    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book I)]
    [May 14, 2002]
    [Pages 798-804]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Republican National Committee Dinner
    May 14, 2002

        Thank you for that great welcome. I'm honored. I'm glad I heard the
    second introduction. [Laughter] You know, when I asked Marc to become the party chairman, I knew he was going to do
    a great job, and he hasn't let me down. Mr. Chairman, thank you for your
    leadership. I appreciate that.
        I want to thank Marc, and I want to thank
    Ann Wagner. I want to thank Marie-Josee; thank you very much for doing this. I appreciate
    your leadership. I'm honored that Lew Eisenberg agreed to serve as the

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    finance chairman of our grand party. Lew, thank you for your leadership
    as well. I want to thank all who made this dinner possible. I
    particularly want to thank you all for being here tonight.
        I've been blessed by a lot of things. I've been blessed by a great
    group of friends, many of whom are here, and I want to thank you for
    coming. And the country realizes now I've been blessed with a great
    wife. I am sure glad she said yes when I said,
    ``Will you marry me?'' [Laughter] As you know, a lot of her friends are
    still confused as to why she said yes. [Laughter] But I wish she was
    here tonight. She's in Paris, and I don't mean Paris, Texas. [Laughter]
    She is in Paris, France. The French are getting to see what America
    knows, that our First Lady is calm and steady and dignified and is a
    great First Lady for the United States.
        I see out there many of the members of my team, and I've been
    blessed with a great team. I want to thank my Cabinet officials who are
    here tonight. I particularly want to say one word about a member of my
    team who isn't here; I understand he spoke at lunch. Somebody said to me
    one time, he said, ``Well, Dick Cheney is going
    to be a good Vice President.'' No, Dick Cheney is a great Vice President
    for the United States.
        I want to thank the Speaker. Mr.
    Speaker--where is Mr. Speaker? Somewhere down there. Hi, Speaker. The
    Speaker of the House is a fabulous Speaker of the House. And one of the
    things I'm going to dedicate myself to is to make sure he remains the
    Speaker of the House.
        And I've got another job, too, as the leader of this party, and it's
    to make sure that Trent Lott becomes the majority
    leader of the United States Senate. I look out there and see many of the
    fine Members of the United States Congress, Tom DeLay and others. I want to thank you all for being here. Thank
    you for supporting our great party. Thank you for your leadership, and
    thanks for working with your President.
        I also want to thank all the folks who do the grassroots work for
    the Republican Party. Those of us who have ever run for office know full
    well how important it is to have people who are willing to man the
    phones and to stuff the envelopes, to carry the signs, to stand on the
    street corners, to do all the work necessary. And so, on behalf of a
    grateful group of elected officials, thank you for your hard work on
    behalf of our candidacies and our philosophy.
        You know, it doesn't seem like a year ago that I was here. Time is
    flying. Either that's because I've got a lot to do, or I'm enjoying
    myself. [Laughter] The truth is, both are the reasons why time is
    flying. I do have a lot to do. But I can't tell you how much I love
    being your President, and thank you for the opportunity to serve this
    great Nation.
        A year ago I said that I would do my part to try to change the tone
    in Washington, DC, to get rid of the needless name-calling that tends to
    go on here, to try to focus on what's best for America, to bring a
    philosophy which is conservative and yet compassionate, to not listen to
    the voices that try to tear people down but to lift this Nation up, and
    to focus on getting things done. And I believe--and I strongly believe--
    that we've made great progress. I feel just as strongly today as I did a
    year ago about the need for the American people to learn that when our
    philosophy is put into action, people are better off, and that when they
    give us a chance to lead, we lead by focusing on results. And I want to
    talk about some of those results here tonight.
        First, I had the honor of signing the largest tax reduction in
    years. That tax reduction reflected two things: One, we Republicans
    understand that we're not spending the Government's money. It's the
    people's money, and we've got to let the people keep more of their own
    money in order to keep our economy growing. And secondly, that tax
    relief came at the right time.

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        Some of them up here read a different economic textbook than we do.
    They thought that it made sense to take more money out of the pockets of
    the hard-working taxpayers if the economy were to slow down. We think
    just the opposite. We think, when the economy slows down, you give
    people more of their own money so they can spend. And when they spend on
    goods and services, somebody provides the goods and services. And when
    somebody provides goods and services, it means work for American people.
    This tax relief was the right thing for the taxpayers, and it's the
    right thing for the economy of the United States.
        And I look forward to working with the United States Congress to
    make sure that the tax relief we passed is permanent, is long-lasting,
    is real for the American taxpayer.
        At the same time, I worked with Members on both sides of our aisle
    to provide an economic stimulus package, just when the country needed
    it. And I want to thank the leaders here who worked with the White
    House, who understands that when we encourage investment in the private
    sector, it is more likely to lead to work for the American people.
        I want to thank the people here who helped me work on education
    reform. There's nothing more important than making sure that every child
    in America gets educated. I don't mean a few; I don't mean some who live
    in certain neighborhoods; I mean every single child in this country.
        We passed a bill that sets high standards. You see, we understand
    that if you set low standards, if you don't believe people can learn,
    people won't learn. See, ours is the party that looks at each individual
    and says, he or she matters, and he or she can learn. And we set high
    standards.
        Ours is also the party that believes in results. Listen, if we spend
    Federal money--which we do--on disadvantaged children, we want to know.
    We expect results. We expect the children to learn to read and write and
    add and subtract. See, we believe every child can learn.
        So part of the reform package said that if you get help, you must
    show us--you, the States and local jurisdictions, must show us. And if
    children will learn, listen, we'll praise all day long the teachers who
    are working hard to make that happen. But when we find children trapped
    in schools that will not teach and will not change, we demand something
    else. No child should be stuck in a school that won't teach.
        And finally, the core component of the education bill recognizes
    that we don't know all--everything here in Washington. And so we passed
    power out of Washington to empower local people, to empower people
    closest to the children, to chart the path to excellence for each child.
    No, this education reform is an important piece of legislation. It's
    conservative to trust local people; it is compassionate--it is
    compassionate to insist that every single child in America get a quality
    education.
        And when Dick Cheney and I came to
    Washington, we said we'd make sure our defense and defenses of the
    United States were strong. And we have done that. The morale in the
    United States military is high. Our folks are being trained, and they're
    being well equipped. And our Nation is better off for a strong defense
    policy that we support.
        We've made progress on key issues--key issues--like trade. I want to
    thank the House of Representatives for getting a good trade bill out of
    the House. And it's now up to the United States Senate to get a trade
    bill to my desk. It is important to open up markets for U.S. products.
        We passed an energy bill. For the first time, our Nation had an
    administration that was willing to stand up and say we need an energy
    policy, a policy which encourages conservation and new technologies for
    renewal but also a policy that understands it's not in our Nation's
    interest to be dependent on foreign sources of crude oil,

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    particularly when some of those foreign sources of crude oil don't like
    us.
        One of my passions, one of my legislative passions, is to encourage
    programs based upon faith and programs based upon love to flourish all
    across America. The House of Representatives passed a important piece of
    legislation called the Faith-Based Initiative. It is stuck in the
    Senate. It is time to get this important legislation out of the United
    States Senate and on my desk, so we can capture and rally the great
    compassion all across America, to make sure nobody in America feels left
    out of this great country.
        And there are issues we're working on. There is no more important an
    issue for the President than to be able to name and nominate judges. I
    want you to know that this country has got a vacancy crisis on the
    Federal bench, and that's not good for America. That's not good for
    America. I've worked hard to name well-qualified jurists, people from
    all walks of life, people who have done different things in their life,
    different occupations, but all of them great judges. And I can't get the
    politics of the United States Senate to be set aside for the good of the
    judiciary. One reason we need to change the Senate is to make sure the
    well-qualified judges I have named and nominated get approved to the
    benches all across America.
        We're working on an early childhood development program. We want our
    Head Start programs to be able to teach our children the basics of
    reading and writing and math. If we're going to measure, we want little
    kids from all walks of life at the same starting point as other kids.
    This is essential, that we get good legislation out of the Congress that
    focuses on making sure every child learns to read. There's nothing more
    basic and nothing more important for the future of this country.
        We're working on a welfare reform package. One of the great success
    stories was the welfare reform of 1996. The welfare rolls in America are
    down by over one-half. And that's good for taxpayers, but more
    importantly, it's good for the people who've found work. A job for a
    family means dignity, and we must continue the reform of making sure we
    help people find work in America.
        And one of the interesting debates going on in Washington, which
    amazes some people--I know it amazes the people in Crawford, Texas--is,
    I think a crucial component of a good welfare reauthorization bill is to
    encourage people to marry and stay married, to encourage families--two-
    parent families. The statistics show that when there's a mom and dad
    together, a child is more likely to succeed in America. And I'm proud to
    strongly support family initiatives all across this country. No, there's
    a lot to work on here for the good of the people.
        Another thing we're going to be working on is the budget. I was in
    Chicago in 2002; some guy said--a reporter said, excuse me, said--
    [laughter]--a male reporter said--[laughter]--``Would you ever allow a
    deficit?'' I said, ``Only if we're at war or only if the Nation were in
    recession or only if we had a national emergency would I allow a
    deficit.'' Well, this administration got all three. And we're going to
    have a deficit because our economy isn't generating the tax revenues
    that we thought. That will be okay after a while. We'll have a small
    deficit if Congress adheres to the budget I submitted. But I wanted you
    to know how I feel about it.
        My most important job is to protect the American people. And one of
    the reasons we have a short-term deficit is because I've insisted that
    we fund our national defense to the fullest.
        My most important job is to protect innocent lives, is to secure our
    homeland, is to do everything we can to make sure the enemy doesn't hit
    us again. I want you to know that the defense of our country, protecting
    the homeland, I don't view as a partisan issue. I view it as my duty.
    And I view it as the duty of the United States

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    Congress to work with the President, which is what's happening.
        I wish I could report to you that the enemy is defeated, that they
    no longer are interested in hurting us, but that's not the case. They're
    still moving around. A lot of kids say and write letters in and say, you
    know, ``Why? Why would they want to come after America?'' It's hard for
    people to understand, but these coldblooded killers hate what we stand
    for. They hate our love for freedom. They hate the fact that America
    believes strongly in the freedom for people to worship the way they see
    fit, the people for--the freedom for people to speak their mind, the
    freedom of the press. The freedoms we hold dear are hated by these
    people.
        I like to remind my fellow Americans that we're a unique land, that
    we're plenty tough. And I guess they just didn't understand us. They
    must have thought that we were so materialistic and shallow and feeble
    that, oh, yeah, we might file a couple of lawsuits--[laughter]--but that
    we wouldn't do anything else. Thanks to the mighty United States
    military and a vast coalition of freedom-loving countries, we've proved
    them wrong.
        And we're going to continue to prove them wrong, because this Nation
    is a united Nation; we're together. We're also patient. I've been so
    pleased and thankful that the American people have been so patient in
    the understanding of the task ahead. They don't have--like me, they
    don't have a calendar on the wall that says, by such-and-such a date
    we're going to quit. They understand that we're facing an enemy that we
    have never really seen before--a faceless, nameless bunch of people
    who--they've got leaders who say to the youngsters, ``Go blow yourself
    up, and in the meantime, I'm going to find a cave to hide in.'' A
    different kind of enemy.
        But we're learning more about them. You need to know that our
    intelligence-gathering is getting better; we're sharing a lot of
    intelligence with our friends. And we're going to run them down one by
    one and bring them to justice.
        History has called us into action. History has laid a significant
    responsibility on this Nation's shoulders, our collective shoulders. And
    I'm proud to report to my friends and proud to report to the world that
    we accept that responsibility.
        That's why the defense budget I submitted is significant. It has two
    principles involved in it: One, anytime we commit our young men and
    women in harm's way, they deserve the best pay, the best equipment, and
    the best training.
        And the second message is to not only our friends but our enemies:
    We're in this for the long haul. We're in it until we secure our own
    homeland. See, we fight for freedom, and when somebody comes after our
    freedom, this mighty Nation is plenty tough. This mighty Nation will not
    relent in the face of people who think that we will back down.
        We've got a lot of work ahead of us. We've got work ahead of us in
    Afghanistan, and we're after them. We're going to continue to work to
    make sure that the Al Qaida killers aren't able to bunch up or train in
    other spots of the world. We're making good progress there. We're
    cutting off their money.
        But there's some larger tasks ahead as well. We just cannot, as a
    nation that loves freedom, allow the world's most dangerous regimes to
    threaten us or to team up with Al Qaida to threaten us with the world's
    most dangerous weapons.
        History is going to look back at this time, and people are going to
    say, ``Did the United States have the courage to lead, or did the United
    States blink?'' And I'm here to report to you that history will say that
    the United States of America led the world to freedom.
        I'm an incredibly optimistic person. I believe that there's some
    incredible good that's going to come out of this evil. I want you to
    know that I talk about our military, and I talk about ``getting them''
    in caves,

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    but I long for peace. You see, I know that by being tough and strong and
    resolute, we can achieve peace. And that's what I--that's my hope and my
    goal. And I believe it's going to happen. I believe when the United
    States leads the world, we're more likely to achieve peace in troubled
    regions and peace around the world.
        And out of the evil is going to come some good at home, too; you
    mark my words. This country is so compassionate, so decent that we will
    be able to address the pockets of despair and hopelessness which exist
    in cities and communities around our country, not by vast new Government
    programs but by the love of the American people.
        People say, what can they do to help to fight in the war against
    terror? And my answer is, love a neighbor like you'd like to be loved
    yourself. If you're interested in fighting evil, do some good. The acts
    don't have to be hugely significant. Mentor one child as a part of doing
    some good. If you've got a shut-in in your neighborhood, walk across the
    street on a daily basis and say, ``What can I do to help you?'' That's
    part of doing good. If you go to church or a synagogue or a mosque,
    rally your fellow citizens to feed somebody who is hungry. Find a child
    whose parent might be in a prison and surround him with love.
        And that's happening in America. See, the strength of America is not
    in our halls of Government; the strength of America is in the hearts and
    souls of incredibly decent and generous and kind people. There's a
    spirit in this country that I can feel, that's alive and well, a spirit
    that on the one hand says, we'll defend our freedoms, and a spirit on
    the other hand that says, not only will we make the world safer, we will
    make America better.
        It has been an honor to serve as the President of this great
    country. I'm an early morning guy. I love getting up in the morning and
    bringing the First Lady her coffee. I love taking Spot and Barney down
    the elevator and heading out into the South Lawn. Barney heads off with
    the gardener, because the rug in the Oval Office is new and he's quite
    young. [Laughter] Spot goes in with me. After all, she was born in the
    White House during the ``41'' era and is quite used to the
    accommodations. [Laughter]
        I sit behind a fantastic desk that has been used by Theodore
    Roosevelt--I'm a President; I call him Ted--[laughter]--Franklin
    Roosevelt, John Kennedy, the great Ronald Reagan. I look at Abraham
    Lincoln on the wall, and I put him on the wall there because he had the
    toughest job of all, which was to keep our Nation united in the face of
    a civil war. I know my job: My job is to keep our Nation united so that
    we can capture the great spirit of America, to make sure that everybody
    who lives in this country understands our promise, our values, and our
    hope. That's my dream for the world--peace--and our country being as
    hopeful for everyone as it can possibly be.
        Thank you for giving me the chance to be the President. May God
    bless you. Thank you all.

    Note: The President spoke at 7:50 p.m. at the Washington Convention
    Center. In his remarks, he referred to Marc Racicot, chairman, Ann
    Wagner, cochairman, and Lewis Eisenberg, finance chairman, Republican
    National Committee; and Marie-Josee Kravis, dinner chairman.

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