The White House, President George W. Bush Click to print this document

For Immediate Release
July 10, 2007

Fact Sheet: A Day in Cleveland: President Bush Calls on Congress to Act to Fund Vital Priorities
President Bush Discusses Energy, The Economy, Health Care, And Iraq In
Cleveland, Ohio

     Fact sheet President Bush Visits Cleveland, Ohio
     Fact sheet President Bush Discusses Energy During Visit to GrafTech International, LTD

Today, President Bush Visited Cleveland, Ohio, And Called On Congress To Meet Its Responsibilities And Pass The Individual Spending Bills Needed To Keep The Federal Government Running. In the morning, President Bush toured GrafTech International, Ltd., and discussed the importance of investing in alternative energy research to reduce America's dependence on oil. He then had lunch with Cleveland business and community leaders at Slyman's Restaurant. In the afternoon, President Bush discussed his health care initiatives at the Cleveland Clinic. Later, he made remarks to the Greater Cleveland Partnership, the largest private-sector economic development organization in Ohio.

As Part Of His "Twenty In Ten" Plan, The President Is Asking Congress To Take A Bolder Approach To Strengthen America's Energy Security And Confront Climate Change

This Morning, During A Visit to GrafTech International, President Bush Discussed His "Twenty In Ten" Plan To Reduce U.S. Gasoline Consumption. GrafTech is a leader in manufacturing components for fuel cells, devices that directly convert chemical energy in hydrogen to electricity, with pure water and potentially useful heat as the only byproducts. This type of technology will help promote the use of hydrogen fuel and alternative fuels that are at the core of the President's "Twenty in Ten" plan to reduce projected U.S. gasoline consumption by 20 percent over the next ten years

The President Is Asking Congress To Develop An Aggressive Alternative Fuel Standard And Improve Fuel Efficiency Standards Through CAFE Reform. The Senate passed an energy bill at the end of June that includes some of the President's "Twenty in Ten" ideas, but they need improvement. The House of Representatives is considering energy legislation in July, and the President urges them to include his "Twenty in Ten" proposals:

We Also Need Legislation That Will Increase Domestic Production Of Oil And Gas, Increase Refinery Capacity, And Expand Our Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Which Is Our Energy Supply Insurance Policy.

The President Urges Congress To Work To Complete Spending Bills Independently And On Time

In The Afternoon, President Bush Had Lunch With Business And Community Leaders At Slyman's Restaurant. Last week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that 132,000 new jobs were created in June, the 46th straight month of job creation. Despite numerous challenges, including a recession, corporate scandals, the 9/11 attacks, and the demands of the War on Terror, our economy has recovered and has added more than 8.2 million new jobs since August 2003.

The President Calls On Congress To Make Basic Private Health Insurance More Affordable By Reforming The Tax Code

During A Visit To Cleveland Clinic, The President Discussed The Importance Of Empowering Consumers With Information And Using Technology To Improve Health Care. The Cleveland Clinic has a number of programs to provide consumers with better information about the value of their health care services, including publishing annual reports on patient outcomes and using information technology to provide doctors and patients access to complete medical records online.

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