President Bush Discusses Economy, War on Terror During Remar

March 28, 2007,10:13 A.M. EDT,THE PRESIDENT: Thanks for having me. (Applause.) Thank you, please be seated. Not a bad introduction by a cowboy. (Laughter.) Thanks for having me. Welcome to Washington. I'm glad to be with you. I was telling Laura this morning, I'm really looking forward to going over to talk to the nation's cattlemen. I appreciate being with people who understand the importance of faith, family, hard work, good values. I like to remind people, every day is Earth Day if you make a living off the land. (Applause.) It's good to be with fellow conservationists., I'm going to talk a little bit about two big priorities: one, how to keep this economy strong so people can make a living; and secondly¹, how this country needs to stay resolved and firm in protecting the security of our country. (Applause.) And I appreciate you giving me a chance to come over and visit.,I do want to thank John Queen. I want to thank the Board of Directors. Thanks for being here and making your voices heard. You can influence the debate in Washington. And this is a town where people do listen to other people's voices. I've got a few suggestions for you when you go up to Capitol Hill. (Laughter.) But before I give them, I do want to recognize Senator Craig Thomas from the state of Wyoming, and Marilyn Musgrave from Colorado. Appreciate you both being here. (Applause.),Let me talk about how to keep this economy growing. You know, one of the main jobs of government is to create the conditions for economic growth. A main job of government is not to try to create wealth. The fundamental question we've got to ask here in Washington is, what do we need to do to encourage investment and risk-takers, and to encourage entrepreneurship? And I believe the heart of good economic policy is keeping people's taxes low. (Applause.),The reason I say that is there's a fundamental debate in Washington, when you really get down to it, and the debate is who best to spend your money. And I believe a cattleman can spend their money better than the government can. Now, obviously, we need some amount of money here, and that's called setting priorities. But beyond that, the best way to keep this economy growing is to let you keep more of your own tax money. The tax cuts we passed are working.,You know, when you cut the individual tax rates, you affect farmers and ranchers. Many farmers and ranchers are Sub-chapter S corporations, or limited partnerships³, or sole proprietorships, which means you pay tax at the individual income tax level. And if you're worried about a vibrant⁴ agricultural economy, it makes sense to let those who work the land keep more of their own money so they can invest, so they can make the necessary changes so that their businesses can remain vibrant., I say the tax cuts work. Since we enacted⁵ major tax reform in 2003, in response to recession and a terrorist attack, this economy of ours has created more than 7 million jobs, new jobs, and it's expanded 13 percent. The tax cuts are working, and the United States Congress needs to make those tax cuts permanent. (Applause.),One of the taxes that concerns you a lot, I know, is the death tax. It should. You get taxed while you're living and then you get taxed after you die. It's double taxation⁶ at its worst. We put the death tax on the road to extinction⁷. Notice I didn't say it is going to be extinct. Under current law, it will come back into effect in 2011, which puts people in an awkward position in 2010. (Laughter.),I really believe Congress needs to pay attention to the effects of the death tax on our farmers and ranchers. If people are concerned about keeping land in the hands of the family rancher, the best way to do so is to get rid of the death tax for those who ranch² the land, once and for all. (Applause.),When you're working the halls of Congress, I hope you work hard on the death tax issue. There's no excuse not to get rid of it. Now, you'll hear people say, we don't want to give tax relief to the billionaires. Okay, fine. But let's put a bill on the President's desk that respects the ranchers of the United States of America, and the farmers, and the small business owners, and I'll sign it. (Applause.),To keep the economy growing, we've got to be wise about our budgets. Now, what you'll hear here in Washington is, we've got to raise your taxes in order to balance the budget. That's not the way Washington, D.C. works. They will raise your taxes and figure out new ways to spend your money. All I do is ask you to look at the budget that the Senate just recently passed. You know, we changed hands here in Washington in the Senate and the House, and the new leadership there in the Senate passed a new budget which raises taxes so they can increase spending, and the House is looking at the same type of approach.,I have a different view. My attitude is, keep the taxes low so the economy grows to generate more tax revenues, and don't overspend; to set priorities with the people's money, not try to be all things to all people. And so I submitted a budget to the House and the Senate that balances the budget in five years without raising one dime⁸ on the working people of the United States of America. (Applause.),I'm looking forward to working with you on a farm bill that's good and decent and fair. I just put up a -- submitted some ideas through our Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Johanns. I want to remind you in the bill we submitted to Congress we asked for a $17-billion increase in conservation spending over a 10-year period. That's an increase over the last farm bill. That includes money for CRP, and a 30-percent increase for equip. (Applause.) Plus $1.75 billion on water conservation programs. I think this is a wise use of our money.,I'm interested in a farm bill that enhances conservation, that recognizes the contribution our ranchers make, that is fair, that is reform oriented, and helps us compete in the global marketplace. I appreciate your efforts to work on a good farm bill. I'm looking forward to working with you on it.,Finally, to keep the economy growing, we ought to open up markets for U.S. goods and services. If you're interested in economic vitality⁹ and growth, the way to encourage that growth is to find new markets for U.S. products. And I want to spend a little time talking about trade today.,Last year, the United States exported $1.4 trillion worth of goods and services. That makes us the largest exporter in the world. To me, that says, is that when we have opportunities that are fair, we produce the kinds of goods and services people want to buy. Every time we break down a barrier to trade, it makes it more likely somebody who's raising a cow will have an opportunity to sell that cow into a better market.,Free trade lowers consumer prices. In other words, when you open up trade, it's good for consumers. Trade is good for people working. I don't know if you realize this or not, but jobs exported by -- supported by exports pay wages that are 13 to 18 percent higher than the average. If you manufacture a good that is sold overseas, you're making more money that somebody who's not exporting. Isn't that an interesting fact?,I happen to believe competition is good. I believe competition brings out the best in everybody. So I don't mind competition, so long as the playing rules are fair. My attitude on trade is, you treat us the way we treat you, and then let's compete. America is 5 percent of the world's population, which means 95 percent of the rest of the world are potential customers for things that we grow or manufacture.,I think it's good business to open up trade agreements. When I came into office we only had trade agreements with three nations; now we have 11 of them in force, and more on the way. The countries that America has free trade agreements with represent 7 percent of the world's GDP, yet they account for 43 percent of our exports. The reason I bring this up to you is there's a lot of room for expansion when it comes to trade. There's a lot of opportunity.,And so this administration is committed to open up markets. And there's a vital vote getting ready to come up in front of the -- up to the Congress, and that is agreements that we have cut with Peru, Colombia and Panama. I believe these are important markets for you, and important markets for U.S. goods and services. Congress needs to make sure that they send an affirmative message when it comes to trade on these three agreements.,Now, trade obviously creates issues. We end up with disputes and opportunities for people to make mischief¹⁰ when it comes to trade, people to use excuses for not opening up markets. And we went through one of those periods with you all, and that is with the BSE issue. BSE was discovered in 2003, and we worked with our cattle folks aggressively to address the issue, to prevent further introduction and spread of the disease. In other words, there was a proactive effort by government and the cattle raisers to address the issue.,In the last three years, we've conducted over 800,000 tests to assess the health of our cattle herds¹¹. Thanks to these and other science-based measures, we've helped the farmers and ranchers manage any possible BSE risk in the cattle population. And today, because of our collaborative efforts and a strong scientific approach to deal with BSE, we can say to global consumers with complete assurance, American beef is safe and it is good to eat. (Applause.),And the word is getting out. In 2006, exports of beef and beef products totaled more than $2 billion. That's nearly a 50-percent increase from 2005. It's not at the levels we want, but there has been some improvement in sales. And that's important for you. The more markets there are that are open for your product, the easier it's going to be for you to make a living. And I understand that, and it's important for Congress to understand that, as well.,Today, more than 100 countries have fully¹² or partially¹³ opened their markets to U.S. beef. The objective of this administration, however, is to make sure that they're better than partially opened, they're fully opened, including the countries like Japan and Korea. We're also working to open up markets that have still got a ban on our imports. In other words, this is an important part of our foreign policy. When I'm talking to leaders and they've got an issue with American beef, it's on the agenda. I say, if you want to get the attention of the American people in a positive way, you open up your markets to U.S. beef. People understand that when it comes to being treated fairly in the world marketplace. (Applause.),We got an opportunity to expand further -- open up further markets by expanding trade through the Doha Round of the World Trade Organization. It gives us a chance to level the playing field. It gives us a chance so that I can say to our cattle raisers and others that, you'll be treated fairly. Now, you got to compete; you got to grow some product that somebody wants. But you should be treated fairly. The rules will treat you fairly. That's all you can expect.,And so I want you to know that we're going to work hard to bring Doha to a successful conclusion. It's hard work. This weekend the President of Brazil is coming to see me, and we'll be talking about how we can work together to open up markets, and at the same time, address their concerns about our farm issues.,The only way that we can complete Doha and make headway on other trade agreements, however, is for Congress to extend trade promotion¹⁴ authority. This authority allows the President to negotiate complicated trade deals, and then send them to the United States Congress for an up or down vote on the whole agreement. Presidents of both parties have considered this a incredibly important tool for completing trade agreements. In other words, our trade partners have got to say, if that's the deal we negotiate, that's the one that somebody is going to have to vote up or down on. You can't negotiate a deal in fairness with the United States if you think it's going to be changed on the floor of the Congress. So the up or down vote is important to get, and that's what you get when you get trade promotion authority.,And yet, this authority will expire on July the 1st unless Congress acts. And I want to thank the National Cattlemen's Beef Association for joining with the administration and other organizations in urging the Congress to renew trade promotion authority. (Applause.),There's going to be a vigorous debate about trade in Congress, and I thank you for engaging in that debate. And you know, trashing trade will make a good sound byte on the evening news. But walling off America from the rest of the world would harm this economy, and it would harm our cattle raisers. The road to protectionism may seem broad and inviting¹⁵, yet it ends in danger and decline. So I urge Congress to reject protectionism and to keep this economy open to tremendous opportunities that the world has to offer for our ranchers and farmers and entrepreneurs.,Just as our prosperity depends on rejecting economic isolationism, so, too, our security depends on rejecting calls for America to abandon its leadership in this world.,September the 11th is an important moment in this country's history. It's a sad moment. But it should serve as a wake-up call to the realities of the world in which we live. On September the 11th, we saw problems originating in a failed state some 7,000 miles away that affected¹⁶ how we live. See, September the 11th was not only a day we were attacked, it is a day that our country must never forget, and the lessons of that day must never be forgot, that what happens overseas matters here at home. It may be tempting¹⁷ to say, oh, just let it run its natural course. But for me, allowing the world to run its natural course, which could lead to more violence and hatred¹⁸, would end up reducing the security of the United States, not enhancing the security. And our biggest job in America, the biggest job of this government, is to protect you from harm.,I think about it every day, and so do a lot of other good, decent citizens of this country. The best way to protect this country is to defeat the enemy overseas so we don't have to face them here at home. (Applause.) And for the long-term peace and security of this country, we must advance an ideology¹⁹ that stands in stark²⁰ contrast to the ideology of the killers²¹. The best way to secure this homeland is to stay on the offense²², and in the meantime, encourage the spread of liberty as an alternative to tyranny.