[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992-1993, Book II)]
[October 24, 1992]
[Pages 1956-1960]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks to the Community in Montgomery, Alabama
October 24, 1992

    The President. Thank you very much. Wow! Thank you very much. And I 
am so very pleased to be back in this great State on this beautiful 
Saturday day. Let me just say I want to pay my respects to your 
Governor. I want to thank Mayor Emory Folmar, my long-time, longstanding 
friend. I'll give you a little advice. If you want to win a State and if 
you want to win it with conviction and honor, get Emory Folmar at your 
side. I am proud he is at mine. And also, I want to salute my bass 
fishing friend, Ray Scott, who has made this great Alabama pastime a 
national pastime. I have threatened to him that when this election is 
over, with a much more relaxed attitude, I'm coming back to Pintlala, 
Alabama, and catch some bass.
    And of course, I would be remiss if I didn't single out Bill 
Dickinson, who has served this area with such distinction in the 
Congress. If we had more like him, they wouldn't be holding up these 
signs everywhere I go saying, ``Clean House!'' We must clean House. 
We'll get this guy up there, get Terry Smith up there, and we'll clean 
the House out, I'll tell you. Now, also while we're at it, let's clean 
Senate and elect Rick Sellers to the United States Senate. And I want to 
say, here's the guy. Now vote for this man. Come on, Rick. Another man, 
Don Sledge, running in another area for Congress, good luck to you. 
Terry Everett is running for the Dickinson seat, and we've got to get 
him elected there. So thank you all. And I'm told that we had a----

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    Audience member. [Inaudible]--man, Kervin Jones.
    The President. Hey, what district? For the 7th District. Hey, 
listen, we get these guys elected and we won't see those signs saying, 
``Clean House!'' We will have done our part. Besides, he's big enough to 
whip 'em all up there, so--[laughter]--that's good. We need that man 
there, I'll tell you.
    Now, may I thank the Jefferson Davis and Lee High School 
participants around here. Great job. And finally, Bart Starr. You know, 
I look over my shoulder and see a great son of Alabama, the legendary 
quarterback Bart Starr. You know, many years ago in the frozen tundra of 
Wisconsin, Bart Starr led those Packers to a stunning playoff victory 
against the Dallas Cowboys. And let me tell you something, he is here 
today because that accentuates the fact that we are going to achieve 
another stunning upset victory and represent these people in the United 
States for 4 more years. Thank you, Bart.
    Now, I hate to ruin this beautiful Saturday, but I do think we must 
get in perspective, before the American people go to the polls, the 
Arkansas record. The people in Arkansas--everyone in Alabama knows it 
because we have friends, we in Texas, you in Alabama have friends in 
Arkansas--they are good and decent and honorable people. But let me tell 
you what the record has been with Bill Clinton. They are the 50th in the 
quality of environmental initiatives; 50th in percentage of adults with 
college degrees. They are 50th in per capita spending on criminal 
justice. They are 49th in per capita spending on police protection; 48th 
in percentage of adults with a high school diploma; 48th in spending on 
corrections; 46th on teachers' salaries; 45th in the overall well-being 
of children. And the other night, Governor Clinton said in that debate 
in Michigan, he said, ``I want to do for America what I've done for 
Arkansas.'' No way. We cannot let him do that. It's like sending the guy 
who finishes last in managing the Little League in Montgomery, telling 
him to manage the Braves. We don't need that kind of change.
    This guy talks about change. That's all your going to have left in 
your pocket if we listen to his program. And here it is--all right, you 
taxpayers, get ready--this is before he's even gotten started: $150 
billion in new taxes, bigger than McGovern and Dukakis put together; 
$220 billion in new spending. And I call that trickle-down Government. 
Give it to the Government, and you never see it again. He says he'll get 
it from the rich. But the rest of you guys out there that have to work 
for a living, you nurses or you teachers or you cab drivers or you truck 
drivers, watch your wallet. There aren't enough rich people to pay for 
this guy's promises and all Al Gore's extreme environmental positions. 
There are not enough so he's coming after you. Watch your wallet, 
America. This guy is coming after you. But I'm not going to let him do 
it.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. All right, it's fine to stand up and point out all 
the things that are wrong. And yes, we've got problems, and yes, people 
are hurting, and yes, some people at work want to know where they're 
going to get the jobs, how they're going to keep them. But let me tell 
you something. The last time we tried his kind of change, when you had a 
liberal Democrat in the White House and that same old crowd controlling 
the Congress, who remembers? He changed inflation, all right; he changed 
it up to 15 percent. He destroyed the family budgets. And the interest 
rates--some of you homeowners remember what they were--they were 21 
percent. We do not need that kind of change for America.
    My view is to cut that spending, get the Government spending down 
and the taxes down, and then stimulate investment in small business, not 
in Government but in small business. They create two-thirds of the jobs, 
two-thirds. Give them a tax break, and get America back to work.
    The doom-and-gloom crowd is a little too much. You know, my favorite 
bumper sticker--I don't know whether we've got any of them around here--
there's a marvelous--yes, it's here, right over there. That's over 
there: ``Annoy the Media.'' They wouldn't know good news if it hit them 
in the face. Have you gotten this from your television yet? Have you 
heard this on the television

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at night, that unemployment claims have gone down to the lowest in 2 
years? Have you heard that inflation is down, that interest rates are 
down, that total employment is 93 percent, inflation 2.5 to 3 percent, 
home mortgages are 8 percent? Now, ask yourself this: Can Bill Clinton 
do better than this, or will he make things worse? I think he'll make 
things worse.
    Here's what we're going to do. We're going to increase our exports. 
We're going to create more jobs right here in Montgomery, Alabama, and 
all across this country that are concerned with exports. Exports have 
saved us in what is essentially a global recession or a global slowdown. 
Our economy--don't listen to Governor Clinton, you'll never hear this; 
nobody will report it on the news--is doing better than Japan, doing 
better than Germany, doing better than Europe, doing better than Canada. 
It's not good enough; it's not good enough. We're going to create export 
jobs by barging into those foreign markets. And that means prosperity 
for people in Alabama. Not protection, exports.
    And I'll tell you another one where I've got a big difference with 
the Governor from Arkansas. That is on legal reform. I think it's a 
shame when people don't dare coach Little League because some crazy 
trial lawyer is going to come along and try to sue them; or when 
somebody sees an automobile accident and they don't dare stop along the 
highway because if they move a person, trying to help them, and then it 
doesn't work out, somebody's going to sue him for caring; and when a 
doctor is afraid to practice and deliver babies because of a crazy suit. 
We've got to sue each other less and care for each other more.
    I heard Mayor Folmar talking about health care. And yes, he is 
right, we need health care for all. Our program provides health care 
insurance to the poorest of the poor. Then it gives tax breaks to the 
income bracket above that that are trying to make ends meet. It gets 
pooling of insurance, works with managed care, does something about 
malpractice insurance. But it does something else: It provides the best 
quality of health care. We have the best. And I don't want to drive 
these doctors out of medicine by putting the Government further into 
medicine.
    There's another area where I have a big difference with Governor 
Clinton, and that is on crime. Arkansas prisoners spend 20 percent of 
their sentences in jail; the Federal, the one I'm responsible for, 85 
percent. I believe we need tougher laws that back up these dedicated 
people on the highways, these police officers in the neighborhoods, the 
sheriff's people. We need to back law enforcement. And in doing that, we 
will be strengthening the neighborhoods for every single family in this 
country.
    One of the great meetings we had was in the Oval Office, I think it 
was last week. I think it was eight people came to see me. They were up 
there and said, we are supporting you. And they were from Arkansas. They 
were from the Fraternal Order of Police in Little Rock, who endorsed me 
for President of the United States. Good, decent, hard-working people.
    We talk about reforming the Congress. Let's challenge Governor 
Clinton to say where he stands on these items: I want a balanced budget 
amendment to make the Congress get this deficit down. I want a check-
off, to have a check-off on the income tax form. You can check up to 10 
percent. And then you put it up there and add them all together across 
the country, and that is the force of law to make Congress reduce 
spending by that amount. And I believe it will work.
    And another one is--time has come for it, 43 Governors have it. I 
get legislation by this crazy Congress coming down there every day; two 
good things in it, eight bad. Give the President what the Governors 
have. Get the deficit down by giving me that line-item veto, cross it 
out.
    I'll tell you, I'll tell you there's another thing. I'll tell you 
what's going to really decide this election at the last minute. It's 
going to be a question of character and trust. And I believe, I hope I 
have earned the trust of the American people. What you do--you represent 
the American people's interest in that Oval Office, and you have to make 
tough decisions. And sometimes you make a mistake. You're human like 
everybody else, and you say, I make it. You look people in the eye and 
say, we're going

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to go forward together. But you cannot be on every side of every issue. 
It is a question of character, if you try to whisper one thing here and 
do something else there.
    Governor Clinton tries to have it both ways. And yes, it's a fair 
issue. Flip-flopping on right to work: He's from a right-to-work State, 
says he's for it there; whispers up to the big labor unions, ``I'm 
against it.'' Term limits: one place he's for it, one place he's against 
it. Free trade: one time he's for it, then he's against it. In the 
debate you heard him say, ``Well, I'm for it, but I'll have to''--you 
can't say ``but''; you've got to make a decision.
    The biggest difference I had with him was on the war. I had to make 
a tough decision. And Alabama responded with pride, great strength. The 
sons and daughters did something noble: They busted up the fourth 
largest army and kicked this aggressor out of Kuwait. And now we're 
having a lot of revision coming out. It was a noble moment, and where 
was Governor Clinton? He said this: Well, I was with the majority--I'm 
paraphrasing--I was with the majority--and this I'm not paraphrasing--
but I guess I would have--with the minority, but I guess I would have 
voted with the majority. You cannot waffle. You cannot make the White 
House into the waffle house.
    And so I do believe that character and trust matters. I've got a big 
difference with him, and I know people here might or might not agree 
with me. I was a product of World War II, and I fought for my country, 
and I think that's made me a good Commander in Chief. I don't think 
everybody had to do that to be Commander in Chief. I don't believe 
that's the way to do it. I still think it is wrong, when your brothers 
are held prisoners in a Hanoi prison camp or kids are drafted out of the 
ghetto of Birmingham and Montgomery or New York City to serve their 
Nation, to be over in another country organizing demonstrations against 
your Nation. I just think it's wrong. I think it's wrong. But what I 
think is--do we have the word ``wronger''? But what I think is worse, 
what I think is worse is if you don't level, if you don't tell the 
truth. One day, he says he got a draft notice; the next day, he didn't. 
One day, he said, well, he wanted to go into the ROTC; the next day, he 
didn't. You've got to level. If you make a mistake, look the American 
people in the eye and say, I was wrong about that. And the American 
people forgive, but they are entitled to have something other than 
waffling and a pattern of deception as President of the United States.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President: Thank you for this great rally. I have--excuse me for 
drinking all this water up here, but I had 2 miles running out by your 
magnificent Shakespeare Festival building out there. It was superb.
    But let me tell you this. I'm very sorry she's not here, but very 
candidly, I think we've got a great First Lady in Barbara Bush. We have 
tried very hard to exemplify what's right and decent about America, 
exemplify the trust and faith we have in the American family. Liberals 
don't like it, but it's right. We've got to strengthen the family: read 
to the kids; teach them right from wrong; support the law enforcement 
people and the teachers; teach discipline; give choice in child care or 
choice in education. We believe in these things. And when Barbara reads 
to those kids, she's saying every parent should read to their kids, take 
the time to lift them up and to make them better. And that's what we're 
talking about, and we've tried to do it.
    Life has been good to the Bush family. There's no question about 
that. We're very, very lucky with our grandkids and a wonderful four 
sons and a great daughter. And so I have no complaints on the personal 
side at all. People say, well, why do you want to do this? It's ugly out 
there. You're getting clobbered by the national media over and over 
again. Can't be any fun. The answer is, something transcends your own 
personal well-being. And what transcends it for me is we have literally 
changed the world. These kids here go to bed at night without the same 
fear of nuclear war that their parents had. And that is a major change. 
And now what I want to do
through the programs I've touched on 
today is make life better and more challenging by creating more 
opportunity in employment or education for every young

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person here today.
    That is why I want to be your President. I ask for your support and 
your trust. And may God bless the United States of America. Thank you 
very much. Thank you all. A great rally and a beautiful day.

                    Note: The President spoke at 10:40 a.m. at the 
                        Atlanta Crossing Shopping Center.