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Skriven 2006-04-04 23:34:44 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0604043) for Tue, 2006 Apr 4
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Mrs. Bush's Remarks at Jim Talent for Senate Luncheon
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For Immediate Release
Office of the First Lady
April 4, 2006

Mrs. Bush's Remarks at Jim Talent for Senate Luncheon
Millennium Hotel
St. Louis, Missouri



12:01 P.M. CST

MRS. BUSH: Thank you all. Thank you so much, Brenda. I'm so happy today to
be in Missouri, and I'm especially happy to be here today in support of
your great Senator, Jim Talent -- where is that applause? (Applause.)

I also just want to say that President Bush and I both send our sympathy
and our concern to the counties in Missouri that have been hit by the
tornados the day before yesterday. I know that all of you join me as well
in sending our best regards to all those people who will need to rebuild
now.

I also want to acknowledge, of course, Melanie Blunt, your First Lady; Jack
Oliver, who is our honorary chairman for today's event, and he's a former
national finance chairman for the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign. And
then, of course, I have to acknowledge the President's uncle, Bucky Bush --
(applause) -- and one of my favorite uncles as well; and Lindsay Bush, our
cousin. I think Lindsay is out in the audience somewhere. (Applause.) Thank
you all, both, also for working on Jim's campaign.

Jim is a very important member of the United States Senate and he's a
passionate advocate for the people of Missouri. He truly represents the
values and the priorities of this great state. His priorities are your
priorities, and they are to protect our nation, to create jobs and economic
opportunity for everybody, and to strengthen families.

At this historic time in our country, no issue is more important than
defending America, and Jim is an especially important voice. (Applause.)
Jim speaks out on issues involving the brave men and women in uniform who
are serving across the world. He's a member of the Senate Armed Forces
Committee, and he's worked hard there to make sure that our men and women
in uniform have everything they need to serve our country overseas, and
then to be able to come home safely.

Jim was instrumental in saving the F-18 plant when he served in the House.
And in the Senate he's done even more. (Applause.) He helped to bring the
Multi Mission Maritime Aircraft here, and he's been vital in supporting the
X43C project.

Most important, Jim understands the sacrifices made by our Armed Services
personnel, and he understands the importance of their mission. Our men and
women in uniform are the pride and joy of America. (Applause.) They have a
difficult job -- protecting our country and spreading freedom in other
parts of the world. And they're completing their mission with honor. Thanks
to the men and women of the United States military, America is winning the
war on terror. (Applause.)

Many families from Missouri carry the burden of having a loved one deployed
overseas. Our thoughts are always with these families, and our thoughts are
with their loved ones who serve overseas so that democracy can prevail in
that region and so that our children and our grandchildren can grow up in
the peaceful world we all want. (Applause.)

Senator Talent also knows that our children and grandchildren need to grow
up in a world with good jobs and economic opportunity. He's one of the
Senate's strongest supporters of the tax cuts that are fueling our economy.
Almost 5 million jobs have been created in the last 30 months. Home
ownership is at near record levels. Families are able to keep more of their
own income.

That growing economy needs fuel, and Jim is a leader in the search for
alternatives to foreign sources of oil. He joined other Midwesterners to
form a biofuels caucus in the Senate. And he helped make sure that support
for renewable fuels, like ethanol and biodiesel, are included in the energy
bill.

Our country still faces other challenges, and one of our biggest challenges
is to make sure that workers can find jobs in the new economy -- jobs like
the ones that you're building here in Missouri. That requires education and
high-level skills, especially in math and science. The American
Competitiveness Initiative, which the President announced in his State of
the Union address, invests in math and science education across America.
The goal is to make sure that every student who graduates from high school
has the skills to get the best jobs of this new century.

And as we help students with a good education, we must also help our young
people build strong character. In his 2005 State of the Union address,
President Bush announced the Helping America's Youth initiative, and he
asked me to lead it.

Over the last year I've traveled to many parts of our country, visiting
with young people and with the adults who are so important to their lives.
I've been to schools and to after-school programs. I've met with mentors
and Big Brothers and Big Sisters. I visited with gang intervention
programs, where I met the young people who are leaving gangs and finding
jobs. I visited a school debate program in Atlanta, where students learn to
use their voices, and not their fists, to resolve conflict.

I recently heard from the directors of a program in Los Angeles that I
visited last year, which uses the performing arts -- Shakespeare, actually
-- to teach youth employable skills. They wrote to me about Jesus, who was
verging on homelessness when I visited. But since then, because of his
experience building sets for performances of Shakespeare, Jesus is now
working in Home Depot and was just named Home Depot Employee of the Month.
(Applause.)

All of these visits culminated last October at the White House Conference
on Helping America's Youth. There, scholars, researchers and other adults
who work directly with young people shared the statistics, the results of
programs that they had started, anecdotal evidence and their own
experiences. And then we introduced the "Community Guide to Helping
America's Youth," which is an on-line tool that communities can use. It was
developed by small working groups from seven different United States
government agencies. And the Guide helps communities assess what their own
assets are for children, and then to see where they're not meeting the
needs of young people in their communities.

So I hope you'll all go home and look at this Guide. It's at
www.helpingamericasyouth.gov -- that's "gov." And use it here in St. Louis
and across Missouri to assist how you're helping children and then to see
where you need to build new programs or new assets for our kids.

This morning I visited a program here in St. Charles that is helping
students and children. It's the Preferred Family Health Care, and what I
visited was the adolescent substance abuse rehabilitation center. This
center -- people are doing great work there, very important work -- and
what it does is, it gives a second chance to children and adolescents who
have already engaged in the risky behavior of drug use.

The Preferred Family Health Care Center that I visited is helping teach
youths how to make the right choices so that they can fulfill their
potential and live a productive and a healthy life. The Center offers
therapy, education, relapse prevention and life skills training. And no one
is turned away because they can't pay. It's a great example -- there are a
lot of Preferred Health Care Centers around Missouri, and it's a great
example and role model for centers all across the country of ways we can
intervene in the life of children once they've already started to use
drugs.

We know that children need caring role models, and I'm proud to be here
today for Jim Talent, because he is that kind of role model. He has
absolute integrity. He has the self-discipline and the self-control to be
the kind of role model we want for children.

President Bush has a very ambitious agenda for the next three years, and in
order to achieve it we need people like Jim Talent. We need people who see
the immense promise that's everywhere in our country. And I know that Jim
is that kind of person.

President Bush wants people in the Senate who love going to work there
every single day for the people of the United States, and who look forward
to the task at hand, no matter how difficult it might be. And that person
is certainly Jim.

Senator Talent knows how Washington works, but he always remembers that his
employers are right here at home. He's been very important to the President
and to our country on issues like protecting our nation, cutting taxes, and
reducing our reliance on foreign oil.

During these crucial times in our nation's history it's more important than
ever to have Jim's leadership and his clear voice in the Senate for a
responsive, effective government. Jim is a great leader for Missouri. Let's
make sure you all re-elect Senator Jim Talent this November to the United
States Senate.

Thank you so much for supporting Jim. (Applause.)

END 12:12 P.M. CST
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