President Calls for Quick Action on Corporate Governance Bill
Remarks by the President to the Press During Tour of the Advanced Photon Source Lab
Argonne National Laboratory
Argonne, Illinois
10:15 A.M. CDT
Q A lot of people are losing their life savings in the market.
What's your advice to them, pull out? Stay in? Put more money in?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I'm not a stock broker or a stock picker.
But I do believe that the fundamentals for economic growth are real.
And I believe Congress is going to get a bill that will help to take
some of the uncertainty out of the market, and that bill is going to
put some meaningful reforms in place.
And then, the investor is going to pick value, make decisions on
value. And from what I hear, corporate profits are improving, which
means values will be available for those who invest in the market.
Secondly, I fully understand some have diversified into bonds.
And, for those who have, their portfolios are better than those who
have stayed only in equity. But I'm an optimist. I believe the
future's going to be bright.
But, look, you're talking to the wrong guy about what stocks to
buy.
Q Do you believe the country will feel the effects of today's
WorldCom bankruptcy? Does that worry you?
THE PRESIDENT: I think the market probably has already adjusted
for that. What I'm worried about on the WorldCom bankruptcy is the
employees that work for WorldCom. I worry that people will lose work.
But the market has already, I suspect, has already anticipated the
WorldCom decision.
The key is for Congress to get a bill. I talked with the Speaker
about it today. He's optimistic that we will get a good bill. And I
meant what I said, I'd like to see the bill on my desk prior to the
recess.
Q Mr. President, is the September 11th deadline for getting
Homeland Security bill through, is that -- some are saying -- is it
realistic?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think they made great progress. I know
they made great progress in the House. And the Senate is going to take
it up in the next two weeks. And I believe there's a good chance we
can get --
Q But would you rather -- if it came to it, would you rather
wait and make sure it was done right, or does it have to be done --
THE PRESIDENT: Well, you're suggesting it's not being done right
now in the House, and I'm sure those members will --
Q You never know what's going to happen in that Senate, sir --
THE PRESIDENT: I'm sure the Speaker appreciates that. But I do
believe it's going to be done right. We're working closely with the
members. Hopefully, we can get it done by September the 11th. The key
is to get it done.
Q Are you going to get trade promotion authority this week?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, that's a good question. I talked to the
Speaker about that. I'm anxious that they come together and get a bill
up. It's important for our economy that we get a trade promotion
authority. I know the Speaker's committed to getting a bill to the
floor, once the conference finishes its work.
I met with the leaders of both the House and the Senate, both
parties, and urged them to reconcile any differences and get the bill
to the floor of the House before they go on recess. We'll just have to
see, when I get back to Washington, I'm going to check in, because our
people are working that bill hard, working the corporate responsibility
bill hard as well.
Q Mr. President, what do you say to the folks, the growing
number of folks, who are calling for Treasury Secretary O'Neill to step
down?
THE PRESIDENT: I say he's doing a fine job. And when the market
goes up, I hope they will give him credit. If they're going to hold
him accountable for a market going down, they ought to give him credit
when the market goes up.
But I have all the confidence in the world in Secretary of the
Treasury O'Neill. And I understand one newspaper was calling for his
scalp, but, you know, that's Washington, D.C. That's what happens in
that town.
Q Mr. President, in that regard, after such a terrible week on
the stock market last week, what's it going to take for investors to
have the confidence to make that market go up again?
THE PRESIDENT: Value. They're going to realize that there's
values in the market. In other words, if they buy stock, they're
buying value, as opposed to buying, you know, buying into a bubble.
And one of the things we can do in Washington is get a corporate
responsibility bill passed, and I'm confident we will, which will take
some of the risk out of the market. And the risk is that people won't
be held accountable for misdeeds.
But people will be buying -- buying in the market based upon the
value. And what's happening is corporate earnings are improving, so
that the price/earnings ratios are improving. And I believe people are
going to come back into the market. But, listen, I'm not a stock
broker. I'm not a stock picker. My attitude on Wall Street is they'll
buy you or sell you, depending upon if it's in their interest.
And, you know, when I was -- when I used to watch the stocks, I was
in Midland, Texas, somewhat skeptical about what was taking place on
the floors of these exchanges. But I know -- I always knew -- that you
needed to buy on value; that the price relative to the earnings of the
company needed to be in line with what they considered value. And I
believe the values are improving. I know the economics, the platform
for growth is in good shape. Inflation is low, monetary policy is
sound, fiscal policy is sound, productivity is up, orders for durable
goods are up. We've got the platform for growth.
When the values get there, you'll see the market go back up.
Thank you.
Q Any concerns about the Republican Party here in Illinois?
There's been a lot of --
THE PRESIDENT: No, we're going to win the governors race.