[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book I)]
[June 20, 2003]
[Pages 668-672]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 668]]

Remarks at a Bush-Cheney Reception in Greensboro, Georgia
June 20, 2003

    The President. Thank you all very much. Thanks a lot for coming out 
tonight. So I'm walking up on the stage, and Saxby says, ``If you keep 
it short, we might be able to get a round of golf in.'' [Laughter]
    I want to thank you all for being here. I came without my 
wife, unfortunately.
    Audience members. Aw-w-w.
    The President. I know it. There's a lot of good, discerning people 
out here in the crowd who understand who the real star of our family is. 
She was in Chattanooga today working. You drew 
the short straw. [Laughter] But I can't tell you how proud I am of the 
job she is doing. She is a fabulous First Lady for our country, and she 
sends her best and her thanks.
    Standing up on the stage here with Sonny 
and Saxby reminded me about what it means to 
offer a hopeful and optimistic vision, because that's precisely what we 
did last fall. In this State, we said, ``If you elect these good people, 
you'll get good government for everybody.'' And thanks to your hard work 
and your efforts, you elected the first Republican Governor in 130 
years. And he's doing the job you expect him to do. He's a straight 
shooter. He does in office what he said he would do.
    And that's the same with Saxby. I've got 
no stronger ally in the United States Senate than Saxby Chambliss, and I 
want to thank you
    And thanks to your help, starting tonight, we're going to build on 
what you did last fall and deliver a strong nationwide victory next 
fall. And I'm getting loosened up. [Laughter] I'm getting ready, but I'm 
going to have to count on you all to energize the grassroots, to make 
the phone calls, to put the signs in the yard, and to spread our 
message, which is a positive and hopeful message for every single 
citizen who lives in this country.
    The political season will come in its own time. But right now, I am 
focused on the people's business in Washington, DC. We've got a lot on 
the agenda. We've got a lot to do before the political season. But I can 
assure you that we will keep earning the confidence of Americans by 
keeping this Nation secure and strong and prosperous and free.
    Along with Sonny, there's a lot of State 
officials here, and I want to thank you all for coming.
    And along with Saxby came a--members of one of the finest 
congressional delegations in Washington, DC: Congressmen Jack 
Kingston, Johnny Isakson, Mac Collins, ``Mac'' 
Charlie Norwood, Max Burns, and John Linder, and I want to 
thank you all for coming. I appreciate you being here.
    I want to thank my close friend Mercer Reynolds for agreeing to be the national finance chairman of 
the Bush-Cheney campaign. I want to thank Jamie--that would be 
Jamie Reynolds--for hosting this event 
tonight. I want to thank all the cochairmen who have helped. I want to 
thank Harold Reynolds. I want to thank my 
friend Fred Cooper. But most of all, I want to 
thank you all. You put the wind at my back. You give me a lot of 
confidence to take on the task ahead. And I appreciate you coming.
    In the last 2\1/2\ years, our Nation has acted decisively to 
confront great challenges. I came to the office of the Presidency to 
solve problems instead of passing them on to other Presidents or other 
generations. I came to seize opportunities instead of letting them slip 
away.
    We are meeting the tests of our time. Terrorists declared war on the 
United States of America, and war is what they got. We have captured or 
killed many key Al Qaida leaders, and the rest of them know we're on 
their trail. In Afghanistan

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and 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 it needed, and morale was beginning to suffer. We've increased 
the defense budget to prepare for the threats of a new era. And today, 
no one in the world can question the skill and the strength and the 
spirit of the United States military.
    Two-and-a-half years ago, we inherited an economy in recession. Then 
the attacks on our country occurred, and then scandals in corporate 
America and war affected the people's confidence. But we acted. We 
passed tough new laws to hold corporate criminals to account. And to get 
the economy going again, we have twice led the United States Congress to 
pass historic tax relief for the American people.
    Here's what we believe, and here's what we know: When Americans have 
more take-home pay to spend, to save, and to invest, the whole economy 
goes, and people can find work.
    We understand whose money we spend in Washington, DC. It's not the 
Government's money. It is the people's money. And we're returning more 
money to people who are trying to raise their families. 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 are laying the foundation for greater 
prosperity and more jobs all across America so every person, every 
single person in this country, can have the chance to live the American 
Dream.
    Two-and-a-half years ago, there was a lot of talk about education 
reform, but there wasn't much action. So I called for and Congress 
passed the No Child Left Behind Act. With a solid bipartisan majority, 
we delivered the most dramatic education reforms in a generation. We're 
bringing high standards and strong accountability measures to every 
public school in America. Every child can learn the basics of reading 
and math. And we believe every school should teach those basics. We are 
challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations in American schools. 
The days of excuse-making are over. And now we can expect results in 
every single classroom so that not one child in America is left behind.
    We reorganized the Government and created the Department of Homeland 
Security to safeguard the borders and ports and to protect the American 
people. We passed trade promotion authority to open up 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.
    On issue after issue, this administration has acted on principle, 
has kept its word, and has made progress for the American people. And 
the United States Congress has shared in these achievements, and I 
appreciate the hard work of the Members of the United States Congress. 
We will continue to work together. We will continue to work to change 
the tone in Washington, DC, by focusing on the people's business, by 
focusing on results.
    And that's the nature of the people I've asked to serve America in 
my administration, people who are willing to set aside all the partisan 
bickering, people who are willing to serve the American people. I've put 
together a fabulous team. We've had no greater Vice President in the 
United States than Richard B. Cheney, 
although my mother may have a different view. 
[Laughter]
    In 2\1/2\ years, we have come far--2\1/2\ years, we've come a long 
way. But our work is only beginning. We have great goals worthy of a 
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

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our own country, we must work for a society of prosperity and compassion 
so that every citizen has a chance to work and to succeed and to realize 
the great promise of America.
    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 are 
keeping it.
    On the war on terror, continues--the war on terror continues. The 
enemies of freedom are not idle, and neither are we. This country will 
not rest; we will not tire; and we will not stop until this danger to 
civilization 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 terror. Americans 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 the future of every nation.
    America also understands 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. This great land is leading the world in important 
work of human rescue.
    I will continue to work on our economy until anybody who wants to 
work and is not working today can find a job.
    And we have a duty at home to keep our commitment to America's 
seniors by strengthening and modernizing Medicare so that they have more 
choices and better access to prescription drugs. The time has arrived 
for the United States Congress to pass Medicare reform. And that reform 
must give our seniors good options that meet their needs. Members of 
Congress and their staffs currently get 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 the 
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. People who have 
been harmed by a doctor deserve their day in court. Yet the system 
should not reward lawyers who are simply fishing for a rich settlement. 
Because frivolous lawsuits drive up the cost of health care, medical 
liability is a national problem, and it requires a national solution. No 
one has ever been healed by a frivolous lawsuit. We need medical 
liability reform now.
    I have a responsibility 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 United States 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 Senate 
floor. It is time for some of the Members of the United States Senate to 
stop playing politics with American justice.
    The Congress needs to pass a comprehensive energy plan. Our Nation 
must promote energy efficiency and conservation, develop cleaner 
technology. But we need to produce more energy at home. We need to 
produce more natural gas. For the sake of economic security and for the 
sake of national security, we must make America less dependent on 
foreign sources of energy.

[[Page 671]]

    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 tasks 
of helping our fellow citizens in need. There are still millions of men 
and women who want to end their dependency on Government and become 
independent through hard work. We must build on the success of welfare 
reform to bring work and dignity into the lives of more of our fellow 
citizens. Congress should complete the ``Citizen Service Act'' so that 
more Americans can serve their communities and their country. And both 
Houses should finally reach agreement on my Faith-Based Initiative to 
support the armies of compassion that are mentoring children and caring 
for the homeless and offering hope to the addicted.
    A compassionate society must promote opportunity for all, including 
the independence and dignity that come from ownership. This 
administration will constantly strive to promote an ownership society in 
America. We want more people owning their home. We want people to own 
their own retirement accounts. We want more small-business owners in 
America. We want people to have control and own their own health care 
plan. We understand that when a person owns something, he or she has a 
vital stake in the future of this country.
    In a compassionate society, people respect one another and take 
responsibility for the decisions they make. We're changing the culture 
of America from one that has said, ``If it feels good, do it,'' and ``If 
you've got a problem, blame somebody else,'' to a culture in which each 
of us understand we're responsible for the decisions we make in life--
that each of us are responsible, that if you're fortunate enough to be a 
mother or father, you're responsible for the well-being of that child. 
And if you're griping about the quality of education in the community in 
which you live, you're responsible for doing something about it.
    A responsibility society says to CEO America, loud and clear, 
``You're responsible to your shareholders, and you're responsible to 
your employees.'' And in our responsibility society, each of us are 
responsible for loving our neighbor, just like we'd like to be loved 
ourselves.
    We can see the culture of service and responsibility growing around 
us. I started what I call the USA Freedom Corps to encourage Americans 
to extend a compassionate hand to a neighbor in need, and the response 
has been strong, just like the response is strong in America for faith-
based charities that bring hope and healing to a fellow citizen.
    Policemen and firefighters, people who wear our country'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 the resolve and 
courage of America. And I've been privileged to see the compassion and 
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 use our 
strength to defend the peace. We're an optimistic country, confident in 
ourselves and in ideals bigger than ourselves.
    Abroad, we seek to lift whole nations by spreading freedom. At home, 
we seek to lift up lives by spreading opportunity to every corner of 
America. This is the work that history has set before us. We welcome it. 
And we know that for our country and for our cause, the best days lie 
ahead.
    May God bless you all, and may God bless America. Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 6:33 p.m. at the driving range of the 
Oconee Course at the Ritz-Carlton Lodge, Reynolds Plantation. In his 
remarks, he referred to Gov. Sonny Perdue of Georgia; Jamie and Harold 
Reynolds, co-owners, Reynolds Plantation; and

[[Page 672]]

Fred Cooper, Georgia State finance chairman, Bush-Cheney '04, Inc.