Remarks by the President to Winners of the 2002 President's Quality Award
Ronald Reagan Building
Washington, D.C.
10:11 A.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Thanks a lot. Thanks for the warm welcome. Thanks
for coming today. I'm honored to be here to present the Presidential
Awards for Management Excellence. I guess that's Washington, D.C.,
talk for people doing the job the taxpayers expect. (Laughter and
applause.)
These awards recognize the best management practices in
government. This year's recipients have met high standards and, as a
result, have earned the respect of the White House and our country.
Kay, I want to thank you for your leadership in this issue. I
appreciate you making sure that the awards ceremonies reflect the
desires of this administration to provide excellence for every
taxpayer, to make sure the services we provide are relevant and
necessary, that people who put their heart into their work are able to
say that we're doing the job that the people expect. Kay is doing a
great job for our country, and I'm glad she's on my team. (Applause.)
And so is our Secretary of Transportation, Norm Mineta. He has
performed brilliantly as a Cabinet secretary. He has taken on some
tough jobs. I'll never forget that, on 9/11, knowing the fact that
Norm was in charge of making sure that our airspace was cleared, he did
a fantastic job and from that point on, he's been just as magnificent
in making sure our airports are secure. I want to thank you for your
service, Norm. He represents one of the award winners, the FAA
Logistics Center. And thank you for being here, Mr. Secretary.
(Applause.) And thanks for the note on our anniversary.
I appreciate David Chu being here as well. He represents the
Defense Department. There are two award winners from the Defense
Department here today, the National Imaging and Mapping agency, and the
55th Wing of Offutt Air Force Base. I want to thank Lieutenant General
James Clapper from the National Imaging and Mapping Agency for being
here, and I want to thank Norman Bowles who is the FAA Administration
Logistics Center for being here, and I want to thank Timothy Jones, the
Commander of the 55th Wing, for coming as well. Congratulations for a
job well done. (Applause.)
There were runner-ups for this award, and three of the finalists
have representatives here today, starting with another member of my
Cabinet, Christie Todd Whitman, who runs the Environmental Protection
Agency. Christie Todd, thanks for being here. (Applause.)
Pat Pizzella is the Assistant Secretary for Labor for
Administration and Management. Pat, I appreciate you coming and thank
the good folks who almost won for their hard work. (Laughter and
applause.)
Lynn Scarlett, Assistant Secretary of Policy, Management and
Budget, of the Interior, thank you for being here, Lynn. Thank you for
your hard work as well. Give Gale Norton my best. (Applause.)
I want to thank the members of the President's Management Council
and the Human Resources Management Council for helping on this
project. I want to thank the President's Quality Awards evaluators,
those who looked around all our government to find out who deserved
this award. I want to appreciate you for your hard work. I want to
thank the judges for picking the winners -- better you pick them than
me, I might add. (Laughter.) I want to thank the Director of the
Ronald Reagan Building and his staff for putting up with a Presidential
trip. Again, I want to thank you all for coming. And I want to thank
you for serving your country.
Public service is a high, high calling. And I'm proud of the men
and women who devote their lives to our great nation. You put in long
hours. You watch every penny in the budget -- or you should watch
every penny in the budget. (Laughter.) You know who the boss is: The
boss is the taxpayer. That's who we work for. You do your job right
and, a lot of times, you don't get much attention. Today, we're here
to pay attention to the people who are doing the job really well, to
honor excellence, to reward success.
This award is like what we call the Malcom Baldrige award. The
Malcom Baldrige award recognizes excellence in the private sector; this
award recognizes excellence in the public sector. It honors really
high management quality.
The President's Award also recognizes that our government has got
unique challenges. I mean, we've got challenges in dealing with
bureaucracies that have been around a long time. We've got challenges
in fighting inertia. We've got challenges in setting new goals and
high standards in agencies that sometimes aren't anxious to change.
It's different than the private sector, obviously. But nevertheless,
it doesn't mean we shouldn't continue to try and overcome any obstacles
to excellence.
The award criterion are based on my management agenda. Kay James
explained that agenda to you earlier. We take it very seriously, and
we're going to continue to push the agenda, because we think it is best
for our country and best for the people we serve.
There have been dozens of excellent nominees who were considered,
but three stood out. Today we're here to honor the three. They stood
out because they set clear goals and they reached the goals. Each
identified a critical challenge. Each considered solutions. Each drew
up a plan and a strategy. And then, as importantly, they carried it
out. These organizations did more than just make promises -- they
made good on their promises.
The first recipient is the National Imagery and Mapping Agency in
Bethesda, Maryland. And for all of you who work there, I want to
congratulate you for winning this award. (Applause.) General
Clapper, you might stand up and give everybody a wave. Thank you very
much, General. Congratulations to you and your team. (Applause.)
This agency deals with a complex technology. And one of the things
they need to do is to work to keep the work force. It's hard to keep a
work force in the government, particularly when the work force is
specialized and talented like -- like the General needs. There's a
lot of competition for good and skilled federal workers. And so
therefore, it requires -- in the private sector. We compete with the
private sector to keep good people in place. And so therefore, it
requires imaginative ways to attract and retain the very best. And I
appreciate you for doing that. You've excelled at high retention to
make sure this critical agency has got the expertise needed to help
America.
Secondly, we honor -- is the federal -- FAA Logistics Center in
Oklahoma City. If anybody works for the FAA Logistics Center in
Oklahoma City that's here, please stand up so we can recognize you.
Thank you all. (Applause.) Congratulations. (Applause.)
Congratulations to you all.
The center supports America's entire system of air traffic safety
and provides everything from electronic repair to inventory
management. That's a big job. And yet for a while the system was
backwards. Because of a preset fee arrangement, the customers had
little incentive to save money. And the system was prone to be
overloaded with what they call rush orders. In other words, the system
was designed backwards. And these good folks recognized that and put
in place new accounting procedures which now make sure that every
customer has got information based upon the cost of each order, which
in itself provides incentive for budget control. I want to
congratulate you on taking a very complex assignment and making it work
on behalf of the American people. Good job. (Applause.)
And finally, the third winner is the largest wing in America's Air
Combat Command, the 55th, at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska. I had
-- I was there on September 11th, 2001, at Offutt. I remember their
motto. It says, "The Sun Never Sets on the Fighting 55th". And that's
good for the defense of the country, by the way.
I want to thank the good folks at -- at Offutt for recognizing
that out-sourcing is an important part of efficiency in our
government. They identified the best and most cost-effective
approaches for hundreds of different tasks on the base. They work
closely with contractors, opened the process to employee feedback and
concerns, and have saved our taxpayers millions of dollars. They made
sure that the system was efficient and effective. They recognize that
there are different ways to meet goals and they encourage the
entrepreneurial spirit as a part of meeting the goals that we expect.
General -- thank you, all for coming. Congratulations. Please thank
all the folks at the 55th for doing a fine job. Please stand up.
(Applause.) Good job. (Applause.)
These are examples of what can happen when people put their mind to
delivering excellence on behalf of the taxpayers. There's creativity
and flexibility, people willing to think outside of the proverbial
box. And as a result, our country is better off.
One of the reasons why we have these awards is to hold up your
example for other people in government. Other people should recognize
that if they make the right decisions, set high goals, are creative
about achieving those goals, they, too, can receive this award, which
is an important award. When you get back to your offices, make sure
your fellow employees know how proud we are of the work they -- that
you've done; how proud we are of their service to our country; what a
credit they are to the greatest country on the face of the Earth.
And so we're here to congratulate three fine agencies, three fine
groups of our fellow Americans -- all working together to do our
job.
I recently came back from Europe. I had an excellent trip on
behalf of the citizens of our country. But there's no question in my
mind, no question in my mind, I represent -- and you represent --
the finest nation on the face of the Earth, full of the finest people
on the face of the Earth. I hope you feel that way every day when you
go to work. I do. (Applause.)
And so, on behalf of a grateful nation, congratulations. Thanks
for what you do. Keep doing what you do. And I hope to see you back
here next year. God bless. (Applause.)