    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book I)]
    [April 2, 2002]
    [Pages 539-544]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Fundraiser for Gubernatorial Candidate Mike Fisher in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
    April 2, 2002

        Thank you very much. Well, ``Governor,'' thank you for those kind
    words. I want to thank you all for coming, and thanks for that warm
    welcome. It's good to see so many friends. I want to thank you all for
    supporting the next Governor from Pennsylvania. I've been here quite a
    bit since I've been President, but I learned a new fact recently that
    made me a little nervous. I didn't realize this, but Pennsylvania has
    more pretzel bakeries--[laughter]--than any State in the Union.
    [Laughter] So I decided to take a risk. [Laughter]
        I love coming to Philadelphia. I love the history of Philadelphia. I
    love the fact that Philadelphia is the cradle of freedom; that's what I
    love.
        Mike mentioned Tom Ridge. You know, my biggest
    job is to defend freedom, is to protect our homeland. And you know
    better than anybody, I picked a really good man to lead the homeland
    defense of the United States. I want to thank you for letting Tom cut
    his eyeteeth here. [Laughter] He did a great job as Governor. He's doing
    a really good job in Washington.

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        And I want to thank Mark Schweiker as
    well. He's doing a fantastic job as Governor. Thank you, Mark.
    Pennsylvania has had two fine Governors. It's time to make three
    Governors in a row. I'm proud to be here on stage with Mike and the
    future Lieutenant Governor. There's no doubt
    in my mind they will both do a fine job, an excellent job, for the
    people of Pennsylvania. I'm also honored to be here with your senior
    Senator, Arlen Specter. Thank you very much,
    Arlen, for coming. I had the privilege of traveling from the University
    of Pennsylvania, in Delaware County, to the hotel with Jane Earll. She's
    solid on the issues. She knows what she's talking about.
        I'm also honored to be here with David Girard-diCarlo and Manny Stamatakis. These guys were my friends before I was somebody--
    [laughter]--and I'm proud to call them friend. I want to thank them for
    their hard work, and I want to thank you all for contributing your hard-
    earned dollars to this good candidate.
        I also want to thank the leaders of the political party here, the
    chairman and the national committeeman and national committeewoman, all of whom are willing to provide the grassroots support
    necessary for candidates like me and Mike to succeed. You know,
    fundraising is an integral part of politics but so is getting out the
    vote--so is those who are willing to spend a lot of time putting out the
    yard signs, dialing the phones, and doing all the hard work necessary to
    make candidates viable. On behalf of a grateful President and a soon-to-
    be-grateful Governor, thank you for the grassroots politics here in
    Pennsylvania.
        I also want to thank Carol Fisher, Mike's
    wife, for her willingness to make a huge sacrifice on behalf of a good
    man running for Governor. I know something about good wives. I'm very
    fortunate to have a good wife, myself. Laura is
    doing a great job as our First Lady. She is a steady hand. She was a
    public school librarian when I married her and really wasn't all that
    keen on politics. And if the truth be known, she wasn't all that
    thrilled about knowing politicians, either. [Laughter] But she is where
    she is, thank goodness--thank goodness for my family, and thank goodness
    for the country. The American people have gotten to see why I asked
    Laura to marry me. There's still a lot of doubts in people's minds as to
    why she said yes. [Laughter] But I'm proud of her, and I want you to
    know she's doing great, and so is my family.
        I think there's a lot of reasons for the people of Pennsylvania to
    support Mike. First, he's done a good job as the attorney general. He's
    been given a huge responsibility, and he performed. He's one of these
    fellows that does in office what he said he would do, and that's
    refreshing.
        Mike has led the fight against drugs, and he's made a difference. As
    I understand it, there's been over 6,000 arrests made to make sure
    Pennsylvania streets are safe from those who would sell drugs. But he
    also knows what I knew, that we've also got to work on demand. We've got
    to make sure our youngsters understand that drugs will destroy their
    lives and ruin their hopes. Mike can take this to the Governor's office
    and make a huge difference for the citizens of Pennsylvania.
        He also has been making sure Pennsylvania stays safe. He's a tough
    crimefighter. He makes it clear that there are consequences for bad
    behavior in the State of Pennsylvania. And that will stand him in good
    stead when he becomes the Governor as well.
        We had a chance to talk about education today in the car. I was
    promoting an early childhood reading initiative here in the Philadelphia
    area. Mike knows what I know, that we must set high standards for every
    child, that we must expect the best from every single child, and that we
    must hold people accountable for results. It's fine for States and the
    Federal Government to spend money, but for that money we expect our
    children to learn how to read and write and add and subtract. And if the
    status

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    quo is unacceptable, if children are not learning to read and write and
    add and subtract, it's important to have somebody in the Governor's
    office who is willing to say, ``That is not good enough. The fact that
    children can't read and write and add and subtract is not satisfactory
    to me, because every child counts in America, and no child should be
    left behind.''
        It is important to have a Governor who sets high standards and
    expects the best and a Governor who is willing to challenge a system
    that simply shuffles children through. During the campaign, I called
    that the soft bigotry of low expectations. Mike understands that we must
    hold people accountable, that we must insist upon basic education. We
    must challenge failure wherever we find it, in order for the American
    Dream to reach every neighborhood in every community in every State of
    our Nation. And I want to thank Mike for that.
        I had the honor of working on and signing a substantial piece of
    education legislation, a significant reform. I was able to work with
    Senator Kennedy and Senator Gregg and Congressmen Boehner and
    Miller to get this done. The Federal Government
    spends a lot of money on education, and finally we're beginning to say,
    ``What are the results? Can our children actually do what we expect them
    to do?''
        In that bill not only do we insist upon strong accountability to
    show us whether or not we're achieving standards, but we pass a lot of
    power back to the States, where power belongs. I fully recognize one
    size does not fit all when it comes to public education all across
    America. It's important for Governors to be empowered to meet high
    standards. And therefore, it's important to have good Governors, who
    understand high standards and accountability, in the Governors' offices
    all across America. Mike Fisher will be such a Governor.
        And as Mike said, he understands the importance of empowering the
    private sector in order to create jobs. Governments don't create wealth;
    governments must create an environment in which the entrepreneurial
    spirit flourishes.
         Mike believes in lower taxes, and so do I. You might remember, I
    came to Pennsylvania a lot, saying, ``If you give me a chance to be your
    President, I will work with Congress to cut the taxes on the people who
    work in America.'' And that's exactly what we did. And not only did we
    do that, we did it at the right time in Washington, DC.
        You see, when the economy slows down, like it had, it's important to
    let people have more of their own money, so they can spend it. When
    people have more of their own money, it creates demand. And when people
    demand more goods and services, somebody will produce the goods and
    services. And when somebody produces the goods and services, somebody
    can find work. The best way to make sure America goes back to work is to
    trust the American people with their own money.
        Now, there are some in Washington who don't understand that, but
    they read a different textbook than Mike and I do. There are some who
    say, the more money the Federal Government has, the better off America
    will be. That's not the way I think. That's not the way Mike thinks. And
    history will prove us right. By cutting taxes, we saved the country from
    a significant recession.
        I remember campaigning in Chicago one time, and the guy said,
    ``Would you ever deficit spend?'' I said, ``Well, only if we were at war
    or the country was in recession or there was a national emergency.''
    [Laughter] I didn't realize we were going to get the trifecta.
    [Laughter] We're dealing with the issue of our economy, and I want you
    to know that we're dealing with the issue of war and our national
    emergency as well.
        I mentioned Tom. Our job is to make sure that
    if anybody hits us again, the Nation can respond. We've got a great
    first-responders initiative. I had the honor of meeting the fire chief
    of Philadelphia and leaders of the
    Philadelphia police force,

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    those who lead the brave men and women who are on the frontline of
    dealing not only with crime but with any emergency that may come.
        We've got a significant amount of money in our budget to protect the
    American people. Not only are we going to bolster our first-responders,
    to provide them more training and more equipment in order to respond;
    we're going to make sure our border security is better. We want to know
    who's coming into the United States and why they're coming in and if
    they're leaving when they're supposed to be leaving. We've got a
    bioterrorism initiative to put in place a response mechanism if the
    enemy were to use a biological weapon or a chemical weapon on America.
    In other words, we're buttoning up the homeland security of the country.
        You also need to know that anytime we get any kind of hint that
    somebody may try to harm Americans, we will respond. We've got much
    better dialog between our Federal and State and local law enforcement
    officials. Our intelligence gathering is better than it's ever been. Our
    information sharing is very sound.
        I wake up every morning and I get into the great, beautiful Oval
    Office and I read a threat assessment. It reminds me that we're still
    threatened. But I'm here to tell you, our country is responding. We're
    diligent. We're alert. We know our mission, and we know our priority.
    But the best way to defend the homeland, the best way to make sure our
    little ones can grow up in a peaceful world, is to find the enemy
    wherever they try to hide and bring them to justice.
        When our--when the enemy hit us, I couldn't understand what was
    going through their mind. They must have thought our Nation was so self-
    absorbed and so materialistic that all we would do would be to file a
    lawsuit. [Laughter] They sure were wrong.
        I said some things, and I meant them. I said to those nations around
    the world, if you think you can hide one of those terrorists or feed
    them or harbor them, you're just as guilty as the terrorists. And thanks
    to the United States military and a vast coalition of freedom-loving
    nations, the Taliban found out exactly what I meant.
        Every chance I get, I try to stress, particularly to the young in
    America, that ours is a nation that doesn't seek revenge; we seek
    justice. And that we went into a country like Afghanistan not as
    conquerors but as liberators. I want to remind you all that, as a result
    of our military action in Afghanistan, we saved thousands of people from
    starvation. And as importantly, schools opened up to young girls. For
    the first time, many young girls got to go to school. I'm so proud of
    the compassion of America. I'm proud of our strength, but I'm equally as
    proud of the compassion of this great nation.
        But we're just starting in Afghanistan, and there's still a lot of
    work to be done there. Afghanistan is still a dangerous place, and
    wherever we find them bunched-up or wherever we find their leaders,
    we're in hot pursuit. We're teaching these people--treating these people
    the way they need to be treated.
         You need to understand: These are coldblooded killers. These are
    people who hijacked a religion so they can kill for means which freedom-
    loving people can't understand. They hate America. They hate what we
    stand for. They cannot stand the thought that we worship freely in
    America. They hate the thought that there's viable political discourse.
    They can't stand the thought that we're a free country, that everybody
    has got an equal chance in America. And so they want to harm us.
        We're going to treat them as international crooks, and we're going
    to get them on the run. And like you read in the newspapers or saw on
    your TV screens, we're hunting them down, one by one. Our Nation is
    resolved. Our Nation is united. Our Nation understands that we're in
    this for the long haul. History has called us

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    into action. History has said to America, ``Are you going to defend
    freedom or not?'' And the answer clearly is, you bet we're going to
    defend freedom.
        And that's why I've submitted a budget to the United States Congress
    that significantly increases our defense spending. It's the largest
    increase in 20 years. And here's why. First, this is a long struggle,
    and it's not an easy struggle. And secondly, anytime the United States
    commits our troops into harm's way, they must have the best equipment,
    the best training, the best possible pay. The price of freedom is high,
    no question about it. But it is not too high, as far as I'm concerned.
        The world watches America very closely. They want to know: Are we
    serious; are we determined; will we tire and grow weary? Because if we
    do grow tired and grow weary, others will as well. They're going to find
    a determined administration who leads a determined country to defend
    freedom.
        And I believe, as a result of being steadfast and strong and
    determined, we can achieve the peace. I long for peace, but I understand
    the road to peace can be really hard. But if America is strong and
    determined and we constantly keep the pressure on terrorist activities
    and terrorism, we can bring peace to places in the world that never
    thought they could have peace.
        I've got a vision for the Middle East that says that Israel must be
    allowed to exist and be at peace with its neighbors. I appreciate the
    fact that Saudi Arabia spoke clearly about the need for Israel to be
    able to have normal relations with its neighbors, so that Israeli boys
    and girls can grow up in a peaceful society. I feel the same thing about
    the Palestinians. I hope that they can have their own peaceful state, at
    peace with their neighbor, Israel, a self-governing country, a country
    in which there is economic prosperity to end the hopelessness of many of
    the citizens who live there.
        But there are those who want to destroy that vision. There are those
    who want to murder to make sure that vision never comes to be. The
    United States of America will stand strong and continue to insist that
    those who yearn for peace in the Middle East and other regions around
    the world must do everything they can to stop the terrorist activities
    all aimed at making sure that peace does not exist.
        Now, out of this evil is going to come some good. A strong America
    will lead to a more peaceful world. And at home, we can fight evil as
    well. People say to me, ``What can I do? What is it that I can do to
    help?'' Well, you can love a neighbor like you'd like to be loved
    yourself. You see, in order to fight evil, this country can gather
    millions of acts of kindness and put a compassionate, kind face on our
    country. In order to fight evil, in order to stand squarely in the face
    of evil, we can let our hearts flow.
        It doesn't take much; it really doesn't. Mentoring a child, teaching
    a child to read or telling a child you love them, a big brother or a big
    sister, a Boys and Girls Club member, is all part of defining the true
    face of America. You know, if you want to fight against--the war on
    terror, if you walk across the street to a shut-in and simply say, ``Can
    I talk with you today,'' that, in itself, is part of defining the true
    character of our country.
        The way to fight evil is to help build character in our children.
    The way to fight evil is to tell your children you love them every
    single day, is to remember the most important job you'll ever have, if
    you happen to be a mom or a dad, is to love your son or your daughter
    with all your heart and all your soul. This country is going to win the
    war against evil, because not only are we militarily strong and
    determined but because we're a nation that is so compassionate and so
    kind and so loving.
        There is a new culture evolving in America. It's a culture that is
    shifting away from ``If it feels good, do it,'' and ``If you've got a
    problem, blame somebody else,'' to a culture in which each of us
    understand

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    that we are responsible for something greater than ourself. That was
    clearly defined on an airplane that crashed in Pennsylvania, when
    several people on that plane told their loved ones goodbye. They told
    them they loved them. They said a prayer. They said, ``Let's roll,'' and
    drove an airplane into the ground to save other people's lives. It is a
    symbol of what is possible in America. It is a sign that there are
    people in this Nation willing to make a sacrifice to help a neighbor in
    need, willing to make a sacrifice to make their community a better
    place.
        That's how you win the war on terror. You understand that there is a
    responsibility that comes with living in the greatest country on the
    face of the Earth. The great news is, America is rallying to the cause.
    I can't tell you what an honor it is to be the President of a nation
    full of such great and decent and compassionate and tough and firm and
    freedom-loving human beings.
        I want to thank you all for coming. I want to thank you for
    supporting Mike Fisher. May God bless you all, and may God bless
    America.

    Note: The President spoke at 6:03 p.m. in the Ballroom at the Four
    Seasons Hotel. In his remarks, he referred to Jane M. Earll, candidate
    for Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania; David Girard-diCarlo,
    cochairman, chief executive officer, and managing partner, Blank Rome
    Comisky & McCauley LLP; Manuel N. Stamatakis, president and chief
    executive officer, Capital Management Enterprises; Alan Novak, chairman,
    Robert Asher, national committeeman, and Christine J. Toretti, national
    committeewoman, Republican State Committee of Pennsylvania; and Harold
    B. Hairston, commissioner, Philadelphia Fire Department.