    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book I)]
    [June 17, 2003]
    [Pages 649-653]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Bush-Cheney Reception
    June 17, 2003

        Thank you all. I would say take a seat, but--[laughter] Thanks for
    coming. There's nothing like having a few friends over for a cocktail or
    two. [Laughter]
        I appreciate you all being here. I had an uneventful ride over from
    the White House; nobody got hurt, and my Segway is parked outside.
    [Laughter]
        I do want to thank you all for coming. Your support is laying the
    groundwork for a strong nationwide effort next year. Your support is
    going to help us achieve a strong nationwide victory.
        I want to thank you for your help tonight. I want to thank you for
    what you're going to do as well. I want to thank you for helping to
    invigorate the grassroots all across this country. I want to thank you
    for the phone calls you'll make, for the signs you'll put up in the
    yard, and for helping spread the positive message of this
    administration.
        The political season will come in its own time. Right now, this
    administration is focused on the people's business. We've got a lot on
    the agenda. We will continue to earn the confidence of the American
    people by keeping this Nation prosperous, strong, and secure.
        I want to thank Marv and Doro
    Bush for reading the introductions just like I wrote them.
    [Laughter] I really am sorry that one member of our family is not here,
    the great First Lady of the United States. She
    sends her best. Now that she's not here, I can tell you I am incredibly
    proud of the job she is doing. She is a strong, steady, gracious First
    Lady. And I say, ``Now that she's not here''--she'd probably be angry
    with me for bragging on her.

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        I want to thank the chairman of our campaign-to-be, Marc
    Racicot. I want to appreciate Marc for his
    service to our country. I appreciate so very much my friend Mercer
    Reynolds' willingness to be the chairman of the Bush-Cheney National
    Finance Committee. This is our first event, as Marv and Doro indicated.
    It also happens to be Mercer's 58th birthday. He doesn't look a year
    older than 58. [Laughter]
        I want to thank Julie Finley, Shelly
    Kamins, Jim and Sandy
    Langdon, Dwight and
    Martha Schar, and Dick Hug
    for being the cochairmen of this event. I want to thank all the folks
    who worked hard to put it on. Mostly, I want to thank you all for your
    generous contributions.
        You know, in the last 2\1/2\ years, our great Nation has faced some
    great challenges. And we have acted decisively to confront them. I came
    to this office to solve problems, not to pass them on to other
    Presidents and other generations. I came to seize opportunities and not
    let them slip away. We are meeting the tests of our time.
        Terrorists declared war on the United States, and war is what they
    got. We have captured or killed many key leaders of the Al Qaida
    network, and the rest of them know we're on their trail. In Afghanistan,
    in Iraq, we gave ultimatums to terror regimes. Those regimes chose
    defiance, and those regimes are no more. Fifty million people in those
    two countries once lived under tyranny, and now they live in freedom.
        Two-and-a-half years ago, our military was not receiving the
    resources as needed, and morale was beginning to suffer. We increased
    the defense budget to prepare for threats of a new era. And today, no
    one in the world can question the skill and strength and spirit of the
    United States military.
        Two-and-a-half years ago, we inherited an economy in recession. Then
    the attacks on our country, scandals in corporate America, and war
    affected the people's confidence, and that hurt our economy. But we
    acted. We passed tough new laws to hold corporate criminals to account.
    We got the economy going again because we worked with the United States
    Congress to pass historic tax relief, not once but twice.
        This administration stood on principled ground. We understand that
    when Americans have more take-home pay to spend or invest, the economy
    grows and people are more likely to find a job. We're returning more
    money to American families to help pay their bills. We're reducing taxes
    on dividends and capital gains to encourage investment. We're giving
    small businesses incentives to expand and to hire new people. With all
    these actions, we have laid the foundation for greater prosperity and,
    more importantly, more jobs all across America so our fellow citizens
    have a chance to live the American Dream.
        Two-and-a-half years ago, there was a lot of talk about education
    reform but not much action. So I called for and Congress passed the No
    Child Left Behind legislation with a solid bipartisan majority,
    delivering the most dramatic education reforms in a generation. We're
    bringing high standards and accountability to every public school in
    America. Every child can learn the basics of reading and math, and every
    school must teach those basics. This administration is challenging the
    soft bigotry of low expectations. The days of excuse-making are over. We
    now expect results in every classroom so not one single child in America
    will be left behind.
        We have reorganized the Government and created a Department of
    Homeland Security to safeguard the borders and ports of America and to
    protect our people. We passed trade promotion authority to open new
    markets for America's farmers and ranchers and manufacturers. We passed
    a budget agreement that is helping to maintain spending discipline in
    Washington, DC.

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        On issue after issue we acted on principle. We kept our word, and we
    made progress for the American people.
        And I want to thank the United States Congress for joining in these
    achievements. We will continue to work together to change the tone in
    Washington, DC, by showing good will and by focusing on results.
        One of the reasons this administration has been successful is
    because I have surrounded myself with really fine men and women who
    serve the people of America. They're task-oriented people. They know
    their job is to get results on behalf of the people.
        There is no finer member of my administration then our Vice
    President, Dick Cheney. He's a great friend, a
    great adviser, a steady hand. He is the finest Vice President our Nation
    has ever had, even though Mother may not agree.
    [Laughter]
        The Vice President and the members of the
    Cabinet and all who work in this administration have formed a great team
    of true public servants who put the interests of the American people
    first. In 2\1/2\ years, we've come far, yet our work is only beginning.
    We have great goals worthy of this great Nation.
        First, America is committed to expanding the realm of freedom and
    peace for our own security and for the benefit of the world. And second,
    in our own country, we must work for a society of prosperity and
    compassion so that every citizen has a chance to work and succeed and
    realize the promise of America.
        Across this world, it has never been more clear that the future of
    freedom and peace depend on the actions of America. This Nation is
    freedom's home and freedom's defender. We welcome this charge of
    history, and we will keep this charge of history.
        The war on terror continues. The enemies of freedom are not idle,
    and neither are we. The country will not rest; we will not tire; and we
    will not stop until the danger to the free world is removed. Yet, our
    national interest involves more than eliminating aggressive threats to
    our safety. Our greatest security comes from the advance of human
    liberty, because free nations do not support terror. Free nations do not
    attack their neighbors. Free nations do not threaten the world with
    weapons of mass destruction.
        As Americans, we believe that freedom is the deepest need and hope
    of every human heart. And we believe that freedom is the right of every
    person. And we believe that freedom is the future of every nation.
        I also understand that unprecedented influence brings tremendous
    responsibilities. We have duties in the world, and when we see disease
    and starvation and hopeless poverty, we will not turn away. On the
    continent of Africa, America is now committed to bringing the healing
    power of medicine to millions of men and women and children now
    suffering with AIDS. We will lead the world in this great work of
    rescue.
        We face challenges at home, and our actions prove that we are equal
    to those challenges. We have a duty to keep our commitment to America's
    seniors by strengthening and modernizing Medicare so they have more
    choices and better access to prescription drugs. The time has arrived
    for Congress to pass Medicare reform, and that reform must give seniors
    good options that meet their needs. Members of Congress and their staffs
    currently get a choice of health care plans, and seniors ought to have
    the same kind of choices, including the choice to keep their Medicare
    coverage the way it is. If choice is good for Members of the United
    States Congress, it is good for America's seniors.
        And for the sake of our health care system, we need to cut down on
    frivolous lawsuits which increase the cost of medicine, lawsuits which
    increase the cost of medicine and force good doctors to shut down their
    practices. People who have been harmed by doctors deserve their day in
    court. Yet, the system should not reward

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    lawyers who are fishing for a good settlement. The medical liability
    issue is a national problem that requires a national solution. No one
    has ever been healed by a frivolous lawsuit. The health care system
    needs Federal liability reform now.
        And we have other measures to do to make sure our legal system is
    fair. I strongly support the class action reform bill passed by the
    House of Representatives last week, a bill which will ensure more
    settlement money goes to real victims, not to trial lawyers.
        Speaking about legal matters, I have a responsibility as President
    to make sure the judicial system runs well. And I have met that duty. I
    have nominated superb men and women to the Federal courts, people who
    will interpret the law, not legislate from the bench.
        Some Members of the Senate are trying to keep my nominees off the
    bench by blocking up-or-down votes. Every judicial nominee deserves a
    fair hearing and an up-or-down vote on the floor of the United States
    Senate. It is time for Members of the Senate to stop playing politics
    with American justice.
        The Congress needs to pass the comprehensive energy plan I
    submitted. This Nation must promote energy efficiency and conservation.
    We must work to develop cleaner technology. And we need to produce more
    natural gas here at home. We've got a problem with supply of natural
    gas. And sure, conservation will help with that problem. But we've got
    the technology necessary to explore for natural gas without damaging the
    environment. For the sake of economic security and for the sake of our
    national security, we must make America less dependent on foreign
    sources of energy.
        Our strong and prosperous Nation must also be a compassionate
    nation. I will continue to advance our agenda of compassionate
    conservatism, applying the best and most innovative ideas to the task of
    helping our fellow citizens in need. There are still millions of men and
    women who want to end their dependence on Government and become
    independent through work, so we must build the success of welfare reform
    to bring work and dignity to the lives of more Americans.
        Congress should complete the ``Citizen Service Act'' so more
    Americans can serve their communities and our country. And both Houses
    should reach agreement on the faith-based bill to support the armies of
    compassion that--who are mentoring to our children, caring for the
    homeless, and offering help to the addicted.
        A compassionate society must promote opportunity for all of us,
    including the independence and dignity that come from ownership. I
    believe strongly in promoting an ownership society. We want more
    families to own their own home. We want people to have a--own a piece of
    their retirement. We want Americans to own their own health care plan.
    And we want people to be able to start their own business. As
    Republicans, we understand that when somebody owns something, they have
    a vital stake in the future. An ownership society is a hopeful society
    in America.
        In a compassionate society, people respect one another and take
    responsibility for the decisions they make in life. My hope is to change
    the culture from one that has said, ``If it feels good, do it; if you've
    got a problem, blame somebody else,'' to one in which every single
    American understands that he or she are responsible for the decisions
    that you make. You're responsible for loving your children with all your
    heart and all your soul. You're responsible for being involved with the
    quality of the education of your children. You're responsible for making
    sure the community in which you live is safe. You're responsible for
    loving your neighbor just like you would like to be loved yourself.
        I will continue to work to see that the responsibility era arrives
    in America. And we can see it beginning to happen, as a

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    result of the culture of service that is arising around us. I proposed
    and started the USA Freedom Corps to encourage people from all walks of
    life, all across America, to extend a compassionate hand to neighbors in
    need. And the response has been strong. Our faith-based charities across
    America are also strong, and they're vibrant, bringing hope and healing
    to our fellow Americans. Policemen and firefighters, people who wear our
    Nation's uniform are reminding us what it means to sacrifice for
    something greater than yourself. And once again, the children of America
    believe in heroes because they see them every day.
        In these challenging times, the world has seen America's resolve and
    courage. And I have been privileged to see the compassion and the
    character of the American people. All the tests of the last 2\1/2\ years
    have come to the right nation. We're a strong country, and we will use
    that strength to defend the peace. We're an optimistic country. We're
    confident in ourselves, and we're confident in ideals bigger than
    ourselves. We seek to lift whole nations by spreading freedom. And at
    home, we seek to lift up lives by spreading opportunity to every corner,
    to every person of this great country.
        This is the work that history has set before us. We welcome it, and
    we know that for our country, better days lie ahead.
        May God bless you, and may God continue to bless America. Thank you
    all.

    Note: The President spoke at 6:46 p.m. in the International Ballroom at
    the Washington Hilton. In his remarks, he referred to his brother,
    Marvin Bush, and sister, Dorothy Bush Koch; and Republican National
    Committee chairman Marc Racicot.