SECRETARY PAIGE: Governor, thank you for that warm introduction, but thank you even more so for your hard work on behalf of Minnesota's children. You believe in high standards and working hard to achieve them, and when you stole Cheri Yecke away from the U.S. Department of Education, it just told us even more so how dedicated you were to the children of this great state. You serve this great state well. Thank you.

Ladies and gentlemen, a round of applause for the governor. [Applause.]

And Jim Towey, director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Thank you, Jim, for your leadership and putting on this great conference.

Ladies and gentlemen, you might not know this, but you need to know that Jim served for 12 years as the legal counsel for Mother Teresa. And as she said, it was all in the spirit of humble service. Jim is a lawyer with a heart of gold. A lawyer with a heart of gold and humble service, Jim? Good going. [Laughter.]

Lieutenant Governor Carol Molnau, thank you for your leadership and for being here today as well.

For too long when people in government got together in forums such as this one, the faith-based community was shut out of the convention. No longer. Not any more. Just nine days after he took office, President Bush signed two executive orders creating the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives and designating faith-base centers and five cabinet offices/agencies, including my own, the U.S. Department of Education.

And this past December, two more were formed. Offices were formed in the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Department of Agriculture. With the stroke of a pen, the President signaled that this administration will not knock down any barrier, will do whatever it takes to get people of faith and good will involved in helping solve some of the problems of our society.

You see President Bush knows the power of faith. He knows it can change lives. He knows it can change lives from the inside out, and the reason he knows this is because faith changed his life. He grew up in church, but like many of us, he didn't always walk the walk. But many years ago, at a particularly low point in his life, he had a long talk with the Reverend Billy Graham, and it changed his life around.

So the reason we are here today is not because some politician needed to knock off one more thing on their to do list; we are here because we have a President who is a true man of God, a man who prays every day for direction and wisdom, and a man who has seen the good that faith can do in a world of sometime evil.

Let me tell you, from a person who knows him up close, this is authentic George W. Bush. You see, I know his heart, and if you could know his heart, you would understand as well that it's not about politics; it's about a mission that you and I can make this world a better place.

And I think together we can really make a big difference for mankind. We can make America a better place. We just need more action people and fewer talkers. I am reminded of a story the President often tells about a minister who on one Sunday, in fact, Sunday after Sunday, one of his sermons was interrupted by a person attending church who would always call out, "Use me, Lord. Use me."

Finally, one Sunday the pastor pulled the man aside and said, "The Lord has decided to use you. He'd like for you to sand down the floors, and wax them and mop them for next week's service." Of course, he figured that that would shut the gentleman up.

Well, sure enough, next week, halfway through the service, the man called out again, "Use me, Lord. Use me." When the pastor looked over in his direction, he said, "Yes, but this time only in an advisory capacity." [Laughter.]

And we have a lot of people now in that same capacity, and we have enough of those. We need more doers, like each of you, taking the initiative and making a difference in the lives of our nation's people.

So the President made it his mission to level the playing field, so good people who used to be left out of the process can now join the process and can act on that spiritual and civic-minded imperative, to help make a difference through partnering with the federal government.

As part of the President's No Child Left Behind law, we're charged with a bold goal. Most people don't quite get this. They think we are talking about a symbol or pious sentimentality when we say No Child Left Behind. But for us there is an expectation: no child should left behind. Every child in America should have an opportunity for a first-class education.

What better way of reflecting our values as a nation than to say that we believe that every single child deserves our best effort, and we believe education is a civil right-just like the right to vote, the right to be treated equally.

The President has asked me for my help with this, and I am here today to ask you for your help with this. We need your help.

The No Child Left Behind Act has opened the door. Under this law, $1.7 billion in grant money is now available to faith-based and community organizations. This money can be used for grants to support after-school programs, extra academic help for disadvantaged students under Title I, programs under Early Reading First and Adult Education and Family Literacy Programs.

Now, groups that have been shut out of the process can act and provide support for children who most need it. For example, the St. Mark's Community Center in Iowa can now afford to offer before and after school programs to three, low-income, public schools in our community. The children at these schools now have the opportunity to receive reading instructions after school, take part in enrichment activities and to form meaningful relationships with the staff that St. Mark's now can afford.

The Boys and Girls Club in Leech Lake, Minnesota, will use federal funds that they received from a 21st Century Community Learning Center grant to spend time with young people from the community that need extra help in the classroom, and to provide the support they need outside the classroom, and encourage the students who dropped out to go back to school.

The Jewish Community Council of Greater Coney Island in New York, is now certified to provide supplemental services for students who need it. This group is able to help at-risk students by involving families in the educational process, providing students with extra attention and emphasis on goal setting.

We're making strides across the government to level the playing field so faith-based people can help.

In June, the Department of Labor launched a $22.5 million program called Ready4Work. This program is targeted at assisting faith-based community organizations that work with men and women returning from prison. When fully implemented, we'll have 18 cities with Ready4Work projects.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is rallying faith-based community groups to increase minority home ownership through its Reaching the Dreams Initiative.

HUD has 81 faith-based and community liaison offices across our country waiting to help those who want the opportunity, and now because of the regulatory changes the President has called for, $8 billion in grant funds will be more accessible to faith-based organizations.

This year the Department of Health and Human Services awarded $10 million in grants to faith-based organizations for abstinence programs. These grants would help communities to develop programs to give teens the confidence and self-esteem to make good choices about themselves and about their future.

Yes, the federal government can provide funds, we can make laws, but we can't provide the love, and faith, and compassion people need. As important as these funds are that we give away, they don't mean a thing if people-in their hearts-aren't compelled to make changes, and this you are good at.

Our President knows your worth, and he knows what a difference you can make. He has paved the way for all of us to use our talents to help the less fortunate, to share our resources with children who need our help, to harness the power of faith to transition our great nation to make America a better place.

Mary McLeod Bethune, founder of the National Council for Negro Women, probably put it best when she said, "We have the powerful potential in our youth, and we must make sure that we have the courage to change the old ideas and practices so we may direct that power towards good ends."

Ladies and gentlemen, we have the power, and therefore we have the responsibility to make America a better place. Together, we can make America a better place.

God bless you and may God continue to bless America. Thank you very much. [Applause.]

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