[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992-1993, Book II)]
[November 1, 1992]
[Pages 2124-2128]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks to the Community in Auburn Hills, Michigan
November 1, 1992

    The President. Thank you very much. Thank you, thank you, thank you. 
Bill, hey, listen, thank you, Bill Laimbeer. Thank you all very, very 
much for the welcome to the Palace. And I am very proud to have Bill 
Laimbeer at my side. I think that's going to get us in there for victory 
in Michigan. So, Bill, thank you very much. Let's slam-dunk our 
opponent, the Governor from Arkansas, on Tuesday.
    No, I'm delighted to be here--very proud to have at my side and 
running our campaign perhaps the most effective leader this State has 
ever seen, but in any event, the great Governor John Engler. I salute 
him. I thank him.
    Do me a favor. Help me clean House. Clean it out. And here's how 
we're going to do it. Elect Megan O'Neill; elect Dick Chrysler, John 
Pappageorge, Joe Knollenberg; elect them and we can help make a big step 
toward cleaning House. That one institution has not changed for 38 
years. And now we can make a big change.
    I want to thank Mitch Ryder and the band. I want to thank all these 
high school bands, just fantastic music. And I want to salute my friend, 
our emcee, Brooks Patterson; you've got a good one there. And also the 
party leaders, because here's when we get down to getting out the vote 
and getting down to the crunch. And Dave Doyle and the rest of them are 
doing a first-class job. So go the polls, bring your neighbors, and 
let's carry the State of Michigan.
    I am absolutely confident of victory because the American people are 
going to decide that there is a vast difference in experience, a vast 
difference in philosophy, and yes, a vast difference in character. You 
know, I think finally one of the reasons is we're getting in perspective 
exactly what has happened in Arkansas since this man has been Governor. 
They don't like it, but it doesn't hurt to tell the truth. And here it 
is: Arkansas is the 50th in the quality of environmental initiatives, 
50th State.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. How do you environmentalists like that? Fiftieth in 
the percentage

[[Page 2125]]

of adults with college degrees.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. It gets worse; hold your fire. Fiftieth in per capita 
spending on criminal justice; 49th--wait a minute, they're going up 
here--49th in per capita spending on police protection; 48th in the 
percentage of adults with a high school diploma. A little more for you 
guys here.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. Forty-eight for spending on corrections; 46th in 
teachers' salaries; 45th in the overall well-being of children. And 
Governor Clinton said, ``I want to do for the country what I've done for 
Arkansas.'' No way!
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. We cannot let that happen to this country. This 
country's just beginning to move. Governor Clinton says he's the 
candidate of change. We'll get to Ozone Man in a minute. Let's look 
closely at what Governor Clinton offers, and this is one thing the 
American people should focus on now in the last day before this 
campaign, $150 billion in new taxes----
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. ----$220 billion new spending. You talk about 
trickle-down, that's trickle-down Government. Take it from the people 
and have Government spend it. And we're not going to let that happen.
    And you hear the same old siren's call: Well, we'll take it from the 
rich. There aren't enough rich people. So all you cab drivers, all you 
nurses, all you overworked teachers, watch out, watch out for it. Watch 
your pocketbook and watch your wallets. They're coming right after you.
    You know, they talk about change, change, change. And all you have 
to do is remember the last time we had a man like Governor Clinton as 
President and a Democrat-controlled Congress. You had change all right. 
You had inflation at 15 percent; you had interest rates, 21.5 percent; 
you had a ``misery index'' at 20. And we cannot let that happen to the 
United States. Change, change, change.
    Audience members. No way, Bill! No way, Bill! No way, Bill!
    The President. No way, that's right. Change, change is all you'll 
have left in your pocket if you let this guy become President of the 
United States of America.
    And you know the only way, the only way they can win is by scaring 
America that we're in some deep recession. Look, the economy is growing. 
We are caught up in a fragile international economy. You hear them talk, 
Governor Clinton says we're something less than Germany and a little 
above Sri Lanka. But let me tell you something: Our economy is doing 
better than Germany, better than Japan, better than Canada. And if we 
keep going the way we're moving now and get our programs in, we'll be 
leading the entire world.
    Yes, people are hurting. Yes, people are hurting in this country. 
But we don't need to make it worse for them by going back to tax and 
spend. We need our program. And let me tell you what it is.
    First place, we're going to open new markets. Exports have saved us. 
We are going to open new markets for American products all around the 
world. We are not going to go protection. We think we have the best 
workers in the world. Now let's open those markets.
    We're going to continue to have a strong environmental policy. But 
we are not going to go to the extreme. Governor Clinton and the Ozone 
Man, here's what they want to do. They're backing off a little now 
because they're on all sides of every issue. They want to go and put a 
40- to 45-mile-per-gallon CAFE standard, fuel efficiency standard, on 
American autos.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. And that will throw auto workers out of work. And I'm 
not going to go the extreme. We are not going to go to the extreme on 
this environment.
    Instead of those crazy Government policies, we are going to inspire 
and invigorate small business. And here's how we're going to do it. Two-
thirds of the jobs created are in small business, so we're going to get 
relief from taxation, relief from regulation, and yes, relief from 
litigation. We have got to have legal reform.
    These trial lawyers are backing Governor Clinton right up to the 
hilt. The lead trial lawyer in Arkansas said, ``Don't worry. Bill won't 
go against us on tort reform.'' Look,

[[Page 2126]]

we've got Little League coaches that are afraid to coach; we've got 
doctors that are afraid to bring babies into the world because of a 
lawsuit; we've got people that are afraid to help people along the 
highway because they're afraid to be sued. We've got to put an end to 
these crazy lawsuits. And we're going to do it. Whatever your politics, 
you should have an interest in that one. And we've got to sue each other 
less and care for each other more in this country.
    Big difference on health care. We've got the great health care 
program. And we're going to get it through because there is going to be 
a cleaning of the House, and there's going to be 100 new Members of 
Congress. And the reason is those guys up there can't even run a two-bit 
post office or a two-bit bank. So we're going to get 100 or maybe 150 
new Members of Congress. And we're going to get this health care program 
through. We're going to provide health care, insurance to the poorest of 
the poor through vouchers. We're going to help the overburdened next 
income bracket and the income tax range there by tax credit. We're going 
to pool the insurance so the small operator can get the same cost 
benefits as the larger ones, large companies. And then we're going to do 
this: We are going to say no to Governor Clinton's want to let the 
Government ration health care through this board he is proposing. Health 
care for all. Health care for all, but use market forces to get it done.
    On education, I've got a big difference with Governor Clinton on 
this one. I cited the sorry record in Arkansas. Now we've adopted 
national education goals for the very first time. And I give Governor 
Clinton credit for this one, because as a Governor he worked with us on 
this. The program is this: Renew, literally reinvent American schools 
and give parents the choice of schools, private, public, or religious. 
And that competition will make all the public schools better. It works 
in Wisconsin; it can work right across the country.
    On welfare reform, we've got to break the cycle of welfare; too many 
people, generation after generation, dependent. So what we're going to 
do is go nationally with the waiver system, give those States the right 
to put in Workfare. People are going to get the check, let them do a 
little work and work their way off of the welfare. And Learnfare, help 
people to learn, these kids. It's a tragedy, generation after 
generation. Make part of the welfare reform Learnfare so people on 
welfare will have the privilege of an education in this country and be 
able to do better.
    We've gone after these deadbeat dads; we're going to keep after 
them. And yes, I don't care what the liberal elite says, family is 
important. Family values are important. And we need to help all 
families, single parent, whatever it is. But we need to help them by 
getting crime out of our areas. We've got to have better crime 
legislation. We better get some that supports the police and some that 
has more compassion for the victims of crime and a little less for the 
criminals.
    And I'll tell you what I mean. Arkansas, people that are sentenced 
there spend 20 percent of their sentence in jail. And under the Federal 
jurisdiction, which is mine, 85 percent. We must support our local 
police officers. And awhile back I had a visit from eight guys from 
Arkansas, and they came up to endorse me for President of the United 
States. They were the Fraternal Order of Police in Arkansas, in Little 
Rock. And I was proud to have their endorsement.
    We've got to get the deficit down, but Bill Clinton talks about let 
Government invest. Government never created a job. It is small business 
and private sector that creates jobs. So if you want to get the deficit 
down, here's the way to do it: Control the growth of these mandatory 
spending programs. Give us a balanced budget amendment to the 
Constitution to discipline the Congress. Give every taxpayer the right 
to check 10 percent of his tax return, and if you want it to go the 
deficit, make the Congress put it on the deficit. Give the President 
what 43 Governors have, a line-item veto, and let the President draw a 
line through this excessive spending. And I'll throw in a fourth 
measure: I think it's time to give the Congress back to the people. I 
want term limits for the Members of the United States Congress.
    And here's the last point: I mentioned

[[Page 2127]]

character and trust. Well----
    Audience member. We love you.
    The President. Well, I hope so.
    There's been a little panic in Little Rock, because I think they see 
that the goal that Bill Clinton has been eagerly awaiting ever since he 
was studying in Oxford might be slipping away for him. He's begun 
attacking my character. And I love to fight this one out in the last 
couple of days on character and trust. Yes, he is a character. But being 
attacked on character by Governor Clinton is like being called ugly by a 
frog. We don't need to worry about it. We didn't invite that term 
``Slick Willie.'' We didn't invite it. It's come in from Arkansas. It 
was all through the Democratic primary. We are not going after his 
character. We're doing what Harry Truman is: We tell the truth, and they 
think it's hell. So be it. We're simply telling the truth.
    It's difficult for him to level with the American people, and here 
I'm very serious. You can't have it both ways as President of the United 
States. You can't tell one story and then another. In April, for 
example, on the draft, he said he would release all his draft records. 
And he never has done that to this day. He is waffling and ducking----
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. ----and bobbing and weaving. And you cannot do that 
as President.
    Listen, a lot of people opposed the war, and I understand that. 
That's not the point here. The point is there is a pattern of deception: 
on one side of the issue one day, and another side the next. And you 
cannot do that in the Oval Office.
    I think, I know a lot of the media don't like this. I know a lot of 
our friends in the media don't like this. In fact, I like these hats, 
``Annoy the Media. Reelect Bush.'' Let me divert for a minute. Have you 
ever seen a year where they have their own seminars, ``Have we been 
fair?'' They know very well they haven't, but we're going to win without 
them.
    Listen, before you get too angry about this, share my frustration 
about it, please grant amnesty to the good guys: the photographers, the 
guys carrying the boom mikes. Somebody stuck them with the American flag 
the other day. These are our friends. They are good people. Don't harass 
them. Save your rile for those that aren't here, those Sunday talk show 
people, those guys that are telling us how we're going to vote.
    But you know, I mentioned the draft. Even today we have new 
evidence, an affidavit that when Governor Clinton first ran for office 
his friends used special connections to seize his ROTC file and destroy 
all others. He's got to level with the American people on this kind of 
thing.
    But it's not just the draft. You know my differences with him on 
organizing demonstrations. Look, people objected to the war. But I make 
a distinction: When your brothers or your peers are in a jail in Hanoi, 
or kids are being drafted out of the ghetto to go into that war that was 
not a popular war, I simply think it is wrong to go to a foreign country 
and organize demonstrations against the United States of America. And 
that's what he did. And all his apologists out there, all these talking 
heads say, oh yes, but it was 23 years ago. Okay, if it was wrong to do 
that, just say so. If you make a mistake, admit it. I have done it, and 
that's what you have to do as President of the United States.
    But the pattern continues. One time he's for the North American free 
trade agreement; another he started to be against it, then in the debate 
say, ``Well, I'm for it, but I will make some changes.'' You cannot have 
a lot of ``buts'' in the Oval Office. You've got to call them as you see 
them.
    Term limits, CAFE standards, whatever it is, he's got a position for 
whatever audience he's talking to. And I really mean this, you lose all 
credibility as President if you try to do that on every issue. And let 
me finish this little start, this little beginning here by saying, 
here's what he said on the war. It was a tough decision, tough time for 
our country. People were divided. And here's what Governor Clinton 
courageously said about the time I had to make this decision. He said, 
``I agree with the arguments the minority made, but I guess I would have 
voted with the majority.'' What kind of waffle iron is that?
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. You can't do it. You cannot

[[Page 2128]]

be here and there. The bottom line is we simply cannot take the risk on 
Governor Clinton. Character, inexperience, his experience and character 
do not meet the criterion of the Oval Office. And the world is still a 
dangerous place. We've made great progress. And frankly, I take great 
pride in the fact that, with a very able team, I was President when we 
greatly reduced the threat of nuclear war to every family here and 
around the world. Great that we had ancient enemies talking to each 
other in the Middle East; that the Soviet Union is no longer 
international communism but democracy on the move. A lot of progress 
toward world peace.
    And I was thrilled the other day, yesterday, as a matter of fact, 
when an announcement came out of Baghdad. Saddam Hussein's government 
plan a big party the next day after the election, because they think 
Governor Clinton is going to win. Hold the phone, Saddam. They are not 
going to have a demonstration in Baghdad, because they're going to have 
to contend with me for 4 more years.
    Audience members. U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!
    The President. Well, actually the other night in Michigan, Governor 
Clinton told a voter that he's already thought about what he's going to 
do as President. He said he's going to play his saxophone in the White 
House. And he's already planning the inauguration parade, you know. Hold 
the phone, Bill. Hold the phone. We are going to show that you're not 
going to be in the White House and you're not going to have the parade. 
And the press are going to be wrong about you. The day before that he 
said he was an underdog, and then yesterday he was a saxophone player in 
the White House. He's waffling even on that.
    I've got a lesson for him. I know he studied at Oxford, and I know 
when. But he might not understand how democracy works. It's not the 
pundits, it's the people that decide these elections. And that's why 
we're going to do it. You know, I believe it's going to boil down to 
character and trust. I think we've already kind of won the debate on 
taxing and spending. People do not want to tax and spend more. They want 
a little relief from taxation and a little less Government spending.
    But the bottom line is you cannot have this pattern of deception and 
deceiving. I will tell you this: The toughest decision I had to make did 
relate to the war. I remember being up there at Camp David with Barbara 
a day or so before the battle actually began. And it is tough when you 
have to send somebody else's son or somebody else's daughter into harm's 
way, into combat. But you can't waffle. You've got to get your judgment 
made up and then you've got to say, here's what we're going to do. And I 
did it, and I have no regrets. And as a result of doing it, we lifted 
the entire world. We smashed aggression, and we restored hope in the 
United States of America.
    And now, you go to the polls. And so I'm going to ask--in the first 
place, you've got to work hard. You've got to go there and get the vote 
out. One of the reasons we're going to win, we've got the most committed 
supporters. We've got people like you all who are going to go to those 
polls.
    Then I'm going to look into the lens the evening of the election, 
and I say to America: Give me your support based on trust, based on 
character, based on confidence in the United States of America. I want 
to lead this country, finish the job, restore hope and opportunity to 
every young person here. And with your help, we're going to get the job 
done.
    Thank you all. And may God bless the United States of America. Thank 
you so very much for a great rally.

                    Note: The President spoke at 2:10 p.m. at the Palace 
                        of Auburn Hills. In his remarks he referred to 
                        Bill Laimbeer, Detroit Pistons basketball 
                        player; entertainer Mitch Ryder; Brooks 
                        Patterson, Oakland County executive; and David 
                        Doyle, State chairman, Michigan Republican State 
                        Committee.