    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book II)]
    [October 5, 2002]
    [Pages 1744-1751]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Reception for Senatorial Candidate John Sununu in Manchester
    October 5, 2002

        Thank you all for coming. Listen, it's good to be back. I had the
    honor of speaking in the Armory before, and it's the place where I cut
    my teeth in New Hampshire politics by flipping pancakes. [Laughter] But
    it was reminiscent of some really good times for Laura and me, and I
    recognize a lot of faces here, and I want to thank you all for coming.
        I'm here because I want to make it as plain as I can, John Sununu
    will be a great United States Senator for New Hampshire. It's in my
    interests. It's in New Hampshire's interests. It's in the country's
    interests that John Sununu be elected.
        I want to thank you all for working hard for his election. There's
    no doubt in my mind that we will be able to work together to do what's
    right for the country.
        I'm impressed by his record. First of all, I know something about
    what I'm about to speak. He and I share something in common: We've both
    got mothers still telling us what to do. [Laughter] He assures me he's
    still listening to her--[laughter]--and I'm listening to mine--
    [laughter]--most of the time.
        We both married above ourselves. [Laughter] I want to thank
    Kitty Sununu, mother of three, for standing by
    John's side. It's tough to run for office. It's hard on a family. But if
    you've got a good marriage and if you prioritize your family, you can do
    anything. And I appreciate the Sununus' love for each other, and I
    appreciate their family values a lot.
        Laura sends her best. She made a lot of
    friends here in New Hampshire. She sends her love to her friends. She
    sends her best, of course, to the Sununus. She wishes she could be here.
    She is opening up a museum in Portland, Maine. You all drew the short
    straw. [Laughter] But she's doing great. She's doing great. I have been
    incredibly proud of her. The country has seen her
    grace and her strength and her calm when the pressure was on. People
    began to realize why I asked her to marry me, and some are a little
    confused as to say why she said yes, but nevertheless. [Laughter] I love
    her dearly. She is a fabulous First Lady for the country.
        I appreciate Judd Gregg. He's been a friend.
    He's a solid citizen. He's a really, really good United States Senator.
    He too married well. It's great that Kathy's
    here. But the Greggs are close friends of Laura and mine. We value their
    friendship, and I know you value his service to the great State of New
    Hampshire.
        I want to say a word about Bob Smith. Bob
    served well in the United States Senate. I was incredibly impressed by
    his graciousness on what had to have been a very difficult night for Bob
    and his family. He was gracious about John. He was strong

    [[Page 1745]]

    in his support. New Hampshire has been well represented by Senator Bob
    Smith. I too am proud to call him friend. And I appreciate his service
    to the country.
        I'm also proud to serve in Washington, DC, with a fine United States
    Congressman, a fellow I got to know pretty well as I traveled on John's
    Winnebago all over the State of New Hampshire, and that's Charlie
    Bass. I appreciate you, Charlie. I also look
    forward to being joined in Washington by the Congressman Jeb
    Bradley. I appreciate the campaign Jeb is
    running.
        And I'm honored to be here with the next Governor of the State of
    New Hampshire, Craig Benson. I appreciate you,
    Craig. I know something about being a Governor, and I know what it takes
    to get elected. And I am impressed by the campaign that Craig is
    running. He takes nothing for granted. He's out there in those coffee
    shops and knocking on those doors. He is traveling this State. He has
    got a burning desire to do what's right for all the people of New
    Hampshire. I'm confident he's going to win, and I'm equally as confident
    that he'll do a great job as your Governor.
        But most of all, I want to thank the grassroots activists of the
    State of New Hampshire for coming. I want to thank you for what you have
    done and, more importantly now, what you're going to do.
        And I know what you can do in this State. You can turn out the vote.
    You can put up the signs. You can mail the mailers. You can get on the
    phones. John Sununu will be elected the United States Senator, not only
    because he's got a good message and a good heart, but because of your
    hard work and your dedication to turn out the vote.
        I want to thank the chairman of the party, John Dowd, and Tom Rath, the national
    committeeman, and Nancy Merrill, the national
    committeewoman, for leading an active, strong grassroots organization.
    You need to go to your coffee shops. You need to go to your churches or
    your synagogues or your mosques or any other place of worship. You need
    to go to your community centers. And you need to tell everybody in the
    State of New Hampshire, Republican, Democrat, or Independent, that
    you've got some fine candidates, that John Sununu needs to be the United
    States Senator.
        And we've got some tough tasks ahead of us. We must work together to
    make sure Americans can find work. The way I like to put it is, anytime
    anybody who wants to work can't find a job, we must do everything we can
    to seek to expand the job base.
        Now, the role of Government--John and I know this--is not to create
    wealth. The role of Government is to create an environment in which the
    small business can grow to be a big business, in which the entrepreneur,
    the spirit of America, can flourish, in which our producers have got a
    chance to make a living. And so therefore, I need somebody in the Senate
    who understands that, somebody who also understands the importance, when
    the economy is slow, of letting people keep more of their own money.
        New Hampshire citizens of all political stripes must understand that
    when the economy is slow, that you don't increase taxes on the American
    people, but you let people keep more of their own money. Because when
    they do, they demand a good or a service, and when they demand a good or
    a service, somebody in the marketplace is likely to produce the good or
    a service. And when somebody makes that decision to produce a good or a
    service, somebody is more likely to find work.
        For the sake of jobs in New Hampshire, for the sake of economic
    vitality in this State, you need a United States Senator who will join
    me in making the tax cuts permanent.
        John Sununu was with me from the beginning. There was no question in
    my mind where he stood. He didn't need to take a poll or a focus group
    to make his decision

    [[Page 1746]]

    about tax relief. He knew it was the right thing for the national
    economy. The problem we have and the reason we have to continue to
    talking about this issue is because of a quirk in the Senate rules. And
    I'm going to let old Judd--after I leave back to
    go see my mother--tell you how this happened.
        Let me just put it to you this way, in plain language. The Senate
    has got the kind of rule where you pass the tax cut, and in 10 years it
    goes back to where we were. The way I like to put it, if I can--in plain
    English is, on the one hand, they taketh away, on the other hand, they
    giveth. On the one hand they give tax relief; on the other hand, you
    don't get tax relief. It's hard to explain in Manchester, New Hampshire,
    and it's darn sure hard to explain in Crawford, Texas.
        But this isn't hard to explain: That wouldn't happen if you had a
    United States Senate which would vote to make the tax cuts permanent,
    and that Senator would be John Sununu.
        A couple of other things that we need to do in Washington to make
    sure our folks can find work. Listen, we've got a lot of construction
    projects which are on hold because people can't get terrorism insurance.
    The enemy hit us, and they affected our economy. And one way they did
    was a lot of construction projects--like $15 billion worth--are not
    going forward because people can't get insurance, because of a potential
    terrorist attack.
        I think it is a legitimate use for Congress to kind of underwrite
    terrorism insurance. There is 300,000 jobs going begging, 300,000
    hardhats not finding work because we can't get terrorism insurance. It
    doesn't cost the American people anything if there's not another attack.
    But it'll help the economy grow. It'll help make people--it'll help
    people find work. John Sununu understands this. What we need to do is
    pass a terrorism insurance bill that does not reward trial lawyers but
    works to put our hardhats back to work in America.
        And finally, there's a lot of things we can do to make the
    environment for economic growth strong. But one thing we need to do for
    certain is to elect people who understand whose money we spend in
    Washington. You need to listen carefully to the debates that goes on in
    our Nation's Capital. You see, some of them are--goes on with people
    trying to get to the Nation's Capital. Some of them, they talk about the
    Government's money. Folks, we don't spend the Government's money in
    Washington. We spend your money. And you better make sure you send
    somebody to Washington who is a fiscally responsible person.
        I know firsthand that John is. After all, he's on the--he's vice
    chairman of the Budget Committee in the House. And by the way, the House
    Budget Committee passed my budget, so the House has a budget. It gets us
    back to balance quickly. It funds priorities. It gets us back to balance
    as quickly as possible. It says, let's be responsible with your money.
        We can't get a budget out of the United States Senate. And if you
    don't have a budget and because every idea in Washington sounds like a
    brilliant idea even though the price tag may run in the billions, we've
    got the danger of the Congress overspending. There's no question in my
    mind that John Sununu will be responsible with the people's money when
    he becomes the United States Senator.
        I think a lot about our economy. I'm going to do everything I can to
    increase the job base. I spend a lot of time on it. It's one way to make
    sure the country is stronger. Another way to make sure we've got a
    strong country is to make sure that our Federal bench is a bench full of
    judges that don't use their position from which to legislate. We've got
    plenty of legislators. We don't need our judges legislating, we need
    them strictly interpreting the Constitution.
        That's an issue in this campaign--the bench is an issue in this
    campaign. I named

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    a fabulous lady from Texas named Priscilla Owen. She'd been running statewide in our State several
    times, got elected overwhelmingly, had strong Republican support, strong
    Democrat support, number one in her law school class, or tops of her law
    school class. She's ranked the highest rating possible by the American
    Bar Association. She is a--you know, she'll interpret the Constitution;
    she's not going to try to rewrite it.
        And I sent her name up there and they--
    they weren't fair with her record. They totally politicized the issue.
    They made this a huge political deal. For the sake of a solid judiciary,
    I need John Sununu in the United States Senate.
        I named a new man named Michael Estrada
    to one of our higher benches. It's a great American success story. He
    couldn't speak English when he came here. He's now being nominated by
    the President to one of the highest benches because he's a brilliant
    lawyer. He's got fantastic support from Democrats and Republicans. John
    Sununu will cast his vote with Michael. Judd Gregg would. I wonder if the other candidate in this race
    would stand up and support the judicial nominees of a President George
    W. Bush. For the sake of a strong judiciary, we need John Sununu in the
    United States Senate.
        I also appreciate his understanding that our most important priority
    is to protect the homeland. See, there's an enemy which still hates
    America lurking around. And so long as they lurk, we must do everything
    we can to protect America. That's our most important job, is to protect
    you. There's a lot of good folks working hard to do this. Listen, we're
    running down every lead, every hint; every idea that somebody might hurt
    us, we're following up on.
        But in order to make sure I can do a better job, I ask the Congress
    to join me in the creating of a Department of Homeland Security. Listen,
    when I was campaigning here I didn't say, ``Vote for me. I want your
    Government to be bigger.'' I did say, ``I want your Government to work
    where it needs to work.'' And it needs to work in protecting the
    homeland. There's over 100 agencies scattered around Washington that
    have got something to do with the homeland.
        So for the sake of better managing the Department, for the sake of
    being able to get people to work together, I said, ``Let's have it in
    one agency.'' The House heard it. Judd Gregg has
    heard it. Sununu supported it. But it's tied up in the Senate. And
    here's the issue: Some Senators want there to be a thick book of
    managerial regulations which will prevent a President from putting the
    right people at the right place at the right time in order to respond to
    an enemy. Some people want there to be more bureaucracy than managerial
    flexibility.
        One example, just one of many: We believe, and the Customs Service
    believes, that people ought to be wearing radiation detection devices
    when they inspect cargo, to determine whether or not a weapon of mass
    destruction is coming into the country. The union representing the
    customs agents said, ``Wait a minute. You can't make people wear
    radiation detection devices. That's a matter for collective bargaining;
    we need a collective bargain over that,'' which could have taken a year
    to do that.
        I need flexibility. I need a Senator who understands that this
    President and future Presidents--[applause].
        The best way to protect America, however, is to chase these killers
    down, one at a time, one person at a time. And that is precisely what we
    are going to do.
        And they're out there; they just are. We're making progress. The
    doctrine that says, ``Either you're with us, or you're with the enemy,''
    still stands. It's just as important today as it was the day after the
    attacks on September the 11th. And so there's a lot of folks working
    with us. We've got good intelligence. We're sharing it better than ever
    before. We're cutting off their

    [[Page 1748]]

    money. We're denying safe haven. If we can find them lighting somewhere,
    we get them on the run. And we pulled in a couple of thousand of them.
        And sometimes it makes news when we do it, and sometimes it doesn't.
    This is just a different kind of war. In the old days, you destroyed an
    enemy's tanks, and you say, ``Well, we're making progress''; sunk a
    couple of ships and ``We're making progress.'' These folks don't have
    ships. They don't have tanks. They hide in caves, and they send
    youngsters to their suicidal death. That guy al-Shibh, bin al-Shibh popped up, and he's no longer a problem.
    [Laughter] We hauled him in.
        Slowly but surely, we are dismantling an Al Qaida terrorist network,
    and we've got a lot more work to do. By the way, we probably captured a
    couple of thousand of them, and just that many weren't as lucky, thanks
    to the United States military.
        By the way, that doctrine that says, ``If you harbor one of those
    terrorists, you're just as guilty as the terrorists,'' it still stands,
    too. But I want you to remind you--I want you to remind your kids, in
    all the midst of this talk about military this and that, that this great
    Nation did what it said it was going to do. And at the same time it
    upheld doctrine; it liberated people.
        We didn't go to Afghanistan, nor will we ever go anywhere, to
    conquer anybody. See, we believe in freedom. That's why the enemy hates
    us. We believe in freedom, and we went into Afghanistan--we freed
    people. Thanks to the United States, young girls now go to--many young
    girls now go to school for the first time because of our belief in
    freedom. Everybody counts. Everybody has got worth.
        I sent a bill up there to increase defense spending, a big increase,
    for two reasons. I hope you appreciate the reasons why. One, anytime we
    put our troops in harm's way, we owe it to our troops; we owe it to
    their loved ones, to make sure they've got the best training, the best
    pay, and the best possible equipment. And secondly, it's a clear signal
    that we're in this deal for the long haul, that there's not a artificial
    timeline that says: Well, we've had enough; we're kind of tired; let's
    quit.
        See, we need to send a signal--we know this here at home, but others
    need to know that when it comes to the defense of things which we hold
    dear, namely our freedoms--our freedom to worship the way we see fit,
    the freedom to debate political issues in an open forum, the freedom of
    the press--when it comes to the defense of our freedoms, there is no
    timeframe. It doesn't matter how long it takes. It doesn't matter how
    difficult the task. The United States of America will defend our
    freedoms.
        I haven't seen that defense bill yet. Judd voted for it, and John
    voted for it. I haven't seen it yet. It's stuck in committee. They don't
    need to be playing politics with the defense bill right now. They need
    to get the bill done before they go home. They need to get the defense
    bill on my desk.
        I said we're in this deal for the long haul, and we are. We'll be
    chasing Al Qaida down. They think they can hide somewhere. They just
    cannot do that with America. The long arm of American and allied justice
    will seek them out.
        We've got some other tasks ahead as well to keep the peace and to
    make our country secure. And that of course is Iraq. There's now a
    national debate, one which I encourage, one which I think is helpful, a
    national debate on how best to keep the peace, how best to secure the
    homeland, whether or not we ought to deal with threats before they
    become so severe that we may never be able to deal with them. It's an
    important debate.
        Monday night I'll be giving a talk to the Nation about my take on
    the debate. I want to share some thought with you right quick, and it's
    this: The facts and the history of Iraq are pretty clear to me. This is
    a man who told the world he would not have

    [[Page 1749]]

    weapons of mass destruction, your  chemical,
    your biological or nuclear weapons. For 11 years he has lied.
        On the one hand, he said he wouldn't have
    them--he does. And remember, this is a guy who's used them. He not only
    has denied and deceived about possessing weapons; he's actually used the
    weapons of mass destruction. He's used the weapons of mass destruction
    against neighbors. He has used weapons of mass destruction against his
    own people. He hates America. He hates many of our friends. He hates
    Israel. He's a man who continues to kill his own people who might
    dissent. When the inspectors were able to go into the country and have
    unfettered access, it was discovered that he was a short period away
    from owning a nuclear weapon.
        It's an important debate we're going to have here in America about
    how best to secure the homeland. I took the debate to the United Nations
    a while ago. One, I want the United Nations to be effective. I want
    there to be a body of freedom-loving nations that, when they speak,
    something actually can happen.
        This is a man, as I reminded them, who
    has looked the United Nations in the eye for 11 long years and has
    defied them. Sixteen times the Security Council passed resolution after
    resolution after resolution after resolution, and 16 times he defied
    them.
        My message was, ``We want you to be effective. We've got a new kind
    of war we fight. You need to be effective. We want you to work. But it's
    your choice. You can either be an effective United Nations, or you can
    be the League of Nations. You get to pick.''
        I also have said as clearly as I can that this isn't an issue of
    inspectors. That's what the process-oriented people want. This is an
    issue of disarmament. This is a man who has
    said he would disarm. The United Nations said he must 16 times. He said
    he would, but he hasn't. The choice is his to make as well. And those
    choices will be made over time here.
        But for the sake of our peace, for the sake of our children's
    future, if the United Nations will not act in strong fashion, if they
    continue to be ineffective, if Saddam Hussein
    makes the choice not to disarm, the United States and a lot of our
    friends will disarm him. For the sake of peace, for the sake of freedom,
    for the sake of our future and our children's future, we will disarm
    him.
        The use of our military is my last choice, not my first. I take my
    responsibilities very seriously as the Commander in Chief. The use of
    force is not my first choice; it's my last. But my first choice as well
    is not to allow the world's worst leader to
    blackmail, to harm America with the world's worst weapons.
        The United States Congress will speak to this issue next week. It's
    a very, very important debate. This is not a partisan discussion; it's a
    philosophical discussion. It's a discussion that's a weighty matter. I
    look forward to the debate. I actually encourage the debate.
        I was proud the other day when both Republicans and Democrats stood
    with me in the Rose Garden to announce their support for a clear
    statement of purpose: You disarm, or we will. We owe it to our children
    to think about this issue. We owe it to the future. My belief is, is
    that the enemy hit us, and out of the evil can come some incredible
    good. And one of the good that can come is peace.
        The United States can lead the world to peace if we're clear and
    forthright and determined. If we speak clearly about terror and its
    threats, if we hold our values, God-given values in the forefront--and
    that is freedom--we can achieve a peaceful world.
        And you know what else we can do here in America? We can achieve a
    better world for all of us too, a better world for each person who lives
    in this country. There are pockets of despair and loneliness in America.
    My attitude is, when our citizens hurt, we all hurt. I recognize the
    limitations of

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    Government, I think John does as well. I mean, we can--Government should
    educate, see that people are educated--passed a good education bill.
    John talked about--he was a strong stalwart, as was Judd, who actually was an author, of holding people
    accountable. It says every child can learn in America. We are going to
    challenge the soft bigotry of low expectations in this country, and
    we're going to insist every child learns.
        Government can make sure the health systems are modern. Medicare is
    old. Medicine has changed; Medicare hasn't. Medicine is modern.
    Medicare--and a really incredibly important program--has not changed
    with medicine. For the sake of our seniors, we need a prescription drug
    plan and a modern Medicare system. That's an important part of
    Government being involved with making our society better.
        But what Government cannot do is cause people to love one another.
    Government cannot put hope in people's hearts. That's up to us, our
    fellow citizens. My call to America has been and will continue to be to
    love a neighbor just like you'd like to be loved yourself.
        If you want to fight evil, do some good. Do some good. Help somebody
    in need. Mentor a child. Go to a Boy Scout--or run a Boy Scout or a Girl
    Scout troop. Feed the hungry. Find shelter for the homeless. There are
    many ways to fight the evil that has been done to our country.
        You see, it's the millions of acts of kindness and decency by our
    fellow citizens that reflect the true nature and character of this
    country. No, the enemy hit us. They thought--they thought, they probably
    thought that after September the 11th, 2001, we would file a lawsuit or
    two. [Laughter]
        What they didn't realize is, this country is plenty tough. And the
    world is beginning to see we're plenty--we're plenty compassionate too,
    that in our--that our strength is our will and our resolve and our
    dedication to values we hold dear, and our strength is our collective
    heart.
        You know, one reason I got into politics was because I wanted to be
    a part of a cultural shift, just a small part of a change. I think the
    enemy accelerated that cultural shift from one in which it said, ``If it
    feels good, just go ahead and do it,'' and ``If you've got a problem,
    blame somebody else,'' to a culture in which each of us understand we
    are responsible for the decisions we make in life.
        If you are a mom or a dad, your most important responsibility is to
    love your child. If you're living in Manchester, New Hampshire, you have
    the responsibility for the quality of life. You have the responsibility
    to making sure the schools work. If you're running corporate America,
    you have a responsibility to tell the truth and to treat your
    shareholders and employees with dignity and respect.
        Perhaps the most vivid example about what I'm talking about, about
    serving something greater than yourself as part of a culture of personal
    responsibility, came on Flight 93. It's an important moment, in my
    judgment, about what took place on America on that terrible day. We had
    citizens flying across the country. They were told on the telephone that
    the airplane they were on was being used as a weapon. They told their
    loved ones goodbye. They said a prayer--history will show they said a
    prayer. A guy said, ``Let's roll.'' They took the plane in the ground.
    They sent a clear signal to America that serving something greater than
    yourself in life is an incredibly important part about being the
    ultimate American, about serving our country.
        No, when the enemy hit us, they didn't know who they were hitting.
    See, out of the evil done to America is going to come incredible good.
    The world will be more peaceful. This country will be able to
    eliminate--work to eliminate the pockets of despair.

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        There's no question in my mind we face challenges as a nation. But
    there's no question in my mind we can overcome them. After all, this is
    the finest nation, the greatest nation, on the face of the Earth.
        Thanks for coming to help John. May God bless you all, and may God
    bless America.

    Note: The President spoke at 12:15 p.m. in the Expo Center of New
    Hampshire at the Holiday Inn Manchester. In his remarks, he referred to
    Kitty Sununu, wife of Representative Sununu; Kathleen MacLellan Gregg,
    wife of Representative Gregg; Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla
    Owen, whose nomination to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Fifth Circuit
    failed on September 5 when the Senate Judiciary Committee refused to
    send it forward for a vote by the Senate; Miguel A. Estrada, nominee to
    be U.S. Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia Circuit; Ramzi bin
    al-Shibh, an Al Qaida operative suspected of helping to plan the
    September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, who was captured in Karachi,
    Pakistan; and President Saddam Hussein of Iraq.