[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book II)]
[July 24, 2003]
[Pages 926-930]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at a Bush-Cheney Reception in Dearborn, Michigan
July 24, 2003

    The President. Thank you all very much.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. Thank you. I accept. Thank you for the warm welcome. 
I want to thank Betsy DeVos for her leadership 
and for her friendship and for her kind words. I appreciate all she's 
done for the children of this great State of Michigan. She's a fine 
soul, fine person.
    I want to thank you all for coming tonight. You see, you're laying 
the groundwork for what will be a great victory in November of 2004. I 
appreciate so very much your coming tonight. I want you to know that I'm 
going to count on you during the course of the election. I'm going to 
count on you to energize the grassroots, to talk to your neighbors, to 
put signs in the yard, to mail the letters, and to remind people that 
our message is one that is hopeful and optimistic for every citizen who 
lives in this country.
    I'm getting ready--[laughter]--and I'm loosening up. [Laughter] But 
the political season will come in its own time. Right now I'm focused on 
the people's business in Washington, DC. We have a lot on the agenda, 
and I will continue to work hard to earn the confidence of all America 
by keeping this Nation secure and strong and prosperous and free.
    My only regret tonight is that Laura is not 
with me. I know, you drew the short straw. [Laughter] She is a fabulous 
First Lady, a great wife, and I love her dearly.
    I want to thank all those who helped. I want to thank Michael 
Kojaian and the entire team who has put 
together this fantastic fundraiser. I appreciate so very much my very 
close friend Mercer Reynolds, who is the 
national finance chairman for this campaign. I want to thank Terri Lynn 
Land, who is the secretary of state, and 
Michael Cox, the State attorney general, for being 
here tonight.
    I particularly want to thank Eric Childress, the student from the Cornerstone School. I visited the 
Cornerstone in May of 2000. I saw the good works of the teachers there 
and the administrators, all the hard work that goes to prepare the 
students for success in high school and beyond. I appreciate so very 
much the high standards set in that school. And I want to thank Eric for 
coming. But most of all,

[[Page 927]]

I want to thank you all for your friendship and your support. It means 
an awful lot.
    You know, 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, and 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--50 
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. 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. Then 
the attacks on our country came. We had scandals in corporate America 
and war--all affected the people's confidence. But we acted. We passed 
up new laws to hold corporate criminals to account. And to get the 
economy going again, we have twice led the Congress in--to pass historic 
tax relief on behalf of the American people.
    We know this, that when people have more money in their pockets, 
when they 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. I 
understand whose money we spend in Washington, DC. It is not the 
Government's money. It is the people's money. We're returning more money 
to 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're laying the foundations for greater 
prosperity and more jobs across America, so that every single person in 
this country has a chance to realize the great 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 reform in a generation. We 
bring high standards and strong accountability measures to every 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 single classroom across America, so that not one single child is 
left behind.
    We reorganized the Government and created the Department of Homeland 
Security to safeguard our borders and ports and to protect the American 
people. We passed trade promotion authority to open up new markets for 
America's entrepreneurs and manufacturers and farmers and ranchers. We 
passed a budget agreement 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.
    The United States Congress has shared in these great achievements. I 
appreciate the leadership of Speaker Hastert and Leader Frist. I will 
continue to work with Members of the Congress to change the tone in 
Washington, DC, by focusing on the people's business and by focusing on 
results. That's the kind of person I've attracted to my administration. 
I have put

[[Page 928]]

together a fantastic team of great Americans to serve the American 
people.
    We have had no finer Vice President than Dick Cheney. Mother may have a different 
opinion. [Laughter]
    In 2\1/2\ years, we have come far, but our work is only beginning. I 
have set great goals worthy of this great Nation. First, America is 
committed to expanding the realm of freedom and peace, not only for our 
own security but 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 to realize the 
promise of our country.
    It is clear that the future of freedom and peace depends on the 
actions of America. The 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.
    Yet our national interest involves more than eliminating aggressive 
threats to our security. 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 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 committed to 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 the 
incredibly important work of human rescue.
    We face challenges at home, and our actions 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 will be able 
to find a job.
    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 the choices for our seniors and to provide 
coverage for prescription drugs. It is now time for both Houses to come 
together 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 
frivolous lawsuits which increase the cost of medicine. People who have 
been harmed by a bad doc 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 is a national issue that 
requires a national response. No one has ever been healed by a frivolous 
lawsuit.
    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 for the Federal courts, people who 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.
    Here in Michigan, for example, I have nominated four outstanding 
individuals to serve on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Yet all four 
have been waiting more than a year for a vote. These kinds of delays 
create judicial vacancies that harm our legal system. Every judicial 
nominee deserves a fair hearing and an up-or-down vote on the

[[Page 929]]

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 pass a comprehensive energy plan. Our Nation 
must promote energy efficiency and conservation and develop cleaner 
technologies to help us explore for more energy in an environmentally 
friendly way. Yet, 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's 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.
    Congress should complete the ``Citizen Service Act'' so more 
Americans can 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, that are caring 
for the homeless, and that are offering hope to the addicted.
    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 citizens owning their own home. We want our 
citizens owning and controlling their health care plans. We want our 
citizens owning and controlling their retirement plans. We want more 
people to own their own small business, because I understand that when 
people own something, they own a stake in the future of this great 
country.
    In a compassionate society, people respect one another and take 
responsibility 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''--[laughter]--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 mother or a father, you're 
responsible for loving your child. If you are 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 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, and the response has been 
great.
    I also know that our faith-based programs and our charities are 
strong and vibrant all across America. We have neighborhood healers who 
are performing miracles on a daily basis by helping people change their 
hearts and their lives. Policemen and firefighters and people who wear 
our 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. And I have 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 up whole nations by spreading freedom. At 
home, we seek

[[Page 930]]

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 you all, and may God bless America. Thank you all.

Note: The President spoke at 7:01 p.m. in the Presidential Ballroom at 
the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. In his remarks, he referred to Betsy DeVos, 
chairman, Michigan Republican Party, who introduced the President; and 
Michael Kojaian, Michigan State finance chairman, and Mercer Reynolds, 
national finance chairman, Bush-Cheney '04, Inc.