[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book II)]
[August 21, 2003]
[Pages 1034-1038]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks at a Bush-Cheney Luncheon in Portland, Oregon
August 21, 2003
Thank you all. Thanks for coming. Please be seated. Thanks for the
warm welcome and the cool day. It seems the temperature is a little
better here than it is in Crawford. [Laughter] But I want to thank you
all for coming. I am so honored that we have set a record today, a
record fundraiser, which indicates the depth of support here in Oregon,
for which I am most grateful. I want to thank you for what you have
done; I want to thank you for what you're going to do, which is to
energize the grassroots all across this important State, to put up the
signs and to mail out the mailers, but most importantly, to remind
people that I have a vision that includes everybody, a vision that is
hopeful and optimistic, a vision that believes in the best of America.
I want you to know that I'm getting ready for the coming campaign.
I'm loosening up. [Laughter] But there's going to be ample time for
politics, because I've got a job to do. I got a lot on the agenda. But I
want you to know that I will continue to work hard to earn the
confidence of every American by keeping this Nation secure and strong
and prosperous and free.
My main regret for coming here is the fact that I'm not traveling
with the First Lady. She is a great First Lady. I
love her dearly. I'm proud to call her wife, and I already miss her. But
she's in San Antonio, Texas, today. She's honoring a friend of ours, and
she's working on a library event. But I'll be with her on the ranch
Friday night and continuing our period of
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relaxation before we get back to the Nation's Capital. But it's a great
comfort to have her by my side.
I'm also proud to call Gordon Smith friend.
He's a great United States Senator. And I appreciate so much working
with my friend Congressman Greg Walden as well.
After this event here, we're going to a different part of your
beautiful State to talk about a Healthy Forest Initiative, a commonsense
policy to do everything we can to thin out the forest beds so that we
can prevent the catastrophic forest fires that seem to be occurring all
over the West. I'm proud to have two commonsense conservatives with whom
I can work to bring some sense to the forest policy of the United States
of America.
I thank my friend Mercer Reynolds from
Cincinnati, Ohio, who is with us today. He's the national finance
chairman for this campaign. I appreciate Bill McCormick, who is the Oregon State chairman for the Bush-Cheney
2004 campaign. Sorry we're not using your restaurant. I appreciate Kevin
Mannix, who is the chairman of the Republican
Party here in the State of Oregon.
It was such an honor to be able to shake hands once again with a
fine American, a great Oregonian, Senator Mark Hatfield. I appreciate you coming, Senator.
I want to thank so very much the leadership of the University of
Portland for opening up this beautiful campus. But most of all, I want
to thank you all for coming. I'm proud to have you as supporters. I'm
proud that we're on the same team, working hard to do what's right for
America.
See, I ran for office to solve problems, not to pass them on to
future Presidents and future generations. I'm serving to seize
opportunities, and that's what we're doing. I believe you can tell your
neighbor that 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 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. Thanks to the United States of
America and friends, 50 million people in those 2 countries once lived
under tyranny, and today 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, as Gordon
mentioned, we inherited an economy in recession. And then we had attacks
on our country and scandals in corporate America as well as a war, which
affected--all affected the people's confidence. But we acted. We took
action. 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.
Here's what I believe, and here's what I know, that when Americans
have more take-home pay to spend, to save, to invest, the whole economy
will grow, and people are more likely to find a job.
I also understand whose money we spend in Washington, DC. It's not
the Government's money. It's the people's money. We're returning more
money to the people to help them raise their families. We're reducing
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, we are laying the foundations for greater
prosperity and more jobs across America so that every single person in
this country--every person--has a chance to realize the American Dream.
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Two-and-a-half years ago, there was a lot of talk about education
reform, but there wasn't much action in Washington, DC, 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. In return for Federal
dollars, we now expect every school to teach the basics of reading and
math. This administration is finally challenging the soft bigotry of low
expectations. The days of excuse-making are over. We now expect results
in every classroom so that not one single child in America is left
behind.
We reorganized the Government and created a Department of Homeland
Security to better safeguard our borders and ports and to protect the
American people. We passed trade promotion authority to open new markets
for Oregon's farmers and ranchers and entrepreneurs and manufacturers.
We passed budget agreements that is helping to 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.
And the United States Congress shares in this credit. I've got a
great relationship with Speaker Denny Hastert and Majority Leader Bill Frist.
I appreciate being able to work with them and, as I mentioned,
Greg and Gordon. We'll
continue to work hard to try to change the tone in Washington, DC, to
focus on results, not petty politics.
And those are the kind of people I've attracted to my
administration. I have assembled a great team of people to serve the
American people. People in my administration are results-oriented
people. They asked the question, what's best for the American people?
And they're doing a great job. There has been no finer Vice President of
the United States than Dick Cheney. Mother may have a different opinion. [Laughter]
In 2\1/2\ years, we've come far. In 2\1/2\ years, we've done a lot.
But the work is only beginning. I have set great goals worthy of a 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 this 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, and we welcome--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.
Yet our national interest involves more than eliminating aggressive
threats to our safety. Our greatest security comes from the advance of
human liberty, because 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. When we see
disease and starvation and hopeless poverty, we will not turn away. On
the continent of Africa, this great, strong, and compassionate Nation is
bringing the healing power to medicine to millions of men and women and
children now suffering with AIDS. This great land, America, is leading
the world in the incredibly important work of human rescue.
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We face challenges at home as well, and our actions will prove that
we're equal to those challenges. I understand there's a lot of people
hurting in the State of Oregon. Your unemployment rate is too high. I
will continue to try to create the conditions necessary for job
creation, so long as there's anybody who's looking for work.
And we have a duty as well 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--for the first time--since the creation of Medicare, the House and
the Senate have passed reforms to make the system work better, to give
our seniors more choices, and to provide coverage of prescription drugs.
It's now time for both Houses to iron out their differences and to get a
bill to my desk as soon as possible, so that we can say to our seniors
of today and those of us who are going to be seniors tomorrow, we have
kept our commitment in Washington, DC.
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 doctor deserve their day in court, yet the
system should not reward lawyers who are fishing for rich settlements.
Because frivolous lawsuits drive up the cost of health care, they affect
the Federal budget. Medical liability reform, therefore, is a national
issue that requires a national solution. The House of Representatives
have passed a good piece of legislation. The bill is stuck in the United
States Senate. The Senate must act on behalf of the people. They must
understand that no one has ever been healed by a frivolous or junk
lawsuit. If Gordon has his way, he would
unstick it in the Senate.
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. Yet, 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 of the Members of the
United States Senate to stop playing politics with American justice.
The Congress needs to complete work on a comprehensive energy plan.
We had a good bill pass the House, bill pass the Senate. They need to
come together and get an energy plan, an energy bill to my desk as soon
as possible, an energy bill which will encourage the modernization of
the electricity infrastructure of America. I have proposed such a plan.
We need an energy bill that will encourage energy efficiency and promote
conservation, an energy bill which will encourage the use of
technologies to help us explore for energy in environmentally sensitive
ways. For the sake of economic security, for the sake of national
security, this Nation must 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, which means we'll apply the best and most innovative ideas
to the task of helping our fellow citizens who hurt or fellow citizens
in need.
There are still millions of men and women in our country who want to
end their dependence on Government and to become independent through
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. Both Houses
should finally reach agreement on my Faith-Based Initiative to support
the armies of compassion that are mentoring our children, who are caring
for
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the homeless, that offer hope to the addicted. This Nation of ours
should not be fearful of faith. We ought to welcome faith to help solve
many of the Nation's seemingly intractable problems.
A compassionate society must promote opportunity for all, including
the independence and dignity that come from ownership. My administration
will constantly strive to promote an ownership society all across
America. We want more people owning a home. We have a minority
homeownership gap in America. I have laid before Congress a plan to
solve it. We want people owning their own health care plan. We want
people owning and managing their own retirement accounts. And we want
more people owning a small business because, you see, we understand that
when a person owns something, he or she has a vital stake in the future
of the United States of America.
In a compassionate society, people respect one another, and they
take responsibility for the decisions they make. You know, it seems like
to me, I'm confident--not just seems like, I am confident that we're
changing the culture of America from one that has said, ``If it feels
good, just go ahead and do it,'' and ``If you've got a problem, blame
somebody else,'' to a culture in which each of us understands that we
are responsible for the decisions we make in life.
If you are fortunate enough to be a mom or a dad, you're responsible
for loving your child with all your heart and all your soul. If you're
concerned about the quality of the education in your community, you're
responsible for doing something about it. If you're a CEO in America,
you're responsible for telling the truth to your shareholders and your
employees. And in this new responsibility society, each of us are
responsible for loving our neighbor just like we'd like to be loved
ourselves.
We can see the culture of service and responsibility growing around
us, particularly after September the 11th, 2001. Shortly after September
the 11th, I started what's called the USA Freedom Corps to encourage
Americans to extend a compassionate hand to somebody who hurts. And the
response has been terrific. Our faith-based groups and our charities are
vibrant and strong, because people understand it's important to serve
something greater than yourself in life. After all, that's what
policemen and firefighters and people who wear our Nation's uniform
remind us on a daily basis. Our children once again 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. 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
this country. 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 you all.
Note: The President spoke at 12:08 p.m. in the Chiles Center at the
University of Portland. In his remarks, he referred to former Senator
Mark O. Hatfield of Oregon.