[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 6 (Monday, February 13, 2006)]
[Pages 224-225]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
<R04>
Remarks to the House Republican Conference in Cambridge, Maryland
February 10, 2006
Thank you very much. It's an honor to be back here again. Mr.
Speaker, thank you for your leadership and your friendship. One of the
real joys of being in Washington is to be able to work with Speaker
Hastert. He is a straightforward--[applause]. Some of my buddies at home
say, ``What's he like?'' I say, ``He's a straightforward, no-nonsense
kind of guy who's here to get things done.'' And, Mr. Speaker, thank you
for your leadership and your friendship.
I congratulate the Majority Leader, John Boehner; looking forward to
working with you, John. Congratulations to you. I appreciate Roy Blunt,
he's a--right after I called Boehner from Air Force One, I called Blunt
and I said, ``I want to say two things to you: One, thanks for waging
the race for the Majority Leader; and second, thanks for passing the
reconciliation package.'' He said, ``If I could count votes as good on
my race as I did on the reconciliation package''--[laughter]. But I
appreciate a man who is gracious in defeat. But he's still got an
important position, and I'm looking forward to working with you, Roy.
Thank you.
I appreciate the rest of the folks up here. Thank you all for
coming. It is an honor to serve our country with you. I hope you feel
that way as well. There is nothing more heartwarming and exhilarating
than to represent the good people of the United States of America here
in Washington. I want to thank you all for your service. I particularly
want to thank your families for your service to our country as well. The
cause is noble and worthwhile.
A couple of things I want to say, and then I'll be glad to answer
some of your questions. First, the state of our Union is strong, and
it's getting stronger. And I want to thank you all for putting policies
in place that, on the one hand, spread prosperity throughout the country
and, at the same time, spread freedom and peace throughout the world.
You know, we've overcome a lot in this country. If you really think
about what this economy has been through, it's amazing how resilient and
flexible and strong our economy is. We're growing at faster rates than
any major industrialized nation in the world. We've added over 4.5
million new jobs since April of 2003. The national unemployment rate is
4.7 percent. Productivity is high.
One of the things we've been working together is to promote an
ownership society. More people own a home than ever before in our
Nation's history. More minority families own a home than ever before in
our Nation's history. Small businesses are thriving. The economic plan
we put in place is working. And it starts with saying to the American
people, ``We trust you with your own money.''
We've got a record, and it's a record of accomplishment. We have
worked closely together to achieve results for the American people.
We've been fiscally wise with the people's money. I want to thank you
for that bill you sent me that I signed yesterday. It's hard work to cut
out and cut back on programs that don't work. Every program sounds
beautiful in Washington, DC, until you start analyzing the results. And
I want to thank you for being wise with the people's money.
You know, you hear people in Washington, DC, saying, ``Well, we've
got to solve the deficit, and the best way to do it is raise the
people's taxes.'' We understand that's not the way Washington works.
What happens is, they'll raise your taxes and figure out new ways to
spend your money. The best way to reduce the deficit is to keep
progrowth policies in place and be wise with the taxpayers' money.
The House passed a good piece of legislation to help us secure our
borders, and I want to thank you for that. The House passed good energy
legislation last year. The House passed good tort reform last year,
including class-action reform and bankruptcy. The House passed the
PATRIOT Act last year. The House passed CAFTA last year. Last
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year was a year of accomplishment for the House of Representatives,
thanks to the leadership here at the table.
And we're ready to lead again. We don't fear the future, because
we're going to shape the future of the United States of America. And
that means supporting our troops in harm's way. I want to thank you for
supporting the troops last year, and I look forward to working with you
to support our troops this coming year.
We'll continue to lead. And I want to appreciate your steadfast
support in the war on terror. Our most important responsibility is to
protect the American people from harm. And I want to thank the Members
of Congress for working with the administration to protect the American
people from future attack.
You know, in my State of the Union--thanks for paying attention to
it when I got up there the other day--[laughter]--I talked about how
best to keep the country competitive. You know, some would lose
confidence in the capacity of this country to lead, and kind of hide
behind walls. That's not what we think. We're confident in America, and
we're confident in our people, and we're confident that we can work
together to put good policies in place that will keep this country the
world's leader when it comes to the economy. So I'm looking forward to
working with you to continue to be fiscally sound with the people's
money and to put those tax cuts we put in place in a permanent status.
I'm looking forward to working with you on expanding health savings
accounts so we can strengthen the doctor-patient relationship. I'm
looking forward to working with you on making sure that we become less
dependent on Middle Eastern oil by promoting alternative sources of
energy. I'm looking forward to working with you on making sure our
education system remains strong and our kids can learn math and science
so we remain the most competitive nation in the world.
I'm looking forward to working with you, and I'm confident we'll
continue the success we have had together. And so I've come to say
thanks for your hard work in the past, and thanks for what we're going
to do to make this country--to continue to be the greatest country on
the face of the Earth.
God bless your work. May God continue to bless our country.
Note: The President spoke at 12:23 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Chesapeake
Bay.