[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book II)]
[July 19, 2003]
[Pages 899-903]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at a Bush-Cheney Reception in Houston, Texas
July 19, 2003

    Thank you all very much. It's such an honor to be here. Laura and I are glad to be home. First, let me say it's great 
to see so many familiar faces. A couple of them scolded me when I was a 
kid. I see old--[inaudible]--over there. [Laughter] A lot of the people 
in this room worked hard to see to it that I became

[[Page 900]]

the Governor, and I want to thank you all for your continued friendship 
and your support. I want to thank you for your loyalty to our country. I 
want to thank you for coming tonight.
    This is the first time we've been back to Texas since our trip to 
Africa. You may recall, we went to a park in Botswana. It's where I 
learned a lot about our party's mascot. [Laughter]
    I want to thank you for all your help. You see, you're laying the 
groundwork for what is going to be a great national victory in November 
of 2004. And we're going to need your help. We're going to need your 
help at the grassroots level. We're going to need you to talk to your 
neighbors and send out the flyers and put up the signs and turn out the 
vote and remind people that this message--the message of this 
administration is hopeful for every single person who lives in this 
country.
    And I'm getting ready, and I'm loosening up. [Laughter] But the 
truth of the matter is, there's plenty of time for politics. Right now, 
I'm focused on the people's business in Washington, DC. We have a lot on 
the agenda. We will continue to work hard to earn the confidence of all 
Americans by keeping this Nation secure and strong and prosperous and 
free.
    And I'm glad Laura is here tonight. In my 
book, she's a fabulous First Lady. And I love her a lot, and I hope she 
loves me a lot for dragging her out of Texas.
    I'm also honored to be introduced by Rick Perry. He is the right guy to be Governor of Texas. They had a 
good session, because he watched the people's money very closely. He's a 
good Governor, and I'm proud to call him friend. And I appreciate you, 
Rick.
    I want to thank Fred Meyer, the Texas State 
finance chairman, and Jeanne Johnson Phillips and Nancy Kinder for putting 
on this party tonight. You all did a fantastic job.
    I want to thank all who helped. This is a fantastic turnout, and I 
know it requires a lot of effort to get people to come, particularly on 
a Saturday night. [Laughter] So I want to thank all those who worked 
hard, and I really appreciate your support.

    I want to thank my friend Tom DeLay for being 
here. Congressman DeLay is a leader in the House of Representatives. I'm 
pleased that our Lieutenant Governor, David Dewhurst, is here--thank you, David, for your leadership--and the 
speaker of the house, from Midland, Texas, Tommy Craddick. Thanks, Tom. And I know we've got two State senators with 
us, Teel Bivins and Kyle Janek, and State Representative Joe Nixon. I appreciate you all coming.

    And finally, I want to thank the Houston Children's Chorus for 
lending their beautiful voices to this event.

    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 future generations. I came to 
seize opportunities, instead of letting them slip away. We are meeting 
the tests 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 in 
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. 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.

[[Page 901]]

    Two-and-a-half years ago, we inherited an economy in recession. And 
then the attacks on our country and scandals in corporate America and 
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, we have twice led the United States Congress to pass 
historic tax relief for the American people.
    We know that when Americans have more take-home pay to spend, to 
save, or to invest, the whole economy grows, and people are more likely 
to find a job. We understand whose money we spend in Washington, DC. It 
is not the Government's money. It is the people's money.
    We are returning more money to the people to help them raise their 
families. We are reducing taxes on dividends and capital gains to 
encourage investment. We're giving small businesses incentives to expand 
and hire new people. With all these actions, we are laying the 
foundation for greater prosperity and more jobs across America, so that 
every single person in this country can 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 Congress 
passed the No Child Left Behind Act. With a solid bipartisan majority, 
we delivered the most dramatic education reforms in a generation. We're 
bringing high standards and strong accountability measures to every 
single public school in America. We believe that every child can learn 
the basics of reading and math, and we expect every school to teach the 
basics of reading and math. We are 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 in America is left behind.
    We reorganized the Government and created a Department of Homeland 
Security to safeguard our borders and ports and to better protect the 
American people. We passed trade promotion authority to open new markets 
for America's entrepreneurs and farmers and ranchers. We passed a budget 
agreement that is helping to maintain 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 the hard work of the Members of the Congress. I 
appreciate being able to work with Speaker Hastert and Leader DeLay and Senator 
Frist. And we will continue to work together to 
change the tone in Washington, DC, by focusing on the people's business 
and by focusing on results.
    And that's the nature of the men and women I have asked to serve in 
my administration. I have put together a really fine administration on 
behalf of the American people. Our country has had no finer Vice 
President than Dick Cheney. Mother may have a different thought. [Laughter]
    In 2\1/2\ years we have come far, but our work is only beginning. We 
have great goals worthy of this Nation. First, America is committed to 
extending 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 succeed and 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; and 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

[[Page 902]]

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 we believe that 
freedom is the right of every person and 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 bringing the healing power of 
medicine to millions of men and women and children now suffering with 
AIDS. This great land is leading the world in this incredibly important 
work of human rescue.
    We face challenges at home as well. And our actions will prove that 
we are equal to those challenges. I will continue to work on our economy 
until everybody who wants to work and who cannot find a job today is 
able to do so.
    We have a duty to keep our commitment to America's seniors by 
strengthening and modernizing Medicare. Recently, the Congress took 
historic action to improve the lives of older Americans. For the first 
time since the creation of Medicare, the House and the Senate have 
passed reforms to increase choices for our seniors and to provide 
coverage for prescription drugs. The next step is for both Houses to 
work out their differences and to get a good bill to my desk as soon as 
possible.
    For the sake of our health care system, we need to cut down on the 
frivolous lawsuits which increase the cost of medicine. I appreciate the 
very fine work of the Governor and the Lieutenant 
Governor and the speaker for passing real, meaningful medical liability reform 
here in the State of Texas. The State Representative Nixon, who is here with us today, was the author of that bill, 
and I appreciate your hard work, Joe.
    Look, we understand a person who has been harmed by a bad doctor 
deserves his or her 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. 
Therefore, medical liability reform is a national issue that requires a 
national solution. The House of Representatives has passed a fine bill. 
It is stuck in the United States Senate. The Senate must act on behalf 
of the American citizens.
    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 like Priscilla Owen to the 
Federal courts, people who will interpret the law, not legislate from 
the bench.
    Some Members of the 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 in the Senate floor. It is time for 
some of those Members in the Senate to stop playing politics with 
American justice.
    The Congress needs to pass a comprehensive energy plan. Our Nation 
must promote energy efficiency and conservation and continue to develop 
technology so we can explore in a more environmentally friendly way. But 
for the sake of our economic security and for the sake of our national 
security, we must be 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, applying the best and most innovative 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.

[[Page 903]]

    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 to support 
the armies of compassion that are mentoring our children and caring for 
the homeless and offering hope to the addicted.
    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 in America. We 
want more people owning their own home. We want our fellow citizens to 
own and manage their own health care plan and to own and manage their 
own retirement accounts. We want more of our citizens, our 
entrepreneurs, to own their own small business. We understand that when 
a person owns something, he or she has a vital stake in the future of 
our country.
    In a compassionate society, people respect one another and take 
responsibilities for the decisions they make. We're changing the culture 
of America from one that has said, ``If it feels good, do it,'' and ``If 
you've got a problem, blame somebody else,'' to one in which each of us 
understands we are responsible for the decisions we make in life. If you 
are a mom or a dad, if you're fortunate enough to be a mom or a dad, it 
is you who is responsible for loving your child. If you're concerned 
about the quality of the education in the community in which you live, 
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 this new responsibility society, 
each of us is responsible for loving a 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 neighbors in need, and the response has been 
fantastic. As I travel our country, I also see the vibrancy of many of 
the faith-based organizations, the neighborhood healers that are 
concerned about saving lives. I also know that policemen and 
firefighters and people who wear our Nation's uniform are reminding us 
once again what it means to sacrifice for something greater than 
ourselves. Our children believe in heroes because they see them every 
day.
    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 
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. Thank you all.

Note: The President spoke at 5:55 p.m. at the Westin Galleria. In his 
remarks, he referred to Texas House of Representatives Speaker Tom 
Craddick; and Fred Meyer, Texas State finance chairman, Jeanne Johnson 
Phillips, Texas State finance vice chairman, and Nancy Kinder, 
fundraiser, Bush-Cheney '04, Inc.