    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book I)]
    [March 8, 2002]
    [Pages 370-373]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Republican Party of Florida Reception in St. Petersburg
    March 8, 2002

        The President. Thank you all. Well, thank you all for coming out to
    say hello to me and my little brother. [Laughter] I
    sure hope you work hard to get him back in. He has done a fabulous job.
    You know, when you've got somebody who brings honor and integrity and
    works hard and loves the people and does in office what he said he's
    going to do, you need to send him back in. So thank you for getting
    ready to work. Thank you for getting ready to work. Grassroots politics
    means a lot.
        Audience member. We love you both. [Laughter]
        The President. Thank you. Sounds like you've been talking to our
    mother. [Laughter] I think she still loves us. I know she's telling us
    what to do all the time. [Laughter] Jeb listens
    about half the time. I listen all the time, of course. [Laughter]
        It's great to be in Pinellas County. You know, I was flying down
    today with Chairman Young. He said, ``It's
    about time you came to Pinellas.'' I said, ``Well, it's about time you
    invited me, Mr. Chairman.'' [Laughter] But I'm proud of Bill Young. I
    hope you're proud of Bill Young. He's doing a fabulous job. He's a good
    man. He's a good man in the right position.
        And Mr. Mayor, thank you for coming, too. The
    mayor of St. Petersburg is here. I'm honored you're here, Mr. Mayor. I
    don't know if any of the other Congressmen that came down with us are
    here.
        Audience member. [Inaudible]
        The President. There he is. Miller,
    Bilirakis--of course he's here. What am I
    thinking? What am I thinking? Where's Red? There he is. Adam
    Putnam, he's here. Miller, Dan Miller is
    here.
        Listen, there are some fine Members of the United States Congress
    from Florida. You need to get them back in, too. Miller is not running again, I'm sorry to say, but nevertheless,
    we've got to make sure his seat stays Republican, and these other three
    need to come back, along with the chairman.
        Listen, we're making a big difference up there. And one of the
    reasons why is, we've got a Republican Speaker, and we want to make sure we have a Republican Speaker
    after the off-year elections.
        I told Jeb, I'll do anything he wants me to do
    to get him elected. If he wants me down here, I'm coming back. It's
    important for the State of Florida. Jeb said, ``Well, it'll help me.''
    Nuh-uh, it's going to help the people of Florida. You see, you've got a
    man here who cares deeply about making sure the school system works and
    that no child in Florida is left behind. It is essential that you have a
    Governor who knows how to lead on education. It is by far the most
    important issue that a Governor can deal with, is educating the
    children. And Jeb, as a result of his program and as a result of the
    help you're giving his program, is making a huge difference in the very
    future of the State of Florida.
        Florida has got her challenges, and it's good to have a good, steady
    man at the helm, a person, by the way, who makes his mind up not based
    upon polls or what some focus group might say, but a person who makes up
    his mind based upon principles. Jeb is a principled
    man. And he's not going to blink in the face of tough times, and neither
    am I.
        And we've got some tough times ahead of us in America. We've got
    some tough times. We're fighting for freedom. We're defending the very
    values that we hold dear.
        We got attacked by some murderers, people--and I like to remind
    people, they must have not known who they were attacking. They thought
    we were soft. They thought we were self-absorbed. They thought we were
    so materialistic that we

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    would maybe try to sue them--[laughter]--that we wouldn't deal with
    them. But they made a big mistake.
        I told the world that either you're with us, or you're against us,
    and there's no in-between. And most of the world is with us. And I'm
    proud to say our coalition is strong, because people understand the
    value of freedom, the freedom to worship the way you like to worship,
    the freedom to vote, the freedom to express your opinion without fear of
    reprisal, the freedom to risk capital and realize your entrepreneurial
    dream. Well, listen, we hold freedom dear, and we will defend it at all
    costs.
        I also said that if you harbor a terrorist, if you feed one, if you
    think they can hide in your land, you're just as guilty as the
    terrorist, and the Taliban found out exactly what we meant. They are no
    longer in power, thank goodness. And the people who appreciate that fact
    the most are women and children in Afghanistan.
        We seek justice, not revenge, and we're liberators, not conquerors.
    Our mighty military, along with other coalition forces, routed out the
    Taliban and liberated people from the clutches of one of the most
    barbaric regimes in the history of mankind. I cannot tell you how proud
    I am of the will of the American people and the strength of the United
    States military.
        I have said from the beginning of this war that this is going to be
    a long, difficult struggle. And it is. Today Jeb
    and I had the honor of meeting a mom and dad whose son was recently
    killed in the battle that rages in Afghanistan. It broke my heart to see
    her sadness. I was touched by her grief. But I assured her, like I
    assure you, that this cause is noble; this cause is just. And our
    country will not relent; we will not tire; we will not falter until we
    have routed out terror from its very roots and held people accountable
    for those who would want to hurt America.
        History has called us into action. History has called this great
    land to lead, and we will lead. And the good news is, the world sees how
    strong the American people are and how united we are and how convinced
    we are of the rightness of our cause.
        I have submitted a budget that is the largest defense spending
    increase in 20 years. I did so because of my conviction, a conviction
    supported by Chairman Young, that our
    military deserves the best equipment, the best training, a pay increase.
    If we send the men and women in uniform into harm's way, our Government
    must stand strongly with them in the fight for freedom. Thank goodness
    the man from Pinellas County is in charge of the appropriations process,
    because he knows what I know. The price of freedom is high, but the
    price of freedom is never too high, as far as we're concerned.
        And by the way, the war against terror is bigger than any single
    individual. Oh, I know there are some always talking about this bin
    Laden fellow. But remember, he's the kind of
    fellow who--he asks youngsters to go commit suicide, and he tries to
    bury inside a cave. We haven't heard from him in a long time. He's been
    kind of quiet for months. I don't know if he's alive; I don't know if
    he's dead. But I know this: If he is alive, there is no cave deep enough
    for the United States. We're going to find him.
        It doesn't matter whether he was brought
    to justice a month ago or years from now. What matters is the resolve of
    the American people to rout out terror. And what matters is, as well, is
    we're not going to let nations develop the worst kinds of weapons and
    hook up with terrorist organizations so that future generations of
    Americans will be held hostage to people who resent our country and
    resent our way of freedom. The world's most dangerous weapons will not--
    the world's most dangerous nations will not be allowed to develop, to
    keep the world's most dangerous weapons.
        We're doing everything we can to secure the homeland. My most
    important job is to protect the American people. Every

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    morning I walk into the glorious Oval Office. I'm an early morning guy,
    so I get out there about--get over there about 6:50, 7 o'clock in the
    morning. In comes Spot, the dog, with me. [Laughter] Spot was born at
    the White House when Mother and Dad were there, so she's kind of used to
    the surroundings. [Laughter] When I told them that, somebody said,
    ``What about Barney, the Scottish terrier?'' I said, ``Well, we just
    bought a new rug.'' [Laughter] He's a little young for the Oval Office.
        And I read about the threats that face our country. The enemy is
    still out there. And I want you to know we're doing everything in our
    power. We're chasing down every lead. We're working with law enforcement
    officials. We're focused on hunting them down. Anybody who thinks they
    can come to our country to hunt them--to hurt us, we're going to be
    after them. And we're on alert. And I'm proud of the American law
    enforcement officials, and I'm proud of our citizens.
        But I want to remind my fellow citizens, the best way to secure the
    homeland is to rout out terror wherever it exists and get them and bring
    them to justice. And so long as I'm the President, that's exactly what
    we're going to do.
        I want to thank you all, too, for standing strong on taxes. Now, as
    you know, our economy got roughed up as a result of 9/11, that we got
    hit pretty hard. You're going to hear the statisticians, the number
    crunchers, the bean counters, as we call them in Texas, say, ``Well,
    this might have been a recession; this might not have been a
    recession''--this, that, and the other. Look, so long as somebody lost a
    job, I'm worried about it. That's enough to get my attention.
        And we need to make sure we focus on how to create jobs in our
    economy, and one way to do that is to let people keep their own money.
    One way to make sure that there's economic vitality is to let people
    keep their own money so that increases demand, which increases supply,
    which then helps people keep jobs. We cut the taxes last year, last
    June. We signed the tax bill. It was the absolute right thing to do at
    the right time in order to make sure our economy did not suffer
    economically.
        And as Jeb mentioned, sometimes people in the
    political process read the wrong economics textbook. When times are
    slow, they want to raise your taxes. Or when times are slow, they don't
    want tax relief to continue on. Well, when they do that, they get
    crossways with the Bush boys. [Laughter] We understand--we understand
    that the money is not the Government's money; it's the people's money.
        And finally, let me share with you my optimism about our country.
    This is such a fabulous nation. And people say, you know, they say,
    ``How do you fight terror?'' And I say--you remind them that one way to
    stand in the face of evil is to do some good, and that's what's
    happening all across the country.
        We're a compassionate nation. We're a kind nation. We're a nation of
    faith, a nation of family. We're a nation where somebody walks across
    the street and says to a neighbor who's shut in, ``What can I do to make
    your day brighter? How can I help you?'' That's the America I know. As a
    result of the millions of acts of kindness and decency that take place
    on a regular day, America stands strong in the face of evil. Our
    collective front is formed by the compassion that Americans do to
    neighbors in need.
        And so my call to my fellow Americans is, love a neighbor just like
    you'd like to be loved yourself. Mentor a child. Help somebody who needs
    help. Love somebody. Donate some money to a worthy cause. Go to your
    church or your synagogue or your mosque and start a faith-based program
    that will help somebody defeat addiction. Remember, there are still
    people that hurt in our society, and we can help--and we can help.
        There is the gathering momentum of millions of acts of kindness in
    America. And

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    as a result of this evil, we're assessing ourselves. We're taking a good
    look at values that matter. America is on the verge of ushering in a new
    culture, one that says, ``I'm responsible for the decisions I make in
    life,'' a culture that recognizes there's something--a culture that
    recognizes serving something greater than yourself is a noble culture.
        Flight 93 helped define what I'm talking about. Young men and a lady
    on an airplane knew they were in danger. They were on their cell phones.
    They told their wives they loved them. They said a prayer, and they
    sacrificed for something greater than themselves. That's the America the
    world is beginning to see. That's the America I have the honor of
    leading. It is such a privilege to be your President. It is such a
    privilege to be the President of the greatest nation on the face of the
    Earth.
        May God bless you all.

    Note: The President spoke at 1:34 p.m. in the King Charles Ballroom at
    the Don CeSar Beach Resort and Spa. In his remarks, he referred to Gov.
    Jeb Bush of Florida; Mayor Rick Baker of St. Petersburg; and Usama bin
    Laden, leader of the Al Qaida terrorist organization.