October 28, 2005
js-2995

Remarks by U.S. Treasurer Cabral in Visit to Reopening of Gulfport, Mississippi Schools

Thanks so much for your hospitality and for hosting me today. I am so pleased to be visiting this wonderful state.

I feel both touched and honored to be here with all of you today, visiting Gulfport, Mississippi schools. I bring you warm greetings from President Bush and Secretary Snow as you return to class this month, and our best wishes to all – students, teachers, administrators and parents alike.

I would also like to especially thank Dr. Hank Bounds, Mississippi State Superintendent of Education, his wonderful staff, the school principals and teachers of Gulfport for their graciousness in taking valuable time to host me today.

I want to let you know that our nation and our government stand behind you in this challenging time. It is a source of great pride to note how our fellow Americans devastated by this natural disaster have demonstrated grace under fire, and how they have continued to valiantly face the long-term challenges that will be without a doubt overcome. But overcoming these challenges will be a mammoth task requiring great commitment and dedication from every party involved: government, businesses and individuals.

Superintendent Bounds tells me that he is in awe at the great outpouring of support for Mississippi schools both from the American people, as well as from the nonprofit and private sectors. So I want to say to all those who have given: thanks again for providing aid and assistance to these schools and students who so desperately need it. And thank you to all who have committed to helping not just in the short-term, but also in the long-term.

Fortunately, our country and this state are together facing these challenges head-on, with complete determination and optimism. It is also very fortunate that we do so having a really strong and vibrant economy. This is critical as we pursue rebuilding efforts for Mississippi schools and across your state. As my boss Secretary Snow says, "With a strong economy, we can afford to meet any challenge."

I want to assure you that President Bush will continue to work to keep government on the side of economic growth and job creation so America's businesses and workers can compete and prosper – so that the folks in the most affected areas by the Hurricanes can get back on their feet and so their local communities can once again flourish. Even in the face of challenges, such as the devastation caused by the natural disasters of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, President Bush has acted to maintain pro-growth economic policies.

However, this President recognizes that there is still more work to be done. The future holds tremendous opportunity for the American people, and this Administration is working very hard to ensure that all those pursuing the American Dream have the opportunity to attain it.

How will the President continue to work to achieve these goals? First and foremost, his Administration will continue to work toward keeping taxes low and also work to restrain unnecessary federal spending. The President has called upon Congress to make tax relief permanent to continue to ensure that more money is left in the pockets of the American people. To continue reducing the deficit, the President has submitted a disciplined budget that proposed an actual cut in spending on non-security discretionary programs and will keep the government on track to cut the deficit in half by 2009. As we help the people of the Gulf Coast rebuild, the President will work with Congress to further reduce unnecessary spending and cut programs that are not working, so as to provide for emergency relief in a fiscally responsible way.

As many of you know, this Administration has tended to recommend broad reforms. From education to health care, homeland security to corporate responsibility, Social Security to tax reform, the Bush Administration has actively sought reform across the spectrum of government. We've done so because we appreciate that government often must adapt itself to allow for individual creativity spur market growth.

We also understand the burden that can be left to future generations of taxpayers and policy makers alike if we allow government to become an outdated mechanism that creates a drag on our economy.

At Treasury, much of the reform policy that we focus on is aimed at maintaining an American economy that stands apart as the most flexible, adaptive and resilient in the world. This reform policy can be synthesized in four main or areas.

These four broad areas of reform that I will mention next, if achieved, will keep us ahead of the curve when it comes to our ability to compete in the global marketplace. First, to reiterate, we emphasize lower, simpler taxes and fiscal discipline because we respect the taxpayers' money. We appreciate that spending growth, and therefore government and tax growth, hampers individuals and businesses from using their money to create wealth. Furthermore, the burden of taxation that is too high and too complicated reduces our ability as a country to compete in a global marketplace.

Second, we are working with Congress to improve the social safety nets of health care and retirement security. Only thoughtful changes will help us help our neighbors, while at the same time avoid hampering the security of future generations.

Allow me to elaborate on the topic of improving retirement security. President Bush has proposed a comprehensive plan for pension reform to ensure that companies keep the promises they make to their workers.

Better and more market-sensitive accounting is crucial to this reform, which will ensure that corporations actually put aside the funds needed to make good on their pension promises.

Other key measures involve an increase in premiums paid to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (to strengthen the PBGC's finances and to reflect market insurance rates), new transparency requirements (so that workers will know if their employers are making good on their obligations), and restrictions on the ability of firms with underfunded plans to make new promises to workers. These commonsense measures for defined benefit pensions will help to strengthen an important pillar of our retirement system, company-based pensions.

Another critical pillar of our retirement system is also in serious need of reform. Social Security is currently on a financially unsustainable path. Reforming the system is necessary, and doing so will address some critical long-term economic issues. I hope to see reform of the system that stops the practice of the government writing itself IOUs while spending taxpayer dollars on unrelated programs.

That's why the President wants to give younger workers the choice to put their Social Security dollars in personal accounts – the ultimate "lock box" for their hard-earned retirement dollars.

President Bush also wants a permanent solution to this problem. So we also need to make the program solvent. Progressive benefit growth, which would bring the program about 70 percent of the way to solvency, is another important element of the President's proposed changes. In this scenario, the lowest income seniors would have the fastest-growing benefits while benefits for those who are better off grow more slowly, with protection from inflation.

Much like a business that hopes to be successful, the government that regulates a free-market economy must look not only at the challenges of the day, but the challenges of the future. Health, pension and Social Security reform all fall into that category. Without addressing their problems and embracing fiscally responsible solutions, each of these future risks carries the potential to critically stagnate our economy and our ability to compete.

Third, we additionally seek regulatory reforms to maintain a vibrant financial sector because strong enforcement must function without creating a burden for good actors.

And fourth, we also encourage both the Congress and the international community to embrace free trade and open markets because we believe it holds great hope not just for our businesses and workers, but for all the citizens of the world.

These reforms together are critical to both revitalizing the areas hardest hit by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita; and they are essential to the continued economic growth and prosperity of our country as a whole.

We owe it to ourselves today, and we owe it to our future generations to keeping moving toward achieving these goals – even as we work to rebuild the communities recently devastated by natural disasters. Achieving them will be a key to keeping our country on the road to increased economic prosperity. If we stay on this course, our children will surely benefit from it.

I sincerely appreciate your invitation to Mississippi. Thank you once again. I am so grateful for your time and for the opportunity to visit with you today. All the folks in Mississippi and in your school districts are all doing an amazing job, and doing that job beautifully.

-30-