bush radio address 12/04/18 full audio, text transcript

For Immediate ReleaseDecember 18, 2004

President's Radio Address

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This week my administration hosted an important conference on America's economic future. We heard from business owners, workers, economists, and many other Americans who are seeing hopeful signs throughout our country. Our economy has come through a lot these past four years and now our people are benefitting from solid economic growth, steady gains in new jobs, record home ownership, and rising family incomes.

We also discussed some of the fundamental challenges facing our economy, from junk lawsuits and burdensome regulation to the complicated tax code, to the need for vital reforms in education, health care and entitlements. I will work with members of both political parties to confront these problems so we can keep our economy flexible, innovative and competitive, and so America remains the best place in the world to do business.

Excessive litigation is one of the biggest obstacles to economic growth. The tort system now costs America's economy more than $230 billion a year, and no other country faces a greater burden from junk lawsuits. Our litigious society deters job creation and consumes billions of dollars that could be better spent on investment and expansion. Frivolous lawsuits put American workers at a competitive disadvantage in the global economy and have a devastating impact on the medical community. When Congress convenes next year, the House and Senate need to pass sound reforms on our medical liability, class action, and asbestos litigation systems.

Another challenge in our economy is the rising cost of health care. More than half of all uninsured Americans are small business employees and their families. And while many business owners want to provide health care for their workers, they just can't afford the high cost. To help more Americans get care, we need to expand tax-free health savings accounts, which are already making a difference for small businesses and families. We should encourage health information technology that minimizes error and controls costs. And Congress must allow small firms to join together and buy health insurance at the same discounts big companies get.

To grow their businesses and create jobs, small business owners also need relief from excessive taxes and regulation. The tax relief we passed has been critical to our economic recovery, and Congress needs to make that tax relief permanent. We also need to reform our complicated tax code to encourage investment and growth, and reduce headache for taxpayers. And to promote innovation in hiring, we must lift the burden of needless federal regulation on hardworking entrepreneurs.

As our businesses create advanced, high-paying jobs, we must ensure that workers have the education and skills to fill those jobs. We've made a good start with the No Child Left Behind Act, which is already helping students make progress in the early grades. Now we need to bring high standards and accountability to high schools, and make sure job-training programs prepare workers for the innovative jobs of the 21st century.

To help our young people we must also fix the long-term problems in the Social Security system. Workers in their mid-20s today will find Social Security bankrupt when they retire, unless we act to save it. As we reform and strengthen the system we will deliver all the benefits owed to current and near retirees. We must not increase payroll taxes. And we must tap into the power of markets and compound interest by giving younger workers the option of saving some of their payroll taxes in a personal investment account, a nest egg they call their own, which the government can never take away.

The week's conference provided a good opportunity to discuss our economic challenges with Americans from many backgrounds, and to set the issues clearly before Congress. I'm open to good ideas from Democrats and Republicans. I will work with any who shares our goal of strengthening the economy. But I will not ignore these challenges and leave them to another day. We have a duty to the American people to act on these issues, and we will get results.

Thank you for listening. END

Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act

President Signs Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act FULL STREAMING VIDEO

Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium Washington, D.C. President's Remarks 9:59 A.M. EST

The Intelligence Reform 1

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. In a few minutes, I will sign into law the most dramatic reform of our nation's intelligence capabilities since President Harry S. Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947.

Under this new law, our vast intelligence enterprise will become more unified, coordinated and effective. It will enable us to better do our duty, which is to protect the American people.

I want to thank the members of Congress who have worked hard on this legislation. I particularly want to thank the leader of the Senate, Bill Frist, Speaker of the House Denny Hastert, and their counterparts in both bodies. I appreciate Senator Susan Collins from Maine and Senator Joe Lieberman from Connecticut for steering this legislation through the United States Senate. I appreciate Congressman Pete Hoekstra and Congresswoman Jane Harman for their leadership on this important issue, as well. Welcome. (Applause.)

I want to thank all the members of Congress who have joined us today for your good work on this legislation. I appreciate the members of my administration who helped, and that would be Director Porter Goss, Director Bob Mueller, Condi Rice and Fran Townsend. I particularly want to thank the 9/11 Commission, ably led by Tom Kean and Lee Hamilton. I want to thank the commission members who are here, as well. (Applause.)

I pay my respects, and offer our gratitude, to the family members of the victims of September the 11th. Thank you for working hard on this issue. Thank you for remembering your loved one.

The Intelligence Reform 2

Nearly six decades ago, our nation and our allies faced a new -- the new world of the Cold War and the dangers of a new enemy. To defend the free world from an armed empire bent on conquest, visionary leaders created new institutions such as the NATO alliance. The NATO alliance was begun by treaty in this very room. President Truman also implemented a sweeping reorganization of the federal government. He established the Department of Defense, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the National Security Council.

America, in this new century, again faces new threats. Instead of massed armies, we face stateless networks; we face killers who hide in our own cities. We must confront deadly technologies. To inflict great harm on our country, America's enemies need to be only right once. Our intelligence and law enforcement professionals in our government must be right every single time. Our government is adapting to confront and defeat these threats. We're staying on the offensive against the enemy. We'll take the fight to the terrorists abroad so we do not have to face them here at home.

And here at home, we're strengthening our homeland defenses. We created the Department of Homeland Security. We have made the prevention of terror attacks the highest priority of the Department of Justice and the FBI. We'll continue to work with Congress to make sure they've got the resources necessary to do their jobs. We established the National Counterterrorism Center where all the available intelligence on terrorist threats is brought together in one place and where joint action against the terrorists is planned.

We have strengthened the security of our nation's borders and ports of entry and transportation systems. The bill I sign today continues the essential reorganization of our government. Those charged with protecting America must have the best possible intelligence information, and that information must be closely integrated to form the clearest possible picture of the threats to our country.

A key lesson of September the 11th, 2001 is that America's intelligence agencies must work together as a single, unified enterprise. The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 creates the position of Director of National Intelligence, or DNI, to be appointed by the President with the consent of the Senate.

The Director will lead a unified intelligence community and will serve as the principle advisor to the President on intelligence matters. The DNI will have the authority to order the collection of new intelligence to ensure the sharing of information among agencies and to establish common standards for the intelligence community's personnel. It will be the DNI's responsibility to determine the annual budgets for all national intelligence agencies and offices and to direct how these funds are spent. These authorities vested in a single official who reports directly to me will make all our intelligence efforts better coordinated, more efficient, and more effective.

The Intelligence Reform 3

The Director of the CIA will report to the DNI. The CIA will retain its core of responsibilities for collecting human intelligence, analyzing intelligence from all sources, and supporting American interests abroad at the direction of the President.

The new law will preserve the existing chain of command and leave all our intelligence agencies, organizations, and offices in their current departments. Our military commanders will continue to have quick access to the intelligence they need to achieve victory on the battlefield. And the law supports our efforts to ensure greater information sharing among federal departments and agencies, and also with appropriate state and local authorities.

The many reforms in this act have a single goal: to ensure that the people in government responsible for defending America have the best possible information to make the best possible decisions. The men and women of our intelligence community give America their very best every day, and in return we owe them our full support. As we continue to reform and strengthen the intelligence community, we will do all that is necessary to defend its people and the nation we serve.

I'm now pleased and honored to sign into law the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. (Applause.)

(The bill is signed.) (Applause.)