[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book II)]
[October 22, 2002]
[Pages 1861-1867]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 1861]]


Remarks in Bangor, Maine
October 22, 2002

    The President. Thanks a lot for coming. Thank you all.
    Audience member. We love you, George!
    The President. I'm glad I came. Thank you.
    Congressman, thank you for that kind 
introduction.
    I'm here for a couple of reasons. One, I always like to come to 
Maine. Sometimes I come to get instructions from my mother. [Laughter] 
Every time I come, I've enjoyed being here. It's a beautiful place. I 
thank you for your hospitality. I thank you all for coming out. I thank 
you for your deep concern for our country, and thanks for your 
participation in the political process.
    I'm here because there's no question in my mind, Kevin Raye will make a great United States Congressman. I'm here 
because I have learned a lot about Susan Collins. There is no doubt in my mind, she is a great United States 
Senator. And for the sake of Maine and for the sake of the United 
States, you need to send her back to the Senate. I'm here because I 
firmly believe that Peter Cianchette will 
make a great Governor for Maine.
    I am here because I want to talk about how we can work together to 
make America a safer, a stronger, and a better country. I mean a safer 
and stronger and better country for Republicans, for Democrats, for 
people who don't give a hoot about politics.
    First, I want to apologize and tell you, you drew the short straw. 
Laura was tied up--[laughter]--so you got stuck 
with me. I want to tell you, she's doing great. Many of you have--some 
of you have told me, I bet many of you feel this way, that you say 
prayers for Laura and me and the family. I want to thank you from the 
bottom of our heart for that. It means a lot. And we're doing well.
    You know, when I married Laura she was a 
public school librarian.
    Audience member. Oh, yeah!
    The President. There's always one in every crowd--[laughter]--a 
special breed, I might add. She didn't like 
politics, wasn't too keen on politicians either. [Laughter] Now here she 
is, the First Lady of the United States and a fabulous one at that. 
She's calm. She's steady. She's got a great smile. She cares deeply 
about our children. The people of the country now understand why I asked 
her to marry me. A lot of them are wondering why she said yes. 
[Laughter]
    But she sends her best, as do I, as do I to 
not only Susan Collins but to a really fine 
lady who represents Maine, a United States Senator who's got a lot of 
class, a lot of wisdom, a lot of power, somebody with whom I enjoy 
working, somebody who is making a difference for America, and that is 
Olympia Snowe.
    We've got a man up here who wants to be one of my mother and dad's 
Congressmen. He's got him one in Houston, and he's got one in Maine, and 
he hopes to have a new one. And the guy's name is Steven Joyce, running for the U.S. Congress. My only advice, Steven, 
is that when you win, you make sure you answer their mail.
    I'm so proud to be here with Kathy Watson, 
who is the chairman of the Republican Party for Maine; Jan 
Staples, who is the national committeewoman for 
Maine. I want to thank our high school choir and high school band who 
are here today.
    But most of all, I want to thank you all for coming. I want to thank 
the grassroots activists who are here. I want to thank the people who 
take time, who work hard to make sure that the democracy is strong. I 
want to thank you very much for your efforts on behalf of all 
candidates. I want to thank you for what you have done. I want to thank 
you for what you're going

[[Page 1862]]

to do, and that is to turn out the votes for these candidates on 
November the 5th.
    When I say that I understand Susan Collins, I do. I've worked closely with her. I've worked with her 
on key issues that face the country. There was no stronger supporter for 
the No Child Left Behind Act than Susan Collins. You see, we passed a 
meaningful piece of education reform. I want to describe to you right 
quick the key ingredients on this piece of legislation, and you'll 
understand why I'm so proud of the work that she did, along with 
Olympia.
    First of all, the bill challenges what I call the soft bigotry of 
low expectations. You see, what we understand is, if you have low 
standards and low expectations, you're going to get lousy results in our 
schools. We must have a system that sets the highest of high standards. 
You must believe every child can learn. But also we believe you've got 
to trust the local people. See, we understand the people of Maine are 
more competent in charting the path for excellence than the people in 
Washington, DC, are for the Maine children.
    One of the key components of the No Child Left Behind legislation is 
what we call the Reading First Initiative. Susan Collins was instrumental in helping to write that part of the law. 
It tripled the amount of money available for reading programs. But as 
importantly, it said we must base our reading programs on what works, 
not what sounds good, that there is a science to teaching children how 
to read, and that all across the country we must dedicate ourselves to 
making sure that we challenge that soft bigotry of low expectations by 
insisting that every single child in America becomes a good reader.
    I thank Susan Collins for her 
leadership on that issue. Not only--not only did we insist upon high 
standards and local control of schools, we increased the amount of money 
available for education, the largest expenditure of Federal dollars and 
education ever. There's $200 million of Federal monies coming to Maine 
this year.
    But we also said, ``In return for receiving this new money, we 
expect you to deliver results. In return for money, we want to know 
whether or not our children are learning to read and write and add and 
subtract.'' And when we find out they are, we'll praise the teachers. 
And for those of you who are teachers out there, thank you, on behalf of 
our collective hearts. It's a noble profession.
    But the reason we have demanded accountability is because we want no 
child left behind. When we find our children trapped in schools which 
will not teach and schools which will not change, we better have the 
courage to challenge the status quo. Every child counts in America, and 
no child should be left behind.
    Now, I appreciate Susan a lot. She has 
delivered on behalf of Maine, and she has delivered on behalf of the 
country. I also appreciate her working on Medicare. You see, medicine 
has changed, and Medicare hasn't. Medicare is modern--medicine is 
modern, and Medicare is stuck in the past. It needs to be changed. We 
need to make sure there is a prescription drug program for our seniors. 
Susan Collins can get the job done on behalf of Maine, people in Maine.
    I like to say when you find a good one, you've got to send them back 
to office, and you've found a good one in Susan Collins. I'm proud to call her friend, and I hope you're proud to 
call her United States Senator.
    I'm also proud to be here for Kevin Raye. 
He's going to make a fine Congressman if for no other reason than he 
worked for Olympia Snowe for all these 
years. I appreciate his strong principles. I appreciate his good 
judgment. I appreciate his independent spirit. I appreciate his common 
sense. I look forward to working with him on doing what's right for 
Maine and doing what's right for America.

[[Page 1863]]

    He knows what I know: There's too much name 
calling in Washington, DC; there's too much finger-pointing; there's too 
much zero-sum politics. This is a man who's going to bring dignity to 
the office. He'll work with both Republicans and Democrats to get the 
job done. He's no-nonsense. He's also clear-eyed. He understands the 
threat the United States faces. He's not going to be one of these folks 
that is naive about the threats we face. I need somebody in Congress 
with whom I can work to make sure that we do the job of keeping America 
safe and strong, and that person is Congressman Kevin Raye.
    And finally, you'd better get you a Governor with whom we can work 
on this education reform, somebody who's got one special interest in 
mind, and that's the children--somebody who cares deeply about the 
children of the State, and that Governor is going to be Peter 
Cianchette.
    He knows what I know: Education is to a 
State what national defense is to the Federal Government. The number one 
priority of any Governor must be the education of every single child. I 
know he will challenge the soft bigotry of low expectations. I know 
he'll work with the teachers. I know he believes in local control of 
schools. I know he'll work with parents. And most importantly, I know 
he'll challenge failure when he finds it. Every child matters to Peter, 
and no child will be left behind.
    No, I want to thank you all for coming today to give me a chance to 
tout these candidates. Again, I urge you to make sure you work hard to 
turn out the vote. They're counting on you. They're counting on you to 
go to the coffee shops. They're counting on you to go to the community 
centers. They're counting on you to talk it up, and make sure when you 
talk it up, just don't talk it up to Republicans. There's a lot of 
Democrats who are wise enough to vote for these candidates. And make 
sure you talk it up with independents and people who don't care. Turn 
them out to the polls. It's an important election, and we need these 
candidates to win.
    We've got some big challenges ahead of this country. That's why I've 
taken a keen interest in these elections. I look forward to having a 
Congress with which I can work to meet the challenges facing America. 
And we've got some big challenges. It doesn't matter how big they are, 
as far as I'm concerned, though. See, there's nothing we can't 
accomplish in this country. This is the greatest country on the--finest 
country on the face of the Earth, no doubt in my mind.
    One of the challenges we have is to make sure people can find work. 
Anytime somebody is looking for a job and can't find work means we've 
got a problem. The foundations for growth are strong: interest rates 
low; inflation is low. We've got the highest productivity in the world 
amongst our workers and our farmers and our ranchers. No, we're strong 
in America. But still too many people can't find a job. So I look 
forward to working with Congress to expand jobs opportunities.
    And there's some things we can do, starting with making sure people 
have got more money in their pocket. See, here's the textbook I've read 
from. It says, if you let a man or woman have more of her own money or 
his own money, they're going to demand a good or a service. And when 
they demand a good or a service in the marketplace, somebody is going to 
produce the good or service. And when somebody produces that good or 
service, somebody is more likely to find work. That tax relief plan we 
passed was good for the American economy.
    As a matter of fact, over the next 10 years, that tax relief plan 
will mean over $5 billion for Maine residents. That's 5 billion 
additional dollars of your own money that you will be able to choose how 
to spend, $5 billion that you can use to invigorate the economy.
    But the problem is, some in Washington don't see it that way. Some 
in Washington

[[Page 1864]]

want this tax relief plan not to be permanent. Some in Washington want 
this tax relief plan to go away. It doesn't make any sense. Either you 
trust the Government, or you trust the people--we trust the people.
    I look forward to working with Congress to make sure we get a 
terrorism insurance package that rewards hardhats and not trial lawyers, 
that gets our construction people back to work. I look forward to having 
an energy bill which encourages alternative uses, renewables, increased 
conservation, but at the same time makes us less dependent on foreign 
sources of crude oil.
    I look forward to working with people like Susan and Olympia and Kevin who understand that when they talk it up in Washington, 
they say, ``The Government's spending the Government's money here, and 
the Government's spending the Government's money there,'' that we 
recognize we're not spending the Government's money. We're spending the 
people's money, and therefore we need to be fiscally sound with the 
people's money.
    Now, there's a lot of things we can do to work together to make this 
economy grow. And I look forward to working with Congress and won't rest 
until people who are looking for work can find work.
    We've got a big job as well to make sure we protect America. I was 
amazed when Kevin told me that in the course of a 
debate, he said one of the two in the race didn't believe we were still 
under a threat. That's just not the case. I wish it were true, but it's 
not true. There's still an enemy out there that's acting. There's still 
an enemy which hates America. They hate America because of what we love. 
We love freedom. We love the fact that people can worship an almighty 
God any way they see fit in America. We love the freedom for people to 
speak their mind. We love a free press. We love every aspect of our 
freedom, and we're not going to change. And therefore, there's an enemy 
out there which hates what we love. And so we've got to do everything we 
can to protect the homeland.
    My most important job is to protect American life, to protect 
innocent life. I mention that because you've got to know something about 
these people we fight. Unlike us, they don't value life. See, we think 
every life is precious. Everybody counts. Everybody matters. We face an 
enemy which has hijacked a great religion and are nothing but a bunch of 
coldblooded killers, and therapy won't work. [Laughter]
    We learned a tough lesson on September the 11th. See, it used to be 
oceans could protect us, and if there was a war on another continent, 
we'd make the choice as to whether or not we would join that war, that 
we were safe and secure as a nation because oceans could keep us safe 
and secure. But the harsh reality of the 21st century came home. Oceans 
no longer protect us. Threats overseas are threats that we must 
recognize here at home and deal with them. That's why I asked the United 
States Congress to have a dialog on Iraq. That's why I asked the 
Congress to seriously consider, along with the administration, as to 
whether or not we should deal with a true threat to our country.
    I want to remind you that we're dealing with a man who has used weapons of mass destruction on his own 
people, on people in his neighborhood. This is a man who has defied the 
United Nations 16 times over an 11-year period. The world has said, 
``You must do what you said you would do, Saddam Hussein, and that is 
disarm.'' And 16 times the United Nations, over and over and over again, 
has written resolution after resolution, saying, ``Mr. Saddam Hussein, 
you must disarm.'' And he has defied an international body.
    So I gave a speech, and I said to the world, ``For the sake of 
peace, for the sake of peace at home, for the sake of peace in the 
Middle East, for the sake of determining whether or not that 
international body is going to be the League of Nations or the United 
Nations, Saddam Hussein

[[Page 1865]]

must disarm, and we expect you, the world, to disarm him''--for the sake 
of peace, for the sake of security for our country. It's his choice to 
make. ``You said you would disarm, disarm. The United Nations has asked 
you to disarm.'' They need to work together to disarm. But my fellow 
Americans, if they won't act, and if Saddam Hussein won't act, for the 
sake of peace, for the sake of our security, we will lead a coalition to 
disarm that man.
    And so we face true threats at home. And I went to Congress to ask 
them to join me in the creation of a Department of Homeland Security. I 
did so because I wanted to take the agencies involved with securing our 
homeland and put them under one Cabinet Secretary, so we can set clear 
priorities, the priorities to protect you, the priorities to do 
everything we can to protect you. And therefore, I thought it would be 
wise for us to have a Department of Homeland Security so we could better 
coordinate, better facilitate, better prioritize, if need be, change 
cultures within agencies, so this becomes the primary focus of a lot of 
good people who are working on your behalf.
    And by the way, there are a lot of good people working on your 
behalf. We understand the stakes now. We see the reality clearly. We 
know there's an enemy lurking around. We're aware of Bali, Indonesia, 
where people just--innocent lives were just destroyed as a result of 
these coldblooded killers. We know the stakes. People are working hard 
on your behalf. Anytime we're getting a hint, anytime we're getting a 
scintilla of evidence, anytime we think somebody is fixing to do 
something to the American people, we're moving; we're disrupting; we're 
denying. We're doing everything we can.
    But we can be more effective, and that's why I asked Congress to 
join me in the creation of a homeland defense, department of homeland 
defense. The House acted, and the United States Senate is stuck. And 
it's not because of the two U.S. Senators on this stage, I might add. 
They're struggling in the Senate because of special interests. They're 
struggling because they're trying to get me to pay a price for a 
homeland security bill. And I want to describe the price that they want 
me to pay.
    Every President since John Kennedy has had the ability to act in the 
interests of the country for national security purposes. Every President 
has had the capacity to suspend some labor rules if those rules get in 
the way of national security concerns. Listen, I strongly support the 
right for people to bargain collectively, if they choose to do so. But I 
also am going to hold dear to that right Presidents have had to be able 
to suspend some work rules for the sake of national security.
    I'll give you an example of what I'm talking about. After September 
the 11th, the Customs Service wanted to quickly assign its best, most 
qualified inspectors to the northern border. See, we were worried about 
our borders. We're still worried about our borders. We need to know 
who's coming into the country, what they're bringing into the country, 
and if they're leaving the country when they say they're going to leave 
the country. That's what we want to know. So we wanted to move the best 
inspectors up there. But the leaders representing this part of the 
workforce said, ``No way. See, we're not going to let you do that. You 
have to bargain over these assignments.''
    Now, that's not right. We asked inspectors to wear radiological 
detection devices so that they may be able to sniff out a weapon of mass 
destruction. They said, ``No. No, we've got to have collective 
bargaining over that.'' It took us 4 months of negotiations with the 
head of the union to be able to get that done.
    Now, see, I need the right to be able to put the right people at the 
right place at the right time to protect America. And I'm not changing, 
because I understand what's at stake. What's at stake--we've got to make 
sure we do it right, to make sure that this President and future 
Presidents

[[Page 1866]]

can protect the homeland. And I say ``future Presidents'' because in my 
judgment, this deal isn't ending anytime soon--that even though we're 
making progress, we still have got a long way to go.
    And I want to remind you all that the best way to protect the 
homeland is to hunt the killers down, one person at a time, and bring 
them to justice. And that's what this country is going to do. And we're 
making progress. In the old days, you know, you could measure progress 
based upon the number of tanks you destroyed, or whether or not 
somebody's navy had fewer ships, or whether or not the air force wasn't 
able to fly. But this is a different kind of war, see. We're facing 
these kind of people that hide in caves or move around in the dark 
corners of some of these cities in the world; they send youngsters to 
their suicidal deaths. It's a different kind of war.
    But we're making progress. The doctrine that says, ``Either you're 
with us or the enemy''--it still stands. There's a lot of good people 
around the world working hard too. We've hauled in a couple of thousand; 
like number weren't as lucky. None of them are a threat anymore. The 
other day, a guy named bin al-Shibh 
popped his head up. You don't have to worry about him. He was the man 
who wanted to be the 20th hijacker. He was lurking around Pakistan, 
figuring out a way how to hurt America again. And we found him, and he's 
now in custody.
    Slowly but surely, we're dismantling the Al Qaida terrorist 
network--slowly but surely. And as we do so, we're spreading freedom. I 
want you to remind your kids and any other child you come in contact 
with that amongst all this war talk, that this great country never has 
conquered anybody. We're liberators. Thanks to the United States and our 
friends and allies, many young girls go to school for the first time in 
Afghanistan. We will never be conquerors. We believe in freedom. See, 
when I say, ``Every life counts; everybody has worth; every individual 
matters,'' I don't mean just Americans. I believe that way for 
everybody. I believe freedom is universal. It's just not an American 
ideal; it's a God-given ideal. It's a universal ideal, and we love 
freedom in America.
    Tomorrow I'm going to sign a defense appropriations bill. I want to 
thank Senator Snowe and Senator 
Collins for working on that bill and 
getting it to my desk. It's the largest increase in defense spending 
since President Reagan was the President. I'm going to tell you the two 
reasons why. Anytime the United States of America sends our youngsters 
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 one of our troops--you loved ones out there of your troops. 
I've got great confidence in the United States military. I have great 
confidence in the ability of our United States military. I'm incredibly 
proud of those who wear our uniforms.
    And the second reason the defense bill had the size it did, it sends 
a message to friend and foe alike: It doesn't matter how long it takes 
to defend freedom; we'll do it. There's no calendar on my desk that 
says, by such-and-such a date we're going to have to haul the troops 
home; such-and-such a date we're going to quit. That's not the way 
America thinks. That's certainly not the way I think. We love peace, and 
we love freedom, and it doesn't matter how long it takes to secure both.
    History has called us into action. History has called us to action. 
We have a duty to future generations of Americans to make this land 
secure. That's an obligation we have. It's an obligation we won't--from 
which we will not shirk.
    I can't imagine what was going through the minds of the killers when 
they hit America. Oh, they must have thought we were so materialistic 
and selfish, so self-absorbed that after September the 11th, we'd file a 
lawsuit or two. [Laughter] They didn't understand. They just didn't get 
it.

[[Page 1867]]

They don't understand that this great Nation will defend that which we 
love. They don't understand that as a nation we see opportunity out of 
the midst of the terrible evil.
    See, I do believe this: I believe the stronger we are, the more 
resolved we are, the more clear-sighted we are, the more likely it is 
we'll not only achieve peace for ourselves, but we can achieve peace in 
the Middle East. We can achieve peace in South Asia. No, out of the evil 
done to this great country can come incredible good. I truly believe 
that staying the course, speaking clearly, fighting terror where it 
exists, spreading freedom in a humble way, we can achieve peace.
    And I also know here at home that we can achieve a better America, 
and Government can help. We talked about education initiatives and 
health initiatives. There's a lot of ways Government can help. But we've 
got to remember that Government can hand out money, but what it can't do 
is put hope in people's hearts or a sense of purpose in people's lives. 
In order to eradicate the pockets of despair and loneliness and 
hopelessness which exist in this great land, which has got to be a 
national cause, we want everybody in this country to recognize and 
realize the great promise of America. See, when one of us hurts, we all 
hurt. In order to eradicate those pockets of despair, we must love a 
neighbor just like we'd like to be loved ourselves. Each of us can make 
a difference in making sure the American experience is available to all. 
Each of us can love a neighbor like we'd like to be loved ourselves.
    America can and will change--one conscience, one heart, one soul at 
a time. Not one person can do everything, but each of you can be 
somebody doing that something to make America a better place. Mentor a 
child. Feed the hungry. Find shelter for the homeless. No, the enemy hit 
us, but they didn't know who they were hitting. The enemy hit us, and 
out of the evil done to America is going to come some incredible good.
    There's no doubt in my mind we will be a better society, a more 
decent society, a society in which we understand that being a patriot 
means more than just putting your hand over your heart. Being a patriot 
means helping somebody in need. Being a patriot means serving a cause 
greater than yourself.
    No, they hit us, and out of the evil done to America is going to 
come a more peaceful world, a more--better America, no doubt in my mind, 
because this is the greatest country, full of the finest people on the 
face of the Earth.
    Thank you for coming. May God bless you all, and may God bless 
America.

Note: The President spoke at 3:26 p.m. in Hangar 12 at Bangor 
International Airport. In his remarks, he referred to Kevin Raye, 
candidate for Maine's Second Congressional District, who introduced the 
President; Steven Joyce, candidate for Maine's First 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.