[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book II)]
[August 26, 2003]
[Pages 1065-1069]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks at a Dinner for Senator Christopher S. ``Kit'' Bond of Missouri in St. Louis
August 26, 2003
Thanks for the warm welcome. It's such an honor to be here in the
great State of Missouri. I am here because I believe Kit Bond is the
right man for the United States Senate.
And I want to thank you for his--for your strong support for this
fine Senator. Looks like you've got a few friends here in Missouri,
Senator. [Laughter] Actually, I wasn't his first choice to come tonight.
[Laughter] Laura is stuck on the ranch. [Laughter] But she sends her
very best to Kit and to Linda.
Just as a kind of step back, I am really fortunate that Laura
Bush said yes when I asked her to marry me. She
is a great First Lady and a fabulous wife. I appreciate--you know,
Senator Bond and I both married above ourselves. [Laughter] And it's
great to see Linda. She's done a lot for him. She
shortened his speeches and shortened his waistline. [Laughter] He's
getting in fighting form for the '04 elections.
I'm also honored to be here with former Senator Jack
Danforth. What a distinguished citizen of
your State he is. He's working hard to bring peace to the Sudan. It's
about as tough as an assignment as somebody can be given. But because of
his steady demeanor and patience and his faith in freedom and peace, I
think we'll achieve peace in the Sudan, and Jack Danforth will deserve a
lot of credit.
I'm also honored to be here with the junior Senator from the great
State of Missouri, a man who's doing a fabulous job on your behalf,
Senator Jim Talent.
Speaking about Missouri citizens doing a fine job, John
Ashcroft is a very good Attorney General. I am
proud of the job he is doing. You trained him well. [Laughter]
Also traveling with me today is another member of my Cabinet, the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs, a friend of the veterans, Tony
Principi. Thank you for coming, Mr.
Secretary. He and I were at the American
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Legion Convention today and had a chance to talk about our foreign
policy. And I'll speak a little bit about that later on.
I appreciate Congressman Todd Akin and
Congressman Kenny Hulshof as well from the
mighty delegation from the State of Missouri. These are two strong
allies and good friends, and I appreciate their service.
I know that Secretary of State Matt Blunt is
with us, and his wife, Melanie. I know that
Catherine Hanaway, the speaker of the
house, is with us, and I know that State Senator Peter Kinder are here. And I appreciate the members of the State
delegation from Missouri for coming as well.
Ann Wagner is the cochair of the
Republican National Committee, and I'm really proud of her service to
the Republican Party not only here in Missouri but across the Nation.
Annie, thank you very much for your hard work.
And finally, I want to thank the State chairman for Bush-Cheney 2004. Everybody's got to have a
good uncle--[laughter]--and I've got a great uncle.
The reason I'm here is because Kit Bond understands the challenges
which face our Nation, and he's willing to join in constructive ways to
do something about it. I think the best types of people who go to
Washington are those who can recognize a problem and then have the
courage and will to do something about it. And that's what I appreciate
about Kit Bond. He and I share this value, that the future of freedom
and peace depends upon the actions of America. We believe that this
Nation is freedom's home and freedom's defender. We believe that
everybody yearns for freedom and that every nation should be free.
This is--history has given this country a charge to keep, and we're
keeping it. You know, this Nation was pretty secure for a while, secure
that oceans could protect us. And then 9/11, 2001, came upon us. It was
an historic moment because we realized that we weren't safe from an
enemy which hates what we stand for. Because we love freedom and human
dignity, because we love the fact that people can worship freely and
speak freely, there's an enemy in the world which hates us. And since
we're not going to change, in order to do our jobs, we must find them
before they hurt America again.
Kit Bond understands that the best way to secure the homeland of
America is to find the enemies of freedom one by one and bring them to
justice. And I appreciate his support in making this world more free,
making America more secure, and making the world more peaceful.
We're after Al Qaida. Slowly but surely, we're dismantling the
terrorist network which has hijacked a great religion, which murders in
the name of Islam. One by one, we're bringing them to justice. We've
captured or killed over two-thirds of the Al Qaida operative network.
Just a while ago, we got this guy Hambali, who we think was the instigator of the bombing in
Bali. One by one, Al Qaida is meeting its demise. It doesn't matter
where they hide, it doesn't matter where they cringe, the United States
of America will find them and bring them to justice.
Part of the war on terror is to prevent hostile regimes from teaming
up with terrorist networks. And that's why we went into Afghanistan. I
sent a clear message: If you harbor a terrorist, if you feed a
terrorist, you're just as guilty as the terrorist. And the Taliban in
Afghanistan understand exactly what we mean.
And I appreciate Senator Bond's understanding of the need for the
United States to uphold doctrine. When we say something in this country,
we better do it, for the credibility of the world.
We've got a lot of work to do in Afghanistan, and we're doing it.
We're training an Afghan army so they can best protect themselves. NATO
is now involved in Afghanistan. And I want to thank our German friends
for taking an active role in making Afghanistan more secure. We're
building roads; we're opening up hospitals; and
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many young girls go to school for the first time, thanks to the United
States of America.
We gave a clear ultimatum to Saddam Hussein that he must disarm. He chose defiance, and Saddam
Hussein is no more. He will not be able to threaten anybody with weapons
of mass destruction. He will not be able to provide money for suicide
bombers that were killing Israelis. Saddam Hussein will no longer have
torture chambers. He is a man who is not in power, thanks to the United
States of America and our friends and allies.
And we've got a lot of work to do in Iraq. You see, terrorists can't
stand the thought of a free society in the Middle East. People who hate
freedom are revolted at the fact that there may be a society that honors
human rights and dignity, that treats men and women equally. Terrorists
can't stand the thought of success in Iraq.
We're at a crucial point in history in Iraq. And I look forward to
working with Senator Bond and Senator Talent
and Members of the House to provide the resources necessary to make sure
that Iraq is not only secure but that Iraq is free and peaceful. A
peaceful Iraq is in the long-term interest of the United States of
America.
And we're making progress there. You see, if you've been tortured--
and remember, this is a country where we discovered thousands of people
who had been executed and placed in mass graves, men, women, and
children executed by Saddam Hussein. It's a
country which had been terrorized and brutalized. It's a country which
couldn't comprehend freedom. So it's going to take awhile for people to
develop the habits necessary for a free society to emerge. But I'm
absolutely confident, when we stay the course, a strong ally of the
United States and any country which loves freedom will emerge. And that
will have a positive effect on Israel and a Palestinian state. It will
have a positive effect in a region which is--harbored and educated and
grew terrorists.
The long-term interests of the United States of America depend on
this country doing what's right. And I'm proud to have Senators who
understand that and are willing to stand with this administration to
make sure we keep our word to the people of Iraq, that we hear the
ambitions of those who love freedom in Iran, that we stand strong
against the terrorists who would like to destroy the Middle East peace
process. This country is leading the world to freedom and peace. It's
inherent in our values. We understand that freedom is not America's gift
to the world; freedom is God's gift to every individual in the world.
I appreciate Senator Bond's support of a policy which says that when
this country sees hopelessness and despair around the world, we will not
turn our back. I'm proud to be leading a nation which is leading the
world in the fight against AIDS on the continent of Africa.
I recently traveled to Africa. I'll never forget going to Uganda, a
country which is beginning to show what is possible in arresting that
terrible pandemic. We went to a clinic, and we saw young mothers
ravished by AIDS, the desperate look in their eyes. I could tell when
they looked at the President of the United States, they saw hope. I
remember seeing the children's choir--these are children of orphans--who
sang hymns to us. It's a sad moment for me because I realized their moms
and dads were gone. It was a joyous moment, though, to realize that
people of faith had come to surround them with love. They too look at
the United States for hope.
I want to thank Senator Bond for his support on the AIDS initiative.
The United States is leading the world in an incredibly important work
of human rescue.
I believe our foreign policy is compassionate when it needs to be
compassionate and tough when it needs to be tough. But it's based upon a
strong belief that freedom
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is universal and the strong knowledge that free societies will be
peaceful societies.
When I came to Washington, DC, our military was underfunded, and
morale was beginning to suffer. I proposed defense budgets to prepare
our military for threats of a new era. Senator Bond was a strong
supporter of those defense budgets, and no one in the world today can
question the skill, the honor, the sacrifice, the utility of the United
States military.
When we came into office, the country was in recession, and we
started getting better. The economy was getting a little better; then
the enemy hit us. And then we had some corporate scandals; we had some
people in our society who forgot what it means to be a responsible
citizen. They didn't tell the truth to their shareholders and their
employees, and that affected the people's confidence. And then on your
TV screens you saw the words ``march to war,'' which is not a very
conducive phrase for economic development. But we acted. We passed tough
laws to hold corporate criminals to account, and I want to thank Senator
Bond's support on that.
And in order to get our economy growing, I called upon the Congress.
Senator Bond and Senator Talent and others
were strong supporters of historic tax relief. We understand that when
people have more money in their pocket, they will save, spend, invest.
And when they do so, somebody is more likely to find a job.
I appreciate Senator Bond's willingness to join the administration
and insisting that Congress hold the line on spending. We understand
whose money we spend in Washington. It is not the Government's money; it
is the people's money. And he is a good steward of the people's money.
When Congress returns, we'll be debating a crucial issue, and that
is Medicare. For the first time since the creation of Medicare, we have
a chance to reform the system that needs to be reformed. Inherent in
both plans out of the House and the Senate is the idea that we will
trust seniors to make the choices that they need in order to develop
their health care plans and health care needs. And inherent in both
plans is the knowledge and understanding that we need to have
prescription drug coverage for our seniors. I want to thank Senator Bond
for his willingness to stand up and join us in modernizing Medicare. We
owe our seniors a modern Medicare system.
There are a lot of issues that relate to health that will be before
our Congress. A significant issue is the issue of frivolous lawsuits.
Frivolous lawsuits drive up the cost of health care. Frivolous and junk
lawsuits drive up the cost of Medicare, Medicaid, veterans health
benefits. Medical liability reform, therefore, is a national issue which
requires a national solution.
We got a good bill out of the House of Representatives. It is stuck
in the United States Senate. Kit Bond is one of the Senators, if it does
get unstuck, will be responsible for passing good medical liability
reform out of the United States Senate.
This country needs an energy bill. We need to have a national energy
strategy. The blackouts on the east coast should make it clear to the
skeptics in Congress that we need to modernize the electricity grid. We
need mandatory reliability law. We need to encourage more investment
into the transmission of electricity. We need to conserve more. We need
more efficiency. But for the sake of economic security and for the sake
of energy security and national security, we need to become less
dependent on foreign sources of energy.
I appreciate working with Senator Bond on commonsense environmental
policy. We both disagree with the judge's decision about the waterflows
into the Missouri River. And we both agree that we must do a better job
of preserving one of the most important assets we have in America, which
is our national forests. We need a commonsense, reasonable forest policy
to
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prevent the raging forest fires from destroying this incredibly valuable
asset.
I have an obligation to fill the judiciary with capable, honest,
decent people. I have fulfilled that obligation. I have nominated superb
women and men to the Federal bench, people who will interpret the law,
not use the bench from which to legislate. And Senator Bond has been a
strong supporter of my judicial nominees. But we have a problem in the
United States Senate. There are some Senators who refuse to give my
nominees an up-or-down vote. It is time for some of those Senators to
stop playing politics with American justice.
I have an obligation to set great goals for this country. One of the
goals I've set is to spread peace and freedom. Another great goal is to
spread compassion throughout our land. I want our society to be an
ownership society. See, I believe if you own something, you have a vital
stake in the future. I believe if you own something in America, it helps
with dignity and independence of life. We want more people owning their
home. We have a minority homeownership gap in America. I look forward to
working with Senator Bond to help narrow that gap.
We want people owning and managing their own health care plans. We
want people owning and managing their own retirement plans. Kit Bond is
a strong believer in the small-business owner of Missouri and America.
We want more people owning their own small business. I look forward to
working with Senator Bond to promote the ownership society of America.
Finally, I look forward to working with Senator Bond to get a faith-
based initiative out of the United States Senate. I believe strongly
that this Government should not fear faith but should welcome faith-
based givers, neighborhood healers and helpers, when we see somebody who
hurts. We all asked a question in Washington, DC: ``Is the program
effective that's helping save life? Is the Christian program or the
Jewish program or the Muslim program effective at changing lives and
saving lives?''
That's the question we ought to be asking in Washington. The truth
of the matter is, the great strength of America lies in the hearts and
souls of the American people. We have people who hurt in our country. We
have children who need to be mentored. We've got people who are
hopelessly addicted to drugs. We need to welcome the armies of
compassion, no matter what their faith, into the compassionate delivery
of help and succor to those of our citizens who hurt.
Kit Bond will be a valuable ally in the passage of a much needed
faith-based initiative that allows for faith-based programs to access
Federal money, all in the aim of loving a neighbor just like we'd like
to be loved ourself.
You just heard some of the reasons you need to send him back up
there. Perhaps the greatest reason is he believes like I do, that both
of us are fortunate to represent great people, that we're fortunate to
be in positions of responsibility to represent the greatest nation on
the face of the Earth.
I want to thank you for helping this good man. May God bless you
all, and may God continue to bless America.
Note: The President spoke at 6:40 p.m. at the Renaissance Grand Hotel.
In his remarks, he referred to former Senator John C. Danforth, Special
Envoy for Peace in the Sudan; Missouri Secretary of State Matt Blunt and
his wife, Melanie; Catherine Hanaway, speaker, Missouri State House of
Representatives; Missouri State Senator Peter Kinder; Ann Wagner,
cochairman, Republican National Committee, and chairman, Missouri
Republican Party; William H.T. ``Bucky'' Bush, Missouri State chairman,
Bush-Cheney '04, Inc.; Nurjaman Riduan Isamuddin (known as Hambali), Al
Qaida's chief operational planner in Southeast Asia; and former
President Saddam Hussein of Iraq.