    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book II)]
    [November 1, 2003]
    [Pages 1446-1449]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks in Gulfport, Mississippi
    November 1, 2003

        The President. Thank you all very much. Thanks for coming. I'm proud
    to be here in southern Mississippi. Thanks for your time. It's a
    beautiful night to be with the next Governor of the State of
    Mississippi.
        I'm here to say it as plainly as I can say it. The right man to be
    the Governor of Mississippi is Haley Barbour.
    We've known each other a long time. Even when he was in high cotton--
    [laughter]--running with the big shots--[laughter]--he always talked
    about Mississippi. He loves this State, and he loves the people of
    Mississippi. I think he's going to be a great Governor because he's
    going to be the Governor of everybody. He's not going to be the Governor
    of one political party or another. He's going to represent every single
    person who's fortunate enough to live in the great State of Mississippi.
        He's going to be a fine Governor because
    he's an optimist. He's got a clear and optimistic and positive vision
    for this great State. He believes in the potential of the State because
    he believes in the people of Mississippi. Haley Barbour is a family man,
    a man of faith. There is no doubt in my mind he is going to be a great
    Governor of this big State.
        Plus, he married well. [Laughter]
    Marsha is going to be a great first lady. And
    speaking about great First Ladies, I'm sorry Laura is not with me today. I know it; you got the short
    straw. [Laughter] But after I shake enough hands, I'm going to head back
    to Crawford, and I'm going to tell her that there's no doubt in my mind
    that the people of this great State support Haley Barbour to be the next
    Governor.
        And the definition of support means not only coming out to a big
    rally like this; it means doing your duty to vote. In our free society,
    you have a duty and an obligation to go to the polls. I'm asking you to
    ask your friends and neighbors to go to the polls as well. Don't be
    afraid to talk to that disenchanted Democrat--[laughter]--or the
    discerning independent. They want good government too. And Haley
    Barbour is going to give them good government.
    Turn out that vote. Work hard to get this man into office.
        I'm proud to be onstage as well with your Lieutenant Governor, Amy
    Tuck. She's a woman of conscience. She made a tough
    decision. She decided she wanted to be a principled politician.
    [Laughter] That's what you need. That's what you want in your
    statehouse. You want a principled Governor, and you want a principled
    Lieutenant Governor, and you'll have a principled Lieutenant Governor in
    Amy Tuck.
        I appreciate so very much Tricia Lott being
    here. She's a great friend of mine and Laura's.
    She married well--[laughter]--Senator Lott, who
    does a fantastic job

    [[Page 1447]]

    for the people of Mississippi. He came out to the airport. He said,
    ``Look, I've heard you speak before.'' [Laughter] He's heading north--
    [laughter]--to rally the vote for Haley. I
    said, ``You've got an excused absence just so long as you send your
    wife.'' [Laughter]
        I appreciate so very much Congressman Chip Pickering and his wife, Leisha, for being here as well. Chip's one of the rising stars
    in the United States House of Representatives, a good, honorable, decent
    family man who cares deeply about the people of this State.
        I'm also honored to here with Margaret Ann Pickering. She is the wife of Charles Pickering, Judge Pickering. You may have--[applause]. My
    job as the President is to find good, honorable citizens to serve on the
    high courts. When I picked Charles Pickering to serve in the high court,
    I picked a smart, intelligent, perfectly capable judge. It is time for
    some of the Members of the United States Senate to stop playing politics
    with American justice.
        I want to thank Scott Newton, who's
    running for the attorney general. I appreciate you coming, Scott. Don't
    forget him when you get in the booth.
        I want to thank the mayors who are here and the local officials. I
    particularly want to thank the Lynyrd Skynyrd band.
        But most of all, I want to thank you all. It's got to make a
    candidate that's coming down the stretch feel great to see so many
    people. They've been working hard and knocking on doors and making the
    phone calls, and here you all show up and give them extra energy, and I
    want to thank you for coming.
        It's important to have the right platform when you're running for
    Governor. You've got to believe in something. You can't get by just on
    your pretty looks. [Laughter] Well, in Haley's
    case--[laughter]. You've got to stand for something, and I appreciate
    what he stands for.
        First of all, he shares the same concerns
    I have. When we hear that a fellow citizen is looking for work and can't
    find a job, that says we've got a problem. We want all our people
    working. We want people to be able to put bread on the table for their
    families. We want people to realize their ambitions. It's important to
    have a Governor who understands the role of government is to create an
    environment for small businesses to grow to be big business, to create
    an environment which is pro-growth and pro-jobs. Haley Barbour
    understands that.
        You know, we face an issue in Washington, and that is the country
    was in recession just about the time we arrived. Then the enemy hit us.
    That hurt our economy. We had some of our citizens forget to tell the
    truth. They forgot what it means to be a responsible citizen, so they
    kind of--they fudged the books a little bit. They're weren't open and
    honest with their employees and shareholders. They now know what it
    means to be held accountable.
        War, a national emergency, and a recession all affected our economy.
    That's why I went to the United States Congress, not once but twice, and
    said, ``Let's let the people keep more of their own money. If you're
    interested in job creation, if you want economic growth, have tax cuts
    for the American people.''
        And the economy is beginning to recover, thanks to the hard work of
    the American people. You need to have you a Governor in the great State
    of Mississippi who understands what it means to create an environment
    for job growth, who hurts when he hears people are working, and that man
    is Haley Barbour.
        It's also important, if you want to have a good economic environment
    so people can find work, that you have a Governor who will manage the
    budget well. And that starts with having somebody who understands whose
    money government spends. We don't spend the government's money in
    Washington or here in Mississippi, see. We're spending the people's
    money. And Haley Barbour understands that.
    He'll be

    [[Page 1448]]

    a good steward of the people's money. He will set priorities for the
    people of Mississippi. He won't play politics with the people's money.
        In order to make sure people can find work, you better have a legal
    environment that is reasonable. People need to be able to have their day
    in court. The problem is, frivolous and junk lawsuits clog up the
    dockets. They make it hard for employers to hire people who are looking
    for work. You need a Governor who is strong enough to stand up to the
    personal injury trial lawyers, a Governor who is tough enough to insist
    upon medical liability reform for the people of Mississippi.
        I used to say, when I was the Governor of Texas, education is to a
    State what national defense is to the Federal Government. It's the top
    priority. That's the way it ought to be here in Mississippi. You'll have
    you a Governor, Haley Barbour, who will set
    education as the top priority for this State, and that's the way it
    should be.
        Haley will stand with the hard-working
    teachers all across the State of Mississippi. Haley will stand with the
    parents of the schoolchildren all across the State of Mississippi. Haley
    will stand with the schoolchildren by challenging the soft bigotry of
    low expectations, by raising the bar, by insisting upon standards and
    insisting upon curriculum that will teach our children how to read and
    write and add and subtract.
        No, Haley's got a good, strong platform.
    And he understands what I understand, that amidst our plenty there are
    broken hearts, there are people who hurt, there are people who are
    addicted or homeless, there are people who need to be fed. He also
    understands that government can hand out money--sometimes we do a pretty
    good job of it--but what government cannot do is put hope in people's
    hearts or a sense of purpose in people's lives. That is done when
    somebody who has heard the universal call to love a neighbor just like
    you'd like to be loved yourself puts their arm around somebody who needs
    love.
        Government should never sponsor religion, and religion should never
    try to be the state. But it's essential to make sure America is hopeful,
    that government not fear the role of faith in the lives of providing
    compassionate help for people who hurt. I look forward to working with
    Governor Haley Barbour to make sure the Faith-
    Based Initiative, which will come out of Washington, DC, is implemented
    in such a way that people have got hope for the future.
        I look forward to working with Haley Barbour to make sure that the homeland security initiative is
    well implemented, to make sure there's good coordination between the
    Federal Government and the State government and the local governments,
    to make sure our first-responders, the brave police and firefighters and
    emergency squads, have got the help necessary to do their job here in
    Mississippi.
        But he and I understand this: The best way
    to secure the homeland is to chase the killers down and bring them to
    justice, which is exactly what America will do. We must never forget the
    lessons of September the 11th, 2001. America cannot afford to sit back
    and hope for the best. In order to make America secure, we must stay on
    the offensive. This country will not tire; we will not rest until the
    danger to civilization is removed.
        A lot of people support the military here in this part of our
    country, and I want to thank you for that. A lot of you have got
    relatives who wear the Nation's uniform. When you e-mail them or write
    them a letter or talk to them on the phone, you tell them the Commander
    in Chief is incredibly proud of the sacrifice and service they're giving
    to this Nation.
        We'll stay on the offensive. We'll do what it takes to keep this
    country secure. But I want you to know, I fully understand the best way
    for long-term security is for this Nation to work to spread freedom
    around the world. See, free nations don't attack their neighbors. Free
    nations don't

    [[Page 1449]]

    develop weapons of mass terror to blackmail or threaten the world.
    That's why we will succeed in Iraq. A free Iraq, a free and peaceful
    Iraq, is in this national--is in our national interests. It's in the
    interests of our children and our grandchildren. Can you imagine what
    will take place, the change that will take place when democracy
    flourishes in the midst of a part of the world that has been an area of
    hate and violence?
        I also understand this, that freedom is not America's gift to the
    world, freedom is the Almighty's gift to every person who lives in this
    world.
        I want to thank you all for taking time out of your Saturday
    evenings to come out here. You're showing a strong commitment to your
    State, and I'm proud for that. You're showing a strong commitment of
    what it means to be a citizen living in a democracy. I'm going to ask
    you to take it a little extra farther.
        Audience members. [Inaudible]
        The President. Thank you. [Laughter] If you love me so much, make
    sure you turn out to vote. [Laughter] Make sure you go to the polls.
    Make sure you put this good man in office.
    Mississippi can do better, and Haley Barbour will lead Mississippi to
    that day.
        Thanks for coming. May God bless. Thank you all.

    Note: The President spoke at 6:28 p.m. at Jones Park. In his remarks, he
    referred to gubernatorial candidate Haley Barbour and his wife, Marsha;
    Amy Tuck, incumbent candidate for Mississippi Lieutenant Governor;
    Representative Charles W. ``Chip'' Pickering, Jr., of Mississippi;
    Charles W. Pickering, Sr., nominee to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the
    Fifth Circuit; and rock music group Lynyrd Skynyrd.