January 18, 2008

THE PRESIDENT: Let me tell you why I'm here. This man started his own business. He's a manufacturer, he employs over a hundred people, and he represents the backbone¹ of the American economy. And today I talked about our economy, and the fundamentals are strong, but there's uncertainty². And there's an opportunity to work with Congress to pass a pro-growth package that will deal with the uncertainty.

Any package has got to remember that jobs are created by small businesses. A good package will have incentives³ for investment. The package we passed early in my administration helped him. He bought some equipment and made his firm more productive, kept him in business. And that's the same spirit that needs to be in this next growth package.

The other thing is, is that we got to make sure that we benefit consumers. We want our consumers out there spending, and the best way to do that is broad-based tax relief. Now, this plan ought to be broad-based, it ought to be simple, and it ought to be temporary.

I had a conversation, Congressman⁴, with the leadership on both sides of the aisle⁵ yesterday, and I was encouraged by what I heard. And I believe we can come together on a growth package very quickly. We need to. We need to get this deal done and get it out and get money in the hands of our consumers and our small business owners to help this economy.

I'm optimistic, I truly am. One reason I'm optimistic is because I understand we got all kinds of Americans just like this man here, working hard to provide a living for folks and to make a product people want.

And so, while there's some uncertainty right now, if we act quickly and in a smart way that helps growth, we're going to be just fine.

Anyway, thanks for letting me come by. I'm proud to be -- I love the entrepreneurial class in -- I love people who have a dream and work hard to achieve the dream.

And so -- a fine-looking machine you got here.

MR. WRIGHT: Thank you. It's a team effort. We thank you, thank you for all your work, too.

THE PRESIDENT: Do you wonder where they got the name "Wright?" That's his name. And his wife is the co-founder of the company. And this is -- it's really great to be with you.

And, Congressman, thank you for being here. I'm proud to be with your workers. You've got some fine workers.

MR. WRIGHT: We've got a great team here, don't we?

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, you do. And if they get a little more money in their pocket as a result of the growth package, it will help make sure this economy continues to grow.

Anyway, thank you all very much.

END 1:59 P.M. EST