    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book II)]
    [November 1, 2002]
    [Pages 1963-1969]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 1963]]

    Remarks in Louisville, Kentucky
    November 1, 2002

        The President. Thank you all. Thank you all very much for coming
    tonight. I'm here to talk about the American spirit, and I'm here to
    remind the good folks of this part of the State of Kentucky that if
    you're interested in good Government, if you're interested in sending
    somebody to Congress who will represent all the people of the district,
    if you want somebody who can do the job, send Anne Northup back to the United States Congress.
        I love traveling America because it gives me a chance to see
    firsthand and to feel the fact that the American spirit is alive and
    well. That's the spirit that says, no matter what the cost, we'll defend
    our freedom. It's the spirit--the American spirit says to me that we'll
    serve something greater than ourselves here in this country. The
    American spirit means that we love freedom. And if you love freedom, you
    have a duty to participate in the democratic process.
        I'm here to urge all the people of the great State of Kentucky to
    vote, Republican, Democrat, people who don't care about any kind of
    political party. You need to do your duty. But when you get in that
    poll, I've got a suggestion for you: Anne Northup is the right choice.
        I wasn't Anne's first choice tonight.
    [Laughter] She wanted Laura. I saw on TV that
    Laura was campaigning with Elizabeth Dole.
    She got the long straw; you got the short straw. But she sends her love.
    She sends her best. She's as strong for Anne as I am.
        I want to tell you how proud I am of Laura.
    When I married her, she was a public school librarian. [Applause] I
    didn't realize there were so many public school librarians here in
    Louisville.
        Audience member. [Inaudible]
        The President. That's good. When I said, ``Would you marry me,''
    her state of mind was this: She didn't like
    politics, and she didn't care for politicians. [Laughter] And now she's
    doing a fabulous job as our First Lady.
        I appreciate Anne's family. I appreciate
    Woody and all of their kids.
    Heck, if they just get the kids to vote, it would be a landslide.
    [Laughter]
        I'm proud to be up here as well with a fine Kentucky couple,
    starting with a United States Senator who has done a fabulous job for
    the people of Kentucky, and that's Mitch McConnell. Like me, he married well--so well I put Elaine in the Cabinet. [Laughter] She's doing a really
    good job on behalf of the American people. I'm proud of Elaine.
        I'm also honored to be up here with another great Senator from
    Kentucky, Jim Bunning. We need to make sure
    Mitch goes back to the Senate. We need him
    there for a lot of reasons. Some of the reasons I'll talk about later,
    but one of the key reasons why Senators McConnell and Bunning are
    important to our future is because they know what I know: We've got a
    problem on our Federal judiciary. There's too many vacancies. And
    there's too many vacancies because the current leadership in the Senate
    has done a lousy job on letting my people have a fair hearing when I
    nominate them. They don't like the kind of judges I nominate. I put
    good, honest, honorable people who understand their job is to interpret
    the Constitution, not use the bench from which to legislate. We don't
    need any more legislators. We need good, honorable judges on the bench.
        I appreciate so very much Ernie Fletcher.
    Congressman Ernie Fletcher is with us today--he's one of the fine
    Members of the United States Congress--and Ron Lewis of the United States Congress, from Kentucky as well.
    These are two solid

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    Members, Members with whom I can work for the good of everybody.
        Also on the stage today we've got Geoff Davis, who's a candidate for the United States Congress. And
    if you're living in Geoff's district, give him your vote and give him
    your word. And Mike Sodrel is here. [Applause]
    Sounds like old Mike's got something going. We want both these good men
    in the Congress. We've got a lot to do to work together.
        I'm here to thank the grassroots activists as well. I want to thank
    you for what you have done. I want to thank you for what you're fixing
    to do over the next couple of days. You need to go to your coffee shops
    and your houses of worship and your community centers and tell the
    people they need to go and vote, and tell the people that we've got some
    fine candidates. Tell the people that Anne Northup is as good as it gets in the United States Congress. Urge
    them to vote, and don't be afraid to talk about good, discerning
    Democrats--to talk to good, discerning Democrats and wise independents.
    These people want good Government as well, just like we do. And the best
    person to represent good Government is Anne Northup.
        I know Anne well. I know her well. I
    respect her a lot. I value her advice. I appreciate the way she works
    hard in Washington to change the tone of politics. People who know Anne
    well know what I'm about to say. She's got a big heart. She cares for
    those who suffer. She doesn't need a poll or a focus group to tell her
    what to think. She bases her decisions on a deep-seated philosophy.
    She's decency; she's great. She needs to be back in the Congress. She's
    an effective person. She can get things done.
        She secured funding for the Ohio River
    bridges project. She worked hard to make sure transportation was
    effective in this part of the world. She worked closely with me on
    making sure that we could get a Faith-Based Initiative out of the United
    States Congress. Anne feels passionately about that because, as a
    Congresswoman, she has reached across the community divides to bring
    people together. She knows what I know, that there are people who hurt
    and people who suffer. And one of the ways to heal the broken heart is
    to unleash the great faith and compassion of the American people.
        I've worked closely with Anne on issues
    like adoption. She and Woody
    are adoptive parents, which in my view is one of the greatest
    expressions of love. No, Anne Northup can get things done. She cares
    deeply about the citizens of this district. And she knows that we've got
    some hurdles to cross here in America, and I look forward to having her
    in Congress to work on--working to cross those hurdles.
        One of the biggest problems we've got is our economy. It's just
    bumping along. It's not going like it should. There are too many people
    in America who want to work and cannot find a job. And so long as
    somebody is looking for work, that means we've got a problem. And I need
    people in the United States Congress who will join me in job creation.
        But we understand the role of Government. It is not to create
    wealth; it's to create an environment in which the entrepreneurial
    spirit can flourish. It is to create an environment in which the small
    business can grow to be a big business. Anne
    and I understand that 70 percent of new jobs are created by small-
    business owners.
        If you're worried about job creation like we are, then you must put
    forth policy that encourages small-business growth. Most small
    businesses pay taxes at the individual income tax level. Most small
    businesses are sole proprietorships or limited partnerships. So when you
    open up your tax forms and see the individual rates, you've got to think
    of the fact that most small businesses pay those rates. And therefore,
    the tax relief plan that we passed was the best antidote to a slowing
    economy.
        If you're interested in creating jobs, you let small businesses as
    well as consumers

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    keep more of their own money. You see, when people have more money in
    their pocket, they're more likely to demand a good or a service. And in
    the marketplace, when they demand a good or a service, somebody is
    likely to produce the good or a service. And when somebody produces the
    good or a service, somebody is more likely to find work. The tax relief
    we plan came at--passed came at the right time, and we need people in
    the United States Congress to make the tax cuts permanent.
        I look forward to working with Anne and
    other Members of the Congress and working with Mitch to see if we can't get us a terrorism insurance bill,
    to get construction programs started, projects started, and get the
    hardhats working. We want our good hardhats in America building those
    buildings and building those projects which are stalled because people
    can't find insurance because of the terrorist attacks. But we'd better
    get us a bill that rewards the hardhats, not the trial lawyers here in
    America.
        And we're going to work together to increase jobs so people can find
    work. I'm optimistic about our future when it comes to the economy.
    We've got--interest rates are low; inflation is low; productivity is
    high. We're the best workers, best farmers, best ranchers, best
    entrepreneurs in the world. There's a lot going right, but we are not
    going to rest until people can find a job.
        And we're not going to rest until every child gets educated in this
    country, either. I worked closely with Anne.
    Anne Northup was a solid backer, strong advocate of the no child should
    be left behind legislation. To give you a sense of her perspective, let
    me tell you what that bill says. It says every child can learn in
    America. Everybody can learn. And therefore, we must set high standards.
        If you have low expectations and low standards, you're going to get
    lousy results. Anne understands that we must
    challenge what I call the soft bigotry of low expectations, must raise
    the bar.
        But at the same time, we've got to trust the people of Kentucky to
    chart the path for excellence for every child in Kentucky. We believe in
    local control of schools. Thanks to Anne's
    hard work and Mitch's and Jim's hard work and other Members of Congress' hard work, the
    great State of Kentucky is going to receive $650 million in Federal
    monies for schools this year. Those monies will be used to help
    disadvantaged children. Those monies will be applied to make sure every
    child can learn.
        But for the first time in our history, we've asked the question, is
    the money being well spent? Show us whether or not the children can read
    and write and add and subtract. If you believe every child can learn,
    then it makes sense to ask that question. Are we teaching our children?
    And if we are, we'll praise the teachers. But if we find children
    trapped in schools which will not teach and will not change, we will
    demand something different, because no child should be left behind in
    the State of Kentucky.
        I look forward to working with Anne to
    make sure our medical system works, to make sure that health care is
    available and affordable. We've got too many lawsuits here in America
    today, too many frivolous and junk lawsuits that are running up the cost
    of medicine and making it harder for our docs to practice medicine. We
    need medical liability reform, once and for all, so that medicine is
    affordable for the American consumers.
        I look forward to working with Anne and
    the other Members of Congress up here to fulfill our promises to our
    seniors. We're going to make sure Social Security system works. And
    we're also going to make sure Medicare fulfills its promise. Medicine
    has changed; Medicare hasn't. Medicine is modern because of technologies
    and innovation. Medicare is stuck in the past. I'm going to work with
    Anne to make sure

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    Medicare is modern, and that means prescription drug benefits for our
    seniors.
        No, there's a lot we can do to work together on behalf of all of the
    citizens of Kentucky and all of the citizens of America. But the biggest
    challenge we have, our most important responsibility, is to protect the
    homeland from further attack. That's our biggest job, because there's
    still an enemy out there that lurks, an enemy out there which hates
    America because of what we love. We love freedom. We love the fact that
    people can worship freely in America. We worship the fact that we have
    free elections. We love the fact that we have a free press. We love
    everything about freedom, and we're not going to change.
        And it's our fervent love of freedom, and the fact that we're not
    going to change, which really irritates the enemy. See, they don't like
    us. And there's something else that differentiates us between them, and
    that is, we value life. Everybody counts. Everybody is precious. Every
    life matters. And these people are nothing but a bunch of coldblooded
    killers who have hijacked a great religion and could care less about
    taking innocent life.
        We've been warned. We've been warned. And now our most important job
    is to protect you. And there's a lot of good people doing this. We've
    got people at the Federal level and at the State level and the local
    level doing everything they can to disrupt and deny the enemy. I'm
    telling you, anytime we get any whisper, any hint, any idea that
    somebody is thinking about doing something to America, we're acting.
    We're going to do everything in our power to prevent the enemy from
    hitting us again.
        And that's why I went to the United States Congress and asked them
    to join with me in the creation of a Department of Homeland Security.
    There's over 100 agencies in Washington involved with protecting you. It
    seemed like, to me, it made sense to put them under one Department so
    that we could set clear priority, so that if need be, we could change
    cultures so that our Government was functioning in concert to do
    everything we could to protect the homeland.
        And the House of Representatives passed a good bill, and I'm honored
    that Anne and the other Members of the
    Congress supported that good bill. But it's stuck in the Senate. It
    couldn't get out of the Senate, because the Senate wanted to take powers
    away from the President of the United States.
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!
        The President. And here's what they wanted to do. For 40 years,
    since John Kennedy was the President, Presidents have had the capacity,
    the ability to suspend collective bargaining rules in the name of
    national security. In other words, if there were certain rules which
    prevented the homeland security council department from doing its job, I
    couldn't suspend those rules. If the Senate had its way--not Senator
    McConnell or Senator Bunning but other Senators--if they had their way, I would have
    the capacity, the right to suspend certain rules at the Department of
    Agriculture but not at the Department of Homeland Security. I would have
    the flexibility necessary to do everything I could for the sake of
    national security at Agriculture, but not to protect you through the
    Department of Homeland Security.
        I need the capacity to be able to move the right people at the right
    time to the right place to protect the American people. Mitch
    McConnell understands that, and so does Jim
    Bunning, and so does Anne Northup. They understand that.
        They also understand what I'm about to tell you, that the best way
    to secure America, the best way to protect you, is to chase the killers
    down, one at a time, and bring them to justice. It's not an easy task.
    It's not an easy task, because this is a different kind of army that we
    face, a different kind of enemy. In the old days--I see some guys who
    were probably involved with World War II or the Korean war. In the old
    days, if you knocked out a couple of

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    tanks or knocked some airplanes out of the air or sunk a ship, you'd be
    able to determine whether or not you were making progress against the
    enemy. Those were the old days. Today, we're facing coldblooded killers
    who hide in caves and send youngsters to their suicidal deaths, and
    there is no cave deep enough for America.
        Audience members. U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!
        The President. It's important to see the world the way it is, not to
    see the way that we hope it is. It's important to be cold-eyed realists
    about the threats we face.
        And we're making progress on this war against terror. We've hauled
    in over a couple thousand of them, and a couple thousand weren't quite
    as lucky. Slowly but surely, we're protecting the American people and
    defending our freedom by dismantling the terrorist network that came and
    unmercifully murdered American citizens. And so long as I'm the
    President of the United States, we're going to continue to hunt them
    down. We owe that to our children. We owe that to our children's
    children. History has called us into action, and this great Nation is
    going to stay steady and resolute and determined.
        I asked the Congress to pass the largest increase in defense
    spending since Ronald Reagan was President. And they did, and I want to
    thank the Members up here who voted with us on that bill. I did so for
    two reasons, two important reasons. One, anytime we send our troops into
    harm's way, they deserve the best pay, the best training, and the best
    possible equipment. And secondly, we just sent a signal to the world, to
    friend and foe alike, we're in this deal for the long haul. It doesn't
    matter how long it takes. It doesn't matter how long it costs. The
    United States of America will go after those terrorists and bring them
    to justice.
        No, it's important to be open-eyed about the threats we face. After
    all, oceans no longer protect us. See, that's what's important for
    Americans to understand, that after September the 11th, the stakes
    changed. See, prior to September the 11th, we used to think that, if
    there was a conflict or a threat somewhere else in the world, we could
    pick and choose whether or not we wanted to deal with it, because oceans
    protected us. The homeland was secure by geography.
        We learned a tough lesson on September the 11th, which means that,
    as we see threats, we must be prepared to deal with them. And I see a
    significant threat to the security of the United States in Iraq.
        Saddam Hussein is a man who told the
    world he would not have weapons of mass destruction, but he does. He not
    only has them; he's used them. He has used them against his neighbors,
    and incredibly enough, he's used them against his own people. This is a
    man who was close to having a nuclear weapon a decade ago. No telling
    how close he is now.
        I viewed him as a threat, not only to the
    American people, because he could become an arsenal to one of these
    shadow terrorist networks. He could use them as surrogates and not leave
    any fingerprints behind.
        No, he's a threat. He's not only a threat
    to us. He's a threat to our close friends in the Middle East. Saddam
    Hussein is a man who has defied the United Nations not once, not twice,
    not 3 times, but 16 times they passed resolutions. So I went to that
    august body, and I said, ``The time has come for you to show the world
    whether or not you've got the capacity to keep the peace, to defend
    freedom. The time has come for you to show whether or not your
    resolutions mean anything.''
        And I sent the same message to Saddam Hussein. ``You said you would disarm. Disarm. For the sake of
    peace, disarm.''
        I took the debate to the United States Congress and, thanks to the
    Members on this stage and many others, the United States now speaks with
    one voice. And here it is: Either the United Nations will do its job,
    either the United Nations will show

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    it is not the League of Nations, but a body with the capacity to keep
    the peace, and Saddam Hussein will disarm, or
    for the sake of peace, for the sake of freedom, the United States will
    lead a mighty coalition to disarm Saddam Hussein.
        Audience members. U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!
        The President. I can't imagine what was going through the mind of
    the enemy when they hit us. They must have thought the national religion
    of the United States was materialism, that we were so selfish, so self-
    absorbed, so shallow, that after September the 11th, 2001, we'd take a
    step back and maybe file a lawsuit or two. [Laughter] That's probably
    what they thought. But they found out they are dealing with a different
    bunch, that we love our freedom, that we care deeply about our future,
    that we love peace.
        The evil done to America has given this great nation to show the
    world that out of evil can come great good. I believe this. I believe
    that if we stay the course, if we're strong, if we fight terror, if we
    lead a coalition of freedom-loving countries, we can achieve peace.
        I believe we can achieve peace if we remember that freedom is not
    bestowed on the world by the United States, but freedom is God-given for
    everybody. I believe that if we're strong and resolute, with a clear
    vision, that we see reality the way it is, that we can achieve peace not
    only for America, but because we value all life--everybody is precious--
    that we can achieve peace in parts of the world who have quit on peace.
    I believe we can achieve peace in the Middle East. I believe we can
    achieve peace in South Asia.
        No, out of the evil done to America is going to come some incredible
    good, not only abroad but incredible good here at home. See, I believe
    that the evildoers renew the American spirit, that sense of serving
    something greater than yourself in life. Government can help. We'll
    work--Members of Congress will work with the administration to pass laws
    that will help people help themselves and improve lives. But you've got
    to remember that while Government can pass out money, it can't put hope
    in people's hearts. It can't put a sense of purpose in people's lives.
        And at the same time, we've got to remember, amongst all the plenty
    here in America, there are people who hurt. There's loneliness and
    addiction and despair. And so long as any of us hurts, we all hurt. And
    the best way to solve many of the seemingly intractable problems here in
    America is for a fellow American to put their arm around somebody who's
    lonely, and somebody who suffers, and say, ``I love you. What can I do
    to help you?''
        No, the true strength of America lies in the hearts and the souls of
    our fellow citizens. All across this country there are fine and decent
    people who are helping America change, one heart, one conscience, one
    soul at a time. And it's happening.
        They woke the great compassion of America when they attacked us.
    Perhaps the spirit is best reflected in small ways and large ways--small
    ways like Ray Probus, who I met. He was at the
    airport today. He works with the Jefferson County police department's
    Volunteers in Police Service program. That's one way people can help.
    I'm sure there's mentors here. I know there are people who worry about
    feeding the hungry, who worry about the homeless and do something about
    it. I know there's people involved in Boy Scouts and Girl Scout troops
    that are sending values to our children. I know there are people
    involved in schools here to make sure every child can learn. All of us
    can help make America a hopeful place.
        Perhaps the biggest lesson of all of what I'm talking about, that
    great spirit of America, took place on Flight 93 that fateful day. We
    had people flying across the country. They heard the plane they were on
    was going to be used as a weapon to kill Americans. They said goodbye to
    their loved ones. They said a prayer. One guy

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    said, ``Let's roll.'' And they took the plane into the ground to serve
    something greater than themselves. To me, that epitomized the greatest
    of the American spirit, which is alive and well in America.
        No, the enemy hit us--the enemy hit us. They didn't know who they
    were hitting. Out of the evil done to America is going to come peace.
    And out of the evil done to America is going to come a more hopeful
    tomorrow. I predict this. I know it's going to happen, because America
    is the greatest nation, full of the finest, most compassionate people on
    the face of the Earth.
        Thank you all for coming. May God bless. May God bless America.

    Note: The President spoke at 5:51 p.m. at the Kentucky International
    Convention Center. In his remarks, he referred to Representative Anne
    Northup and her husband, Robert Wood ``Woody'' Northup; senatorial
    candidate Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina; Geoff Davis, candidate for
    Kentucky's Fourth Congressional District; Mike Sodrel, candidate for
    Indiana's Ninth Congressional District; and President Saddam Hussein of
    Iraq.