Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce Remarks

Omaha, Nebraska
February 4, 2003

Introduction

Thank you, Dick, and congratulations for a successful year as chairman. I have the pleasure of serving on Union Pacific's board of directors, so I appreciate Dick's leadership skills and talent as much as anybody here.

It's a pleasure to be a part of your program this afternoon. I make it a point to visit as many state, local and metro chambers as I can because each one is so vital to what we're trying to accomplish in Washington.

The Omaha Chamber is one of our strongest and most enduring partners—you've been with the U.S. Chamber for every single one of its 90 years.

That kind of relationship is tough to find, and that's why we're intent on nurturing and developing it.

I've enjoyed hearing about some of the challenges and opportunities you all face here in Omaha.

I'd like to take this opportunity to tell you about some of the challenges and opportunities we face as a country and how the U.S. Chamber proposes to address them.

Political Environment

To set the stage, let me spend a minute talking about the political environment in Washington.

First, we have entirely new leadership in the Senate as well as several new faces in the Administration, including a new Treasury secretary, a new SEC chairman, and a new White House economic advisor.

Then there's the threat of war in Iraq hanging in the air, and that, as anyone knows, is distracting lawmakers from some of the nation's other important business.

On top of that, every other day we see a new Democrat announcing his candidacy for 2004, which further politicizes the legislative environment on Capitol Hill.

With these factors in play, some might say that Congress won't do much this year…that it's useless to try to push an aggressive policy agenda. You won't hear the U.S. Chamber saying that.

We believe the country can't afford NOT to aggressively pursue economic policies that will get our economy moving at the rate it should be.

The Economy

Don't be mistaken. Despite some pessimism out there, the economy is NOT in the tank. It's been growing—although slowly—for five consecutive quarters, or for more than a year straight.

The fundamentals are strong. We're enjoying record low interest rates, low inflation, a strong housing market, steady consumer spending, and productivity increases that continue to beat all expectations.

But on the flip side, there are several causes for concern—a three-year stock market decline, weak business investment, dipping consumer confidence, a stubborn unemployment rate, and heavy losses in some core industries.

The challenges are real, but the solutions are clear and doable. All that's missing is the political will to act.

Chamber Agenda

So let me now briefly touch on the Chamber's agenda for growth, then finish by telling you how we intend to accomplish it.

Our first point of business is to get the president's tax cut package through Congress.

The president's plan strikes the right balance between short-term stimulus and long-term growth.

His plan will put money in consumers' pockets right away by increasing the child tax credit…reducing the marriage penalty…moving more Americans into the lowest tax bracket…and by speeding up the cuts that were passed in 2001.

The plan will also spur investment and future growth by dramatically increasing write-offs for small business—and by ending the double-taxation of dividends.

The taxing of dividends is a matter of fairness. It's fair to tax a company's profits. It is NOT fair to tax shareholders on the same profits.

The Bush plan to eliminate the tax investors pay on dividend income would draw money into equity markets…money businesses need to build and expand plants, buy equipment, and hire more people.

Just as important, it would help the nearly 10 million seniors who depend on dividend income.

Second, we need to secure America's energy future by becoming less dependent on energy imports.

Any time there are hostilities, a public rally, a strike, a change in leadership—or the threat of one—in a major oil-exporting country, we feel it at the pump and in our heating bills.

It's time for America to take care of its own energy needs. We need a national energy policy that boosts domestic production, modernizes our power grid, and encourages both conservation and the development of new energy technologies.

We came close to achieving this goal in the last Congress, but the politics of the mid-term elections got in the way.

Third, we'll be fighting hard for significant legal reform, particularly on abusive class action suits, asbestos litigation and medical liability.

Ladies and gentlemen, the problems in our legal system have reached a crisis level.

It's a crisis when the American Medical Association identifies a dozen states where medical care has been denied because doctors are being driven out by the high cost of medical malpractice insurance.

It's a crisis when nearly 60 companies nationwide have been pushed into bankruptcy by hundreds of thousands of asbestos lawsuits—filed on behalf of mostly healthy people, by the way—that are projected to cost up to $275 billion, with the majority of settlement money and jury awards ending up in the pockets of lawyers.

We're working hard for legislative fixes to our troubled legal system in Congress, but we understand that we have to play ball at the state level to achieve broader reform. We're doing this in a number of different ways.

We're asking people in the states with the worst liability environments to tell their legislatures to pass meaningful legal reform.

We took this unprecedented step in Mississippi last year, and—lo and behold—lawmakers and the governor responded to public pressure by passing medical liability reform AND broader legal reform.

Yesterday, I held a press conference with the president of the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce in an effort to get West Virginians to take control of their terrible legal environment, and we hope to get the same response there as we got in Mississippi.

I'll be honest. We've taken some heat from folks who don't think the U.S. Chamber should be sticking its nose in a state's business.

But the legal crises in some states—while a local problem—have national, and even international consequences.

Companies all over the country—maybe even a few from Nebraska—and some from abroad are named as defendants in cases moved to states with unfair legal systems by class action trial lawyers looking to cash in. It's got to stop.

There's another method in which we're working for legal reform on the state level, and it's through voter education in state attorney general and supreme court races.

We got involved in 18 of these races last year and the candidates we supported won 17 of them. That's not a bad batting average by anyone's standards.

So while we continue to lobby Congress for a national solution to excessive frivolous litigation, we'll continue to stay very active in the states as well.

The fourth item on our agenda is to improve and expand the nation's infrastructure—particularly in transportation and technology.

This year, the Chamber will play a lead role in securing adequate transportation investment as Congress works to reauthorize TEA-21 and AIR-21, bills that will appropriate surface and aviation transportation dollars for the next six years.

Maintaining and improving our network of roads, airports, rail lines, transit, ports and waterways is essential to the success of our businesses and our economy.

The Chamber-led Americans for Transportation Mobility coalition will undertake a major lobbying, media, and grassroots campaign to educate lawmakers and the public on the importance of transportation investment.

The Omaha Chamber and more than 250 others nationwide have joined us in this critical effort. With your support, we will ensure that all transportation users fees are used for their intended purpose and that government accelerates project delivery to meet our growing transportation needs.

In technology, we're seeking broadband policy that encourages investment and deployment of high-speed Internet products and services.

One study shows that the acceleration of broadband technology will inject $500 billion into the economy every year, creating new possibilities in business, education, entertainment, and more. This is an area in which we cannot afford to fall behind.

The Chamber is also working to solve our health care crisis. If your premiums went up 15% this year, then consider yourself lucky. Some small businesses are receiving rate hikes two and three times that amount.

Extreme cost pressure is causing the system to break down. You know the deal. Companies that can no longer afford the premium increases are passing off those additional costs to workers, or scaling back on benefits.

Whenever these things happen, you hear the familiar cry in Washington for a universal health care system. Americans don't want to be placed on long waiting lists for specialized care or see health care services rationed.

We need free market-oriented reforms…tax deductions for individuals who pay their own premiums…tax credits for low- and moderate-income Americans…and allowing small businesses to form purchasing pools that give them the same advantages as large-employer and union plans.

We'll also continue to fight efforts to pile new mandates and more liability onto health plans and the companies that provide them.

Let me make a quick comment about Medicare. It's nice that politicians can talk about providing a prescription drug benefit for seniors. We happen to think that makes sense.

But we will insist that any such benefit be accompanied by comprehensive Medicare reforms to put the program on sounder financial footing.

Finally, the Chamber will lead the national debate on how to achieve the right balance between security and mobility.

The war on terror is unlike any we've ever fought, and it's here to stay. We're dealing with a foe that wants to cripple the spirit of America, and therefore cripple our economy.

The business community and government on all levels must work together to ensure that the country doesn't surrender to the fear of terrorism.

Part of the role of business is to support increases in military manpower, homeland and national defense spending, and necessary call-ups of the Reserves and National Guard.

At the same time, let's understand that the law creating the new Department of Homeland Security was just the beginning of the process—not the end.

The Chamber will work closely with this agency to ensure that it acts to protect the economic security of Americans along with their physical security.

Our return to prosperity depends on the free flow of lawful commerce, transportation and immigration. Mobility and security must go hand-in-hand. Sacrifice one for the other, and we'll pay a horrific price.

So at this point, you're saying to yourself, "Tom, that's a great agenda. But how do you get it done?"

The same way we always have. By working with friends and allies from both sides of the aisle in Congress…by forming coalitions with associations and organizations like the Omaha Chamber…by strengthening the ties that bond the entire Chamber Federation—3 million businesses and 3,000 chambers strong.

In Washington, the people in power change from time to time, but the rules of the game always stay the same. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is a 90-year-old institution. Nobody in town knows the rules—or the keys to success—better than us.

Reform taxes and regulations…change the legal system…improve the infrastructure…address the health care crisis…fight the war on terror by protecting both security and mobility. That's what the Chamber is committed to doing, and with your help, we can get it done.

As a final note, let me add that no amount of policy or legislative success can restore prosperity without decisions by business leaders to take risks, invest capital, and hire new people.

My message to companies is that if you wait too long to act, someone's going to eat your lunch.

We are a nation of risk-takers…of doers. Our ancestors risked everything coming to this country, and they worked hard and made great sacrifices to build and defend it. Now history calls on us to do the same. We must rise to the occasion, and I'm confident we will.

Thank you very much.