    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book II)]
    [October 8, 2002]
    [Pages 1764-1772]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Luncheon for Gubernatorial Candidate Van Hilleary in Knoxville, Tennessee
    October 8, 2002

        Thanks for coming. Thank you all very much. Please go ahead and be
    seated. Well, thank you for that kind introduction, ``Governor.''
    There's no doubt in my mind that Van Hilleary is the right man to be the
    Governor of Tennessee. And I want to thank you all for coming. I feel
    comfortable in a State where the university is UT, the colors are orange
    and white, and the political climate is friendly. [Laughter]
        I made a lot of friends here, and I'm proud to be amongst you all.
    Thanks for your prayers, and thanks for your support. My only regret is
    that Laura didn't come with me today. She sends
    her very best to Meredith and Van and
    sends her best to our buddies here in Tennessee. I don't know if you
    know this or not, but when I married Laura, she was a public school
    librarian. She didn't care for politics. She didn't like politicians.
    [Laughter] And now she's the First Lady of the United States, and she's
    doing a fabulous job. I'm really, really proud of her. And we're doing
    great; we really are.
        And I want to thank, for those of you who came through the line here
    recently and said they pray for our family--that's the kindest thing you
    can do for a President and his family.
        I believe strongly that the character of a person matters, and I
    believe Van Hilleary has the character necessary to be the kind of
    Governor that you can trust. He's a down-to-earth fellow that speaks his
    mind. He is the kind of person who does in office what he said he would
    do. He doesn't require focus groups or polls to tell

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    him what to believe. And he can get the job done, and that's what you
    want in a Governor. See, I know what it takes to be a Governor, and he's
    got what it takes to be your Governor.
        And I had the privilege of meeting Meredith, the next first lady. She's a schoolteacher. I think
    it makes a lot of sense to have a schoolteacher as the first lady for
    the State of Tennessee. I think it makes sense that--it's also good to
    meet Van's mom and dad. It kind of looks like he got saddled with the same
    kind of mom I've got, somebody who will tell you exactly what she
    thinks. [Laughter] But I love the fact that they've got a strong family,
    and they care for each other a lot.
        There's no doubt in my mind that Lamar Alexander will be a great United States Senator from Tennessee.
    And I'm not saying that just because he married a Texan. [Laughter] I'm saying that because he's got a great
    record and a great heart. And we need him, along with another great
    United States Senator, and that is Bill Frist.
        Tennessee has had a great history of sending important Senators to
    the Senate. You've sent really fine people, and you will continue that
    tradition with Lamar. I look forward to
    working with him. I look forward to having somebody in the Senate who I
    can count on when it comes to making sure the judges I name not only get
    a fair hearing but get appointed to the bench. We need people who will
    not--we need people on our bench who won't legislate but will strictly
    interpret the Constitution. I've got to tell you, the way the Senate is
    now set up, they're playing politics with my good nominees. They're
    distorting their record. And for the sake of a good, sound Federal
    judiciary, I need Senators like Lamar Alexander in Washington, DC.
        I want to thank Janice Bowling for
    running for Congress and soon to be elected to the United States
    Congress. I appreciate her service and her willingness to run.
        I want to thank my old college classmate--you used to call him
    Bulldog; we call him Victor--the mayor of Knoxville, Mayor Victor
    Ashe. I'm honored to call him friend. I
    appreciate his public service. And I appreciate Mike Ragsdale, who is a Knox County executive; and Beth
    Harwell, who is the chairwoman of the Tennessee
    State Republican Party. I want to thank Jim Henry,
    who tossed his hat in the ring and has been so gracious about helping to
    unite behind the next Governor of your State.
        I want to appreciate all the grassroots activists who are here.
    Listen, I understand how politics works. You can't ever get elected
    unless you've got people who are willing to put up the signs and dial
    the phones and stuff the mailers. And on behalf of a grateful President
    and a grateful soon-to-be Governor, thanks for the hard work you have
    done, and more importantly, thanks for the hard work you're going to do.
    You see, we're about to the sprint phase of the campaign. And in order
    for Van to win, he needs you going to the coffee shops and the community
    centers and talking it up. See, my attitude is, when you find a good
    one, you've got to support him, and you've got a good one in Van
    Hilleary. And he's counting on you. And I want to thank you for the work
    you're going to do.
        A couple of points I want to make about Van's agenda, his platform.
    One, he's a--he understands budgets. He's on the House Budget Committee.
    If he can figure out the Federal Government budget, you're darn sure he
    can figure out the Tennessee budget. [Laughter] But he understands you
    can't overspend. We share this common understanding of whose money we
    spend. You hear these people in Washington or probably in Nashville talk
    about, ``Well, we're spending the Government's money.'' It's not the
    Government's money, you see; it's the people's money. In order to have
    fiscal sanity, you've got to start with that attitude.
        He understands agriculture. He knows the importance of value-added
    agriculture. The thing I love about his agenda, though, is his focus on
    education. It's by far the most important thing a Governor will do

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    in any State. You see, educating the children of a State is really the
    most important priority of a State. Teaching a child to read is the new
    civil right. Teaching children to read is the beginnings of a hopeful
    tomorrow. And you better have you a Governor who's got the right
    philosophy.
        He talked about the No Child Left Behind legislation, which we
    passed in Washington. It is a significant piece of education reform. And
    I want to share the principles with you because, as this debate goes on
    here in Tennessee, about who best to handle the public school system of
    this State, you need to listen carefully to the words that these
    candidates are talking about.
        First, you need to have a Governor who is willing to challenge what
    I call the soft bigotry of low expectations. See, if you lower the bar,
    if you believe that certain kids can't learn, if you believe the inner-
    city children are too tough to educate and therefore we ought to have
    low standards, or you say a child whose parents does not speak English
    as a first language cannot be educated, you will have the soft bigotry
    of low expectations. You need to have a Governor who believes every
    child can learn and is willing to set the highest of high standards for
    every person in the State of Tennessee.
        It is important to understand one size does not fit all when it
    comes to educational excellence. You've got to have local control of
    schools. It's important. You can't have your schools controlled from
    Washington, DC. The crux of the--one of the most important reforms in
    the bill is, we passed power out of Washington. We decentralized the
    process. We trust local people. The same thing goes for the State of
    Tennessee. You've got to trust the local folks. You've got to empower
    the local teachers and principals and parents to chart the path for
    excellence.
        But the key to reform as well is the measurement. And that's a
    fundamental difference, I suspect, in this campaign. If you believe
    every child can learn, if that's what you believe, in your heart of
    hearts believe that's the case, then you want to know whether every
    child is learning. If you believe that every child can read, then the
    next logical step is, ``Show me, please. Show me whether or not the
    children of this State are learning how to read and write and add and
    subtract.''
        The No Child Left Behind legislation had as its cornerstone--it said
    this--it said: If you receive Federal money, for the first time in our
    Nation's history, prove to us that you're succeeding. And if you are,
    there will be plenty of praise for the hard-working teachers. But if we
    find children trapped in schools which won't teach and won't change, you
    better have yourself a Governor who's willing to challenge the status
    quo. If you don't measure, you don't know. If you don't measure, you're
    not able to enforce high standards. If you don't measure, you can't
    truthfully say to the people of Tennessee, ``I will make sure that no
    child is left behind.''
        And so Van Hilleary gets it, in my judgment. He understands. He
    understands there are no second-rate children in Tennessee. And when he
    finds schools that will not change, you will have a Governor who will,
    for the sake of the children of this State, challenge the status quo.
        I look forward to working with Senator Frist
    and Senator Alexander and Governor Hilleary
    to make sure America is a safer, stronger, and better place. And I want
    you to know that I know we've got challenges. I live with them every
    day. One of the biggest challenges we face is to make sure our economy
    continues to grow. I'm an optimist about our economy because I know the
    foundations for growth are strong. Anytime that you've got interest
    rates that are low, inflation which is low, and productivity which is
    incredibly high, we've got the ingredients for growth.
        We've had a few things we've had to overcome. We've had a recession
    we've had to overcome. We've had some people in our society who thought
    they could lie to

    [[Page 1767]]

    the American people, to shareholders and employees. I had the honor of
    signing one of the most comprehensive corporate responsibility bills
    since Franklin Roosevelt was the President--I appreciate the support of
    the House Members and the Senate--and here's what it said. It said:
    There's not going to be any more easy money in America. We expect you to
    be a responsible citizen. We expect you to fully tell the truth, and if
    not, we're going to let you serve some time.
        The market is adjusting, and that's not good news for savers, which
    means we've got to do everything we can to make sure that people can
    find work. I took this page out of the economic textbook, and I think
    Van shares it with me: When times are slow, when the economy is bumping
    along, one way to help create jobs is to let people keep more of their
    own money. And there's a big difference of opinion in Washington, DC,
    about that. And the difference is, is that do you increase the size of
    Government, or do you let people have more money in their pocket?
        In order to stimulate small business and the entrepreneurial spirit,
    it's important to let people keep more money so that they demand a good
    or a service. And when they demand a good or a service in the
    marketplace, somebody will produce that good or a service. And when
    somebody produces that good or a service, somebody is more likely to
    find work. The tax cuts came at the exact right time in American
    economic history.
        It's hard to explain this. Maybe Senator Frist can explain it better than me, but the Senate agreed to
    the tax cuts, but they go away after 10 years. On the one hand, we
    giveth; on the other hand, we taketh away. It sounds pretty typical of
    Washington. After 10 years the tax relief plan that we passed reverts
    back to where--the tax rates revert back to where they were last year.
    The marriage penalty that we slashed goes back to where it was. The
    death tax, which is a terrible tax--it's a terrible tax on farmers and
    ranchers and entrepreneurs and small-business people--is no longer
    repealed after 10 years. For the sake of economic growth, for the sake
    of job creation, and for the sake of giving our small businesses the
    chance to plan and for tax certainty, we need to make the tax cuts
    permanent.
        And we need to control spending in Washington, DC. There is a
    danger--it's an election year, and there is no budget in the Senate.
    There is no constraint. I submitted a budget to the House--to the
    Congress that the House passed, which shows us getting back to balance
    as quickly as possible if we're careful about spending the people's
    money, if we fund our priorities but not get excessive. Without a budget
    in the Senate, we have a potential problem.
        The Congress must understand, if they're interested in job
    creation--and by the way, there's a lot of talk about that up there, and
    not much action yet. But if they're interested in job creation, if
    they're interested in making sure people can find work, they must not
    overspend the people's money. There needs to be fiscal sanity in
    Washington, DC.
        And there are other things we can do to strengthen the economy. And
    I'll give you one practical idea, and that is, we need terrorism
    insurance. There's $15 billion worth of projects that have been put on
    hold or canceled in America because the manager of the project can't get
    insurance. The terrorists struck, and they can't get the insurance
    necessary to cover for terror. And therefore, these projects are on
    hold. There's over 300,000 jobs which are going begging because these
    projects aren't going forward.
        And so I thought it made sense for the Congress to come together and
    write a law that would provide a backstop. It's a good jobs program.
    It's a way to immediately affect the lives of the good, hard-working
    people who wear the hardhats in America. They've been talking about this
    issue now

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    for a year. Before they go home, they need to get a good terrorism
    insurance bill. If they're interested in jobs, if they want people back
    to work, join me in getting a good terrorism insurance bill--one, by the
    way, that rewards the hardhats of America, not the trial lawyers of
    America.
        Now, there's a lot we can do to work to keep this economy growing.
    And I just want you to know I'm not going to rest until people can find
    work. We're going to continue to build on the foundation of the--of
    economic growth. But my most important job is to protect America. That's
    what's on my mind a lot, is how best to secure this homeland.
        I have to tell you that, because there's still an enemy out there
    which would like to strike us. They hate us because of what we love. We
    love our freedoms, and we're not changing. So long as we love freedom,
    they will hate us, which means they're going to hate us for a while,
    because we're not changing our attitude. And they're out there, and
    they're lurking around.
        It's a different kind of war. In the old days, you know, you'd
    measure infantries or air forces or flotillas, and you could tell how
    big the enemy was or where they were or whether or not you were making
    progress against them. This is a group of people, their leaders hide in
    a cave or the dark corners of a city somewhere, and they send youngsters
    to their suicidal deaths. They're nothing but a bunch of coldblooded
    killers. We value life. In this country, we say everybody's precious;
    everybody counts. They don't value life. They've hijacked a great
    religion, and murder in the name of that religion.
        And so we've got to do everything we can to prevent the enemy from
    hitting us again. The Government's working long hours--I say the
    Government--the people in the Government are working long hours to run
    down every bit of evidence we get, every piece of intelligence. And
    we're better coordinated than we ever have been to really secure the
    homeland, to disrupt any cells that we think might exist, that we're
    doing everything we can to let the enemy know that we know they're
    there. And when we think they're there, we obviously respect our
    Constitution, but we're moving. And we're moving pretty darn good.
        But there's a way for me to better protect you and a way for future
    administrations to better protect you, and that is to take all the
    agencies involved with homeland defense and put them under one Cabinet
    officer. And it sounds simple, except when you start stepping on some
    bureaucratic toes. And the House passed a good bill, and the Senate is
    wrestling with it now, because some Senators really want to micromanage
    the managerial process. They want to pass a book of thick regulations
    that gets to make the managerial decisions for the Homeland Security
    Department. And that's not right. It just doesn't make any sense to tie
    the hands of the President and future Presidents when it comes to a
    matter of deep national concern.
        I'll give you a couple of examples, what I'm talking about. On our
    border, we need to know who's coming into the country, what they're
    bringing into the country, and whether or not they're leaving the
    country when they say they're going to leave it. And yet we've got three
    fine agencies on the border. We've got your Border Patrol, your INS, and
    your Customs. They wear different uniforms. Sometimes they have
    conflicting strategies. We need to be able to move people interagency.
    We need to be able to button it up. We need to make it seamless. We need
    to be able to put the right people at the right place at the right time.
    But you can't do that under the--one of the versions coming out of the
    United States Senate. There's not the flexibility necessary to better
    enforce our borders.
        I'll give you another example. Customs people wear radiation
    detection devices; they should. If you're interested in finding weapons
    of mass destruction, you've got to

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    have the device on your belt necessary to do that. The union head said
    no, that in order to do that, it needs to go to collective bargaining.
    We don't have the time to argue about whether or not somebody ought to
    be wearing a device to better protect the homeland.
        Listen, I believe these hard-working employees ought to be able to
    have collective bargaining. But I also know I need the capacity to
    manage the agency in a way so I can look the American people in the eye
    and say, ``We're doing everything we can to protect you.'' The Senate
    must hear this. We will not accept a bill that does not give this
    administration and future administrations the capacity to protect the
    homeland.
        The best way to protect the homeland, however, is to take the fight
    to the enemy, to chase them down, one killer at a time, and bring them
    to justice, which is exactly what the United States of America is going
    to do. And we are making progress. The doctrine that says, ``If you're
    with us--either you're with us, or you're with the enemy,'' still
    stands. It's clear. It hasn't changed. And therefore, we still have this
    coalition of like-minded people or friends that are joining us in
    hunting these people down.
        Now, this is a different kind of war, as I mentioned. Sometimes you
    will see progress on your TV screens or hear about it, and sometimes
    you're just not going to know. That's the nature of the war.
    Intelligence sharing is an integral part of being able to succeed
    against the enemy. Cutting off their money is an integral part of
    fighting the enemy. Arresting them or bringing them to justice is an
    integral part of fighting the enemy.
        The other day this bin al-Shibh
    showed up or, as I like to say, popped his head up. He was the person
    that was going to be the 20th hijacker. And we got him in Pakistan,
    thanks to work with the Pakistan Government and our own Government. We
    ferreted him out, and he's no longer a problem. He's no longer a threat
    to the United States and any of our friends.
        That's the kind of war we are waging in this part of the battle. And
    I bet you we've hauled in a couple of thousand of these killers. They're
    detained. They're no longer a problem. And like number weren't as lucky,
    thanks to the United States military.
        And there's quite a few more to go; there's quite a few more out
    there. It's going to take a while. And that's why I've submitted the
    largest increase in defense spending--asked the Congress to increase
    defense spending--the largest amount since Ronald Reagan was the
    President, because I want to make it clear, a couple of things clear.
    One, when we put our kids into harm's way, they deserve the best pay,
    the best training, and the best possible equipment. We owe that to them,
    and we owe it to their parents.
        And I also want to send a message to our friends and our foes: It
    doesn't matter how long it takes to defend our freedom; we will defend
    freedom. There's no quit in America--that we understand the stakes. The
    enemy made clear the stakes on September the 11th, 2001, and we're not
    going to forget. You can hide in any cave you want; we're coming after
    you. It doesn't matter where you think you can hide, the long arm of
    justice of the United States of America will find you.
        And we've got some hills to climb. We've got some pretty tough
    stepping to do to get there, but the country is ready for it. And the
    Congress needs to get that bill--the defense bill to my desk. We've been
    talking about it now for a while. And they're getting ready to go home.
    The leadership has got to understand that the country expects, and I
    expect, the defense bill--in a time of war--the defense bill to get to
    my desk. They need to stop playing politics with the defense bill of the
    United States.
        You need to tell your kids about America and our not only desire to
    answer history's

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    call and to defend our freedom but also that anytime our Nation goes
    anywhere, we go not to conquer anybody but to liberate people. I think
    one of the great lessons of this--of the first phase of this war was in
    Afghanistan. And we're still there, by the way, and there's still
    killers there. And we've still got troops there, and we're going to be
    there for a while. But we went there, not only to uphold the doctrine
    that says, ``If you harbor a terrorist, you're just as guilty as the
    terrorists,'' but we also went because we believe life matters not only
    in America but everywhere. We believe every child has worth. We believe
    every person has worth. And we believe in freedom. We believe in freedom
    not only for ourselves, but we believe freedom is God-given. We believe
    freedom is a right that everybody should realize.
        And you need to tell your kids that this country liberated people
    from the clutches of one of the most barbaric regimes in history. And
    thanks to the United States and thanks to our friends and allies, young
    girls--many young girls go to school for the first time. It's an
    important lesson for our children that in the defense of our own
    freedoms, that this Nation will fight if we have to, to free others as
    well.
        I've got a problem, obviously, with Mr. Saddam Hussein, and so do you. And that is, he poses a threat. He
    poses a threat to America. He poses a threat to our friends, our Israeli
    friends, our friends in his own neighborhood. He is a threat, and we've
    started a debate in this country about how to deal with that threat. And
    it's a really important debate. I don't view this as a political
    discourse or a political debate. I view this as a debate about our
    future, the role of the United States and the world, about security and
    freedom. And I welcome the debate, and I look forward to watching the
    Congress debate this issue this week. I believe we're going to get a
    strong resolution, backed by both Republicans and Democrats.
        But it's their choice to make, just like it's Mr. Saddam
    Hussein's choice to make as to whether or not
    he will do what he told the world he would do--which is to stop lying,
    stop deceiving, and disarm. He told the world that he would not have
    weapons of mass destruction, and yet for 11 years he has deceived the
    world.
        I went to the United Nations. I want to share with you why, because
    I really do want the United Nations to be effective. I don't want the
    United Nations to be the League of Nations. I want the United Nations to
    be an effective agent for peace. I want the United Nations to be able to
    help deal with the new issues we face. It's their choice to make as
    well. See, for 11 years they've passed resolution after resolution after
    resolution after resolution after resolution--16 resolutions, only to be
    defied by Saddam Hussein. And in the
    meantime, he has gotten stronger.
        And so the fundamental question facing the world is, do we deal with
    this guy or not? It's the world's choice to
    make. We'll see whether or not the United Nations has the desire, has
    the backbone necessary to uphold its own resolutions and help keep the
    peace. But if they're unable to act, and if Saddam Hussein can't do what
    he said he would do, which is disarm, this country will lead a coalition
    and disarm him, for the sake of peace.
        Committing our military into harm's way is my last choice. I say--I
    talk about military options as the last option, not the first option,
    because I understand the consequences. But I want you to know that if we
    have to commit our military--and we may not have to, but if we have to--
    then we'll have the best plans. The full force and fury of the United
    States military will be unleashed, and make no mistake about it, we will
    prevail.
        History has put the spotlight on this great Nation. And I'm
    confident this country will show the world and history our character,
    our strength, our determination,

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    our absolute love for freedom and the values which we hold dear.
        You know, the enemy hit us. I just can't imagine what was going
    through their mind. I suspect they thought we were so materialistic and
    so self-absorbed, so selfish that all we would do after September the
    11th was maybe file a lawsuit or two. They didn't understand. They
    really didn't understand, and they're going to pay a severe price for
    not understanding. See, this country, instead of stepping back and said,
    ``Oh, gosh, we're going to be terrorized and so fearful we won't act,''
    made the absolute, decided effort to act in the name of peace and
    freedom.
        Out of the evil done to the--to our country is going to come some
    good. And one of the good is going to be peace. You need to tell your
    children, amidst all of the discussion and the debate they hear, there
    is a strong desire by this President and my administration and our
    country to achieve peace. I believe by remaining strong and focused and
    determined and unrelenting in our desire to wipe out terror, we can
    achieve peace for ourselves, and we can achieve peace in the Middle
    East, peace in South Asia. I believe it's possible. I believe the enemy
    has handed us an unbelievable opportunity to make the world a more
    peaceful place, an opportunity which I intend to seize.
        And at home, the enemy hit us. And instead of us falling down in
    self-pity, we took a step back and made an assessment of that which is
    important and decided as a nation to fight evil by millions of acts of
    kindness and decency, that a lot of people in our country stepped back
    and realized that serving something greater than yourself in life was an
    incredibly important part of being a patriotic American. You know, as we
    fight to make--work to make America a stronger place and safer place,
    we've also got to work to make it a better place. It's happening across
    our country now.
        People understand that to fight evil, all you've got to do is do
    some good. And it doesn't have to be majestic acts: Mentoring a child is
    part of doing good; going to a shut-in's home and telling them you love
    them; recognizing that, in our society, there are people who hurt,
    people who are addicted, people who wonder what the American Dream was
    all about; and also recognizing that you can be a part of changing a
    person's attitude and outlook by loving them.
        See, Government can hand out money, but it can't put hope in
    people's hearts. It can't put a sense of purpose in people's lives.
    That's done when our fellow citizens take it upon themselves to be
    responsible for the society in which we live and love a neighbor just
    like you'd like to be loved yourself.
        No, the enemy hit us. They didn't know who they were hitting.
    They've awakened a spirit of America here. The American spirit is
    strong, evidenced most clearly on that fateful day when people were
    flying across the country on Flight 93. They heard the plane was being
    used as a weapon. They realized America--that vast oceans could no
    longer protect us, and we were a battleground. They told their loved
    ones goodbye. They used the word ``love'' a lot. They said a prayer. A
    guy said, ``Let's roll.'' They took the plane into ground to serve
    something greater than themselves in life.
        The American spirit is alive and strong. It's not only an
    entrepreneurial spirit; it's a spirit of compassion and decency and
    kindness. There is no question in my mind that this country can overcome
    the obstacles in our way, and out of the evil done to America will come
    great good, peace around the world, and a hopeful, decent, compassionate
    America in which each of us who lives in this country understands the
    American Dream is meant for them.
        I want to thank you all for coming. May God bless you, and may God
    bless America.

    [[Page 1772]]

    Note: The President spoke at 12:23 p.m. at the Knoxville Convention
    Center. In his remarks, he referred to candidate Van Hilleary's wife,
    Meredith, and his parents, Bill and Evelyon Hilleary; former Tennessee
    gubernatorial candidate Jim Henry; senatorial candidate Lamar Alexander,
    and his wife, Honey; Janice Bowling, candidate for Tennessee's Fourth
    Congressional District; 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.