[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 135 (Wednesday, October 25, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11020-S11022]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          ISSUES BEFORE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AND GOVERNOR BUSH

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, we have an interesting number of issues 
before this body. We have talked on various occasions, not the least of 
which has been today, about what we have not done: A real Patients' 
Bill of Rights; a prescription drug coverage through Medicare; a 
minimum wage increase; tax-deductibility for college-level education, 
including lifelong learning; education funds to modernize our schools, 
to have afterschool programs, to have more teachers; commonsense gun 
safety legislation; long-term tax credits for families caring for 
elderly parents; and affordable housing. These issues--any one of 
them--could have been completed with the intercession of the Governor 
of Texas who is running for President.
  The campaign, that will be completed in 12 or 13 days, is a campaign 
of ideas. What I would like to do tonight is spread across the Record 
of this Senate some of the ideas of George W. Bush, the Governor of the 
State of Texas. I say this because I think we should understand there 
are a number of policies that are being advocated by the Vice President 
and by the Governor of Texas.
  So what I want to do today is quote verbatim, statements that have 
been made by George W. Bush. I will not be able to complete all of his 
statements tonight, but I am going to spend some time reading direct 
quotes of George W. Bush. Maybe I will return tomorrow or the day after 
to complete the statements of the Governor of the State of Texas.
  The first quote comes from October 23, 2000. That was last Monday. 
Here is the direct quote:

       I don't want nations feeling like that they can bully 
     ourselves and our allies. I want to have a ballistic defense 
     system so that we can make the world more peaceful, and at 
     the same time I want to reduce our own nuclear capacities to 
     the level commiserate with keeping the peace.

  October 18, 2000, another direct quote:

       Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take 
     dream.

  He also said, on that same occasion, in LaCrosse, WI:

       If I'm the president, we're going to have emergency-room 
     care, we're going to have gag orders.

  He also said, and I quote:

       Drug therapies are replacing a lot of medicines as we used 
     to know it.

  Another direct quote:

       It's one thing about insurance, that's a Washington term.

  Direct quote:

       I think we ought to raise the age at which juveniles can 
     have a gun.

  This is the Governor of the State of Texas, the man running for 
President of the United States, who has said these things.
  The next direct quote:

       Mr. Vice President, in all due respect, it is--I'm not sure 
     80 percent of the people get the death tax. I know this: 100 
     percent will get it if I'm the president.
  Next direct quote:

       Quotas are bad for America. It's not the way America is all 
     about.

  Direct quote.
  October 18, in St. Louis, the same day that he said, ``Families is 
where our nation finds hopes, where wings take dream,'' he said:

       If affirmative action means what I just described, what I'm 
     for, then I'm for it.

  In Greensboro, NC, on October 10 of this year, he said:

       Our priorities is our faith.

  October 11 of the year 2000:

       I mean, there needs to be a wholesale effort against racial 
     profiling, which is illiterate children.

  The direct quote from Gov. George W. Bush: ``I mean, there needs to 
be a wholesale effort against racial profiling, which is illiterate 
children.''
  Greensboro, NC, the day before--that is, October 10--when he was 
commenting on the Vice President's tax plan:

       It's going to require numerous IRA agents.

  The Governor of the State of Texas said, on October 4, in 
Reynoldsburg, OH:

       I think if you know what you believe, it makes it a lot 
     easier to answer questions. I can't answer your question.

  This was in response to a question about whether he wished he could 
take back any of his answers in the first debate. The direct quote is: 
``I think if you know what you believe, it makes it a lot easier to 
answer questions. I can't answer your question.''
  I do not think that takes any discussion to figure out what he just 
said, because I do not think he knows what he just said.
  In Boston, on October 3 of the year 2000, he said:

       I would have my secretary of treasury be in touch with the 
     financial centers, not only here but at home.

  Saginaw, MI, September 29, 2000:

       I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully.

  Quote: ``I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully.''
  Redwood, CA, September 27, 2000:

       I will have a foreign-handed foreign policy.

  Again, these are direct quotes from the Governor of the State of 
Texas, the man who has been nominated to be President of the United 
States.
  Los Angeles, September 27:

       One of the common denominators I have found is that 
     expectations rise above that which is expected.

  Beaverton, OR, September 25, this year:


[[Page S11021]]


       It is clear our nation is reliant upon big foreign oil. 
     More and more of our imports come from overseas.

  Direct quote, MSNBC, September 20, 2000:

       Well, that's going to be up to the pundits and the people 
     to make up their mind. I'll tell you what is a president for 
     him, for example, talking about my record in the state of 
     Texas. I mean, he's willing to say anything in order to 
     convince people that I haven't had a good record in Texas.

  September 9, on the Oprah show:

       I am a person who recognizes the fallacy of humans.

  Interview with Paula Zahn, September 18, 2000:

       A tax cut is really one of the anecdotes to coming out of 
     an economic illness.

  I have read these over several times. I still am stunned by what has 
been said by the man running for President of the United States.
  Orange, CA, September 15, 2000:

       The woman who knew that I had dyslexia--I never interviewed 
     her.

  Westminster, CA, September 13:

       The best way to relieve families from time is to let them 
     keep some of their own money.

  The same interview:

       They have miscalculated me as a leader.

  Orlando, FL, September 12, 2000:

       I don't think we need to be subliminable about the 
     differences between our views on prescription drugs.

  This is a campaign of ideas, Mr. President, a discussion of policies, 
a discussion of having a vision of what this country needs, someone who 
can discuss them in a logical manner.
  Pittsburgh, PA, September 8:

       This is what I'm good at. I like meeting people, my fellow 
     citizens, I like interfacing with them.

  Westland, MI, September 8:

       That's Washington. That's the place where you find people 
     getting ready to jump out of the foxholes before the first 
     shot is fired.

  Detroit, September 7, 2000:

       Listen, Al Gore is a very tough opponent. He is the 
     incumbent. He represents the incumbency. And a challenger is 
     somebody who generally comes from the pack and wins, if 
     you're going to win. And that's where I'm coming from.

  Houston, TX, September 6:

       We'll let our friends be the peacemakers and the great 
     country called America will be the pacemakers.

  Scranton, PA, September 6:

       We don't believe in planners and deciders making decisions 
     on behalf of Americans.

  Allentown, PA, September 5:

       I regret that a private comment I made to the vice 
     presidential candidate made it through the public airways.

  New York Times, September 2:

       The point is, this is a way to help inoculate me about what 
     has come and is coming.

  CNN online chat:

       As governor of Texas, I have set high standards for our 
     public schools, and I have met these standards.

  Same interview:

       Well, I think if you say you're going to do something and 
     don't do it, that is trustworthiness.

  Des Moines, IA, August 21:

       I don't know whether I'm going to win or not. I think I am. 
     I do know I am ready for the job. And, if not, that's just 
     the way it goes.

  Same, Des Moines, IA:

       This campaign not only hears the voices of entrepreneurs 
     and the farmers and the entrepreneurs, we hear the voices of 
     those struggling to get ahead.

  Des Moines, IA, August 21:

       We cannot let terrorists and rogue nations hold this nation 
     hostile or hold our allies hostile.
       I have a different vision of leadership. A leadership is 
     something who brings people together.

  That is from Bartlett, TN, August 18.
  August 11, Associated Press:

       I think he needs to stand up and say if he thought the 
     president were wrong on policy and issues, he ought to say 
     where.

  Salinas, CA, August 10:

       I want you to know that farmers are not going to be 
     secondary thoughts to a Bush administration. They will be in 
     the forethought of our thinking.

  Today Show interview, August 1:

       And if he continues that, I'm going to tell the nation what 
     I think about him as a human being and as a person.

  Washington Post, July 15. This was a comment to New Jersey's 
Secretary of State, the Honorable DeForest Soaries, Jr.:

       You might want to comment on that, Honorable.

  Seattle Post-Intelligencer, June 23, 2000:

       This case has had full analyzation and has been looked at a 
     lot. I understand the emotionality of death penalty cases.

  Cleveland, OH, June 29:

       States should have the right to enact reasonable laws and 
     restrictions particularly to end the inhuman practice of 
     ending a life that otherwise could live.

  This is another Cleveland quote from a different time, July 1:

       Unfairly but truthfully, our party has been tagged as being 
     against things. Anti-immigrant, for example. And we're not a 
     party of anti-immigrants. Quite the opposite. We're a party 
     that welcomes people.

  Wayne, MI, June 28:

       The fundamental question is, Will I be a successful 
     president when it comes to foreign policy? I will be, but 
     until I'm the president, it's going to be hard for me to 
     verify that I think I'll be more effective.

  NPR radio, June 16:

       The only things that I can tell you is that every case I 
     have reviewed I have been comfortable with the innocence or 
     guilt of the person that I've looked at. I do not believe 
     we've put a guilty . . . I mean innocent person to death in 
the State of Texas.

  Hardball, MSNBC, discussion on abortion, May 31 of this year:

       I'm gonna talk about the ideal world, Chris. I've read--I 
     understand reality. If you're asking me as the president, 
     would I understand reality, I do.

  June 9, 2000, Wilton, CT:

       There's not going to be enough people in the system to take 
     advantage of people like me.

  April 3, U.S. News and World Report:

       I think anybody who doesn't think I'm smart enough to 
     handle the job is underestimating.

  This is interesting. This is also on Hardball. Governor Bush:

       First of all, Cinco de Mayo is not the independence day. 
     That's dieciseis de Septiembre, and . . .

  Chris Matthews says:

       What's that in English?

  Governor Bush:

       Fifteenth of September.

  Mr. President, I took 2 years of high school Spanish, and I know that 
is not September 15.
  From Albuquerque, NM, on May 31:

       Actually, I--this may sound a little West Texan to you, but 
     I like it. What I'm talking about--when I'm talking about 
     myself, and when he's talking about myself, all of us are 
     talking about me.
  Again, he said:

       Actually I--this may sound a little west Texan to you, but 
     I like it. What I'm talking about--when I'm talking about 
     myself, and when he's talking about myself, all of us are 
     talking about me.

  Here is another direct quote from the Albuquerque on May 31:

       This is a world that is much more uncertain than the past. 
     In the past, we were certain, we were certain it was us 
     versus the Russians in the past. We were certain, and 
     therefore we had huge nuclear arsenals aimed at each other to 
     keep the peace. That's what we were certain of. You see, even 
     though it's an uncertain world, we're certain of some things. 
     We're certain that even though the ``evil empire'' may have 
     passed, evil still remains. We're certain there are people 
     that can't stand what America stands for. We're certain there 
     are madmen in this world, and there's terror and there's 
     missiles, and I'm certain of this, too: I'm certain to 
     maintain the peace, we better have a military of high morale, 
     and I'm certain that under this administration, morale in the 
     military is dangerously low.

  He was talking with Paula Zahn on May 18 about Rudy Giuliani, the 
mayor of New York City:

       He has certainly earned a reputation as a fantastic mayor, 
     because the results speak for themselves. I mean, New York is 
     a safer place for him to be.

  This was in the New York Times on March 4, 2000:

       The fact that he relies on facts--says things that are not 
     factual--are going to undermine his campaign.

  On his meeting with John McCain, in the Dallas Morning News on May 
10, 2000, he said:

       I think we agree, the past is over.

  This is from Reuters, May 5, 2000:

       It's clearly a budget. It's got a lot of numbers in it.

  Here is an interview Governor Bush did with Jim Lehrer on The 
NewsHour, on April 27, 2000:

       Governor Bush: Because the picture on the newspaper. It 
     just seems so un-American to me, the picture of the guy 
     storming the house with a scared little boy there. I talked 
     to my little brother, Jeb--I haven't told this to many 
     people. But he's the Governor of--I shouldn't call him my 
     little brother--my brother, Jeb, the great Governor of Texas.
       Jim Lehrer: Florida.
       Governor Bush: Florida. The State of Florida.


[[Page S11022]]


  On April 26, 2000, he said:

       I hope we get to the bottom of the answer. It's what I'm 
     interested to know.

  On Meet The Press on April 15, he said:

       Laura and I really don't realize how bright our children is 
     sometimes until we get an objective analysis.

  On April 6, 2000, the Associated Press reports this quote:

       You subscribe politics to it. I subscribe freedom to it.

  That was a question about whether he and Al Gore were making the 
Elian Gonzalez case a political issue.
  This appeared in The Los Angeles Times on April 8, 2000:

       I was raised in the West. The west of Texas. It's pretty 
     close to California. In more ways than Washington, DC, is 
     close to California.

  On March 28, 2000 in Reston, Virginia, he said:

       Reading is the basics for all learning.

  This was at Fritsche Middle School in Milwaukee on March 30, 2000:

       We want our teachers to be trained so they can meet the 
     obligations, their obligations as teachers. We want them to 
     know how to teach the science of reading. In order to make 
     sure there's not this kind of Federal--Federal cufflink.

  Mr. President, I will make my final quote for tonight. We have 
several pages more we will do at a subsequent time.
  In the Washington Post of March 24, 2000, this is his quote:

       Other Republican candidates may retort to personal attacks 
     and negative ads.

  Mr. President, I read these direct quotes. It would have been very 
easy to editorialize on every one of them. I chose not to do that. I 
chose, though, to spread across the record of this Senate statements 
made by Governor George W. Bush which should lead some to believe that 
if this man is going to be heavily involved in policy not only of this 
Nation, but this world, that they should be aware of some of the 
statements he has made. We want this to be a Government where people 
are clear on the issues, understand the issues. We have difficult, very 
complex problems not only domestically, but internationally. I think 
these quotes speak for themselves.
  Mr. President, it is my understanding the Senator from Iowa is here 
and wishes to speak.
  Mr. HARKIN. I ask the Senator to yield to me for a second.
  Mr. REID. How much time do I have left?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator was given as much time as he may 
consume.
  Mr. REID. I will yield the Senator some time.
  Mr. HARKIN. I thank the Senator for mentioning some of those quotes. 
I didn't hear them all because I was on my way to the floor from my 
office.
  Mr. REID. I was only able to get to a few of them. I only spent about 
40 minutes talking on the direct quotes from the Governor of Texas. 
There will be more.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada can only yield for a 
question at this point in time.
  Mr. REID. It is my understanding he was asking me a question.
  Mr. HARKIN. Yes. I appreciate the Senator's comments and reading 
those quotes. I wonder, did the Senator listen to the third and final 
debate?
  Mr. REID. I didn't miss a single word of that debate.
  Mr. HARKIN. I want to ask the Senator, did he hear the quote by about 
Governor Bush--there was a question asked about agriculture. Vice 
President Gore answered the question and it came to Governor Bush. He 
started talking about using food as a weapon. He made this quote--he 
said:

       We have got to stop using food. It hurts the farmers.

  Does the Senator remember that quote?
  Mr. REID. I listened with amazement. In responding to my friend from 
Iowa, following the second debate, the Vice President, during that 
debate, said that there was a young lady in Florida that wasn't able to 
get a desk. The Republican spin doctors came back the next day and said 
that wasn't true, she was only out of a desk for a day. In fact, she 
missed 7 days because of not having room in that classroom, for 
whatever reason. I was so amazed that the press picked up on what the 
Vice President said, which to me indicated that was just one of the 
minor problems that we have in education.
  I heard a day or two after the debate from Governor Bush. He said 
this. I heard it. He said: Well, I did fine in the debate because the 
expectations were so low of me that all I had to do was show up and say 
my name is George W. Bush and win the debate.
  I say to my friend from Iowa, that is about how the American press 
has treated it. All he had to do was show up and tell his name, because 
if they looked into some of his statements--for one, the statement that 
the Senator from Iowa asked me about regarding food--it seems to me for 
our farmers who are suffering so much in our country today that is 
something the press might want to pick up on.
  Does the Senator have another question?
  Mr. HARKIN. No.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator does not have the right to do 
that. Under the previous order, the Senate will recess until tomorrow 
morning at 9:30.
  Mr. REID. I did not hear the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senator from 
Nevada was allowed time to speak, and after he spoke, the Senate is to 
be in recess until tomorrow at 9:30 a.m.
  Mr. REID. I want to complete my statement. I will finish that in a 
hurry. This is a parliamentary inquiry to the Chair: We are going to 
come in at 9:30 tomorrow morning?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is correct.
  Mr. REID. And we are to pick up the older Americans legislation.
  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, will the Senator yield?
  Mr. REID. I am happy to yield for a question.
  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I asked for 15 minutes at the end of the 
time. For some reason it got mixed up and I was not included on the 
list. It is my intention to ask unanimous consent that I be recognized 
to speak for 15 minutes before the Senate goes out on recess.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? Without objection, it is 
so ordered.
  Mr. HARKIN. I thank the Chair.

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