For Immediate Release
Office of the First Lady
September 14, 2004
Remarks by First Lady Laura Bush on the economy in Columbus, Ohio
Clintonville Women's Club
Columbus, Ohio
10:34 A.M. EDT
MRS. BUSH: Thank you very much, Hope. Thank you for the very kind
introduction. Hope and I, like she just told you, were sorority sisters
together at SMU and so we have a long history of friendship. At the
time, we would have never guessed that we'd marry somebody who would
become governor and then President. (Laughter.) Thank you so much,
Hope.
I also want to thank Mayor Grossman who is here and State Auditor
Betty Montgomery for joining us. And special thanks to Doug Preisse who
just introduced Hope, and to Jan Antonopolos and Margie Holiday. Thank
you all very much for being here with us. (Applause.)
I also want to express to the people of Columbus our sadness at the
fire that was here that was so destructive to lives here in Columbus. I
watched today on television and saw the people of Columbus bringing
food and furniture and toys to the families who have been displaced
because of the fire and I was reminded once again of the decency of
Americans and how we always rise to the challenge to help our neighbors
when they need help. And so I want to express especially my sympathy
to the families who lost a loved one.
And I want to express my thanks to each one of you, all the volunteers
who are here, who are working hard to make sure President Bush leads
this country for four more years. (Applause.)
I've met so many people across America who are making the phone calls,
who are going door to door, who are talking to their neighbors, making
sure their neighbors are registered to vote, and talking about the
President's accomplishments. And right here in Columbus, I even met
another George W. (Laughter.) This George W. is a dog --(laughter) --
whose owner said, unlike the President, tends to lie down on the job.
(Laughter and applause.)
George W. is Mary Leavitt's dog. Mary Leavitt is right here. You might
know her as the Flag Lady. (Applause.) Mary welcomed me to her store
this morning, and I'm so happy that she is here with us, along with her
son, Andy, and her daughter, Lori, and all the employees of The Flag
Lady's Flag Shop. Thank you all very, very much for being with us
today.
Mary is a living American success story. And not just a story of one
woman's success, but a story that can inspire all Americans who want to
own their own business and make it grow. Mary never planned on becoming
the Flag Lady. She was raising her children and she was working as a
legal secretary here when her husband was transferred to Chicago.
Shortly after they moved, her son, who was stationed on a U.S. ship,
was deployed overseas, so Mary placed a yellow ribbon on her home and
she searched through her packed boxes for her flag, but she couldn't
find it. In fact, she couldn't find a flag anywhere in town. Store
owners said it wasn't flag season.
Mary finally found a wholesale dealer 35 miles away and persuaded him
to sell her a flag. She realized that if she needed a flag, many of her
neighbors probably did too. So she asked the dealer if she could take a
dozen flags on consignment. He was skeptical and utterly surprised when
Mary returned four days later asking for more.
Mary started selling flags out of the trunk of her car. She also went
door to door and gained the nickname "the Flag Lady" after being
featured in the local papers. When she moved back to Columbus, she
continued selling flags during her lunch hour. Business was going well
until her husband finally decided that Mary could no longer keep
20-foot flagpoles in their living room. (Laughter.)
She opened a storefront and, after nearly 20 years of hard work, Mary
owns one of the top retail flag stores in the country. (Applause.) With
20 employees and $1.5 million in sales, Mary has sold more than 80,000
flags in the last four years alone. (Applause.)
Mary, congratulations on your success. And thank you for being a role
model for us all.
Small business owners like Mary are some of the hardest working people
in America. Ten million women own their own businesses in America, so
today -- when it comes to entrepreneurship, today's world is
increasingly a woman's world. Women are opening businesses at twice the
rate of men, and they employee more than 19 million Americans.
I visited women who own quilt shops, employment agencies, construction
companies and even tow trucks. (Laughter.) Anyone who wonders what
women are capable of achieving need only look at America's women
business owners.
They can find inspiration also in the women who work in the White
House. I'm proud that, in my husband's administration, there are more
women in senior positions than in any other presidential administration
in history. (Applause.)
Dr. Condoleezza Rice advises the President on foreign policy and
Margaret Spellings is in charge of domestic issues. That means that, in
the White House, women are in charge of everything abroad and
everything at home -- (laughter) -- which sounds about right to me.
(Laughter and applause.)
President Bush knows that empowered women are vital to our democracy.
And as we look around the world, in countries where we see women are
not empowered, we know how important women are to a democracy. He also
knows that empowered women are essential to our economic security.
George has worked to build an environment, economic environment in
which entrepreneurs can succeed and small businesses can grow. And it
hasn't always been easy.
We've been through a lot together, from a recession to a terror attack
to corporate scandals. But our economy remains the strongest in the
world, thanks to our small businesses and the President's commitment to
tax relief. (Applause.) Because of tax cuts, 25 million small business
owners have each saved an average of $3,000 this year alone. Mary saved
more than $7,000. She is also taking advantage in the President's
increase in the annual expense deduction for equipment. Soon, she'll
roll out a new catalogue, enhance her e-commerce site, and finalize
plans to open a second store. (Applause.)
Tax relief is spurring investments and making it easier for small
businesses to expand and create jobs. Last year alone, we've added 1.7
million new jobs. That's more than Germany, Japan, England, Canada and
France added, combined. (Applause.) The unemployment rate has fallen to
5.4 percent. And since 2001, real after-tax incomes have increased by
10 percent.
This is the way Mary summed up this success. She said: President Bush
was born for a time such as this. He never waivers when it comes to
doing the right thing. It makes me feel so secure to know that our
leader has such a heart for small businesses and such a love for our
country. Thank you, Mary. (Applause.)
My husband is committed to making sure America is safer and more
secure and more hopeful for all Americans. We all know that families,
and especially women, face new challenges and that government should
respond to these changing times. Millions of women are raising
families, working full time, going to college, starting their own
businesses, and caring for their parents. And some women are doing all
of these things at the same time. Women are also living longer and we
have more opportunity than ever before. My husband wants to extend
this opportunity to every corner of America, so that all Americans have
a chance to participate in an ownership society. (Applause.)
In New York, President Bush outlined his agenda for a new term.
Helping women and families face the challenges of our changing world is
at the heart of the President's plan. All of us know that all
opportunity starts with education. For workers who want new skills for
the new jobs of the 21st century or women who want to return to the
work force after staying home and raising their family, this means
going back to school to learn new skills.
The President wants to work with community colleges to make career
training more accessible for all Americans. And because higher
education is a lifelong dream for so many, the President wants Pell
grants to be made more available so that more Americans can get a
college diploma. (Applause.)
In fact, the President's budget for next year includes a record $73.1
billion for student financial aid. That's a 55 percent increase since
he took office, and I think it's very, very important, because we know
that many of the new jobs require a college diploma. And we know that
many of these graduates with their college diploma will some day go to
work for a woman boss. (Applause.)
And to help make sure businesses continue to thrive, the President
will work to keep taxes low. And because more than half of uninsured
Americans are small business employees and their families, my husband
wants to allow small firms to pool so they can purchase insurance at
the same discount available to big companies. (Applause.)
My husband also believes that working moms and dads need more of
something we never have enough of, and that's time. Time to go to a
ballgame with our kids, time to take care of our parents or to
volunteer in our communities. President Bush will work with Congress to
make flex time and comp time available so that more Americans can
manage -- better manage the demands of work and family. (Applause.)
Another important issue for women is affordable and accessible health
care. It's estimated that women make up to 70 percent of their
families' financial and health care decisions. The President is making
health care more accessible with ideas like health savings accounts.
These plans allow people to save tax free for routine medical expenses
like routine doctors visits or eyeglasses. Women can take these
accounts with them if they start a new job or if they leave work to go
home and have a child. This is health care that we own, we manage and
we keep.
Another growing crisis that is of particular concern to women is
medical liability reform. When I traveled to Philadelphia a few weeks
ago, I met Erin Zezzo, who learned about the effects of junk lawsuits
the hard way. Erin had a trusting relationship with her OB-GYN who had
delivered her first two children. Shortly into her third pregnancy,
Erin's doctor decided to stop delivering babies because he couldn't
afford his medical liability insurance. Erin was forced to find a new
doctor while she was six months pregnant.
Frivolous lawsuits raise the cost of health care and drive good
doctors out of practice. To help doctors and women like Erin, President
Bush will work to reform the medical liability system and reduce junk
lawsuits. (Applause.)
All of these issues are important to women and to our families. But as
we grieve for the families in Russia and as we mark the third
anniversary of September 11th, I believe what's most important is my
husband's work to protect our country and to defeat terror around the
world. (Applause.)
The terrible acts of September 11th showed us the threat we face. But
they also called us to the great work of promoting freedom to the far
corners of the world. President Bush and I want our men and women in
uniform and their families to know how much all Americans appreciate
their service. (Applause.)
As we do the hard work of confronting terror, we can all be proud that
50 million more men, women and children live in freedom, thanks to the
United States of America and our allies. (Applause.)
After years of being treated as virtual prisoners in their homes by
the Taliban, the women of Afghanistan are now able to leave their homes
without a male escort. And after being denied an education, even the
chance to learn to read, the little girls in Afghanistan are now in
school. (Applause.) More than 10 million Afghan citizens have
registered to vote in this fall's presidential election and more than
40 percent of that number are women. (Applause.)
Because we acted, the people of Iraq are now free from the tyranny of
a brutal dictator. The Iraqi Interim Government is preparing for
national elections in January, and we pledge to stand with the Iraqi
people during this historic and hopeful time for their nation.
We face many challenges still in Iraq and Afghanistan. But I know that
the defeat of terror there is very important to the defeat of terror
around the world. My husband believes that there's more to do to make
our country safer, stronger and more hopeful.
These are times of change for our nation, but they're also years of
promise. We have great confidence in our ability to overcome
challenges. We've gained a new appreciation for the many blessings of
America. And we've been reminded of our responsibilities to the country
we love.
George and I grew up in the same small town in Midland, Texas, where
the sky seems endless and so do the possibilities. My husband brings
that optimism, that sense of purpose, that certainty that we learned in
West Texas to his job every day. And with your help, he'll do it for
four more years. (Applause.)
Thank you all. Thank you. Thank you, Mary. Thank you for your great
example to all of us. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
Thank you all, and may God bless America. Thanks a lot. (Applause.)
10:52 A.M. EDT
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