For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 12, 2001
Remarks by the President During Tour of Home of Senior Airman Donnie Bryant
Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida
11:15 A.M. CST
THE PRESIDENT: Donnie, thanks for
having us. Me, my brother and about 400 other people in your
living room.
SENIOR AIRMAN BRYANT: I think this
is the most I've ever had in my living room, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, there are some
fine Americans in your living room.
SENIOR AIRMAN BRYANT: Yes, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: Thanks for having
us.
SENIOR AIRMAN BRYANT: Yes, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: So, tell us about
housing here.
SENIOR AIRMAN BRYANT: Housing, we
just recently have completed our Redfish Point housing, which is the
housing right behind my house over here, the new housing. I
think you may get a chance to drive by and see it.
THE PRESIDENT: Right, we are.
SENIOR AIRMAN BRYANT:: This is the
older housing, it's about 50 years
old, built to the standards at the time. And these houses
are totally being refurbished. We have kitchens being
redone in them. The electric and all the plumbing and stuff,
some of that's been taken care of. The outside electric has
been put to an underground system instead of the overhead wiring that
we had for a long time, that actually goes into the
house. It saves a lot of problems with power problems around
the house.
We still have a few problems with plumbing,
but I believe they are starting a project on that. We've had
some plumbers pull in out back. But
overall --
THE PRESIDENT: Particularly after
they knew General Ryan was coming.
SENIOR AIRMAN BRYANT: Cleaned it up
for you, Mr. President.
But the main thing is, I guess we're trying to
keep all the houses, the old houses up to par and keep everything
maintained and keep the housing conditions livable.
THE PRESIDENT: That's my mission,
as well.
SENIOR AIRMAN BRYANT: That's where
we need our money to keep projects
going and to also make room for new houses and stuff, as well.
THE PRESIDENT: That's one of the
reasons I've come to your house, to highlight my initiative that I look
forward to working with the Air Force on and base commanders all around
the country, to refurbish housing and build new housing. I
do think we need for a troop to be able to house his
family. That's an important part of building morale in the
military.
SENIOR AIRMAN BRYANT: Yes, sir, it
is.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you for
letting us come by.
SENIOR AIRMAN BRYANT: Thank you,
sir, for coming by.
THE PRESIDENT: We want Chloe to
have a good roof over her.
MRS. BRYANT: Would you like to see
her room?
THE
PRESIDENT: Sure. Chloe, would you show me your
room?
SENIOR AIRMAN BRYANT: Mr.
President, I'll show you back there.
THE PRESIDENT: Is everybody going
in there? (Laughter.)
* * * * *
Q Can I ask you your
response to all those senators that are saying
they expect you to compromise on your tax cut plan?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, there's a
hundred different opinions in the United States Senate, and I respect
every opinion. But when they listen to
what the American people want, they're going to find out people want
something -- they want a tax relief that's substantial and
real. And I look forward to working with the Senate.
Q Does that mean you
are or are not willing to compromise, sir?
THE PRESIDENT: I'm willing to
listen to the hundred different voices who've got different views about
where this package ought to go. And, of course, I'm pleased
with what happened in the House. And as I've said all along,
I laid out a plan that I thought was the right size to begin with and
look forward to working with the members to get this
done. And we need
to do it in a quick way in order to provide a little second wind to
the economy.
Q What about Democrats
running ads in the state against your tax package, but wrapping that
issue around the issue of the Florida recount, saying your brother
delivered this state and now look at what we're getting?
THE PRESIDENT: Some of the
Democrats here want to keep re-voting the election. But if
they would listen to America, they would find that Americans want to
move forward. Secondly, there are some who would rather
spend the surplus on bigger government, and I have an honest
disagreement with those types of people.
The American people, when they hear that we've
got enough money to meet needs such as building housing on military
bases or refurbishing housing on military bases, if we set priorities
and have fiscally sound leadership in Washington, D.C., they will find
that there is enough money for tax relief.
And I can understand why some -- I mean, I
don't understand it, but some people want to increase the size of the
federal government. And if the people that are running those
ads here in Florida want to travel the state and say, support us
because we want to increase the size of the federal government, I think
they're going to find a lot of people aren't going to listen.
Thank you all.
Q You're not backing
down off your faith-based program, are you?
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, not at all,
no. Our faith-based -- we've submitted a package to the
United States Congress. I'm proud of the faith-based
initiative. There is a lot of bipartisan support on the
Hill, and somebody mentioned something about an article
today. I haven't read it
yet. But, no, we're moving forward. It's the
right thing to do.
Q Thank you, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: Okay, see you all
soon.
END 11:57 A.M. EST
|