For Immediate Release
Office of the Vice President
June 17, 2004
Remarks by the Vice President at Nextech Materials
Nextech Materials Ltd.
Columbus, Ohio
2:55 P.M. EDT
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you very much.
Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you all very much. I want to thank you
for that warm welcome, and Bill and Scott for showing us around this
superb facility today. We're grateful for the chance to greet the men
and women of this growing company, a great success story. And it's my
pleasure to bring greetings to all of you from our President, George W.
Bush. (Applause.)
Here at NexTech, you've created a model of entrepreneurship and
growth for small businesses all over the country. Ten years ago, you
started work on critical components for fuel cells, promising new
technology with the potential to produce clean, efficient energy. You
took a risk by entering an unproven industry, worked hard to meet all
the challenges that come with bringing new products to market, and now
your optimism and your dedication are clearly paying off.
You've moved to an expanded facility, increased your sales, doubled
the size of your work force in the last two years alone. And after
meeting Nextech's fine scientists and engineers, something tells me
you're not through yet. (Applause.) You're going to see a lot of
growth in the years ahead.
It's not hard to figure out why the company's doing so well,
because you've got strong leadership and a terrific team. You're
developing the emerging technology to power key elements of our 21st
century economy, from factories to cars. You've made this into a great
American company and on the President's behalf, I want to congratulate
each and every one of you. It's a great accomplishment. (Applause.)
One of our goals for our nation is a strong, healthy, vigorous,
growing economy and that starts with thriving small businesses. We
understand as you do that the role of government is not to create
wealth. The role of government is to create an environment that
rewards the spirit of enterprise so that employers and employees and
entrepreneurs have the confidence to expand, to invest, and to hire new
workers. That's the principle behind our pro-growth agenda and we
believe that we've got a lot to show for the effort.
As all of us know, these past three-and-a-half years have brought
many challenges to our economy and to America. We've been through a
lot together. We faced recession, terrorist attack, and the
uncertainties that exist as a result of the war on terror. Yet, we've
come through all of these challenges, and now we see an economy that
gets bigger and better every day, thanks to the steady effort to
America's workers. (Applause.)
You all are the ones that make this possible, as well as the sound
policies and, I believe, the leadership of our President. Our
pro-growth strategy begins with leaving more money in the hands of the
people who earn it. (Applause.) So we proposed and delivered three
rounds of tax relief, in 2001, 2002 and 2003, reducing the federal tax
burden on every American who pays income tax. When we passed those tax
relief measures, some people back in Washington had their doubts. They
said tax relief wouldn't matter at all to most people. But out here in
the real world, things look a little different.
Since President Bush took office, more than 4.4 million taxpayers
in Ohio have seen their income tax bills reduced. More than 1.2
million married couples in Ohio are benefitting from reduction in the
marriage penalty. And 1 million families in Ohio have benefitted from
the increase in the child credit. The average savings from the
President's across-the-board tax cut tops $1,500 for individuals and
families. Some say that's not much, but it sure feels like a lot when
you have to send it to Washington. We did the right thing by returning
it. (Applause.) By putting more money into the private economy, tax
relief has also helped more Americans find jobs. Small businesses
create most of the new jobs in America so we designed tax relief to
help small businesses expand and hire more workers. We cut marginal
tax rates to benefit sole proprietors who pay business taxes at the
individual tax rate. We increased the annual deduction for equipment
purchases for small businesses, from $25,000 to $100,000. And for the
good of family businesses, farmers and ranchers, we began to phase out
the unfair federal death tax.
The President's economic program has made a difference for many
small businesses all across Ohio. Nearly 860,000 business owners in
this state have seen their federal tax burden go down since 2001. And
they're putting that money to good use now, expanding their businesses,
and Ohio's jobs are coming back. About 4,300 workers found new jobs in
April here in Ohio, and about 35,000 Ohioans have gone back to work
since December. Your unemployment rates dropped from 6.3 percent last
summer to 5.8 percent in April. We are witnessing that same upward
trend all across the country.
In the nation at large, we added 248,000 jobs in May alone, our
ninth consecutive month of job creation. American businesses have
created jobs for nearly a million workers in the last three months
alone. We've added 1.4 million jobs since last August. Manufacturing
jobs have increased for four straight months and more manufacturers are
reporting increased activities than at any times in the last 20 years.
The national unemployment rate is now 5.6 percent, down from 6.3
percent last June, and below the average of the 1970's, the 1980's and
the 1990's. The results are coming in: the Bush tax relief is
working. (Applause.)
We're seeing great progress in many other areas as well. In the
first quarter of this year, the economy grew at a strong rate of 4.4
percent. Over the past year, economic growth has been 5 percent.
That's the fastest rate over a year since Ronald Reagan was in the
White House. In the past 12 months alone, Americans have seen their
real per-capita, disposal income -- the best measure of the money
people actually have in their wallets -- increase 3.3 percent. That's
significantly higher than the 1.4 percent in the year before the
President took office.
The home ownership rate is the highest ever. Interest rates and
inflation are low. Manufacturing activity is increasing, productivity
is high, business investment and factory orders are rising. America's
economy is moving in the right direction; don't let anybody tell you
otherwise. (Applause.)
It's clear the President's tax relief has done exactly what it was
designed to do, added momentum to America's economy and to help more
people find jobs. Yet for all our progress, we still have plenty to
do. We recognize there are still challenges, especially in our
manufacturing community. That's why we'll keep moving forward with a
comprehensive pro-growth, pro-jobs agenda. We intend to reduce the
number of mandates and unnecessary regulations coming out of
Washington, D.C. The Small Business Administration estimates
regulations cost small businesses $7,000 per worker every year. That
discourages hiring, stifles innovation, often without any benefit to
the public interest.
So we've streamlined the tax reporting requirements for small
businesses, spared them from more than 50 million hours of unproductive
work. We're going to continue that effort. Small businesses should be
able to spend their time becoming growing businesses, not filling out
useless paperwork to satisfy the bureaucracy in Washington.
(Applause.)
As you know well, here at NexTech, a healthy growing economy also
depends on affordable, reliable supplies of energy. We need to pass
sound energy legislation to promote the kind of clean, efficient
technology you're helping to produce. There's a lot of promise in
fields like nanotechnology and hydrogen energy. We need to maintain
American leadership in those areas by funding aggressive research
development. Our administration has doubled federal funding for
nanotechnology research and development. The President also recently
signed the Nanotechnology Research and Development Act, which
authorizes four years of additional research and development funding.
We also need to promote conservation and new domestic production.
Had we started the environmentally safe development of ANWR 15 years
ago when it was first proposed, that oil would now be arriving by
pipeline at the rate of up to a million barrels a day. For the sake of
economic security and national security, Congress needs to pass
legislation to make America less dependent on foreign sources of
energy. (Applause.)
Our economy also needs lawsuit abuse reform. Junk and frivolous
lawsuits can ruin an honest business. They put people out of work.
They clog the courts, delaying justice for people with real legal
grievances. It's a lot easier for America's entrepreneurs to hire new
workers if they don't have to keep hiring lawyers. (Applause.)
We have a plan to help business owners confront the rising cost of
health care. We have established health savings accounts so employees
can save tax-free for routine medical expenses. We're calling on
Congress to pass association health plans so that small business owners
can pool risk and better afford health insurance plans for their
employees. And we proposed upgrades to our health care information
technology, including electronic medical records for more Americans so
we can avoid dangerous medical mistakes, reduce costs, and improve
care.
Here in Ohio and across the country, we also need to make sure
frivolous medical malpractice lawsuits don't run good doctors out of
business and drive up the cost of health care. (Applause.) No one has
ever been healed by a frivolous lawsuit, so Congress needs to pass
medical liability reform, and do it soon.
One of the most vital choices facing our country is our approach to
trade. Here at NexTech, you know the importance of our efforts to
break down trade barriers and open up markets around the world. You're
growing your business and creating jobs, in part, because you've got
customers in nations from Canada to South America, Europe and in Asia.
And you're not alone. Ohio companies are exporting products all over
the world -- cars and tires, batteries, and jet engines, ball bearings,
and electronics, and crops from your farms. Ohio is making what the
world wants to buy. The next time you hear someone talking about
putting up barriers to trade, remind them, about 97 percent of
America's exporters are small or medium-sized companies like this one.
Nationwide, one in every five factory jobs directly depends on trade.
And remember also, that workers employed by the more than 900
companies from outside the United States have operations right here in
Ohio; add to that all the Ohio suppliers, distributors, and service
companies that do business with those companies -- the surest way to
endanger all of those jobs would be a policy of tariff and barriers and
economic isolationism. We will not give in to that temptation. For
the sake of growth and jobs, and for the good of our economic future,
the United States of America will remain a confident, successful
trading nation. (Applause.)
In order to generate more jobs and maintain economic growth, we
also need to create certainty in the tax code. Families and
entrepreneurs need to be able to plan for the future. But unless
Congress acts, the tax relief that has proven so successful to date
will expire. Small businesses across America will lose incentives to
invest in new equipment. Marginal tax rates on sole proprietors and
families will increase. The income tax burden for a family of four
earning $40,000 a year will go up by almost a thousand dollars. Small
business owners, farmers, and entrepreneurs will see the death tax rise
from the dead.
Higher taxes now would choke economic growth and discourage the
strong jobs creation that we're seeing all across the country. For the
sake of jobs and for the sake of American families, Congress needs to
make the Bush tax cuts permanent. (Applause.)
In Ohio, and around the nation, American workers and businesses
have welcomed President Bush's tax relief and used it to drive the
economy forward. And all Americans can be certain we're going to
maintain a pro-growth, pro entrepreneur, pro-jobs strategy in
Washington, D.C. With the right policies and with the incredible
energy and talent of American workers like you, we'll keep a good thing
going and see even better days in the greatest nation on Earth.
Once again, thanks for your hospitality. Congratulations on your
tremendous accomplishments. Keep up the fine work. Thank you very
much. (Applause.)
END 3:12 P.M. EDT
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