    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book II)]
    [October 27, 2002]
    [Pages 1904-1911]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks in Phoenix, Arizona
    October 27, 2002

        Thank you all. Governor, thanks for that
    kind introduction. You know, it wasn't all that long ago that a lot of
    people were saying, ``Old Matt Salmon doesn't even have a chance.'' A
    lot of the pundits here in the State of Arizona had written this good
    man off, but it looks like to me they might have wasted a little ink.
        A lot of people were saying, ``Well, he's
    just not going to get there.'' My fellow Americans and the good folks
    from Arizona, with your help, with your hard work, with your turning out
    the vote, with your joining this good man and his good wife, Matt Salmon is going to be the next Governor of
    Arizona. And I am proud to be here as one of his strongest supporters.
        I'm not as strong a supporter as the next first lady from
    Arizona. I'm proud that Nancy is here. She's
    going to make a great first lady. Old Matt and
    I married above ourselves. [Laughter] Laura sends
    her best. She sends her best regards to the Salmons. She knows what it's
    like to be running for

    [[Page 1905]]

    office. She knows what it's like to be a first lady of a State. She's
    got all the confidence in the world, as do I, in the Salmon family. They
    will represent you with dignity. They'll represent you with class.
    They'll do a great job for everybody who lives in the State of Arizona.
        I'm also proud to be up here supporting Rick Renzi for the United States Congress. I like a man who
    believes in family values--all 12 of them. [Laughter] I had the
    privilege of campaigning with Rick in northern Arizona, the heart of his
    district. He's well liked there. People understand him. He's going to
    make a fine United States Congressman. No question in my mind, with your
    help, he is going to win.
        I want to thank one of my Cabinet Secretaries for joining us today,
    Mel Martinez from the Housing and Urban
    Development. Let me tell you about Mel. He's from Florida. There's
    another Governor's race over there I'm paying attention to, I might add.
    [Laughter]
        A long time ago when Mel was a little
    fellow, his parents made a difficult decision. They sent him to the
    United States from Cuba. They sent him, in what they call Operation
    Pedro Pan, from an island controlled by a dictator to the land of the
    free. They put their young lad--let him go--they stayed behind for a
    while, not certain if they could get out--because of what America stood
    for. And here is that little man. That Pedro Pan, years later, is now in
    the Cabinet of the President of the United States, doing a fabulous job
    on behalf of America. The American Dream is alive and well, and Mel
    Martinez represents it all.
        I'm honored to be here with my good friend the Governor of
    Arizona; I appreciate her service to your
    State, and I appreciate her friendship to Laura and me--Jane Dee Hull.
    Thank you, Governor.
        I want to thank Cindy McCain for coming.
    She didn't bring John. She brought Jack. [Laughter] Senator McCain is out working hard to make
    sure that we change the leadership in the United States Senate. I
    appreciate John McCain and Jon Kyl's good work on
    behalf of the American people. And there's a lot of reasons why we need
    to change the Senate--no more clear reason than to make sure the good,
    honest judges I put up for the Federal bench get a good hearing.
        We've got some of the members of the mighty Arizona congressional
    delegation who are here with us. One man not with us, but a man who's
    done a fabulous job on behalf of the people of Arizona and the people of
    the United States, is the chairman, Bob Stump. He
    served with distinction. He served with class. And of course, we all
    wish Bob all the very best.
        I'm so proud to be up here with John Shadegg and Jeff Flake and big J.D.
    Hayworth. I told J.D., those of us in the
    political world make a living by shaking hands, and I'm not shaking his
    anymore. [Laughter]
        I also want to thank Trent Franks, who's
    running for the United States Congress, for joining us today. For those
    of you in Trent's district, give this good man your hard work. Thanks
    for coming, Trent.
        I know we've got the mayor here, Skip Rimsza, from the city of Phoenix. I want to thank you for
    coming, Skip. I'm proud to--I don't see you anywhere, but I'm proud that
    you're here. You're not Skip. [Laughter] You're not even old enough to
    vote. [Laughter] But if you're wise, you'll follow in his footsteps and
    serve your community, like he does. But thank you, Mr. Mayor, for coming
    today.
        I want to thank the Mountain View High School Band for being here on
    a Sunday afternoon; thank you all. I appreciate you all coming. I'll try
    to keep my short--my speech short, so you can go back and study.
    [Laughter]
        I want to thank all those of you who are involved in the political
    process for being here today. Obviously, you're interested; otherwise,
    you wouldn't have come.

    [[Page 1906]]

    But a lot of you are the folks at the grassroots level who make a
    tremendous difference as to whether or not a candidate has a chance of
    winning or not.
        For those of you who are at the grassroots, I want to thank you for
    what you're doing and going to do, which is to man the phones, put up
    the signs, send the letters, remind your friends and fellow Arizonans
    they have an obligation to America to vote. If you're living in this
    country, you have an obligation as a citizen to exercise this wonderful
    freedom. Go to your houses of worship and your community centers and
    your coffee shops and talk it up. Talk it up about Matt Salmon and your congressional candidates. Don't be afraid to
    talk to good Democrats, either. Listen, a good Democrat knows the
    difference between a tax raiser and a tax cutter. These candidates are
    going to win, and they're going to win because of you all. So thanks for
    coming, and thanks for your interest.
        The Governor's race of any State is really important. It's important
    to have somebody who's going to do in office what they say they're going
    to do, not somebody who kind of walks around taking a poll here and
    running a focus group there, trying to figure out what position to take,
    not somebody who will take a position one day, and then the butane gets
    turned up and changes their mind. That's not the kind of Governor you
    need. You need somebody who's steady, somebody who knows what he
    believes, somebody like Salmon that, when he went to the United States
    Congress, he said he was only going to serve three terms, and then did
    what he said. That's the kind of Governor you need, somebody whose word
    you can trust.
        You must have a Governor who's got the right priorities. Educating a
    child is the right priority, and that's Matt Salmon's priority. Education is to a State what national defense
    is to the Federal Government, by far the most important priority. And
    this Governor understands that.
        But a good Governor is someone who also has the right frame of mind
    when it comes to education. And that frame of mind starts with realizing
    every child can learn and believing that every child can learn, a frame
    of mind that is willing to set high standards and therefore challenge
    what I call the soft bigotry of low expectations; somebody that
    understands that if you set the bar low, you're going to get bad
    results.
        It's that type of attitude, by the way, the people that set the bar
    low or those who are willing just to write off certain children who are
    hard to educate--you see, it's much easier to walk into a classroom full
    of children whose parents may not speak English as a first language and
    say, ``These kids can't learn. Let's just move them through.'' You've
    got to have a Governor who's willing to challenge the status quo, who's
    willing to say that it is unacceptable to socially promote children who
    may be hard to educate, a Governor whose vision for their State says
    every child can learn, not just those in good suburban districts but
    every single child can learn.
        You've got to have a Governor who also understands that
    bureaucracies don't set the path to excellence for every child, that
    you've got to have local control of schools, that one size doesn't fit
    all. And you've got to have a Governor who's willing to ask the
    fundamental question, is every child learning in Arizona? See, if you
    believe every child can learn, then you've got to ask the question. Show
    me. And therefore you must have accountability.
        And with Matt Salmon as the Governor, when
    he finds children in schools that are working, he'll praise the
    teachers, and we need to praise the teachers. But the thing I appreciate
    about this good man is, when he finds children trapped in schools that
    will not teach and schools that will not change, this is a man who will
    challenge the special interests of Arizona with one interest in mind,
    the children. He will challenge the status quo because he believes,

    [[Page 1907]]

    like I believe, that no child should be left behind in the State of
    Arizona.
        I appreciate so very much that Matt
    understands the role of Government is not to create wealth. The role of
    Government is to create an environment in which the small-business owner
    and the entrepreneur can flourish. Seventy percent of new jobs in
    America are created by small-business owners, and you better have you a
    Governor who understands the role of small business in our society. And
    Matt Salmon understands that. When he says he's not raising taxes, book
    it.
        I look forward to working with Matt when we
    get a welfare reauthorization bill through the Congress, one that says
    that we're going to help people find work. The best welfare program is a
    program which incorporates work so that people have the dignity of being
    able to put food on their own table.
        I look forward to working with Matt to make
    sure our health care system works. And I look forward to working with
    Rick and the other Members of Congress and the
    two United States Senators
    to make sure our health care system works. Medicine has changed;
    Medicare hasn't. Medicine is going modern. Medicare is stuck in the
    past. For the sake of our seniors, for the sake of the quality of life
    for those who depend upon the Federal Government when it comes to
    Medicare, we need to modernize Medicare, reform Medicare, and include a
    prescription drug benefit for Arizona's seniors.
        Now, there's a lot of issues that we can work on together. The
    people of Arizona will understand when Matt
    becomes the Governor that he's going to work to change the tone. He's
    going to elevate the discourse, that he's not politics as usual, that
    he's here to serve the good people of the State. He's not going to be
    one of these fellows that says, ``Well, did you vote for me? I'm going
    to be your Governor. If you didn't vote for me, I'm not.'' His intention
    is to represent every single person in Arizona, and he will do so with
    distinction and with class.
        I keep talking about Renzi. One reason I'm
    anxious to get Renzi up there is because I want to make sure Denny
    Hastert remains the Speaker of the House.
    The leadership of the House of Representatives and the Members of the
    House of Representatives from the Republican Party have done a really
    good job on behalf of America. They've had a very strong agenda. They
    passed a lot of legislation that has been positive for our country.
        I can't say the same thing for the United States Senate. A lot of
    good legislation is stuck--no more important piece of legislation than
    the homeland security bill. The reason why we need a homeland security
    bill is because there's an enemy out there which hates America; enemy
    out there still lurking around; enemy out there that hates us because of
    what we love. And we're not changing what we love. We love freedom.
        We love the idea of our fellow Americans being able to worship an
    almighty God any way you see fit. We love that. We love our democracy.
    We love our free press. We love every aspect of our freedom. And so long
    as we hold those freedoms dear to our heart, there's an enemy out there
    which is trying to hurt us. And so our biggest job now is to protect the
    American people. I take that seriously. It's a solemn obligation.
    [Applause] You all go ahead and sit down.
        It's even more solemn now that--that we're no longer protected by
    two oceans. It used to be, of course, that we could depend upon our
    geography to protect us from hatred, that there might be a turmoil
    somewhere in the world or there might be a threat somewhere in the
    world, and we could contain that threat if we choose to do so, or we
    could be involved in the conflict if we chose to do so. But we felt
    pretty comfortable about our security because of our--because of the two
    oceans which protected us.

    [[Page 1908]]

        And we learned a rough lesson on September the 11th, 2001, that when
    there's hatred and people trying to hurt us, the battlefield can end up
    right here at home. And we've always got to remember that. I'm certainly
    going to remember that, that the stakes are different and that they're
    higher. In order to protect the American people, we must see clearly the
    threats we face. We can't have any fuzziness anymore, because the oceans
    aren't there.
        And there's a true threat that we face in the form of Saddam
    Hussein. It's a real threat; it's not an
    imagined threat. It's a threat--it's a threat because he's shown the
    world what he's like.
        He said he doesn't have any weapons of
    mass destruction, said he wouldn't have weapons of mass destruction, and
    he does. He's not only got weapons of mass destruction; he's used
    weapons of mass destruction. He's used them against his neighbors. He's
    used them against his own citizens. This is a man who can't stand
    America and what we believe in. Nor can he stand some of our friends and
    allies. He's a danger; he's a threat.
        And so I went to the United Nations, and I said, ``You've told this
    guy for 11 years in 16 different resolutions
    to disarm, and he hasn't done it. And for the sake of world peace, why
    don't you show us whether or not you're going to be a body which can act
    in the name of peace, or whether you're going to be something like the
    League of Nations. You have a choice to make,'' I said to them. ``Show
    us whether or not you can be effective. We want you to be effective in
    the name of peace. We want you to have people listen to your word. If
    you say, `Disarm,' we want people to disarm. If you come together as an
    organization that puts out a decree that the free world speaks, we want
    you to be effective.'' I think it's going to make the world a more
    peaceful place as we head into the 21st century, particularly as we face
    these new threats. It's their choice to make.
        And at the same time, we said the same thing to Saddam
    Hussein: ``You said you would disarm. Now
    disarm. The choice is yours.''
        But my fellow Americans, for the sake of peace and security, for the
    sake of making sure the Middle East is peaceful, for the making sure
    that the true threats don't come to our shore in the form of a terrorist
    organization which may have obtained weapons of mass destruction from
    this man, I believe we owe it to our children and our children's
    children to lead a coalition. If the U.N. won't act, if Saddam Hussein
    will not act, if he continues to defy the world, the United States, in
    the name of peace, will lead a coalition to disarm Saddam
    Hussein.
        No, the threat is real. The threat is real. It's important to be
    clear-eyed. It's also important to do everything we can here at home to
    protect you, and a lot of good people are working hard to do so. Anytime
    we find a hint, any kind of evidence of a plot, we're doing everything
    we can to disrupt or deter or deny. We've got a lot of good people at
    the Federal level and the State level and the local level working a lot
    of long hours.
        You see, we are on alert; we're aware. We weren't aware prior to
    September the 11th about this enemy that--how evil they are. But now we
    know they're out there. And we're doing good things here at home, but we
    can do better. And that's why I've asked the Congress to join me in
    creating this Department of Homeland Security, so that the agencies
    involved with protecting you have got the capacity to have as their
    number one priority and their number one focus and a culture which says
    protecting America is the most important thing we'll do.
        And the House of Representatives passed a good piece of legislation
    that enables this administration and future administrations to be able
    to have the management capacity to protect the homeland. The Senate is
    stuck. See, they want me to give up some

    [[Page 1909]]

    power, power that has been in the Presidency since John Kennedy was the
    President, the ability to suspend work rules in the name of national
    security, the capacity to say it's in our national interests to suspend
    certain work rules so that you put the right people at the right place
    at the right time to protect the American people. And I'm not going to
    accept a lousy bill out of the United States Senate.
        And the reason why is, this is a task that we'll be involved with
    for a while. And so the best way to protect the homeland is to hunt
    these killers down, one person at a time, and bring them to justice,
    which is exactly what the United States of America is going to do.
        Last week I signed a defense bill which is the biggest increase in
    defense money since Ronald Reagan was the President. People ought to
    read two things in that defense bill. One, anytime we put our troops
    into harm's way, they deserve the best pay, the best training, and the
    best possible equipment. We owe that to our troops, and we owe that to
    the loved ones of the troops. And for those of you who have got a
    relative in the military, you've just got to know, this Commander in
    Chief has all the confidence in the world in the men and women who wear
    our uniform.
        It's a different kind of war--oh, the second message that we're
    sending, by the way, is that we're in this deal for the long haul, that
    there's no time certain where we've got to quit. In other words, this
    isn't a--defending freedom doesn't have anything to do with the
    calendar; it has everything to do with success. And so we're going to
    stay the course until we defeat the agents of terror.
        The coalition is strong. The doctrine still stands that says,
    ``Either you're with the United States and freedom-loving people, or
    you're with the enemy.'' That doctrine still stands. And the message of
    that defense bill says it's going to stand for quite a while.
        And we're making progress--we're making progress. It's a different
    kind of war we fight. So I like to spend time, whether it's in the midst
    of the campaign, or Governor Salmon's time, or
    any other speech, to help educate the American people about the nature
    of this war.
        The best way I like to describe it is, in the old days, you could
    determine whether or not you were making progress against the enemy by
    the number of tanks that you destroyed or the number of aircraft you
    shot out of the air or the number of ships you sunk. This bunch we
    fought, they don't have ships. They hide in caves and send youngsters to
    their suicidal death. These are the kind of people that have hijacked a
    great religion. They have no regard for innocent life, and they're
    nothing but a bunch of coldblooded killers, and we're going to treat
    them like that.
        So we're after them. We're after them one at a time. And that's why
    intelligence-sharing is incredibly important. That's why it's important
    to work with others to cut off their money. I just came up from Cabo San
    Lucas, where I was meeting with APEC nations. These are nations that
    border the Pacific. And yesterday the first agenda amongst the leaders
    was terrorism, counterterrorism. I was the first speaker. I reminded
    them that the war goes on. I reminded them they have an obligation to
    join with us. And when we find somebody that we know is a part of this
    terrorist network, they go get them, or we go get them. Either case,
    we're going to get them.
        The other day, one guy popped his head up. His name was bin al-
    Shibh. He's not a problem anymore to
    America. He's now--he was--this is the person that was going to be the
    20th hijacker, and he was in Pakistan, hiding. But we found him. See,
    there's no cave deep enough to hide. There's no corner of the world dark
    enough. Slowly but surely, America and others who love freedom are
    hunting them down. We've probably hauled in a couple

    [[Page 1910]]

    of thousand of them so far. A like number wasn't as lucky.
        And it's going to take a while. It's going to take a while. We've
    got brave troops still on the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
    They've got--I was with--I talked to the President of the Philippines,
    Gloria Arroyo, who has been such a
    strong supporter. I said, ``We'll continue to provide you help, and
    thanks for going to get the head of the Abu Sayyaf,'' who was the person
    that led a group of killers that kidnaped Americans and just tried to
    wreak havoc--they're terrorists.
        Slowly but surely, we're going to bring these people to justice.
    There's no doubt in my mind. See, the enemy didn't understand who they
    were hitting. They thought they were hitting somebody that--somebody
    that was so selfish and materialistic and so self-absorbed that, after
    September the 11th, 2001, we'd take a step back and file a lawsuit or
    two. [Laughter] That's what they thought. And they found out something
    differently. They found out the mighty United States of America loves
    freedom, and we're relentless when it comes to the pursuit of justice.
    And we're not backing down.
        I believe strongly that out of the evil done to America is going to
    come some good. I believe that because we're such a great nation and a
    strong nation and a compassionate nation, that out of the evil done to
    the country will come some good, starting with peace.
        You've got to understand, and I hope you tell your loved ones, that
    amidst all the talk about war is a deep, abiding desire for peace. I
    long for peace for our own country. But because this Nation says
    everybody matters--in contrast to the enemy, this Nation believes every
    life counts; everybody has worth. I long for peace around the world. I
    long for peace in places where people have quit on peace. And I believe
    we can achieve it. I believe by being strong and tough, by being true to
    our love of freedom and understanding that freedom isn't America's gift
    to the world, it is a God gift, and that freedom is universal, it is
    applied to everybody--if we remain true and strong and diligent, we can
    achieve peace. We can achieve peace.
        And here at home we can achieve a better America, too, an America
    that--that the great hope of America, the great bright light of America
    shines in every neighborhood. See, amongst our plenty, there are people
    who hurt. There are some who say, you say, ``American Dream,'' and they
    don't even know what you're talking about. ``American Dream, what is
    that?''
        And so long as one of us hurts, we all hurt, as far as I'm
    concerned. And we have a chance--we really have a chance. The Government
    can help; we can do things, of course, to make sure that people's lives
    are better. I talked about education. I talked about Medicare. Another
    thing Government can do to make sure lives are better is to make sure
    that tax cuts we passed are permanent. You see, when you let people have
    more money--if you let people have more money in their pocket, it's
    going to encourage economic growth. And so long as somebody is looking
    for work, who wants to work and can't find a job, we've got a problem.
        And therefore, one of the things Government can do is be pro-growth,
    is do everything we can to encourage the vitality of the economy to go
    forward. I'm optimistic about our economy. Interest rates are low.
    Inflation is low. Productivity is up. But in order to make sure small
    business flourishes and the entrepreneurial spirit is strong, Congress
    needs to make the tax cuts permanent. Congress needs to make sure we get
    rid of the death tax, once and for all--another reason to make sure that
    we change the Senate and keep Denny Hastert as the Speaker.
        But one of the things we've got to remember is that Government can
    do certain things. Government can hand out money, for example. And
    sometimes we do a pretty

    [[Page 1911]]

    good job of it. But what Government cannot do is put hope in people's
    hearts or a sense of purpose in people's lives.
        See, we can change America, one heart and one soul at a time, if all
    of us understands that we can make--each of us can make a difference.
    When you put your arm around somebody who hurts and somebody in need--
    who's in need, and say, ``I love you,'' you're part of changing America.
    If you're a Boy Scout leader or a Girl Scout leader, you're changing
    America. If you work in a Boys or Girls Club, you're changing America.
    If you're involved in the quality of education in your neighborhood,
    you're changing America. If you just walk into a shut-in's house and
    say, ``I love you; can I help you,'' you're changing America.
        No, the enemy hit us. They didn't know who they were hitting. They
    didn't understand America like I do. Not only are we strong, we are
    compassionate. Many of our fellow citizens have taken a step back, and
    they said, ``What is life all about? What is the true definition of a
    patriot?'' I think we're all beginning to understand, serving something
    greater than yourself in life, serving your Nation by helping a neighbor
    in need, is the definition of the American spirit that is alive and
    well.
        I want the youngsters here to realize that you live in the greatest
    land in the face of the Earth. It's a land that we can never take for
    granted. That's why voting is incredibly important. But as a citizen of
    this land, in order to make sure it continues to remain great, you have
    an obligation--we all have an obligation to do what we can do, to do
    what Government cannot do, and that's to help people, one person at a
    time.
        Perhaps the most vivid reminder--I think history will show this is a
    vivid reminder of what I'm talking about, the American spirit that is
    alive and well--took place on Flight 93. People were flying across the
    country--people were flying across the country that day. They weren't
    sure what was going on. They were on cell phones, using the modern
    technology to learn that the airplane they were on was being used as a
    weapon.
        Some of them didn't panic. Probably all of them didn't. They were on
    the phones to their loved ones. They said goodbye. I'm sure they said,
    ``I love you.'' They used the word ``love.'' They said a prayer. One guy
    said, ``Let's roll.'' They took the airplane into the ground to serve
    something greater than themselves in life.
        That's the American spirit that is alive and well and strong. It is
    a spirit of sacrifice. It is a spirit of compassion. It is a spirit of
    decency. And it is the spirit that allows me to boldly predict that out
    of the evil done to America is going to come an America that is more
    hopeful, more decent for every single person who's fortunate enough to
    live in this country.
        No, you're looking at one of the greatest optimists ever to hold the
    office of the Presidency, because I understand America is the greatest
    nation, full of the most decent people on the face of the Earth.
        Thank you all for coming today. May God bless you, and may God bless
    America.

    Note: The President spoke at 4:54 p.m. at the Dodge Theater. In his
    remarks, he referred to gubernatorial candidate Matt Salmon, who
    introduced the President, and his wife, Nancy Salmon; Rick Renzi,
    candidate for Arizona's First Congressional District; Gov. Jane Dee Hull
    of Arizona; Cindy McCain, wife of Senator John McCain, and their son
    Jack; Trent Franks, candidate for Arizona's Second Congressional
    District; President Saddam Hussein of Iraq; and 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.