    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book II)]
    [August 15, 2003]
    [Pages 1019-1023]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Bush-Cheney Luncheon in Irvine, California
    August 15, 2003

        Thank you very much. Thanks for the warm welcome. Thanks for the
    friendship. It's great to be back in the great State of California, and
    it's wonderful to see so many friends from Orange County. I'm honored
    you all are here. I appreciate the strong financial support you've
    given.
        I want to thank those who have worked so hard to make this a major
    success. Really what we're doing is, we're laying the foundation for
    next year's campaign, putting the process in place and the foundation in
    place for what's going to be a great victory in November of '04.
        And I need to count on you, particularly when it comes to energizing
    the vote, to making sure the grassroots gets our message. I want you to
    remind your Republican friends, your Democrat friends, your independent
    friends that this administration is one that is serving all the people
    of the United States of America.
        I'm getting ready--[laughter]--and I'm loosening up. [Laughter] But
    the political season will come in its own time. See, I've got a job to
    do, and right now I'm focused on the people's business. We'll continue
    to work hard to earn the confidence of the American people by keeping
    this Nation strong and secure and prosperous and free.
        I regret that our First Lady is not with us. I just talked to
    Laura. She's in Midland visiting her
    mother, and I'm going to see her tonight for
    dinner. But she sends her

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    love, and I tell you, I love her a lot. She is a great lady.
        I appreciate my friends Brad Freeman and
    Gerry Parsky and Mercer Reynolds for working so hard to organize what is going to be a
    great nationwide effort in terms of collecting the resources necessary
    to run a viable campaign.
        I want to thank Duf Sundheim, the party
    chairman of the State of California, for his leadership. I'm honored
    that members of the mighty California congressional delegation are with
    us, friends of mine, people who work hard on behalf of the citizens of
    California: Congressmen David Dreier and Ed
    Royce and Ken Calvert and
    Congressman Chris Cox. I want to thank them
    for coming.
        I appreciate John Campbell and Bob
    Pacheco, State reps, people who represented
    their districts well and who were strong supporters of mine in 2000.
        But most of all, I thank you all for coming.
        In the last 2\1/2\ years, our Nation has acted decisively to
    confront great challenges. I came to this office to solve problems, not
    to pass them on to future presidents or future generations. I came to
    seize opportunities instead of letting them slip away. We are meeting
    the test 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 leaders of Al Qaida,
    and the rest of them know we're on their trail. In Afghanistan and 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 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. And
    then our country was attacked, and we found out that there were some
    CEOs in America who forgot to tell the truth. We had corporate scandals.
    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, I have twice led the United States Congress to pass
    historic tax relief for the American people.
        I believe that when Americans have more take-home pay to spend, to
    save, or invest, the whole economy grows, and someone is more likely to
    find a job. And I understand whose money we spend in Washington. It is
    not the Government's money; it is the people's money. 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
    providing small businesses with incentives to expand so they can hire
    people. With all these actions, we are laying the foundation for greater
    prosperity and more jobs across America so that every single citizen in
    this country can realize the great promise of America.
        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 the
    basics of reading and math. This administration is challenging the soft
    bigotry of low expectations. The days of excuse-making are over. We
    expect results in return for Federal money in every classroom in America
    so that not one child is left behind.

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        We reorganized our Government to create the Department of Homeland
    Security to better safeguard our borders and ports and to protect the
    American people. We passed trade promotion authority to open up new
    markets for California manufacturers and farmers and ranchers and
    entrepreneurs. We passed budget agreements to help maintain much needed
    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.
        The United States Congress has shared in these great achievements,
    and I appreciate their hard work. I've got a great relationship with
    Speaker Hastert and Leader Frist. I'll continue to work with them to change the tone in
    Washington, DC, and to focus on results as opposed to process and
    politics.
        And those are the kind of people I've assembled in my
    administration. I have put together a great administration on behalf of
    the American people. We have no finer Vice President in our Nation's
    history than Dick Cheney. Mother might have a second opinion. [Laughter]
        In 2\1/2\ years, we've come far, but our work is only beginning.
    I've set 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 single citizen, regardless of their background, regardless of
    their religion, regardless of their status, has a chance to work and to
    succeed and realize the great promise of our land.
        It is 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're keeping it.
        Our war on terror continues. The enemies of freedom are not idle,
    and neither are we. This country will not rest; we will not tire; we
    will not stop until this danger to civilization is removed.
        Yet, our national interest involves more than eliminating aggressive
    threats to our security. Our greatest security comes from the advance of
    human liberty. 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. 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, America is now committed to bringing the
    healing power of medicine to millions of men and women and children now
    suffering with AIDS. I'm so proud of our great land. We're leading the
    world in this incredibly important work of human rescue.
        We face challenges at home, and our actions are equal to those
    challenges. I will continue to work to lay the foundation for economic
    growth, to make sure the entrepreneurial spirit is strong, to encourage
    job creation so that anybody who wants to work today and can't find a
    job will be able to do so.
        And we have a duty to keep our commitment to America's seniors by
    strengthening and modernizing Medicare. A few weeks ago, the Congress
    took historic action to improve the lives of older Americans. For the
    first time--the first time--since the creation of Medicare, the House
    and Senate have passed reforms to increase the choices for our seniors
    and to provide coverage for prescription drugs. The next step is for
    both bodies to get together and iron out some details and get a bill to
    my desk. The sooner they finish the job, the sooner

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    Americans will get a modernized Medicare system.
        And for the sake of our health care system, we need to cut down on
    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 a rich
    settlement. Because frivolous lawsuits drive up the cost of health care,
    they affect the Federal budget; they affect the Medicare budget, the
    Medicaid budget, the veterans health care budget. Medical liability
    reform is a national issue that requires a national solution. The House
    of Representatives passed a good bill to reform the Senate--the system.
    It is stuck in the Senate. It is now time for the United States Senate
    to act on behalf of the patients of America. No one has ever been healed
    by a frivolous lawsuit.
        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 for the Federal courts, people who will interpret the law, not
    legislate from the bench.
        In California, I nominated Carolyn Kuhl
    to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. She is a--tremendous bipartisan
    support. She's respected as a State judge. Yet, some Senators are
    distorting her record; they're threatening to block an up-or-down vote.
    Unfortunately, she's not alone. They're doing that to too many of my
    nominees, and that is wrong. All judicial nominees deserve 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 complete work on a comprehensive energy plan
    that, among other things, will help us modernize our infrastructure
    around America. We must promote energy efficiency and conservation,
    develop cleaner--develop technology to help us explore for energy in
    environmentally sensitive ways. But for the sake of economic security
    and for the sake of national security, we need to become 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. We will apply the best and most innovative and effective
    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 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'' to encourage
    more Americans to serve their communities and their country. And both
    Houses should reach agreement on my Faith-Based Initiative so that we
    can support the armies of compassion which are mentoring children,
    caring for the homeless, and offering hope to the addicted.
        A compassionate society must promote opportunity for every citizen,
    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 own home. We have a minority
    homeownership gap in America, and I've got a plan to close that gap. We
    want people owning their own retirement systems and managing their own
    retirement systems. We want people controlling their own health care
    systems. We want more people owning and operating their own small
    business in America, because we understand that when somebody owns
    something, he or she has a vital stake in the future in the United
    States of America.
        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

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    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 understands we
    are responsible for the decisions we make in life.
        If you're fortunate enough to be a mother or a father, you're
    responsible for loving your child with all your heart and all your soul.
    If you're concerned about the quality of education in your community,
    you're responsible for doing something about it. If you're a CEO in
    America, you have the responsibility to tell the truth to your
    shareholders and your employees.
        And in the responsibility society, each of us is responsible for
    loving our neighbor just like we'd like to be loved ourself. And we can
    see the culture of responsibility and service growing around us here in
    America. I started what's called the USA Freedom Corps to encourage
    Americans to extend a compassionate hand to a neighbor in need, and the
    response has been strong. People from all walks of life are signing up
    to figure out how to help and do their duty as an American citizen.
        Charities are strong and the faith-based organizations are vibrant,
    bringing hope and healing to citizens who hurt. Policemen and
    firefighters and people who wear our Nation's uniform are reminding us
    what it means to sacrifice for something greater than yourself in life.
    Once again the children believe in heroes, because they see them every
    day in America.
        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 are 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 America.

    Note: The President spoke at 12:57 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Irvine
    Hotel. In his remarks, he referred to Brad Freeman, California State
    finance chairman, and Mercer Reynolds, national finance chairman, Bush-
    Cheney '04, Inc.; and Gerald L. Parsky, Team California chairman, and
    Duf Sundheim, party chairman, California Republican Party. A portion of
    these remarks could not be verified because the tape was incomplete.