[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992-1993, Book II)]
[September 22, 1992]
[Pages 1619-1622]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks on Arrival in Greenville, Mississippi
September 22, 1992

    The President. Thank you all. Thank you, Kirk. Thank you, Governor 
Fordice.
    Let me just start off by telling the people of Mississippi something 
you already know. You've got a great Governor, a great new Governor 
fighting for the people here, and a wonderful wife, Pat. May I salute 
our State chairman, Evelyn McPhail, a great political leader; I see her 
family's here; and national committeewoman, Suzanne Rogers; and my old 
friend whose hometown we're in, longtime political warrior, Clarke Reed. 
I'm proud to be standing next to him.
    You know, you keep hearing the cry up there in Washington, ``Clean 
House!'' all around the country because of the mess the Congress has 
made of things. But you've got two people that we don't want to clean; 
we want to keep them there forever. I'm talking about Trent Lott, and 
I'm talking about Thad Cochran, two great United States Senators.
    I want to take some catfish back with me; so I'd like to ask 
somebody to bring it to me. [Laughter] I love these signs: Arkansas for 
Bush. We're not giving up on one single State around here.
    You know, for the past few weeks I've been traveling the length and 
breadth of our wonderful country, campaigning for the economic ideas 
that I believe in, my Agenda for American Renewal. I want to open up new 
markets for American products, create new jobs for American workers, 
because American workers never retreat; we always compete. And we always 
win. We must open up the markets.
    All you hear out of the Clinton camp is

[[Page 1620]]

gloom and doom. Let me tell you, the figures released this morning show 
that housing starts, a key indicator, are the largest increase in 18 
months. Inflation is down. Interest rates are low. Our economy is poised 
for a takeoff if we make the right choice in November. Elect me as 
President. Do not put this recovery at risk.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. You know, the backbone of Mississippi is small 
business, small-business men, small-business women. I believe that small 
business will be the sturdy horse pulling the wagon of a recovering 
economy. So I want to give small business relief from taxation, from 
regulation, and yes, from litigation.
    You know, this is a ghastly figure, but do you know that Americans 
spend up to $200 billion in one year on lawyers and lawsuits? I think 
that is outrageous. As a nation we ought to sue each other less and care 
for each other more. Help me put a lid on these outrageous lawsuits.
    I am so glad to see so many kids here today. I want to give our kids 
what they truly deserve, the finest schools in the entire world. And I 
want every parent all across this country to have the freedom to choose 
their schools for their kids, whether it's public, private, or 
religious.
    There's so much more to our Agenda for American Renewal: fighting 
crime, fighting drugs, many other things. But while I've been out 
talking positively for the future, my opponent has chosen to fix his 
energies on the past. Month after month, I believe it's about 11 months 
now, Governor Clinton has persisted in these one-sided attacks on me, 
distorting my record, telling untruths about what I've been trying to do 
for this country. Do you remember all the things about negative, ``be 
careful of the Bush campaign'' negative? This week Governor Clinton 
launched the first nationwide negative television advertisements. So far 
up to now I've resisted going after him. But I tell you, I'm tired of 
these exaggerations, and today I started to fight back. Today I started 
to fight back, and we're going to talk about his record, his record next 
door. It is not fair to the people of Arkansas.
    Audience members. Hit him again, harder, harder! Hit him again, 
harder, harder! Hit him again, harder, harder!
    The President. I will; just a minute here. [Laughter]
    You know, today we've been to all six States surrounding Arkansas, 
and I want to see that we can move beyond Governor Clinton's rhetoric 
and see what he's really done for the people next door, for the people 
of Arkansas or, put it this way, what he's done to the good people in 
the State of Arkansas.
    I support the people over there. I've been there many, many times. 
They are good, hard-working, decent people. They deserve better 
treatment than they have had from that Governor of theirs for 10 years.
    You know, you hear a lot about debates. Governor Clinton is talking 
up there in Michigan, waving his arms around, talking about my being 
afraid to stand up with him. Who is he to call me afraid, for heaven 
sakes?
    The other side says they're eager to debate. Well, I've got an idea. 
On the one side you can have candidate Clinton, standing over here. And 
then over here you can have Governor Clinton, and let them debate: the 
rhetoric versus the record. Let him talk about a series of broken 
promises. Let's just look at one issue, and that's the need to give the 
middle class, you who pay the bills and do the work, a big, fat chunk of 
the American pie.
    Candidate Clinton, standing here, is playing the same old game that 
the liberals always play, class warfare. You've heard it over and over 
again. Candidate Clinton is good at it, using the same tired, twisted, 
partisan statistics to explain how the poor only get richer if the rich 
get poorer.
    Let me tell you this: According to candidate Clinton, the one over 
here, the last 10 years have been a nightmare. Well, if you look at the 
facts, it simply is not true. Inflation is down. Interest rates are 
down, and the American worker is still the most productive in the entire 
world.
    You know, back in Washington they have this thing called the Urban 
Institute, not usually one of my most ardent admirers. But listen to 
what they have to say about

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the 1980's, and I quote, ``The rich got a little richer, and the poor 
got much richer.'' That is the truth. Our conservative policies of 
cutting taxes have meant more money in the pockets of all Americans. 
Candidate Clinton doesn't think it is fair, but maybe it is because 
Governor Clinton doesn't have much experience with tax fairness right 
across the border in Arkansas.
    He talks about my record. Let me talk about his, factually. He's 
more than doubled Arkansas's spending since '83. He's paid for it by 
raising taxes that hurt working families the most. He's raised and 
extended his sales tax repeatedly. He's more than doubled Arkansas's gas 
tax. He's even taxed food stamps until the Federal Government forced him 
to stop. He started taxing mobile homes, and then he raised taxes on 
beer, and then he tried to tax child care. I guess it doesn't matter 
whether the burp is from the beer or the baby bottle, he's going to slap 
a tax on it. I don't think we need that. I don't think we need that for 
the United States of America.
    Listen to what the Arkansas paper--I'm going right to his homefront 
for this one--said about his tax policies. ``If Congress followed the 
example Bill Clinton has set as Governor, it would pass a tax program 
that would hit the middle class the hardest.'' Well, I don't want to 
favor the rich at the expense of the middle class. I want to cut taxes 
for all working Americans so that everyone can get rich because that's 
what America is all about.
    Candidate Clinton wants to do for the American economy what Governor 
Clinton has done to Arkansas. I've got one question: Why in the world 
should we let him do that to us? As a candidate now he's come out of the 
box, and he has already proposed the largest tax increase in American 
history. That's not even counting the payroll taxes that he wants to 
slap on for training and health care.
    Now, you tell me, is that fair to the middle class? The answer is 
no. He's been talking the talk of economic fairness, sounding like Robin 
Hood: Rob from the rich and give some crumbs to the poor. But Governor 
Clinton has been more like Captain Hook, scaring the wits out of the 
middle class. And I believe in something entirely different. I believe 
that Government is too big and spends too much of your money. I want to 
change that.
    That's why I want that line-item veto and the balanced budget 
amendment and that tax cut-off to let people check their box on their 
income taxes. If the Congress can't do it, let the American people do 
it. Let me follow through to get these taxes down and get this deficit 
down.
    Audience members. Clean the House! Clean the House! Clean the House!
    The President. There's a good idea. They say ``Clean the House!'' 
I'll tell you, there's going to be 150 new Members of Congress or 
something like that. The day I am reelected, I'll sit down with them, 
and I'll say ``Look, the American people said they don't want to spend 
more. They don't want to tax more. They want to get Government under 
control. They want to do something about crime. Now, you new Members of 
Congress help me get all this done in the first 100 days. Give the 
people a break.''
    You know, I feel the same way on this tax situation as Kirk Fordice 
does. He went to the mat with that State legislature to ease the tax 
burden on the working men and women. Governor Fordice might not have won 
that first round, but he's going to come back again and again. He knows 
the same as I know that you can spend your money better than any 
Government planner can. Low taxes are the way to get the economy moving 
again.
    So whether the issue is fairness, the environment, health care, 
civil rights, fighting crime, improving our schools, candidate Clinton 
promises America the moon, while Governor Clinton watches the sky fall 
in over in Arkansas. He has a lousy record, and I don't want him to do 
to the United States that which he has done to the great State of 
Arkansas.
    You know, I'm proud to be back in Mississippi, and I think of this 
one, as Kirk referred to it, as one of the most patriotic of States. I 
will say this--no, I am not going to bring up the draft issue. But let 
me just simply say I am proud that I wore the uniform of the United 
States of America, and I am proud that I served.
    We have a great country. We are the

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leader of the entire world. Soviet communism is dead. Peace is on the 
move all around the world. And Governor Clinton says we're a nation in 
decline. He ought to get outside of Little Rock and travel and find out 
that we are the most respected nation on the face of the Earth. I want 
to keep it that way by keeping us strong, keeping us determined, keeping 
us economically viable at home.
    You have a great, proud State, and I'm proud to be back in it. May 
God bless the people of Mississippi and the people of the United States 
of America. Thank you very, very much.

                    Note: The President spoke at 5:19 p.m. at Greenville 
                        Municipal Airport. In his remarks, he referred 
                        to Clarke Reed, State chairman, Bush-Quayle '92.