[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book I)]
[June 30, 2003]
[Pages 718-722]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks at a Bush-Cheney Luncheon in Miami
June 30, 2003
The President. Thank you all for coming. It's a big deal to be
introduced by your brother--[laughter]--especially one who's been so
successful as the Governor of the State of Florida.
I'm proud of him. I'm not surprised. We both share the same political
consultant--[laughter]--our mother. [Laughter]
Her fees are low, but her opinion is plentiful. [Laughter]
But it's been a successful event. We've raised a lot of money, and
I want to thank you for that. We're laying the groundwork for what is
going to be a victory in November of 2004. I'm getting ready. I'm
loosening up for the task ahead. But I just need to remind you that I'm
going to need your help, continued help. I believe our message is best
for the country. It is a
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message that speaks to everybody. It's a message of hope and peace and
freedom. And you're going to need to tell your friends and neighbors. We
need a grassroots effort.
There will be plenty of time for politics. Right now I'm focused on
the people's business in Washington, DC. We've got a lot on the agenda,
and I'm going to work hard to continue to earn the confidence of each
American by making sure this country is safe and secure and prosperous
and free.
I just flew in from Crawford. I said good-bye to the First
Lady. She sends her best. I'm sorry she is not
with me. She is, by far, the best thing I've got going. I'm really proud
of Laura. I'm proud of her steadiness and her calm in the face of storm.
I love her dearly. She is a great First Lady for our country.
I'm honored that Members of the United States Congress are here.
Congressman Foley and the two Diaz-Balart boys are with us as
well. I'm proud to call them friends. I'm proud to work with them. They
love Florida. They love America. And they're fine United States
Congressmen. Thank you all for coming today.
I too want to thank Zach and Tom
Petway III for putting this event on. I want to
thank them for serving in a big capacity for me in the Florida campaign.
I want to thank Al Hoffman as well, as well as
Mercer Reynolds, my longtime friend who is
the national chairman. I want to thank the party chairman who is here,
Al Cardenas. But most of all, I want to thank
you all. I'm honored that you've given of your money and your time and
your efforts. I appreciate your love for our country. I appreciate your
willingness to participate in the process.
You know, we've been through a lot in 2\1/2\ years. We really have,
but our Nation has acted decisively to confront great challenges. I came
to office to solve problems, not to pass them on to future Presidents
and future 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 leaders of Al Qaida, and
the rest of them know we're on their trail. In Afghanistan 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. So 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 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 came on our country, and we had scandals in corporate
America, and we were at war. And all this 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. We believe that when Americans have more money in their
pocket to spend, to save, or invest, the whole country benefits, and
someone is more likely to find a job. We understand whose money we spend
in Washington, DC. We do not spend the Government's money. We spend the
people's money. It's your money to begin with. And so we're returning
more money to people to help them raise their families. We're reducing
taxes on dividends and capital gains to encourage investment. We're
giving small businesses proper incentives to expand and to hire people.
With all these actions, we are laying the foundations for greater
prosperity and more jobs across America, so that every single person in
this country has a chance to realize the American Dream.
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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 the Congress
passed the No Child Left Behind Act. With a solid bipartisan majority,
we delivered the most dramatic education reform in a generation. We're
bringing high standards and strong accountability measures to every
public school in America. We believe every child can learn the basics of
reading and math, and we expect every school in America to teach those
basics. We are challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations. The
days of excuse-making are over. And now we expect results in every
single classroom, so that not one single child is left behind.
We reorganized the Government and created the Department of
Homeland Security to safeguard our borders and ports and to better
protect the American people. We passed trade promotion authority to open
new markets for America's entrepreneurs and manufacturers and farmers
and ranchers. 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; we have kept its word; and we
have made progress on behalf of the American people.
The United States Congress deserves credit, and I will continue to
work with the Congress. I'll work with them to help change the tone in
Washington, DC, to focus on results. And that's the nature of the people
that I've surrounded myself with. I've put together a fantastic
administration of hard-working, decent Americans, there to serve the
American people. Dick Cheney is a great Vice
President of the United States, the greatest Vice President. I say the
``greatest''; Mother might have a different
opinion. [Laughter]
Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida. I was wondering
about that. [Laughter]
The President. In 2\1/2\ years, we've come far. We really have.
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 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
realize the great promise of our country.
It is clear that the future of freedom and peace depend on the
actions of America. This Nation is freedom's home, and we are freedom's
defender. We welcome this charge of history, and we are keeping it. 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, and 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, including those who live on the island of Cuba. And
we believe that freedom is the right of every person, and we believe
that freedom is 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, which I'll be visiting next week, America is
now committed to bringing the healing power of medicine to millions of
men and women and children now suffering from AIDS. This great land is
leading the world in this incredibly important work of human rescue.
We face challenges here at home, and our actions prove that we're
equal to those challenges. I will continue to work on our economy until
everybody who wants to
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work and can't find a job is able to find a job.
We have a duty to keep our commitment to America's seniors by
strengthening and modernizing Medicare. Last week the Congress took
historic action to improve the lives of older Americans. For the first
time since the creation of Medicare, the House and Senate have passed
reforms to increase the choices of seniors and provide coverage of
prescription drugs. The next step is for both Houses to come together to
iron out some details and to get a bill to my desk.
And for the sake of a strong health care system for all Americans,
we need to cut down and end the frivolous lawsuits which increase the
cost of medicine. People who have been harmed by a bad doc deserve their
day in court. Yet the system should not reward lawyers who are simply
fishing for rich settlements. Because frivolous lawsuits drive up the
health--the cost of health care, they affect the Medicaid budget; they
affect the Medicare budget; they affect the cost to our veterans. It is
a--they affect the Federal budget, is what I'm telling you. Medical
liability reform is a Federal issue. It requires a Federal solution. No
one has ever been healed by a frivolous lawsuit. This country needs
medical liability reform now.
I have a responsibility as President to make sure the judicial
system runs well, and I have met that duty. I have submitted--I have
nominated superb men and women for our Federal courts, people who will
interpret the law, not legislate from the bench. But 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
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. We must develop cleaner
technology. We must use our technologies to help us explore for more
energy at home. For the sake of our economic security and for the sake
of our national security, we must be 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 by 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. We must build on the success of welfare reform
to bring work and dignity into the lives of more of our fellow
Americans.
Congress should complete the ``Citizen Service Act,'' so that more
Americans can serve their communities and their country. Both Houses
should reach a settlement on my Faith-Based Initiative to support the
armies of compassion that are mentoring children, that are caring for
the homeless, and offering hope to the addicted.
A compassionate society must promote opportunity for all, including
the independence and dignity that comes from ownership. This
administration will constantly strive to promote an ownership society.
We want more people owning their own home. We want people to own and
manage their own health care plan. We want more people to own and manage
their own retirement accounts. We want more small-business owners in
America, because we understand that when a person owns something, they
have a vital stake in the future of America.
In a compassionate society, people respect one another and take
responsibility for the decisions they make in life. 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 one--to a
culture in which each
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of us understands we are responsible for the decisions we make in life.
If you are fortunate enough to be a mother or a father, you're
responsible for loving your child. If you're worried about the quality
of education in your neighborhood, you're worried about doing
something--you're responsible for doing something about it. If you are a
CEO in corporate America, you're responsible for telling the truth to
your shareholders and your employees. And in a responsibility society,
each of us is responsible for loving our neighbor just like we'd like to
be loved ourself.
We can see the culture of service and responsibility growing around
us. I started what we call the USA Freedom Corps to encourage Americans
to extend a compassionate hand to neighbors in need. And I'm pleased to
report the response has been strong. Our faith-based charities from all
denominations are vibrant and strong, as people who have heard the call
to serve something greater than themselves in life are doing so by
helping somebody who hurts.
We've got policemen and firefighters and people who wear our
Nation's uniform reminding us on a daily basis what it means to
sacrifice for something greater than yourself in life. 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 the
courage of America. And I've 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 use
that 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. And may God continue to bless America. Thank you
all.
Note: The President spoke at 12:35 p.m. in the International Ballroom
at the Hilton Miami Airport. In his remarks, he referred to Zach
Zachariah and Tom Petway III, Florida State finance cochairmen, and
Mercer Reynolds, national finance chairman, Bush Cheney '04, Inc.; Al
Hoffman, Jr., finance chairman, Republican National Committee; and Al
Cardenas, former chair, Republican Party of Florida.