George bush funding new law

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much. (Applause.) Thank you very much. Bruce, thanks for your introduction. Bruce is a polite guy -- I thought what he was going to say, it's about time you showed up. (Laughter and applause.) And I'm glad I did. (Applause.) See, I see this as a moment of opportunity. I have come to celebrate the heroism of the civil rights movement, and the accomplishments of the NAACP. (Applause.)
I want to talk about ways to build what the NAACP has always sought -- a nation united, committed to destroying discrimination and extending to every American the full blessings -- the full blessings -- of liberty and opportunity. (Applause.) It's important to me. It's important to our nation. I come from a family committed to civil rights. My faith tells me that we're all children of God, equally loved, equally cherished, equally entitled to the rights He grants us all.
For nearly 200 years, our nation failed the test of extending the blessings of liberty to African Americans. (Applause.) Slavery was legal for nearly a hundred years, and discrimination legal in many places for nearly a hundred years more. Taken together, the record placed a stain on America's founding, a stain that we have not yet wiped clean. (Applause.)
When people talk about America's founders they mention the likes of Washington and Jefferson and Franklin and Adams. Too often they ignore another group of founders -- men and women and children who did not come to America of their free will, but in chains. (Applause.) These founders literally helped build our country. They chopped the wood, they built the homes, they tilled the fields, and they reaped the harvest. They raised children of others, even though their own children had been ripped away and sold to strangers. (Applause.) These founders were denied the most basic birthright, and that's freedom.
Yet, through captivity and oppression, they kept the faith. They carved a great nation out of the wilderness, and later, their descendants led a people out of the wilderness of bigotry. Nearly 200 years into our history as a nation, America experienced a second founding: the Civil Rights movement. Some of those leaders are here. (Applause.) These second founders, led by the likes of Thurgood Marshall and Martin Luther King, Jr. believed in the constitutional guarantees of liberty and equality. They trusted fellow Americans to join them in doing the right thing. They were leaders. They toppled Jim Crow through simple deeds: boarding a bus, walking along the road, showing up peacefully at courthouses or joining in prayer and song. Despite the sheriff's dogs, and the jailer's scorn, and the hangman's noose, and the assassin's bullets, they prevailed. (Applause.)
I don't know if you remember, three weeks ago, I went to Memphis, Tennessee. (Applause and laughter.) A lot of people focused on the fact that my friend, the Prime Minister of Japan, was an Elvis fan, because we went to Graceland. But we also went to another stop, a stop Reverend Jesse Jackson knows all too well, a painful moment in his life and in the life of our nation, reflected in the Lorraine Motel.
The Prime Minister and I went there, which is now the National Civil Rights Museum. By the way, if you haven't been there, you ought to go. (Applause.) Among the people greeting me there was Dr. Benjamin Hooks. (Applause.) It's good to see you again, sir. He led me out onto the balcony of Room 306. I remember Dr. Hooks pointed to the window that was still half-cracked. You know what I'm talking about, Jesse. It's not very far away. It was a powerful reminder of the hardships this nation has been through, the struggle for decency.
I was honored that Dr. Hooks took time to visit with me. He talked about the hardships of the movement. With the gentle wisdom that comes from experience, he made it clear we must work as one. And that's why I've come today. (Applause.) We want a united America that is one nation under God -- (applause) -- where every man and child and woman is valued and treated with dignity. We want a hopeful America where the prosperity and opportunities of our great land reach into every block of every neighborhood. We want an America that is constantly renewing itself, where citizens rise above political differences to heal old wounds, to build the bonds of brotherhood and to move us ever closer to the founding promise of liberty and justice for all.
Nearly a hundred years after the NAACP's birth, America remains an unfolding story of freedom. And all of us have an obligation to play our part. (Applause.)
I want to thank your chairman, Julian Bond, for his introduction. And thanks for greeting me today, Mr. Chairman. (Applause.) I asked him for a few pointers on how to give a speech. (Laughter.) It doesn't look like they're taking. (Laughter.)
I want to thank Roslyn Brock, the Vice Chairman of the board, as well. (Applause.) I thank all the board members, all the participants, all the members of the United States Congress for joining us today, as well. (Applause.)
I congratulate Bruce Gordon on his strong leadership. (Applause.) I've gotten to know him. See, shortly after he was elected, he came by the Oval Office. He doesn't mince words. (Laughter.) It's clear what's on his mind. He's also a results-oriented person. I'm pleased -- I'm pleased to say that I have -- I'm an admirer of Bruce Gordon, and we've got a good working relationship. (Applause.) I don't know if that helps you or hurts you. (Laughter.) But it's the truth. I admire the man.
We've had frank discussions, starting with Katrina. We talked about the challenges facing the African American community after that storm. We talked about the response of the federal government. And most importantly, we talked about the way forward. We talked about what we can do working together -- (applause) -- to move forward. As a result of that first meeting, we found areas where we share common purpose, and we have resolved to work together in practical ways. I don't expect Bruce to become a Republican -- (laughter) -- and neither do you. (Laughter.) But I do want to work with him, and that's what I'm here to talk to you about. (Applause.)
So we've been working together in helping the citizens along the Gulf Coast recover from one of the worst natural disasters in our nation's history. You know, when we met, I told Bruce that I would work with the Congress to make sure we dedicated enough money to help the folks. He kind of looked at me like, sure, he's heard these political promises before. It's not the first time that he had heard somebody say, well, we'll work together to see if we can't get enough money, and I suspect he might have thought, well, he's just trying to get me out of the Oval Office. (Laughter.)
But I meant what I said, and I want to thank the United States Congress for joining with the administration. We committed over $110 billion to help the people in the Gulf Coast. (Applause.) That's money to go to build new homes, good schools. Bruce and I talked a lot about how do we make sure the contracting that goes on down there in the Gulf Coast goes to minority-owned businesses. (Applause.)
The road to recovery is long and difficult, but we will continue to work together to implement the strategy that Bruce and I worked on along with people -- other people like Donna Brazile and other leaders. We've got a plan, and we've got a commitment. And the commitment is not only to work together, but it's a commitment to the people of the Gulf Coast of the United States, to see to it that their lives are better and brighter than before the storm. (Applause.)
We also worked together to ensure that African Americans can take advantage of the new Medicare drug benefit. Look, I understand that we had a political disagreement on the bill. I know that. But I worked with the Congress to make sure that the days of seniors having to choose between food and medicine is over. And that's the case of this new Medicare benefit. (Applause.) The federal government pays over 95 percent of the cost for our nation's poorest seniors to get this new drug benefit.



Thank you george bush he is finally doing something to help todays society. This will change a lot of things i the U.S. and people will not think they have to much power over people and minorities.