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CNN Live Today

President Bush Speaks At Maryland Power Plant

Aired June 22, 2005 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. We have a lot to get to, so we'll do that.
We'll do that by starting by taking a look at what's happening "Now in the News."

President Bush is visiting a nuclear power plant in Maryland this morning. A live picture there for you from Lusby, Maryland. In just a few minutes the president is going to get to the meat of his speech at the Calvert Cliffs plant. Nuclear power is a key part of Mr. Bush's energy plan. Calvert Cliffs is one of a half dozen sites being considered for a new advance reactor. Mr. Bush right now in the greeting part of his speech. We'll go back in just a minute.

The U.S. military has just announced a pilot was killed in the crash of a U2 spy plane. That plane went down early today in Southwest Asia. The Air Force has not disclosed the exact location or the circumstances of the crash. The pilot had complete a mission over Afghanistan and was returning to base.

You might remember these pictures from a Florida school bus crash. We had it on our air a couple weeks ago. Well, this morning we have some sad news to pass along on that story. A nine-year-old boy who was injured in the crash has died. The boy suffered head trauma when the bus collided with a tractor-trailer.

Police are looking for the parents of this boy. The two-year-old was apparently abandoned at a church in Parkland, Washington, on Monday. Church workers don't know how the toddler got there and they couldn't get him to say his name.

And making progress in the war on terror. The U.S. military says at least 40 militants were killed in a battle southwest of Kabul in Afghanistan. U.S. and Afghan troops fought back after being hit by small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. Five American soldiers were wounded in Tuesday's fighting. Coalition forces were on a mission to destroy enemy sanctuaries.

And now cnn.com is offering a whole new way to get the headlines. Just log on to our Web site and click on "watch" to check out the most popular stories. Everything from politics and sports to entertainment and it's free on cnn.com.

And let's go back now live to Maryland. Bush is visiting this nuclear power plant in Maryland, touting his energy plan and its promotion of nuclear energy. Let's listen in. GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I appreciate Nils Diaz, who's the chairman of the NRC, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Thanks for coming.

I want to thank Governor Bob Ehrlich, the great state of Maryland. I appreciate you coming, Governor. Thanks for being here. He's a pro jobs, pro growth, pro small business governor. And I enjoy working with him to help create an environment that helps people realize their dreams.

I want to thank George Vanderheyden, who's the site vice president of the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant. He represents, at least on the tour, represented a lot of the good folks who work here.

I want to say something about the folks who work here. I want to thank you for your hard work. And I want to thank you for your patriotism and your love of your country. I understand that six of your fellow employees are now in Iraq. And for the families and the co-workers here, I say thank you on behalf of a grateful nation for supporting these good folks. These folks are there defeating terrorists who cannot stand the thought of democracy and freedom, defeating them there so we do not have to face them here at home. These folks are there spreading democracy and freedom, understanding that a democratic world is more likely to leave a foundation for peace for our children. So I want to thank you for your sacrifices and thank you for supporting those good folks.

I want to thank the president and CEO of Constellation Energy Mayo Shattuck. That's a pretty cool first name, isn't it, Mayo. Pass the mayo. His wife, Molly, appreciated that.

I want to thank Mike Wallace (ph), Gibb Bowman (ph) and thank you all. Thanks for letting me come by.

I am -- as you know, I'm an optimistic person and I hope you are as well. These are incredibly hopeful times for our country. And the state of our economy is strong. And Americans from all walks of life have got good reason to be confident about the future of this country.

Let me just give you some of the facts.

Over the past year America's economy has grown faster than any major industrialized economy in the world. We're leading growth when it comes to major industrialized economies. Over the past two years, America's added more than 3.5 million new jobs. The unemployment rate is down to 5.1 percent. That's lower than the average rate in the 1970s, the 1980s and the 1990s.

In Maryland, the unemployment rate is 4.2 percent. People are working. I'm proud to report that more Americans are working today than ever before in our nation's history.

Our economy is sustaining low inflation rates, low interest rates, and low mortgage rates. Small businesses are flourishing. Families are taking home more of what they earn. Your after-tax incomes are up.

More Americans are going to college than at any other time in our nation's history. More Americans own their own businesses than ever before, and home ownership in America is at an all-time high. This strong and growing economy is lifting our standard of living, and that's important because that means opportunity is being spread throughout the country.

Now as I understand, parts of our country are still struggling from the effects of the recession and the attacks. I know some workers are concerned about jobs going overseas. I know some are concerned about gaining the skills necessary to compete in the global market that we live in. I know that families are worried about health care and retirement and I know that moms and dads are worried about their children finding good jobs. So even though the numbers are good, there are still worries out there in the country. And these are the challenges of a rapidly changing economy. And we've got the responsibility in government to take the side of our working families.

So we're moving aggressively. We're not taking the good numbers for granted, we're moving aggressively with a pro growth, pro worker set of economic policies that will enhance economic security in the country. Economic security happens for our workers and families when we keep your taxes low. It happens when we open up new markets for American products. It happens when we stop the spread of junk lawsuits. We're going to create economic security for moms and dads by making health care more affordable, by guaranteeing a quality education for every child and ensuring dignity and retirement. And that's what I've come to talk to you about today.

The United States Congress has now an opportunity to create more economic security by passing an energy bill that will make energy more affordable and reliable for generations to come. Now energy is vital to the future of this country. Everybody that works here knows that. Everybody who turns on their light switch should know that.

It's obvious that we can't expand our economy if businesses don't have energy. You got to have energy if you're going to be a farmer. You've got to have energy if you're just trying to raise a family. If you're a baseball fan, you need energy. I mean, try going to a night ball game without any lights. How about the Mets and Orioles, by the way, speaking about baseball.

Our nation needs to confront a basic problem. We're using energy faster than we're producing it. And the problem has been building for a long period of time because we really haven't confronted this problem. That's why I've submitted this strategy to Congress when we first got up to Washington. Over the past decade, America's energy consumption has been growing about 40 times faster than our energy production. Think about that.

Four years ago, I said to Congress, let's deal with this problem now. The problem is, there's been a lot of debate and a lot of politics but no results. So now's the time, for the sake of our consumers and business folks and people who are trying to heat their homes in the winter and cool them in the summer and find reasonable gas prices -- gasoline prices at the pump, it's time for Congress to stop the debate, stop the inaction and pass an energy bill.

And I appreciate Chairman Barton in the House. It moved a good -- where he able to move a good bill to the floor and it got voted on. I appreciate Senator Domenici of New Mexico for moving a bill out of committee. It's on the Senate floor. They need to get it passed out of the Senate. They need to reconcile their differences. They need to get me a bill before they go home in August. And I'm looking forward to signing that bill. And it's going to be an important part of developing a national energy strategy.

Look, I recognize, and I hope you recognize, that when I sign that bill, your gasoline prices aren't going to drop. This problem has been long in the making. But by addressing it now, we're going to be able to say -- life is going to be better for our children and grandchildren.

To make this country less dependent on foreign sources of oil, we need to do the following things. One, we need to encourage our citizens to be better conservers of energy and technology will help a lot. There are some incentives in the bill to encourage conservation. We need to make more efficient use of existing energy sources like oil, coal and natural gas.

We got a lot of coal in this country. About 250 years worth of coal. And I'm convinced that with proper use of technology, that we will be able to develop coal-fired electricity plants that have got zero emissions. We're spending a fair amount of your money to make sure that we can achieve that objective. I think it's good use of your money. It's a way to help make sure we use an abundant resource we have here in America without polluting the air.

We need to diversify our energy supply by increasing the use of alternative and renewable source, like ethanol, which is made from corn, or biodiesel, made from soy beans. I went to a soy bean refinery the other day in Virginia where they're making diesel fuel from soy beans. With the right, you know, proper use of your dollars to encourage research, it's very conceivable that source of energy will become economic. And that makes sense, doesn't it? Can you imagine walking down the road here in the farmlands of Maryland and see a guy growing soy beans. You say, thanks, buddy, for making us less dependent on foreign sources of oil.

So there's some smart things that this energy bill will encourage the country to do, including solar power and hydrogen. I don't know if you remember I laid out a -- I thought -- I know an interesting initiative that said, why don't we explore how we use hydrogen power, hydrogen to power our cars, to help us diversify away from the dependency upon hydrocarbons. And I believe we can develop a hydrogen-powered automobile over the next decade or two. I think it would be cool if your young son is able to take a driver's test in a hydrogen powered automobile that has got zero emissions and, at the same time, will make us less dependent on hydrocarbons which we have to input port from foreign countries.

We need to modernize the electricity grid and make reliability standards mandatory. We also need to make -- get rid of some of these laws that prohibit the capacity for those people who are building transmission lines and powering our cities and states to be able to raise money in an effective way. We need to help large energy users like India and China become more efficient. And by helping them develop efficiency standards, it will take pressure off of global demand for hydrocarbons.

One of the reasons why your price of gasoline is going up is, one, we're dependent on foreign sources of oil. And, two, economies like China and India are demanding more oil in a limited supply -- in a markets that's of limited supply, which cause the price of oil to go up, which causes the price of gasoline to go up. So it makes sense to help those who are demanding more energy to be more efficient users of energy. And I'll take that message to the G-8 in Scotland here right after the Fourth of July celebrations to say, look, let's work together on a comprehensive energy plan to help these new consumers of energy be better users of energy.

The energy bill will also help us expand our use of the one energy source that is completely domestic, plentiful in quantity, environmentally friendly and able to generate massive amounts of electricity and that's nuclear power.

Today there are 103 nuclear plants in America. They produce about 20 percent of the nation's electricity without producing a single pound of air pollution or greenhouse gases. I think you told me that 20 percent of all Maryland's electricity is produced here at this plant.

Without these nuclear plants, America would release nearly 700 million metric tons more carbon dioxide into the air each year. That's about the same amount of carbon dioxide that now comes from all our cars and trucks. Across this state, Maryland's looked at Calvert Cliffs to keep their lights on and to keep their land, air, and water clean. In other words, you're generating electricity and helping the environment at the same time. That's an important combination of talents and it's an important combination of -- that the American people have got to understand is possible when we expand nuclear power.

Nuclear power is one of America's safest sources of energy. People right here practice a lot of safety. They're good at it. You got nuclear engineers and experts that spend a lot of time maintaining a safe environment. Just ask the people that work here. You wouldn't be coming here if it wasn't safe, I suspect.

Some Americans remember the problems of the nuclear plants -- that the nuclear plants had back in the 1970s. We all remember those days. That frightened a lot of folks. Yet people have got to understand that advances in science and engineering and plant design have made nuclear plants far safer, far safer than ever before. Workers and managers are trained and committed and spend hours working on nuclear safety. And that's good. And they do such a good job here at Calvert Cliffs that this was the first nuclear plant in America to get its operating license renewed. and I congratulate you.

There is a growing consensus that more nuclear power will lead to a cleaner, safer nation. Slowly but surely, people are beginning to look at the facts. One of the reasons I've come to this plant to help people understand the difference between fact and fiction.

Yet even though there has been a growing consensus over time, America has not ordered a nuclear plant since the 1970s. By contrast, France has built 58 nuclear plants in the same period of time. By contrast, China now has eight nuclear plants in the works and plans to build at least 40 more over the next two decades.

In the 21st century, our nation will need more electricity. More safe, clean, reliable electricity. It is time for this country to start building nuclear power plants again.

We're taking practical steps to encourage new construction of power plants. Three years ago we launched a nuclear 2010 initiative, which is a $1.1 billion partnership between government and industry, to coordinate the ordering of new plants. The Department of Energy is working with Congress to reduce uncertainty in a nuclear plant licensing process.

Hey, look, you don't want to go out and build a plant, spend all the money and have the license jerked at the last minute. Nobody's going to spend money if that's the case. And so we want to have a rational way to move forward. And one rational way to move forward is to provide incentives for new construction such as federal risk insurance. To help the builders of the first four plants, that's what's now embedded in the energy bill, first four plants, against lawsuits and bureaucratic obstacles and other delays beyond their control.

There's (ph) a rational approach for the federal government. On the one hand, it can convince the American people nuclear power is safe, that it makes sense for our consumers, it makes sense for the long-term economic security of our country to expand nuclear power. And on the other hand, say to those who are risking capital, here's some help. Here's some ways we can provide incentive for you to move forward with the construction of plants.

Delivering a good energy bill is part of a comprehensive agenda, but there's some other things that we need to do. One of the last things that we need to do to this economy is to take money out of your pocket and fuel government. I firmly believe that one of the reason we recovered the way we did after the recession and September 11th is because of the tax cuts we passed. I believe if you've got more money in your pocket, you can spend it wiser than the federal government can spend it and therefore I think Congress ought to send a strong signal to families and small businesses and risk takers about taxes. And that is, we're going to keep your taxes low. They need to make the tax relief we passed permanent.

Secondly, we need to do something about the tax code itself. It's complicated, it's really thick, it makes -- it does not reward entrepreneurship, it's unfair. So I called some Republicans and Democrats who care about this issue together. I said, come up with a plan to simplify the tax code so people can understand it, and so it helps achieve some objectives, which is fairness, simplicity, easy to understand. I mean, we shouldn't have to have to hire all kinds of folks to figure out what's in the tax code. And so once we get those recommendations, I look forward to working with Congress to not only keep your taxes low, but to make the code simple and easy to understand.

Families understand you've got to live within a budget. That's something that Congress needs to understand as well. So I submitted the most disciplined proposal for non-security, discretionary spending since Ronald Reagan was in the White House. I say non-security. My attitude is, when we got anybody in harm's way, we're going to spend whatever it takes to make sure they've got the very best equipment and training so they can do their mission. We owe that to the families and we owe that to their loved ones.

But I'm talking about non-security, discretionary spending. And it's important for Congress to adhere to the budgets they passed. And by doing so, we will reduce the deficit in half by 2009. In other words, we can meet priorities, we can keep your taxes low, and if Congress is fiscally wise and sound with your money, we can reduce that deficit in half by 2009. I'm looking forward to working with them to be wise about how we spend your money.

Sometimes it's interesting in Washington you hear, well, we're spending the government's money. That's -- when you hear somebody say "the government's money," get a little nervous because they seem to have forgotten where that money comes from. It's not the government's money. It's your money that we're spending in Washington and we've got to be wise about how we spend it in order to keep this economy growing.

Another threat to economic security is junk lawsuits. Frivolous lawsuits help drive up the total cost of America's tort system to more than $240 billion a year. That's a burden far greater than any other major industrialized nation, by the way. In order to remain competitive, in order to keep jobs here in America, in order to make sure that people can make a decent living, we've got to do something about these junk lawsuits.

It's one thing to have a legal system where people can -- you know, who've got a legitimate claim can go take care of it. It's the junk lawsuits that run up the cost of doing businesses. Junk lawsuits that make America less competitive. These junk lawsuits cost people jobs and they raise your prices.

And so I've been working with Congress and calling upon Congress, if we're interested in economic security for the future, let's do something about frivolous lawsuits. And we're making progress. We've got a good bill to curb abuse of class-action lawsuits.

There's more to do. I think we need to get something done on the asbestos issue. Have a fair bill that says we're going to treat the workers who have been harmed well. They deserve to be treated. They deserve to be focused on, not the trial lawyers. And at the same time, make (INAUDIBLE) certainty in the system. Legal reform is a necessary part of keeping this -- keeping this economy going. And so, by the way, it's opened up new markets for America's producers and farmers. We've got a chance to break down some trade barriers. I told the people when I was campaigning, I said look, I'm for free trade, I'm also for fair trade. I just want to be treated fairly. If we treat you one way, you treat us the same way.

There's a debate raging in Congress now about the Central American Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement. It's called CAFTA. Let me tell you the facts about this trade agreement. I don't know if you realize this but now 80 percent of the goods from Central America come into our country duty-free, yet we're not treated the same way down there. Now that doesn't make sense to me. It seems like to me that it would make sense if we say, OK, your goods are already coming in here, treat us the same way. Just level the playing field. You've got 44 million consumers. Open up your markets to our goods just like we've done to you. That's what CAFTA's all about.

See, I have a different approach than some of the economic isolationists who oppose this agreement. I believe they're pessimistic about America. I believe American workers can compete with anybody, anywhere, any time if the rules are fair. And so they need to pass CAFTA to be fair to our farmers and ranchers and workers and small business owners.

Millions of Americans lack economic security because of the rising costs of health care. You know this is more than half of the uninsured work for small businesses. Isn't that interesting? One way to address health care is to say, small businesses ought to be allowed to pool risks so they can buy insurance at the same discounted big companies are able to do. Congress needs to pass what's called association health plan to let small businesses be able to enter the market in a way that is -- they're able to spread risk across a lot of employees.

We need to offer incentives for small businesses and low income workers to open tax free health savings accounts. If you're running a small business, look into what's called HSAs, health saves accounts. They're a really interest product that will let your worker manage his or her own money and, at the same time, make health care more affordable for the small business, or large business for that matter. HSAs are an interesting, innovative way for people to get good health care insurance that puts you in charge of the decision-making process, that lets you make the decisions and, at the same time, save money for your health care concerns tax free.

We need to encourage a national marketplace for health insurance. In other words, workers ought to be allowed to go on the Internet and purchase health care across state lines. In other words, we're going to create more demand within the health care place. Right now, for example, if you live in Maryland, you can only buy health insurance out of Maryland. The health insurance that is certified out of Maryland. I think you ought to be allowed to go on the Internet and if you can find a better product for you in Colorado, you ought to be allowed to do that. So we ought to have a consumer-friendly system where people are encouraged to go out and make choices that meet their needs. We need to expand health information technology. If you've really looked at your own industry here or industries across America, they're using information technology to modernize and become more efficient. Health care hasn't done that yet. You know, you've got to -- if you look at your file, your medical file, they're generally handwritten. And knowing how doctors write, it's hard to read what they've written. But it's an inefficient system. And so to bring health care into the 21st century we're working on an information technology initiative, to reduce the cost of medicine for every doctor, every patient and every business.

It's time for Congress to pass medical liability reform. You know one of the biggest problems we've got here in America is junk lawsuits running good doctors out of practice. We've got OB/GYNs leaving the practice of medicine all across this country because they can't afford to stay in business. And that's not right.

You know, when I first came to Washington I said, well maybe medical liability reform was a state issue. I was a governor of a state and so I was kind of -- felt like we could do a better job in our respective states of dealing with medical liability, until I looked at the costs of what these junk lawsuits were doing to the -- to your federal budget.

See, if you think you're going to get sued, often times you practice more medicine than necessary. It's called the defensive practice of medicine. Ask your local doctor and he'll tell you what I mean by that. If you are getting sued a lot, your premiums go up. And in that, the federal government pays a lot of healthcare costs through Medicaid, Medicare, veterans health benefits. We're spending a lot of money at the federal level as a result of these lawsuits.

And so I decided that this was a national problem that required a national solution. And for the sake of affordable and available healthcare, Congress needs to pass medical liability reform. And I urge them -- I urge the members of the United States Senate, where the bill is tuck, not to listen to the trial lawyers, but listen the patients and doctors all across America.

(APPLAUSE)

To make sure that we have economic security for generations to come, we got to make sure we have quality education for every child. You can't compete unless your children can read and write and add and subtract. The No Child Left Behind Act we passed is challenging what I've called the soft bigotry of low expectations. That means you have your expectations so low, you just moved the children through the system without measuring whether or not they can read and write. If you don't think certain children can read and write, the easy path is just move them through.

I had a different view when I came to Washington. I said I believe every child can read and write and I expect every child to read and write. And in return for federal money, we want schools to show us whether or not children are learning to read and write. That's how you achieve results. You measure. And so we've asked schools -- we said, look, we're giving you a lot of money out of the federal level. So in return for that money, just show us. That's all you got to do. Show us whether the curriculum you're using is working. Show us whether or not children are learning to read and write.

It is working here in Maryland. You're doing a good job, Governor. Saw your education people, the teachers, all across this state. And here's what I can say to that. Since the No Child Left behind act took effect, reading and math scores have been increased in all of 24 of Maryland's public school systems. How do you know? Because we measure. We're not guessing. We used to guess. Now we measure, so we know.

In 2003, 39 percent of Hispanic third graders in Maryland met the standards in reading. 39 percent. We have an achievement gap in America. Two years later, more than 63 percent are meeting the standards. When you measure, you can determine whether or not what you're using in the classroom is working and if not, it gives you reason to change. The gap -- in that the gap is closing all across the country is really good news for the future.

We got to make sure every child from every background, every part of America, gains the basic skills necessary to become employable in the 21st century, which means, I think we need to spend -- expand the high standards and accountability of No Child Left Behind to our public high schools. So that the high school diploma means something. When you graduate it means you can -- it means you're employable. Or it means you can go to a community college or it means you go to higher education.

That's what we ought to be doing. This country ought to maintain high standards and strong accountability to make sure we have economic security in the future.

And finally, Americans need to know that if they work hard all their lives, they can retire with dignity. You might have heard, I've decided to address the Social Security issue. Let me tell you why I've addressed the issue. One, we have a problem. And secondly, I believe that the job description of a president ought to be -- this person ought to confront problems, not pass them on to future presidents and future generations. I believe that's my job.

(APPLAUSE)

If you're getting a check or you've got a mother or grandmother getting a check, tell them -- that person has no problem when it comes to Social Security. You're going to get your check. I don't care what the politicians say or what the rhetoric -- how heated the rhetoric becomes. Seems like every time I've run for office, they've said, if he gets in, he's going to take away your check. Well, people are still getting their checks and I got in. But here's the problem.

(APPLAUSE)

Here is the problem. About 73 million of us are getting ready to retire. I'm kind of looking around, trying to figure out who the baby boomers are. Generally people without hair. Or gray hair. My retirement date, for example, my age when I'm able -- eligible for retirement benefits happens to fall on 2008, which is a convenient year for me to be in a position to retire.

(APPLAUSE)

But a lot of us are getting ready to retire. As a matter of fact, I still told you, 73 million baby boomers are getting ready to retire. That contrasts with the 40 million folks who've retired today. So you got a lot more of us getting ready to enter the system. And we're going to live longer.

And interestingly enough, I'm sure you're aware of this, but Congress over the past year has said, vote for me, I'm going to promise you better benefits. And so my generation or our generation is going to get greater benefits than the previous generation. You got a lot of people living longer, being promised greater benefits, with fewer people paying in the system.

In 1950, there was about 16 workers to one paying the system. Today there's 3.3 workers to one. Soon there will be two workers to one. You got a lot of youngsters coming up carrying a hefty burden for old guys like me.

So I -- and what that means is, is in 2017, which I guess seems like a long time to people in Washington, D.C. -- if you to the a two- year horizon, 2017 seems like ages. But 2017 is right around the corner, it's 12 years from now. If you've got a child four years old and you can get your driver's license at 16, they'll be driving before you know it, which, by the way, is a little nerve-wracking.

And so I think it's the time to act and if we don't, we're going to start running some serious cash deficits, because in 2017, the system goes into red. 2027, it's about $200 billion a year in the red. 2030, it's just about $300 billion in the red.

I know this is a tough issue for some of them in Washington. And the tendency is let's just don't worry about it. Mr. President, why did you bring it up? Let's just pass it on. The reason I brought it up is I cannot travel our country looking at young workers who are paying payroll taxes into a system that I know is going broke.

And so now is the time to come together, both Republicans and Democrats. Forget that party business and come together and solve this problem permanently forever. And I put some ideas on the table. And I expect people from both parties to put ideas on the table and so do the American people. They're tired of this partisan bickering. When they see a problem, they want the American people to come and solve it.

They tell me, well, you're not making much progress on Social Security. Well, I tell you one thing I am making progress on -- the overwhelming number of Americans understand we have a problem. And I suspect the overwhelming number of Americans say, if there's a problem in Washington, then how come you're not doing anything about? And I'm going to continue talking about this issue. And I put a plan out there that says you can't retire -- if you've worked all your life, a hard-working person, you shouldn't retire in poverty. And it's a plan, by the way, that says benefits will grow at the rate of wage increases for lower-income Americans the rate of inflation for the top 1 percent. And that solves about -- a significant portion of the problem.

Now, I also believe something else. I believe younger workers ought to be able to take some of their own money, if that's what they choose, and set it aside in their personal savings account. In other words, you're paying payroll taxes in the system that's going broke.

By the way, they call pay-as-you-go. A lot of people in Washington and the country probably think the payroll -- the Social Security system -- I'm paying my payroll taxes and the government's holding my money for me and giving it back to me when I retire. I hate to tell you, that's not the way it works. And it hasn't worked that way for a long time.

We take your money, and we pay out to the retirees. And if we have money left over, like we have now, we're spending it on government programs. And all that's left is a file cabinet full of IOUs. In West Virginia -- and I went and saw the file. You will be happy to hear the paper is there, but not your money. In other words, all you're left with is an IOU.

What I think you ought to be left with, if you so choose, is some assets. And so I believe younger workers ought to be allowed to take some of their own money if they want to as a part of a Social Security system, and set it up in a conservative mix of bonds and stocks, or only bonds, or whatever you choose to use, kind of like a 401k. I suspect you've got a 401k plan here.

Now I went to an automobile plant in Mississippi. I said, you know, anybody here have a -- manage their own money as part of their retirement. These were line workers. These weren't the office workers. These were the people out there making the automobiles. People from all walks of life, all income levels, all education levels, and I bet you 90 percent of the folks raise their hands. We're used to that, Mr. President. We're managing our own money. We're opening up our statement on a regular basis watching our money grow.

Right now your money is in Social Security is growing at about 1.8 percent. That doesn't seem like a good deal to me. We -- if you so choose, we ought to let you earn a reasonable rate of money, reasonable rate of return on your own money, and that money grows over time and it compounds. And if you're a worker at age 20 and you start setting aside some of your own payroll taxes in a reasonable rate of return you're going to watch that money grow and it's your asset and the government can't spend it on what they want and they can't take it away, and you can pass it on to whomever you choose.

Let me tell you something about personal accounts. It was such an attractive idea that the United States Congress said as part of their retirement plan they're going to let members of the United States Senate or House of Representatives take some of their own money and set it aside in a personal account.

And my attitude is this, if personal -- voluntary personal savings accounts are good enough for the members of the United States Congress, they're good enough for workers all across America.

(APPLAUSE)

And so here's the way forward, a way to encourage economic security and smart ways to make sure this economy continues to grow so people can realize dreams. That's really what government ought to do; it ought to government that environment in which people are able to realize dreams and own a home, own your own business, own and manage your own retirement.

I kind of love the idea of an ownership society. The more people own something in America, the better off America is as far as I'm concerned. The more people own -- the more assets people own, the more independent Americans are. They feel confident about the future. I'm confident about our future. I don't think there's any problem we can't solve when we put our minds to it.

Things are going fine right now. But my job is to keep looking down the road. My job is to figure out how to keep this economy growing. My job is to get Congress to do -- make wise policy, so the entrepreneurial spirit is strong, so people can realize dreams, so this country remains the great beacon of hope that it has been in the past. I want to thank you for giving me a chance to come by and visit with you.

May God bless you and your families, and may God continue to bless our country.

(APPLAUSE)

KAGAN: We've been listening to President Bush for about 45 minutes this morning. He is at a nuclear power plant in Maryland, in Lusby, Maryland, the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant. The main purpose of the speech, to talk about the energy plan that he says he would like to see Congress get to his desk before they take a recess in August.

The president also going through a long list of issues that he's passionate about, including healthcare, education and Social Security. A lot of those topics in the news. We're going to get to those and both sides of the issue with our correspondents ahead.

Right now, we're going take a quick break. Back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: We're going to get back to our political news in a moment. First, though, we want to bring you this heartwarming story of a mother's prayers that have been answered and a family's hopes delivered. Brennan Hawkins spent four days in the Utah wilderness and a few hours in a Salt Lake City hospital. The 11-year-old Boy Scout was released from the hospital earlier this morning. Let's get the latest now on his rescue and what he faces now.

Our Peter Viles reports from outside the Salt Lake City Hospital, and he filed this report just a few minutes ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): What an amazing story here and what a happy story here. Not only does this boy survive four days in the wilderness, in the mountains, at altitude, but he comes out of those mountains healthy enough to stay in the hospital for just a few hours and go home overnight.

Brennan arrived here yesterday afternoon, and when he arrived, he was, all things considered, in pretty darn good shape. He was dehydrated, and sun burned and had a few bruises. But it was pretty clear right away to the doctors here that he didn't have major injuries and that wouldn't have to stay here very long.

DR. ED CLARK, PRIMARY CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: Brennan has just been so happy to be with his family that we've not pressed him for the stories. That will come out over the next days and weeks. Our focus here was assessing his medical condition, treating the medical problems that he had, which was sun burn and dehydration, and making sure that he could eat and tolerate food. And that went very well over about a 10-hour period here.

VILES: Doctors say it is very, very fortunate, among the many, many fortunate things, that it did not rain a lot in the mountains the past couple of nights. Had it rained, the boy would have been drenched naturally, and would have possibly suffered from hypothermia, would have lost a lot of body heat. That didn't happen. He came to the hospital in pretty good shape. The doctor, you just heard from, Dr. Clark, said he looked in on the boy at one point and saw Brennan surrounded by his family, talking on his cell phone and watching cartoons on TV, which sounds like a pretty happy 11-year-old boy.

Peter Viles, CNN, Salt Lake City, Utah.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Still to come on CNN LIVE TODAY, protecting yourself from identity theft. What you need to do as part of today's top-five tips. Some things you might not have thought of actually, when CNN LIVE TODAY returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Let's go ahead and check the markets. They're just kind of hanging in there this morning. They've been open about an hour and 20 minutes. The Dow, as you can see, is up about five, six points. Nasdaq also in positive territory. It is up two points. Identity theft has become a concern for all of us, but it might surprise you how much your personal information is stolen and who the criminals often are.

Gerri Willis is off this week, but here from "Money" magazine with today's top five tips, senior writer Ellen McGirt. Ellen, good to see you again.

ELLEN MCGIRT, "MONEY" MAGAZINE: Thanks for having me.

KAGAN: Let's get right to the tips. First of all, one thing about -- that struck me in the article in "Money" magazine is, get real. You really are more at risk than you think, especially when you compare it to having your home broken into.

MCGIRT: That's right. You're actually twice as likely to have your identity stolen as to have your house broken into, which is a shocking number. For most -- for last year, it was 10 million Americans, close to 10 million. And think about just the news in the last few months. Since February, 50 million accounts have been compromised through data heists or losses that we've been hearing so much about.

But the irony about the home break-in statistic is that it underscores how low-tech most I.D. theft really is. We're spending a lot of money and concern on locks and alarms, but you're more likely to have your data stolen through mail that you're not taking care of properly, through lost purses or wallets. And what's worse -- or half the time when people know who the perpetrator is, half the time when we're able to figure out who it the perpetrator is, it turns out they know and trust the person. It's a friend, relative, neighbor, colleague or an in-home worker.

In fact, it's in the news today and all the newspapers, it happened to Robert DeNiro and his wife, to the tune of $100,000 and it turned out to be their nanny. So it's the people that you're letting into your lives and the way you're managing your information that keeps you at risk.

KAGAN: Yes. We do have to say that she's been arrested, but she hasn't been convicted with anything.

MCGIRT: Correct. Thank you.

KAGAN: Just to be clear there on that story.

Consider your credit score. Also in the article, talking about how a good credit score could actually hurt you when it comes to being a victim.

MCGIRT: Of course and it's the thing that we safeguard -- it's our most precious asset, is it gives us access to credit at a good and reasonable rate. And it is a green flag. Now, of course, the strategy is not to not have a good credit score. The strategy is to make sure that you know what's happening with your credit report. As of September 1st, we'll all have access to a free credit report on annualcreditreport.com. If you're nervous now or you think that you may have been a victim of credit fraud, by all means, put a fraud alert on your credit report. You're going to need to talk to the authorities, file a police report. The Federal Trade Commission has a great Web site at ftc.gov, which teaches you all the things you need to do to file a report.

But if you're not checking that report, you don't know what kind of activity is happening. And if you're not opening and checking your mail, you won't know if someone's opened or using an account without your permission.

KAGAN: Here's one of those basic 101s. Clean out your wallet because you might have more information in there than you realize.

MCGIRT: And we all do. We don't need to walk around with our Social Security numbers. We don't need to carry as many credit cards as we do. And chances are we've got receipts or bills or something in there that gives away our precious information. And since most data is stolen when we just leave our wallets, our purses, our briefcases, behind, it's important to know what's actually in there.

KAGAN: Why is going online a good idea?

MCGIRT: I know, it seems counterintuitive, because we're all worried about the kinds of vulnerabilities online. But if you can pay your utility bills online, if you can manage your healthcare bills on line, if you can manage your banking and your credit card bills online, not only are you eliminating the amount of paper that's coming into your home, which makes you vulnerable, you're also able to access and check these accounts 24/7.

And overwhelmingly, companies are doing a pretty good job in managing the online part of the transactions. It's where they're storing the data or where's the falling off the back of the truck or other things where they're vulnerable. As far as the convenience, you can't beat it.

KAGAN: And in terms of protection -- and this varies state to state. So know what you have where you live.

MCGIRT: That's absolutely true. And it's really worth being a vigilant consumer and a voter. California is leading the way in consumer privacy laws and people really need to weigh in. Six -- in six states, six or eight states, I believe, you're able to put a complete freeze on your account, which means that nobody can access your report unless you know about it. Your credit information. That kind of thing should be nationwide. So know what your rights are and know who you need to be talking to in your state government to either get your point across or get help if you need it.

KAGAN: Ellen McGirt from "Money" magazine, thank you.

MCGIRT: Thank you.

KAGAN: Good tips.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: A long-awaited verdict in Mississippi, but how do residents feel about the manslaughter conviction of Edgar Ray Killen? Hear what they have to say in a moment.

And accused BTK killer Dennis Rader speaks to a reporter for the first time since his arrest. Hear parts of that interview, coming up.

Second hour of CNN LIVE TODAY begins after a quick break.

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