THE PRESIDENT: Como esta? (Applause.) Me, too. (Laughter.)
Thanks for coming. It's an honor to be here. Fred, thank you very
much for your hospitality on this beautiful day. It's been my honor to
come to a place that's embodiment of the American Dream. See, what we
believe is, we believe people in this country ought to be able to work
hard and dream big, and realize their dreams. And the Ruiz family has
done that. (Applause.)
It started with Grandma Rosie's pots and pans and the first batch
of enchiladas. Fred was just telling me they produce 3 million burritos
a day. For a man who likes burritos, I'm in heaven. (Laughter.) I also
like to thank the hospitality Louis Ruiz has shown me, the patriarch of
this great family, the initial dreamer along with his son to build and
create, but most importantly, to provide jobs for over 1,200 people --
a chance for 1,200 people to realize their dreams. That's what America
is all about. We're here to herald t greatness of America, the
American spirit, the strength of our country. (Applause.)
I also had the honor of meeting Kim Ruiz Beck, who is the vice
chairman of Ruiz Foods. I met the entire Ruiz family. They've got a big
family. (Laughter.) My only advice to the kids that were there was
listen to your mother. I'm listening to mine. And she's given me plenty
of advice, I want you to know. (Laughter.)
I appreciate the President of this company, John Signorino. I want
to thank my friend, Mel Martinez, who have you've just met. Mel is the
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. He's in my Cabinet. He's
got a lot of -- (applause.) He's got a lot to do about the housing
initiative I'm going to talk about in a minute.
Mel is a fellow who was raised in Cuba. His mother and dad didn't
like the idea of their son being raised in a totalitarian state where
there was no freedom, where there's still no freedom. So you know what
they did? When he was 15 years old they put him on an airplane to
America. They found a program where a loving family would be welcoming
young Mel with open arms. He fled tyranny because his parents love
freedom, and now he's in the Cabinet of the President of the United
States. And I'm proud of my friend. (Applause.)
Congressman Devin Nunes is with us today. Congressman, thank you
for coming. (Applause.) George Radanovich, as well, is a member of the
United States Congress. Thank you for coming, Jorge. (Applause.)
Bienvenidos!
I had the honor of driving from the airport to this facility with
the Mayor of Fresno, Alan Autry. (Applause.) He's a good man. He cares
deeply about the people of Fresno. He's doing a great job. I'm proud to
call him friend. I want to thank Mike Smith, who is the Mayor de
nuevo. (Applause.)
We just had what we call a roundtable discussion -- it happened to
be at a square table. (Laughter.) About home ownership, the idea of
people owning a home is part of the American Dream. Farid Assemi is a
homebuilder here, was here, and Cara Pierce is the Director of Housing
and Consumer Credit, and the Azel family were all sharing with me their
stories and what they're doing to help people own a home. I want to
thank them for coming.
When I landed at the airport I met a fellow named Denny Klaseus.
(Applause.) Denny brought some of his family with him. (Laughter.) You
know, there's a lot -- the reason I bring up Denny is there's a lot of
talk about our country's military might, and were strong and I'm going
to keep us strong. (Applause.) And there is talk about the economy and
the wealth of the country, and we'll do everything we can to make sure
the economy grows. But the true strength of the country is the heart
and souls of our American citizens. That's our strength. It's the thing
that makes this country incredibly strong. I bring up Denny because he
is what we call a soldier in the army of compassion.
Out of the First Church of the Nazarene, he has become a volunteer,
see. He has heard the call, the universal call of all religions to love
a neighbor just like you'd like to be loved yourself. He helps each
month to organize and pick up food donations. He knows when somebody is
hungry and hurts, there needs to be love to help that person. Denny
sets a great example. The Ruiz Company sets a good example by
encouraging people like Denny to volunteer. My call to our fellow
Americans is, love a neighbor. When you find somebody who hurts, put
your arm around them. Mentor a child. Go see shut-ins. Tell somebody
you love them on a daily basis. America can and will change, one heart,
one soul, one conscience at a time, thanks to the soldiers in the
armies of compassion. And, Denny, thank you for being here.
(Applause.)
Tomorrow I get to meet the Governor-elect. I'm looking forward to
it. (Applause.) I'm going to share with him my optimism about the
future of this country. Can't wait to talk to him about why I believe
that America is on the right path, is on the path to making sure this
nation is secure and the world is more free and peaceful; we're on the
right path to make sure our fellow citizens can find a job.
I'm optimistic and I have reason to be optimistic. Our country has
overcome a lot during the last couple of years. I want to remind you
right quick what we have overcome, particularly as it relates to our
economy. First of all, the stock market started to decline in March of
2000. And then, just as we were going into office, the country went
into a recession. That means there was negative growth. It means people
were being laid off. Things weren't good in our economy. And then, just
as things began to get better, the enemy hit us, on September the 11th,
2001, and that hurt us. It hurt the economy; it hurt the psyche of the
American people.
But we're a tough people. We're a determined people. And we began
to get -- (applause.) It began to get right, and all of a sudden we
found out that some of the leaders in corporate America forgot what it
means to be a responsible citizen. They didn't tell the truth. And that
hurt us. It shook the confidence. And then we had the march to war,
both in Afghanistan and Iraq. All of these provided great challenges to
our economy.
But we acted in Washington, D.C. We passed tough laws -- tough, new
laws that says to the corporate criminal, you'll be brought to justice
for not telling the truth to your employee or your shareholders.
We also passed taxes. See, I believe that if somebody has more
money in their pocket, that person is going to demand an additional
good or a service. And when that person demands a good or a service in
our marketplace, somebody will produce the good or a service. And when
somebody produces that good or a service, somebody is more likely to
find work. The best way to get out of a recession and to encourage job
creation is to let the people keep more of their own money. (Applause.)
And that's what we did.
I took the message to the people and the Congress heard the message
and we passed historic tax relief. We said, everybody who pays taxes
ought to get tax relief. If you're going to have tax relief, let's just
treat everybody the same. If you pay taxes, you get tax relief. We're
not going to try to pick or choose winners.
We said we want to encourage marriage in the tax code, not
discourage marriage. So we've reduced the penalty on marriage.
(Applause.) We understand how tough it is to raise a child in our
society and so we increased the child credit from $600 a child to
$1,000 a child, and put the check in the mail last summer. (Applause.)
We wanted to make sure that people had incentives to invest, so we
reduced the tax on capital gains and dividends. And we want people,
whether you're a farmer or a rancher or a small business owner, to be
able to pass your assets on from one generation to the next without the
government stepping in the way again. And so we got rid of the death
tax. (Applause.)
But inherent in that tax -- I want you all to understand that one
of the things I kept in my mind the entire time that we were proposing
this policy was the importance of the small business owner in America.
Most new jobs in America are created by small businesses. Most small
businesses pay taxes at the individual income tax rates. And so when
you hear me talking about cutting individual taxes, I want you to
remember that it benefits a lot of small business owners. If you're
interested in creating jobs, you want to provide incentives for
expansion to those who create jobs. And that's the small business owner
right here in the United States of America. (Applause.)
We also raised the expensing allowed for small businesses from
$25,000 to $100,000 to encourage people to be purchasing things in our
society. And it's making a difference. These policies are making a
difference.
We are overcoming the challenges we have faced. Our economy is
growing. Last month, we had an increase in net new jobs. The after-tax
incomes of people are going up. The productivity of the American worker
is strong. We've got the best workers in the world. The
entrepreneurial spirit is vibrant. And low interest rates have
encouraged a housing boom here in America -- and that's good, that's
good.
Low interest rates mean that people, for example, have got the
capacity to refinance their home. And probably some of you all have
done that. That's helped our economy. The Azels, who I met with today,
Kelly and Dan -- by the way, he's got a scratch handicap. (Laughter). I
told him I needed a lesson or two. He said that they were able to take
their first home -- they're newly wed, and the first thing they do is
they buy a home, thanks to low interest rates. It's a fantastic way to
start off your marriage. They then were able to refinance, which meant
they could do some remodeling on their home. They paid off the loan on
their car.
Low interest rates has helped the American citizens. It's helped
them buy a home. It's helped them refinance if they own a home. It's
put more money in circulation, which is good for job creation. Low
interest rates makes it easier to buy a home. And home ownership is at
near-record highs -- and that's good because we need to be an ownership
society in America. We want people owning their own home. If you own
your own home, you have a vital stake in the future of this country.
And even though home ownership is at near-record highs, we've got
too many of our fellow citizens who happen to be minorities who don't
own a home -- 75 percent of the Anglos in America own a home; the
minority home ownership in America is below 50 percent. And it seems
like to me we've got to do something about it. If it's good for America
that people own a home, we want people from all walks of life owning
their own home.
And so I let out a goal. I said over the next decade, we want there
to be 5.5 million new minority home owners. That's why Mel is here. He
helped set the goal. He is going to help implement the federal policy
I'm about to describe to you about how to meet that goal. Last year, we
did a pretty good job. There's now 809,000 new minority home owners in
America. And that's positive for the country, it's good for the
economy. It's also good for the spirit of our country that more people
are owning a home.
But here are some of the things that we intend to do and we
discussed today earlier. Sometimes people have trouble finding the down
payment for a home. It makes them nervous when they hear the down
payment. We need to have a down payment fund to help people with down
payments if they qualify. The Congress -- the House passed my request
for $200 million a year. It's stuck in the Senate. The Senate needs to
act. If they're interested in closing the minority home ownership gap,
they need to act on the down payment fund.
A lot of times, there are people -- think about buying a home and
they don't like the complexity. They don't understand what it means and
how to buy a home. It's obviously a big deal when somebody purchases a
home, but it's confusing. People get nervous about it. And so we need
more counseling and more education to make sure our fellow citizens
know what it means to buy a home and can get comfortable with the idea
of buying a home. And so we've doubled the amount of money available
for community-based programs, faith-based programs -- (applause) -- to
be able to brief their parishioners and/or their fellow citizens about
the opportunities and the hope and what it takes to be able to purchase
a home.
And finally, one other thing we're doing -- amongst many, by the
way -- is simplifying the process to buy a home. A lot of people
thinking about buying a home and all of a sudden they take a look at
the fine print and it kind of makes you nervous when you see a thick
pile of paper with fine print. You're not exactly sure what you're
buying into. So not only do we need to have counseling and education,
but we've got to make sure the forms are more simple so that people
know what they're doing. No, we're going to close this gap for the good
of America.
I've also put out a six-point plan I want to share with you right
quick that the Congress must pass in order to make sure the momentum of
our economy continues. First and foremost, we've got to do a better job
of controlling the high cost of health care. Small businesses need to
be able to come together and form what's called associated health care
plans to reduce the cost of health care. (Applause.) This country and
this state must fight off the junk lawsuits that are making it awfully
difficult for people to expand their businesses and hire people.
(Applause.)
We need a national energy policy. If you're interested in growing
the economy, people have got to make sure they've got a reliable source
of energy. We've got to encourage more conservation, more
environmentally friendly ways of using the energy we have in hand. But
one thing is for certain: For the sake of economic security and
national security, we need to be less reliant on foreign sources of
oil. (Applause.)
We need to cut out useless regulations and red tape that oftentimes
come from Washington and probably Sacramento, for that matter. We need
to make sure that our trade policy, our trade policy opens up markets
and creates a level playing field. I want to be selling U.S. farm
products all over the world. (Applause.)
And, finally, in order to make sure this economy continues to grow,
there needs to be certainty in the tax code. All the tax relief I
described to you goes away because of a quirk in the rules in the
United States Senate. In other words, the Senate giveth on the one
hand and they taketh away with the other. In order to make sure our
economy grows, all the tax relief I described needs to be made
permanent by the United States Congress. (Applause.)
We're overcoming the challenges to our economy. And I also want you
to know we're answering the great threats to our security. September
the 11th, 2001 moved this country from grief to action. We made a
pledge that day, and we have kept that pledge, that we will bring the
guilty to justice and we will take the fight to the enemy. (Applause.)
And we now see the nature of the enemy very clearly. These people
are terrorists, cold-blooded killers. They plot in secret, they target
the innocent, they defile a great religion and they hate everything
America stands for. They're not going to be stopped by negotiations.
They won't be appeased. Therapy is not going to work on them.
(Laughter.) They must be fought, they must be found and they must be
defeated. (Applause.) We are in a new kind of war and it requires a new
kind of strategy. We will not wait for further attacks; we will not
hope for the best. We will strike our enemies before they can strike us
again. (Applause.)
We've taken unprecedented steps to protect this homeland. We have a
solemn duty to do so. Yet wars are won on the offensive and America and
our friends will stay on the offensive. We're hunting down the al Qaeda
wherever they hide, whether it be from Pakistan or Iraq or the
Philippines or the Horn of Africa. And we're making good progress.
Nearly two-thirds of al Qaeda's known leaders have been captured or
killed.
The resolve of this nation is firm and it is clear. No matter how
long it takes, all who plot against America will face the justice of
America. (Applause.) This administration has also sent a message that
has been heard around the world. If you harbor a terrorist, if you
support a terrorist, if you feed a terrorist, you're just as guilty as
the terrorists. And the Taliban in Afghanistan found out what we meant.
(Applause.) Thanks to our great military, Afghanistan is no longer a
haven for terror, America is safer from attack and the long-suffering
people of that country are now free. You need to remember, thanks to
our nation and a coalition of nations, many young girls now go to
school for the first time in Afghanistan. (Applause.)
And we fought the war on terror in Iraq. The regime of Saddam
Hussein possessed and used weapons of mass destruction. The regime of
Saddam Hussein sponsored terrorist groups. The regime of Saddam Hussein
inflicted terror on its own people. Nearly every nation recognize and
denounce this threat for over a decade. And finally the United Nations
Security Council, in Resolution 1441, demanded that Saddam Hussein
disarm, prove his disarmament to the world or face serious
consequences. The choice was up to the dictator, and he chose poorly.
I acted because I was not about to leave the security of the
American people in the hands of a mad man. I was not about to stand by
and wait and trust in the sanity and restraint of Saddam Hussein. So we
acted, in one of the swiftest and most humane military campaigns in
history. (Applause.)
Since the liberation of Iraq, our investigators have found evidence
of a clandestine network of biological laboratories, advanced design
work on prohibited longer-range missiles, an elaborate campaign to hide
illegal programs. We've still got more to investigate. Yet it is
undeniable that Saddam Hussein was in clear violation of United Nations
Security Resolution 1441, which said he must disarm, prove his
disarmament or face serious consequences. It is undeniable that Saddam
Hussein was a deceiver and a danger. The United Nations Security
Council was right to demand that Saddam disarm, and we were right to
disarm t demand. (Applause.)
Who can possibly think the world would be better off with Saddam
Hussein still in power? Surely not the dissidents who would be in his
prisons or end up in the mass graves. Surely not the men and women who
would fill Saddam's torture chambers or rape rooms. Surely not the
families of victims he murdered with poison gas. Surely not anyone who
cares about human rights and democracy and stability in the Middle
East. There's only one decent and humane reaction to the fall of Saddam
Hussein: good riddance. (Applause.)
Our country now is approaching a choice. After all the action we
have taken, after all the progress we have made against terror, there
is a temptation to think the danger has passed. The danger hadn't
passed. Since September the 11th, 2001, the terrorists have taken lives
in Casablanca, Mombasa, Jerusalem, Amman, Riyadh, Baghdad, Karachi, New
Dheli, Bali, Jakarta. Today an American died as a result of a terrorist
attack in Gaza. No, they continue to plot, they continue to plan
against our country and our people. America must not forget the lessons
of September the 11th. (Applause.)
America cannot retreat from our responsibilities and hope for the
best. Our security will not be gained by timid measures. Our security
requires constant vigilance and decisive action. I believe America has
only one option: We must, and we will, fight the war on terror until
our work is done. (Applause.)
We're fighting on many fronts, and Iraq is now the central front.
Saddam holdouts and foreign terrorists are desperately trying to
undermine Iraq's progress. See, they hate freedom. They can't stand the
thought of a peaceful and hopeful society. They want to throw the
country into chaos. The terrorists believe their attacks on innocent
people will weaken our resolve. They don't understand our country. See,
they believe we'll run from a challenge. This country will not be
intimidated by a group of cold-blooded killers. This country will stay
the course. (Applause.)
We're making good progress in Iraq. We're after the killers. We've
got better intelligence now. The Iraqi citizens are coming forward to
help us secure their own country. We've got great strike teams of brave
soldiers who are moving on a moment's notice to bring people to
justice. And at the same time, we're making the country more secure.
We're opening up hospitals and schools and roads. We're bringing
electricity to the people who suffered under the hands of a tyrant, who
spent his money on weapons and palaces and not on the people. Slowly
but surely, this country is emerging as a peaceful and democratic and
hopeful place. And that's in our national interest. A peaceful and
hopeful Iraq will make America more secure, because there will be
freedom in the heart of a part of the world that needs freedom. Free
countries don't attack their neighbors. Free countries are peaceful
countries.
But we also believe something else about freedom and liberty: We
don't believe that freedom is America's gift to the world. We believe
freedom is the God Almighty's gift to each and every person in the
world. (Applause.)
No, we're making progress, and we'll do the job the right way.
We'll make sure that Iraq has got a constitution and free elections.
We'll make sure the job gets done the right way, so that the Iraqi
people will show the Middle East and the world that liberty is the hope
and the right of every land. The work in Iraq and the work on the war
against terror has been tough, and it's been hard, but we're doing our
duty to future generations of Americans. We're doing our duty to make
sure that we spread freedom and peace, and at the same time, make
America more secure.
This country has overcome a lot. We've overcome attacks and
recessions and corporate scandals. We've overcome tyrants, people who
have harbored terrorists. But there's no doubt in my mind that because
of who we are and who we -- what we stand for, this nation can not only
overcome challenges, but we'll do our duty to make sure America is as
hopeful and secure for every person who is fortunate enough to live in
this land.
May God bless you all and may God continue to bless America.
(Applause.) Thank you all very much. (Applause.)