    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book II)]
    [July 15, 2002]
    [Pages 1240-1247]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Luncheon for Gubernatorial Candidate Bob Riley in Birmingham
    July 15, 2002

        Thank you all very much. Please be seated. It's a long speech.
    [Laughter] Thanks so much for coming.
        I don't know whether you know this or not, but in 1972, I helped
    organize Red Blount's campaign for
    the United States Senate right here in the State of Alabama. Because of
    me and Jimmy Allison, he managed to get 32 percent of the vote.
    [Laughter] But I learned then and there how great the people are of the
    State of Alabama. I've got fond affection of those times. I count many
    of you as my friends, and I want to thank you for coming today to help
    the next Governor of the State of Alabama, Bob Riley.
        There is no doubt in my mind he is going to win, and I want to thank
    you all for helping. He's going to win because he's got a fantastic
    grassroots organization. Many of the grassroots activists are here
    today. I want to thank you for what you're fixing to do, which is to
    start dialing phones and putting up signs and knocking on doors and
    going to coffee shops and going to your churches and synagogues to
    remind people that with Bob Riley you've got a good, honest politician
    who's going to bring integrity to Montgomery, Alabama, and he's going to
    reform the State on behalf of all the people of this great State.

    [[Page 1241]]

        He's also going to win because he married well. [Laughter] And I
    appreciate Patsy Riley and the Riley family for
    standing by Bob as he makes this very important run for the
    governorship. Patsy, thank you for being here. God bless you all.
        And I know something about marrying well. I did. I'm really proud of
    Laura. She was a public school librarian when she
    married me. She didn't care for politics or politicians. Here she is,
    First Lady of the United States, and doing a fantastic job.
        I want to also urge you all, as you're turning out to vote for Bob,
    to make sure you turn out to vote for Jeff Sessions, who is a fantastic United States Senator. I appreciate
    working with Jeff, and I appreciate working with Richard Shelby as well, two great United States Senators who have
    got fan--[applause]. They're always talking about Alabama when I'm with
    them, reminding me of Alabama, and that's what you want your Senators to
    do. But they've also got the capacity to think about the country as
    well. I'm proud of your Senators, and I hope you are as well. And Jeff
    needs your help. You need to take nothing for granted in this election
    year. It's important for the good of the country and for the good of
    your State that Jeff Sessions be sent back to the United States Senate
    for another term.
        I want to thank Members of the United States House of
    Representatives from the State of Alabama who are here with us today,
    starting with a man we're going to miss, out of Mobile, Alabama, Sonny
    Callahan. Where are you? There he is, Sonny.
    Sonny's a good one. Sonny has served the State and the country with
    great distinction. He announced his retirement earlier on this year.
    It's just too darn bad he decided to go fishing all the time, but it's a
    well-deserved rest, and he's a fine man. I also appreciate so very much
    Terry Everett from Montgomery for coming
    today. Terry, I appreciate you being here, as well as Robert
    Aderholt and Spencer Bachus. Thank you all for coming.
        I know a lot of members of the statehouse are here, folks who Bob
    Riley is going to be working with when he becomes the Governor. I know
    the Lieutenant Governor, Steve Windom, is here,
    as is the attorney general, Bill Pryor. And I
    want to thank you both for coming as well. I want to thank Jim
    Bennett, the Alabama secretary of state, and all
    the members of the statehouse, the senators and house of representatives
    who are here to support your next Governor.
        It's good that you're here, as people are beginning to realize he's
    going to win, you're beginning to realize he's going to win. So it's
    kind of good to get in good with the Governor early. [Laughter] At
    least, that's how we did it in Texas, and I suspect Alabama is that way,
    too. The Governor is going to remember who was with him early and who
    kind of got on the late train. But the good news, he's going to be the
    Governor of everybody when he wins. He's not going to play this business
    of pitting one group of people against the other.
        We've got some fine candidates running to replace Sonny
    Callahan and Bob Riley. We've got Jo
    Bonner from the Alabama First Congressional
    District. Jo, are you here? Thank you. There he is. I appreciate you,
    Jo. And Mike Rogers from Alabama Three is here
    as well. Thank you, Mike.
        But I'm here to help this good man get elected to the governorship.
    It's a job I understand. I was a--great honor to be the Governor of my
    State. It's a fantastic opportunity to make a difference in the lives of
    a lot of people, particularly if you've got a Governor like Bob Riley,
    who's got a positive vision for everybody, a vision that says the most
    important job for the Governor is to make sure that every child gets a
    good education.
        I know his passion about education, because he helped me get the
    education bill through the House of Representatives. And I'd like to
    outline the principles of that

    [[Page 1242]]

    bill so that the people of Alabama understand what he will do when given
    the chance to be the Governor. The first principle, it says that we
    believe--Riley and I believe, and I hope you believe with us--that every
    child can learn. We set the highest of high standards. We understand
    that in order to get the best for every child, you must have high
    expectations.
        See, we understand, if you have low expectations, you get low
    results. There are some people in our society who don't believe every
    child can learn, and therefore they're willing to set low standards.
    That's opposite what we think. We believe every child can learn, and we
    expect every child to learn.
        And therefore, the bill I signed said in return for Federal money--
    in return for a good size budget increase, I might add, for Title I
    students--we expect you to teach them how to read and write and add and
    subtract. You see, we're tired of the days when children were just
    shuffled through the system, the days when expectations were so low that
    it seemed okay to pass those through who weren't supposed to be able to
    learn. For the good of the country, for the good of the State of
    Alabama, those days of passing children through without teaching them to
    read and write and add and subtract must end and will end.
        We believe in accountability, because we want to know. We understand
    you can't change a system unless you measure it. We understand you can't
    correct a problem unless you measure it. We understand that if you want
    every child to learn to read and write and add and subtract, we must
    determine if every child can read and write and add and subtract early
    in their school career.
        Now, I've heard every excuse in the world, you know, ``You shouldn't
    test. It's racist to test.'' My fellow Americans, it's racist not to
    test. It's racist not to hold people accountable for the children in the
    State of Alabama.
        And finally, Bob and I share a deep conviction that if you want to
    have excellence for every child, you must trust the local folks to chart
    the path to excellence. One size doesn't fit all across America. One
    size doesn't fit all across the State of Alabama. We must empower people
    at the local level to meet the high standards by holding them in
    account, but trusting first and foremost the fact that the parents and
    the people closest to the children are those who are more likely to
    design a program that will meet our national goals, which is every child
    learning and not one single child left behind.
        I'm confident in telling you that the vision of Bob Riley as
    Governor of the State of Alabama--the education vision--is the right
    vision for the future of this important State, because it is part of
    attracting jobs to your State. When the word gets out that the Riley
    reforms are taking hold and children aren't being left behind, there's
    going to be a lot of people coming, ``I want to work here in Alabama. I
    want to bring my business in Alabama''--assuming, of course, that you
    make sure that the junk lawsuits that plague this State and other States
    don't continue to reign supreme.
        And it's good you're about to put a tort reformer in the Governor's
    mansion in the State of Alabama. It is necessary. Look, we want our
    people to have access to the courts, no question about it. If you've got
    a legitimate claim, you ought to have your day in court. But it's
    important to remember that the frivolous and junk lawsuits that get
    filed all the time are clogging the ability of people with honest claims
    to get to the courthouses in Alabama and across the country. Tort reform
    is important for the State.
        And I appreciated Bob's strong support on the tax relief package
    which we passed, not only his strong support but the strong support of
    the other Members of Congress and, of course, the two United States
    Senators. We cut taxes right at the right time in our country. This
    economy began to slow

    [[Page 1243]]

    down in March of 2000. And we understand that one way to encourage
    economic growth is to let the people keep their own money. You see, when
    you have your own money, you decide, do you want to spend it on a good
    or a service? And when you make that decision, somebody has got to
    produce the good or service. And when they produce the good and service,
    it means somebody is more likely to find work. Tax relief was right for
    America when we did it, and I'm proud to have Bob Riley's support.
        And it was more than just reducing rates--which, by the way, will
    stimulate small-business growth here in Alabama. I had the honor of
    meeting some of your fine small-business owners at the University of
    Alabama-Birmingham today. And by the way, that is an impressive campus
    that has got an impressive mission here for Alabama's future.
        And we talked about how to encourage ownership. And Bob understands
    a healthy and whole society in which people from all walks of life have
    the opportunity to own their own business. And I explained to them that
    the tax relief package we passed was good for small business. It was
    good for the capital formation necessary for small businesses to thrive
    because most small businesses are sole proprietorships, most small
    businesses are limited partnerships which pay tax on the individual rate
    schedule. And when you reduce the individual rates, you're reducing the
    taxes on the startups and the small businesses.
        And after all, it's important to understand the role of small
    businesses like Bob does, because 70 percent of the new jobs in America
    are created by small businesses. And so it's going to be good for
    Alabama to have a Governor who understands that the role of Government
    is not to create wealth, but the role of Government is to create an
    environment in which entrepreneurs from all walks of life are able to
    realize their dream, and that's to own their own business.
        We've got work to do in Washington on this, a matter of economic
    security. The heady days of the nineties, the boom days of the nineties,
    it was like we were on a binge where there was no--the horizon was
    forever going up. And we binged, and now we're suffering a hangover. But
    the foundations for economic vitality and growth are very strong, low
    inflation, good monetary policy.
        One of the risks to economic vitality is whether or not Congress
    will overspend. They give the President a veto for a reason, to make
    sure that Congress doesn't overspend. And I expect there to be fiscal
    discipline in Washington this summer and, as importantly, this fall, as
    we run up into an election year. I expect Congress to set as its
    priorities the priorities that I think are important, and that is the
    defense of the United States of America and our military budget.
        We need to be a nation which is willing to be confident and strong
    and open up markets for Alabama farmers and Alabama ranchers and Alabama
    entrepreneurs. Congress needs to give me trade promotion authority. They
    ought to stop talking and start acting in Washington, DC.
        For the good of our economic growth, we need to have a terrorism
    insurance bill which will encourage the creation of construction work
    all around America, and we need a terrorism insurance bill that focuses
    more on working America and less on trial-lawyer America.
        The foundations for growth are there. We had an over-6-percent
    growth in the first quarter of this year. Durable good purchasing is up.
    Last month, retail sales were up by a percent. The American people need
    to know that we've got the potential to grow and grow strong. But so
    long as anybody is looking for work and can't find work, I think we've
    got a problem, and I'm going to continue to work the problem.
        And part of the problem is the fact that people don't have
    confidence in business leaders. A few--and I emphasize, a few--

    [[Page 1244]]

    of corporate America's leadership have polluted the well for many. And
    the best thing the United States Government can do is hold them to
    account, because we expect high standards from business America. We
    expect corporate CEOs to understand the responsibility of their jobs: to
    be open and honest with the American people; to be open and honest with
    the shareholders; and to treat their employees with respect.
        So we're going to pass some laws, and I'm confident that the laws
    that are passed out of the Senate and the House will be laws that will
    set the right tone and right standards without jeopardizing innovation
    and enterprise here in America. But I can assure you, when I talk about
    personal responsibility in America, I expect there to be corporate
    responsibility as well. And we will hold those to account who do not
    uphold those high standards in America.
        I'm very optimistic about our economy. I'm optimistic about our
    country too. And we've got some big jobs to do, no question about it. My
    biggest job is to protect the American people from another attack, and I
    know that. I go to the Oval Office every morning--and by the way,
    walking into that office is an unbelievable experience. It's
    unbelievable now that I've been up there for about a year and a half; it
    will be unbelievable for however long I'm there, I can promise you. It's
    unbelievable for me and my dog Spot, I might add. [Laughter] They don't
    let Barney in. It's a new carpet, and Barney's a new dog. [Laughter]
        But every morning I sit there at the H.M.S. Resolute desk. Teddy
    Roosevelt used it; Franklin Roosevelt used it; Kennedy used it; Ronald
    Reagan used it. I open up the threats to the United States of America.
    There's an assessment; it's a summary of what we think we know.
        You need to know that the enemy we fight is still interested in
    harming our country. I'm sure a lot of young people wonder why. We're a
    kind nation. And you need to know they hate us because we love freedom.
    We love to worship freely. We love to speak our mind. We love a free
    press. We love all the aspects of our freedom. But what they didn't
    understand is that we're willing to defend our freedoms at any cost,
    anyplace, anywhere. [Applause] Thank you all.
        We're making progress here at home. You know, I readily concede I
    didn't run on the ticket, ``Vote for me. I'll try to make Government
    bigger.'' I did say, ``I'll try to make it work better.'' And that's why
    I proposed the Department of Homeland Security. There are over 100
    agencies dealing with homeland security. They're scattered all over
    Washington. It makes it awfully hard to set priority and to hold people
    accountable.
        For the sake of the defense of our Nation, I think it's important
    that the major agencies and many of the minor agencies involved with
    homeland security be organized under one umbrella group, one Cabinet
    officer. It's going to save us money because we'll be able to get rid of
    the duplication of some services. But more importantly, it will help us
    install a new culture, which says that ``No matter what other
    assignments you might have, your most important function, Mr. Agency
    Head and all the people who work for you, is to protect the American
    people, is to understand we're in a new era, that we fight a new war,
    that America is still threatened, and so long as America is threatened,
    we need to work overtime to make sure we protect the American people.''
    And that's what's going on.
        We're getting pretty good cooperation. I appreciate the bipartisan
    spirit in Washington. There is such a thing sometimes, and that's
    important. It's important to understand my proposal wasn't a Republican
    idea. It wasn't a Democrat idea. It's an American idea, to leave behind
    a legacy so that future Presidents and future Congresses are going to be
    able to deal with the true threats we face as we head into the 21st
    century.

    [[Page 1245]]

        Part of the problem is, and there is a hurdle I recognize, and that
    is that we're asking some Members of Congress to give up turf. And
    that's okay. I understand that, but I'm going to keep reminding people,
    congressional turf is not nearly as important as American security. And
    therefore, I expect Congress to act.
        We need to know who is coming into our country, why they're coming
    into our country, and whether or not they're leaving our country when
    they say they're going to be leaving our country. We need to have an
    effective strategy at the national, State, and local level to deal with
    the brave police and fire and EMS teams all across our country, so we've
    got a planned response if necessary. We need to work on bioterrorism,
    and we need to make sure we've got a coordinating facility within the
    Homeland Security Department that will take all the bits of intelligence
    that we gather and coordinate it and look at it and assess it and, if
    there is any vulnerabilities in our country, react to it.
        And we're making good progress. You just need to know there are a
    lot of good folks--good, hard-working folks--who are working overtime in
    this phase on the war against terror. And it's part of making sure that
    the President can say we're doing all we can do to protect the American
    people. We're chasing down any lead. Anytime we get a hint, anytime we
    get a suggestion that somebody might be planning to do something on
    American soil against Americans or, for that matter, on Americans or on
    our allies elsewhere, we're moving, and we're reacting, and we're
    disrupting. And we're treating these guys for what they are, a bunch of
    coldblooded killers, nothing but a bunch of international crooks.
        And so our strategy is to keep them on the run, get them on the run,
    smoke them out of their holes, deny them access, make clear the doctrine
    that says, ``Either you're with us, or you're with the terrorists,''
    make it clear to people that we're continually doing--if you feed them,
    if you house them, if you're financing them, you're just as guilty as
    the murderers who struck the United States on September 11th.
        I submitted the largest increase in our defense spending since
    Ronald Reagan was the President, for two reasons: I firmly believe that
    anytime the Commander in Chief commits a soldier into harm's way, that
    person deserves the best pay, the best training, the best equipment
    possible; and I know that the signal it sends by the big increase shows
    our friends and allies, as well as the enemy, that the United States of
    America is in this war for the long pull, that there's not a moment in
    time in which we're just going to say, ``Well, fine. We've had enough.
    We quit.'' You know, there's no calendar on our collective desks that
    say, well, by such-and-such a date, I guess we'll just get kind of tired
    of all this and shut her down. That's not what history has called us to
    do. History has called this Nation to lead the world against the true
    threats of the 21st century, and that's precisely what my administration
    will continue to do.
        This is a different kind of war. We don't have the formations of
    airplanes flying over a territory. We don't have rows of tanks or
    convoys of destroyers moving around the globe. There's no set
    battlefield. This is a war where we're hunting them down one by one.
        The other day I told the Nation, we and our friends and allies have
    hauled in over 2,400 of these terrorist killers, and we're making
    progress. Sometimes you'll read about it, and sometimes you won't.
    Sometimes it will make a splashy headline, but a lot of times you'll
    never hear about the progress we're making. Sometimes you'll see like
    what happened in the Philippines, where, as I've made it clear, that if
    we find out there's an Al Qaida-type network in a country, we will go to
    the leadership and say, ``We want to help you. You get them, or we'll
    get them, or we'll get them together. We just want them got.''
    [Laughter]

    [[Page 1246]]

        And the President of the Philippines, Gloria Arroyo, did just that by knocking off the head of the
    group that had captured the Burnhams, American citizens. These are
    terrorists and kidnapers and killers, and their leader no longer is
    around, thanks to the leadership of our coalition. We're making
    progress. It's just going to take awhile. But that's okay, just so long
    as the enemy knows that we're going to chase them down, just keep them
    on the run.
        But there's some bigger tasks. You've got to understand, this is
    bigger than just a terrorist network--I mean, bigger than an individual.
    I know there's sometimes a preoccupation about it, is so-and-so alive,
    or is such-and-such dead, you know. This is a struggle for freedom that
    really talks to the need for our country to not only view the current
    threats but future threats, threats such as some of the world's worst
    regimes developing weapons of mass destruction and teaming up with an Al
    Qaida-type terrorist organization. We cannot and we will not allow the
    United States and our friends and allies to be blackmailed by the
    world's worst leaders with the world's worst weapons. We owe it to our
    children and our grandchildren to eliminate this threat before it
    becomes a reality.
        I believe that out of the evil done to America is going to come
    incredible good, starting with peace. I want you all to assure your
    children and your grandchildren that our Nation is resolved and tough
    and strong because we love peace. We want them to grow up in a peaceful
    world. We not only want them to grow up in a peaceful world; we want
    youngsters all across the globe to be able to grow up in a peaceful
    world.
        I believe that by remaining strong and resolute and united the way
    we are, that we can achieve peace in places like the Middle East and in
    South Asia. I also know that out of the evil done to America is going to
    come some incredible good here at home, because this Nation is such a
    decent and honorable nation. There are thousands of our fellow citizens
    who love their neighbor just like they'd like to be loved themselves,
    thousands of our citizens who know that they, themselves, can't do
    everything to make our society a better place for all, but they can do
    something.
        People say, ``What can I do to help in the war on terror?'' My
    answer is, love your neighbor. Find a child who cannot read and teach
    him to read. Find a child who might be hopeless and lost and put your
    arm around him and tell him or her you love them. Unleash the great
    power of faith in our society. I strongly believe in faith-based
    institutions, because I know that faith can change hearts for the better
    in America.
        I believe that out of the evil done to America is coming--is
    becoming--we are learning a new sense of what it means to be an
    American. We're learning that it's more than just the bottom line that
    counts, that a complete and whole life is one that lends your time and
    talent and efforts to eradicating despair and hopelessness, to make sure
    the American experience is in every single neighborhood.
        I believe we're ushering in a period of personal responsibility, a
    period where people understand that their most important job is to
    love--if you happen to be a mother or dad, is to love your children with
    all your heart and soul--that's your most important job; that you have a
    responsibility, if you're living in Birmingham, to help the community be
    a better place for everybody. If you run the corporate Birmingham,
    you've got a responsibility to your shareholders.
        And it's happening. Perhaps the most vivid example of serving
    something greater than yourself happened on Flight 93. You all may
    remember that--when people were flying across the country, they learned
    their plane was becoming a weapon. They told their loved ones goodbye.
    They said a prayer. One guy said, ``Let's roll.'' And they made the
    ultimate sacrifice. They served something greater than themselves in
    life.

    [[Page 1247]]

        That's happening all across America. Obviously, that example is the
    most vivid of them all. But out of the evil done to America is coming a
    culture of personal responsibility that allows me to boldly predict that
    we're much more likely now to bring hope where there's no hope, light
    where there's darkness, and to make sure this American experience is
    available for all. It's going to happen, because we are the greatest
    nation on the face of the Earth. And it is my honor to be the President
    of such a nation.
        Thank you for coming.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:46 a.m. at the Birmingham Jefferson
    Convention Complex. In his remarks, he referred to Patsy Riley, wife of
    gubernatorial candidate Bob Riley; Jo Bonner, candidate for Alabama's
    First Congressional District; and Mike Rogers, candidate for Alabama's
    Third Congressional District. The President also referred to Title I of
    the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994 (Public Law No. 103-382),
    which amended Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
    1965 (Public Law No. 89-10).