Remarks at High Point University in High Point, North Carolina

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, July 29, 2002

July 25, 2002

Thanks for that warm welcome, and thanks for coming out today. I want to thank you all for fighting through the rain. It's part of my drought relief program. [Laughter] I do want to thank you all for coming. I want to thank all your fellow citizens for lining the road and being so gracious in their hospitality. I love coming to North Carolina. It's a fabulous State, full of fabulous people. I'm honored to be here.

And I'm glad my friend Tommy Thompson came with me. He was the Governor of the State of Wisconsin, and then I convinced him to come to Washington to head up the Department of Health and Human Services. I did so because I understand be knows health issues; he knows welfare issues; he knows a good system when he sees one and a system that needs to be reformed when he sees one. And I'm glad Tommy came to Washington. He's doing a heck of a job on behalf of the American people, and I want to thank you, Tommy.

I want to thank Richard Budd and all the folks here at High Point University for giving me a chance to come and discuss some important issues that face our Nation. It's a beautiful campus. The gymnasium could use a little air-conditioning. [Laughter] We'll try to keep the hot air down to a minimum. [Laughter] But we're thrilled to be here on this fine campus.

I also want to thank Jeff Miller of the High Point Regional Health System for--[applause]. We just had a fantastic and very interesting discussion about problems that affect patients, patients in North Carolina, health care patients in Nevada, problems that affect our docs. And I want to talk about some of that in a minute. But we just had a great discussion. I want to thank all the doctors and my fellow Americans who were there to share with me their stories, some of which I will share with you in a minute.

I appreciate Don Palmisano, who is the head of the--president-elect of the American Medical Association out of New Orleans, Louisiana, who flew in for this event. I want to thank you for being here, Don, and I want to thank you for your support on the initiative which I'm fixing to talk about.

I also want to thank the mayors of some of the communities here. We've got the mayor of High Point, the mayor of Greensboro, and the mayor of Thomasville. I appreciate all three mayors coming. I want to thank my friend Elizabeth Dole for coming over today to say hello. I appreciate you being here, Elizabeth.

I want to thank members of the North Carolina health and medical community, all you who worry about your fellow Americans and who work hard to provide good, quality health care. Thank you for coming here today.

Every time I come to a community, I like to herald some of the heroes of the community. And today, when I landed in Air Force One, there to greet me was a citizen named Jane Lambert. She's a--she's been volunteering here in this community for 50 years. She has been working hard to make people's lives better. It didn't require a Government law saying, "Jane, you will help people in need." It required a good heart.

Jane has worked with Girl Scouts. She's worked through her church to bring meals to people who need food. She is the kind of person I call a soldier in the army of compassion. The truth of the matter is, the reason I like to introduce the Jane Lamberts of the world is because the great strength of America lies in the hearts and souls of our fellow citizens who love--[applause]. So I want to thank Jane. I think Jane is here. Where are you, Jane? Thank you for coming. Thank you for your work. Thank you for setting such a fine example, 50 years of service.

You know, I believe out of the evil done to America is going to come some good. And part of the good is for people to understand that serving something greater than yourself in life is a part of being a complete American. And Jane shows us what that means.

The security of our country is on the minds of a lot of our citizens. I want to talk a little bit about the security of America. It first starts with the homeland security. You hear a lot of talk about the President working with the Congress to set up the Department of Homeland Security, and we are. We're working hard on that. I just want to make sure that Congress understands that when we do create this Department, I've got to have the ability to manage the Department in a way to make the homeland more secure. I readily concede I didn't run for office saying, "Vote for me. I promise to make Government bigger." So I'm not interested in something big; I'm interested in something that works.

The number one priority of our Government is to protect the American people. We live in a new era. We're under the threat of coldblooded killers who hate America and hate our freedom. So our top priority, in all levels of government, has got to be to protect America. That's what we've got to do. I see some of our first-responders here, our police and EMS and firefighters. I want to thank you for the work you do.

We've got work to do in Washington. You just need to know that we've got a lot of good people, people who work for all levels of government, working overtime, working hard, to chase down any kind of lead that we get, any kind of hint. And we're following up on it. Protecting our homeland is our most important priority. But the best way to protect the homeland is to hunt the killers down one by one and bring them to justice, and that's what this Government is going to do.