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July 24, 2003

Thank you for the warm welcome. Thanks for letting me come by to say hello. First, let me just say I appreciate the hard-working folks here at Beaver Aerospace for making sure that Air Force One functions properly. [Laughter] Otherwise, it might have been a long flight. [Laughter] I appreciate what you do for America's defense. I appreciate your hard work. I appreciate your talent. I appreciate you helping make this country strong.

I want to thank Bill Phillips and his family for inviting me. You know, one of the great things about America is the entrepreneurial spirit of our country, and Mr. Phillips is an entrepreneur. And one of the things we've got to do in America is keep that entrepreneurial spirit alive and well. And Mr. Phillips knows what I know: You can be an entrepreneur, but without good workers, good, dedicated, hard-working people willing to run the machines and show up on time and work hard, the entrepreneurial spirit is kind of empty. And so, first of all, I want to not only thank the Phillips folks, I want to thank the people who work here in this facility. Thanks for making America go.

And I am interested in making sure every one of our fellow citizens who wants to work can find a job, and that's what I want to talk about today. I want to talk about how to make sure this economy is strong and vibrant so our citizens can work and families can be hopeful for the future.

First, I want to thank the Secretary of Commerce, Don Evans, my long-time friend. I appreciate his service. He's part of my economic team that is staying focused on economic vitality and growth. I appreciate so very much Jack Kirksey. He's the mayor here. Mr. Mayor, you've got a tougher job than I do. [Laughter] You've got to empty the garbage and fill the potholes. [Laughter]

I appreciate the State attorney general, Mike Cox, for joining us today. He's right here from Livonia. I want to thank members of the legislative body, Senator Laura Toy and John Pastor, who have joined us today. I want to thank the chief of police, who's with us. I want to thank the president of the city council that's with us. I want to thank you all for coming. We've got quite a distinguished group.

I want to share the name of one person you've probably never heard of. It's a fellow I just met when I landed at the airport, and his name is Walter Piper. Walter is right there. Walter has been an active member of what they call SCORE, which is Service Corps of Retired Executives. That should tell you two things or three things about Walter: One, he is retired--[laughter]--two, he was an executive; and three, he is in service. And what he has done is he's decided to provide counsel and advice to people who want to start their own small business. He is volunteering his time to try to make the community in which he lives a better place.

The reason I bring that up is there's a lot made about how strong we are militarily. And we are strong militarily, and we will remain strong militarily. But the true strength of America is found in the hearts and souls of our fellow citizens. The true strength of our country is found in those hearts and souls that have heard the universal call to love a neighbor just like you'd like to be loved yourself. No, the strength of our country is the compassion of our fellow citizens, people like Walter who are willing to dedicate their time and talents to make somebody else's life better.

My call to you is when you see a neighbor in need, when you see somebody who's hurt, don't turn your back but love them just like you'd like to be loved yourself.

This country of ours has faced many challenges over the last couple of years, and I believe those challenges have brought out the best in America. Terrorists declared war on us. On September the 11th, a date we will not forget, people who hated our country, hate it for what we stand for, hated the fact that we love freedom, declared war on the United States of America, and war is what they got. We are hunting down the killers one at a time. We are slowly but surely dismantling the Al Qaida network, and we will continue to find them and to bring them to justice. We owe that to this generation of Americans and future generations to come.

In Afghanistan, a cruel regime, a brutal regime, had turned that country into a training camp for terrorists. I declared as clearly as I could, "If you harbor a terrorist, you're just as guilty as the terrorists." So we removed the Taliban from power and freed people from the clutches of a barbaric regime.

In Iraq, a brutal dictator was arming to threaten the peace. This brutal dictator defied the demands of the free world. For years, he thumbed his nose at the United Nations Security Council, time and time again. We gave him plenty of time to disclose and disarm. He chose defiance, and the regime of Saddam Hussein is no more.

Our brave troops still face danger in Iraq because there are people there who hate the thought of a free society. They can't stand freedom, and they're dangerous. But we're finding these terrorists as well, and we're bringing them to justice. As you know, earlier this week, two of the favorite henchmen of Saddam Hussein were brought to justice. They were discovered, and their violent careers ended in justice. These two sons of Saddam Hussein were responsible for hundreds and hundreds of people being tortured and maimed and murdered. And now the Iraqi people have seen clearly the intent of the United States to make sure that they are free and to make sure that the Saddam regime never returns again to Iraq.

Our brave men and women serving to free--make sure Iraq is free are serving as well in the war on terror. A free and democratic and peaceful Iraq will not threaten America and our friends with illegal weapons. A free Iraq will not provide harbor and money to terrorist organizations which would like to hurt America. A free Iraq will not destabilize the Middle East. A free Iraq can set a hopeful example for the entire region. And as the pursuits of freedom replace hatred and resentment and terror in the Middle East, the American people will be more secure, and the world will be more peaceful. We owe a significant debt of gratitude to the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States of America.

Our Nation has responded to challenges here at home as well. Think about what we've been through. As I was showing up into office, the stock market had been falling for nearly a year, and the country was headed into recession. And then after the recession came the attacks of September the 11th, a significant attack on our homeland. It caused the economy to sputter. It significantly affected our capacity to generate jobs.

And then we found out that some of our fellow citizens forgot what it means to assume responsibility. They didn't tell the truth. Corporate CEOs around this country didn't tell the truth to their shareholders and their employees, and that shook the confidence of America. And then, of course, the drumbeat of war shook the--began to affect the ability for this economy to grow strong.

We've overcome a lot because we acted. First and foremost, in 2001, I worked with Congress to pass tax relief, and history will show that the recession we're in is one of the shallowest recessions our country has had. We passed tough laws that say to a corporate criminal, if you lie, cheat, or steal, you will be held to account.

Last year, when it looked like the economy was still sputtering and wasn't strong enough, when we realized too many Americans were still struggling to find work and too many families were having trouble meeting their monthly bills or saving for their child's education, we acted again, and I convinced the Congress to pass the Jobs and Growth Act.

And that's a significant development in terms of economic vitality, because the more money people have in their pockets, the more they will demand a good or a service. And when somebody demands a good or a service, in this economy of ours, somebody will produce a good or a service. And when somebody produces that good or a service, it means somebody is more likely to find work.

The jobs-and-growth plan came at the exact right time in our history. Part of that jobs-and-growth plan is to increase the child credit from $600 to $1,000 per child. But I thought it was necessary to act quickly, so I asked Congress to make it retroactive to January 1st of this year, and they agreed.

Today I went to Philadelphia. I saw firsthand the checks that are being printed, that are fixing to be sent to the people who have got children who qualify for the child credit. That is, $13 billion is going out the door to be in the pockets of our fellow citizens; $13 billion for more money for people to save or to spend but to do with it which you want to do with it. After all, we're talking about your money, not the Government's money.