[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book II)]
[October 23, 2003]
[Pages 1386-1391]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks at a Bush-Cheney Reception in Honolulu, Hawaii
October 23, 2003
Thank you all very much. Aloha! Thank you. Please be seated. Thanks
for the warm welcome. If I seem a little jet-lagged--[laughter]--it's
because I've spent a long week away from home. After 8 days on the road
and more than 18,000 miles in the air, it's great to be back in America.
And it's really great to be in the beautiful State of Hawaii.
We had a great trip. I visited with some of our strongest allies in
the war on terror and some of the Nation's most important trading
partners. We made progress on a broad agenda, an agenda that will help
make America more secure and more prosperous.
I want to thank each of you for giving me a warm welcome home. I
particularly
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want to thank you for your strong support. See, what we're doing today
is we're laying the foundation for a victory in Hawaii and a nationwide
victory in 2004. As your Governor said, and my chairman of the campaign
here said, we need more than just financial contributions. We need you
talking up the campaign. We need you going to your coffee shops and your
houses of worship and your community centers and reminding everybody
that this administration has got an optimistic, positive, hopeful agenda
for everybody who lives in America.
I'm getting ready, and I'm loosening up. [Laughter] But the
political season will come in its own time. I've got a job to do. And
there's a lot on the agenda in Washington. I'm going to continue,
though, to work hard to earn the confidence of every American by keeping
this Nation secure and strong and prosperous and free.
As we go about our work in Washington, Vice President Cheney and I are grateful for the continuing support in Hawaii.
We appreciate our friends here. I also appreciate the unique
contributions native Hawaiians have made to this State and to our
Nation. I'm impressed by the rich culture of the native Hawaiian people.
I respect our shared traditions, and I appreciate Governor
Lingle's dedication to all of Hawaii's
citizens. You've got a great Governor for this State.
And I've got a great wife. I'm really proud of Laura. She's a fabulous mom, a wonderful wife, and a great
First Lady for our country.
And I appreciate the Lieutenant Governor, Duke Aiona. I appreciate Felix Camacho, who is the Governor of Guam, who is with us today. I
want to thank the members of the statehouse who are here. We've got a
lot of State representatives. The Governor was telling me she wants to
increase the number in '04. Mayor Arakawa is
here from Maui. Bryan Baptiste is here. I
appreciate you, Mr. Mayor.
I want to thank Travis Thompson, who was
our event cochairman. I want to thank all the other cochairs for their
hard work. I want to thank the grassroots activists who are here, the
party chairmen, the national committeewoman. But most of all, I want to
thank you all for coming. It warms our heart. This is a big crowd, and
we're honored.
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 and to future generations. I came
to seize opportunities and let--instead of letting them slip away. This
administration is meeting the tests of our time.
Terrorists declared war on the United States of America, and war is
what they got. We've captured or killed many of the key leaders of the
Al Qaida network, 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. So 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 marched to war for our security
and for peace. And we had scandals in corporate America, all of which
affected the people's confidence. But we acted. We passed two 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.
When Americans have more take-home pay to spend, to save, or invest,
the whole economy grows, and people are more likely
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to find a job. We're returning more money to the people to help them
raise their family. We're reducing the taxes on dividends and capital
gains to encourage investment. We're giving small businesses incentives
to expand and to hire new people. With all these actions, this
administration is laying the foundation for greater prosperity and more
jobs across America, so every single person in this country has a chance
to realize the American Dream.
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 reforms in a generation. We've
increased spending for Title I students. We've increased spending at the
Federal level. But in return for increased Federal dollars, we expect
results, because we believe every child can read and write and add and
subtract. This administration is challenging the soft bigotry of low
expectations. The days of excuse-making are over. We expect results in
every classroom so that not one single child is left behind.
We reorganized our 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 up new
markets for our farmers and ranchers and manufacturers 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 Congress gets credit. I enjoy working with our Speaker, Denny
Hastert, and the majority leader, Bill
Frist. They're fine people. We work together to
try to change the tone in Washington, to elevate the debate, to focus on
results. After all, we're there to represent the people. And those are
the kind of people I have asked to join my administration--results-
oriented, decent, hard-working people from all walks of life. I have put
together a fantastic administration for the American people. Our country
has had no finer Vice President than Dick Cheney. Mother may have a second
opinion. [Laughter]
In 2\1/2\ years, we have done a lot. We have 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 citizen has a chance to work and to succeed
and to 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 freedom's
defender. We welcome this charge of history, and we are 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. We are
confronting that danger in Iraq, where Saddam
holdouts and foreign terrorists are desperately trying to throw Iraq
into chaos by attacking coalition forces and aid workers and innocent
citizens. They know that the advance of freedom in Iraq would be a major
defeat for the cause of terror. This collection of killers is trying to
shake the will of the United States of America. America will not be
intimidated.
We're aggressively striking the terrorists in Iraq, defeating them
there so we will not have to face them in our own country. We're calling
other nations to help build a free country in Iraq, which will make us
all more secure. We're standing with the Iraqi people as they assume
their defense and move toward self-government. These are not easy tasks,
but they are essential tasks. We will finish what we have
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begun, and we will win this essential victory in the war on terror.
Our greatest security comes from the advance of human liberty,
because free nations do not support terror, free nations do not attack
their neighbors, 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 I believe that freedom is the right of every
person, and I 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. This great, strong, and compassionate land is
leading the world in this incredibly important work of human rescue.
We face challenges here at home as well. And our actions will prove
that we're equal to those challenges. Any time somebody who wants to
work can't find a job, says we've got a problem. This administration
will continue to create the conditions for economic growth and economic
vitality, so every single citizen can find work.
We have a duty to keep our commitment to America's seniors by
strengthening and modernizing Medicare. 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 for seniors and to provide coverage for
prescription drugs. They must get their differences ironed out and get a
bill to my desk. The sooner they get the job done, the sooner America's
seniors will get the health care they need.
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 doctor deserve their day in court. Yet the system
should not simply reward lawyers who are fishing for rich settlements.
Frivolous lawsuits drive up the cost of health care, and they therefore
affect the Federal budget. Medical liability reform is a national issue
that requires a national solution. The House of Representatives has
passed a good bill to reform the system. The bill is now stuck in the
United States Senate. The Senate must act on behalf of the American
people. Senators must understand, no one has ever been healed by a
frivolous lawsuit.
I have a responsibility as your 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. 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.
This country needs a comprehensive energy plan. You may have noticed
last summer that we had a problem with the delivery of electricity in
parts of our country. [Laughter] We need to modernize our systems. If
we're interested in economic growth, we need a modern system, one that--
we need laws that encourage investment in order to modernize the system.
We need to use our technologies to encourage conservation. We need to
use our technologies to enable us to explore for energy in
environmentally friendly ways. But for the sake of our national security
and for the sake of our economic security, we need to be less reliant 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
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and most innovative ideas to the task of helping our fellow citizens who
are in need. There are 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'' so that more
Americans can serve their communities and their country. Both Houses
should reach agreement on my Faith-Based Initiative to support the
armies of compassion that are mentoring our children and caring for the
homeless and offering hope to the addicted. This Nation should not fear
faith; we ought to welcome faith into the compassion and help of
citizens in need.
A compassionate society must promote opportunity for all, 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. I presented a plan to the United States
Congress to close that gap, and I urge them to act.
We want people to own and manage their own health care plan. We want
people to own and manage their own retirement account. We want more
people to own their own small businesses, because in America we
understand, if a person owns something, he or she has a vital stake in
the future of this country.
In a compassionate society, people respect one another and take
responsibility for the decisions they make. We're working to change the
culture in this country from one that said, ``If it feels good, do it,''
and ``If you've got a problem, blame somebody else,'' to a new culture
in which each of understands we're 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 with all your heart. If you're
concerned about the quality of the education in your community, 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 the new 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
the USA Freedom Corps to encourage Americans to extend a compassionate
hand to a neighbor in need. Your response has been strong. I get reports
about our faith-based and charities that are strong all across America.
People want to serve our country.
Policemen and firefighters and people who wear this Nation's uniform
are reminding us what it means to sacrifice for something greater than
yourself. 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. 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, the
best days lie ahead.
May God bless you.
Note: The President spoke at 7:08 p.m. at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.
Prior to these remarks, the President crossed the international dateline
on his return flight from Australia. In his remarks, he referred to Gov.
Linda Lingle and Lt. Gov. James R. ``Duke'' Aiona, Jr., of Hawaii; Mayor
Alan M.
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Arakawa of Maui County, HI; Mayor Bryan J. Baptiste of Kauai County, HI;
Brennon Morioka, Hawaii State chairman, Travis Thompson, Hawaii national
committeeman, and Miriam Hellreich, Hawaii national committeewoman,
Republican National Committee; and former President Saddam Hussein of
Iraq. A tape was not available for verification of the content of these
remarks.