For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
November 26, 2002
Fact Sheet: A Record of Accomplishment for America
President George W. Bush has made great progress on bringing people
together to enact his agenda for a safer, stronger, and better
America. The end of the 107th Congress marks a remarkable time of
bipartisan accomplishment on the issues that matter most to Americans,
including:
Strengthening Homeland Security: The President proposed and
signed into law legislation to create a new Department of Homeland
Security -- the most significant transformation of our government in
half a century. President Bush has also signed legislation to increase
aviation security, enhance border security and port security, improve
protections against bioterrorism, and expand the ability of law
enforcement to prevent terrorism. Already, President Bush's leadership
in creating a new Transportation Security Administration has resulted
in significant improvements in aviation security.
Expanding Economic Opportunity: Immediately upon taking office,
the President took steps to address the nation's economy. The
President proposed and signed tax relief that boosted our economy so
people could find jobs, strengthened small businesses, and put more
money in people's pockets when they needed it most. The President also
signed an economic stimulus bill giving short-term help to displaced
workers and long-term stimulus to help businesses create more jobs.
The President signed into law terrorism insurance legislation that will
help building projects nationwide to move forward again -- creating
thousands of good hard hat jobs. And, the President signed Trade
Promotion Authority legislation to boost our economy and jobs by
opening foreign markets to U.S. products and services.
Winning the War on Terrorism: The President signed legislation to
help win the war against terrorism, pay our troops, and help New York
City recover from the terrorist attacks. And, the President signed
into law historic increases in defense spending to boost national
security. This increase in defense spending will meet new and emerging
threats; modernize our military; improve intelligence; fund new
high-tech weapons; protect our troops against chemical and biological
attacks; and give our troops and their families a well-deserved pay
raise and important quality of life improvements.
Improving Education for Every Child: As he promised, the
President proposed and signed the most historic education reforms
in a generation that will hold schools accountable for improvement and
ensure that no child in America is left behind. The President's
education reform agenda will improve reading and math instruction,
establish clear standards and accountability for results, require a
quality teacher in every classroom, and increase parental involvement
and control over their children's education.
Building a Global Coalition for a Safer World: President Bush
called on the United Nations to live up to its founding purpose
and confront the "grave and gathering danger" of Saddam Hussein's
outlaw regime. He worked with other world leaders to secure passage of
a strong, principled Security Council resolution that makes clear what
the Iraqi regime needs to do to meet its obligations to the
international community. President Bush also worked to secure a
bipartisan Congressional resolution that told the United Nations, and
all nations, that America is united in its resolve to stand up to Iraqi
aggression.
Maintaining Fiscal Discipline: The President worked with Congress
to fund key priorities and meet national challenges, and held the
line on unnecessary spending.
Making Prescription Drugs More Affordable: In addition to
launching a Medicare Prescription Drug Discount Card program, the
President announced a new FDA rule to lower prescription drug costs by
improving access to generic drugs, which are safe and effective and can
be much less costly alternatives to brand-name prescription drugs. The
proposed rule is expected to lead to savings in drug costs of over $3
billion per year for millions of consumers. When the new Congress
convenes in 2003, President Bush will continue working to modernize and
strengthen Medicare, including adding a Medicare prescription drug
benefit for seniors.
Strengthening Health Care for All Americans: The President signed
into law legislation to help meet his goal of providing health care for
6.1 million more Americans through 1,200 new and expanded community
health center sites. And, he signed legislation that will give
patients quicker access to innovative, life-saving technologies and
greater options to choose health are products that best meet their
individual needs.
Cracking Down on Corporate Corruption: The President proposed and
signed tough corporate accountability legislation that will expose and
punish acts of corruption, restore confidence in corporate America, and
protect small investors.
Protecting Family Farmers and Promoting Agriculture: On May 13,
2002, the President signed legislation creating a safety net for the
American farmers who feed our Nation and much of the world. The
Administration also put forward an aggressive plan to open
international markets for U.S. farmers, while reducing subsidies.
Reforming the Campaign Finance System and the Elections Process:
The President signed legislation to improve our campaign finance
system, and he signed historic election reforms to help states and
localities update their systems of voting and ensure the integrity of
elections in America.
Protecting the Most Vulnerable Members of Our Society: President
Bush signed the Born Alive Infants Protection Act, important and
bipartisan legislation to ensure that every infant born alive is
considered a person under federal law.
Cleaning Up Our Environment: The President signed brownfields
legislation that will encourage the restoration and redevelopment of
old industrial properties - cleaning up our environment, creating new
jobs and protecting small businesses from frivolous lawsuits. The
President signed important new conservation measures into law, and he
launched a new Healthy Forests Initiative that will significantly step
up efforts to prevent the damage caused by catastrophic wildfires. He
proposed the Clear Skies Initiative, an effort to aggressively reduce
air pollution from power plants by 70 percent and improve air quality
throughout the country. He announced an aggressive new Global Climate
Change strategy to cut the growth in greenhouse gas intensity by 18
percent over the next 10 years.
Issuing a National Call to Service: The President issued a call
to all Americans to engage in volunteer service and created the
USA Freedom Corps to foster a culture of service, citizenship, and
responsibility. The USA Freedom Corps is working with government
agencies, the non-profit sector, businesses, schools, and other
institutions to achieve this goal. Through the largest clearinghouse
of volunteer opportunities ever created, it is matching volunteers with
opportunities in record numbers to prepare for crises at home, help
those in need, and extend American compassion around the world.
Leading the Fight Against HIV/AIDS: President Bush has requested
record levels of funding for care, treatment, prevention, and research
to find a cure or vaccine for HIV/AIDS. The President has expanded
America's leadership role in tackling the global HIV/AIDS crisis,
proposing a full 82% increase in funding over FY 2001 levels to fight
global HIV/AIDS. The United States government made the founding
contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and
Malaria and is one of only two countries to date that has made a second
donation. And, this spring, President Bush announced a $500 million
initiative to prevent maternal to child transmission of HIV and to care
for women and families in the most heavily impacted countries in Africa
and the Caribbean.
Expanding Homeownership Opportunities for All Americans
: In June
2002, President Bush announced an aggressive announced homeownership
agenda to increase the number of minority homeowners by at least 5.5
million by the end of this decade. The President's homeownership
agenda will dismantle barriers to homeownership by providing down
payment assistance, increasing the supply of affordable homes,
increasing support for self-help homeownership programs, and
simplifying the homebuying process. The President also issued
"America's Homeownership Challenge" to the real estate and mortgage
finance industries to take concrete steps to tear down the barriers to
homeownership that face minority families.
Making Progress on Other Key Issues: President Bush also worked to
make important progress in Congress on other key issues, such as:
Developing a comprehensive national energy strategy to reduce
America's dependence on foreign oil and expand conservation, encourage
energy efficiency, and increase domestic exploration and production.
Rallying the Armies of Compassion by working to increase support
for America's charities, faith-based organizations, and community
groups, as well as creating a level playing field so faith-based and
community organizations can help more people in need; and