Remarks in a discussion with women small-business owners - Week Ending Friday, January 9, 2004

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Jan 12, 2004

January 9, 2004

The President. Thank you all. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. You wrote that--you read that just like I wrote it. [Laughter] It's good to be here at the Commerce Department. After all, that's what we're here to discuss, is commerce and jobs and how to keep the entrepreneurial spirit strong in America.

Let me start off by saying, first of all, thank you all for coming. We're going to have an interesting discussion about what it means to own your own business and risk capital and employ people, what it takes to be a businessowner. And we've got five really smart, capable women who are running their own businesses. Before we get to this discussion, though, I want to say I'm really optimistic about the future of our Nation's economy. This economy is strong, and it is getting stronger.

I'm optimistic for one reason, because I just spent a little bit of time with five people who are on the frontline of hiring. Their optimism was really evident, as I think you'll soon hear. Secondly, I'm optimistic because I see things happening. Unemployment dropped today to 5.7 percent. That's not good enough. We want more people still working. But nevertheless, it is a positive sign that the economy is getting better.

I see the manufacturing orders are up dramatically. I know the productivity is high in America. Home construction is strong. All the signs in our economy is--are very strong. And that's positive for somebody who might be wondering about whether he or she is going to find a job.

Secondly, I know what we have overcome in this country. I mean, this economy has got to be pretty darn strong to have come through what this Nation has come through. Just very quickly, in the beginning of 2001, the country was entering into a recession. I'm sure that affected you all. Recession, by the way, is when there is negative growth for three quarters, when things aren't going well for three consecutive quarters. That's a long period of time if you own your own business. It's a long period of time if you're looking for a job, by the way.

Then, all of a sudden, as the economy was getting better, the enemy hit us. And make no mistake about it, the attack of September the 11th affected not only our national psyche, it affected the economy. It hurt. It hurt people who were thinking about risking capital. It made it hard for people to find a job.

As well we had a problem that fall when it turned out some of our corporate citizens failed to live up to the responsibilities of leadership. They didn't tell the truth to their shareholders and their employees. That affected the psyche of the American investor. You know, capitalism is only as strong as the integrity of the people involved in the process. And these leaders will tell you that you've got to be open with your employees. Otherwise, they're not going to work for you very hard. In this case, these corporate criminals had a negative effect on the country.

And then, of course, I made some tough decisions about how to secure America and keep the peace by spreading freedom, and we marched to war. It is not conducive to economic growth to see on your TV screens, "America is marching to war." It's not a very positive, optimistic message to hear if you're thinking about risking capital. Who wants to take risk when we're marching to war?

Now we're marching to peace, and people feel more comfortable about making a risky investment. We've overcome a lot. And I'm optimistic because not only do I talk to people who are optimistic all the time; I'm optimistic because I recognized what this country has been through. It really speaks to the entrepreneurial spirit and ingenuity of the American people, is what I'm talking about. This is a fabulous country.

The system says if you work hard, you get rewarded. You can own your own business, hopefully without a lot of Government interference. Speaking about Government interference, we made a conscious decision to make Government less intrusive into the pocketbooks of the American people in order to effect economic growth. You might remember we went to the Congress, not only once but three different times, to effect real, substantial tax relief, tax relief which left more money in the pockets of the working people, tax relief which encouraged spending and saving and investment.

You see, we cut the taxes on everybody. We didn't try to pick and choose who got the tax relief. Our attitude was, if you pay taxes, you ought to get relief. It ought to be fair and simple to understand. And by the way, the tax relief had a significant impact on the entrepreneurial spirit of America because a lot of people who own their own small business pay taxes at the individual income tax rate. They're what you'll hear as a Subchapter S corp or a sole proprietorship. And so when you cut the taxes on the individuals, you're really cutting the taxes on business, small businesses. And after all, that's important, because most small businesses--or small businesses create the most new jobs. Seventy percent of new jobs are created by small-business owners and entrepreneurs. The tax relief was important.