[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992-1993, Book II)]
[August 22, 1992]
[Pages 1394-1397]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks to the Community in Woodstock, Georgia
August 22, 1992

    The President. Thank you very much. You know, this reminds me of a 
great country song, ``If you want to see a rainbow, you've got to take a 
little rain.'' And we're going to show the American people a rainbow.
    May I salute Mayor Rogers and thank my friend of long standing, and 
I hope your next Senator, Paul Coverdell, for that introduction; salute 
our leader, Newt Gingrich, who helps us so much in Washington; members 
of the city council here; the cheerleaders and bands from Cherokee and 
Etoyah and Sequoia High Schools; and Daron Norwood, the Spirit of 
Atlanta; and of course, Dr. Johnny Hunt, who I'm told is not only a 
spiritual leader here, but that First Baptist Church here in Woodstock 
stands for family, family values, one Nation under God. Jane Hancock and 
Audra Dinsmore and Johnny Isaacson, thank you all. And of course, I'm 
glad to be standing here with one of Woodstock's own, my friend Orlando 
Wilson, who is a good--if anybody likes bass fishing, they know all 
about this guy. Now, Fred Cooper, my chairman, and Alec Poitevint, our 
leaders, thank you all.
    It's great to be here in Cherokee County, the land of the free and 
the home of the Warriors. Okay, and let's not forget the Chiefs and the 
Eagles. Frankly, it's great to be out of that DC mode and out on the 
campaign trail, taking our case to the American people. We are going to 
give them something to talk about down at Dean's Store here in 
Woodstock.
    So I want to talk briefly--and the skies have cleared now, I'm glad 
to say--about the sharp choice, the clear, sharp choice that we're going 
to offer every American. It's a choice between different agendas, 
different directions for our great country, and it's a choice about the 
character of the man that you want to lead this Nation for another 4 
years.
    They say this election is about change. Well, they're right. But 
let's not forget the things that must guide change are the things that 
never change: our belief in a strong defense, in strong families, and in 
leaving the world a better and more prosperous place for the young kids 
here today. That's what this election is about.
    Think for a minute about the world we've already seen, a world of 
change: the Berlin Wall down; millions of people around the world took 
the first breath of freedom; and America, her ideals and her strengths 
intact, won the cold war. That is good for

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every American.
    I can't come to Georgia without saluting one other thing. Thanks for 
the contribution that this State made to that wonderful victory of 
Desert Storm. It is something strong about the American spirit.
    All this change didn't come about by accident. The world changed 
because we, the American people, stayed true to our unchanging 
principles. My opponents--let them say this--they say I spent too much 
time on national security and foreign policy. Well, let me tell you, 
when I took office I saw a chance to help finish off imperial communism, 
and I did it with your help. Perhaps even more important, I saw a chance 
to help rid our children's dreams of the nuclear nightmare, to help them 
live in a safer world. And I did that with your help, and that is good. 
So let the Clinton-Gore ticket understand one thing: I am not going to 
apologize for one minute for having spent time making the world a place 
of peace for all the children in this country.
    For 40 years this was a change that Americans fought and died for. 
Now it offers us a defining challenge of the nineties, to take advantage 
of our victory around the world and then to build a stronger and more 
prosperous Nation right here at home.
    So for these next 73 days I'm going to ask the American people: Who 
do you trust to bring it all home, foreign policy, security policy, and 
economic policy? Who do you trust?
    Audience members. Bush! Bush! Bush!
    The President. So I came here to Georgia today to ask the good 
people of this patriotic State to give me your support based on my 
experience, my ideas, and my character. I will not let you down.
    Here we go. Let me spell out the differences. Okay, we're going to 
start it right here, right now in Woodstock. I believe our Government is 
too big, and it spends too much of your money. I believe the deficit is 
a dark cloud on the future of these young people. You know it, and I 
know it.
    Clinton does not know it, and Gore does not know it. Hey, listen, 
you listen to these guys and you think the deficit is a big game of the 
``Wheel of Fortune.'' You know that one? They want to buy three vowels: 
I, O, U. That's not good enough for the American taxpayer.
    In Houston 2 nights ago, I announced a freeze on Government 
spending, and let me repeat it right here. If Congress sends me a bill 
spending one penny more than I requested, I will veto it faster than a 
spinner bait after Orlando's lure. We're going right after it. For the 
past 3 years, past 3 years, we've endorsed and proposed significant cuts 
in Federal spending. But that gridlock liberal Democratic-controlled 
Congress has chosen to direct your taxpayer dollars to their favorite 
projects. If they need more help curing the pork addiction, I'll say as 
I said the other night, let's give the taxpayers the power to dedicate 
up to 10 percent of their tax dollars to the deficit. If Congress won't 
cut that spending, the people of America will. It's just that clear.
    And yes, we must cut spending. With a new Congress cutting that 
spending, I'll propose a tax cut to give you more of the money to pay 
the bills, to give the businesses the incentives to create the new jobs 
that this economy so desperately needs, and we will do more to jump-
start the economy.
    Frankly, it's the small business people that are hurting. They're 
the ones that create the jobs. I want to give small business a shot in 
the arm. Small businesses, they create two-thirds of the jobs in this 
country. You take places like the Cost Plus on South Main Street or 
Morgan's Hardware. If we're going to get this country moving, small 
business needs relief from taxation, these awful lawsuits, and from 
regulation. And we are going to give it to them.
    Now, let me tell you this: the Governor of Arkansas, the commander 
of the Arkansas National Guard, he wants a different kind of change.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. Now, wait a minute. This is a fact. He has actually 
proposed already, isn't even in there yet, and he's proposed raising 
Government spending by $220 billion and raising taxes, the biggest 
increase in history, by $150 billion. We cannot have that.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. You think those guys only

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know one word, change. They talk about it. Well, that's change all 
right; that's about all you'll have left in your pocket when they get 
through with you. Yes, we want change, but it's also a question of 
trust. Look at every big issue we face, and you're going to see a choice 
between the people who put their faith in everyday Americans and those 
who put their faith in the Government.
    I trust you, the families and the parents, to make the decisions 
that matter in life. I trust the parents, not the Government, to choose 
their children's schools, private, public, or religious. Very, very 
candidly, the Congress opens a meeting with a prayer. I think the 
schoolchildren ought to have a voluntary prayer in schools. You could 
argue that Congress needs it more, but I think everybody ought to have 
that option. I trust the parents, not the Government, to choose the 
children's child care. It's better to have parents do it than have some 
subcommittee in Washington tell you how to look after your kids.
    Frankly, it all sums up to this: I think the Government is already 
big enough, and they tax people too much. It's that simple. If you want 
fewer lawsuits and fewer regulations and more opportunity for small 
business, vote for me.
    I wonder about the Governor of Arkansas. I wonder why it is that 
whenever he's faced with any problem, his solution is always to put 
Government first. But you know, it's not so surprising. When you spent 
more of your life in government, like he has, government is all you know 
anything about. I've got my belief in trust, about limited Government 
from working out in the oilfields of west Texas, from trying to build a 
business and trying to meet a payroll. That's where I learned how jobs 
are created. That's where I learned this: In this country, the 
Government works for the people, not the other way around.
    But Bill Clinton isn't the only one who's forgotten that lesson, if 
he ever knew it. There's a whole party of his colleagues up there on 
Capitol Hill who have spent their lives on the Government payroll. They, 
that liberal Democratic gridlock, has been controlled by one party for 
38 years, 38 years. I call them the gridlocked Congress. I'm going to 
remind the American people: 38 years. Clean the House, clean the House, 
clean the House. You have to do it; we ought to do it.
    Audience members. Clean the House! Clean the House! Clean the House!
    The President. Let me just put it parenthetically, the last thing 
this country needs is a rubber-check Congress and a rubber-stamp 
President. We don't need it, and we're not going to have it.
    I think the American people know this, that I've tried to work with 
these people. You remember when I said, ``We didn't come here to bicker. 
We came here to do something for the people''? I held out my hand, and 
that liberal Democrat-controlled Congress bit it off. Now I'm going to 
take that case to the American people and say, change the Congress.
    Every American knows the truth that Congress has become corrupt and 
conceited and confused, a body of these PAC's and privileges and 
partisanship and paralysis. They can't run a tiny bank. They can't run a 
tiny post office. And yet, they're running your lives. We've got to 
change it.
    You know, Harry Truman took it this way. He went out across the 
country. He got in his sights the Congress, took his case to the people, 
and then he linked his opponent right into those sights. Well, let me 
tell you this. I'm going to do the same thing.
    I am for Paul Coverdell, and here's why. He was willing to stand up 
and think anew. As Truman did, he's willing to single out those who talk 
one way and vote another. The thing in this Senate race is this: I stand 
for a balanced budget amendment; Wyche Fowler is against it. I stand for 
the line-item veto; Wyche Fowler is against it. I stand for those who 
stood at Desert Storm, and he opposed me. Now we want a change. That is 
the fact. It's fine to talk one way in downtown Woodstock and vote 
differently in Washington, but we cannot have that anymore.
    You know, I know this race is long, know it; read all these polls 
about being behind. But yes, I really believe and have a confidence that 
we will win. We're going to win, not because of a victory for me but 
because we trust the American people. We win because our ideas are 
strong, and we win be-

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cause we understand the American way. We'll win also because I think 
we've got a great First Lady who stands for the family and family 
values.
    So you tell Governor Clinton and that gridlocked Congress: If you 
can't run with the big dogs, stay under the porch. We're coming after 
them.
    Thank you very, very much. May God bless the greatest, freest 
country on the face of the Earth. And thank you for this fantastic 
rally. Thank you so very much.

                    Note: The President spoke at 1:06 p.m. on Main 
                        Street. In his remarks, he referred to 
                        entertainer Daron Norwood; Jane Hancock, who 
                        sang the national anthem; Audra Dinsmore, who 
                        sang ``I'm Proud To Be an American''; Johnny 
                        Isaacson, Republican candidate for Georgia State 
                        Senate in the 21st district; Fred Cooper, 
                        Georgia Bush-Quayle chairman; Alec Poitevint, 
                        Georgia Republican Party chairman; and Senator 
                        Wyche Fowler, Jr.