    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book II)]
    [August 24, 2002]
    [Pages 1489-1495]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Dinner for Congressional Candidate Steve Pearce in Las Cruces
    August 24, 2002

        Thank you all very much. Thanks a lot. ``Congressman,'' thank you.
    [Laughter] I'm proud to come and ask for the people of this good
    district in this important State to vote for Steve Pearce to be the next
    United States Congressman. He's a man of good judgment. When we were
    walking in, he said, ``A lot of folks wish Laura
    were here.'' [Laughter] And I told him, well, he drew the short straw.
    [Laughter]
        She is doing great, by the way. She was--
    actually, her grandmother and her mom grew up right down the road from
    here, right outside of El Paso. And she was born and raised in Midland,
    which is right across the boundary, as you know. When I married her, she
    was a public school librarian. She didn't particularly care about
    politics or politicians, for that matter. [Laughter] And here she is as
    the First Lady. And what a great job she has done. I'm real proud of
    her. And in a couple of hours, I'm going to see her in Crawford, Texas.
    [Laughter]
        I appreciate so very much Cynthia Pearce.
    Both Steve and I married above ourselves. [Laughter] Cynthia is a great
    lady. I appreciate your willingness to go to Washington. It's important.
    It's important for our country that good people choose to serve and that
    the people back good people. And we're backing a good man in Steve
    Pearce to be the next Congressman.
        And he's going to be replacing a good man. I am proud of Joe
    Skeen. I am proud of his courage. I appreciate
    you, Joe. I want to thank Joe and Mary for their
    service, 22 years of service to this district. He has done a fine job,
    and we're going to miss him.
        I also was pleased today, earlier today, to be in the presence of
    another great New Mexican citizen, and that is your senior Senator, Pete
    Domenici. Pete had to make up his mind
    whether he wanted to hear me speak twice or go fishing. [Laughter] He
    chose the right course. [Laughter] He's fishing. [Laughter]
        I want to thank very much the Lieutenant Governor, Walter
    Bradley, for being here today. Walter, thank
    you for coming, and thank you for your service. Thank you, Walter.
        I'm proud to be in the presence of the next Governor of the State of
    New Mexico, John Sanchez. I appreciate you,
    John. He's got the next first lady with him, Debra.

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    Thanks for coming, Debra. I appreciate you being here. John's going to
    win, and he's going to make a big difference for the people of New
    Mexico, a positive influence. It's a--John's got a great story. I love
    his spirit, and I love his attitude.
        I also appreciate Rob Perry, the next attorney
    general of the State of New Mexico. I had the honor of just--who they
    call ``just call me Sharon.'' Where are you, Sharon? Thank you, Sharon. Good luck. Sharon is going to be
    the secretary of state of New Mexico.
        I want to thank the party chairman for being here. John, thank you for coming. I want to thank all the grassroots
    activists who are here. You see, you can't win unless you get people who
    are willing to put up the signs--and it looked like they did a pretty
    darn good job, Steve, when I came in today--[laughter]--and do the
    mailings and go to the coffee shops all around the State of New Mexico
    and tell the people what a great slate we've got--look the people in the
    eye and tell them the values that these people bring to the office when
    they win. That's important. So not only do I want to thank you for
    coming tonight, but I want to thank you very much for what you're fixing
    to do, and that is to work hard. Anytime you find a good one, you've got
    to get out and help, and we need your help.
        I also want to thank two friends of mine who have made a big
    difference in New Mexico, New Mexico politics, and the life of New
    Mexico politics, and that's Colin and Kay
    McMillan and Ken and
    Kathy Zangara. Thank you all for coming. I saw
    the Zangaras the other day over there in Crawford, and they said, ``I'm
    going to see you in Las Cruces.'' I said, ``Okay.'' And here they are.
    And they're working hard, and so are you all. And it's important. It's
    important. This election is an important election because we've got a
    lot to accomplish in Washington, DC. I need good, solid allies when it
    comes to making our Nation the very best it can be.
        And that starts with having somebody understand that when you're
    talking about taxpayers' money, he realizes it's not the Government's
    money. When we're talking about taxpayers' money, it is the people's
    money. And you've always got to remember that in Washington, DC.
        And that's important because we cut the taxes for the people. See,
    Steve and I understand this concept, that if somebody has more money,
    they're going to demand a good or a service. And if they demand a good
    or a service, somebody is going to provide that good or service. And
    when somebody does, it's more likely somebody is going to find work. And
    when you've got a slowdown in your economy--as a matter of fact, it was
    more than a slowdown when I came into office; it was a flat-out
    recession--it's best to understand that when people have more money, it
    provides wind in the sails of our economic vitality.
        And one of the issues we have, though, in Washington is this--is
    that because of a quirk in the Senate rules, the tax relief we
    provided--not only tax relief for small businesses and hard-working
    people but tax relief on marriages and getting rid of the death tax, by
    the way, which is vital for families here in New Mexico--but that tax
    relief goes away after 10 years. And so, for the sake of economic
    vitality, so people can plan, for the sake of understanding whose money
    it is that we're talking about, I need somebody in Congress who will
    join me in making sure the tax cuts are permanent. And that is Steve
    Pearce.
        I appreciate Steve's commonsense approach to issues. I'm not
    surprised. After all, there's a lot of commonsense people here in this
    part of the world, and he's from Hobbs. And I know a little something
    about Hobbs--it's right around the corner from Jal. [Laughter] People
    there have got common sense. They see a problem, and they try and solve
    it.
        Let me give you one example of what I'm talking about, something I
    talked about when I was in Oregon the other day, and

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    that is, we've got a problem with our forests. We've got a problem with
    an important national treasure. You see, there has been an attitude that
    if you just leave things be, the forests will be more healthy. And we're
    learning--we're paying a price now for that kind of attitude. By letting
    things be, kindling piles up. And then lightning will strike, and all of
    a sudden we've got these massive fires that are destroying a national
    treasure.
        Steve proposed legislation that would encourage thinning so that we
    would make the forests more healthy and more long lived. That's the kind
    of commonsense approach we need in Washington, DC. For the sake of our
    national heritage, for the sake of our forests, let's bring some common
    sense to conservation/environmental policy.
        I appreciate a man who understands farming and ranching. And that's
    really important in Washington, DC. You see, one of the great advantages
    we have as a nation is that we provide more food to our people than we
    need. Imagine if it were the other way around. Imagine if we were going
    hat in hand around the world asking for food. It would put us in a
    different national security position. No, we need commonsense farm and
    ranch policy. We need to make sure that not only do we have less
    regulation but that we've got to sell our products. You see, there's
    nothing better for our cattlemen than to be selling that beef around the
    world. If you're worried about price, the best way to encourage high
    price--prices so people can make a living and stay on the farm or the
    ranch--is to not only feed ourselves but to feed the world. I intend to
    use agricultural policy as the cornerstone of good economic policy for
    the United States of America.
        We need people up there who understand energy. We don't have an
    energy plan. I'm waiting for the Congress to finally get me an energy
    plan, one that is based upon common sense, one that says, of course, we
    can do a better job of using technologies to conserve energy, and we've
    got to do things about renewable energy. In other words, we've got to do
    a better job of protecting the resources we have by being wiser about
    how we use them. But we've got to find more energy here at home. For the
    sake of job security and for the sake of national security, we need to
    become less dependent on foreign sources of power.
        We need that kind of voice in Washington. We need somebody to bring
    some common sense up there. We need somebody who understands what I
    understand, that education has got to be a top priority of this Nation
    and of this State. Now look, I want you all to understand, I haven't
    forgot where I came from. I fully trust the local people to chart the
    path for excellence in the public school system. In essence, what we
    have done is, we're passing power out of Washington. One size doesn't
    fit all in Washington, DC. But it's important to have people up there
    who understand that we've got to set high expectations for our children,
    to challenge what I call the soft bigotry of low expectations.
        We've got to face the fact that there are some districts around the
    country--and probably some here in New Mexico--where some assume that
    certain children can't learn, particularly those whose parents don't
    speak English as a first language, and therefore, the system just
    shuffles them through. That's unacceptable to me; that's unacceptable to
    Steve.
        And that's why I've insisted that if you receive Federal money,
    you've got to show us whether or not children are learning to read and
    write and add and subtract. You see, if you believe every child can
    learn, then you're not afraid to measure; you're not afraid to hold
    people to account; you're not afraid to ask that question: Can our
    children read, and can they write? And if they can, there's plenty of
    praise for our teachers. And for those of you who teach or are involved
    with public schools, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. But

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    we've got to use the accountability system to catch the problems early
    and to solve the problems early, before it is too late. This business
    about just quitting on kids has got to end. No child in America should
    be left behind.
        And I appreciate Steve's service in the Armed Forces. And that's
    important knowledge to have in Washington, DC, because we're at war, and
    we're in a tough struggle. We're in a tough struggle against a
    determined enemy. They're nothing but a bunch of coldblooded killers, is
    how I define them. These are people who truly hate. They hate what we
    stand for, particularly because we love what we stand for. We love
    freedom. They hate us because we love freedom. We love the fact that
    people are able to worship the Almighty in a free society. They have
    hijacked a great religion to profess their hate. See, they don't like
    the idea of people being able to express themselves freely.
        And so long as we hold those values dear, they will come after us.
    That's just the way--just the way they are. And so our biggest job--and
    I say ``our''; it's a collective effort, but a lot of it starts in
    Washington, DC--is to secure the homeland. It's to do everything we can
    to make sure that the good people of this country don't suffer what
    happened on September the 11th.
        And we're making some progress; we really are. There's a lot of
    hard-working folks, folks at the Federal level and at the State level
    and at the local level, who are working hour after hour to run down any
    hint, any lead, and disrupting any possible plans to hit America.
        I've made a proposal there in Washington. I want to explain to you
    right quick about why I did so. I said, ``We need to create a new
    Department of Homeland Security.'' When I first said that, a couple of
    my buddies in Texas said, ``I thought you ran on the platform that you
    weren't going to make Government bigger.'' I said, ``That's true; that's
    true, but I'd definitely like to make it better.'' And when we have a
    responsibility, it ought to be able to do its job. And my concern,
    having looked carefully at the situation, is that there's over 100
    agencies in Washington, DC, that have something to do with the homeland
    security. They're scattered everywhere. It's awfully hard to create a
    culture and set priority when they're scattered about.
        And so I said to the Congress, ``Why don't you create a Department
    of Homeland Security, so that we can better enforce our borders?''
    Listen, we need to know who's coming in, what they're bringing in, and
    if they're staying, and if they're not--or if they're leaving, when
    they're supposed to be leaving. We need to do a better job of
    coordinating a first-responder strategy with our brave police and
    sheriffs departments and EMS teams and fire teams around the country. We
    need to do a better job of understanding the effects of weapons of mass
    destruction and being able to respond to those threats. We've got to
    have the capacity to gather intelligence, analyze intelligence, assess
    our vulnerabilities, and deal with them. And that's what this new
    Homeland Department is going to do.
        I made good progress in the House. I want to thank Joe for his vote.
    It's got a little problem in the Senate because the Senate appears to be
    more worried about special interests in Washington, DC, as opposed to
    the interests of the American people. They want to micromanage the
    Department.
        I'll give you an example. We've got, as you know as well as anybody
    else--we've got agencies on our border. They wear different uniforms.
    They've got different strategies sometimes. They've got a stovepipe-type
    organization. For the sake of our homeland security, I need the ability
    to be able to put the right people at the right time at the right place,
    in order to protect America. We've got to be able to have
    interoperability between our agencies, between Customs and the INS and
    the Border Patrol, for the sake of the security. I will not accept a
    bill from the Senate

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    which ties our hands and does not let us do the job you want us to do to
    protect our homeland.
        But the best way to make sure we secure the homeland is to get the
    enemy and hunt them down, one by one. And that's what we're going to
    have to do. It's a different kind of strategy because it's a different
    kind of war. In the old days there was infantry and tanks and formations
    and fleets. That's not the kind of war we're facing right now. We're
    facing a war in which the commanders hide in a cave and send youngsters
    to their suicidal death. They blend in big cities; they hide. But we've
    got them on the run. We're flushing them out one by one, and we're
    making pretty good progress. We really are. We've hauled in over a
    couple thousand of them, and a like number wasn't as lucky. They met
    their fate.
        But there's more of them out there. There's more of them out there,
    and we're learning who they are. And they're just not going to be able
    to hide from us because, one, we've got a great military, and two, we
    put a vast coalition together of people who understand what's at stake.
        I submitted to the Congress a significant increase in our defense
    budget. I want to explain to you why I did. It's significant--it's the
    most significant since Ronald Reagan was the President. And I did so
    because I wanted to send two messages to our country and to everybody
    else, and that is, one, anytime we put one of our troops in harm's way,
    they must have the best equipment and the best pay and the best possible
    training. We owe it to our soldiers--[applause]--we owe it to our
    troops, and as importantly, we owe it to our troops' families. And
    secondly, the increase in the defense spending should send a clear
    message to friend and foe alike that the United States of America is a
    determined and patient nation, that we will do whatever it takes to
    defend our freedom. No matter how long it takes, we're going to do what
    it takes to bring peace to the world. Oh, you hear some of them
    squawking about it up there, but I think most Americans understand
    what's at stake. They remember the horrors of September the 11th. They
    know that there is a determined enemy. They know that we are never going
    to abandon the values which we hold dear, and so long as we hold those
    values dear, they may try and come and get us.
        I laid out some doctrine early in this conflict--two basic doctrine:
    one said that if you harbor a terrorist, you're just as guilty as the
    terrorist; if you feed them or clothe them or hide them, you're guilty.
    And the Taliban found out exactly what we meant. Now, I do want you to
    tell your children--and I say this every chance I get--that your great
    Nation, in upholding that doctrine, went into Afghanistan not to conquer
    anybody but to liberate people. And that's what we did. We got young
    girls, many young girls, going to school for the first time, thanks to
    the United States of America.
        And we're still there. We're there to help promote democracy, a
    value which we hold dear. And we're there to hunt down Al Qaida. Anytime
    they bunch up or anytime we find them, we've got fantastic troops on the
    ground, hunting them down, one person at a time.
        That doctrine pertains to other countries, of course, and the idea
    is, once you get them flushed out and get them on the run, there ought
    to be no place for them to light, no safe haven, no possible place to
    train. So you need to know your Government is doing everything we can to
    continue to remind other countries that we expect them to be with us or
    with the enemy.
        Recently, a couple of months ago, the Philippines had a problem
    there with what they call the Abu Sayyaf* group. They had kidnaped two
    Americans, the Burnhams, from Kansas. They were Al Qaida-related, and
    the Philippine Government, thanks to

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    our training, went and got the head of the Abu Sayyaf.* Slowly but
    surely, we're accomplishing our mission. And we will not stop until we
    finish.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        *White House correction.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        There's a long way to go. We've got a lot of work to do, and
    sometimes you'll see the work on your TVs, and sometimes you won't. It
    creates a certain sense of anxiety amongst the speculators and the
    pundits, but that's okay. It's a new kind of war. We're steady; we're
    patient, and we're making progress, because we understand the stakes,
    and the stakes are high. The stakes are these: whether or not our
    children can grow up in a free and peaceful world. Those are the stakes,
    and that's why I talk about making sure that the world's worst leaders
    aren't able to develop and harbor the world's worst weapons.
        Now listen, I've got a lot of tools at my disposal, and I'm a
    patient, patient man. But I understand freedom, and I understand history
    has put the spotlight on this country. And so long as I'm the President,
    this country isn't going to blink; we're going to lead. And I look
    forward to having Steve's support in this effort.
        I want you to know that I believe--I firmly believe that by leading
    this coalition and by remaining strong and diligent and focused, that we
    can achieve peace. It's very important for you to tell the youngsters
    who are trying to figure out what all this means that the goal in this
    Nation is a peaceful world. That's what I hope. Sometimes it may not
    look like we're getting there, but that is where we're headed, and
    that's what I believe we can accomplish. Not only do I believe we can
    achieve peace here, but I believe we can achieve peace in other troubled
    areas. I firmly believe that if we remain strong on terror and promote
    values of human dignity and the values of freedom, that we can achieve
    peace in the Middle East or in South Asia.
        The enemy must have not known who they were hitting. They thought
    that we were a selfish nation, you know, that we were so materialistic
    that all we would do is file a lawsuit--[laughter]--that we weren't
    tough, that we didn't have character. That's what they must have
    thought. They're learning otherwise.
        You see, this is a nation which knows what I know, that out of the
    evil done to our country is going to come some good, not only a more
    peaceful world but a more compassionate country, a country in which
    everybody understands that the American Dream is meant for them--
    everybody. My belief is that one of--when one suffers, all of us
    suffers. I also know there's limitations on Government, that Government
    can hand out money. We do a pretty good job of it sometimes, but what
    Government cannot do is affect the human spirit. It can't put hope in
    people's hearts. It can't put a sense of purpose in people's lives.
    Government is not love. Love comes when our fellow Americans put their
    arms around the shoulder of somebody who hurts, and says, ``I love you.
    I love you. What can I do to help you?''
        People say, ``I'd like to join the war on terror,'' or, ``What can I
    do to make my country a better place?'' And my answer is, love your
    neighbor just like you'd like to be loved yourself. Mentor a child. Have
    a Boy Scout troop or a Girl Scout troop. Be willing to teach people
    values. Make a difference in one person's life. Oh, I know that that
    doesn't seem huge. One person can't do everything, but one person can do
    something. One person can be that somebody who's making a difference in
    a child's life or a neighbor's life.
        And that's happening in America; it really is. People are beginning
    to understand. They've taken a step back, and they've said, ``What is
    this all about? What does it mean to be an American?'' I believe
    Americans from all walks of life--every political party, even those that
    can't stand politics-- understand that patriotism means serving
    something greater than just yourself.
        The enemy hit us. They didn't know who they were hitting. They're
    paying a terrible price and will continue to do so. But the

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    dividend of the tragedy is going to be a stronger America. And by
    ``stronger America,'' I mean a more hopeful America, a decent America,
    an America where anybody, regardless of their background, comes. They
    will have the opportunities that we have had.
        There's addiction in our society. There's hopelessness in our
    society. There's fatherless in our society. But all those problems that
    may seem insurmountable can be solved one citizen at a time. And so my
    call to our country is, be that citizen making a difference in
    somebody's life.
        I first started running for politics in--well, the second time I ran
    for--the first time I didn't do so good--[laughter]--in Midland. Came in
    second in a two-man race. [Laughter] We've got some friends from Lubbock
    here. They may remember that. [Laughter] The second time I ran, I said,
    ``I hope to be a part of a cultural change in America. I hope that I
    can, in some small way, influence a shift in the culture from one that
    had said, `If it feels good, just go ahead and do it, and if you've got
    a problem, blame somebody else for your problems.''' See, my hope was
    that our society would evolve toward a period in which all of us are
    responsible for the decisions we make in life, that if you're a mom or a
    dad, your most important job and your most important responsibility is
    to love your children with all your heart and all your soul, that if
    you're a citizen of Las Cruces, New Mexico, or Hobbs, New Mexico, you
    have a responsibility to ensure that your school system is the best it
    can possibly be, to support your teachers, to work in your community in
    any way it takes to make a difference in somebody's life.
        I'm a big proponent of what I call the Faith-Based Initiative,
    because I understand that many times a changed heart will lead to a
    changed life, and out of our churches or synagogues or mosques come the
    capacity to change a person's heart, to make America a better and more
    decent place.
        The period of responsibility is coming. I can see it all across our
    country. People have assumed that new patriotism. It's not just rooting
    for a military. It is being an active citizen, a participant in making
    America a genuinely decent place. And perhaps the most poignant example
    of that came on Flight 93. Citizens were flying across the country, you
    may remember. They had heard that the airplane was going to be a weapon.
    They said to their loved ones, ``I love you. I love you.'' They said a
    prayer. One guy said, ``Let's roll.'' They drove the plane in the ground
    to serve something greater than themselves in life.
        No, out of the evil done to America is going to come incredible
    good, because this is the finest country, with the finest people, on the
    face of the Earth.
        God bless.

    Note: The President spoke at 5:15 p.m. in the San Andres Ballroom at the
    Las Cruces Hilton. In his remarks, he referred to Jenna Welch, mother of
    First Lady Laura Bush; Cynthia Pearce, wife of candidate Steve Pearce;
    Mary Skeen, wife of Representative Joe Skeen; New Mexico gubernatorial
    candidate John Sanchez, and his wife, Debra; Rob Perry, candidate for
    New Mexico State attorney general; Sharon Clahchischilliage, candidate
    for New Mexico secretary of state; John Dendahl, chairman, Republican
    Party of New Mexico; Ken Zangara, Bernalillo County chairman, Republican
    Party of New Mexico, and his wife, Kathy; and Colin McMillan, chairman,
    New Mexico's Bush for President 2000 campaign, and his wife, Kay. Mr.
    Pearce was a candidate for New Mexico's Second Congressional District.