THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Thank you
for coming. Gosh, thanks for the warm
welcome. Elaine, thanks for your kind words. I'm
proud of the job you're doing in my Cabinet. I appreciate
your advice and counsel, and appreciate the leadership you've shown at
the U.S. Department of Labor. (Applause.)
I want to thank those who organized this summit. I think
it's a very important summit. I think it's important to
advance the spirit of entrepreneurship and equality and opportunity for
everybody who is fortunate enough to be an American. I'm
honored to be with you and I'm glad you invited me, because I believe
small businesses are really important to future of our
country. (Applause.)
I know small businesses are the path to success for many
Americans -- especially women, the newly arrived,
minority Americans. Small businesses create jobs, and this
is incredibly important for our economy at this time. Small
businesses embody the American values of hard work, risk-taking, and
independence. (Applause.) And so, today I want to
discuss with you a series of new policies to encourage and reward the
work of America's small business women and men.
Before I do so, I want to thank some of the members of my team who
are here: Hector Barreto, who is the head of the SBA, is
with us today. And, Hector, I want to thank you very much
for coming. (Applause.) I understand the
Secretary of Treasury was here, Paul O'Neill. He probably
went back to work. That's a good
sign. (Laughter.) He heard the boss was coming,
so he headed out of here. (Laughter.) But I
appreciate his leadership. Rosario Marin, who is the
Treasurer of the United States, is here. Thank you,
Rosario. (Applause.) I see my friend from the
State of Arkansas, Tim Hutchinson. Thank you for coming,
Senator. I appreciate you being here
today. (Applause.)
Not only do I want to thank you all for being here, but I know
we've got some folks who are watching via satellite from
Orlando. You might say hello to your Governor down there for
me. (Laughter.) Tell him to keep listening to
Mother. (Laughter and applause.)
St. Louis, Missouri -- we've got some folks
tuned in in St. Louis. I just was there last night and had a
great trip to St. Louis. We've got some people from Little
Rock, Tim, who are watching, and from Bangor, Maine, as
well. So welcome via satellite to this important conference
and thank you all for listening. (Applause.)
One of the things this summit recognizes is there's been a
fundamental change in our economy. When it comes to
entrepreneurship and job creation, ours is an increasingly woman's
world. (Applause.) The truth of the matter
is -- and the reason why I say that is
women-owned businesses are growing at twice the
rate -- two times the
rate -- of all other United States
firms. That's a remarkable accomplishment for the United
States of America. And the interesting other fact that I
want to point out to people listening is that women firms now employ 7
million Americans. (Applause.)
Small business ownership is a great equalizer in
America. The only connections you need are happy customers,
a good business plan. The only credentials you need are good
products. The only values you need is to be willing to take
risk and to work hard. For millions of minorities and women
and new Americans, small businesses provide a great chance to succeed
in America, a chance to realize your dreams.
For some women, a small business brings the satisfaction of success
without having to go through the frustrations of corporate
life. I suspect there are a lot of women entrepreneurs in
this room and around the country who tried out corporate life and found
out -- (applause) -- and
agree with what this entrepreneur said. Nancy Miller put it
this way: You succeed or fail based on your own abilities,
not on politics or anybody else. She's got a pretty good
point there. She talks about the freedom that comes with
owning your own business. And it's so important that our
country maintain that flame of freedom, the entrepreneurial spirit of
America.
What the other -- and the reason I love the
entrepreneurial spirit, because it provides people a chance to be
creative, to build, to contribute, and to own.
Being your own boss, as Sherrin Holder of Virginia describes it,
brings a sense of pride and accomplishment, a sense of ownership, and a
growing hope for success. She captures the feeling of every
entrepreneur. You can advance yourself, and you can do good
by doing so. As you succeed, you help others to succeed,
first and foremost by providing somebody with a job.
You can dream big dreams in America, and my job as the President is
to make sure that if you've got a good idea, you can realize those
dreams. And as importantly, when you're successful, you can
pass on your assets to your children, if you so choose, or to anybody
you desire to. (Applause.)
The thing about America is that
people -- Americans have got to understand that
everybody in our country has a stake in the success of small
businesses, starting with the fact that small businesses create
two-thirds of the new jobs created in America on any given
year. It's really important for people to understand, as
we're fighting a recession, if small businesses create two-thirds of
the new jobs, it makes sense that any economic recovery strategy focus
on small business. And that's what I want to talk about
today. (Applause.)
I do not believe the role of government is to create
wealth. That's not the role of government. There
are no guarantees in the free enterprise system. The role of
government is to create an environment that encourages risk taking, an
environment that facilitates the flow of capital, and an environment in
which people can realize their dreams. That's the role of
government. And that's exactly what I intend to do as the
President.
And it started right after I got sworn in as President, when I went
before the Congress, and insisted that they reduce the tax rates on
everybody who pays taxes in
America. (Applause.) And that tax cut came at the
right time for our country. Make no mistake about it, the
fact that we're willing to allow people to keep their own money
stimulated demand. And when you stimulate demand, that then
causes production increases. And when you increase
production, you increase jobs. The tax cut came just at the
time our economy was losing steam. It was an important part
of the fact that our economy is beginning to rebound. And
for those who think we ought to undo the tax cut, they've got a mighty
high hurdle to cross. That's me. (Applause.)
And here's the thing about the tax cut that I know was incredibly
important for the future of our country. Most small
businesses -- let me put it
this -- many small businesses, many, many
businesses are sole proprietorships, or are limited partnerships, and
therefore, do not pay corporate rate in income tax. They pay
individual rates. And therefore, by cutting all rates, what
we did was provide cash flow to the small businesses of
America. The tax reduction plan was important for small
business growth and activity. The more businesses, the more
cash flow a small business owner has in her pocket, the more likely it
is the business will succeed and expand and create more
jobs. This tax cut not only happened at the right time; it
was really good for small businesses in America. (Applause.)
A lot of us in Washington didn't feel like that was enough, and so
we fought for an economic stimulus plan, which I'm proud to report I
was able to sign in the Rose Garden a couple of weekends
ago. And with the help of both Republicans and Democrats,
the plan made it to my desk. It is a plan that says we're
going to help people whose lives were affected because of the attacks
of 9/11 by extending unemployment benefits. But it also
recognized that people don't want an unemployment check, they want a
permanent paycheck. And therefore, we created additional
stimulus, mainly encouraging people to invest in plant and equipment.
If you encourage people to invest in plant and equipment, that will
help those who are the immediate employer, but also those who
manufacture the equipment, or manufacture
the -- or construct the plant will also have
employment. So it's a ripple effect in our economy.
And so I was pleased to sign that bill. And it's going
to help, in my judgment, not only in the short-term, but in the
out-years, as well.
And we're seeing some encouraging signs of recovery. But
I want to tell you something. I'm not a numbers cruncher,
I'm not one of these bean counters. But I don't believe the
economy is strong enough to say that we've recovered. I
worry about the fact there are too many people in our country still
looking for work. (Applause.) And if people who
want to work can't find work, we've got to keep moving on the subject
of economic security and economic recovery, and that's what I want to
talk to you about today.
Again, I'll repeat, if the small business sector creates two-thirds
of the new jobs in America, it makes a lot of sense to focus on how to
stimulate small business growth. So I want to talk to you
about some of my plans to do so, starting with this. And
basically, the summary is that we're going to lift unfair regulatory
burdens, we're going to encourage additional cash flow, and we're going
to work to make sure that American entrepreneurs have got access to
government contracting. (Applause.)
Because the economic stimulus package only had a three-year life to
it, I believe Congress ought to pass additional incentives for small
businesses to invest in plant and equipment, incentives beyond the
incentives in the economic stimulus package. As you know,
annual tax deductions are limited to a certain amount of money on an
annual basis for small businesses, and the size of the purchase is
relatively small. I think we ought to increase the size of
the purchase of plant and equipment, as well as increase the annual
deductions for small businesses, in order to enhance cash flow, which
will make it easier for people to find more jobs in
America. (Applause.)
Secondly, the complexity of the tax code is a tremendous burden on
small business. And we must simplify it. It's an
interesting fact I ran into, 9 out of 10 small businesses owned by
women have fewer than five employees. And the amount of time
people spend over trying to figure out a complicated tax system is
enormous. It is a -- frankly, not that
good a use of your time. (Laughter and applause.)
I talked to Secretary O'Neill about this very
subject. I'm going to share it with you. One, I
instructed him to report on ways that the Treasury Department can
simplify the tax code on small businesses as quickly as
possible. I will give you one
idea -- not an idea, one thing we're going to do
immediately, by a revenue rule, it's called. And Paul, I
promise you, is the kind of fellow that when he's asked to do
something, he'll get it done quickly. And I've asked him to
do this. (Laughter.)
Service businesses with gross revenues of under $10 million will be
able to use the cash accounting method of accounting, as opposed to
accrual method of accounting. (Applause.) Simply
put, that will eradicate a lot of time spent on trying to figure out
the accrual method of accounting. It simplifies the
accounting process for small businesses, which will be a time saver and
a money saver, and will help create more jobs by simplifying the
regulatory burden on small businesses. We're going to get
this done quickly. (Applause.)
Although what I'm about to tell you won't have an immediate effect
on job creation, it is an important part of any small although what I'm
about to tell you won't have an immediate effect on job creation, it is
an important part of any small business owner's plan or strategy, and
it's this: We've eliminated the death tax as a result of the
new tax reform. (Applause.) However, because of
a -- I guess you would call it a quirk in the
law, the death tax will not be totally eliminated in the year
2011. We must make the repeal of the death tax
permanent. I call upon Congress to do this
immediately. (Applause.)
It is unfair, patently unfair, for any entrepreneur, but a women
entrepreneur to develop her own business and have that business taxed
twice as she tries to leave her assets to whomever she
chooses. It is not
fair. (Applause.) There are a lot of federal
regulations that complicate the lives of small business people all
across the country. The SBA has calculated that the hidden
costs of regulations to businesses with fewer than 20
workers -- and it's
this -- it comes down to $7,000 per
worker. That's a lot of money, particularly if you're trying
to figure out ways to expand your employment base. And this
is a drag on our economy. Hidden costs are a drag on the
U.S. economy.
And so today, I want to make sure people understand that we're
going to do everything we can to clean up the regulatory burdens on
small businesses, starting with this: Every
agency -- already it's under current
law -- but every agency is required to analyze
the impact of new regulations on small businesses before issuing
them. That's an important law. The problem is,
it's oftentimes being ignored. The law is on the books; the
regulators don't care that the law is on the books. From
this day forward, they will care that the law is on the
books. (Applause.)
Mitch Daniels, who heads the Office of Management and Budget, will
not accept regulations that do not calculate the cost on American small
businesses. We want to enforce the law. It is a
good law to have a cost benefit analysis of any regulation on small
business. If regulations provide a hidden cost on small
businesses, which provide a drag on our economy, and if we're trying to
stimulate our economy, one way to do so is to enforce the law which
says that we will not have costly regulations on small businesses in
America. And that's what we're going to do.
Furthermore, if you've got a problem with regulations, if there are
nettlesome regulations which are costly for you to operate your
business that you don't think makes any sense, I urge you to get on the
Internet and wire the OMB your problem, so we can analyze
it. Now, here's who you -- if you want
to write this down, here it is. (Laughter.) Gosh,
it seems like a lot of people are getting ready to write it
down. (Laughter.) I'm not
surprised -- www.whitehouse.gov -- (laughter) -- wait
a minute, it's getting
better -- /omb/inforeg. And wire them
in.
I talked to Mitch before I came over here. I said,
Mitch, I just can't stand up here and say, you're going to get rid of
regulations and ask people to call in or write in. Give us
someplace to send the information. And I said, if I stand up
here in front of the Women Entrepreneurs of America and somebody
e-mails in, you better respond. (Laughter and
applause.) www.whitehouse.gov/omb/inforeg.
Fifth, I am proposing measures to make health care more
available. I understand the drag on small
businesses. (Applause.) It is hard for you to
attract good workers, it is hard for you to keep good workers if your
health care costs are going sky-high. I understand that.
There was a lady who wrote in. She said, I have 12
employees and I was canceled three times by my insurance company in
2001. And the reason they gave me is that they are no longer
going to be writing small group plans. Perhaps that's
happened to some of you all out here, as well. If we could
get into a larger pool where we could get access to lower premiums,
then I could insure more people and hire some more people. I
think that's a universal complaint all across America. And
that's why I strongly support association health
plans. (Applause.)
That means that small businesses will be able to pool together and
spread their risk across a larger employee base. It makes no
sense, no sense in America, to isolate small businesses as little
health care islands unto themselves. We must have
association health plans. I know the Senator strongly
supports that and Congress ought to support them. And here's
the way they will work.
It means a family restaurant or a local hardware store can insure
their workers, say, through the National Federation of Independent
Businesses, or the National Restaurant Association. It
allows association groups to write health care plans across
jurisdictional boundaries to the benefit -- to
the benefit not only of the small business owner, but to the benefit of
those who work for small businesses. (Applause.)
And, finally, government contracting must be more open and more
fair to small businesses. (Applause.) I
believe -- I know government contracting, if
wisely done, can help us achieve a grand national goal, which is more
ownership in more communities all across America. But you
know as well as I do that there are some large hurdles for small
businesses. One is that -- and the
main one is -- that agencies sometimes, many
times, only let huge contracts with massive requirements, and they tend
to go to the same group of large corporate
bidders. Around -- the term of art in
Washington is called bundling. It effectively excludes small
businesses. And we need to do something about that.
Again, I talked to Mitch about this, and I want him to
examine -- he understands, like I understand, the
capacity for our government to encourage entrepreneurial growth, the
capacity for our government to stimulate small business ownership in
all communities across America.
And so one of the things we're going to do is we're going to
examine the federal government's contracting policies, to make sure
that they encourage competition as opposed to exclude competition; to
make sure that the process is open; to make sure the process helps
achieve a noble objective, which is more ownership in our
country. And wherever possible, we're going to insist we
break down large federal contracts so that small business owners have
got a fair shot at federal contracting. (Applause.)
The government can provide an environment that will encourage
risk-taking, and I believe when we do this, it will encourage
risk-taking. There are no guarantees in the free enterprise
system, as you all know. But we can make the system more
open and more inviting. We can encourage people to take
risk. And that's exactly what we're going to do in this
administration. It is important for the economic security of
the United States of America. Not only am I concerned about
economic security, I'm also concerned about our national
security. And I want to share some thoughts with you about
my thinking about our national security.
First, I know there are many from New York City here who suffered
mightily on September the 11th. And I want to say how much I
appreciate that city showing not only our nation, but the world, what
it means to be resolute and tough and determined to
succeed. (Applause.) Not only watching how New
Yorkers responded, but seeing how our nation responded, leads me to
conclude that the enemy didn't understand who they were dealing
with. (Applause.) You see, they thought we were
so materialistic and so self-absorbed that the only thing I was going
to do was sue 'em. (Laughter.) They were wrong,
they were wrong.
My most important job is to protect innocent lives in
America. My most important job is to protect the
homeland. And we've got a strategy in place to deal with a
bioterrorist attack. We've got a first responders
strategy. We're doing a better job of buttoning up our
borders. We want to know who's coming in and why they're
here, and when they're leaving. We've got to do a better
job.
But I want to tell you all that the best way to achieve the
objective of securing the homeland is to chase the killers down,
wherever they try to hide, and bring them to
justice. (Applause.) And I want to assure you
that's what's going to happen. And it's going to take a
while. But the good news is, the American people are
patient. I believe the American people understand the
difficulty that lies ahead. I know the United States
military does, and I'm so proud of the way they have accomplished the
mission so far. (Applause.)
I gave a speech in Washington a while
ago -- once you're over 55, everything is a while
ago -- (laughter) -- I
can't remember if it was a week or two weeks, but nevertheless, a while
ago -- (laughter) -- that
said the first phase in the war against terror is over
with. And that first phase was upholding the doctrine that
said, if you harbor a terrorist or feed a terrorist or hide a
terrorist, you're just as guilty as those who came and murdered
innocent Americans and others from around the world. And the
Taliban found out exactly what this great nation
meant. (Applause.) They're no longer in
business.
The way I viewed -- I was so proud of our
country, because we sought not revenge, but justice. That's
what we seek. And we didn't go to Afghanistan as conquerors,
we arrived as liberators. As Elaine Chao mentioned, this
week, for the first time, many young girls will be going to
school. (Applause.) I am so proud of our country;
I am proud of our military; I am proud of the children who have raised
millions of dollars for Afghan children. I'm proud of the
compassion of our country. We've showed the world that not
only will we seek justice, we've showed the world that we will seek a
better society for citizens, starting in Afghanistan, by ridding them
from the clutches of one of the most barbaric, backward regimes history
has ever known.
But there's more to do. And as leaders in your
communities, it is important for me to share this with
you. Anytime al Qaeda bunches up, we're going to get
'em. They did so in the Shahikot mountain range, and they
now regret that. Because you see, there are still thousands
of these trained killers around. And I want to tell
you -- I cannot make it any more plain than
this -- they hate America. And the
reason they hate America is because we're free. We're a free
society. They can't stand the thought of the President of
the United States coming to speak to women who own their own
business. (Applause.)
These are people who are irrational. And we will treat
them like the international criminals they are, by keeping them on the
run. So the second phase, my fellow Americans, of this war
is to deny them sanctuary. Anywhere they try to light, we
will disrupt them. We will be patient, we'll be
deliberate. But I can assure you, we'll be determined.
I have submitted a budget that significantly raises the defense
spending. And the reason I did was because I want those who
risk their lives on behalf of Americans to get the best pay, the best
equipment, the best training possible. I
recognize -- I recognize that the price of
freedom is high. But, as far as I'm concerned, it is never
too high. (Applause.)
The world watches us. The world
tests -- or really looks at our
will. They want to know whether or not we're people who just
talk or people who are willing to lead. And they're going to
find out we're a nation that, when somebody attacks our values and
murders our citizens and still wants to do so, they will find that we
are a strong, resolute, determined and united
people -- much to the chagrin, much to the
chagrin of terrorist networks around the world. The more
firm we are, the more likely it is the world will
follow. And the more firm and determined we are, the more
likely it is that we will achieve lasting peace.
My dream for the world is lasting peace. I want our
children to grow up in a peaceful world, a world in which freedom at
its very center is the most important value. And we can
achieve that. There is no doubt in my mind as the United
States remains firm and strong and achieves our clearly-stated
objectives, that we have a chance to solve problems that many never
think could be solved around the world, and leave behind such a
wonderful legacy, not only for our own children, but for children of
every country. And, at the same time, we have an opportunity
at home to show the world the true face of America, the heart and soul
of the American people.
I want to thank very much Suzanne Tufts for being here
today. She is the president and CEO of American Woman's
Economic Development
Corporation. (Applause.) Right after the enemy
attacked, Suzanne and her organization moved quickly to help small
businesses affected by the attack, primarily women-owned businesses, to
help them, obviously, deal with the shock to their businesses, but also
helped them get back on their feet. It is this kind of
compassion and care and concern for a neighbor that is the true
strength of the country.
Listen, we're a great military power, and that's
good. (Laughter.) But the true strength of
America is not in the halls of government; it's in the hearts and the
souls of our citizens. The thing that makes our country so
unique is that we're people that have heard the universal call to love
a neighbor like you'd like to be loved yourself.
I'm asked all the time by people, what can I do to help in the war
against terror? And the answer is, if you want to stand up
to evil, do something good for a neighbor in
need. (Applause.) If you want to stand up
squarely in the face of evil, show somebody you love
them. And those don't have to be magnificent acts of love;
they can be small acts of generosity which, in their total, help define
America for the rest of the world. Just walking across the
street to a lonely shut-in, is, in itself, part of the defiance to
evil. Or mentoring a child, or thanking a teacher, or
generosity with your checkbook, or using your time and talents for your
church or synagogue or mosque to help people who are hopeless in our
society.
Out of this incredible evil done to America, I see great
good. I see not only the good of lasting world peace, I see
a nation that is more compassionate and hopeful; a nation that
understands that by adhering to the admonition to love a neighbor just
like you'd like to be loved yourself, we set a clear example of what's
possible in other places around the world.
I have been not only amazed, I have been so gladdened by what I've
seen and heard about America in the face of this
tragedy. Not only are we determined to seek justice, we're
determined to right wrongs, to help heal souls, and to help people in
need.
It is such an honor to be the President of a country that embraces
the entrepreneurial spirit for all. But more importantly,
it's an honor to be the President of a country full of decent and
heartfelt and compassionate Americans.