[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book I)]
[March 27, 2002]
[Pages 517-521]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at a Fundraiser for Senatorial Candidate Saxby 
Chambliss in Atlanta
March 27, 2002

    Thank you all very much. Saxby, thanks. I am honored that so many 
showed up. I want to thank you for such a warm welcome. I'm here to 
deliver this message: Saxby Chambliss needs to be in the United States 
Senate. And I'm so pleased you agree with me. [Laughter]
    First, I want to thank Julianne. One 
of the things I've learned is that a life in the public arena is a lot 
easier when you've got a great wife. He married above himself, and so 
did I. [Laughter] We both married schoolteachers. And like Saxby is 
proud of Julianne, I'm really proud of Laura. I 
wish she were here tonight. She's in Crawford, Texas. The two dogs and 
the cat--[laughter]--went down to Crawford, because that's where I'm 
headed after this event. I love my job. But even though I've changed 
addresses, my home is still in the heart of Texas.
    I want to thank Saxby's mother for 
being here. She informed me when she came through to get her picture 
taken that she was here, but she was a Democrat. [Laughter] I said that 
didn't bother me one bit. [Laughter] I never would have gotten to be the 
Governor of Texas had not a lot of Democrats voted for me. [Laughter] It 
doesn't matter whether you're Republican or Democrat when it comes to 
doing the right thing for the country and the right thing for our 
democracy. We welcome all people; we welcome anybody.
    And looking at the mother reminds me to remind all the youngsters 
here to listen to your mother. I'm still listening to mine. [Laughter] 
I'm listening to her most of the time--don't tell her I said that. 
[Laughter]
    I want to thank Bo Callaway for being the 
master of ceremonies. I appreciate his long service to the United States 
of America. I want to thank Congressmen Barr and 
Collins, Deal, 
Linder, and Norwood, 
fine, fine members of the congressional delegation from the great State 
of Georgia, members with whom I enjoy working, members who represent 
your State in a proud way. And I appreciate you letting somebody from 
the State of Ohio in--[laughter]--the chairman of the Education 
Committee, John Boehner. Thank you, Mr. 
Chairman.
    I had the privilege of saying hello to one of Georgia's most 
distinguished citizens today, and that's Judge Griffin Bell. I'm so honored the judge is here. You all have 
produced a lot of fine leaders from your State, and Judge Bell is one of 
the finest. And I appreciate the party chairman, Ralph Reed. I appreciate his dedication to grassroots politics.
    And I want to thank the R.B. Wright fifth grade choir. You read more 
than you watch TV. [Laughter] And thanks for coming.
    And I want to thank all those who worked hard to make this a 
successful evening, and I want to thank you all for caring about your 
country and for doing what is right: getting involved in democracy and 
working hard. And when you find a good one like Saxby Chambliss, work 
your heart out, because there is no finer American than Saxby. He loves 
his family. He loves his country. He's a man of enormous experience. 
He's one of these can-do politicians, somebody who goes to Washington 
and tries to figure out how to make things better.
    I value his advice on terrorism. He's sound when it comes to 
counterterrorism. He's been in the Oval Office to give me sound, solid 
advice. And I've listened to it every time he's come in there. I 
appreciate his love for education. He understands this: that if you 
can't read, you can't realize the American Dream. I like to put it this 
way: Reading is the new civil right, and

[[Page 518]]

we must have people who understand the profound impact quality education 
can have on the future of this country.
    And I'm glad Boehner is here. I had the 
honor of signing a profound piece of education reform. It said a couple 
of things. One, it says we believe in high standards for everybody, not 
just a few but everybody; that we trust the people of Georgia to run 
your schools more than we trust the people in Washington, DC; that we're 
committed to spending Federal dollars on education, but for every dollar 
spent, we expect there to be results.
    We believe--and I strongly believe--every child can learn. And 
therefore, the system must focus on every child. The name of the bill 
that Saxby worked on and John Boehner worked 
on is ``No Child Shall Be Left Behind.'' And that's the way I feel. And 
that's the way America must be, that the promise of America must be 
extended to every single person. Saxby understands that, and I'm going 
to be proud to have him in the United States Senate working on these 
fundamental issues that will help change America.
    There is no more fundamental issue than to--making sure we have a 
judiciary of people that do not interpret the law from the bench, people 
who do not try to write law from the bench, people who interpret the law 
and not try to write it. And I put up a good man from 
Mississippi the other day. And I 
don't remember the senior Senator from Georgia 
defending this man's honor. And we're going to have more fights when it 
comes to the judiciary. And I'm going to put strict constructionists on 
the bench. And I expect people in the United States Senate, from a great 
State like Georgia, to do what Zell Miller did 
and--stood up and defended the honor and integrity of Judge Pickering. 
And that's what Saxby Chambliss is going to do.
    He also knows something about agriculture. This State will benefit 
by having somebody who knows something about agriculture in the United 
States Senate. Saxby knows what I know: that we're the best producers in 
the world, that Georgia farmers and American farmers are the best. And 
if you're the best, it benefits our farmers to fight to open up markets 
around the world. And that's exactly what I'm going to do. And I want 
his help. You see, it's a confident nation that tears down barriers. 
It's a confident nation that insists that people open up their markets 
to our food products. It's been my policy, and I need people in the 
United States Senate who's willing to back me on that policy. And so do 
the American farmers.
    I'll never forget one time in Chicago when a reporter said, ``Would 
you ever deficit spend?'' And I said, ``Well, only--only if we were at 
war, only if there were a national emergency, or only if there is a 
recession.'' Never did I believe we'd get the trifecta. [Laughter] But 
we're dealing with it.
    And let me talk about this recession. We cut taxes at exactly the 
right time. We understand that if you let people keep their own money, 
they will demand more goods and services. And as they demand more goods 
and services, somebody will produce more goods and services. And when 
you produce more goods and services, you expand the job base.
    Now, some folks evidently don't understand that. They've been 
reading a different textbook than Saxby and I read. You see, they either 
want to delay the tax cut or raise your taxes. We need somebody in 
Washington--a friend of the taxpayer, a vote we can rely on. And let me 
tell you a crucial vote that's going to come up. The tax reform act 
started the end of the death tax. However, we need to make getting rid 
of the death tax permanent in the Tax Code. We don't need anybody up 
there who's going to waver, somebody who's going to try to check in with 
a higher political authority on whether this is the right move or not.
    Getting rid of the death tax forever is important for small-business 
owners. It's

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important for farmers. It is important for ranchers. The death tax is a 
bad tax. The death tax says that someone is going to have to work all 
their life to build up their assets and then leave most of it not to who 
they choose but to the Federal Government. Saxby Chambliss understands 
that. It's a vote that you can count on in the United States Senate, 
when it comes to tax policy.
    And we're dealing with the other issues. We're dealing with the 
national emergency, and we're dealing with the war. I had the honor of 
going to Georgia Tech today to talk about our homeland defense. 
[Applause] I'm glad they let one graduate in--[applause]--two in. 
[Laughter] I talked about my administration's commitment to protecting 
the homeland, to doing everything we can do to keep American families 
safe. Part of that protection is to make sure that if there is any 
attack, that we can respond quickly, so I talked about a first-
responders initiative. I had the honor of being with some of the finest 
folks in your State, the firefighters and those who work for the police 
and emergency medical teams, to lay out one of my budget priorities, 
which is a first-responders initiative. We've got $3.5 billion in the 
'03 budget to make sure that if there is an attack, we can respond 
quickly.
    I've also talked to folks about how we're going to strengthen the 
Coast Guard to make sure our ports are more secure. We've got an airline 
security bill to make sure that air traffic is--air travel is as safe as 
it can possibly be.
    I want you to know that our law enforcement is communicating better 
from the Federal to the State to the local level. Anytime we get any 
whiff or hint that somebody may do something in America, we're reacting. 
We're doing everything we can.
    We need better control of our borders. We want to know who's coming 
in and why they're coming in and are they leaving. So we're doing 
everything we can to bolster the homeland security. It's the most 
important job, is to be able to assure Americans we're doing everything 
we can to keep you safe. But the best homeland security, the best way to 
protect Americans for the long run, is to find the killers and bring 
them to justice one by one. And that's exactly what we're going to do.
    I don't know what they were thinking on September the 11th. They 
must have taken a look at America and said, ``All they'll do is sue 
us.'' [Laughter] They were wrong. They were wrong. I said right off the 
bat, ``You're either with us, or you're against us.'' I meant every word 
of what I said.
    I also said that if you harbor a terrorist, if you hide a terrorist, 
if you feed a terrorist, you're just as guilty as the murderers who hit 
New York and Washington, and you will be held accountable. And thanks to 
a mighty coalition led by a fantastic United States military, the 
Taliban found out exactly what I meant.
    I like to assure my fellow citizens that we don't seek revenge; we 
seek justice. And it's important for the young in America to understand 
that when we went into Afghanistan, we went in not as conquerors but as 
liberators. Young girls went to school--many young girls went to school 
for the first time this past weekend, thanks to the United States of 
America.
    I have submitted a budget that significantly increases our defense 
budget. It's the largest increase in 20 years. I did so for two reasons. 
One, anytime that we commit U.S. troops into action, they must have the 
best training, the best equipment, the best pay possible. We owe it to 
those who are willing to sacrifice for freedom.
    I expect the United States Congress to pass the budget I submitted. 
I expect them to get the appropriations bill for defense out early, not 
late. Now is not the year to play games with the defense of the United 
States of America. And Saxby understands that. He knows what I'm talking 
about. I also have asked for a significant increase because we're in 
this for the long

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haul. We're fighting for freedom. We fight people who are killers, 
coldblooded murderers who hate America. They hate the fact that we 
worship freely in our country. They can't stand the fact that we have 
political discourse. They resent the fact that we're a free society. 
Freedom scares them.
    And when it comes to defending freedom, they will find out that this 
Nation is determined and steadfast. And we will provide the resources 
necessary to chase them down. These are international criminals. They 
will be treated like international criminals. And we will not stop until 
we hunt them all down to make sure our children and grandchildren can 
grow up in a peaceful world.
    And the task is more than one person or more than one terrorist 
organization. There are some nightmare scenarios that we must confront 
if we want to secure the peace and defend our freedoms. One such 
scenario is the fact that a terrorist organization could join up with 
some of the world's worst leaders, who harbor some of the world's worst 
weapons. I referred to some of those world's worst leaders as an ``axis 
of evil.'' I meant exactly what I said. Now, our Nation is deliberate. 
We're steady. We're going to talk with our allies. But we will not let 
the world's worst leaders hold our Nation and our friends and our allies 
hostages with weapons of mass destruction.
    And I believe that the fact that we will remain strong and united as 
a nation, that we will be determined, will yield a world that will be 
more peaceful. It's going to be rough at times, no question about it. 
And we'll call upon our citizens to sacrifice, particularly those who 
wear the uniform. But as a result of a steadfast, absolute determination 
to defend freedom, the world's going to be more peaceful.
    Out of the incredible evil of September the 11th will come some 
lasting good. And nothing compares to peace. We fight for peace, we long 
for peace, but we will not relent. We will not weary until peace is 
secure.
    And out of this terrible evil will come some good at home. And the 
reason why is because the great strength of our country lies in the 
hearts and souls of our citizens. What a fabulous nation we are; what a 
great country America is. You know, the thing that I love about our 
country is the fact that people are willing to help people in need, and 
it doesn't require a government law. You see, people ask me all the 
time, ``What can I do to help in the war against terror?'' You can be 
vigilant, you can be alert, but you can also love a neighbor just like 
you'd like to be loved yourself.
    If you want to do something against evil, do some good. If you want 
to do something against evil, mentor a child who may need to learn to 
read. Walk across the street if there's a shut-in and say to that 
person, ``I care for you.'' Feed the hungry. Go to your church or 
synagogue or mosque and convince a Sunday school class to get a project 
that will help somebody who hurts. Recognize the power of faith in our 
society, when it comes to healing the addiction of alcohol or drugs.
    That's what we can do in America. We can capture a unique spirit in 
this land and stand squarely in the face of those who are evil. And 
that's what America is doing. And that's why it's such a huge honor to 
be the President of the greatest country on the face of the Earth.
    I'm honored you all are here. Thank you for supporting this good 
man. May God bless you all, and may God bless America.

Note: The President spoke at 6:30 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom at the 
Grand Hyatt Hotel. In his remarks, he referred to Representative 
Chambliss' wife, Julianne, and his mother, Emma B. Chambliss; former 
Representative Bo Callaway of Georgia; Griffin Bell, senior partner, 
King and Spalding; Ralph Reed, chairman, Georgia Republican Party; and 
nominee for U.S. Circuit Judge for the Fifth Circuit Charles W. 
Pickering,

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Sr., of Mississippi. A tape was not available for verification of the 
content of these remarks.