    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book II)]
    [October 9, 2003]
    [Pages 1273-1279]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at Pease Air National Guard Base in Portsmouth, New Hampshire
    October 9, 2003

        Thanks for coming. Thanks for such a warm welcome. I'm pleased to be
    back in the great State of New Hampshire again. And I'm honored to be
    with the Army and

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    Air National Guard, and with reservists from every branch of our
    military. You are demonstrating that duty and public service are alive
    and well in New Hampshire. You stand ready to defend your fellow
    citizens, and you need to know your fellow citizens are grateful.
        All of you are balancing jobs and your lives and public service. You
    care about your communities, and you care about your country. Today I'm
    going to talk about two great priorities for our country. We'll promote
    economic growth and create jobs for America, and we'll wage the war on
    terror until it is won.
        I want to thank Major General Blair for
    the introduction and for putting up with my entourage. [Laughter] I want
    to thank his commander in chief, the Governor of the great State of New
    Hampshire, for joining us today, Governor Benson, and first lady Denise. I want
    to thank Major General Joseph Simeone,
    Brigadier General John Weeden, Brigadier
    General Benton Smith, Colonel
    Protzmann--Carolyn Protzmann, Lt.
    Colonel Robert Monahan, and Lt. Colonel
    Leroy Dunkelberger, State Command
    Sergeant Michael Rice, Command Chief Master
    Sergeant Ronald Nadeau. And thank you all.
    Thank you for coming to say hello. I'm honored that you are here.
        This State is fortunate to have an excellent Governor. You're fortunate to have an excellent congressional
    delegation as well. I'm proud to be here today with two fine United
    States Senators, my friend Judd Gregg--and his
    wife, Cathy--and my friend John
    Sununu. Thank you, Senators, for being here.
    These Senators are strong supporters of your mission. They appreciate
    what you do. They vote for strong defense budgets because they know what
    I know, that any time we put our troops into harm's way, you must have
    the best training, the best equipment, the best possible pay.
    Congressman Charlie Bass and Congressman Jeb
    Bradley, who are with us today, understand that
    as well. Thank the Congressmen for coming with me today. Thank you all
    for being here.
        My friend Ruth Griffin is here from the
    Executive Council of New Hampshire. Maureen Barrows is here as well. I appreciate the local officials who
    have come--State and local officials--to greet me and to be here with
    you today.
        I know that the New Hampshire Wildcat hockey players are here. I'd
    like to give you some advice, but I don't know how to ice skate.
    [Laughter]
        Today when I landed, I met a lady named Cathy Rice. It's important for me to herald the armies of the
    soldiers of compassion, people I meet when I land in respective cities.
    It's important because it helps our country understand our true strength
    is not our military might or the size of our wallet. The true strength
    of America is the hearts and souls of fellow citizens who are willing to
    help people who need help.
        You see, Cathy Rice supports--provides
    support services to hundreds of New Hampshire National Guard families.
    She helps find babysitters and prepares meals and assists with paying
    bills, helps families when there's a deployment. She knows people stay
    behind; they worry about their loved ones. She helps fill that void with
    love and compassion and care. She offers support to the New Hampshire
    Army National Guard Family Volunteer Program. It's an important service.
    It's an important part of completing the mission. She does so because
    she cares about a fellow citizen.
        I'm proud of Cathy. I'm proud of her heart. I
    want to thank her for her service and encourage each and every one of
    you to love a neighbor just like you'd like to be loved yourself.
    America's strength is the heart and soul of our citizens.
        New Hampshire has had citizen soldiers since before America was a
    country. Militia and volunteers and guardsmen have served from the
    Revolution to the Civil War to World War II to Desert Storm. Honor and

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    service and courage are great New Hampshire traditions, and you're
    upholding those traditions. We live in an era of new threats, and the
    citizens of New Hampshire are stepping forward to meet those dangers.
        Citizen soldiers have performed mid-air refueling missions for
    coalition forces in Iraq. You're training members of the Afghan National
    Army. You're guarding suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, preparing
    for homeland security missions. Citizen soldiers are serving on every
    front on the war on terror, and you're making your State and your
    country proud.
        Serving your country can bring sacrifice and uncertainty and
    separation. Your lives can be changed in a moment, with a sudden call to
    duty. I want to thank you for your willingness to heed that important
    call. And I want to thank your families. I want to thank your sons and
    daughters, your husbands and wives, who share in your sacrifice, who are
    willing to sacrifice for our country, and who stand behind you.
        You're serving at a time of testing for this Nation. And we're
    meeting the tests of history. We're defeating the enemies of freedom.
    We're confronting the challenge to build prosperity for our country.
    Every test of America has revealed the character of America. And after
    the last 2 years, no one in the world, friend or foe, can doubt the will
    and the character and the strength of the American people.
        When you become the President, you cannot predict all the challenges
    that will come. But you do know the principles that you bring to the
    office, and they should not change with time or with polls. I took this
    office to make a difference, not to mark time. I came to this office to
    confront problems directly and forcefully, not to pass them on to other
    Presidents and other generations. The challenges we face today cannot be
    met with timid actions or bitter words. Our challenges will be overcome
    with optimism and resolve and confidence in the ideals of America.
        Because we believe in our free enterprise system, we can be
    confident in our economy's future. Our economy has been through a lot.
    When I took office, the stock market had been declining for 9 months,
    and our economy was headed into recession. And just as we started to
    recover, the attacks of September the 11th struck another blow to our
    economy. And then investor confidence was shaken by scandals--scandals
    in corporate America, dishonest behavior we cannot and we will not
    tolerate in our country. And then we faced the uncertainty that preceded
    the battles of Afghanistan and Iraq.
        No, we've been through a lot. But we acted. We led. We acted to
    overcome these challenges and acted on principle. Government doesn't
    create wealth. The role of Government is to create the kind of
    conditions where risktakers and entrepreneurs can invest and grow and
    hire new workers. We acted to create the conditions for job growth so
    people can find work. When Americans have more take-home pay, more money
    in their pocket to spend or save or invest, the whole economy grows, and
    people are more likely to find a job. So I twice led the United States
    Congress to pass historic tax relief for the American people.
        We wanted tax relief to be broad and fair as possible, so we reduced
    taxes on everyone who pays income taxes. We have a Tax Code that
    penalizes marriage. That doesn't make sense. [Laughter] So we reduced
    the marriage penalty. It costs a lot to raise children--we understand
    that in Washington, DC--and it costs a lot to pay for their education.
    So we increased the child credit to $1,000 per child. And when we said,
    ``The check was in the mail,'' we meant it.
        We recognize that it's counterproductive to discourage investment,
    especially during an economic recovery. So we quadrupled the expense
    deduction for small-business investment and cut tax rates on dividends
    and capital gains.

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        It is unfair to tax the estates of people--people leave behind after
    a lifetime of saving or building a small business or running a farm.
    When you leave this world, the IRS shouldn't follow you. [Laughter] So
    we're phasing out the Federal death tax.
        I proposed and signed these measures to help individuals and help
    families, but I did so as well to help small businesses. See, most
    small-business owners pay taxes under the individual tax rates, and
    therefore, when we cut all rates, small businesses benefit. We help mom-
    and-pops and start-ups and small businesses by allowing higher expense
    deductions.
        The reason I did so is because I understand small businesses create
    most of the new jobs in America. If we're worried about job creation, if
    we want there to be jobs for America, we must encourage small
    businesses. See, small businesses are the first to--usually the first to
    take risk, the first to hire new people. By helping small businesses, we
    help the entire economy.
        These actions are helping people across this State. We've cut taxes
    on 112,000 small-business owners in New Hampshire. We've reduced the
    marriage penalty for 192,000 couples. We've increased the child credit
    for 124,000 families. See, I know this: I know that New Hampshire
    citizens can spend their money better than the people in Washington, DC.
        We're following a clear and consistent economic strategy, and I'm
    confident about our future. Last month this economy exceeded
    expectations and added net new jobs. Inflation is low. After-tax incomes
    are rising. Homeownership is at record highs. And productivity is high,
    and it is rising as well. Factory orders, particularly for high-tech
    equipment, have risen over the last several months. Our strategy has set
    the stage for sustained growth. By reducing taxes, we kept a promise,
    and we did the right thing at the right time for the American economy.
        We're moving forward, but we are not satisfied. We can't be
    satisfied so long as we have fellow citizens who are looking for work. I
    understand that here in New Hampshire, one out of every five jobs have
    been lost in the manufacturing sector. That's an issue we must deal
    with. We must act boldly from this point forward to create jobs for
    America. So I want Congress to join me in a six-point plan to encourage
    job creation.
        First, we must help small businesses grow and hire by controlling
    the high cost of health care. I have laid out a plan to do so.
        We must confront the junk lawsuits that are harming a lot of good
    and honest businesses. I have laid out a plan to do so.
        We must have a sound national energy policy. We must keep the lights
    on and make America less dependent on foreign sources of energy.
        We must continue to cut useless Government regulations that choke
    job creation. We must work for a free trade policy that opens up markets
    and levels the playing field for American workers and manufacturing
    companies.
        And we need to make sure the tax relief we passed doesn't disappear
    in future years. Now, you're wondering why I would say that. Well,
    because of a quirk in the legislation, the tax cuts that we passed are
    scheduled to go away unless we act. See, the child credit goes away in a
    couple of years. In other words, you get the $1,000 now; it's going down
    to $700 in a couple years--unless the Congress acts. The death penalty
    which is scheduled to go away comes back unless the Congress acts.
        You see, when we passed tax relief, I know most Americans did not
    expect to see higher taxes come back through the back door. I also
    understand for job creation, it's important to have certainty in the Tax
    Code. People have got to be able to plan. And so if Congress is really
    interested in job creation, they will make the tax cuts we passed
    permanent.
        And as we overcome our challenges to the economy, we're answering
    great threats

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    to our security. September the 11th, 2001, moved our country to grief
    and moved our country to action. We made a pledge that day, and we have
    kept it: We will bring the guilty to justice; we will take the fight to
    the enemy.
        We now see our enemy clearly. The terrorists plot in secret. They
    target the innocent. They defile a great religion. They hate everything
    this Nation stands for. These committed killers will not be stopped by
    negotiations; they won't respond to reason. The terrorists who threaten
    America cannot be appeased. They must be found. They must be fought, and
    they must be defeated.
        This is a new kind of war, and we must adjust. It's a new kind of
    war, and America is following a new strategy. We're not waiting for
    further attacks. We're striking our enemies before they can strike us
    again. We've taken unprecedented steps to protect our homeland. And for
    those of you who are here who are on the frontlines of homeland
    protection, thank you. Thank you for what you're doing.
        Yet wars are won on the offensive, and our friends and America are
    staying on the offensive. We're finding them. We're on the hunt. We're
    rolling back the terrorist threats, not on the fringes of its influence
    but at the heart of its power. We're making good progress. We're hunting
    the Al Qaida terrorists wherever they hide, from Pakistan to the
    Philippines to the Horn of Africa to Iraq. Nearly two-thirds of Al
    Qaida's known leaders have been captured or killed. Our resolve is firm;
    our resolve is clear: No matter how long it takes, all who plot against
    America will face the justice of America.
        We have sent a message understood throughout the world, ``If you
    harbor a terrorist, if you support a terrorist, if you feed a terrorist,
    you are just as guilty as the terrorists.'' And the Taliban found out
    what we meant. Thanks to our great military, Afghanistan is no longer a
    safe haven for terror, the Afghan people are free, and the people of
    America are more secure from attack.
        And we have fought the war on terror in Iraq. The regime of Saddam
    Hussein possessed and used weapons of mass
    destruction, sponsored terrorist groups, and inflicted terror on its own
    people. Nearly every nation recognized and denounced this threat for
    over a decade. Last year, the U.N. Security Council--in Resolution
    1441--demanded that Saddam Hussein disarm, prove his disarmament to the
    world, or face serious consequences. The choice was up to the dictator,
    and he chose poorly.
        I acted because I was not about to leave the security of the
    American people in the hands of a madman. I was not about to stand by
    and wait and trust in the sanity and restraint of Saddam
    Hussein. So our coalition acted, in one of
    the swiftest and most humane military campaigns in history. And 6 months
    ago today, the statue of the dictator was pulled down.
        Since the liberation of Iraq, our investigators have found evidence
    of a clandestine network of biological laboratories. They found advanced
    design work on prohibited longer range missiles. They found an elaborate
    campaign to hide these illegal programs. There's still much to
    investigate, yet it is now undeniable that Saddam Hussein was in clear violation of United Nations Security
    Council Resolution 1441. It is undeniable that Saddam Hussein was a
    deceiver and a danger. The Security Council was right to demand that
    Saddam Hussein disarm, and we were right to enforce that demand.
        Who can possibly think that the world would be better off with
    Saddam Hussein still in power? Surely not the
    dissidents who would be in his prisons or end up in mass graves. Surely
    not the men and women who would fill Saddam's torture chambers or the
    women in his rape rooms. Surely not the victims he murdered with poison
    gas. Surely not anyone who cares about human rights and democracy and
    stability in the Middle East. There is only

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    one decent and humane reaction to the fall of Saddam Hussein: Good
    riddance!
        Now our country is approaching a choice. After all the action we
    have taken, after all the progress we have made against terror, there is
    a temptation to think the danger has passed. The danger hasn't passed.
    Since September the 11th, the terrorists have taken lives. Since the
    attacks on our Nation that fateful day, the terrorists have attacked in
    Casablanca, Mombasa, Jerusalem, Amman, Riyadh, Baghdad, Karachi, New
    Delhi, Bali, and Jakarta. The terrorists continue to plot and plan
    against our country and our people.
        America must not forget the lessons of September the 11th. America
    cannot retreat from our responsibilities and hope for the best. Our
    security will not be gained by timid measures. Our security requires
    constant vigilance and decisive action. I believe America has only one
    option: We must fight this war until the work is done.
        We're fighting on many fronts, and Iraq is now the central front.
    Saddam holdouts and foreign terrorists are
    trying desperately to undermine Iraq's progress and to throw that
    country into chaos. The terrorists in Iraq believe that their attacks on
    innocent people will weaken our resolve. That's what they believe. They
    believe that America will run from a challenge. They're mistaken.
    Americans are not the running kind.
        The United States did not run from Germany and Japan following World
    War II. We helped those nations to become strong and decent democratic
    societies that no longer waged war on America. And that's our mission in
    Iraq today. We're rebuilding schools--a lot of kids are going back to
    schools--reopening hospitals. Thousands of children are now being
    immunized. Water and electricity are being returned to the Iraqi people.
    Life is getting better.
        It's a lot better than you probably think. Just ask people who have
    been there. They're stunned when they come back--when they go to Iraq,
    and the stories they tell are much different from the perceptions that
    you're being told life is like.
        You see, we're providing this help not only because we've got good
    hearts but because our vision is clear. A stable and democratic and
    hopeful Iraq will no longer be a breeding ground for terror, tyranny,
    and aggression. Free nations are peaceful nations. Our work in Iraq is
    essential to our own security, and no band of murderers or gangsters
    will stop that work or shake the will of America.
        Nearly every day in Iraq we're launching swift, precision raids
    against the enemies of peace and progress. Helped by intelligence from
    Iraqis, we're rounding up the enemy. We're taking their weapons. We're
    working our way through the famous deck of cards. We've already captured
    or killed 43 of the 55 most wanted former Iraqi leaders, and the other
    12 have a lot to worry about. [Laughter] Anyone who seeks to harm our
    soldiers can know that our soldiers are hunting for them.
        Our military is serving with great courage. Some of our best have
    fallen. We mourn every loss. We honor every name. We grieve with every
    family. And we will always be grateful that liberty has found such brave
    defenders.
        In defending liberty, we are joined by more than 30 nations now
    contributing military forces in Iraq. Great Britain and Poland are
    leading two multinational divisions. And in this cause, with fine
    allies, we've got the Iraqis as well. They care about the security of
    their country. They want to be free. They love freedom just like we love
    freedom. Last week, the first battalion of the New Iraqi Army completed
    its training. Within a year, Iraq will have a 40,000-member military
    force. Tens of thousands of Iraqi citizens are also guarding their own
    borders, defending vital facilities, and policing their own streets. Six
    months ago, the Iraqi people welcomed their liberation. Today, many
    Iraqis are armed and trained to defend their liberty.

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        Our goal in Iraq is to leave behind a stable, self-governing society
    which will no longer be a threat to the Middle East or to the United
    States. We're following an orderly plan to reach this goal. Iraq now has
    a Governing Council, which has appointed interim Government ministers.
    Once a constitution has been written, Iraq will move toward national
    elections. We want this process to go as quickly as possible, yet it
    must be done right. The free institutions of Iraq must stand the test of
    time. And a democratic Iraq will stand as an example to all the Middle
    East. We believe, and the Iraqi people will show, that liberty is the
    hope and the right of every land.
        Our work in Iraq has been long. It's hard, and it's not finished. We
    will stay the course. We will complete our job. And beyond Iraq, the war
    on terror continues. There will be no quick victory in this war. We will
    persevere, and victory is certain.
        I am confident of victory because I know the character of our
    military, shown in people like Master Sergeant Jack Negrotti of Plaistow, New Hampshire. Jake is a member of the New
    Hampshire Air National Guard who's volunteered for overseas deployments
    3 times since September the 11th. He served in Pakistan, Afghanistan,
    and Iraq. Right now Jake is an airport manager at Baghdad Airport,
    helping make sure our military and humanitarian operations move ahead.
        People like Jake Negrotti are showing what
    it means to be a patriot and a citizen. We're honored to have Jake's
    wife, Donna, and his children,
    Alicia and Christopher, with us here today. Next time you talk to Jake,
    Donna, you tell him his President appreciates his service, and his
    country is grateful.
        The war on terror has brought hardship and loss to our country,
    beginning with the grief of September the 11th. Let us also remember
    that the first victory in this war came on that same day, on a hijacked
    plane bound for the Nation's Capital. Those men and women on Flight 93
    took action, served their country, knowing they would die. They found
    incredible courage in their final moments to save the lives of others.
    In those moments and many times since, terrorists have learned that
    Americans are courageous and will not be intimidated. We will fight them
    with everything we have.
        Few are called to show the kind of valor seen on Flight 93 or on the
    field of battle. Yet all of us do share a calling, to be strong in
    adversity and to be unafraid in danger. We Americans have come through
    so much together, and we have much yet to do. If we're patient, united,
    determined, our Nation will prosper, and our Nation will win.
        May God bless you all. Thank you all very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 9:50 a.m. In his remarks, he referred to
    Maj. Gen. John E. Blair, adjutant general, Maj. Gen. Joseph K. Simeone,
    deputy adjutant general, Brig. Gen. John J. Weeden, assistant adjutant
    general, and Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Rice, New Hampshire National
    Guard; Gov. Craig Benson of New Hampshire and his wife, Denise; Brig.
    Gen. Benton ``Chick'' M. Smith, assistant adjutant general,
    headquarters, New Hampshire Air National Guard; Col. Carolyn J.
    Protzmann, vice wing commander, Lt. Col. Robert T. Monahan, operations
    group commander, Col. Leroy Dunkelberger II, mission support group
    commander, and Wing Command Chief Master Sgt. Ronald H. Nadeau, 157th
    Air Refueling Wing, New Hampshire Air National Guard; Ruth L. Griffin,
    councilor, New Hampshire Executive Council; Maureen Barrows, chair,
    Rockingham County Board of Commissioners; and former President Saddam
    Hussein of Iraq.