pd06oc03 Remarks on Signing the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations...

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conservatism, applying the most innovative ideas to the task of helping 
our fellow citizens in need. There are millions of men and women who 
want to end their dependence on government, become independent through 
hard work. We must build on the success of welfare reform to bring work 
and dignity into the lives of more of our fellow citizens.
    Congress should complete the ``Citizen Service Act,'' so more 
Americans can serve their communities and their country. And both Houses 
should finally reach agreement on my Faith-Based Initiative to support 
the armies of compassion which exist all around our country, that are 
mentoring our children, that are caring for the homeless, that offer 
hope to addicted. This great Nation should not fear faith, should not 
fear those who rely upon faith as their motivation to provide help to 
those who hurt. We need to welcome faith in our society.
    A compassionate society must promote opportunity for all, including 
the independence and dignity that come from ownership. See, this 
administration will constantly strive to promote an ownership society in 
America. We want more people owning their own home. We want people 
owning and managing their health care accounts. We want people owning 
and managing their own retirement accounts. We want more people owning a 
small business, because we understand that when a person owns something, 
he or she has a vital stake in the future of our country.
    In a compassionate society, people respect one another and take 
responsibility for the decisions they make. We're changing the culture 
of America from one that has said, ``If it feels good, just go ahead and 
do it,'' and ``If you've got a problem, blame somebody else,'' to a 
culture in which each of us understands we are responsible for the 
decisions we make in life. If you are fortunate enough to be a mom or a 
dad, you're responsible for loving your child. If you're concerned about 
the quality of the education in the community in which you live, you're 
responsible for doing something about it. If you're a CEO in corporate 
America, you're responsible for telling the truth to your shareholders

[[Page 1286]]

and your employees. And in the new responsibility society, each of us is 
responsible for loving our neighbor just like we'd like to be loved 
ourselves.
    We can see the culture of service and responsibility growing around 
us here in America. You know, I started what's called the USA Freedom 
Corps to encourage Americans to extend a compassionate hand to a 
neighbor in need, and the response has been really strong. People want 
to serve. People want to be involved in their community. Our faith-based 
and charities are strong, providing the much needed healing to those who 
need help.
    Policemen and firefighters and people who wear our Nation's uniform 
are reminding us what it means to sacrifice for something greater than 
yourself. Once again, the children of America believe in heroes, because 
they see them every day. In these challenging times, the world has seen 
the resolve and the courage of America. And I've been privileged to see 
the compassion and the character of the American people.
    All the tests of the last 2\1/2\ years have come to the right 
Nation. We're a strong country, and we use that strength to defend the 
peace. We're an optimistic country, confident in ourselves and in ideals 
bigger than ourselves. Abroad, we seek to lift whole nations by 
spreading freedom. At home, we seek to lift up lives by spreading 
opportunity to every corner of America. This is the work that history 
has set before us, and we welcome it. And we know that for our country 
and for our cause, the best days lie ahead.
    May God bless you all.

Note: The President spoke at 12:30 p.m. at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel 
and Towers. In his remarks, he referred to Patrick G. Ryan, event chair; 
Jean Hastert, wife of Speaker of the House of Representatives J. Dennis 
Hastert; Representative Don Manzullo; former Gov. Jim Edgar and former 
Gov. James R. Thompson of Illinois; Robert Kjellander, Illinois national 
committeeman, and Mary Jo Arndt, Illinois national committeewoman, 
Republican National Committee; Mercer Reynolds, national finance 
chairman, Bush-Cheney '04, Inc.; and former President Saddam Hussein of 
Iraq.


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[Page 1286-1287]
 
Pages 1273	1323
 
Week Ending Friday, October 3, 2003
 
Remarks Following a Meeting With Business Leaders and an Exchange With 
Reporters in Chicago

September 30, 2003

    The President. Mr. Mayor, thank you. I want to thank the business 
leaders here from the Chicago area for sharing with me their concerns 
about our economy. I think it's safe to say most people share the sense 
of optimism I do but recognize there's still work to be done, 
particularly when it comes to job creation.
    We talked about good legal policy. We talked about the need for an 
energy plan. We talked about fair trade for American manufacturers. We 
talked about the need for China to make sure that China's got a monetary 
policy which is fair. And I assured the leaders here that I would work 
to--I'd represent the manufacturing sector and the--all sectors of our 
economy when it comes to world trade.
    The thing I'm concerned about is people being able to find a job. We 
put the conditions in place for good job creation, but I recognize 
there's still people who want to work that can't find a job. And we're 
dedicated to hearing the voices of those folks and working hard to 
expand our economy.
    And so I want to thank you all for taking time. Mr. Mayor, I wish 
the Cubs all the best. [Laughter] I made a significant contribution to 
the Cubs, as you might recall----
    Participant. Sammy.
    The President. ----when I was a--yes, Sammy Sosa. I'll take great 
delight when they win.
    Participant. Thank you for Sammy.
    The President. Thanks for coming.
    Let me answer a couple of questions. Then we've got to go to 
Cincinnati. Deb [Deb Reichmann, Associated Press].

Justice Department Investigation of Classified Information Leak

    Q. Do you think that the Justice Department can conduct an impartial 
investigation, considering the political ramifications of the CIA leak, 
and why wouldn't a special counsel be better?
    The President. Yes. Let me just say something about leaks in 
Washington. There are

[[Page 1287]]

too many leaks of classified information in Washington. There's leaks at 
the executive branch; there's leaks in the legislative branch. There's 
just too many leaks. And if there is a leak out of my administration, I 
want to know who it is. And if the person has violated law, the person 
will be taken care of.
    And so I welcome the investigation. I'm absolutely confident that 
the Justice Department will do a very good job. There's a special 
division of career Justice Department officials who are tasked with 
doing this kind of work. They have done this kind of work before in 
Washington this year. I have told our administration--people in my 
administration to be fully cooperative.
    I want to know the truth. If anybody has got any information, inside 
our administration or outside our administration, it would be helpful if 
they came forward with the information so we can find out whether or not 
these allegations are true and get on about the business.
    Yes, let's see, Kemper [Bob Kemper, Chicago Tribune]. He's from 
Chicago. Where are you? Are you a Cubs or White Sox fan? [Laughter] Wait 
a minute. That doesn't seem fair, does it? [Laughter]
    Q. Yesterday we were told that Karl Rove had no role in it.
    The President. Yes.
    Q. Have you talked to Karl, and do you have confidence in him----
    The President. Listen, I know of nobody--I don't know of anybody in 
my administration who leaked classified information. If somebody did 
leak classified information, I'd like to know it, and we'll take the 
appropriate action. And this investigation is a good thing.
    And again I repeat, you know, Washington is a town where there's all 
kinds of allegations. You've heard much of the allegations. And if 
people have got solid information, please come forward with it. And that 
would be people inside the information who are the so-called anonymous 
sources, or people outside the information--outside the administration. 
And we can clarify this thing very quickly if people who have got solid 
evidence would come forward and speak out. And I would hope they would. 
And then we'll get to the bottom of this and move on.
    But I want to tell you something, leaks of classified information 
are a bad thing. And we've had them--there's too much leaking in 
Washington. That's just the way it is. And we've had leaks out of the 
administrative branch, had leaks out of the legislative branch, and out 
of the executive branch and the legislative branch, and I've spoken out 
consistently against them, and I want to know who the leakers are.
    Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 2:10 p.m. at the University of Chicago. In 
his remarks, he referred to Mayor Richard M. Daley of Chicago and 
Chicago Cubs baseball player Sammy Sosa. A tape was not available for 
verification of the content of these remarks.


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[Page 1287-1288]
 
Pages 1273	1323
 
Week Ending Friday, October 3, 2003
 
Statement on Signing the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2004

September 30, 2003

    Today I have signed into law H.R. 2657, the ``Legislative Branch 
Appropriations Act, 2004'' for the fiscal year ending September 30, 
2004, and making emergency supplemental appropriations for fiscal year 
2003.
    Section 103 of the Act establishes in the House of Representatives 
an Office of Interparliamentary Affairs. To ensure consistency with the 
President's constitutional authority to conduct the Nation's foreign 
affairs, the executive branch shall construe section 103 as assigning 
the Office functions limited to protocol and travel support for the 
House of Representatives.
    Several provisions of the Act make specified changes in statements 
of managers of the House-Senate conference committees that accompanied 
various bills reported from conference that ultimately became laws. As 
with other committee materials, statements of managers accompanying a 
conference report do not have the force of law. Accordingly, although 
changes to these statements are directed by the terms of the statute, 
the

[[Page 1288]]

statements themselves are not legally binding.
                                                George W. Bush
 The White House,
 September 30, 2003.

Note: H.R. 2657, approved September 30, was assigned Public Law No. 108-
83. An original was not available for verification of the content of 
this statement.


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[Page 1288]
 
Pages 1273	1323
 
Week Ending Friday, October 3, 2003
 
Memorandum on Transfer of Funds From International Organizations and 
Programs Funds to the Child Survival and Health Programs Fund

September 30, 2003

 Presidential Determination No. 2003-41

Memorandum for the Secretary of State

Subject: Transfer of Funds from International Organizations and Programs 
(IO&P) Funds to the Child Survival and Health Programs Fund

    Consistent with the authority vested in me by the Constitution and 
laws of the United States, including section 610 of the Foreign 
Assistance Act of 1961, as amended (FAA), I hereby determine it 
necessary for the purposes of the FAA that the $25 million in FY 2003 
International Organizations and Programs funds that were reserved to be 
allocated for the United Nations Population Fund be transferred to, and 
consolidated with, the Child Survival and Health Programs Fund, and such 
funds are hereby transferred and consolidated.
    You are hereby authorized and directed to report this determination 
to the Congress and to arrange for its publication in the Federal 
Register.
                                                George W. Bush


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[Page 1288]
 
Pages 1273	1323
 
Week Ending Friday, October 3, 2003
 
Letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives on Reallocation of 
Funds Previously Transferred From the Emergency Response Fund

September 30, 2003

Dear Mr. Speaker:

    In order to continue responses necessary as a result of the 
September 11th terrorist attacks, I am notifying the Congress of my 
intent to reallocate funds previously transferred from the Emergency 
Response Fund (ERF).
    At this time, $290 million of ERF funds will be transferred to the 
Department of State to accelerate a variety of initiatives already 
underway in Afghanistan.
    The details of this action are set forth in the enclosed letter from 
the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
     Sincerely,
                                                George W. Bush


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[Page 1288-1289]
 
Pages 1273	1323
 
Week Ending Friday, October 3, 2003
 
Letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives on Providing Funds 
for the Department of Homeland Security's Counterterrorism Fund

September 30, 2003

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