[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992, Book I)]
[February 29, 1992]
[Pages 356-359]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 356]]

Remarks to the Georgia Republican Party in Atlanta, Georgia

February 29, 1992
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. Thank you, Alec. Thank you, Newt. And thank all of 
you. Let me single out our chairman, Alec Poitevint, and thank him for 
his leadership of this obviously activated, insurgent, and wonderful 
Georgia Republican Party. Get to Newt in a minute, but may I salute the 
members of the Georgia General Assembly that are here, my old friend 
Senator Mack Mattingly, who is sorely missed in the United States 
Senate, I might add.
    And I understand that Savannah's Mayor is here, and I look forward 
to being with Susan Weiner tomorrow as well. And I thank our national 
committeewoman, Carolyn Meadows, and our Georgia campaign chairman, my 
old friend Fred Cooper, who is over here somewhere but doing a great 
job.
    And as for Newt, there is no one quite like him. Let me simply say 
he is, as you know, clearly one of the very, very top leaders of the 
Republican Party nationally. And I am very grateful to him for the 
steadfast support and leadership that we get on Capitol Hill. Every 
single day that I work with him and with Bob Michel, I'm saying to 
myself: We have got to take the message to the people in the fall to get 
more Republicans in the Senate and get more Republicans in the House of 
Representatives. If you want change, that's the kind of change we need.
    And my thanks to all of you for coming to Atlanta from all over, 
Macon to Marietta, from the four corners of this great State. This 
gathering marks a great triumph. You look around this room, and I think 
it's just clear how far we've come. It must be something about the 
Republican Party and red clay. [Laughter] In this State and all across 
the South, the Republican Party is here to stay. And that is what this 
meeting is about. And that's what the votes in this State are all about.
    And with this rise comes a new generation of Georgia Republicans, 
the reformers, who are trying to teach Washington, DC, the wisdom of 
their ways. And I'm talking, of course, about Newt Gingrich and Mack, 
and about Bo Callaway and thinking back; thinking about Lou Sullivan 
now. And when we call the roll, let's not forget Pinpoint's favorite 
son, Supreme Court Justice of the United States Clarence Thomas. And I'm 
proud I named him to that Court.
    Our party prospers here because the great strengths of the 
Republican Party are the great strengths of the South: bedrock belief in 
family and in faith, community and country; the virtues of hard work and 
humble worship; the willingness to sacrifice for country in times of war 
and to help others in times of peace. These are the beliefs that sustain 
us. It's our commitment to family, to jobs, to peace that inspires us. 
And all across America, these values are growing stronger, coming back 
by popular demand. And as a Nation, we've begun to see in these values a 
solution to so many of the crises that plague our cities and our schools 
and our streets.
    People are coming home to the values that never left their hearts. 
We believe that parents, not the Government, should make the decisions 
that truly matter in life. Parents, not Government, should choose their 
children's schools. Parents, not Government, should choose who cares for 
their children. Parents know better than some bureaucrat in Washington, 
DC. And yes, we believe there's a place for voluntary prayer in our 
children's classroom.
    And we believe America's first so long as we put family first. And 
these bedrock beliefs, they don't fade with age. They don't change from 
one election to the next. They are the home truths that call this Nation 
forward to greatness. And if America holds fast to these truths, we'll 
never lose our bearings.
    Still, right now there's no denying it, in too many ways we're going 
down the wrong track. We've got to reform our legal system. The home of 
the free has become the land of the lawsuit. And we've got to

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end that. And that's why we sent up a bill to the Congress to stop these 
frivolous lawsuits. Nuisance suits sap our economy and tear its social 
fabric of our society. And when you're as likely to serve your neighbor 
a subpoena as a cup of coffee, something's gone wrong. And when doctors 
won't deliver babies and dads won't coach Little League for fear of 
lawsuits, something's wrong. America won't find its way out of this mess 
until we spend more time helping one another than we do suing one 
another. We need more people like Newt Gingrich in the Congress to 
support reform legislation in terms of these vicious and outrageous 
lawsuits.
    We've got to reform this Nation's health care system. Right now, the 
quality of American health care is the best in the entire world, make no 
mistake about it. The problem is access. Too many Americans with 
families do not have health insurance coverage. And you know how even a 
short stay in the hospital can rip a hole right through the family's 
budget. Well, all Americans deserve quality health care and a sense of 
well-being. But socialized medicine is not the answer, and I will fight 
against those plans. We have a good, specific plan. And my plan focuses 
on opening up access to health insurance for all Americans, rich and 
poor. And if we wanted long lines and revolving-door health care, we'd 
put our doctors to work at the department of motor vehicles. The last 
thing we want is the Government playing doctor. And you listen to the 
campaign plans on the other side, and you'll know exactly what I mean. I 
will continue to fight for health care for all, and I will fight against 
those astronomically expensive schemes to socialize American health 
care.
    We've got to reform our welfare system. People are willing to 
support benefits for families in need; of course they are. And yes, 
Americans care. We always have; we always will. But they want to see 
some connection between welfare and work. And they want to see 
government at every level work together to track down the deadbeat dads, 
the ones who can't be bothered to pay child support. And they want to 
see us break the cycle, that dreadful cycle of dependency that destroys 
dignity and passes down poverty from one generation to the next. Think 
about it. Think about a young child born into that. It's wrong. It's 
cruel. We've got to do something to change it.
    A number one issue today, though, is the economy. I think we all 
know that. It's jobs. And that's what's keeping people up late at night, 
worrying about how they're going to pay the bills and put food on the 
table, care for their kids, and still manage to put away something for 
their own retirement. We've got to get this economy moving. And 
Americans want to work. They want the opportunity to earn more money. 
And that's why in my State of the Union Address, I laid out a two-part 
plan to spark economic recovery, to create jobs: a seven-point short-
term plan to stimulate the economy as early as this spring and then a 
longer term plan to keep America growing tomorrow and into the next 
century.
    And because I knew I couldn't wait for Congress to act, I set a 
deadline to help them along the way. And that's why I was sorry to see 
what the House Democrats did this past Thursday. Instead of working on 
my plan, liberal Democrats pushed through one of their own. And true to 
its form, it's a tiny temporary tax cut in exchange for a huge permanent 
tax hike. And to play election-year politics as usual, they passed up a 
chance to stimulate the economy. And the plan they passed will raise the 
deficit, raise taxes a whopping $100 billion, and ruin our economic 
recovery. And worst of all, it will not create jobs at all. And so, let 
me end the suspense. If that plan reaches my desk, I will veto it 
instantly and send it right back up to Capitol Hill.
    And frankly, there's even greater danger here. If the liberal 
Democrats ever decide to make that two-bit tax cut permanent, they'd 
have to jack up--and I think Newt expressed this on the floor; certainly 
I've heard him speak about it--they'd have to jack up the tax rate for 
every American making more than $35,000 a year. You heard it right, 
$35,000, for a plan that's supposed to help the middle class. And that's 
going to come as real news to a lot of factory workers and hard-working 
schoolteachers, people you know, everyday Americans struggling to make 
ends meet.

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    Let's face it, when that tax-and-spend crowd talks about taking aim 
at the champagne-and-caviar set, it's middle America that always takes 
the hit. And the liberals are going to tax that middle class for the 
same reason that Willie Sutton robbed banks, because that's where the 
money is. So, do not listen to this silly campaign rhetoric out there. 
Ask any economist, and they'll tell you the quickest way to cut this 
recovery off at its knees is to raise taxes.
    If they're serious about this recovery, Congress must pass my plan. 
My plan contains an investment tax allowance to create incentives for 
American businesses to buy new equipment and then hire more workers. To 
bolster sagging real estate markets, this plan will give the first-time 
homebuyer a $5,000 tax credit to help them with that down payment. For 
families here in the Atlanta area, that credit is worth 6 months' 
mortgage payments on the average Atlanta home.
    And let me say to these opponents of mine: No one is fooled by your 
paying lip service to competitiveness and practicing class warfare. Quit 
punishing the people who create jobs, and pass my plan and cut the 
capital gains tax, cut it down so we can get America back to work.
    My plan really, if you look at it, you'll see that it's shaped to 
meet the new economic realities, realities that have helped make Atlanta 
the South's great international city. And come 1996, Atlanta comes of 
age as America's very own Olympic city. And that's going to be just 
great. There's a popular saying: When I pass into the hereafter, I don't 
know if I'll be going up or down, but wherever I go, I'll change planes 
in Atlanta. [Laughter] They're going to see that one in 1996.
    You know, Georgia's unemployment rate is low. But I'm sure Georgians 
know the actions we take now affect our economic health for the long 
term. We're working to expand trade. We're working to open markets all 
over the world to American products. That was my mission when I went to 
Asia. It's what our trade teams push for every time they sit down at the 
negotiating table. And if we want to ensure good jobs for the future, 
we've got to work for free trade now.
    The truth is, if we want to succeed economically at home, we have 
got to lead economically abroad. Right here in Georgia, in the past 3 
years, manufacturing exports have almost doubled. Today, an estimated 
165,000 Georgia jobs are tied to trade.
    So, get past all the tough talk out there, all the patriotic 
posturing about fighting back by shutting out foreign goods. If this 
country starts closing its markets, other countries will close theirs. 
And when that happened, who gets hurt? Easy, we do. Our economy does. 
The workers in the State of Georgia do.
    But my opponents aren't about to let fact intrude on fantasy. 
They're peddling protectionism, a retreat from economic reality into a 
dangerous pre-World War II isolationism. Look closely, that's not the 
American flag they're waving; it's the white flag of surrender. And 
that's not the America you and I know. I will veto any protection 
legislation that comes to the White House from this protectionist 
Congress.
    The bottom line is, we do not run, and we do not cut out; we 
compete. And never in this Nation's long history have we turned our 
backs on a challenge, and we're not going to start now. I put my faith 
in the American worker. Level the playing field, and the American worker 
will outthink, outproduce, outperform anyone, anywhere, anytime.
    And I say let the world know we are in it to win. Don't listen to 
those talking heads out there, the folks who can't seem to feel good 
unless they've got something bad to say about our great country. If you 
think I feel strongly about this one, you ought to hear Barbara Bush, 
the Silver Fox, speak about it. [Laughter.] She wouldn't even let me 
listen to the TV news last night. There's a lot of gloom and doom out 
there.
    America isn't a nation that gets ahead by tearing down others. Time 
after time, America's been called upon. And time after time, America has 
met the challenge. And this time America will do it again.
    Think back to one year ago today, to the calm after Desert Storm. 
Ask any one of the proud sons and daughters of Georgia who became a 
liberator of Kuwait, and they'll tell you military strength is nothing 
without

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moral support right here at home.
    I won't ever forget my visit during those difficult times to Fort 
Stewart, Georgia, the wives and parents that I talked to, the people 
who, their loved ones in harm's way, still told me this: America must do 
what is right. And their quiet courage and their patriotism said it all 
to me. It was an emotional time, I'll tell you. And never would this 
country tuck tail and let aggression stand. America would do what was 
right and good and just, and America would prevail.
    And there were those who didn't support us then, and there are those 
who second-guess us now. But not the good people of Georgia. In those 
difficult days when our kids laid it all on the line, this State, its 
young men and women never wavered because, you see, Georgia kept the 
faith. And we're bringing that same spirit to the fight we face today.
    From next Tuesday through the first Tuesday in November, we are 
going to take our message all across the country. You don't have to be a 
negative message. You don't have to always be saying something bad about 
somebody else. We've got lots to be proud of, lots to advocate, lots to 
be for.
    So if you want to send a message to Washington, send this President 
back for 4 more years and send----
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. Send more good Georgia Republicans to Congress to 
help out this leader right here.
    Let me close with just a couple of words right from the heart. 
Barbara and I are blessed. We are blessed to serve at this moment in 
time when so many of the old fears have been driven away, when so many 
new hopes stand within our reach. And since the day I took the oath of 
office, I made it my duty always to try to do what is right for this 
country. I have given it my best. I have done my level-best, and I'm not 
done yet.
    And I ask the good people of Georgia--together we've got a lot to be 
proud of. I take particular pride that the young people in this country 
go to bed at night not worrying about nuclear holocaust. I think that's 
something good and something strong and says something wonderful about 
what's happened in the last few years. But my pitch to you, the leaders 
of this great State, is unashamedly this: Together we have made a great 
beginning; now, you give me 4 more years to finish the job.
    Thank you all for this warm welcome. And may God bless the United 
States of America. And be sure to get to the polls next Tuesday. Many, 
many thanks.
    Audience member. Amen. Georgia's Bush country.
    The President. Thank you all very, very much.

                    Note: The President spoke at 2:25 p.m. at the 
                        Marriott Marquis Hotel. In his remarks, he 
                        referred to former Representative Howard H. (Bo) 
                        Callaway.