    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book I)]
    [May 13, 2002]
    [Pages 787-793]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Luncheon for Gubernatorial Candidate Jim Ryan in Chicago
    May 13, 2002

        Well, thank you for that warm Chicago welcome. I appreciate your
    kind remarks, Governor. [Laughter] I want to thank you all for coming.
    Pat, thanks for your leadership. And I want
    to thank you all for supporting this good, honorable man to be become
    the next Governor of the State of Illinois.
        I want to thank all the grassroots advocates who are here, those who
    man the phones and stuff the envelopes and get out the vote. I want to
    thank you for what you've done in the past, and I want to thank you for
    what you're fixing to do. I can just see the headlines: Ryan Replaces
    Ryan. [Laughter] Durkin Defeats Durbin.
        And I want to thank Marie. We had our picture
    taken with the Ryan family. I thought it was never going to end. That's
    a good sign. [Laughter] If all the Ryans vote, it's a landslide.
    [Laughter] But I want to thank Marie. Mother's Day must have been a heck
    of a day for you, with all those kids. And I want to thank the sons and
    daughter who are here. Marie has got four sons and
    a daughter. It reminds me of another name in American politics:
    Barbara has got four sons and a daughter. The
    difference is, is that your sons must be treating you better. You don't
    have any white hair. [Laughter] But I want to thank you for being a
    great wife, and soon to be a great first lady of the State of Illinois.
    And to you boys out there, you listen to your mother. [Laughter] I'm
    still listening to mine. [Laughter]

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        Speaking about great First Ladies, I'm sorry that Laura can't be with us today. She is off to Europe, and she's
    going to represent our country in the Czech Republic and Hungary and
    France. And then I'm going to team up with her there in about 9 days. I
    bring her up just to--you know, when I married Laura, she was a public
    school librarian. She wasn't really interested in politics. And if the
    truth be known, she really didn't care for politicians. [Laughter] But
    thankfully, she agreed to marry me, and now the American people are
    beginning to see why. She is calm, and she is steady. She's got great
    values and a huge heart. A lot of people are still wondering why she
    said yes. But she sends her love and wishes you all the best.
        And I appreciate Senator Hawkinson
    being here, the next Lieutenant Governor for the State of Illinois.
    Thank you for coming, Senator.
        Members of the Illinois delegation are here, some of them looking
    for a ride back to DC, I suspect. [Laughter] Just depends on how you
    vote. [Laughter] But I appreciate Senator Peter Fitzgerald for coming tonight--today. Peter, where are you?
    Thank you, Peter.
        I think Chairman Henry Hyde thought I was
    teasing him. I told him today I was announcing the fact that Russia and
    United States agreed to a treaty to substantially reduce our offensive
    nuclear weapons. It is a treaty that will change the relationship
    between Russia and the United States for the better, for world peace.
    Mr. Chairman, I'm serious about talking to you about this treaty when we
    fly back to Washington. Henry Hyde, thank you for coming. He's what we
    call a solid citizen. And so are the other members of the congressional
    delegation who are here, Mark Kirk, Jerry
    Weller, Judy Biggert,
    as well as Ray LaHood. I appreciate you all
    coming as well.
        I mentioned the fact that Durkin is going to
    beat Durbin. I want to thank Jim Durkin
    for being here and for running for the United States Senate. I
    appreciate the Lieutenant Governor, Corinne Wood, for being here. Thank you for coming, Corinne. And
    the State treasurer--and the old State treasurer, Judy Baar. Where is she? Thank you, Judy. Yes, just kidding--well.
    [Laughter]
        And finally--well, not quite finally--I'm glad to see my old friend
    Pate Philip. Pate, thank you for
    coming. I appreciate you being here. I remember going to your great
    county more than once to learn the lessons of good State politics at the
    foot of a master. Mr. Senator, thank you for being here. And I
    appreciate Lee Daniels being here as well.
    Lee, thank you for your leadership and your strong, strong support for
    the next Governor. Thank you, Lee.
        Now I'm getting to the finally. I had the honor of knowing two great
    Governors, past Governors, who are here with us today, big Jim
    Thompson and Jim Edgar.
    Thank you all for coming. I appreciate you, Edgar.
        I'm proud to support Jim Ryan. I appreciate, first of all, his heart
    and his philosophy. I call him a compassionate conservative, somebody
    who believes like I believe that if you embrace a conservative
    philosophy and you have a heart, you can help people. And that's what
    government is all about, is to help people help themselves, to
    understand the limitations of government, to apply government where it
    needs to be applied, but always remember, the idea is to make sure the
    American experience and the American Dream reaches every corner of our
    country. And that's the way Jim thinks. And that's an important attitude
    for the people of--for the Governor to have, for all the people. We're
    running as proud Republicans. We serve as a proud American.
        I appreciate his strong stand on law enforcement. He's been given
    the job as the attorney general of this State to hold the law, to bring
    people to justice, to blow the whistle where a whistle needs to be
    blown. And he's done just that. If the people get

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    beyond the rhetoric in this campaign and look at the record, a record of
    accomplishment, the people of Illinois will put this man in the
    statehouse with the big numbers, because he has got a record of
    accomplishment as the attorney general: The truth-in-sentencing law;
    supports the first child advocacy center to deal with child abuse; he
    believes strongly in school safety. I mean, he's got a record.
        And he's got a vision as well. See, he understands that the number-
    one priority of any State has got to be to make sure every child--every
    single child is educated. You know, we passed a really good education
    reform law in Washington, and it relates to this campaign. And I'll tell
    you how in a second.
        But first, it's amazing what can happen when you put your country or
    your State ahead of petty politics. I was--and I must confess, it did
    confuse some of the folks at the Crawford, Texas, coffee shop, when I
    was traveling around the country with Theodore Kennedy--Ted
    Kennedy, thanking him for working on this
    bill. But we put it all aside, all the typical Washington, DC, bickering
    and name-calling, and decided to do something right for the children and
    passed a great piece of education reform.
        And it starts with setting high standards. It starts with saying
    every child can learn in America, not a few, not just certain kind of
    children but every child. It believes that every child can learn. That's
    the way that Jim Ryan thinks.
        Secondly, it says that in order to understand whether every child is
    learning, we must measure. We must hold people to account as to whether
    or not children are learning to read and write and add and subtract.
    I've heard all the talk about school accountability. Let me put it on
    the line: It is racist and it is wrong not to determine whether or not
    children are learning to read and write and add and subtract. It is a
    mistake not to measure.
        And a system that does not measure--a system that does not measure
    is a system that has low expectations. A system that won't hold people
    to account as to whether or not our children are learning is a system
    that's more likely just to shuffle kids through as if they don't matter.
    Every child matters in America. And in order to receive Federal money,
    after I signed this bill, the people of Illinois and Texas and every
    State must determine whether or not children are learning to read and
    write and add and subtract. And if they are, we'll praise the teachers,
    and they need to be praised. But if not, here's your chance to change.
        If we find children trapped in schools that won't teach and won't
    change, you need to change. You need to have a Governor who's willing to
    blow the whistle on failure. Every child matters. Every child counts.
    That's why I'm for Jim Ryan. He's willing to take on the status quo when
    he finds children in schools that will not teach.
        And finally, the bill I signed says that the people who care more
    about the children in the State of Illinois are the people of Illinois.
    It has a strong component of local control. We're passing power out of
    Washington. We're giving maximum flexibility at the local level, so the
    local folks can chart the path to excellence. Listen, one size doesn't
    fit all. One size doesn't fit all when it comes to the education of the
    children of the State of Illinois. And you'd better have you a Governor
    who understands that and who won't stand for excuses and who's willing
    to innovate when innovation is needed. The number-one priority of any
    Governor in any State has got to be the education of the children of the
    State. And Jim Ryan understands that.
        I just came from Big Brown, UPS, where the mayor, thankfully, was there to greet me. I appreciate the mayor
    a lot. As I said publicly, I learned one thing: It's better to have him
    for you than against you. [Laughter] But I appreciate his leadership for
    this great city. It's a fabulous city you live in. And we were talking
    about welfare

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    to work and the fact that millions of people have moved from welfare to
    work, for the betterment of our country. It's helped our country. It's
    also helped each individual person when they realize the dignity of
    work.
        And we were talking about the need to make sure that corporate
    Illinois or corporate America does its part about helping people go from
    welfare to work. Big Brown has hired 52,000 people from the welfare
    rolls. We had two young ladies, young moms, talk about what it means to
    go from welfare to work. It's just a compelling story and a great
    morning for me.
        The reason I bring it up is, we're in the midst of reauthorization
    of the welfare reform. And it's important for States to continue to
    strive for high standards when it comes to deploying resources to help
    people find work. It's essential you have a Governor who feels
    compassionate about each individual and who works hard and tirelessly to
    provide the job training necessary and the education necessary so that
    Americans can have the dignity of a job.
        And so when I talked about advocating maximum flexibility for States
    in the welfare to work--I mean, the welfare reauthorization bill, it
    gave me great comfort to know that Jim Ryan is going to be the next
    Governor of the State of Illinois, because he cares about people and
    he's willing to bring people together to achieve the common objective.
        I'm confident that when you have a man of good values who knows what
    he thinks, who doesn't need to take a poll or focus group to figure out
    his direction that he's going to head in life, he's going to make a good
    leader for your State. And I'm proud to support him.
        I also look forward to working with your Governor to make sure that
    the State of Illinois is prepared to respond, should the enemy hit us
    again. And they want to. I know that every morning when I go in the Oval
    Office and read a threat--a threat assessment to our country, they're
    interested in hitting us again. Kids say, ``Why? Why would they want to
    do that to America?'' Because they hate us. And the reason they hate us
    is, we love freedom. We cherish our freedoms. We love the idea that
    people can worship freely in America; that's something we strongly
    believe in. They don't like that. And we can speak our minds freely, and
    we can come to political gatherings, make our decisions in freedom. We
    have free press. We're an open society. That bothers the enemy a lot.
        And they're still out there. And you need to know that we're doing
    everything we can, everything in our power, to make the United States
    safe. My most important job is to protect innocent Americans. Our law
    enforcement agencies are talking like they've never talked before.
    Anytime we get a hint of anything, we're sharing information across
    jurisdictional boundaries; we're running down every possible lead. We
    operate--proudly operate within the confines of the United States
    Constitution. But there is no hint, no lead that is insignificant, as
    far as we're concerned.
        But you need to know that the most--the best way to secure the
    homeland is to chase these killers down one by one and bring them to
    justice. That's precisely what the United States of America is going to
    do.
        There's been some interesting lessons. First of all, I always kind
    of felt that the farther we got away from September the 11th--my worry
    was, the farther we got away, that the more likely it is America will
    say, ``Maybe it's not worth it.'' I'm proud to report that's not the
    case. In my travels around our country, I have seen what must make the
    enemy feel terrible, a united, resolved, strong nation which says that
    we'll do whatever it takes to defend the values that we hold dear. And
    that's comforting to me, and it's not so comforting to them.
        You know, I can't imagine what was going through their mind when
    they attacked. They must have looked at America

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    and said that this Nation is so self-absorbed, so shallow in its
    materialism that all America would likely do is maybe file a couple of
    lawsuits. They were wrong. They found out that we are plenty tough, and
    we're going to remain tough. I unleashed a military that should make
    every one of you proud.
        You will read about the budgets I submitted. By the way, right here
    in Chicago I was asked, when I was campaigning here, they said, ``Hey,
    Mr. President, would you ever have a deficit?'' I said, ``Only if there
    was a war or a recession or a national emergency.'' [Laughter] Yeah,
    we've got one right now. But it's worth it because we're fighting for
    freedom. And when we bring some fiscal discipline to Washington, it's
    going to help make the deficit short-term.
        And I submitted a big budget, no question about it, for defense. And
    I did it for a reason. One, anytime we commit our troops into harm's
    way, they deserve the best pay, the best training, the best equipment
    possible. That's what we owe our military. And secondly, it is important
    to show the world that we're in this for the long run, and that while
    there may not be dramatic action on your TV screens on a daily basis,
    we're making progress. And it's going to take awhile.
        This is a new kind of war. This isn't a war of known fronts and
    carrier movements and battle stations being manned on a regular basis.
    We're facing a shadowy enemy. Look, these are the guys that send
    youngsters to their suicide death, and they, themselves, try to hide in
    caves. It's a new form of warfare, and it's going to require incredible
    patience.
        And the American people have got to understand, we're in it for the
    long run. Our coalition must understand that we're in it for the long
    run. They do; I tell them all the time, see. I say, ``This is freedom
    we're fighting for. This is--this is--this is the most important value
    that we believe in, in America. Either you're with us, or you're against
    us, and I expect you to be with us. We're in it for the long pull.'' And
    that's what that budget says.
        We've been successful; we've been successful. We enforced the
    doctrine that said, if you harbor one--``one'' being a killer--you're
    just as guilty as the killer. And the Taliban found out exactly what we
    meant. But in enforcing that doctrine, we showed another side of America
    as well. We showed not only are we tough, not only are we wise with the
    military strategy, not only were we able to win a guerrilla war using
    interesting new technologies, we liberated a nation.
        I want the young of America to understand that we went into a
    country and freed people. We didn't conquer people; we freed people from
    the clutches of a barbaric regime that would not even let young girls go
    to school. And today, they do in Afghanistan, thanks to the United
    States of America.
        No, it's going to take awhile, but we're making progress; you just
    need to know, we really are. We're doing a better job of cutting off
    their money, and that's important. We're getting the kind of--sometimes
    we're getting a hint where somebody might be trying to hide out, and
    we're kind of rallying people to get them. There's countries that looked
    like they were potential safe havens, a nice place for maybe the
    terrorists to train. They're no longer safe havens for the terrorists.
        We're just taking our time and doing our job. And that's what the
    American people want. That's what the coalition is seeing. There's a lot
    of people who are out there, saying, probably, ``Gosh, we kind of hoped
    the United States would grow tired of all this. It would make our life a
    lot easier at home.'' Forget it. [Laughter] We're not growing tired of
    it. My most important job is to protect the security of the American
    people, and I take that seriously. I also understand history has called
    us into action, and our country will not blink in the face of evil.

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        I also believe that by leading a coalition and by being firm and
    resolute and strong, that out of the evil that has been done to America
    will come incredible good, starting with peace. I believe if we're
    patient and strong and deliberate, we'll be able to achieve peace. And
    that's important to me, and I know it's important to you as well. We
    don't seek revenge as a nation. We seek justice, and we seek peace.
        I also believe that out of the evil can come some incredible good at
    home. I believe that. I'm asked all the time by people that say, ``What
    can I do to help on the war against terror?'' My answer is, love a
    neighbor like you'd like to be loved yourself. If you want to fight
    evil, do some good. If you want to show the world what we're made out
    of, that we're stronger than just military might, why don't you mentor a
    child. Teach a child to read. Why don't you go to your church or your
    synagogue or your mosque and start an initiative to help folks who live
    in pockets of deep despair.
        That's how you fight the war against terror, and that's how we can
    make an enormous difference in our own country. I truly believe that
    America--the great strength of America is our hearts and souls. And out
    of this evil can come some great good. I see it all the time. I see it
    in small acts of generosity and kindness that will astound you.
        Today at the Meigs Field, I met two
    folks who have fostered 90 children here in
    Chicago--90 children. It's unbelievable to think about that. Two good--
    it didn't require a Government act or a Government edict. They just
    decided to do that. And it happens all the time in our community. If you
    really want to fight evil, find out a way to contribute your time and
    efforts and money and talent to making one person's life brighter.
    That's how we change America. I like to say, each of us can't do
    everything, but each of us can do one thing. See, America changes one
    heart, one soul, one conscience at a time.
        Out of this evil is going to come good. There's a new attitude in
    America about serving something greater than yourself. It was
    highlighted to me, and I'm sure most of the country--and history should
    record this moment--about Flight 93, when you had people on an airplane.
    They're flying from one place, one part of our country to another. They
    find out the plane is going to be used as a weapon. They tell their
    loved ones on the cell phones they love them; they say a prayer; and
    they drive the plane into the ground to save somebody's life, to serve
    something greater than themselves.
        I truly believe that out of the evil done to America can come a
    sense of serving something greater than a materialistic society. And
    therefore, America is going to be a more hopeful place for all. The true
    strength of America is our people. That's the strength of our country.
    And I can't tell you how proud I am to be the President of the greatest
    nation on the face of the Earth.
        Thank you for coming to help Jim. May God bless you, and God bless
    America.

    Note: The President spoke at 12:11 p.m. in the Ballroom at the Sheraton
    Chicago Hotel and Towers. In his remarks, he referred to event chairman
    Patrick G. Ryan, chairman and chief executive officer, Aon Corp.; Marie
    Ryan, wife of candidate Jim Ryan, and their children, John, Jim, Matt,
    Patrick, and Amy; former First Lady Barbara Bush; Gov. George H. Ryan of
    Illinois; State Representative Jim Durkin, candidate for U.S. Senate
    from Illinois; State Senator Carl E. Hawkinson, candidate for Lieutenant
    Governor; State Senate President James ``Pate'' Philip; State House
    Republican Leader Lee A. Daniels; Mayor Richard M. Daley of Chicago; and
    foster parents Adrienne and Jerry Welenc.

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