Text 2671, 742 rader
Skriven 2006-05-19 23:33:58 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0605194) for Fri, 2006 May 19
====================================================
===========================================================================
President Discusses the American Competitiveness Initiative
===========================================================================

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
May 19, 2006

President Discusses the American Competitiveness Initiative
Northern Kentucky University
Highland Heights, Kentucky


˙˙˙˙˙ Fact Sheet: The American Competitiveness Initiative: A Commitment to
Education, Research, and Innovation ˙˙˙˙˙ American Competitiveness
Initiative

3:30 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Thanks, please be seated. Geoff, thanks for the
introduction. He said I'm the last sitting President -- the last sitting
President to be here before me was a Texan. (Laughter and applause.) I
don't know what took the other ones so long to get here -- (laughter) --
but I'm proud to be here; particularly proud to be in NKU, Northern
Kentucky University. Thank you very much for letting me come by.
(Applause.)

It's a good place to come to, to make sure that America understands we
don't need to fear the future -- because we can shape it. That's what I
want to talk to you about today, is the need for the United States of
America to remain the leader of the world. And one way you remain the
leader is you have places like excellence, centers like Northern Kentucky
University, where you've got innovative curriculum, high standards, the
willingness to work in your community -- all aimed at making sure our kids
have got the skills necessary to compete. And that's why I'm here.
(Applause.)

So I want to thank the president -- Mr. President, thanks for having me.
(Laughter.) He'd probably rather be called "Doctor." But, Jim, thank you
for having us. Thank the faculty for letting me come; I appreciate you
teaching. Teaching is a noble profession. For the students who are here,
one career path you ought to think about is being a teacher. (Applause.)
And one thing you've always got to remember is the child's first teacher is
a mother and a father. (Applause.)

I bring my RSVP's from Laura. She is giving a graduation speech tomorrow --
she just didn't get the invitation to come to NKU to give the graduation
speech here. (Laughter.) If you had been wise, you would have had her and
not me. (Laughter.) She sends her best. She is really, really a good person
and I'm proud to -- (applause) -- I'm proud to call her "wife." She's got
to be the most patient woman in America. (Laughter.) She's doing great, she
sends her best.

I appreciate very much Congressman Geoff Davis. He's an interesting person.
He served his country in the United States military. He didn't have to run
for the United States Congress, chose to do so -- I think sets a good
example for people to understand public service is a noble calling. And I
want to thank you for inviting me here, Geoff.

I appreciate Senator Jim Bunning being here, as well. (Applause.) So I was
asking him what it was like to face the Cincinnati Reds. (Laughter.) You
might remember those days. (Laughter.) At least I do. He's not only a fine
Senator, he's a wonderful person. And his wife, Mary, reminded me -- she
came here to NKU -- just a couple of years ago. (Laughter.) She had the
same kind of career my mother did. Got in, got out without a degree, but
nevertheless loved the experience. (Laughter.)

I appreciate very much state Senator David Williams, President of the State
Senate. Thanks for coming. Make sure they got plenty of money to run this
university, Senator. (Applause.) I've known Williams long enough where I
can tell him that, see. (Laughter.) It's great to see you. It's good to see
the Judge, as well.

I appreciate Katie Stine is with us today. Senator Stine, thanks for
coming. (Applause.) I want to thank the Mayor -- I want to thank Mayor
Roettger, who is the Mayor of Highland -- the city of Highland Heights.
Thanks for being here, Mr. Mayor.

I want to thank all the local and state officials here. I want to thank
Gary Toebben who is the President of the Northern Kentucky Chamber. Thanks
for having me here. (Applause.) I met Dr. Ed Hughes. If you don't know Ed,
Ed is the founding President and CEO of Gateway Community and Technical
College.

I want to say a quick word about community colleges. They're a really
important part of making sure the United States is able to compete.
(Applause.) People around here, if you've got a growing economy and are
looking for labor, you need to support your community colleges. It's one of
the really important institutions of the United States. And so for the
community college students who are here, welcome, thanks for coming,
appreciate you taking advantage of the opportunities available to you.

We're living in historic times. They are exciting times. If you're a
student getting ready to graduate from NKU, you've got a job available for
you that's paying better than a lot of other college graduates have ever
been able to get. This is a good time to be getting out of college.

On the other hand, these are difficult times in some ways, when you think
about it. I mean, we're at war. And war is unsettling to people. War puts a
strain on the United States of America. War causes people to think about
the future in different ways.

These are times of globalization. In other words, we're all connected now.
Competition is coming at the United States from different places around the
world. These are times of change. Technology changes so rapidly that it can
create a sense of concern amongst our citizens.

I don't know if you know this or not, but by the time somebody gets 30 in
this job market, people have changed jobs several times. That stands in
stark contrast to the days when previous generations would go to work and
stay at the job all their life. Pension funds are different now. We've got
401(k), defined contribution plans as opposed to defined benefit plans.
These are changing times. And the fundamental question facing any nation,
but particularly ours, is how do we adjust to those times. What do we do
about it?

The temptation during changing times and unsettling times for some is to
retreat and say, you know, it's really not worth it. We've been through
this period in our nation's history, a time when people would look abroad
or look afar and say, well, these just seem such difficult problems, that
it's probably best that we don't take them on; or that competition in the
economic sphere is such that the best way to deal with that kind of
competition is just wall ourselves off.

Those two tendencies, which have happened in our nation's history --
tenants of thought -- would be called isolationism and protectionism. And
I'm here to talk today about why it is really important for us to reject
those two notions. That the United States of America must not wall
ourselves off from the world and must not forget our duty to help lead the
world to be a better place.

Now there's a practical reason why we shouldn't isolate ourselves, and that
is, there's an enemy that still wants to hurt us. And it's important for
you all to know that everyday that I wake up I think about the war on
terror. I knew that after September the 11th -- and many of the decisions I
make are based upon what happened on that day, September the 11, 2001.

My job is to do everything I can to protect the American people. And I knew
that after the attacks there would be a tendency by people to say, well,
maybe that's not a war, maybe that's just an isolated incident. Part of my
job, by the way, was to say to the American people, go about your business;
create jobs; go to school; raise your families -- let us worry about it in
Washington, D.C.

But I think about this all the time. I know that in order for us to be able
to defend ourselves we have got to be active in the world. Another way to
put it is, we will stay on the offense and bring the terrorists to justice
before they hurt us again. (Applause).

What's unsettling about these times for some is that we face a determined
enemy. Let me tell you what I think about the enemy. The enemy is --
they're cold blooded killers, the best way to describe them. They will take
innocent life to achieve a tactical and strategic objective. These are
people that are bound by an ideology. See, they're driven by an ideological
fervor. In other words, they're not just isolated angry people; they're
people that have got a point of view.

Perhaps the best way to describe the point of view is to remind people what
life was like under the Taliban in Afghanistan: There's no freedom to
dissent, no freedom to worship; if you're a woman, you were a second class
citizen; if you were a young girl you had no chance, very little chance to
be educated. In other words, they had a view of the world which is 100
percent opposite of us. And that's the ideology of these people. And they
believe it. They strongly believe that they should distort a great religion
and convert it to meet their means. It's totalitarian in nature. It's
something akin to dealing with fascism and communism, but with a different
flavor to it.

Now, I recognize some in our country don't believe that, and that's okay.
The great thing about our country is we all have different views. But I
believe it. And I know that if we were ever to retreat and isolate and say,
it's just too difficult to get involved, that ideology would flourish.
After all, they've told us what their ambitions are. It's in intercepted
communications and the different ways of finding out information. They have
made it clear in their communications with each other that democracies are
soft, capitalism is a failed system, and that it's just a matter of time
before the United States of America were to lose its nerve.

That's what they believe. They believe if they can make life painful enough
that we will retreat from the battlefield, that we will give them safe
haven -- allow them to get safe haven. They want to reestablish roots in a
country like they did in Afghanistan so they can help topple moderate
governments in the Middle East, as well as launch attacks against the
United States of America. That's what they have said. As your Commander --
as your President and as the Commander-in-Chief, it's probably pretty wise
that I take the words of the enemy seriously, which I do.

And so, therefore, for those who think it's probably best to let the world
kind of drift off without American leadership or American involvement, they
really don't see the world the way -- at least the way I see it. And I
understand some would like to see the world the way they hope it would be.
But you've got to have a President who sees the world the way it is. And
the way it is, is a dangerous place that requires the United States of
America to be on the offense. And so we're waging the global war on terror.

And the global war on terror has a variety of fronts. The two most notable
fronts, of course, are Afghanistan and Iraq. In Afghanistan, I said if you
harbor a terrorist, you're as guilty as a terrorist. I know full well that
when the President says something, he better mean it. I meant it. And when
the Taliban didn't believe us, we liberated the country. And today, there's
a new democracy in the world, and that's important, particularly for the
students to understand, because eventually I'm going to tie in democracy
and peace. But there is a new democracy and we're helping that democracy
survive and grow.

Secondly, I said if you see a threat, you've got to take threats seriously.
I saw a threat. Now, I don't want to rehash the history of the
decision-making that went on in the run up to the war of Iraq, I would just
remind people that people in both political parties and people all around
the world saw a threat. And I feel strongly that the world is better off
without Saddam Hussein in power. (Applause.)

And no matter what your position was on the issue of war in Iraq -- and I
can understand why good people differ about my decision -- but we've got to
make sure we don't retreat from the world and allow the good work that has
gone on to collapse, so that the enemy is able to gain a safe haven from
which to create havoc and launch attacks. And so, therefore, we have
developed a plan for victory. It's not a plan for retreat -- it's a plan
for victory.

And the definition of victory is to support the Iraqis so they can sustain
themselves, govern themselves, defend themselves, be an ally in the war on
terror, and deny safe haven to al Qaeda. That's the goal. (Applause.)

The work is difficult work. It's hard to help a society go from a tyranny
to a democracy. You see, the people who lived under the thumb of Saddam
Hussein were terrorized by him. He divided the society up. He pitted groups
of people against each other. He was ruthless in his administration of his
so-called justice. And as a result there's a lot of scarred emotions and
distrust.

And yet something amazing happened in December of last year -- admittedly
it seems like an eternity ago -- but 12 million Iraqis defied car bombers,
killers and terrorists and declared in unity, we want to be free. It's an
amazing moment in the history of freedom. They've said to their government,
and said to the people, look, we want to live in a free society. We want to
be able to express ourselves. We want to be able to elect our officials.
And so the political process is one that's now moving forward to honor that
request, to honor the 12 million who voted.

There's a government forming in Iraq. This is a new process for them. You
might remember we had a little trouble getting our own Constitution up and
running; we weren't a perfect democracy in our beginnings either. But,
nevertheless, what particularly the students now are seeing is as a result
of active involvement -- not only to defend ourselves -- but adherence to
some basic beliefs, a new democracy in the heart of the Middle East is
emerging. We're training these Iraqis so they can take the fight to the
enemy. I have said clearly to the American people, as the Iraqi forces step
up, we will step down.

But it's really important for us to understand that if we leave too early,
the new democracy will falter. It's in the nation's interest that democracy
prevail, because democracies help yield the peace. (Applause.)

A nation that becomes isolationist will be one that doesn't understand that
democracy can change the world; is one that says, well, let's just get out
of there before we complete the mission, let's just not worry about what
takes place in parts of the world other than perhaps our own neighborhood.
But to me, that's a bad choice, because, you see, during a period of time
when we thought everything was calm, there was resentment and bitterness
growing -- which enabled an enemy to recruit suiciders who were willing to
launch an attack on our nation, which has caused more people to lose their
life than in Pearl Harbor.

And so, therefore, I really think it's important for the American
government to work with allies to stay on the leading edge of change, to
not lose our nerve, and to remember the lessons of history.

One of the interesting lessons of history is to look at Europe. We had
World War I and World War II in a pretty quick period of time, and we lost
a lot of troops there. And today, Europe is whole and at peace. So what
happened? What caused the world to change? What caused the world to change
was Europe established democracies, and history has proven democracies
don't war with each other.

I love to tell the story about my relationship with Prime Minister Koizumi.
You know, my dad was a young guy; right before he went to college, he
joined up in the United States Navy, just like a lot of others did -- and
I'm sure some of your relatives did the same thing -- to fight the
Japanese. Yet, today, I sit down at the peace table with Koizumi. We talk
about North Korea, we talk about Iraq, we talk about how allies can work to
keep the peace.

I find it really interesting that that's taking place. And what happened
was, was that between the time that the United States fought the Japanese
and the time old George W. sitting down there at the table with the Prime
Minister, Harry Truman said, let's help the Japanese develop a
Japanese-style democracy. See, what's really important for the students
here to understand, that liberty and freedom have got the -- have proven
the capacity to convert enemies into allies. And if you're interested in
keeping the peace, it's important for the United States of America to lead.

There's something universal about freedom. I believe in the universality of
freedom. I believe everybody desires to be free. I don't believe freedom is
only owned by America, I don't believe only Methodists can be free. I
believe everybody desires to be free, and the United States of America must
lead the world to be more free. (Applause.)

But our concern shouldn't just be in winning the war on terror and changing
the conditions that enable folks to recruit. In other words, battling the
ideology of hatred with the ideology of hope. An active nation is one that
also works hard in places like the Sudan, where ours is the only nation in
the world that has condemned what's going on in Darfur as genocide. The
United States must lead to make sure -- (applause.) A confident nation that
does it's duty in the international community is one that does what we're
doing now in Darfur. We provide over 85 percent of the food aid to help the
refugees in this area. We're taking the lead in the United Nations to call
the world to account. I believe to whom much is given, much is required.
And, therefore, it's important for the United States to continue to lead in
the fight against HIV/AIDS in places like the continent of Africa.
(Applause.)

I believe that when we see starvation, this great nation of ours should
lead the world to help feed the hungry. I believe when we see devastation,
the United States must continue to be willing to use assets to help people
such as those whose lives were turned upside-down by the tsunamis or the
earthquakes in Pakistan. You see, a confident nation -- a nation confident
in its ideals and confident its capacity must continue to lead and not
isolate ourselves from the world.

We've got a good economy right now. And that's good news. Unemployment rate
is 4.7 percent nationwide. (Applause.) We've got -- productivity is up;
home ownership is up; after-tax -- real after-tax income is up by over 8
percent since 2001. Things are rocking along. The entrepreneurial spirit is
strong. And yet when you think about it, when some think about it, they
look at our economic future, and they're very worried. They're troubled.
See, they're troubled by competition from places like China and India. And
I can understand that. These are vast labor markets that are just beginning
to grow.

And the response in some instances is to say, let's just don't -- just
don't take them on; let us kind of pull back and wall ourselves off through
protectionist policy. For those of you who've studied history, you might
remember we've had this kind of -- we've had these decisions before in our
nation's history.

How about the 1920s? You might remember the 1920s, at least through your
history books at least, and that is, is that we were an isolationist
nation. We said, let them figure it out in Europe; we'll let them work out
their differences over there, we don't need to be involved. And we had high
protective tariffs -- and, by the way, really high taxes. And as a result,
there's a worldwide depression. I'm not saying all of it was caused by
those tendencies, I'm saying some of it was caused by those tendencies. So
we've been through a period of time where we said let's -- we lose our
confidence, let's not be bold in our willingness to do the right things at
home so that we can compete.

My attitude is this about America: We shouldn't fear the future, I told
you. And I want to talk to you about some ways that we can shape the future
in order to make sure America remains the leader. I'm not only talking
about the leader for peace, but I'm also talking about the economic leader
of the world. It's in our interests that that be the case. When our nation
leads and remains the most productive place in the world, it means a higher
standard of living for our people. It means better wages, better quality of
life. It means you're more likely to realize your dream. If we wall
ourselves off and stagnate as an economy, it's going to be harder for the
American Dream to continue to renew itself.

And so here are some ideas for you as to how to make sure we continue to
shape the future. One is to keep taxes low. (Applause.) The reason why it's
important to keep taxes low is because in a global economy, capital will
tend to flow where taxes are low. And the other reason why is that you want
money in the hands of the entrepreneurs.

You might remember, we've been through a lot in the last five years:
recession, stock market collapse, corporate scandals, attacks on the
country, natural disasters, high energy prices -- yet, we're growing, we're
strong. And one of the reasons why is, is because we let the people keep
more of their own money. See, the theory is, is that when somebody has more
of their own money to spend, save or invest, the economy grows. And so if
we're going to be competitive, we've got to make sure that we keep money in
the peoples' pockets. That's how the entrepreneurial spirit remains strong.

It's really important for our citizens to remember that 70 percent of new
jobs in America are created by small business owners. And the more money
they have in their coffers, the more likely it is they're going to create
jobs for the American people.

Secondly, we want this always to be the best place for entrepreneurship. We
want people in our country saying, you know, if I've got a good idea and
willing to work hard I'm going to take a risk, because I want to own my own
business. There's nothing better than meeting somebody who says, you know,
I started my business recently, Mr. President, and I'm doing just fine --
and by the way, thanks for the tax relief so I can keep some more money to
expand. (Applause.)

You'll hear in Washington people saying, well, we've got to raise the taxes
in order to balance the budget. That's not the way Washington works. If we
were to raise your taxes, Washington would figure out new ways to spend
your money. (Laughter and applause.) And it might sound good, the titles of
the programs will sound just fine, but we've got to make sure we set
priorities with your money. My number one priority is this, so long as
we've got a troop in harm's way, a man or woman in uniform who's risking
their lives for the security of America, they're going to get whatever it
takes to do their job. (Applause.) Thank you, all. (Applause.)

But we can cut this deficit in half if we're wise about how we spend your
money, by setting priorities. And we will. The interesting thing about
pro-growth economic policies, coupled with fiscal sanity in Washington is
that when the economy grows, it creates more revenues for the Treasury.
Last year -- we've got about $100 billion more revenues to our Treasury
than anticipated. And this year, there's 11 percent ahead of where we were
last year. And so if you hold your spending down by setting priorities and
grow your economy, the deficit shrinks. And that's one way to control your
budget.

But the real budget problems we face beyond the current account is -- of
the budget is the unfunded liabilities inherent in Social Security and
Medicare. If this nation wants to be competitive, we have got to make sure
that we reform Medicare and Social Security. And here's the problem, and
this is -- I'm addressing this particularly for the ones coming up, the
people getting ready to get in the workplace -- because the truth of the
matter is Social Security is fine for people who are eligible today. And
Social Security is in pretty good shape for baby boomers. As a matter of
fact, we're the problem. (Laughter.) We're getting ready to retire -- just
so happens I turn 62 in 2008, which is a convenient age. (Laughter and
applause.)

But there's a lot of us, see, and we're living longer than anybody
anticipated. I'm riding that mountain bike because I'm trying to retard the
aging process. (Laughter.) But a lot of my baby boomers are more conscious
of their health. In other words, we're mindful that if you smoke, it's
going to shorten your lifetime; or if you're drinking too much, it will
affect you. And so there's been a -- there's a health consciousness among
my generation.

There's a lot of us, and there's fewer people paying into the system, and
we've been promised greater benefits, which means we're on a collision
course for our younger workers. And you're paying into this system that's
going to be broke. And it's going to affect our ability to compete. That's
what I'm telling you.

And so Congress has got to listen to this. Let's get rid of all the
politics once and for all up there, and come together and put a bipartisan
solution to Social Security and Medicare so that we can say to a young
generation of Americans, we did our duty. And by doing our duty, by solving
a problem that admittedly is down the road, but the longer we wait, the
more acute the problem is going to be. Now is the time to fix to make sure
the United States of America remains the economic leader of the world.
(Applause.) Thank you, all. (Applause.)

I was just getting warmed up, and we're running out of oxygen in here.
(Laughter.)

Trade is an interesting issue. One way to determine whether the nation has
lost its confidence is whether or not the nation is willing to trade, be a
free trading nation. And I can understand people's concerns about imports
coming in from China and imports coming in from India. But I don't think we
ought to allow those concerns to close down markets. As a matter of fact, I
feel very strongly that the United States of America must do the right
things internally and also open up markets so that we can keep competition
in a global way.

Here's the thing, my job is to make sure that we're treated fairly. That
with opening markets -- our own markets and getting other people to open
their markets, that they treat us the way we treat them, because I strongly
believe, one, trade is good for the world; two, it's a good way to
alleviate poverty; three, it's important for creating jobs. Northern
Kentucky, by the way, benefits from trade. One reason your job base is
strong is because we're selling goods made here elsewhere.

The way I like to tell the American people, it's like China. For example, I
was with President Hu. I said, Mr. President, it's fine for you selling
your goods here. But you've got to understand something about the American
people, we just want to be treated fairly. So intellectual property rights,
if you have a product here, we're not going to steal the patent -- steal
the intellectual property rights. You don't steal it from us. If you treat
our manufacturers well, make sure your currency moves like our currency
moves. That's all we want, Mr. President. The American people are fair. And
the reason I'm confident in talking about why opening markets will be good
for us, because I firmly believe we can compete with anybody, anytime,
anywhere. And America must never, never lose that thought. (Applause.)

So I know I shocked some people the other day when I got up and said, we're
addicted to oil and that's a problem. But if we're really interested in
being a competitive nation, we're going to have to do something about our
reliance upon oil now. (Applause.)

So I'm working with Congress to promote what's called this Advanced Energy
Initiative. And we're working on a variety of fronts. First, one thing we
can do is make sure we promote clean coal technology. We've got a lot of
coal -- like, 250-some odd years worth of coal. We also care about our
environment here in America. And we've also got the capacity to make sure
that we develop the technologies that will enable us to use this coal.

One way to get off oil and hydrocarbons is to use our coal in an
environmentally friendly way, and I believe we'll be able to do so. We're
spending a lot of money in Washington, by the way, on clean coal
technology, and I think it's a proper use of taxpayer's money to do so.

We're also investigating coal to liquid technology. In other words, we'll
be able to use our coals to be able to provide liquids that we'll be able
to use, as well, as an energy source. But there's some other interesting
ideas going on. For example, I like the idea of our farmers being able to
provide energy to power automobiles. It's called ethanol. (Applause.)

But there will be some technological breakthroughs that allow us to use
switch grass. So I said, what is it? Well, it's grass that looks like a
switch -- (laughter) -- that grows in dry climate. See, that makes sense,
doesn't it, to be able to investigate whether or not we can convert that
kind of material to energy. I think we'll be able to. Wood chips -- now all
of this sounds fanciful to some, which the Internet seemed fanciful at one
point in time.

And so we're spending money at the federal level to investigate ways to be
able to diversify. One of the interesting technologies that's now on the
market is hybrid automobiles. But there's new battery technology being
developed, and I'm told to breakthroughs in this technology that will
enable you to drive your first 40 miles on electricity alone. That's a
pretty good deal if we're able to achieve that kind of breakthrough.
Particularly in big cities -- a lot of people in big cities aren't going to
drive 40 miles a day. They may not drive 40 miles a week. But,
nevertheless, when you start taking that amount of demand off the market
for gasoline, starts to begin to affect our national and economic security.

In terms of electricity, we have got to move forward with nuclear power.
Nuclear power is clean -- (applause.) And we're spending money on solar
energy and wind energy. There's not going to be a single breakthrough --
there's going to be a variety of sources of new renewable energy sources
that are going to enable us to be able to say to the next generation
coming, we're less reliant on oil. It's in our economic interests, and it's
in our national security interests that we spend money now to develop the
technologies that will get us off oil so we can leave behind an America
that's competitive, that will be able to compete in the global economy.
(Applause.)

I'm now getting to the reason I came here -- (laughter) -- and that is that
this country of ours, in order to be competitive, must always be on the
leading edge of technological change, and therefore must be always the best
at research and development, and at the same time, must educate our
children so they have the skills necessary to fill the jobs of the 21st
century.

NKU has got some really innovative programs, kind of a seamless transition
from high school to college. You've got math and science fairs. You're
focusing a lot of your attention on making sure the skill sets that you
teach your children are relevant, that will actually keep us competitive.

Let me talk about research and development right quick. I believe there's a
proper federal role for basic research. The reason why is there has been
some federal research projects which have made a difference in your lives.
People here probably don't understand it, but at least understand this. But
the Defense Department spent a lot of money on figuring out ways to
communicate, out of which came the Internet. See, the Internet came to be
as a result of federal research dollars being spent. I like to mountain
bike, I like to put a little country and western music on my iPod.
(Laughter.) The iPod came to be because of federal research into micro
drive storage and different technologies.

And so, therefore, in order to make sure America is competitive, and that
we're the leader of the world, I believe we ought to double the amount of
money we spend in basic research at the federal level. (Applause.)

Secondly, what's interesting is most research money is spent by the private
sector. One of the great things about our system is it encourages people to
-- encourages corporations to invest so they can remain productive and be
able to compete. One of the tools that we've used to encourage people to
invest in research and development is the Research and Development Tax
Credit. Curiously enough, it expires on a regular basis, which then causes
uncertainty. If you're not sure the tax thing is going to be around, you
may not want to invest.

And so in order to make sure we continue to get the $200 billion a year we
get from private sector into research and development, we need to make the
Research and Development Tax Credit permanent. (Applause.)

Thirdly, if our children don't have the skills necessary to fill the jobs
of the 21st century, the jobs are going somewhere else. Make no mistake
about that. In a global economy, whether we like it or not, whether we're
protectionists or confident, the jobs will go somewhere else.

And so therefore it's really important that the United States of America
focus hard on the math and sciences. And by the way, we made a pretty good
start with No Child Left Behind. And the reason why is, is that we're
beginning to change the attitudes for one of the real keys to success and
that is, measurement.

So I go to Washington, and I said, we'll be strongly committed to helping
Title I students in particular with additional money, but I want the states
and the local governments to show us whether or not the kids are learning.
I didn't think that was too much of a request to ask. (Applause.)

We didn't say, here, you do this curriculum. We didn't say that. We didn't
say, you've got to hire so-and-so, or run your school this way, because I
believe in local control in schools. But we did say, why don't you show us
-- measure. Let's stop guessing in America. Let us know for certain whether
or not our children are going to be able to compete in the 21st century,
starting with making sure every child learns to read. I don't think that's
too much to ask, to make sure every child can read. If you can't read,
you're not going to be a scientist or an engineer. You won't be able to
fill the jobs of the 21st century.

And so we started No Child Left Behind and I want to appreciate the state
of Kentucky for implementing the No Child Left Behind standards. It says
we're going to raise standards, we're not going to tell you how to run your
schools, but you need to measure. And by the way, if you find that a child
can't read at grade-level, here's a little extra money to help.

In other words, we use the accountability system to be able to diagnose
problems early and solve them before it's too late.

In the old days -- you might remember those days -- we just kind of
shuffled the kids through. And guess who got shuffled through? Inner-city
African American kids -- just move them through; it's so much more easy,
just let them go. Kids whose parents don't speak English as a first
language, they're too tough, just move them through. But that's not fair,
and it's not right, and it's going to mean America will not be able to
compete. And so we shut that practice down, and America is better for it.
(Applause.)

And so let me read you some interesting statistics -- I'm able to read
these to you because we measure. (Laughter.) In 2005, America's 4th-graders
posted the best scores in reading and math in the history of the test. In
other words, there's a norming test to determine whether or not the local
accountability system -- standards or systems are making a difference.
African American 4th-graders set records in reading and math. The Nation's
Report Card showed 8th-graders earned the best math scores recorded ever.
Eighth grade Hispanic and African American students achieved the highest
math scores ever.

In other words, we've had an achievement gap in our country, and because we
focus on each child and measure and insist that curriculum work, that
achievement gap is growing -- in order for this country -- is shrinking. In
order for this country to be competitive, all our students have got to get
a good education. Everybody must be drilled in the basics. And now it's
time to add. It's time to add math -- focus on math and science. This
college is going to -- this university will benefit by making sure that
we've got high school students -- junior high and high school students
coming out of our -- these institutions with the capacity to be interested
in math, and the skill set necessary to be able to take on some of the
really interesting courses being taught here.

And so why am I concerned about math? Well, we also know that by the time a
student gets to high school, most of our students have fallen behind the
rest of the developed world in math and science. You're able to measure.
And that's not good enough for America. It's a warning signal, it seems
like to me. If we're going to be a confident nation that doesn't wall
ourselves off from the world, that competes and leads, we better make sure
the next generation of children coming up not only are good readers, but
have got the ability to be skillful in math and science and engineering and
physics and chemistry. And here's some ideas for us.

First, I believe we ought to expand advanced placement programs around the
country by providing money to train 70,000 high school teachers over the
next five years to teach AP. Now, AP is an interesting program. Some of you
probably know what it is. Here's the way I like to describe it. We're going
to set high standards, and we're going to expect the best. And we're going
to have teachers with that skill set necessary to convince students it's in
their interest to learn AP. I went to an interesting AP school in Dallas,
Texas, and they said it's graduating more AP students than any other high
school in the country. Of course, you know how Texans are. Anyway --
(Laughter and applause.)

But I walked into a classroom and had a young Latino -- guy had a pony tail
on, and he said, I want to be an astrophysicist, Mr. President. And it was
child after child -- because they had an AP teacher raise those standards
-- say, I want to be a chemist; I want to be a physicist. We can do this in
America.

And one way to start is to make sure that AP classes flourish.

Secondly, we're going to have a program that has 30,000, what we call
adjunct professors. These will be math and science professionals who will
go into classrooms -- one way to say this strategy is to say, look, it's
okay to be a math and scientist, it's cool. What we need -- I went to a
classroom outside of Maryland, and there was a NASA engineer in there, and
he could make science really seem interesting to these kids.

Thirdly, we've got to make sure that we have the same rigorous examination
of our math curriculum that we did with our reading curriculum. See, we
went through a whole process of helping local districts determine whether
or not the reading curriculum they were using was going to work. By the
way, one way to determine is, you measure.

And so Secretary of Education Spellings has established what's called the
National Math -- I signed an executive order for recommendation -- the
National Math Panel. They met this week earlier; they're 17expert panelists
and six members from other government agencies. They're going to help
design a standards and accountability, as well as teaching methods. In
other words, we're going to get focused on this and we expect our states to
join us and to focus on math and science. It is really important that we
start laying that skill set now for the next generation of Americans if
we're going to be competent.

And by the way, in the 8th grade, if you start falling behind in math, you
ought to get that supplemental service money, that extra help, just like we
provide for 3rd and 4th graders in reading, when they begin to fall behind.

Obviously, some are saying, well that sounds great, Mr. President, how
about helping those who can't go to college, go to college. I'm a big
believer in Pell grants. Pell grants are a very important part of making
sure American education lays that foundation for excellence.

We've increased the number of Pell grants since I've been your president by
a million. We've got 5 million kids now getting Pell grants, and the
maximum grant has gone from $3,750 to $4,050. If you qualify you get
$4,050. But I think we ought to provide additional incentives through the
Pell grant program. We call them enhanced Pell grants -- and we're working
with Congress -- they've actually just passed the two ideas that I think
make sense.

One is that if you're a graduate with a 3.0, and you've taken a rigorous
high school curriculum -- if you take a rigorous high school curriculum and
you go to college and maintain a 3.0 in college for your first two years,
your Pell grant increases $750 for the first year, $1,300 for the second
year. The purpose of this is to say to high schools, keep raising that
standard. Keep providing rigorous courses in math and science, and for the
students that qualify, there will be a reward. And by the way, once you get
into college, there will be an additional $4,000 on top of the Pell grant
for third and fourth year students who have maintained 3.0 and who major in
math, science, or a critical foreign language.

And so here are some incentives to build on this strategy to make sure
America competes. So before you all pass out, I want to say one other thing
-- (laughter.) Laura said, whatever you do, don't go over to Kentucky and
get a little long-winded. I obviously didn't listen. (Laughter.)

I feel passionately about our country's future. I am optimistic about
America. I've got a unique perspective. I am able to see America in a
different way from you all. I am able to see these unbelievable acts of
kindness that take place on a regular basis here in our country, people
willing to say, I want to serve my country by loving a neighbor. I also
understand that our value system, our belief in human liberty is just a
powerful motivator for good. And I know the entrepreneurial spirit is a way
to make sure people are able to realize dreams.

And so what I really want to share with you is, I understand that there's
some uncertainty and worries because of circumstances today, but you've got
a President whose -- I've got no doubt in my mind that the world is headed
toward peace and that this country is going to remain the economic leader
of the world. We just can't lose our confidence. America shouldn't fear the
future, because we're going to shape the future.

Thanks for letting me come by. (Applause.)

END 4:22 P.M. EDT

===========================================================================
Return to this article at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/05/20060519-4.html

 * Origin: (1:3634/12)