[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992-1993, Book II)]
[August 17, 1992]
[Pages 1370-1372]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 1370]]


Remarks at the Bush-Quayle Welcoming Rally at the Republican National 
Convention in Houston, Texas
August 17, 1992

    The President. Thank you all very much. What a wonderful welcome 
home.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. You got it.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. Thank you all very much. Thank you so much. Let me 
just thank a couple of people at the beginning. First, let me thank 
Craig Fuller, who's done a great job as our convention chairman; Rich 
Bond, our national chairman; Jeanie Austin, our cochairman. And let me 
say this: What a wonderful welcome home. It is sure great to be back 
here in Texas, home again.
    May I thank Ray Childress and Warren Moon, great heroes right here, 
and deservedly so, in Houston, for being with us; and of course, another 
friend who entertained us, and at least I got here in time to hear him, 
a great American and a great singer, Randy Travis. By golly, he was 
first-class.
    I'm leaving out a lot of people, but one other person, my partner in 
a great adventure, with me every step of the way from west Texas to the 
White House, Barbara Bush.
    Let me thank our great Governor, Carroll Campbell, who's given this 
Nation so much leadership as Governor of the State of South Carolina, 
and a special word, a special word about two very special friends of 
ours, Dan and Marilyn Quayle, the Vice President of the United States.
    Four years ago, Dan Quayle and I teamed up. I told him then, 
speaking from some personal experience, that the job of Vice President 
was a real character-builder. [Laughter] And I was not exaggerating. But 
look, this guy stood there, and in the face of those unfair critics he 
has never wavered. He has never wavered. He simply told the truth, and 
let the chips fall where they may.
    He said we need families to stick together and fathers to stick 
around, and he is right. He says what we need is an America that stands 
behind our law enforcement officers, and he is right about that. He also 
said we've got to take on those trial lawyers and all those who inundate 
this country with frivolous lawsuits, and he's right about that. Let 
that ABA turn off to the left; we are with the American people.
    So when the establishment in Washington hears all this, they get all 
uptight about it, about him. They gripe about it. But folks in the real 
world understand, and they nod their head. He has been a super Vice 
President, and he will be for another 4 years.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. I couldn't help but notice an interview that my 
opponent gave to the USA Today last week. It was absolutely incredible--
--
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. You haven't heard it yet. [Laughter] He talked about 
how he's already planning his transition, figuring out who should be 
Deputy Assistant Under Secretary in every Washington Agency, even where 
he can get away from the White House for a day or two. I half expected 
when I went over to the Oval Office to find him over there measuring the 
drapes. [Laughter] Well, let me say, the first shot out of the barrel, I 
have a message for him: Put those drapes on hold. It is going to be 
curtain time for that ticket. And I mean it.
    You know, for 9 months the other side has had a one-way conversation 
with the American people, and now it's our turn. They have called our 
great country a mockery and sounded the saxophone of change. And that 
sound sure sounds familiar. They say they want to shake up Washington, 
but they oppose limiting the terms of Congressmen. That's a change, just 
changing the subject.
    They say they believe in a strong America, but they propose gutting 
the national defense of this country. That's called chang- 
ing their tune. They say they want to put
people first, but they are proposing the
largest tax increase in the history of the

[[Page 1371]]

United States of America.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. I guess that's change, but by the time they're 
through, change is all you're going to have left in your pocket. We're 
not going to let that happen to the United States.
    So don't kid yourself, America. We're not running against the 
Comeback Kids, we're running against the Karaoke Kids. They'll sing any 
tune, any tune they think will get them elected, say one thing in one 
place and then whisper something else in another. And we're not going to 
let them get away with it.
    You know, I've never pretended to be much for words, but for me, 
eloquence is action. And for the next 78 days we're going to go out 
there to ask the American people a simple question: Who do you trust to 
do what's right for the United States of America? It's a question of 
trust.
    Audience members. George Bush! George Bush! George Bush!
    The President.  Forty-four years ago, Barbara and I started out, out 
in west Texas, the Odessa-Midland area. I remember traveling across that 
country to Wink and Kermit and Notrees and Andrews, places where parents 
worried and watched when a kid crossed the street; the kind of towns 
that sent those kids halfway around the world, from the DMZ to Da Nang 
and to Desert Storm. Barbara and I loved the rhythms of west Texas. You 
remember the Friday night football and Saturday picnics and Sunday 
sermons. We raised a family and built a business, made friends that have 
lasted us an entire lifetime. We worked hard. But when the work was 
done, we sat around the table late at night, and we talked, talked about 
report cards--same thing you all do--schoolyard fights, small things, 
big dreams.
    No matter what the other side says, America is still the land of 
dreams, dreams as vast and wide as those plains out there in west Texas. 
Our dream, our ideals, and our ideas have awakened dreams from Managua, 
to our south, all the way to Moscow. With faith in our people, we will 
reawaken those dreams right here in the United States of America.
    My opponent wants to protect the jobs of the past. And I have a plan 
to create the jobs of the future so that the sons and daughters of 
steelworkers and linemen can build their dreams. My opponent wants to 
change our schools, oh, just a little bit. And I have a plan to 
revolutionize our schools so that our kids can do as well in the science 
labs and math room as they now do in the swimming pool and out there on 
the basketball courts.
    My opponent, and Dan touched on this, ridicules or attacks me as we 
talk about family values. Well, let me tell you something: We are going 
to keep on trying to strengthen the American family, to make American 
families a lot more like the Waltons and a lot less like the Simpsons.
    Now that I'm getting warmed up, let me tell you about another target 
that I'm going to get in the crosshairs. The Democratic leaders of the 
United States Congress don't like our ideas. They are the sultans of the 
status quo. They are the only people in America who could drive to work 
with a blindfold every morning because they've been going the same way, 
controlling that Congress for 38 years.
    Audience members. Clean your House! Clean your House! Clean your 
House!
    The President. You tell me about it. You're darn right. You talk 
about gridlock, we know where the gridlock is. It's under those leaders 
that control the Congress, both the Senate and the House, and we're 
going to change it. We are going to get the American people to change 
it.
    I was very lucky; I didn't get to see the Democratic Convention. 
[Laughter] But up in Manhattan last month, you didn't see those 
congressional leaders. Finding them was like playing ``Where's Waldo'' 
in the Astrodome. They gave a new meaning to the word ``closet 
liberal.''
    Don't kid yourselves. Look at where their support is coming from, 
that same ossified, entrenched, change-allergic support groups out there 
supporting the Democratic leaders of the Congress. We're going to make 
the American people understand it. I'm going to do what Harry Truman 
did. I am going to take that message to change the Congress all across 
this country.
    I've held out my hand to those crazy

[[Page 1372]]

guys. I've held out my hand to them, only to have it bitten off, and I'm 
tired of it. We're going to change that Congress. And we are going to 
link that Clinton-Gore ticket right in close to those Democratic 
leaders. They are one and the same, and we're not going to let the 
American people forget that.
    You hear a lot about these polls. Yes, they say it's going to be a 
tough fight. We know that. The truth is I get a little comfort from some 
of these polls. You know me. In politics I've always done better when I 
fight back, when I'm behind, because you have a certain freedom. It 
gives you a certain freedom. The other guy can do what the polls want. 
The other side can pay attention, changing this or changing that because 
of what the polls say. I'm going to roll up my sleeves and do what is 
right for the American people, and I don't care what the polls say. Do 
what's right for America. And I am a fighter, and I intend to fight for 
what's right for America.
    Right next door there's a big building. They call it the eighth 
wonder of the world. Well, Houston, get ready for wonder number nine, 
the most stirring political comeback since Harry Truman gave them hell 
in 1948. It starts right now.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. It all starts right here. You know, the Gatlin 
Brothers like to sing, ``Houston means I'm one day closer to you.'' 
Well, no offense to Larry, but to me Houston means that we are one day 
closer to victory, one day closer to building a better and a brighter 
future for the people of this great country.
    Barbara and I want to thank you for coming here. We want to thank 
you for this magnificent show of support. When history writes about this 
election, they're going to say it started right here when you fired up 
this President to take this message to the American people.
    May God bless the United States of America. Thank you all very much.

                    Note: The President spoke at 5:35 p.m. at the 
                        Houston Astrodome. In his remarks, he referred 
                        to Houston Oilers football players Ray Childress 
                        and Warren Moon and country music entertainers 
                        Randy Travis and the Gatlin Brothers.