THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very
much. Thank you very much. Please, be
seated. Madam Secretary, thank you very much, and I
appreciate so very much your service to the country. I made
a good pick when I convinced Elaine to join my Cabinet; she's doing a
terrific job. (Applause.)
I think Rod Paige is here, too, the Secretary
of Education. If he's not -- he is here. Hey -- Mr.
Secretary. (Applause.) Thank you, Mr.
Secretary. Members of Congress, thank you all so very much
for being here. I spend a lot of quality time with members
of Congress these days. (Laughter.) I think we're making
pretty good progress, and I appreciate you all for coming.
I want to thank the business and labor leaders
who are here. I want to thank you all for taking an interest
in the American work force.
As Elaine mentioned, I just came back from
Europe and had a fascinating experience. It's such an honor
to represent our great nation around the world. We've spent
a lot of time talking about industry and trade and commerce -- after
all, we trade over $1 trillion a year between Europe and the United
States. And I reminded people a solid truth, that the
strength of our economy depends upon the people who go to work every
day -- that there is a lot of fiscal matters that we'll take up and
monetary matters, but the truth of the matter is, the great strength of
the American economy is our work force, the hard men and women who work
every single day to make a living.
And that is your concern today, and I commend
you all very much for giving this conference your time and your
interest and your talent.
Our responsibilities are clear: We
should try to make it easier for people to find good jobs by giving
them the education and training they need to
succeed. Second, we should help them keep good jobs, and
encourage employers to do more for their workers. And,
third, we owe them a chance to build a nest egg that will help them
maintain a high standard of living in their retirement years.
As you well know, a successful working life
usually begins with a good education. This has always been
true. But it's even more true as our economy
changes. We live in a time of incredible opportunities to
succeed, and every child growing up in America, regardless of
background or accent, deserves an equal chance to take advantage of
these opportunities.
Five months after the day that I was
inaugurated, I am pleased to say that we are nearing historic reforms
in public education. This is a victory for every child and
for every family in America. Last week, education reform
passed the Senate by a vote of 91 to
8. (Applause.) When these reforms become law,
schools will have more freedom from needless meddling by
Washington. There will be fewer mandates and regulations for
schools to meet, more freedom and more flexibility, as schools live up
to high standards they will now be required to meet.
You see, I believe every child can
learn. I believe we've got to start with the mind-set that
every child in America can learn. And we need to raise the
bar and trust local people to meet the standards and -- the high
standards. Every public school, starting next year, as well,
will be held accountable for its performance.
It's not enough to promise and proclaim high
standards. The American people expect
results. Families and parents want results. And
the law will soon require such results with testing every child for
every grade, 3 through 8, in reading and math.
The critics say, why? The answer
is, because we want to know. And we want to know early,
before it's too late. This business about passing children
through grades because of age had got the end. This society
must ask the question, what do you know. (Applause.)
I'm grateful for the hard work on Capitol Hill
by both Republicans and Democrats on this measure. We've
worked together from the start to what I hope is the finish
soon. Congress needs to finish this work. The
conference needs to come together. The House conferees and
the Senate conferees need to meet, reconcile their differences and get
the bill to my desk before public education starts next
fall. It's time to act, and it's time to act with
meaningful, real reforms. (Applause.)
All of us recognize that education spending
should be increased. I realize that; the Senate realizes
that; the House recognizes that -- but only where we're certain that
the money will be well-spent. Additional resources must be
tied to demonstrated progress and results. As Congress
writes the final bill, I trust that members of both parties will stay
true to that principle. We must not repeat the mistakes of
years past, confusing spending money with progress. We must
keep the focus on reform and results. It's the least we owe
the work force of tomorrow, the very least -- which is a good, sound
education.
But at every turn, federal policy must keep
pace with changes of our work force. This morning I took one
step, with an executive order formally establishing an Office of the
21st Century Work Force within the Department of
Labor. (Applause.) This office will be charged
with identifying new challenges and new opportunities for American
workers.
My executive order also creates a presidential
council to advise on labor issues, and especially on those issues
affecting the lives of workers and their families. Every
working person is entitled to expect fair treatment from the employers
they work for. Wherever possible, we should find ways to
remove conflicts between home and work.
For example, more workers should be able to
take advantage of comp time. Federal workers already enjoy
this privilege and private sector employees deserve the
same. (Applause.) Many hardworking people would
prefer to be able to choose a few extra days at home instead of a few
extra dollars on payday. We've got to trust the workers of
America to make the decisions that's best for their families.
Until fairly recently, many Americans have
never known paydays at all, nor the other rewards that work
brings. They have been denied jobs on account of a
disability. And one of the great advances in our time is
that persons with disabilities have been more welcomed in the
workplace. But there's still more to do. We must
speed up the day when the last barrier has been removed to full and
independent lives for every American, with or without disability.
I've sent to Congress a set of proposals
called the New Freedom
Initiative. (Applause.) It's an important step to
ensuring that all Americans with disabilities can participate more
fully in the life of their communities and of our
country. We'll help our fellow Americans gain greater access
to assistive technology. We'll also help them gain access to
public transportation and to the workplace, itself, in keeping with the
requirements of the Americans With Disabilities Act.
I've also asked Congress to create a fund to
help people with disabilities to buy the equipment they need to
telecommute. We'll provide tax incentives to encourage
employers to provide such equipment. And we'll protect home
offices from needless OSHA regulations. (Applause.)
Tens of millions of Americans today work out
of their homes. For most, it's a convenience. For
workers with disabilities, it is a revolution. And we want
as many Americans as possible to share in this revolution of
independence. (Applause.)
An urgent issue for many workers today is
quality health care. Like education reform, this issue is
reaching an hour of decision, and before this year is out, I want to
sign into law a patients' bill of rights. (Applause.) And
let me be specific again about the type of bill I'd like to
sign. It must cover everyone, all patients and all private
health care plans.
The standards should be strong enough to
protect everyone, yet flexible enough to preserve the good work that
has been done in many states. It must guarantee all patients
important rights -- the right to get emergency treatment at the nearest
emergency room; the right to see a specialist when they need
one. A woman should be able to visit her gynecologist, and
parents, their children's pediatrician, without going through a
gatekeeper.
In any bill that receives my signature,
patients will have the right to a fair and immediate review when
medical care is denied. If a health care plan denies care,
you should be able to appeal immediately to an independent, impartial
review panel of medical doctors. And if they say you need
the care, your health care plan must provide it, period. (Applause.)
It's important for Americans to know, with
that kind of strong, independent review process, most disagreements
will not wind up in court. The law should allow the review process to
work, not short-circuit it by inviting unnecessary
lawsuits. (Applause.)
I believe that an HMO that wrongly denies
coverage to a patient should be held liable in court. But we
must keep our eye on the purpose. We want to give patients
the care they need when they need it. The idea is to serve
more patients, not to create more lawsuits in
America. (Applause.) We can provide meaningful remedies to
patients without driving up the cost of health care, or forcing
employers to drop coverage.
Measured against this criterion I've
described, there are some good bills and some bad bills. And
I want to thank Senators John Breaux, Democrat; Senator Bill Frist,
Republican; Senator Jim Jeffords, independent -- (laughter) -- for
working hard to come up with a reasonable solution to this very
important problem. (Applause.)
Finally, the end of a working life should not
be the beginning of worry and hardship. The tax reform
package I signed into law two weeks ago will help in several
ways. For starters, it leaves more money in every working
person's pocket. We remember whose money it was we're
spending up here -- it's the working people's
money. (Applause.) And it gives workers the
chance to put more of their own money into an IRA or a 401(K) plan.
The tax bill also eased the IRS limits on
pension benefits that you're allowed to receive. We heard
from many unions and employers about the need for these changes, and we
listened. (Applause.) This will help our workers
prepare for later years, sending less money to Washington and putting
more money in their own savings accounts.
And I've also established a bipartisan
commission to save and strengthen Social Security. With this
help and with the support of Congress -- we need to get beyond the
years of delay and finger-pointing and quarreling about this incredibly
important issue. The days of shifting blame must end in
order to save this important system.
To those who are retired and near-retired, a
promise made will be a promise kept by this government. But
to the younger workers who wonder whether or not there is going to be a
Social Security system around, you have an administration and a vehicle
now that's willing to think differently, to trust you with your own
money, to say it's your money to begin with, so that you can build your
own nest egg that you can pass from one generation to the
next. It's time. (Applause.)
One of the great virtues of the country is the
value we place on hard work -- it really makes America unique, in a
different place -- and the respect we have for those who work
hard. Mine is an administration that understands the
important resource of the men and women of America, the hardworking
people who make this country grow. And ours is an
administration that will always value hard work, and trust the
individual and understand the limitations of government.
I want to thank you all for giving me a chance
to come by and visit with you. It is a huge honor to be the
President of the greatest nation on the face of the
Earth. And it's a huge honor to be the President of a nation
full of decent, hardworking, caring and compassionate
people. I thank you for the privilege. God
bless. (Applause.)