For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 3, 2001
President Works on Economic Recovery During NY Trip
Remarks by the President in Photo Opportunity with Business Leaders
Freedom Hall
New York, New York
THE PRESIDENT: It's an honor to
be back in New York City. I want to thank the Mayor and the
Governor for welcoming us back. I'm pleased that Secretary
Don Evans, and Larry Lindsey from the White House staff, are traveling
with me, and I want to thank the business leaders from not only New
York, but others who have come from around the country to discuss the
state of the nation.
And we've had a very frank discussion
about the state of our economy. I think there's no question we all
agree that the events of September 11th shocked our economy, just like
it shocked the conscience of our nation. But like those terrorists,
they can't affect our soul, they can't affect the greatness of
America. We all believe that the underpinnings are there for
economic recovery.
And we all must do our
part. And the federal government has a role to
play. Today Secretary Paul O'Neill testified at Congress,
saying that the administration believes that we ought to have $60
billion to $75 billion more of stimulus to encourage consumer
confidence, to enhance business investment, as well as to take care of
displaced workers.
I have shared that with the business
leaders here. They understand that there is a role for the
federal government, a strong and active role. And I assured them it's
a role that we intend to play.
I know there are people hurting in
America; there are people who have lost their jobs. But as I
assured these leaders, that our government will do everything we can to
get our economy growing, to make it as strong as possible. I
am saddened by the sight of the World Trade Center, again, once
again. But through my tears I do see a much better future
for the country.
This is a great nation. It's an
entrepreneurial nation; it's a nation that has got such generous and
kind people -- the leadership, the business leadership here has
contributed $150 million to the funds, the variety of funds here in the
New York City area, to help people, the victims. It speaks
volumes about what America is about.
And I want to thank everybody for
coming. I'm now going to ask Ken Chenault to say a few
words.
* * * * *
THE PRESIDENT: I'd be glad to
take a few questions.
Q What form might
this stimulus take? Are we looking at tax cuts for
individuals, corporations?
THE PRESIDENT: You
bet. I know we need to provide more tax relief to
individuals to boost consumer confidence. We've just
finished passing out $40 billion of rebate checks; they were completed
by October 1st of this year. There is going to be tax relief
started next year as a part of the package that the Congress and I
agreed to.
We believe there ought to be more, to make
sure that the consumer has got money to spend, money to spend in the
short-term. Secondly, there needs to be business relief, as
well, to encourage investment. And, finally, there needs to
be a displaced worker package. We've got to recognize that
as a result of September 11th, folks have been laid off, and we need to
make sure they're able to survive until this economy gets going again.
And I've got to tell you, I had a great
conversation with the leadership of the Congress
yesterday. We're coming together on a plan that I believe
needs to get passed as quickly as possible.
Q Mr. President, is
this going to eat up the rest of the surplus for the year, and does it
matter?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, as I said
in Chicago during the campaign, when asked about should the government
ever deficit spend, I said only under these circumstances should
government deficit spend: if there is a national emergency,
if there is a recession, or if there's a war. And, you know,
we've now got a reason to do what it takes to not only provide security
at home, to do what it takes to win the war on terrorism, but we've
also got to do what it takes to make sure this economy gets growing, so
people can find work.
And we've got the basis for
growth. We're an entrepreneurial nation. There's a lot of
small business growth in America. By and large, the banking
system is very solid; the energy prices are reasonable. And
now we've just got to be aggressive and make sure we do what we need to
do at the federal level to provide a kick-start to give people reasons
to be confident. And we will do that.
This isn't a Republican idea or Democrat
idea, it's an American idea. And it's the right time for us to come
together to get it done.
Yes, ma'am.
Q Mr. President,
should the country brace itself for a recession? I mean, one of your
advisors said yesterday that he can forecast it being likely that two
negative quarters of growth are --
THE PRESIDENT: We'll leave all
that talk up to the statisticians. You're asking me about statistics,
and we've got people who count numbers there in Washington, D.C., and
that's fine.
Here's my attitude: one person
laid off is one person too many. And, therefore, we've got
to do what it takes to make sure that that person who got laid off is
able to find work. I'm not going to dwell on the past, I'm
looking forward. And I believe we've got a fantastic
opportunity to invigorate this economy and to assure the business
leaders around America that the government is playing a very active
role and that we will take the steps necessary to provide growth and
stimulus.
And that's why I believe we need
additional stimulus beyond some of the spending that we've already put
in place, to the tune of about $60 billion to $75
billion. We'll let the accountants come up -- they call it
what they want; there's no question that the economy has been affected
by September 11th.
Q -- signed off on
that $60 billion to $75 billion --
THE PRESIDENT: No, they have
not, yet. But they do understand we need to have a range
that as you go into a debate about, or discussions about how to
stimulate the economy, first and foremost, it's important to come up
with a total figure so that we don't undershoot or overshoot the
mark. And they do recognize that some of the actions that
we've all taken together, including the $40 billion supplemental plus
the $15 billion for the airline, will have a positive effect on
economic growth, and I do believe they recognize there needs to be
more. And so one of the things that I'm doing is providing
the leadership necessary to try to set the parameters on what the
definition of more is.
Again, I want to repeat: We've
just finished with $40 billion of rebate from the tax package we agreed
upon earlier in the year, plus we'll have about $70 billion in the rate
reductions starting next year. And so, what we're looking at
is how to bridge into next year.
Q Sir, are you
confident that the size of the package you're talking about will do the
stimulating you need at this end, without putting pressure on interest
rates --
THE PRESIDENT: That's a very
good question. I finally got one -- no -- anyway --
(laughter.) I believe -- I think you ought to ask the -- I
wish you could have heard the discussion we had, let me put it to you
that way, where I believe people around this table, for example,
believe it's important to be aggressive on the front end, that the
risk-reward ratio is beneficial to be more aggressive on the front
end. And obviously, we agree with that; that's why we've
proposed up to $60 billion to $75 billion. But we're
mindful of the effect on long-term interest rates, and we think that
number is the right number.
Q Mr. President,
can you tell us anything specific about these discussions with these
men and women, specifically about did you speak about corporate
relief?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, we
did. I can be very specific, just like I have
been. They do believe we need to stimulate the economy
through boosting consumer confidence with some kind of money in the
hands of consumers. And there's a variety of ways to --
excuse me? I'm sorry -- there's a variety of ways to do
that. There's rebates, there's acceleration of the tax cuts,
are the two most effective ways to do that. And we discussed
both of those.
Secondly, we discussed a variety of
options for corporate relief. One, we talked about ways to encourage
investment through expensing of depreciation. Some people
thought we ought to look at one-time ITCs, investment tax
credits. People talked about the idea of corporate tax
relief. And so we did have specific discussions about ways
to make sure that our economy continues to grow.
And I am most grateful for the input that
we have been given here. It has been incredibly
helpful. The thing I come away with is that these are men
and women dedicated to America, first and foremost. They're
dedicated to the workers that work for their company; they're dedicated
to providing the security for their workers so they can go to work
feeling safely. And they love their country, and they're
going to do what it takes to join all of us together to recover from
this awful incident of September 11th.
You only get one question a day.
Q -- ask your
average American to do besides spend, to help?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think
the average American must not be afraid to travel. We opened
Reagan Airport yesterday for a reason -- we think it's safe, and that
people ought to feel comfortable about traveling around our
country. They ought to take their kids on
vacations. They ought to go to ball games. The
Mayor wants them to come to the Yankee games, of
course. (Laughter.)
MAYOR GIULIANI: The World
Series.
THE PRESIDENT: The World
Series, yes. (Laughter.) No question he's an
incurable optimist. (Laughter.) But people ought
to -- listen, we ought to be aware in America -- we are aware; how can
you not be aware that we've entered into a new era. The
imagery is vivid in people's minds. But nevertheless,
Americans must know that their government is doing everything we can to
track down every rumor, every hint, every possible evildoer. And,
therefore, Americans ought to go about their business. And
they are beginning to do so.
The load factors were up on the airlines,
which means more people will be going to hotels and
restaurants. I fulfilled my pledge, my promise last night to
take the Mayor of Washington, D.C. for dinner. I did --
Morton's Steak House. We had a nice slice of beef -- plus I
paid. (Laughter.)
Q Mr. President,
why did you send Secretary Rumsfeld --
THE PRESIDENT: Pardon me,
John?
Q Why did you send
him and what is he supposed to do?
THE PRESIDENT: John, he's
visiting with our friends. As you know, we've put together a
broad coalition of nations that are interested in battling, joining us
to battle terrorism. And Secretary Rumsfeld went over to
visit with the leaders of a group of nations to share with them
information, to discuss the determination of our nation.
People need to be able to look us in the
eye and know that when we say that we're in this for the long run, that
we're going to find terrorism -- terrorists and bring them to justice,
we mean it. That this is a nation -- see, it's hard for
people around the world to understand the resolve of
America. They may hear my speech occasionally, but they need
to look at the eyes -- in the eyes of members of my administration,
because -- and hear them say that not only is this President resolved,
but America is resolved to rout out terrorism, to make sure that
legitimate governments can survive as we head into the 21st century,
and to make a strong stand for freedom.
And Secretary Rumsfeld is going to do a
fine job of delivering that message, because he knows exactly how I
feel about the mission we have ahead of us.