WASHINGTON, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- President George W. Bush on Monday said a strong homeland security, an independent energy supply, free trade and tax relief for Americans were critical to boosting the country's sagging economy.
"The role of government is not to create wealth. The role of government is to create conditions in which jobs are created, in which people can find work," Bush told workers at the John Deere factory in Moline, Ill.
The factory marked the first stop of the two-day, three-state presidential tour as Bush took his message on economic recovery to farm states. He was scheduled to travel to Aurora, Mo., later in the day and New Orleans on Tuesday. The trip comes one day after the president briefly blacked out after choking on a pretzel in the White House residence while watching television. The only evidence of the incident was a large, red bruise on Bush's left cheek near his eye.
Bush said making sure the nation is secure against enemies that would want to attack the United States was vital. He called a "robust, national, active" homeland security plan, which responds quickly and swiftly to threats, a key to creating jobs. He said there was no doubt the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington had an adverse effect on American consumer confidence, but the more citizens realize the federal and local governments are working to prevent further attacks, the more quickly things would return normal.
He hailed his education reform plan, which he signed into law last week, as a key to creating jobs in America. Bush said it was important for the country to produce "smart, intelligent, literate" children. The sweeping reforms due to take effect next year will increase accountability for the nation's public schools and will include more student testing, a cornerstone of his presidential campaign.
Opening the world to free trade also is a critical factor in job creation, Bush said.
"The third condition necessary to make certain people can find work is to make sure we open up the world to American products. Certain people want to build walls around America. Confident people want to tear them down. I know the American worker can out produce anybody, anywhere in the world," Bush said to thunderous applause.
Bush has pushed aggressively for trade promotion authority -- the ability to broker trade deals with foreign nations with only a thumbs-up or thumbs-down assessment from Congress. The U.S. House of Representatives approved the measure last month by a one vote margin, but Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., is expected to delay a vote on the measure in the Senate.
Bush said he wants to make certain the United States was able to provide its own energy supplies similar to how farmers provide the bulk of the nation's food supply.
"We don't have to rely on another nation to feed our people. It's one of the luxuries this nation has. We don't have the same luxury when it comes to energy. We are co-reliant upon foreign sources of crude oil. We have to do a better job of not only conserving energy but it seems to make sense to me that when we got energy in our own hemisphere, in our own state, we ought to explore for it," Bush said. "It's in the national security interest of country to have an energy policy."
Bush called tax relief - an issue that has sparked contentious debate between the White House and Congress -- a concept to which he planned to adhere. Democrats have blamed Bush's 10-year, $1.35 trillion tax cut for the dwindling federal budget surplus and have balked at additional cuts that would be part of his proposed economic stimulus package.
"If you have more money in your pocket, you buy more things, which encourages more production. Consumer demand is stimulated by tax relief. And the great thing about our society is when consumers demand, generally somebody is there to produce. And so there's more jobs as more production takes place," Bush said. "Now, there's going to be a debate when we go back to Washington about tax relief. But I've made up my mind, the tax relief plan we passed -- which you're now beginning to feel the effects of -- is going to be permanent."
