill in a name of a false ideology based
upon hatred.
And as I told the Congress last night, and the country, we're
winning this war. We're chasing them down one by one and bringing them
to justice. (Applause.) Make no mistake about it, we are slowly but
surely dismantling their organization.
Yesterday, some of them bunched up in parts of Afghanistan. They,
unfortunately, met the United States military head on. (Applause.)
Unfortunately for them. (Laughter.) The reason I bring that up is our
troops are still in Afghanistan, and they're doing a great job. The
country needs our presence and will have our presence -- needs our
presence to help make sure that those remnants of al Qaeda that still
lurk around the area are brought to justice. And they will be, they
will be.
Our coalition is still strong. The doctrine says that either
you're with us, or you're with the enemy, that still exists.
(Applause.) And there are a lot of good people working hard all across
the world to bring these people to justice. The Brits hauled in a
bunch the other day. You'll see the Spanish. We're sharing
intelligence, and we're watching them. And when they pop their heads
up, we're getting them, one by one. (Applause.)
And it doesn't matter how long it's going to take. It just doesn't
matter. Slowly but surely, we will bring them to justice. Because
this country understands and this generation understands, we have an
obligation to protect our land. That's our most important thing we
do.
And by the way, in Afghanistan, we're not leaving for another
reason. We didn't go into Afghanistan as conquerors, we went in as
liberators. (Applause.) We liberated people from the clutches of one
of the most barbaric regimes imaginable. And we're helping to build
schools and health care centers. Tommy was telling me they're fixing
to open one up in a couple of months in Afghanistan. And we're
building highways. We're helping these good people get back on their
feet.
That's the great compassion about our country. We're strong in our
might, we're compassionate in our vision. Everybody matters.
Everybody has worth in the eyes of the American people. It doesn't
matter where you're from, the nature of your religion, everybody
counts. (Applause.)
Including the millions who suffer from AIDS in Africa. This is a
moral nation, we're a great nation. We have a chance to use our wealth
and our abilities to help cure that epidemic that plagues a group of
people. I call upon the generosity of the American people, at this
time of tragedy, where thousands are dying, where thousands of children
are being orphaned, to join in a great cause, a great humanitarian
cause, a cause beyond all imaginable -- a cause to solve unimaginable
problems, to help the people who are needlessly dying. We can make a
huge difference, a significant difference in the lives of thousands of
our fellow human beings. I want people to step back at some point in
time and say, thank God for America and our generosity as lives were
saved. (Applause.)
My point is, our presence in the world is more than just our might;
but our might is needed in the world right now to make the world a more
peaceful place. The war on terror is not confined strictly to the al
Qaeda that we're chasing. The war on terror extends beyond just a
shadowy terrorist network. The war on terror involves Saddam Hussein
because of the nature of Saddam Hussein, the history of Saddam Hussein
and his willingness to terrorize himself.
Saddam Hussein has terrorized his own people. He's terrorized his
own neighborhood. He is a danger not only to countries in the region,
but as I explained last night, because of al Qaeda connections, because
of his history, he's a danger to the American people. And we've got to
deal with him. We've got to deal with him before it is too late.
(Applause.)
Before September the 11th, during a period when a lot of us thought
oceans would protect us forever from gathering threats far from our
land, the thought of containing somebody like Saddam Hussein made sense
-- so we could step back in America and say, gosh, well, don't worry,
he's only a threat to somebody in the neighborhood, and we might pick
or choose whether or not we're going to help in the neighborhood.
But, see, our fellow citizens must understand that September the
11th, 2001 changed the equation. It's changed the strategic outlook of
this country, because we're not protected by oceans. The battlefield
is here. And therefore, we must address threats today as they gather,
before they become acute.
There's a reason why the world asked Saddam Hussein to disarm --
for 12 years. (Laughter.) And the reason why is because he's
dangerous. He's used them. He tortures his own people. He's gassed
his own people. He's attacked people in the neighborhood.
What's changed for America -- besides the fact that he's still
dangerous and can create havoc with friends in the neighborhood -- is
that there's now a shadowy terrorist network which he could use as a
forward army, attacking his worst enemy and never leave a fingerprint
behind, with deadly, deadly weapons. And that's what's changed.
We're having an honest debate in this country, and we should, about
peace and how to achieve the peace. It should be clear to you now,
though, that in my judgment you don't contain Saddam Hussein. You
don't hope that therapy will somehow change his evil mind -- (laughter)
-- that you deal with Saddam Hussein. I hope we can do this
peacefully.
I went to the United Nations for a reason. One, I wanted the
United Nations to be something other than an empty debating society.
(Applause.) I wanted it to address this threat. By a 15-0 vote in the
Security Council, they said, yes, it's a problem and he must disarm.
But the fundamental question is, when. There's a lot of focus on the
inspectors, and we wish them well. But the role of the inspectors is
not to play hide-and-seek with Saddam Hussein in a country the size of
California. There's 108 inspectors running around a country trying to
stumble into something; 108 people who are being misled by a person
who's made a history of fooling inspectors.
See, the role of the inspectors are not to play "gotcha." He's
better at playing "gotcha," obviously -- for 12 years he's played
"gotcha." The role of the inspectors are to watch Iraq disarm. That's
the role of the inspectors. They're to report back and say, gosh, he's
started getting rid of all his mustard gas or sarin gas. He started
getting rid of these weapons of mass destruction. He's now getting rid
of the biological laboratories. That's the role of the inspectors.
And it's clear he's not disarming. I'm convinced that this still
can be done peacefully. I certainly hope so. The idea of committing
troops is my last option, not my first. I understand the terrible
price of war. I understand what it means to put somebody into combat.
I know what it means to hug mothers and wives. But I've got to tell
you something. I've thought long and hard about this. The risks of
doing nothing, the risks of assuming the best from Saddam Hussein, it's
just not a risk worth taking.
So I call upon the world to come together and insist that this
dangerous man disarm. But should they choose not to continue to
pressure Saddam, and should he continue to defy the world, for the sake
of our peace, for the sake of the security, this country will lead a
coalition of other willing nations and we will disarm Saddam Hussein.
If need be, if war is brought upon us like I said last night, I want to
assure you, particularly those who wear the uniform and those who have
a loved one in the military, we will commit the full force and might of
the United States military. And for the name of peace, we will
prevail. (Applause.)
We will free people. This great, powerful nation is motivated not
by power for power's sake, but because of our values. If everybody
matters, if every life counts, then we should hope everybody has the
great God's gift of freedom. We go into Iraq to disarm the country.
We will also go in to make sure that those who are hungry are fed,
those who need health care will have health care, those youngsters who
need education will get education. But most of all, we will uphold
our values. And the biggest value we hold dear is the value of
freedom. (Applause.) As I said last night, freedom and liberty, they
are not America's gifts to the world. They are God's gift to
humanity. We hold that thought dear to our hearts.
This is a great nation. America is a strong nation. America is a
nation full of people who are compassionate. America is a nation that
is willing to serve causes greater than ourselves. There's no question
we face challenges ahead of us -- challenges at home, challenges
abroad. But as I said last night, history has called the right nation
into action. History has called the United States into action, and we
will not let history down.
Thank you all for coming. May God bless. (Applause.)