    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book II)]
    [December 3, 2002]
    [Pages 2150-2155]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks in Shreveport, Louisiana
    December 3, 2002

        Thank you all very much. I'm glad I came. Thank you all. Please be
    seated--unless you don't have a chair. [Laughter] It's an honor to be
    here in Shreveport. I'm so thrilled that you all came out. It's kind of
    getting close to home, if you know what I mean. I'm proud to be in the
    great State of Louisiana.
        The last time I was in Shreveport was on September the 11th, 2001. I
    went to Barksdale Air Force Base. Since that time, the world has seen
    the resolve of the United States of America. I thank the men and women
    who wore our uniform then at Barksdale, and I know you join me today in
    thanking them to make sure America is free.
        We're grateful for our freedom here in America. We love our
    freedoms. Nobody is going to take freedom away from this country. But
    part of living in a free society means we have responsibilities as
    citizens. We have the obligation as a citizen of America to do our duty,
    and one of the duties we have is when it comes to election time, one of
    the duties is to go vote. So I'm here in the great State of Louisiana
    urging all the citizens, Republicans and Democrats and folks who could
    care less about political party, to go to the polls this Saturday. But
    I've got a suggestion. [Laughter] For the good of Louisiana, for the
    good of everybody in Louisiana, Suzie Terrell needs to be the next United States Senator.
        I'm proud of the race she's
    running. She talks about what she believes in. She sets the right kind
    of tone. She's the kind of person with whom I can work to get something
    done for Louisiana and the people of Louisiana. No doubt in my mind,
    she's the right choice for everybody who lives in this State.
        And I want to thank you for coming to show your support for
    Suzie. I want to thank you for your
    activity at the grassroots level. You need, over the next couple of
    days, to go to your coffee shops, your community centers and tell the
    people that you've got a good one running for the United States Senate.
    You've got somebody who can do the job for all the people of this State.
    She's counting on you, and I'm counting on you to do everything you can
    to turn out a big vote and send this good woman to the United States
    Senate.
        And we need to have Lee Fletcher in the
    House of Representatives too. I look forward to working with Lee. I look
    forward to having Lee a part of a fine delegation from the great State
    of Louisiana. He'll fit in just right with people like Billy
    Tauzin, who's doing a fabulous job for
    our country, Jim McCrery and David Vitter--all of them fine Members of Congress. So

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    when you get in that booth, make sure you not only vote for Suzie, but
    if you live in Lee Fletcher's district, pull the Fletcher lever, too.
        I appreciate so very much the Governor showing up. Yes, he's a good man. Foster is a good
    man. He's my kind of guy. He's down-to-earth. He speaks his mind. But
    most importantly, he's done in office what he said he would do. He's
    been a great Governor for the people of Louisiana. One of these days,
    he's going to invite me to come hunting again.
        I regret that the first team of our family isn't here today.
    She's helping decorate the White House. But I am
    proud of Laura. She is a fabulous First Lady for America. And she sends
    her best to Suzie and Suzie's family.
    And like me, she urges you all to get to those polls come Saturday. Show
    up. Do your duty. Send a good, strong message that Louisiana is wise
    when it comes to electing candidates. It makes sense to have one in one
    party and a Senator in the majority party if you want to get something
    done.
        And one thing about Suzie is, she's
    got a good record. She's proven herself to be a competent soul, somebody
    who can get the job done. You might remember the election commissioner's
    office; it needed a house-cleansing. She cleaned house. There's now
    integrity in that office. People can be proud of that office, thanks to
    Suzie Haik Terrell. She told the people of Louisiana she would do the
    job, and she has done that job. She understands who she's accountable
    to. She's accountable to the people. She understands she works for the
    people of Louisiana.
        She saved $20 million for the
    taxpayers of Louisiana. She's got an awesome responsibility, and she
    saved money, because she understands what I know: When you spend the
    Government's money, you don't spend--it's not the Government's money
    you're spending; it's the people's money.
        No, she's got a can-do spirit. See,
    we need people to go to Washington to set aside all the political
    bickering that tends to dominate the discourse, to get things done on
    behalf of the American people. That's what we need. We need an attitude
    of cooperation. Oh, I expect there to be independent voices in
    Washington, DC, and no question about her, she's an independent voice.
    She kind of tells you what's on her mind. But it's an attitude that's
    important. We need an attitude in the Senate to bring people together so
    we can say that we're doing the people's business and we're making a
    difference in people's lives.
        And we're making some progress. I was proud to sign the Department
    of Homeland Security bill. It made sense. It now means we're going to
    reorganize our Government so we can do our job, and that is to protect
    the American people from further attack. We want people all focused in
    the same direction. We want cultures to change, if need be, to make sure
    that we can do everything we can to say to the American people, ``We're
    working overtime to protect you.'' We need to know who's coming in the
    country, what they're bringing into the country, if they're leaving the
    country when they're supposed to be leaving the country, so America is
    protected.
        We're making progress about bringing people together to get things
    done. I'm convinced Suzie's election
    will continue that progress. I went to the Pentagon yesterday and
    fulfilled a campaign pledge, signed the most significant increase in the
    authorization of defense spending since the President--Ronald Reagan was
    the President.
        I was able to sign a piece of legislation that will get our hardhats
    back to work. I signed a terrorism insurance bill that will enable
    construction projects that have been on hold to go forward. I'm worried
    about the fact that some people are looking for work and can't find work
    in America. I want our hardhats working. I want our welders welding. I
    want the construction people back to work. I want to reward the
    hardhats, not the trial lawyers of America.

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        We're making progress up there. Suzie's election will help us make more progress. We've got work
    to do on education. Listen, anytime any child can't read means we've got
    to stay on education. I appreciate the Governor's hard work of joining
    in setting high standards. We need somebody in the Senate who will join
    me in making sure we've got local control of our schools in America.
        Last year, we spent $847 million of Federal money on Louisiana
    schools, and that's good. But now we're starting to ask the question
    that Mike's been asking and I know
    Suzie will ask: ``Are we getting our
    money's worth?'' See, you've got to ask that question if you don't want
    any child left behind. You know, are the dollars we're spending making a
    difference in the lives of our children? Can our children read and write
    and add and subtract? And when we find they can, we'll praise the
    teachers. And for those of you who are teachers, thanks for what you do.
    But what's important is that when we find children in schools which
    won't teach and won't change, that we challenge the status quo. No child
    should be left behind in America.
        And speaking about schools, I want to thank the Byrd High School
    Band and the Parkway High School Band for coming. I'm glad you all came.
    I'm sorry you had to miss school to come. [Laughter] Just put my name on
    the excuse slip. And if you're 18, make sure you vote.
        We've got more work to do. We've got to make sure this economy
    continues to grow. I'm for a growth agenda--want to do things in
    Washington, DC, that helps create jobs. The role of Government--and
    Suzie understands this--the role of
    Government is not to create wealth but an environment in which the small
    business can grow to be a big business, in which the entrepreneurial
    spirit flourishes. And the best way to help people who are looking for
    work, the best way to stimulate economic vitality is to make the tax
    cuts we passed permanent.
        See, when that economy started slowing down, I decided to fulfill
    what I said I was going to do and urge that the Government let people
    keep more of their own money. See, when you have more of your own money,
    it means you're likely to demand an additional good or a service. And
    when you demand additional good or a service, somebody is likely to
    produce the good or a service. And when somebody produces the good or a
    service, it means somebody in Louisiana or Texas or anywhere else is
    likely to be able to find a job. The tax relief plan came at the right
    time. And now, in order to make sure our economy is strong and vibrant,
    we better make sure the tax cuts are permanent.
        And there's one person in this Senate race who's willing to stand up
    and say she will join the President in listening to the people and
    making tax cuts permanent, and that is Suzie Terrell.
        No, we've got more work to do. We've got more work to do. I need
    somebody in the Senate with whom I can work and Billy can work to make sure we get us an energy bill. We
    got a problem when it comes to energy. We get too much of our energy
    from countries that may not like us. That's a problem. We can do a
    better job of conserving. We can do a better job of promoting
    technologies that will make us less dependent on foreign sources of
    crude oil. But we've got to do a better job here at home of finding more
    hydrocarbons in the United States of America. An energy bill is good for
    our job base. It's good for economic security, and it's good for
    national security.
        I want to thank Billy Tauzin for
    working hard to get an energy bill. That new Senate may make it easier
    for us to get a bill done on behalf of the American people.
        We've got more work to do, and I look forward to working with
    Suzie to make sure that we modernize
    Medicare. See, medicine has changed, and the Medicare system hasn't
    changed. Medicine is modern, but Medicare is stuck in the past. For the
    sake

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    of our seniors, we need to fulfill our national promise and modernize
    Medicare, which means prescription drugs for our seniors.
        I look forward to working with Suzie on behalf of the citizens of Louisiana. I also look
    forward to working with Suzie to make sure that our judiciary represents
    the values of Louisiana. Amazing what an election did--kind of changed
    the attitude in Washington. Up until recently, I couldn't get a lot of
    my judges through the Senate. They were playing politics with the
    judges. I had named some very fine people from around the country, good,
    honest people, and we couldn't get them through because they wanted to
    play politics.
        You need somebody from Louisiana who will join with this President
    to make sure the judges I name reflect the values of Louisiana. We don't
    need any more people legislating. We don't want our judges legislating.
    We want our judges interpreting the Constitution. Those are the kind of
    judges I'll name, and I can count on Suzie's vote to make sure they get confirmed.
        But the biggest job we have for a while is to protect this country.
    That's the biggest job we've got. Our most awesome responsibility is to
    make this homeland secure. And the best way to do it is to chase the
    killers down one at a time and bring them to justice. That's the biggest
    job facing this administration and the next Congress and administrations
    and Congresses to come. This is a long haul to get them. [Laughter]
        I guess they didn't realize who they were hitting. They probably
    thought the national religion was materialism and that we were so
    selfish that we all might file a lawsuit or two. [Laughter] They didn't
    understand America. They don't understand that when it comes to
    defending our freedoms, it doesn't matter how long it takes. We will
    defend freedom no matter what the cost.
        And we're making progress. We're making progress. It's a different
    kind of war. You've just got to know it's a different kind of war. In
    the old days, we could destroy tanks and airplanes and ships, and people
    say, ``Well, they're making progress.'' It's a different kind of war
    because we're fighting people who are--they send youngsters to their
    suicidal deaths, and they try to find a dark cave. They're kind of
    lurching around in the dark corners of some cities around the world.
    They're in over 60 countries. And slowly but surely, we're dismantling
    the terrorist network which hates us because of what we love. See, they
    hate the fact that we love freedom. They can't stand the fact that in
    this country people can worship the Almighty God any way he or she sees
    fit.
        Thanks to our military, thanks to our fantastic military, we won the
    first battle of the first war of the 21st century. And we won it when we
    got rid of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. But in so doing, it's
    important for you to remind your youngsters that this great country
    never went in to conquer anybody. We went in to liberate. Thanks to
    America and our friends, many young girls go to school for the first
    time in Afghanistan. Not only did we rout the Taliban and many of the
    killers they harbor, but we freed people to realize their dreams. And
    we're not leaving. We're going to stay there to make sure this good
    country is secure and the good country can flourish and that the hope we
    want for our own children is the hope that mothers and dads in
    Afghanistan can realize for their children.
        We're making progress on this war against terror. Sometimes you'll
    see the progress, and sometimes you won't. It's a different kind of war.
    The other day, we hauled a guy in named al-Nashiri. That's not a household name here in America.
    [Laughter] I can understand why some go blank when they hear his name.
    But he was the Al Qaida commander in the Gulf states. Let me just put it
    to you this way: He no longer has the capacity to do what he did in the
    past, which was to mastermind the U.S.S. Cole that killed--the plot on
    the Cole that killed American soldiers.

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    He's out of action, for the good of the world.
        Sometimes you'll see it, and sometimes you won't. But you've got to
    know that in this war against terror, the doctrine stands that says,
    ``Either you're with us, or you're with the terrorists.'' And a lot of
    nations have heard that message, and they're with us. We're cutting off
    their money. We're sharing intelligence. We're hunting down the killers
    one at a time. It doesn't matter how long it takes. This country will
    stay the course until Al Qaida is completely demolished.
        But September the 11th brought home a new reality, and it's
    important for all our citizens to understand that reality. See, a lot of
    us, when we were raised, never really worried about the homeland. We all
    believed that two oceans would forever separate us from harm's way and
    that if there was a threat gathering overseas, we could pick and choose
    whether or not we wanted to be involved in dealing with that threat.
    September the 11th delivered a chilling message to our country, and that
    is, oceans no longer protect us. And therefore, it is my obligation to
    make sure that we address gathering threats overseas before they could
    do harm to the American people.
        And that's why I elevated the issue of Iraq. That's why I took our
    message of peace and freedom to countries around the world. I want them
    to understand the nature of the man who runs Iraq is the nature of a man who doesn't tell the truth. He
    says he won't have weapons of mass destruction. He's got them. He's not
    only got them; he's used them. And he's not only used them in his
    neighborhood; he's used them on his own people. That's the nature of the
    man with whom we deal. For 11 long years, he has deceived and denied.
        So I went to the United Nations. I said, ``When is enough enough?''
    They voted 15 to nothing to say, ``Now enough is enough.'' The members
    of the Security Council had a chance, and they accepted the challenge to
    make sure that this United Nations became an effective body when it
    comes to keeping the peace, not an empty debating society.
        Then I went to NATO--strong Allies in NATO--and overwhelmingly the
    message was, ``Enough is enough.'' And now there's inspectors inside
    this country. But I want to tell you, the issue is not the inspectors.
    The issue is whether or not Mr. Saddam Hussein will disarm like he said he would. We're not
    interested in hide-and-seek inside Iraq. The fundamental question is, in
    the name of peace, in the name of security, not only for America and the
    American people, in the name of security for our friends in the
    neighborhood, in the name of freedom, will this man disarm? The choice
    is his. And if he does not disarm, the United States of America will
    lead a coalition and disarm him in the name of peace.
        We have an obligation to our children and our children's children to
    do everything we can to make sure the homeland is secure. And we'll meet
    the obligation. We'll meet that obligation together.
        You know, the amazing thing about America is that I can predict--
    boldly predict and certainly predict--that out of the evil done to our
    country will come incredible good. Because of the nature of our country,
    I can say that. By being tough and strong and united in the face of
    danger, we can bring peace to the world. I believe that. I believe that
    by doing what we need to do to secure the world from terrorist attack,
    to rid tyrants of weapons of mass destruction, to make sure that
    somebody like Saddam Hussein doesn't serve as
    a training base or a provider of weapons of mass destruction to
    terrorist networks--by doing our job, that the world will be more
    peaceful, by standing strong for what we believe, by remembering that
    freedom is not America's gift to the world, but God's gift to each and
    every human being, that we can achieve peace. I want you to tell your
    kids and your grandkids that amidst all the speculation about war

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    and military, that our drive and our vision is for a peaceful world in
    which everybody can realize their potential and live in peace.
        And here at home we have a chance to achieve some incredible good
    out of the evil done to our country. September the 11th shook our soul.
    I think it has helped awaken a spirit in the country, a spirit that
    understands that serving something greater than ourself in life is part
    of the American creed, that the American spirit is bigger than just any
    selfish ambition.
        Today when I landed at the airport, I met Mary Anne Blanchard
    Selber and Jean Sayres. These ladies have started the Providence House here in
    Shreveport. This is a--it's a home to provide shelter to the homeless.
    They follow their hearts. The reason I bring up this example is because
    they represent the true strength of our country. The true strength of
    our country lay in the hearts and souls of our fellow citizens.
        You see, out of the evil done to America can come a more
    compassionate America. We've got to understand that amidst our plenty,
    there are people who hurt. There's addiction and hopelessness. There are
    people who wonder whether or not the American Dream is meant for them.
    So long as any of us hurt, we all hurt. Yet we can solve the problems in
    our society by loving a neighbor just like we like to be loved
    ourselves. We can solve America's problems by putting our arm around the
    lonely and the hopeless and say, ``I care for you. I love you.'' America
    can change, one heart, one soul, one conscience at a time.
        And the Providence House is one example of what I'm talking about.
    They represent the true strength of our country, people who love people,
    people who care for those who hurt, people who understand that
    Government's role is limited. We can hand out money, but we can't put
    hope in people's hearts or a sense of purpose in people's lives. That's
    why I'm so strong for the Faith-Based Initiative. I understand the power
    of faith in the lives of our citizens around this country.
        No, if you want to join the war on terror, if you want to show the
    world the true worth of America, love a neighbor just like you'd like to
    be loved yourself. See what you can do to help mentor a child. Go see a
    shut-in. It's the small acts of kindness and decency which define the
    true victory in the war against terror, which will show the world what
    this country is all about.
        Perhaps best defined for me and, I suspect, others, as they come up
    in America--the spirit was defined best on Flight 93. Remember that when
    people were flying across our country, they thought they were on an
    average business trip, or they thought they might be just taking an
    average trip to go see a loved one, and they found out the plane they
    were on was being used as a weapon. And they told their loved ones over
    the telephone, ``I love you,'' and ``Goodbye.'' They said a prayer. A
    guy said, ``Let's roll.'' They took the plane into the ground to serve
    something greater than themselves.
        No, the spirit of America is strong today. I can boldly predict that
    out of the evil done to America will come great good, because this is
    the greatest nation, full of the finest people on the face of the Earth.
        May God bless you, and may God bless America.

    Note: The President spoke at 9:54 a.m. at the Hirsch Coliseum at the
    State Fairgrounds of Louisiana. In his remarks, he referred to Lee
    Fletcher, candidate for Louisiana's Fifth Congressional District; Gov.
    M.J. ``Mike'' Foster of Louisiana; Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, Al Qaida's
    chief of operations for the Persian Gulf; and President Saddam Hussein
    of Iraq.