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CNN Saturday Morning News

Bush Delivers Radio Address

Aired December 15, 2001 - 10:03   ET

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

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the front lines in Afghanistan to the battle lines in Washington over plans to revive the faltering U.S. economy. President Bush fires the latest round today in his weekly radio address.

CNN White House correspondent Kelly Wallace joins us live with the details.

Hi, Kelly.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello, again to you Kyra.

Well, look for the president once again to try to put more pressure on Senate Democrats to pass a bill that would do two things -- one, it would give a boost to the economy and also help all those workers who have lost their jobs since the September 11 attacks and even before, since the recession officially started in March.

Now, the president, in his address, Kyra, will be armed with some new numbers. He will talking about how, in the president's own estimation, hundreds of thousands of jobs could be lost if the Senate fails to act. Now, we know the House of Representatives has already passed a bill, but Senate Democrats say that bill is much too generous to the wealthy and to corporations.

The main sticking point, really, how to ensure that unemployed people can obtain and get access to health care and also, how much should individual tax breaks be accelerated. Now, the president will say, in his address, that he made a number of concessions this week to Democrats and that he is now calling on Senate Democrats to do the same.

Lawmakers have been meeting throughout the week. They're expected to meet this week as well. And Kyra, it is just not clear if they will be able to resolve their differences. The Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, Kyra, will be doing the Democratic radio response following the president's address in the next hour. And the Senate leader is indicating he is confident or helpful that the two sides can find common ground. Again, they do have a number of sticking points to work through, but you are seeing the president using this radio address, likely to see him the days of this next week use the bully pulpit to keep putting pressure on lawmakers to get something done. You know, Kyra, there's no question that the economy is in a recession. And economic advisers have told the president that the recession got even worse following the terrorist attacks. Very windy here on the North Lawn at the White House. Excuse me. And so look for the president in this address to say really the time has come for the Senate Democrats to take this bill to the floor and have a foot.

Let's listen now to the president's weekly radio address.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Good morning. As too many Americans know first hand, the economy began to slow early last year and terrorism has hit us hard. Many workers have lost jobs and others are seeing their hours cut. The American people want action to improve our economy and so do I.

More than two months and more than 700,000 lost jobs ago, I proposed an economic security package to help workers who have been laid off and to take action to create jobs and promote long-term economic growth. The House of Representatives quickly responded, passing its own legislation to help jumpstart the company. The Senate has failed to act. And while the Senate has failed to its work, more and more Americans have been thrown out of work.

To break the log jam in the Senate, I reached out this week to moderate Democrats and Republicans to build a consensus that gave both parties some of what they want and most important, will give our economy the boost it needs.

This bipartisan package will give workers who have lost their jobs since the recession began last March an additional 13 weeks of unemployment benefits. It will also help unemployed workers keep their health insurance and will give governors greater resources and more flexibility to assist those in need.

These new bipartisan measures help working families who are struggling to make ends meet, giving up to $600 cash refunds to low income families who don't earn enough to pay income tax, but still pay part of their income in payroll taxes. And this plan helps middle class families, couples earning approximately $60,000 and individuals earning $40,000 by speeding up planned tax relief for them as well.

This installment of tax relief was scheduled for 2004. Under this new idea, many middle class families will see a rise in their take home pay in just a couple of weeks.

And finally, this agreement will create jobs. Among other steps, it gives employers incentives to invest in new equipment right away. It lowers the tax rate for 10 million small businesses and entrepreneurs, making it easier for them to expand and grow and hire new workers. It focuses on other policies that will also increase investment and produce new jobs.

This economic growth package is urgently needed. Today, the federal government's Council of Economic Advisers released a report that estimates the bipartisan agreement reached this week can save 300,000 American jobs that might otherwise be lost if we fail to act.

Democrats and Republicans set aside partisan politics to arrive at this agreement. They want to get something done for America's workers. We believe this agreement has enough votes to be approved by the United States Senate and I'm ready to sign it into law. But first, the Senate leader must schedule a vote. On behalf of American workers in our American economy, I call on the leadership of the Senate to bring this bipartisan economy recovery plan to vote, to bring help to unemployed workers and a crucial boost to our economy.

The holidays are upon us and time is running out. While some in Washington are looking for reasons not to act, many in Congress in both parties want to find a way to get the job done. America's workers are counting on us.

Thank you for listening.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

WALLACE: And there you heard President Bush's weekly radio address, again, trying to step up the pressure on Democrats in the Senate. And as we told you, armed with some new numbers, the president saying, according to his Council of Economic Advisers, "if lawmakers fail to pass an economic stimulus package, up to 300,000 jobs could be lost." The Council of Economic Advisers saying that failure to pass such a package would lower economic growth by five- tenths of a percentage point between now and next year.

Kyra, you also heard the president say that it was two months ago or more than two months ago when he first proposed such a measure to give a boost to the economy. The president saying more than 700,000 jobs had been lost since then, so obviously, the president turning to economic numbers to ammunition, to try to put pressure on Senate Democrats.

As we told you, Kyra, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle is doing the Democratic radio response also, talking about this issue and the Senate leaders saying he is hopeful that the two sides can find common ground and get a bill passed.

Kyra, back to you.

PHILLIPS: All right, our CNN White House correspondent Kelly Wallace, thank you so much.

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