[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992-1993, Book II)]
[September 22, 1992]
[Pages 1613-1616]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks on Arrival in Longview, Texas
September 22, 1992

    The President. Thank you very, very much. Thank you so much. It's an 
honor and privilege to be introduced by Florence Shapiro, not only the 
Mayor of Plano but going to be a member of the Texas Senate. We need 
her. She's typical of our great women leaders in our State of Texas. 
Thank you, Florence. I want to thank our State chairman, Jim Oberwetter, 
who is here somewhere; Rob Mosbacher, the Texas Victory '92 chairman; 
Barbara Patton, the Bush-Quayle cochairman; and our master of 
ceremonies, Jim Offutt. Let me say it's great to be back in east Texas, 
great, where the people understand the values that make this country 
strong.
    You know, Longview brings back many memories. Back when I started a 
business out in west Texas and then down on the Gulf Coast, where I met 
a payroll, learned the basic truth about things like the role of 
Government and the power of the individual, I stood here at this very 
airport, I believe it was 22 years ago, and saw a former

[[Page 1614]]

President come into this airport. And I am proud to be back here as 
President of the United States, asking for your support for 4 more 
years.
    Here in Texas, I learned something, and I learned that prosperity 
doesn't come just from the hallowed halls of Government. It comes from 
the hard work, the imagination, and the industry of men and women like 
you here today. I'm grateful to you for coming out to this rally. I'm 
glad to see all the bands and participants here, glad to see the Kilgore 
Rangerettes. I wish they'd go up to Washington for a few days. They 
could go over and take a look at the Congress and put those high-kicking 
boots to good use, help us to ``clean House.'' You talk about kicking 
it, they're the ones to do it.
    Now, you know, for the past few weeks I've been traveling the length 
and breadth of our country, and what a great country it is, stumping for 
the ideas that I believe in, the Agenda for American Renewal. I want to 
open new markets for our American products and new jobs for American 
workers. Americans never retreat; we always compete. And we always win. 
Let's open these foreign markets.
    I have a fundamental difference with the Governor next door. I 
believe Government is too big and spends too much of your taxpayers' 
money. I want to do something about it. He wants to raise taxes and 
increase spending. I want to cut taxes and cut spending.
    Good news today for the Nation, good news today on housing starts: 
They are up, the largest increase in 18 months. Inflation is down. 
Interest rates are down. Productivity is up. And the economy is poised 
for a recovery. We must not let Governor Clinton get in and tax it back 
into oblivion. I want to see incentives. I want to see incentives, and 
one of them ought to apply to the domestic oil business. We want to 
change the alternative minimum tax so we can get on with the business of 
developing more domestic resources and less dependency on foreign oil.
    You know, it's small-business people, small-business women, small-
business men that saved this economy when the going has been tough. They 
need relief from taxation, regulation, and yes, from litigation. As a 
nation, we spend up to $200 billion a year on lawsuits. As a nation, we 
ought to sue each other less and care for each other more.
    I see a lot of young people here today and welcome. Let me say this 
about education: I want to give the young what they truly deserve, the 
finest schools in the entire world. I want to give every parent and 
every family the right to choose their children's schools, whether 
they're public, private, or religious.
    You know, I believe the Governor next door, Governor Clinton, has 
made up his mind: The only way he can win is to tell everybody how 
horrible things are about this country. He has persisted on attacking me 
day-in and day-out, many of the attacks personal. He has distorted and, 
I would say, told the untruths about my record. This week, he unveiled--
started in, the first one to do it--the first negative campaign ad. He's 
the one that says, watch out for the Republicans. Watch on the 
television, the first negative campaign ads in the Presidential race of 
1992 belong to that sorry ticket of Clinton and Gore. It's a sad thing.
    I have taken it for 11 months, listening to these guys. And I'll 
tell you today: I'm starting to dish it out and tell the truth about his 
record. So, this morning for openers, I went to the State of Missouri, 
and I laid out the Clinton record, just the facts, telling the truth. 
I'm stopping by these States, our State and others, that are neighbors 
to the State of Arkansas so that we can get past this campaign rhetoric 
of his and look at what he's done for the people of Arkansas or, should 
I say, done to the good people of that great State. Look, they are good, 
decent people next door. They are good, hard-working people, and they 
deserve better treatment than they've received from their Governor.
    You know, the other side keeps talking, you hear him talking about 
debate, they want to change the rules from the debate rules that have 
been in effect for the last four Presidential campaigns. Now he wants to 
change them. But now they ought to have a debate. On the one hand, you 
ought to have candidate Clinton; he'd be over

[[Page 1615]]

here. On the other side, promising everything, Governor Clinton. They 
ought to debate each other on the issues.
    Each stop here along the way in this six-State swing, I'm talking 
about various issues. And let me talk today just about affordable health 
care, something that I am desperately interested in providing to every 
man, woman, and child in this country. As you might expect, my opponent 
and I have two vastly different ideas how to go about this. I want to 
use the competition to expand coverage, making insurance available to 
the poorest of the poor, to everybody else, everybody, preserve quality, 
and allow you to spend less of your paycheck on health insurance.
    He has a different approach. He expresses so much enthusiasm for 
Government, he would have Government get involved in setting health care 
prices and perhaps eventually get involved in running our health care 
system. We do not need the Government to run it. We need to protect 
quality and provide insurance to all. You'd think he'd learn from the 
way the Democrats ran the House post office. They can't run that; they 
can't run a bank. Why in heaven's name do they think they can run the 
health insurance programs?
    You know, this guy, he's too much. Up until a few weeks ago Governor 
Clinton pretended that his plan wouldn't cost a dime. But then someone 
at USA Today--you know the paper that got him to admit what I've been 
saying all along: his plan would require a new payroll tax on the back 
of, you've got it, small business. Now, I don't know about you, but I 
think small-business men and women pay enough in taxes already. We 
cannot let him do this to the American economy.
    You know, he says that health care should be a right, not a 
privilege. Yes, I think everybody should have health care. But yet, look 
at his record as Governor, not the candidate but Governor Clinton. 
Arkansas has one of the Nation's worst health insurance crises. More 
than 42 percent of Arkansas workers, decent, hard-working people, 42 
percent, the second highest percentage in the entire Nation don't have 
employer-paid health insurance at all and a full 25 percent have no 
health insurance at all. He talks one way around the Nation; he delivers 
misery at home. We do not need that for the Nation.
    You know, early last year in his fifth term as Governor, Governor 
Clinton finally signed a bill to provide bare-bones coverage to people 
who have gone uninsured for more than a year. Last fall, even his 
minimal plan had still not been implemented. Even today, not a single 
insurance company has ever set up a single policy for anyone under 
Governor Clinton's model program.
    So, on this issue, on health care--and I could be talking about the 
environment, whatever--on this one, look at the Grand Canyon between the 
words of candidate Clinton, running around the country criticizing me, 
and the actions of Governor Clinton, which is a sorry record by any 
Texas standard.
    I love fishing and hunting. I know everybody in east Texas does, 
too. I flew over some beautiful bass lakes, and I got thinking about 
Governor Clinton's record on the environment. Some of you may have tried 
to fish or swim in the Arkansas River. You may have heard that night 
fishing is catching on over there. The rivers are so polluted that the 
fish glow in the dark. He has a lousy record on the environment, and we 
across the line in Texas have a good record on the environment.
    You know, on issue after issue he talks a great game, but his 
actions betray his words. While he makes promises, the workers, the 
decent, hard-working men and women of Arkansas, their standard of living 
weakens and their crime rate rises up faster than the rest of the 
Nation. Their children's test scores slip, and Governor Clinton cannot 
muster the courage to even put in a basic civil rights law like we have 
right here in Texas. Forty-eight States have them, but not Arkansas. 
That is not fair. There's not fairplay in Arkansas.
    So in other words, what I'm asking the American people today on this 
six-State swing is to take a look at the record that he's laid down, and 
then compare that against the rhetoric that he's trying to take all 
across the country, and be careful, because it's slippery when wet. 
[Applause] You're right.

[[Page 1616]]

    We've got a lot of challenges, and we have a lot of problems, but 
we've got a great future. I see that airplane sitting over there, and I 
don't want to start telling you war stories, but that's the kind of 
torpedo bomber I flew in World War II. I was shot down in that airplane 
in World War II, and I am proud that I served my Nation in combat. I am 
proud that since I have been President we have reduced the threat of 
nuclear war so young men and women go to bed at night without that 
awesome fear of nuclear war.
    We have changed the world, and now I'm asking for your help to bring 
honor and decency right back here at home and change things to make 
things better for the people of Texas and the other 49 States. We can do 
it. We've got a sound record. We are on the right track. Now I need the 
help of the American people to guarantee 4 more years to finish the job.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. I am very proud to be back home. We are going to 
carry Texas, and we are going to win this election because we are right 
on the issues and because I have been telling the truth all along. Thank 
you very, very much.
    May God bless you all. Thank you so very, very much for this 
wonderful rally. What a fantastic turnout. I love the signs, man. Thank 
you.

                    Note: The President spoke at 1:17 p.m. at Longview 
                        County Airport.