President Meets with Economic Team
Prairie Chapel Ranch
Crawford, Texas
11:44 A.M. CDT
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. As you can see, my economic team came
down. We've had some great briefings. Let me summarize by saying that
this administration is optimistic about job creation. We believe
strongly that the tax relief plan that was approved by Congress in '01,
and most recently in '03, is going to have a very positive effect on
economic growth and vitality. We believe it is more likely in the
upcoming year that people are going to be able to find a job, and
that's exactly what -- where we focused our policy.
But I also know there's more that can be done. I think one thing is
certain, and we've spent a lot of time discussing this, there needs to
be a strong message to Congress not to overspend, set priorities and
hold the line on the priorities. As well, we need an energy policy and
we need good tort reform. And I appreciate the fact that the House has
passed a good energy bill and the Senate passed an energy bill. Now is
the time to get together and reconcile their differences and get a bill
to my desk. I also appreciate the fact that the House passed good class
action reform, and the Senate now needs to follow suit.
And I also look forward to working with the Congress to get
associated health care plans passed, which will make it easier for
small businesses to be able to write affordable health care for their
employees. So there's some things we can do to make sure the economy
continues to grow so people can find work. If you'll remember the tax
relief plan that was passed was called the jobs plan, growth and jobs
creation plan -- that's what we're interested in. We're interested in
people being able to work in America. And we're upbeat about the
chances for our fellow citizens who are looking for work to be able to
find a job.
I'll answer some questions, starting with Scott.
Q Thanks, Mr. President. President Taylor has met your demand to
leave Liberia. You've got a West African peacekeeping force in there.
Is the time right to send in those 4,500 Marines and sailors? And
should Nigeria turn President Taylor over to the War Crimes Tribunal?
THE PRESIDENT: They can work that out, how they deal with Taylor.
One, I'm glad he's gone. But my focus now is on making sure that
humanitarian relief gets to the people who are suffering in Liberia.
And one of the things I have said all along was that we are there to
help ECOMIL do its job by providing the conditions necessary for the
arrival of relief. And that's why we've got an assessment team on the
ground that's dealing with the Nigerian who's in charge of ECOMIL, to
determine what is necessary to help ECOMIL do its job. They are in the
lead and we are there to support and help.
Obviously, one place we've got to make sure is secure and open is
the port. So we're working with ECOMIL. And I will again take
recommendations from the Defense Department as to what is necessary to
fulfill the mission.
Q What's your timetable, if I may?
THE PRESIDENT: My timetable of listening --
Q Making a decision on whether to send those 4,500 in.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I've already made the decision, Scott. And I
said this from day one. The decision is for us to help ECOMIL do its
job of getting humanitarian relief to the people in Liberia. I've made
that decision, and nothing has changed.
Q Yesterday there was a sting operation that netted a Brit believed
to be trying to sell surface-to-air missiles to someone they believed
who was al Qaeda, highlighting the dangers to airlines. Also yesterday
there were three lost fisherman who came on shore to JFK Airport,
breaching security.
Your democratic opponents are trying to use homeland security as an
issue in the campaign, saying that the administration is not doing
enough to protect the American people. What is your assessment in light
of what happened yesterday?
THE PRESIDENT: My assessment is people are going to say the
darndest thing when they run for office, in terms of just the politics.
The American people know the difference between politics and reality,
and the reality is we're doing everything we can to protect the
homeland.
And the fact that we were able to sting this guy is a pretty good
example of what we're doing in order to protect the American people.
And our homeland security is focused on airport security. And today the
airports are much more secure than they were prior to September the
11th. America is a safe place for people to fly, precisely because
we're working hard to make sure that our homeland security is strong.
The other way to make sure the homeland stays strong is to hunt
terrorists down before they come to America. And that's why we're on
the global hunt. That's why we've got troops around in places like
Afghanistan and Iraq dealing with potential terrorists, bringing them
to justice, finding them before they hurt us.
Yes, Elizabeth.
Q Are you going to go for a new round of tax cuts this fall?
THE PRESIDENT: Elizabeth, we are discussing a lot of things. And we
believe that the tax relief plan we have in place is robust enough to
encourage job growth.
Q Is that a "no"?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, as of this moment -- see, things change in the
economy, as you know, but as of this moment, we feel like the plans we
have in place are robust enough to create jobs.
Q Is there any discussion --
THE PRESIDENT: Please. The other thing that's necessary is to make
sure we've got spending discipline in Washington, to make sure that
Congress doesn't overspend. And that will -- because that will affect
the psychology of those who are -- risk capital in order to create the
job base.
You had a follow-up, I take it.
Q Yes, I was just going to ask you, the discussions in the
administration -- maybe not at the White House level -- about a,
perhaps a business tax credit, that you would get a tax credit if you
hired somebody to sort of --
THE PRESIDENT: Well, thus far we -- in the discussions today, we
feel like the tax relief plans that we have passed will be robust
enough to create the conditions necessary for economic growth, and
therefore people will find a job. If we change our opinion, we will let
you know. You may not be the first to know, but you'll be one of the
first to know.
Q Russia has proposed a multilateral security pact to end the
standoff with North Korea. Are you willing to offer incentives before
North Korea dismantles its nuclear weapons program?
THE PRESIDENT: Here's what we're going to do. We're going to
continue the dialogue with North Korea, to make it clear to them that
not only does the United States feel strongly that the peninsula ought
to be nuclear free, but other countries which live in the neighborhood
feel the same way. And, remember, the policy has evolved from one of
bilateral -- you know, pressure to negotiate bilaterally with the North
Koreans. That's what we did in the past. And that policy unfortunately
failed because the North Koreans didn't keep their word about whether
or not they would enrich uranium.
And so now we've taken another tact, which is to, first of all, to
convince the Chinese to be an active participant in a dialogue to make
sure that the Korean Peninsula is nuclear free. By the way, the first
stage of that happened right here in Crawford, when Jiang Zemin came to
visit. And he stated clearly after that visit that it was in China's
interest that the Korean Peninsula be nuclear weapons free.
And we're just continuing that policy. It's very helpful that the
Russians are involved with the dialogue with the North Koreans. It is
also very helpful that the South Koreans and the Japanese will be
involved. And I think we can deal with this issue in a peaceful way,
and we're making good progress.
Carl.
Q Mr. President, you said that candidates say the darndest things
when they're running for office. One of the things they're saying is
that there are fewer jobs now than when you took office.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
Q A year from now you are going to be standing for reelection,
yourself. Do you think there will be as many jobs as when you took
office? And when will we start to see a significant decrease in the
unemployment rate?
THE PRESIDENT: Let me remind the listeners here about what our
country has gone through. The stock market started to change in March
of 2000. And there was a precipitous decline in March of 2000. And that
began to affect savings and money and attitude. And then the country
went into a recession. The first three quarters of 2001 was a
recession. And we dealt with that by passing tax relief, which made the
recession one of the shallowest in history.
Now, people said, well, maybe you shouldn't have done that, maybe
you shouldn't have had tax relief, maybe you should have let the
recession run its course. But my attitude about that is, is that a deep
recession would have caused more people to lose work. And I'm more
worried about families finding a job and putting food on the table than
I am about economic theory and economic numbers. And so the recession
was shallow.
And as the economy was beginning to recover, the enemy hit us on
September the 11th, and that affected our economy in a big way. And
then we had corporate scandals which we've dealt with. And then, of
course, you remember the "march to war." I've reminded people -- I
think this isn't the first time I've said this -- that some would put
on their TV screens that we were "marching to war." As a matter of
fact, it was a year ago that we began the "march to war." During the
August vacation, as I recall, there was the march to war. It's hard to
have an upbeat view of the world when you're "marching to war." War is
not exactly a positive thought, particularly when it comes to people
willing to take risks, and consumer confidence.
But, nevertheless, we dealt with that issue. And so now the economy
is -- having overcome those obstacles, is beginning to recover. And,
yes, I think people are going to go back to work. And I firmly believe
that what we have done was the absolute right course of action in order
to help people find a job.
Mark, you've got a question?
Q I do.
THE PRESIDENT: I'm being very generous today, as you can see.
Q Yes, you are. Thank you, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: My pleasure.
Q If a Democrat were President, and running --
THE PRESIDENT: Wait a minute. Let me stop you there. They say the
silliest things during political season. And sometimes, people ask the
silliest questions. Be careful, be careful. (Laughter.)
Q With that in mind, if a Democrat were President --
THE PRESIDENT: Are you adjusting? (Laughter.)
Q -- and were running a $455 billion deficit, as are you, all other
things being equal, wouldn't you be upset about it?
THE PRESIDENT: Let me tell you something, the deficit was caused by
a recession which we inherited and did something about. The deficit was
caused because we spent more money on fighting a war, and the American
people expect a President to do what is necessary to win a war. So I
look forward to taking this debate on. I really do. We did the right
thing when it came to tax relief. We inherited a tough situation.
But most importantly, the American know that I'm not afraid to lead
and to make a tough decision. And I made a tough decision, a series of
tough decisions. One, to make America more secure, a tough decision to
make the world more peaceful, and I made tough decisions when it comes
to making sure our economy grows.
And I believe that we've laid the foundation for good economic
growth a vitality. I think people are going to be more likely to find a
job in the upcoming year.
Thank you all for coming.
Q Are you going to do anything for Arnold? You say he'll be a good
governor. You're spending two days in California.
THE PRESIDENT: I'm going to campaign for George W., as you know.
Q Will he get a plug in the speech, a mention?
THE PRESIDENT: I think I've answered the question, and yes, he
would be a good governor, as would others running for governor of
California. Like you, I'm most interested in seeing how the process
evolves. It's a fascinating bit of political drama evolving in the
state -- in the country's largest state.
Q It's also the biggest political story in the country. Is it hard
to go in there and say nothing about it?
THE PRESIDENT: It is the biggest political story in the country?
That's interesting. That says a lot. That speaks volumes.
Q You don't agree?
THE PRESIDENT: It's up to -- I don't get to decide the biggest
political story. You decide the biggest political story. But I find it
interesting that that is the biggest political story in the country, as
you just said.
Q You don't think it should be?
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, I think there's maybe other political stories.
Isn't there, like, a presidential race coming up? (Laughter.) Maybe
that says something. It speaks volumes, if you know what I mean. But,
yes, it's an interesting story, it really is. And I'm looking forward,
like you are, to seeing the outcome of the interesting story.
But, no, I'm going to go, I'm going to talk about -- now that
you've asked, are you going on the trip?
Q Yes, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: Good. Well, you'll see me speak to Marines and their
families, thanking them for their service to our country, reminding
them that what's taking place in Iraq is essential to U.S. security.
Then I'm going to go to a national park, talking about the fact that we
believe parks ought to be revitalized, and talk about the initiatives
that I've laid out to do that. And then, of course, I'll be doing a
little spade work for the '04 campaign. (Laughter.) One of the most
important political -- (laughter.)