[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992-1993, Book II)]
[October 20, 1992]
[Pages 1894-1897]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks to the Community in Spartanburg, South Carolina
October 20, 1992

    The President. Wall to wall people. Thank you all. This has been a 
wonderful day, taking this train through Georgia and South Carolina. 
This is the icing on the cake. I am delighted to be with your great 
Senator and my great friend, Strom Thurmond. When you talk about a 
national leader, you've got a great Governor in Carroll Campbell, 
respected all across this country. I salute him, and I salute Iris. And 
I'm delighted to have Rick Flair on our side. I want to thank Barry Wynn 
and all of you who helped make this rally such a fantastic success.
    You know, everyplace I go, I see signs that say, ``Clean House!'' 
Well, I've got an idea: Send Bob Inglis to the United States Congress. 
Get a good man up there. And while we're at it, let's clean Senate, and 
send Tommy Hartnett, my old friend, to the United States Senate. We need 
a change. That institution's control hasn't changed in 38 years, the 
Congress. It is time to clean House and send us these two good new 
people.
    Well, I'm told that the world's entire supply of Pepto Bismol is 
made at the Procter and Gamble camp right down the road in Greensville. 
After the past couple of months of campaigning, I'm sure sales must be 
soaring. But look at it this way: Two weeks from tonight, all this will 
be over, and I will be reelected President of the United States.
    Let me give you a little advice. They've been so wrong before. Don't 
listen to these pundits telling you how to think, and don't listen to 
these nutty pollsters. Remember, things are decided in the last couple 
of

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weeks of this campaign. And now people are going to decide: Who do I 
trust to be the leader of the free world and the United States?
    I wonder if any of you saw the debate last night. Well, I think----
    Audience members. George Bush! George Bush! George Bush!
    The President. ----I think the country saw a vast difference there, 
a difference in principle, a difference in philosophy, a difference in 
experience, a vast difference in character. I ask for your support on 
the basis of all of those.
    You know, for 11 months, Governor Clinton and the rest of those 
liberals have been running around criticizing not only our country but 
me and my record. I think before people go to the polls, they need to 
know a couple of statistics about his record. Arkansas is the 50th out 
of 50 States in environment initiatives.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. I'm sorry. They are the 49th in students with high 
school diploma. They are 45th in the overall well-being of children; and 
in incomes, in jobs, and in wages, they lag the entire Nation. We do not 
need that for the United States of America.
    You know, let me tell you what he said last night in case you didn't 
hear it. He said, ``I want to do for the United States what I've done 
for Arkansas.'' We can't let that happen. No way.
    Ross Perot was right on one thing. He said the grocery store is no 
preparation for Wal-Mart. I thought that was a good line. But here's the 
dangerous part: Governor Clinton wants to raise your taxes by $150 
billion and increase spending by $220 billion. We're not going to let 
him do that.
    I don't know how many people standing around here make over 
$200,000, but I'll guarantee you one thing: His figures don't add up. 
And to get that $150 billion, he's going to have to go after your 
wallet. So when he says ``tax the rich,'' you taxpayers, you hard 
workers, you people that believe in the American dream, watch out. It 
will turn into a nightmare.
    I've got a different philosophy. I believe the Federal Government is 
too big, and it spends too much. He wants to see it spend more and tax 
more.
    We've been caught up in something global. The global economy has 
slowed down. Though it hurts when anyone is out of work, I think it's 
fair to note that the American economy, in spite of our problems, is 
still a lot better than all the European economies or Japan or Canada. 
We are the United States, and I want to make it better, not worse.
    I want to expand our exports so our textile products and our other 
products made in this great State can find free and fair markets all 
around the world. We are leading in exports; let's keep it up.
    Audience members. U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!
    The President. Let me remind you that it is small business that 
creates most of the jobs, and it is small business that doesn't need to 
pay any more taxes. It needs relief from regulation and taxation and 
litigation. Let's get the job done. We've got too many crazy lawsuits, 
and Governor Clinton is owned by the pocket of the trial lawyers. We 
ought to sue each other less and care for each other more in this 
country.
    Governor Clinton wants to slap a tax on foreign investors. Well, let 
me ask right here in South Carolina. You do that, and you don't get a 
BMW plant. I would welcome BMW to South Carolina because they know our 
workers are the best anyplace in the world. I congratulate your Governor 
for taking a lead role in bringing that great business to this State. I 
want to promote that kind of investment in the United States of America. 
That means jobs for the American people, and we're going to keep on 
working for that.
    Another area we've got a big difference is education. I told you 
about Arkansas' sorry record. But I'll tell you a big difference. You 
see, I believe parents ought to have the right to choose and the help--
for money, to choose private, public, or religious schools for their 
kids. I think we need more support for the teachers and the local 
communities and a little less for the bureaucrats.
    On health care, my plan provides insurance for the poorest of the 
poor, tax breaks for the middle class. But it does not turn the health 
care of this country over to the Government. We don't need that. We need

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market forces.
    On crime, I believe we ought to be a little tougher on the criminal 
and have a little more concern for the victims of crime. Nobody in this 
country has fought harder for good, strong anticrime legislation than 
your own and my friend Senator Strom Thurmond.
    You know, the other day in the Oval Office, I had a visit from about 
eight guys from Arkansas. They came up to pledge their support, and they 
represented the Fraternal Order of Police of Little Rock, Arkansas. They 
are supporting me for President of the United States. So is the National 
Fraternal Order of Police because they know that I back up the law 
enforcement officers. They are fighting for us every day of their lives, 
and we ought to support them.
    You heard another difference last night--talking about reducing and 
reforming Government. I'll tell you how to get this deficit down: Give 
us a balanced budget amendment to this Constitution. Give us a check-off 
so that people that care about the deficit can say, ``Hey, I'm going to 
check in this box, 10 percent of my taxes must go to reduce the 
deficit.'' If Congress can't do the job, make them do the job. I 
strongly support a line-item veto. Forty-three Governors have it. Give 
it to the President. Let us try to make it work. I like the idea of 
getting the power out of the Congressmen and back to the people. I favor 
term limits for the Congress.
    Lastly, Governor Campbell touched on it, but let me say I've got a 
big difference with Governor Clinton. He says it's not the character of 
the President but ``the character of the Presidency.'' I say they're one 
and the same thing. They're locked in. You cannot sit in that Oval 
Office and waffle. Do not turn the White House into the waffle house. 
You've got to stand up. You've got to stand up and make a tough 
decision. When I had to make that tough decision on Desert Storm, 
Governor Clinton was saying this, here's what he said: ``I'm for the 
minority, but I guess I would have voted for the majority.'' What kind 
of Commander in Chief would that make?
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. I worry about the pattern of deception, on one side 
of an issue one day and then the opposite side the other. You cannot do 
that as President of the United States.
    Let me tell you another one, and this concludes it. Governor Clinton 
and Senator Gore, the Ozone Man, is going around the world--[laughter]--
you listen to some--hey, this guy is strange. They've got Gore muzzled 
back now. You have no timber workers, only a bunch of owls, if you 
listen to him. You'd have no farmers, only a great big wet hole out 
there somewhere, if you listen to him.
    But here's the point: They differ. They differ. They want bigger 
Government. He talks about growing Government. I want to grow the 
private sector. I want to grow jobs in the private sector.
    But the big difference is, to get elected they've got to convince 
the American people that the United States is a nation in decline, and 
we are not. We are number one in the economy, in security, in standing 
up for freedom and democracy.
    Audience members. We're number one! We're number one! We're number 
one!
    The President. I believe in the American people. And I have had the 
honor--and my family shared it with me, one son here tonight and my 
daughter-in-law, twin granddaughters. And certainly, I happen to think 
we've got the best First Lady that we could possibly ever have, Barbara 
Bush. We have been privileged as a family to live in that White House, 
and I've been privileged to serve as President. But I now want to do 
this: We've literally changed the world. And Carroll was very generous 
in his assessment. But when I look around here and see these young 
people, we've got lots to do. We've got all kinds of opportunity. And I 
want to take that same leadership and, with a brandnew Congress, lift up 
the lives of the young people here tonight.
    We are not a nation in decline. We are a nation on the move. With 
our education and our job retraining and our caring for people, we are 
going to make America better. We're going to create jobs worldwide, and 
I will see that we continue to be the most respected leadership country 
in the entire world.

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    Thank you all, and may God bless the United States of America. Thank 
you very much.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. Thank you very much. God bless you all.

                    Note: The President spoke at 8:20 p.m. beside the 
                        Spirit of America train. In his remarks, he 
                        referred to Barry Wynn, master of ceremonies.