Remarks to the American Legislative Exchange Council in Grapevine, Texas

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, August 8, 2005

August 3, 2005

Thank you all. Thank you all. Please be seated. Earl, thanks for the warm introduction. Thanks for the invitation, and thanks for the award. And I appreciate your leadership of ALEC. Good leaders make good decisions. You made a good decision bringing this convention to Texas. [Laughter]

I'm pleased to be with the members of ALEC, and I want to thank you for serving. And I want to thank your families for standing by you as you serve. I appreciate you putting your community and your State and your Nation ahead of your self-interest. I also appreciate the philosophy you espouse, philosophy rooted in free enterprise, accountability for local officials at all levels, and your focus on results. I used to work with some ALEC members when I was Governor of the great State of Texas. I see a couple of them sitting around here. I appreciate you all coming. The thing I found about ALEC members is they're always willing to challenge the status quo, to espouse what I call a compassionate conservative philosophy, a philosophy that says, "Government if necessary but not necessarily Government."

And so, thanks for having me. Thanks for serving, and thanks for the invitation. Laura sends her best. She is the--she's down there in Crawford, and she is--I got to tell you, she's a great First Lady, is what she is, and a great wife.

I see the speaker and Nadine Craddick from Midland, Texas. I think one of the reasons why Laura is admired is because she has never forgot where she came from or how she was raised. She's proud of Midland, Texas. She's carrying those Midland, Texas, values to Washington, DC. And she's a great mom, great wife, and a great First Lady. I want to thank--thank you, Tommy Craddick, who is the speaker of the house--of the Texas house is with us. And Speaker, you're doing a great job. Proud of your accomplishments, proud to be with you today.

I want to thank Duane Parde, the executive director. I want to thank the members of the Texas host committee.

I want to thank the Congress folks who are here today. I see a couple of you out there, a couple of Texas Congressmen, Feeney from Florida, and Culberson is here. Thank you 'all for coming. I want to thank former Senator John Breaux from Louisiana for joining us. John, thanks for being here.

I asked Breaux to help out on simplifying the Tax Code. It needs to be simplified, and--looking forward to seeing your report. [Laughter] But thanks for serving.

In Washington, we're working on two great goals, one, strengthening our economy, so people can realize their dreams; and defending this country. And we're making good progress on both. This economy of ours is strong. It is getting stronger, and the amazing thing is to remember where we have come from. We went through a recession and a stock market correction and a terrorist attack and corporate scandals and war. And in spite of that, this economy is growing at some of the highest levels ever.

In 2003, growth was at the highest levels in nearly 20 years. Our economy today is growing faster than any other major industrialized nation in the world. We've added 2 million new jobs in the last 12 months. More people work today than ever before in our Nation's history. Employment is up in 48 of the 50 States. Unemployment is down to 5 percent. That's below the average rate of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. The entrepreneurial spirit is strong. More people own a home today than ever before in our Nation's history. Our tax relief plan is working.

This week's report shows that both personal income and consumer spending grew rapidly in June. Real disposable personal income has grown by about 12 percent since the end of 2000. You know, some have questioned in Washington whether or not you can cut taxes and increase revenues for the Treasury. Well, I don't know if you saw the report that came out--recently came out. It showed that the Federal deficit is projected to be $94 billion less than previously expected. And that's because revenues are catching up. And the reason revenues are catching up is because the tax cuts stimulated economic vitality and growth all across the country. I laid out a goal for the Congress to work with the administration to cut the deficit in half by 2009, and we're ahead of pace to realize that goal.

At the State level, there's some good news. You've seen the effects of the growing economy on your revenue. State revenues in the first quarter of 2005 increased 11.7 percent from the prior year; 49. States have received more in revenue than expected, which tells me that we need to work together to make sure we're wise about how we spend that money.

Part of making sure that our economy continues to grow is to pass budget resolutions that are fiscally sound. And that's what we did in Washington, DC. I submitted the first budget to propose a cut in nonsecurity discretionary spending since Ronald Reagan was the President. And I appreciate the action in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate to pass a budget resolution that adhered to those principles. And now the appropriators must follow the guidelines of the budget. To keep this economy growing, we must not overspend at the Federal level.