Remarks at the presentation of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Awards in Arlington, Virginia - Week Ending Friday, March 12, 2004

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, March 15, 2004

March 9, 2004

Congratulations. Good job. Thank you all. Go ahead and be seated. Thank you all very much. Welcome. I'm really glad to be invited back to this annual event to recognize excellence and to bestow an honor named for a great American.

This year, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award goes to seven outstanding recipients. Each set ambitious goals. Each organization worked hard to achieve them. You're setting such a good example as a beacon of excellence. You represent the great strength and the entrepreneurial spirit of the American economy. I congratulate you for a job well done.

And I appreciate Secretaries Evans and Paige for joining me here. I thank them for their service to our country. I thank Dr. John White, the University of Arkansas chancellor. I appreciate the fact that he didn't bring up the Arkansas-Texas football score. [Laughter] I thank Letitia Baldrige for being here, Mac's favorite sister--only sister? Yes. [Laughter] I want to thank those of you involved with the Baldrige Awards. I want to thank you for keeping the spirit alive. I want to thank you for focusing on quality; thank the judges and the foundation members.

I appreciate the Members of Congress who are here today. I'm glad you all have taken time to come to honor the recipients. I want to thank the U.S. Army Band for providing quality music.

Malcolm Baldrige served as the Commerce Secretary in the eighties, at a time when many questioned whether America could remain the world's strongest economy. He was an optimistic guy. He dedicated himself to proving the skeptics wrong. That kind of confidence in America's economic strength was justified in his day, and it is justified in our day.

Think about what this economy has been through the last several years. In 2000, the stock market began a steady decline. By early 2001, the Nation was in a recession. Then we got attacked on September the 11th. We had to face the consequences of that attack. We saw scandals in corporate boardrooms in which the trust of workers and investors was violated. We took action to face all these challenges. Today, our economy is strong, and it is getting stronger.

Think about the economic environment of 2003. Inflation is low. Interest rates are low. Manufacturing is up. Homeownership is at an alltime high. Stock prices are up. The stock market wealth has risen by more than $3 trillion since the beginning of 2003. The unemployment rate today is lower than the average rate in the 1970s, in the 1980s, and the 1990s. Thanks to our productive workers and the entrepreneurial spirit of this country, the fastest growing major industrialized economy in the world is the United States of America.

As our economy moves forward and new jobs are added, some are questioning whether American companies and American workers are up to the challenge of foreign competition. There are economic isolationists in our country who believe we should separate ourselves from the rest of the world by raising up barriers and closing off markets. They're wrong. If we are to continue growing this economy and creating new jobs, America must remain confident and strong about our ability to trade in the world. Given a level playing field, America will outperform the competition, and America will continue to be a world leader.

We've got great advantages here in this country. We've got the world's hardest working people. We've got the most productive workforce in the world. We have an attractive climate for our businesses to expand. We have innovative, dynamic companies which are producing world-class products and services. America's best companies are emphasizing quality and service and developing world-class methods for production. By selling good ideas and good products in markets not only here but across the world, we're creating jobs, good, high-paying jobs for the American citizens.

Each recipient of today's award earned it. When I say we need to be confident about our future, I'm confident because I just heard the stories of great success. They got their best ideas from all kinds of places, whether it be from their workers or their customers. They listened.

In the health care category, we have two winners: Baptist Hospitals in Pensacola, Florida--I was wondering whether if we called it Pentecostal Hospitals, we'd be--[laughter]--Saint Luke's Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri. These hospitals have focused on serving patients and their families better. That's what they focused on. They got their employees fully involved in measuring performance. Because of their excellence, both of these winners are saving lives. It must make you feel good to work in an industry in which you save somebody's life.

In manufacturing, we have Medrad Incorporated, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A maker of medical imaging devices, Medrad's commitment to excellence runs from the top, from the CEO, John Friel, who, by the way, said we--I put my knee under one of his devices. [Laughter] I said, "I appreciate the diagnosis. You just hadn't figured out the cure for old age." [Laughter]