Remarks to the National Newspaper Association Government Affairs Conference

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, March 26, 2001

March 22, 2001

The President. Thanks for coming, and thanks for having me. Diane, I appreciate so very much the invitation. Ken, thank you for escorting me up here. And Jerry, thank you for that kind introduction. I do remember the Fourth of July parade. I remember how hot it was. And next time, let's make it a Christmas parade. [Laughter] He comes from a great town in a State I love a lot.

You said you never thought you would be introducing me the last time you saw me. But I can assure you, in 1978 when I was running for the U.S. Congress and you were running the newspaper in Lamb County, Texas, you certainly didn't think you would be introducing me as President-[laughter]--because you had that funny feeling I wasn't even going to win the race for the U.S. Congress, which was true. [Laughter] It's amazing how life works.

One of the interesting things I did learn in that race, we had a lot of little bitty counties in far west Texas. And Jerry ran one of the newspapers; he worked for a man named James Roberts. Maybe some of you all got to know James over time. He's a fine, distinguished Texan. Lord rest his soul.

But he owned a string of little newspapers, in Andrews and Lamb County, and I think maybe in Muleshoe, Texas. And I can remember knocking on the doors of the newspapers when I was traveling the district. It was a magnificent place to learn about what was going on in each county. It gave me a chance to get a feel for what the people were really all about. I got to hear the gossip, got to maybe spread a little good news on my side. But I came away with a deep respect for the small newspapers that dominate the landscape of America. There's a real sense of community when you walk into those newspapers and sit down with the publishers and the editors and the writers. It's really the best of America in many ways.

I sound somewhat nostalgic about those days. I'm loving what I'm doing. It's interesting that I'm doing it, in spite of the fact that my first race for public office I came in second in a two-man race. [Laughter] Life has its interesting twists and turns. Life is unpredictable. But it turns out if you aim, work hard, and treat people with respect, keep your priorities straight, life can turn out pretty good. And it certainly has for me. I'm honored to be your President. I'm honored to be here to discuss some issues that are important to our country.

I want to thank my friend Tommy Thompson for having been here. Tommy is serving our Nation very well as the important Cabinet position. I got to know Tommy as a Governor. You got to know him as a Governor. And he's a fine man. He represents the kind of Cabinet I've put together-distinguished citizens, all of whom are here to serve our country, all of whom have put aside their personal comforts to do what's right for America.

I appreciate my friend Roy Blunt. I understand he's coming or has been here--a Member of the United States Congress, a fellow I'm working closely with to try to get some legislation through the legislative process.

I want to talk about a couple of things, and then I'd like to weave issues in, in context of the budget that I presented to the Congress. It's important for opinionmakers such as yourself to hear my side of the budget.

See, there's a lot of folks in Washington that would like to send out information that might cloud the picture so that they get to keep more of the taxpayers' money here in Washington. We're in the midst of a big debate, and it's a healthy debate, as to what to do with the people's money. That's what the budget is all about. Remember, the context I come from, though, is not to do with what to do with the Government's money; it's what to do with the people's money. All the talk about the surplus as the Government's money misses the point. They forget who pay the bills. Those who say that the surplus is the Government's money, forget where it comes from. And one of the things I'm not going to forget is where it comes from; I'm going to remember where it comes from. It comes from hard-working people. It comes from entrepreneurs, small-business owners, hardworking folks who pay the bills for this Government.

So we sent up a commonsense budget to the Congress. I say common sense because it sets priorities. When you run your businesses, you set priorities. That's sometimes the definition of success, is somebody who figures out how to set priorities and stay on those priorities. And that's what we did; we set some clear priorities. We funded public education, increased the funding of public education. It's the biggest increase of any Department in my budget.

Now, lest you forget where I came from, it's one thing to provide money at the Federal level, but I can assure you I'm a strong supporter of local control of schools. I believe that the best way to run the schools is to trust the local people. So we're increasing spending, but we're going to also increase power at the local level. One size does not fit all when it comes to the education of the children in America. We've got to have local control of schools; we've got to align authority and responsibility at the local level. And I'm working with Congress to do that.