[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992-1993, Book II)]
[October 31, 1992]
[Pages 2114-2118]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks to the Community in Stevens Point, Wisconsin
October 31, 1992

    The President. Thank you. Thank you, Tommy. Thank you, Tommy 
Thompson. What a great Governor Wisconsin has in Tommy Thompson, a 
leader all across this country. And may I thank Mayor Shultz for the 
hospitality, and everybody that arranged this outstanding rally. It is 
first-class. It's good for the soul. It shows that we're moving.
    And let's do ourselves a favor. Let's be very sure that Bob Kasten 
is reelected for the United States Senate. It is an absolute must. And 
you keep hearing ``Clean House! Clean House!'' Well, elect Dale Vannes 
to the United States Congress. Let's try to really do something 
different here.
    Audience member. Clean the House!
    The President. That's it, clean the House! That's the one 
institution that hasn't changed for 38 years. Let's clean it out right.
    Well, it's great to be by the hardest working river in America and 
to talk with some of the hardest working people in America. And I like 
the kids in these costumes, kind of like a thousand points of fright. 
[Laughter] I saw one of those great big pumpkins back there. It had a 
face on one side, and they turned it around and it had a face on the 
other. I thought Bill Clinton was back somewhere else, but here he is.
    No, I've got this wonderful feeling that things are on the move. And 
yes, annoy the media and reelect George Bush for President. Have you 
ever seen a year with that kind of coverage? I haven't, as long as I've 
been in politics.
    But we're going to show them. We are going to 
win this election on November 3d. And here's why: It's a difference 
between experience, philosophy, and yes, a big difference in character. 
And that's why we're

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going to win the election.
    I have been pointing out all day what many have failed to point out 
in a year, and that is the sorry record of Governor Clinton in Arkansas. 
He threatened the other night to do for America what he's done for 
Arkansas. And we cannot let that happen.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. Let me just give you a couple of statistics: 50th--
here we are in a great outdoor state--50th in environmental initiative 
for Arkansas; 50th in percentage of adults with college degrees; 50th in 
per capita spending on criminal justice; 49th in per capita spending on 
police protection; 48th with adults with high school diplomas; 48th, 
spending on correction; 46th in teachers' salaries; 45th in overall 
well-being of children. We cannot let him do that to the United States 
of America.
    His own hometown newspaper, the Arkansas Gazette, said they could 
not endorse him for President. The people that know him best think he is 
wrong for America.
    Now, he talks about change, change, change. We cannot go back to the 
spend-and-tax ways that brought us inflation at 15 percent, interest 
rates at 21 percent, a ``misery index'' twice what it is today. Let us 
not go back to that change, because if we did, change is all you'd have 
left in your pocket. And we're not going to do that to the American 
people.
    I guess one of the biggest differences we've got is on tax and 
spend. Governor Clinton has already said he wants to spend $220 billion 
more and he wants to tax you $150 billion, because he wants Government 
to invest. Government doesn't invest; small business does. So here's my 
plan: Let's cut the regulation. Got to give the break for investment tax 
allowances and for capital gains and for first-time homebuyers, tax 
credit. Let's get small business, the real employer, on the move.
    Agriculture is doing well, thank heavens, and we cannot go back. And 
here's what we're going to do. Thank heavens ag income is up. Thank 
heavens I believe and have worked for ethanol, and ethanol is up under 
my administration. And the best answer is to close these trade 
agreements and open up the world market to the greatest production of 
agriculture in the world, the United States of America.
    The only way, the only way that Governor Clinton and the Ozone Man 
can win election, the only way they can do it is by convincing the 
country that everything is bad. The worst news they had was when it came 
out this week that growth across the country was 2.7 percent. We must 
keep it growing until every single American has a job with dignity in 
the private sector.
    Audience members. We want Bush! We want Bush! We want Bush!
    The President. I'll tell you, I'm getting to that. I'm getting to 
that one. I'll tell you something else we need that I'm for and that 
he's against: legal reform. We are suing each other too much and caring 
for each other too little in this country. We're spending $200 billion 
on lawyers and we ought to spend more on helping each other. And so my 
proposal is to put a cap on these outrageous liability suits that keep 
people from coaching Little League, keep friends from helping neighbors, 
keep doctors from practicing medicine. It is time to stand up to the 
trial lawyers and do something for the people.
    Another big area, we've got the best plan for health care. Governor 
Clinton started off by saying, well, he has a ``pay or play'' plan. We 
pointed out to him that would throw a tax on small business of 7 
percent. So once again, why, he backs away, the Waffle Man, moving away 
from it all.
    But here's our plan: Make insurance available to all; make vouchers 
for the poorest of the poor so they can be insured and that insurance 
can go with them when they get a job, to another job; pool the insurance 
so you bring to small business, the guys along Main Street here, the 
same kind of price for insurance that the big companies can buy; go 
against malpractice suits. But do not do what Governor Clinton wants and 
then set up a price-fixing board by the Government. Government can't 
even run a post office, and the Congress can't run a two-bit bank. We 
don't need to get Government further involved.
    Education: Clinton wants to do it the same old way. And we've got a 
program, America 2000, that gives the power to the communities, to the 
teachers, and to the

[[Page 2116]]

parents, and gives school choice to every parent for private, public, or 
religious schools. It's worked in Milwaukee; it can work all across this 
country. Let's let Wisconsin lead the way to literally revolutionizing 
and improving our education.
    A big difference on welfare. I salute Tommy Thompson, I salute all 
of you who have led the way for the Nation in saying this: We've got to 
break the cycle of dependency. We've got to give people a chance on 
welfare, some Learnfare, Workfare. It is not fair to the taxpayer unless 
people work their way off of welfare. And that's what we're doing.
    A big difference on crime. We need more Senators there, like Bob 
Kasten, who stand up and favor the police officer and not the criminal 
element. Be tough on the criminal and have more compassion for the 
victims of crime. You know, I had a visit from about eight guys the 
other day. They came to see me; they were from Arkansas. They were the 
Fraternal Order of Police of Little Rock, Arkansas, and they endorsed me 
for President of the United States.
    Now, I heard somebody ask about how we get this deficit down. First 
place, you do it by controlling the growth of mandatory spending. 
Second, you don't tax and spend. Third, how about this one, give us a 
balanced budget amendment and make that Congress live within its means. 
Give us a taxpayer check-off so everybody here that pays taxes, if he 
wants to or if she decides to, can check off on that tax return 10 
percent of the tax to be used for one thing only: reducing the Federal 
deficit. And Congress must find the spending cuts to go with it. Then 
give me what 43 Governors have--every day I get legislation down there, 
every day legislation comes down loaded up with pork--give me the line-
item veto. And if they can't do it, give me a shot at it.
    And now let's talk about what's going to decide the election in 
addition to these good programs compared to the old tax-and-spend 
programs. Let's talk about character and trust. Governor Clinton, over 
the last 24 hours, has been frantically flopping around like a bass on 
the side of the Arkansas River, and panicked, afraid that these 
pollsters may indeed prove to be wrong, those that had us dead and 
buried 2 weeks ago and now see us moving. So he's begun a new bunch of 
assaults on my character. And if Bill Clinton wants to play on the 
character field, let's go to work right now.
    These crazy charges you heard out of him last night are not new. 
We've responded to them over and over again, you taxpayers have spent 
about $40 million on this Democratic witch hunt, and I'm sick and tired 
of it. The only way he can win is some last-minute smoking gun. The guy 
is not telling the truth about what happened. I am. I have. And I'll 
continue to.
    Here is a guy, as I mentioned, whose hometown newspaper says he is a 
politician utterly devoid of principle; a guy whose supporters gave him 
the word ``slick.'' I haven't used that, he has. I say ``slippery when 
wet.'' I think that's a little better. [Laughter] Here's a guy who has 
waffled and weaseled about the draft. I can understand somebody not 
serving, but I cannot understand somebody trying to have it both ways, 
convincing the draft board one thing and then saying something else. He 
ought to level with the American people.
    Here's a guy who actually went out--he doesn't like name-calling. I 
made a mistake; I won't repeat it today. But the difference is, if I 
make a mistake I admit it. But here's a guy that called me a liar the 
other day--I have the clipping here--and very frankly, being attacked by 
Governor Clinton on character is like being called ugly by a frog. It 
doesn't matter. He has no credibility in that field.
    But here's why character counts. You cannot be on all sides of every 
issue if you want to serve as President of the United States. You see, 
Truman was right; the buck stops in the Oval Office. And my view is, if 
you make a mistake, look the American people in the eye and tell them 
you made a mistake, and then get on about the business of leading the 
American people.
    But all through this campaign and all through his political career 
he's trying to be one thing to one group and another thing to another. 
Somewhere in Arkansas, oh, yes, he's for right to work. He goes to the 
unions and says he's not. On the North American free trade agreement--
you heard it on the

[[Page 2117]]

debate--first he was, well, he wasn't sure. Then he was for it. Then in 
the debate he says, ``Well, I'm for it, but I'll make some more 
changes.'' You can't have a lot of ``buts'' in the White House. You've 
got to make up your mind and call them as you see them.
    One time he was for the term limits, and then it didn't seem so 
good. There is this pattern of deception. There is this pattern of 
deception that is troubling the American people. And you can't lead the 
American people by misleading them.
    Let me remind you of what he said at a critical moment in our 
history on the war. I had to make a tough call. And here's what Governor 
Clinton said. He said, ``I agree with the arguments of the minority, but 
I guess I would have voted with the majority.'' What kind of character, 
what kind of leadership is that? It is none at all.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. And when I stood with Boris Yeltsin--and Yeltsin has 
said, ``It was George Bush, the first international leader to stand with 
me, and that did more for the failure of that coup and the support of 
democracy than anything else''--where was Governor Clinton? He's saying, 
``Well, we better wait to see how it works out.'' You can't do that as 
President of the United States. So it does matter. Character does 
matter, and trust matters.
    I believe we've got the best program. You see, Governor Clinton's 
going around telling everybody we're a nation in decline; we're less 
than Germany and maybe higher than Sri Lanka. Good heavens, he ought to 
open his eyes. Millie knows more about foreign affairs than he does. If 
you get out and look around the world, you'd see we have never been more 
respected. We are the leader. Even our economy is better than Japan and 
Germany and the rest of Europe and now Canada. We've been caught up in a 
global slowdown. And it is the United States of America that is going to 
lead the entire world out of it with more jobs for American workers.
    And so in the final analysis, here's what it boils down to. Horace 
Greeley put it this way: ``Fame is a vapor, popularity an accident, 
riches take wing; only character endures.'' And I think that's 
especially true for the Presidency. Bill Clinton said--you heard it in 
the debate--it's not the character of the President, it's ``the 
character of the Presidency.'' I think he's wrong. I think they are 
interlocked. And I think what both Barbara and I do in that White House 
is reflective of the character of the Presidency. I am very proud of our 
First Lady. I am very proud of what she stands for and the way she has 
conducted herself with dignity and honor and caring and compassion. And 
that's another good reason for 4 more years.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. You know, if you'd have said 4 years ago, this 
President is going to be the one to see the end of the cold war, this 
President is going to be the one to have negotiated with the Soviet 
leader the elimination of all of these deadly ICBM missiles, this 
President is the one that's going to bring ancient enemies talking to 
each other in the Middle East and see democracy on the move south of our 
border, somebody would have said that you'd been inhaling. [Laughter] 
I'm telling you, these are dramatic changes, and I am very proud of 
them.
    But here's the problem: That international communism, that imperial 
communism may be gone, the bear may be dead, but there are still wolves 
in the woods. And we'd better have a President who understands you've 
got to keep America strong to guarantee the national security of these 
kids, the security of these kids here tonight.
    And so I ask you to imagine this. If you go in there, think about it 
when you go to the booth: Suppose there's a crisis here, domestically, 
some serious interruption, some crisis--or abroad. The question is: Who 
has the character and the trust to lead the United States of America? 
You cannot have a troubling pattern of deception in that Oval Office. It 
is too special. It is too trusted in itself by people around the world.
    And so, let me tell you just a little experience I had. I don't 
believe that we can take the kind of risks that Governor Clinton is 
asking us to take. When the next crisis occurs, and you can bet that it 
will, the entire world is going to be looking to the American President. 
They're going to look

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at experience, and they're going to count on character.
    And you might say, well, what is character? And I quoted it today. A 
friend of mine says it's acting alone the same way you would act with a 
million people watching. As President, you're never more alone than at 
times of a crisis. And while nobody may be watching the Oval Office, 
millions will feel the impact of your judgment, millions here and 
millions around the world.
    And I believe I have been tested. We've managed world change of 
almost Biblical proportions, and our success can be measured by the 
headlines that were never written, the countless crises that never 
occurred. But when a real event did occur in the sands of the Persian 
Gulf, I did not waver. I took a stand. I made the decision to go to war 
not because it was popular but because it was the right thing to do.
    I'll never forget being with Barbara up at Camp David just before 
our kids were sent into battle in Kuwait. And yes, we attended a little 
chapel service there; and yes, we prayed for their safety because, I'll 
tell you something, it's a terrible responsibility to send somebody 
else's son or somebody else's daughter into combat. I think I was better 
able to make that decision because I did stand up and serve my country. 
Honor, duty, and country mean something to me.
    But I have tried hard to keep the trust. And so on November 3d, when 
the pundits don't matter anymore, these instant replay guys come on the 
television, it doesn't matter what they say when you're alone in that 
voting booth. And when you enter it, please ask yourself these three 
commonsense questions: Who has the right vision, the right program to 
help Americans? Who can lead us through the global transition? And which 
candidate has the character? Who would you trust with your family? Who 
would you trust in a crisis?
    I believe people will answer those three questions that George Bush 
is the one to lead. I am confident about America. We are not a nation in 
decline. We are the greatest, freest and most productive nation on 
Earth. Now let's join together and help every young person here live the 
American dream.
    May God bless the United States of America. Thank you so much. Thank 
you.

                    Note: The President spoke at 5:25 p.m. beside the 
                        Spirit of America train.