For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
February 26, 2001
Remarks by the President at National Governors' Association Meeting
The East Room
Listen to the President's Remarks
10:55 A.M. EST
THE
PRESIDENT: It's good to see you all again. I hope
everybody had as fun a time last night as Laura and I
did. It was -- I really enjoyed it, and thanks for
coming. (Applause.)
When the
history of this administration is written, it will be said the nation's
governors had a faithful friend in the White House. I've sat
where you're sitting and I know what it's like to have a good idea, and
then to wait on the federal government to tell you whether you can try
it or not.
So let me
make this pledge to you all. I'm going to make respect for
federalism a priority in this
administration. (Applause.) Respect for
federalism begins with an understanding of its
philosophy. The framers of the Constitution did not believe
in an all-knowing, all-powerful federal government. They
believed that our freedom is best preserved when power is
dispersed. That is why they limited and enumerated the
federal government's powers, and reserved the remaining functions of
government to the states.
And today
I'm announcing a new federalism initiative. I will sign a
directive creating an interagency working group on
federalism. The working group will seek your opinions on the
issues that governors and other leaders in local and state government
believe should be addressed. The group will look for ways to speed up
waivers, and to streamline rigid rules and regulations. And
it will be charged with drafting a new executive order on federalism,
which will require their departments and agencies to respect the rights
of our states and territories. (Applause.)
We look
forward to a close relationship. You've got strong advocates
in my administration, starting with four former governors, Ashcroft,
Thompson, Whitman and Bush. (Laughter.) We'll
also have an Intergovernmental Affairs Office, run by Reuben Barrales
of California, who will be responsive to your needs and your requests.
We've just
lived through a decade of the most exciting, important things done by
government have been done by governors. In seven years,
you've reduced welfare rolls by more than half, improved millions of
the lives of your fellow citizens by helping them find
work. You brought new meaning to crime prevention
programs. You pioneered education reforms. And many of you
have shown how tax relief can reenergize state economies.
In Michigan
and Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York, for example, tax relief
pumped adrenalin into troubled economies. I saw the same
thing happen in Texas when I proposed, fought for and signed meaningful
tax relief.
More than
half the states have reduced taxes in each and every one of the past
three years. Governors deserve more credit than you get when
it comes to the prosperity of our country. The surging
growth we've seen in states that have reduced taxes gives an answer to
the people who say we cannot afford tax cuts. You've shown
we can't afford not to cut taxes. (Applause.)
I look
forward to this discussion today to discuss how best to devolve
authority back to the states. Real change comes from the
bottom up, not the top down. The genius of the American
system has been to let that change flow upward, from neighborhoods to
cities to states and then to the federal government. We need
to keep that path open, to give government a human face and bring
decision-making closer to the people.
I am going
to rely upon my friends, the governors. I look forward to
being in constant contact with you. You see, you bring
common sense to the political debate. You're dedicated
servants. You respect the will of the people. Our
country is better off for your service.
Governor
Glendening.
GOVERNOR
GLENDENING: First of all, Mr. President, let me thank you
for your time here this morning, but also a special thanks for the
hospitality last night. You and the First Lady were
extraordinarily gracious host and hostess, and we enjoyed ourselves
very much. And I again want to express our appreciation for
that. (Applause.)
Let me also
thank you for asking your Cabinet to be available to us. I
believe we have already met with and had dialogue with eight or nine
different Cabinet members, and this is being very helpful both for
immediate issues before us, as well as establishing relationships.
And, Mr.
President, you know, you've said it in your comments, but as a former
governor, the states indeed have been kind of the labs for democracy,
where we've been able to try a number of different experiments. And we
find what seems to work on a common sense basis. We work
with the concerns of our citizens and try to figure things
out. And we're so pleased that your basic philosophy about
how government should work comes from the perspective of governor.
And we look
forward to forming a very positive partnership with you personally, and
with the national government on key domestic policy
issues. We share many of the same priorities that you do for
America. Today I think many of our questions and dialogue will focus
on the three issues which really has been the lead points for the
National Governors' Association agenda for the meeting this
year: Number one, obviously, education. Secondly,
a great concern about Medicaid and making the program work and what
it's doing to our budgets, as well as, third, the federal budget
including the tax cut issue.
On that
last point, by the way, I might say that some might believe that it is
strictly a coincidence that we have this meeting just a few hours
before you announce your budget. John Engler and I worked
very hard to make sure that we were here right now, just before you put
the final print on. (Laughter.)
THE
PRESIDENT: Thank you.
GOVERNOR
GLENDENING: On a serious note, we do appreciate the
opportunity to discuss some of these issues. And the
education issue, I think, shows where a good discussion can go and what
it can do. I appreciate the fact, as I know my colleagues
do, just last month you invited 17 of us to the White House for a
discussion on this issue.
Early in
the stage, we had a discussion, I think, that was both cordial and
based on mutual concerns for education. It was also candid
and addressed those areas of agreement that we have, and some policy
differences. I'm sure you recall there was some concern
about Title I, whether the children who were in most need would be
protected, and working together we have, in fact, been able to reach I
believe some agreement on this, so that Title I will be
protected. We appreciate that type of dialogue which shows
the progress we can make.
You
understand obviously, as we talked about just a few moments ago prior
to this meeting, that there are still some very substantial
disagreements with most of the Democrats being opposed to
vouchers. But in the big picture of the program, this is
just one issue.
I am very
pleased, and the governors have all been doing this I think, across
party boundaries, as you know, in terms of your work with us in the
past. But the emphasis on education with regard to setting
standards, having people tested, having children tested and then
holding people accountable for that, which is exactly what we are
doing, as well. I am pleased that the NGA policy statement that is
being announced will, indeed, cover just about all of these issues.
There is
one other issue on education that you will be hearing from several of
our colleagues, a strong feeling again across party boundaries that
federal funding for children with special needs, special education must
be funded at a higher level. It's just killing many of our
education budgets.
I will also
tell you that we have been working on the Medicaid approach and some of
our colleagues will be talking about this this morning. The
most important thrust really is to make sure that we continue to
provide Medicaid protection to those most in need, but to give the
states the flexibility. And if you asked your colleagues
here, I think they will say the single most alarming issue in most of
our budgets is the growth in the Medicaid cost.
There is
also a lot of discussion going on about your budget and we appreciate
the insight that you've been able to, through your staff, give to us on
several of these issues. I will tell you that we all
understand the importance for tax relief. Everyone here, I
believe, supports some tax reduction. We are in favor of a
tax reduction. States have, of course, done this in the
past. In Maryland, we reduced or eliminated 28 taxes,
returning $2.6 billion to the taxpayers. I know John Engler,
30 tax reductions or eliminations, as well, and just as you did in
Texas.
I would
emphasize, however, that some of us are very concerned that the tax cut
that's being proposed is too large and will not permit funding for some
key issues, such as education and prescription drug
coverage. But we do look forward, in the spirit of
cooperation and working with you on the details of this, as well.
Let me just
say in conclusion, we appreciate the opportunity to sit down early in
these discussions. We look forward to working with you. We
think this could be a successful partnership. Our basic
priorities are about the same. It's just about how to get
there, and at the same time, to make sure that the country moves
ahead. We wish you and Vice President Chaney Godspeed and
our support to try to make this work.
THE
PRESIDENT: Thank you.
Governor
Engler.
GOVERNOR
ENGLER: Well, thank you very much. Mr. President,
I'm delighted to be here today, and the governors are very excited
about your administration. We want to begin by also saying
thank you to you and Mrs. Bush. What a tremendous evening
that was. We also want to thank you for your cooperation --
the administration -- throughout this annual Washington meeting.
Everyone's been very much available and the dialogue has been excellent
and the relationships are getting built.
I also want
to thank you just for the Cabinet itself, a very diverse and talented
group that -- you have made reference to the former governors, but as
we go through, the experience that's represented in your Cabinet and
the sort of state-friendly attitude, it appears that may have been one
of the key criteria in the selection process. And I applaud
that. These are men and women that we're eager to work with.
And I also
want to thank you for the tone that you've set. The tone in
this town, the tone in the country, and I think it stems from that goal
that you talked so much about, leaving no child behind. But
clearly that's everybody's challenge, regardless of our party or even
those -- we've got a couple of independent governors here today --
everyone has an interest in dealing with that top priority that you've
outlined, education. And we are grateful for the way that you've
reached out to all of us, to involve us in that discussion.
I'm
delighted with the comments this morning, and I want to applaud the
reference to the permanent things the founding fathers, and the
documents of federalism, that go back to the idea of America, and the
announcement this morning of an interagency working group on federalism
is something that we'll get very excited about. And I can
pledge that we're ready to roll up our sleeves and work with that
working group to make that new executive order "Reagan plus," in terms
of how it recognizes the role of the states in this very creative
system of government that we have.
I also
applaud the priorities in addition to education, that all are looking
at ways we can return power and authority back to state and local
government. That is, I think, the urgent challenge for
government at the beginning of the 21st century. Power and
authority back closer to people, where decisions are made by people who
can be held accountable by those who are living with the effects of
those decisions. And in looking at Washington and
recognizing a limited role and a partnership role, I think we have
amazing potential for your administration and for benefits to the
American public.
I would
just make one note on the economy. It isn't something that
has been in the news a lot in recent years, but clearly we saw it at
the end of last year, the beginnings of some concern. And
some of the industrial heartland looks at some
challenges. And we're going to be seeing Chairman Greenspan
after we leave here today, Mr. President, and if we can get him to keep
bringing those interest rates down just a little bit more and if your
plan to get the tax rates down, this blip in the economy is going to be
short-lived and I think the economy will be rolling again.
So many of
us have the perspective on the tax cut, big, fast, across-the-board and
right now. I'll say that and -- (laughter and applause) --
and the rest of the agenda will come out today, I'm sure, as we have
this discussion. But we do thank you for this opportunity
and thank you for the earlier breakout sessions with the members of the
Cabinet. I think those went very well.
THE
PRESIDENT: Thank you, thanks.
END 11:13 A.M. EST
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