[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book II)]
[November 1, 2003]
[Pages 1436-1439]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks in Southaven, Mississippi
November 1, 2003

    Thank you all. Thanks for coming. I'm honored to be here. I'm 
honored to be here with the next Governor of the State of Mississippi, 
Haley Barbour. It is great to be in northern 
Mississippi. I'm proud to be here with a lot of friends.
    You know, I woke up in Crawford this morning. I said to First Lady 
Bush, I said, ``I don't know if I'm going to be 
able to find the energy to be able to make it through a long day.'' You 
know, I'm kind of getting up in years and--[laughter]--and here I come 
to northern Mississippi, where thousands of our fellow citizens are 
here. You've energized me. I'm thrilled to be here. Thanks for coming.
    I appreciate you coming. I appreciate you coming. Haley and I married above ourselves. I'm thrilled that the 
next first lady of Mississippi is with us today, and that's 
Marsha. And Laura 
sends her love.

[[Page 1437]]

I'm sorry she's not with me. She's been a fabulous First Lady for our 
country.
    I've known Haley for quite a while. He 
used to run in high circles. I guess in this part of the world, you say 
he used to pick high cotton. [Laughter] But one thing about him, no 
matter how high the circle he ran in, he always loved to talk about 
Mississippi. He's proud of this State, and that's the kind of Governor 
you need, somebody who will relate to people from all walks of life. One 
of the things about his campaign that I like a lot is, Haley is proud to 
be a Republican, but he also wants to be the Governor of Democrats and 
independents. He's reaching out. He understands his job is to represent 
everybody when he gets to be the Governor in three days.
    I like the fact that he's an optimist. 
He's got a positive view for the great State of Mississippi. He believes 
in the great potential of the great State of Mississippi. That's the 
kind of Governor you want, somebody who sees a positive future for every 
single citizen. That Governor is Haley Barbour.
    I like the fact that Haley Barbour is a 
man of good values. He honors his family. He treasures his relationship 
with the Almighty. He believes in hard work. He believes everybody has 
worth. It's these kind of values that are necessary to have in your 
statehouse here in Mississippi. I'm proud to stand with this man. Haley 
Barbour is the right man to lead the State of Mississippi.
    And in order to have this good man lead 
the State of Mississippi, he needs your help. We're coming down to 
voting time here in Mississippi. It's time to make sure that people get 
the message that you've got a good man in Haley Barbour. That means you 
need to go out and find your neighbors, Republicans, Democrats, 
independents, people who don't care about political parties at all, to 
get to the polls. Remind them they have a duty as a citizen of this free 
country to vote. And once you get them headed to the polls, make sure 
they do what's in the best interests of the State of Mississippi and 
vote for Haley Barbour.
    I'm so thankful that we've got a great United States Senator with us 
today, a man who is a leader on the floor of the United States Senate, a 
strong ally of mine, a great friend of the people of Mississippi, and 
that's Senator Thad Cochran. As well another 
fine Representative for the State of Mississippi in Washington, DC, a 
man who's done a great job in the United States Congress, friend and 
ally, and that would be Congressman Roger Wicker.
    I had the honor of welcoming some Mississippi citizens to Washington 
a while ago, and one of the citizens that came was a courageous 
politician, a leader who didn't do the politically expedient thing but 
decided that she would find a home in a different political party, 
somebody who stood by her convictions, somebody who said, ``Principle 
matters a lot to me,'' and that's the next Lieutenant Governor of the 
State of Mississippi, Amy Tuck.
    I know we've got a lot of other statewide candidates here. When you 
get in that booth for Haley and Amy, make sure you remember Phil Bryant, Julio Del Castillo, Scott 
Newton, Max Phillips, 
Tate Reeves, all fine candidates running for 
statewide office.
    Not only should people vote for Haley 
because he's so pretty to look at--[laughter]--well--[laughter]--he's 
got the right issues. He knows what he's talking about when it comes to 
the issues. He knows when people in Mississippi are looking for work, 
you better have a progrowth policy for the State of Mississippi.
    We share the same philosophy. First of all, we're concerned about 
people looking for work, and secondly, we know that in order to get an 
economy growing, you've got to do two things: You must have fiscal 
discipline in the statehouses around the country. Haley Barbour knows how to manage a budget. Haley Barbour will be 
wise

[[Page 1438]]

with the taxpayers' money in the State of Mississippi.
    I know where Haley stands because when I 
stood up in front of the Congress and the country and advocated a 
progrowth policy for our economy, he was strong by my side. I said this, 
I said, ``If people have more money in their pockets, they're more 
likely to demand a good or a service. And when somebody demands a good 
or a service in our economy, somebody will produce a good or a service. 
And when somebody produces the good or a service, it means somebody is 
more likely to find a job.'' The tax cuts we passed came at the right 
time.
    Haley Barbour also understands that in 
order for your economy to grow, you better make sure you've got a legal 
system that is fair, a legal system that isn't dominated by the 
plaintiff's bar, a legal system that doesn't have so many frivolous 
lawsuits that it makes it hard for people to find a job. You better have 
you a Governor who's willing to stand up to the trial attorneys and have 
medical liability reform, so that people can get good health care in the 
State of Mississippi.
    I appreciate the fact that Haley Barbour 
has set as a priority the education of every child in the State of 
Mississippi. I used to like to say when I was in Texas, education is to 
a State what national defense is to the Federal Government, the number 
one priority. Haley Barbour understands that every child must be 
educated in the State of Mississippi. He stands strong with the teachers 
of Mississippi. He stands on the side of the parents of Mississippi. He 
wants to challenge the soft bigotry of low expectations by raising the 
bar for every single child.
    Finally, I appreciate the fact that Haley Barbour not only has supported me on this issue I'm about to 
talk about but is willing to do--have his own version of a faith-based 
initiative here in the State of Mississippi. And he understands what I 
know, that some of the problems in our society are problems of the 
heart, that while Government can hand out money, Government cannot put 
hope in a person's heart or a sense of purpose--[applause]. No, the 
great strength of America lies in the hearts and souls of our fellow 
citizens. And you need a Governor who is willing to rally the armies of 
compassion.
    We should never have the state fund the church, or the church try to 
be the state. But what we should have is States and the Federal 
Government willing to empower those who have heard the universal call to 
love a neighbor just like we'd like to be loved ourselves. We need 
mentors for our children. We need people to help the homeless. We need 
to help the addicted. And faith-based programs work.
    It's also been helpful to have a friend like Haley who supported me and others in Washington, DC, to make 
sure that Mississippi judges get a fair hearing. I've named some good 
people to serve on the Federal bench, people who will use the bench to 
interpret the law and not try to write law. I want to thank Senator 
Cochran and Senator Lott 
and, of course, Haley for standing strong with a nominee I named from 
Mississippi, Charles Pickering. I 
stand strong with Judge Pickering, and it's time for some Members of the 
United States Senate to stop playing politics with American justice.
    I look forward to working with Haley to 
make sure that the State of Mississippi has got what's needed to protect 
the homeland. You've got valuable ports that need to--we need to work on 
to make sure that nobody comes and harms any of our fellow citizens. I 
look forward to working with him to make sure that the resources we're 
spending out of Washington for those on the frontline of homeland 
security are well-coordinated and well-spent. I look forward to making 
sure our police forces and firefighters and emergency-response teams are 
well-coordinated between the Federal Government and the State government 
and the local governments. Haley would be a good

[[Page 1439]]

leader when it comes to working on homeland security matters.
    But I want to remind you that the best way to protect the homeland 
is to hunt down the enemy, one by one, and bring them to justice. The 
terrorists declared war on the United States of America, and war is what 
they got. This country will not rest; we will not tire; we will do what 
it takes to remove this danger from civilization and make America 
secure.
    For those of you who have got relatives in the United States 
military, I want to thank you. And you make sure you send word to them 
that their Commander in Chief is incredibly proud of the sacrifices 
they're making on behalf of our Nation.
    And I also want you to know that I understand that the best way to 
secure America is to advance human liberty. Free nations do not attack 
their neighbors. Free nations do not develop weapons of mass terror. The 
United States of America strongly believes that freedom is the right of 
every single person, that freedom is not America's gift to the world, 
that freedom is the Almighty's gift to every person who lives in this 
world. With the advance of human freedom, the world will be more 
peaceful, and America will be more secure.
    We've overcome a lot of challenges in the last 2\1/2\ years, and 
there will be other challenges. And in my judgment, the best way for 
Mississippi to deal with the challenges you face is to make sure you put 
a Governor in place who's optimistic and hopeful, somebody who can unite 
this State to get people pulling in the same direction, somebody who 
firmly believes in his heart of hearts that Mississippi ``can do 
better.'' And that person and that leader is the next Governor of the 
State of Mississippi, Haley Barbour.

Note: The President spoke at 10:08 a.m. at the DeSoto Civic Center. In 
his remarks, he referred to gubernatorial candidate Haley Barbour and 
his wife, Marsha; Amy Tuck, incumbent candidate for Lieutenant Governor; 
Phil Bryant, incumbent candidate for State auditor of public accounts; 
Julio Del Castillo, candidate for Mississippi secretary of state; Scott 
Newton, candidate for State attorney general; Max Phillips, candidate 
for State commissioner of agriculture and commerce; Tate Reeves, 
candidate for State treasurer; and Charles W. Pickering, Sr., nominee to 
be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Fifth Circuit.