[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book II)]
[October 18, 2002]
[Pages 1832-1839]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri
October 18, 2002

    Thanks for coming. Thanks for the warm welcome. I'm honored to be 
here at the--on the campus of this fine university. I'm proud to be here 
in southwest Missouri. I love the values of the heartland represented in 
this part of our country, the values of faith, the values of family, the 
love of our country. I appreciate you coming out to say hello. These are 
the values which make Missouri a great State and make our Nation a great 
nation.
    I want to thank you for your friendship. I want to thank you for 
your prayers. I want to thank you for your concern about our political 
process. I appreciate your interest. I appreciate your willingness to 
take a stand. And I am here in the State of Missouri to take a stand: 
The best person running for the United States Senate is Jim 
Talent.
    I need him in the Senate to work with 
him. We've got some big problems facing our country. But there's no 
doubt in my mind that we can achieve anything we put our mind to. 
There's no doubt in my mind that no matter how high the hurdle, the 
United States of America, when we put

[[Page 1833]]

our mind to something, can cross that hurdle.
    Jim Talent shares my optimism about the 
future of this country because he knows what I know: This country is 
blessed with the finest people on the face of the Earth, and that, by 
trusting the people and calling upon the best of America, we can achieve 
anything--I mean anything--we set our mind to.
    I appreciate Jim Talent's values. He's a 
family man. He's got his priorities straight. He's a man who doesn't 
need a focus group or a poll to tell him what to think. He's more than 
happy to stand on principle. He's more than happy to say, ``This is what 
I believe, and I'm not changing.'' And I appreciate a man who's willing 
to take those values, the Missouri values, and the sense of purpose to 
Washington, DC.
    He's also got a record. See, he's 
already been up there once. He's shown us what he can do. And when he 
was up there, he wasn't afraid to take the lead. He is one of the key 
authors of one of the most important pieces of social legislation in the 
last decade, and that is the welfare reform bill that transformed 
millions of lives in America, because he knows what I know, that dignity 
is found when you find work, that work is the cornerstone of any life 
that has got dignity.
    I appreciate his understanding of small 
business. See, he is an advocate for small business in Washington, DC. 
We need that kind of attitude up there. See, after all, our economy is 
kind of bumping along. It's not as strong as it's going to be. So long 
as we keep working on it, it's going to get better.
    But one of the things we've got to understand is that most new jobs 
in America are created by small businesses. And therefore, we've got to 
have somebody in the United States Senate who understands that and is 
willing to work on an environment that encourages the growth of small 
businesses. Jim Talent's got a record, and 
he's got a good record.
    He also will work to change the tone in 
Washington. Listen, we're proud Republicans, but we've got to serve 
something bigger than political party in these times of stress on our 
country. It's important to put all this aside and focus on what's right 
for the American people. And Jim Talent understands that. I'm proud to 
stand by his side.
    And we share something else in common: We both married above 
ourselves. [Laughter] He married 
Brenda. I married Laura. And by the way, the First Lady, she sends her love and 
her greetings. She's heading down to Texas today, so you drew the short 
straw. [Laughter] She's doing great, though. I want to remind you that 
when I married her, she was a public school librarian. [Applause] Public 
school librarians united for Laura. [Laughter] She didn't care for 
politics when I married her. She didn't particularly care for 
politicians when I married her. [Laughter] Thank goodness she said yes.
    People have got to see why I asked her to 
marry me. She's calm. She's steady. She cares deeply about our children. 
She loves education. It's our top priority. A lot of people are still 
wondering why she said yes. [Laughter] But nevertheless, she's doing 
great. I can't tell you how proud I am of her, and I love her dearly.
    I want to thank the senior Senator from Missouri for being here. 
He's done a fabulous job on behalf of the citizens of Missouri. He is a 
man whose judgment I trust, whose vote I can count on. He's a strong 
ally. He's got the right instincts. He's got a great voting record. And 
that is Senator Kit Bond.
    I appreciate so very much the fact that your Congressman has joined 
us today. Roy Blunt is effective. He's smart. He 
can count votes. I appreciate his support, and I appreciate his 
friendship.
    I appreciate the fact that former Congressman Mel Hancock is here. I want to thank Congressman Hancock for coming.

[[Page 1834]]

    You've got yourself a hot Senate race--State senate race. This race 
matters. It matters a lot. You've got a good man running, a good, down-
to-earth fellow who's going to tell you what he thinks. He's going to do 
in office what he said he's going to do. And that's Dan 
Clemens.
    I've got a great Cabinet. I've asked people from all across our 
country to serve our Government in my Cabinet. You trained one of the 
best ones in my Cabinet. Yesterday morning I met with the Attorney 
General. He said, ``You make sure you remind 
my folks at home that I haven't forgot where I came from.'' John 
Ashcroft is doing a great job for America.
    And finally, I appreciate you letting some of my fellow Texans cross 
the State line. They must have not checked these boys' backgrounds 
before they came. [Laughter] I've known the Gatlin Brothers for a long 
time, and I really appreciate the three brothers coming. I'm--
Larry is my good buddy. He is a fine, fine, 
fine American, and Steve and Rudy are as well. I hope you're enjoying them as much as I've 
enjoyed knowing them. And I'm real proud their here. I want to thank the 
Gatlin boys for coming today.
    Now, I've got some things on my mind that I want to share with you. 
I've got some issues I want to discuss with you. I've got some reasons 
to be here besides just politics. I need somebody to help me deal with 
our economy. Now listen, the foundation for growth is strong. Interest 
rates are low. Inflation is low. We've got the best workers in the 
world. Productivity is high in America. The entrepreneurial spirit is 
strong in this country. The foundations for growth are strong. But so 
long as somebody is looking for work can't find work, I think we have a 
problem. And so therefore, we need to put people in the United States 
Senate who wants to think about--when it comes to the economy--how to 
create jobs.
    The role of Government is not to create wealth. The role of 
Government is to create an environment in which small businesses can 
grow to be big businesses, in which the entrepreneur can flourish, in 
which anybody who's got a dream can work hard and realize that dream. 
Most jobs, as I mentioned, are created by small businesses. For the sake 
of economic vitality, for the sake of job creation, we've got to have 
people in the Senate who understand that when a person has more money in 
his or her pocket, it will serve as a stimulus to job growth.
    You see, here's the page of the textbook which we've read. It says 
that when a person has more money, he or she is likely to demand a good 
or a service. And when you demand a good or service in our economy, 
somebody is likely to produce that good or a service. And when somebody 
produces the good or a service, somebody is more likely to find work. 
For the sake of job creation, for the sake of making sure our people can 
find work, the tax relief came at the absolute right time in American 
history.
    But here's why we're still talking about it. Because of a quirk in 
the rules in the United States Senate, after a 10-year period, the tax 
relief plan we passed goes away, unless the Congress makes it permanent. 
And that's the issue.
    The tax relief plan over the next decade for the people of Missouri, 
if permanent, would mean there is $27 billion in income tax relief and 
death tax relief in your pockets. That's more money for you to have to 
make decisions about. It's your money to begin with, by the way. There's 
$4 billion additional money in your pocket because of the tax relief on 
the child credit. There's a $1.5 billion money in the Missouri people's 
pockets because we're doing something about the marriage penalty. See, 
what we think is that the Tax Code ought to encourage marriage.
    It's like the Senate giveth, and then the Senate taketh away. 
[Laughter] In this case, the Senate giveth, and the Senate taketh

[[Page 1835]]

away over $32 billion that would help economic expansion and growth. 
There's no question in my mind that Jim Talent understands what I'm talking about, that in order to make 
sure our economy is strong so people can plan, so the entrepreneurial 
spirit remains strong in America, we need to make the tax cuts 
permanent.
    One of the worst taxes that we have on the books that we're trying 
to get rid of and won't get rid of unless we have a Senator and Senators 
who vote to make it permanent, is the death tax. This death tax hurts 
Missouri farmers. This death tax, it hurts small-business owners. It's a 
bad tax. Don't take my word for it. Let me quote some of citizens in 
your neighborhood.
    There's a guy named Jim Staley. He's a fourth 
generation family farmer in Willard, Missouri. He wants to pass his farm 
on some day to his children. That makes sense. The guy's working the 
land. He's got some kids. He says, ``I want my kids to be able to work 
the land, too. I want the family farm to survive.'' He remembers when 
his daddy died, he had trouble trying to make sure the farm stayed in 
the family and didn't go to the Government. He remembers those times. So 
he's worried about it. Here's what he says: ``It's a shame that 
Americans are taught that if you work hard all your life, you can pass 
it along to your family, and they can work to make it better. But when 
it comes down to it, the Government ends up taking it away.'' That's 
what the death tax does.
     It's a bad tax. It's a bad tax. It's a bad tax because it taxes 
assets twice. It's a bad tax because it prevents somebody who owns 
something from passing the asset on to whoever he or she chooses.
    Fellers Fixtures, right here in Springfield, Missouri, Carl 
Fellers, here's what he thinks. First of all, 
he says he thinks he pays enough taxes already. See, most small 
businesses pay tax at the individual income tax level, because you're a 
sole proprietorship or a limited partnership. When you reduce rates on 
people, you're also reducing rates on small businesses. But he doesn't 
believe that he ought to pay more taxes than he has already when he 
dies. And neither do his children.
    No, we need to make sure, for the sake of economic vitality, for the 
sake of job creation, that you elect you a United States Senator who 
makes sure the tax relief plan is permanent.
    Jim Talent will be a Senator who's 
committed to making sure we have an education system that we're proud 
of. I signed a great piece of education reform. It challenges the soft 
bigotry of low expectations. It holds people to a high standard. It 
says, in return for receiving Federal money--and we cranked up the level 
of Federal money, by the way, for education spending--but in return for 
receiving Federal money, you've got to show us. Just like you say in 
your State motto, ``Show Me'' whether or not the money is being well 
spent. Show me whether or not our children are learning to read and 
write and add and subtract. We ask that question because we want to make 
sure not one single child gets left behind in America.
    Jim Talent knows what I know, that 
medicine has changed, and Medicare hasn't, that medicine is modern, and 
Medicare is stuck in the old ways. We need a Senator up there who can 
work with people in both parties to make sure that we modernize Medicare 
for the sake of our seniors. Modernizing Medicare means that we've got 
to have a prescription drug plan for our seniors.
    One of my most important responsibilities is to put good people on 
the Federal bench. Our definition of good people obviously are people 
who are honest, who know the law, who are there to serve something other 
than themselves, who won't use the bench as a legislator might use the 
bench from which to write new law, but to strictly interpret the 
Constitution of the United States. And the Senate has got a lousy record 
when it comes to my judges.

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    Look at the percentage that they've approved. It's the worst record 
in modern history. It's worse than how the Senate treated President 
Clinton, President Bush 41, President Reagan. They're holding up the 
nominees. And when they put some of my good nominees forward, they're 
not telling the truth about their records. They're distorting their 
records. They're playing shameless politics with the judges I put 
forward. You need to have a United States Senator like Jim 
Talent who will not play shameless politics 
with the judges I've put forward. No, there's a lot of things we can do.
    We're going to work together to make sure America is a strong 
country by having a good economy and making sure we fulfill our promises 
to our children and to our seniors. I know I can work with this 
man.
    I also will be working with the next Congress to protect America. We 
learned a sad lesson on September the 11th, 2001, and that is that we're 
no longer immune from attacks from an enemy which hates us, that oceans 
no longer protect us like we used to think they could. It's changed the 
dynamics. The battlefield is here at home.
    People must understand that there's still an enemy which lurks and 
desires to hurt. They do it because of what we love. They hate what we 
stand for. We love freedom. We love the fact that people can worship an 
almighty God any way he or she chooses. We love every aspect about our 
freedoms. We love our free press, and we love the discourse and--a 
political discourse in a free society, and we hold those freedoms 
dearly. And we're not changing. No matter how they try to terrorize, how 
they try to threaten, we're not changing. And so long as we don't 
change, we have to do everything we can to protect America in the new 
realities we face. It's a dangerous world, but nobody's going to cause 
us to retreat from this world.
    Obviously, my job is not only to deal with threats that we find in 
these dark caves but also to anticipate threats. I want to thank the 
United States Congress for speaking with one voice about a 
tyrant and a dictator who has constantly 
defied the world, who refuses to disarm, who, in the new reality, serves 
as a true and real threat not only to the United States but a threat to 
our friends in the Middle East, a threat to other freedom-loving 
countries.
    The world has been put on notice, Mr. Saddam Hussein is now on notice. We expect him to disarm. We expect 
him to live up to the obligations that he has told the world that he 
would meet. We expect the United Nations to be the United Nations, not 
the League of Nations. We expect them to join us in keeping the peace, 
by holding this dictator to account. That's what we expect.
    No, the threats are real. It's a different era. And this country 
will deal with these threats in an open way and a firm way and a 
resolved way, because we love our freedoms. We understand the biggest 
obligation we have, at least the biggest obligation I have, is to do 
everything I can to protect the homeland. There are a lot of good people 
working hard to protect the homeland. Anytime we find a hint about 
something that might be done to America, we're moving on it. Anytime we 
find any evidence that somebody might be thinking about harming our 
country, there are a lot of folks on the case. We're disrupting; we're 
denying; we're doing everything we can in our power and within the 
United States Constitution to protect the homeland.
    And that's why I went to the United States Congress and asked them 
to create a Department of Homeland Security, so I can tell the American 
people and future Presidents can tell the American people that we're 
doing everything we can to protect you--everything we can. You see, 
there's over 100 agencies involved with the protection of our homeland. 
It means they're kind of scattered about. If the number one priority of 
America is to protect the homeland, it seems to make sense to me to put 
them under one agency, so we

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can make that the number one priority that everybody involved with 
homeland security must meet.
    And we're having a big debate up there about it. Sometimes in our 
Nation's Capital, they talk to much--[laughter]--and do too little. 
Sometimes they do too much when they should be talking. [Laughter]
    The House passed a good homeland security bill. The House heard my 
call to have a bipartisan approach to protecting the homeland. The House 
heard the call to put aside politics and not let interests--be 
interested in special interests but to focus on the American people, not 
only today but down the road. And the House passed a bill. They're stuck 
in the Senate. The Senate can't get it done right now. It's stuck.
    And here's the issue. The Senate is saying, ``Sure, Mr. President, 
you can have a homeland security bill, but there's going to be a 
price.'' And here's the price. They want to roll back an important 
authority that every President since John F. Kennedy has had, and that 
authority is this: For 40 years, a President has had the capacity to 
suspend labor rules in every Department of Government when the national 
security is at stake. The President has had the capacity to be able to 
change rules in order to protect America.
    One example of what I'm talking about, just so you'll know clearly, 
is that customs agents, we thought, ought to be wearing radiological 
detection devices, just in case somebody tried to smuggle a weapon of 
mass destruction into America. We thought that made sense for them to 
wear these. The head of the union said, ``Uh-uh, that must be voluntary. 
You can't make anybody do that, and therefore, let's have a collective 
bargaining session over it,'' which might have taken a year's time.
    See, we don't have time for that kind of thing. The Senate wants to 
roll back my authority. The Senate wants to say, ``You can have that 
authority, Mr. President, to suspend workers' rights or workers' rules 
in the case of a national emergency, in the Agriculture Department, but 
not for the Homeland Security.'' And that's not right.
    Jim Talent understands what I'm talking 
about. You put him in the Senate; we'll get us a good homeland security 
bill, which will make it easier for Presidents to protect America.
     I need to be able to put the right people at the right place at the 
right time, and that's what the Senate must hear, loud and clear. And 
one way they can hear it is, they can hear it from the people. You can 
express yourselves, right in the ballot box. That's the way you can send 
a message loud and clear about the importance of having a Homeland 
Security Department that will work today, that will work tomorrow, and 
will work for decades to come, because this threat, folks, is real for a 
while.
    And that's why the best way to protect the American homeland is not 
to hope these fellows change their mind, not to hope that they go get 
therapy to make them think different, but it's to hunt them down one by 
one and bring them to justice--what America is going to do.
    We are in a different kind of war, and we're still at war. We're in 
a war unlike the past. See, the past you used to say, ``Well, we're 
making progress because we've blown up a couple of tanks or we sunk a 
ship or their Air Force isn't as strong anymore.'' These people hide in 
caves and send youngsters to their suicidal deaths. See, they don't 
appreciate the value of life like we do. In America, we believe every 
life is precious; everybody has worth. These people don't value life, 
and they hijack a great religion and murder in the name of that 
religion.
    They just did that recently in Indonesia, and we'll be joining our 
friends in Australia in a day of mourning for the terrible tragedy that 
took place. We lost lives. They lost a lot of lives. Listen, these are 
killers, nothing but coldblooded killers, and we're going to treat them 
that way, and we're

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going to hunt them down, one person at a time.
    And we're making progress, thanks to a great United States military, 
and thanks to friends and allies. We're making progress. One reason 
we're making progress is because of the doctrine that says, ``Either 
you're with us, or you're with them,'' still stands. It's still 
relevant. Our coalition is still rounding people up. It's a different 
kind of war. Sometimes you'll see progress, and sometimes you won't. The 
other day, a guy named bin al-Shibh, he 
popped his head up. He's no longer a problem. He was significant because 
he was to have been the twentieth hijacker. And he was still plotting, 
and he was still planning. I bet you we've captured over a couple of 
thousand of them, maybe up to nearly 3,000 by now. Like number, they 
weren't as lucky. We're going to deny them sanctuary. We're going to 
find them. We're going to put them on the run.
    It doesn't matter how long it takes, my fellow Americans, when it 
comes to our freedom, it doesn't matter how many years it takes, the 
United States of America will stay the course, because we will defend 
America, no matter the cost.
    I'm going to sign a defense bill next week. The Congress has gotten 
it to my desk, and I appreciate that. That is the largest increase in 
defense spending since Ronald Reagan was the President, for two reasons. 
I want to--I asked for that request, one, anytime we put our troops into 
harm's way, they deserve the best training, the best possible pay, and 
the best equipment. We owe that to our troops, and we owe it to their 
loved ones. And the other message is, the other message to friend and 
foe alike is that we take our responsibilities seriously, that we love 
our freedoms. We love our country, and we're not quitting. There's not a 
calendar that says, well, gosh, it must be time to haul in; it must be 
time to shut her down. That's just not the way I think, and that's not 
the way America thinks.
    I can't imagine what was going through the mind of the enemy. They 
must have thought that America was so selfish, so materialistic, so 
self-absorbed that after 9/11/2001, we might have filed a lawsuit or 
two. [Laughter] That's not us.
    I want you to know that out of the evil done to America can come 
some incredible good, that that's what we believe as a nation. And one 
of the--what's going to happen, I believe, by being strong and firm and 
being clear in our resolve, is that we can achieve peace. It's my dream, 
is to achieve peace. I want there to be peace for the American people. 
Since we value every life, and everybody counts, no matter where they 
live, we want there to be peace in parts of the region that have quit on 
peace. I believe it can happen. I do. I believe by being strong and 
resolved and standing on principle and understanding freedom belongs to 
everybody, not just a few, that we can have a peaceful and more hopeful 
world.
    And here at home, the evil done to America can help us deal with a 
serious problem. There are people in our country who hurt. There is 
loneliness and despair. Amidst our plenty, there are pockets of 
addiction; there are people who aren't loved; there are people who 
wonder whether the American experience is meant for them. So long as any 
of us hurt, we all hurt. We must step back from our materialism and ask 
the question, what can I do to help America? And the best way that you 
can help America is by loving a neighbor like you'd like to be loved 
yourself.
    No, the enemy hit us. Today--the enemy hit us, but today we're a 
stronger nation because we refuse to back down, but also because we've 
redefined patriotism as somebody who does more than put their hand over 
their heart. A patriot is somebody who is willing to put their arm 
around somebody who hurts, somebody in need--somebody who says, ``I love 
you.'' I want you to be one of those people. One of us can't do 
everything in society, but one

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of us can do something to help somebody who needs a hand, somebody who 
needs love, somebody--somebody who knows or somebody who cares about 
them.
    Today we've got Erin Bryant, who goes right 
here--to school here. She's an active member of the Student Community 
Action Team at Southwest Missouri State. She spends time volunteering to 
make somebody's life better. She's involved with people who want to feed 
those who are hungry and house those who are homeless.
    Be a Boy Scout leader. Be a Girl Scout leader. Do something. And 
it's the gathering momentum of the millions of acts of kindness and 
decency which will allow this great land to stand squarely in the face 
of evil. No, the enemy hit us. They didn't know who they were hitting. 
They hit the greatest nation on the face of the Earth. And we will show 
the world why.
    There's no question in my mind that even though there's hurdles 
ahead of us, we can achieve a lot. We can achieve peace, and we can make 
sure the light shines brightly, the light of hope, in every corner on 
this great land. I say that with confidence because this is the greatest 
nation, full of the finest people, on the face of the Earth.
    May God bless you all, and may God bless America.

Note: The President spoke at 9:48 a.m. in the Hammons Student Center. In 
his remarks, he referred to Brenda Talent, wife of candidate Jim Talent; 
entertainers Larry, Steve, and Rudy Gatlin; Carl A. Fellers, president, 
Fellers Fixtures, Inc.; 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.