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Remarks of U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development David A. Sampson Abilene Christian University
Monday, September 30, 2002
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Thank you Representative Hunter for the kind and gracious introduction. I am very proud to be here today in Abilene as a member of the Bush administration.

I am a graduate of both ACU and David Lipscomb University - and the education I received here, both academically and spiritually, formed the foundation to whatever success I have been blessed to achieve in both my personal and professional life:

The friendships I formed here have remained steadfast through the years and will continue to do so. My professors, who took a personal interest in my academic and spiritual development, gave me a passion for lifelong learning. I am sure your professors instill this passion in you as well.

I encourage all of you to continue to pursue your academic and spiritual goals well past graduation for the rewards you will reap in your lives by remaining focused will be immeasurable.

Today, we meet at a unique and pivotal moment in history. Potential further terrorist attacks, the threat of Saddam Hussein, a weakened economy, and corporate credibility issues have shaken us. To be sure, many Americans are uncertain about the future and President Bush understands that. But, ladies and gentleman, as President Bush recently said, "The foundation for economic growth in America is strong."

I want you to know that the President is focused on assuring the Nation's taxpayers that their government is pursuing a budget based on fiscal responsibility.

As President Bush said recently, "If you overspend, it creates a fundamental weakness in the foundation of economic growth."

The President is committed to working with Congress to make sure they hear the message -- the message of fiscal responsibility.

This means that we must set priorities. The most immediate threat to our country is from those who wish to do us harm. And so our most important priority, when it comes to budgeting and time and effort, is to protect American citizens.

The President is optimistic about the future, because the fundamentals for growth in the American economy are strong.

" Inflation and interest rates are low;
" Auto and retail sales are strong;
" New home sales are setting records;
" Wages are rising faster than inflation; and
" Consumer spending remains strong.

Our Nation is on track for sustained economic growth.

However, the President won't be satisfied until every American who wants a job can find a job, and all Americans have economic security.

From tax breaks for individuals and businesses, to working to ensure America's place in the global economy by boosting exports, President Bush is working tirelessly to complete the economic turnaround.

But economic turnarounds cannot, and should not, come at the expense of our ethics and values. As you have all heard in the news recently, corporate scandal has been rocking the confidence of investors, workers and average citizens in this nation. President Bush is deeply concerned about what he believes is a breakdown of ethics in corporate governance and the effect these breakdowns have been having on the economy.

As business students at a Christian university, you are keenly aware of the importance of pursuing the highest standards of ethics in a business environment - and in life.

On June 29, President Bush said, "No violation of the public's trust will be tolerated. The federal government will be vigilant in prosecuting wrongdoers to ensure that investors and workers maintain the highest confidence in American business."

"America is ushering in a new era of responsibility, and that ethic of responsibility must extend to America's boardrooms. I want every American to know that the vast majority of businesspeople are honest individuals who do right by the employees and their shareholders. The unethical actions of a few should not be allowed to call into question our whole free enterprise system."

So what is the Bush administration doing about the breakdown of ethics in corporate governance? Simply put, the President led efforts to place ethics - not just the bottom line - back in the boardrooms and accounting offices of American businesses.
The Administration's corporate governance plan is guided by the following core principles:

- Provide better information to investors;
- Make corporate officers more accountable; and
- Develop a stronger, more independent audit system.

Throughout the decade of the '90's, we were told that personal integrity had no impact on the discharge of our public responsibilities.

We now see all to clearly what happened when that mindset permeated the nation's boardrooms. When words like "expense" and "profit" are shorn of meaning, shareholders, employees, and our market economy suffer immense harm. To put it plainly, among too many CEO's devotion to public good during the '90's has been supplanted by rampant avarice.

What has set America's robust capital market apart from the world has been the innovation of generally accepted accountancy principles former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers said, "Transparency is good because it avoids surprises and shocks that cause crises. Transparency is good because, as someone once said, conscience is the knowledge that someone is watching. And it discourages bad behavior."

Well, unfortunately, we now know that there was not enough scrutiny of what was going on in the 1990's.

Legislation was passed by the Congress to tighten oversight of corporate governance and accounting procedures. But business ethics and confidence in the accuracy of corporate financial reports cannot be ensured by external legal standards and more rigorous regulation alone. Ethical business practices must instead be built on the inward moral convictions of business leaders.

This summer in a brilliant NY Times OP ED piece entitled "Capitalism Depends On Character," Jean Strause recounted how in 1912 a lawyer for a congressional investigating committee asked financier J.P. Morgan whether bankers issued commercial credit only to people who already had money or property. Morgan said, 'No sir; the first thing is character.' 'The skeptical lawyer repeated his question and Morgan in his typical Victorian terminology elaborated on his answer, 'because a man I do not trust could not get money from me on all the bonds in Christendom.' "

If you take one thing to heart from our meeting today, I hope it is this - as you move from the academic world into your professional careers, I ask each of you to reflect upon the strong moral and ethical base this wonderful university has instilled in you. Capitalism and the market economy are the foundations upon which our American business community is built - but the foundation, if designed and constructed through shortcuts, quick fixes and slight of hand, will surely crumble, taking our way of life and our nations' place in history - down with it.

I seem to remember a parable of Jesus from my Sunday school days about the foolish man who built his house upon the sand. "When the rains came down and the floods came up, the foolish man's house went 'splat.'" But under those same storm conditions, the wise man's house, which was built upon the rock, "stood firm."

There is nothing more important in business - or in any career - than a strong moral foundation, than building your house, your life, your business and career on the solid rock of truth. The old adage is still true - "The wise man's house stood firm".

Again, I thank you for coming today and may God bless you.

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