    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book I)]
    [January 5, 2004]
    [Pages 8-13]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Bush-Cheney Reception in St. Louis
    January 5, 2004

        Thank you all very much. Thanks for coming. Thank you all. Thanks
    for your warm welcome. I appreciate such a warm response. I appreciate
    such a huge crowd. It's great to be back here in St. Louis. I don't know
    if you know this or not, but my grandmother was raised right here in St.
    Louis. And I've got a lot of relatives here. By the way, if you're
    looking for a great uncle, model somebody after Bucky Bush.
        This record-setting event really means we're laying the foundation
    for what is going to be a victory in the State of Missouri in November
    of 2004 and a nationwide victory in 2004. I want to thank all the event
    organizers. I want to thank those of you who are in the grassroots. I
    want to thank you for working hard. I want to thank you for what you're
    going to do.
        The political season is going to come in its own time. I admit I'm
    loosening up--[laughter]--and I'm getting ready. But right now, I'm
    focused on the people's business. See, I have a lot on the agenda. I
    want you to remind your fellow citizens that I will continue to work
    hard to earn the confidence of all Americans by keeping this Nation
    secure and strong and prosperous and free.
        My one regret tonight is that Laura isn't
    here. She is a fabulous lady. She's a great First Lady for our country.
    She is a wonderful wife, a great mother, and she's doing a heck of a job
    on behalf of the American people.
        I appreciate so very much Senator Kit Bond's leadership in the United States Senate. I also
    appreciate a short introduction. [Laughter] I also want to thank my
    friend Senator Jim Talent as well for doing
    a great job for the people of Missouri. I'm pleased that Congresswoman
    Jo Ann Emerson is with us tonight as well as
    Kenny Hulshof, two fine Members of the United
    States Congress from Missouri.
        I know the secretary of state is with us, Matt Blunt. Thank you for coming, Matt. I'm proud you're here. I
    appreciate the speaker coming, Catherine Hanaway, as well as Senate Majority Leader Peter
    Kinder. Thank you all for coming. I want to
    thank all the members of the statehouse

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    for being here and the local officials. I'm so honored you take time to
    come.
        I particularly want to thank my friend Sam Fox,
    who is the State finance chairman for Bush-Cheney. I'm honored that Sam
    has taken on such a big role, and I appreciate the hard work of Sam and
    the team he has put together to make this such a strong and successful
    event. I call him Foxie. Foxie, thanks for your friendship.
        I also appreciate Ann Wagner from the
    great State of Missouri. She's the cochairman of the Republican National
    Committee. I'm proud to have her friendship and proud to have her
    support here as the chairman of the party in Missouri.
        I want to thank Ambassador Steve Brauer
    and his wife, Kimmy. By the way, they did a
    fabulous job representing our country overseas, and I want to thank them
    for their hard work at this event.
        I know my friend former Senator Jack Danforth is here. I named him to a special mission, to be the envoy
    to the Sudan, and he has done incredibly good work in that war-ravaged
    country. I appreciate your service, Jack, and your friendship.
        But most of all, I thank you all for coming. It lifts my spirits to
    see so many people here. It is--it gives me great confidence that we're
    on the path to victory, to know that I've got such broad support in this
    important State of Missouri.
        In the last 3 years, our Nation has acted decisively to confront
    great challenges. I came to this office to solve problems instead of
    passing them on to future Presidents and future generations. I came to
    seize opportunities instead of letting them slip away. My 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 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, and now they
    live in freedom.
        Three years ago, our military was not receiving the resources it
    needed, and morale was beginning to suffer. So we increased the defense
    budgets 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.
        Three years ago, the economy was in trouble and a recession was
    beginning. And then our country was attacked, and we had scandals in
    corporate America and the march to war, all of which 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, I
    have twice led the United States Congress to pass historic tax relief
    for the American people.
        We understand that when Americans have more take-home pay to spend,
    to save, or invest, the whole economy grows and people are likely to
    find a job. We are 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've given small businesses incentives to expand
    and to hire new people. With all these actions, we are laying the
    foundation for greater prosperity and more jobs across America so every
    single person in this country has the chance to realize the American
    Dream.
        Today, the American economy is strong, and it is getting stronger.
    The figures for the third quarter of 2003 show the economy grew at an
    annual rate of 8.2 percent, the fastest pace in nearly 20 years.
    Productivity is high. Business investment is rising. Housing
    construction is expanding. Manufacturing activity is increasing. And
    we've added 300,000 new jobs over the last 4 months. The tax relief we
    passed is working.
        Three years ago, there was a lot of talk about education reform, but
    there wasn't

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    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're bringing high
    standards and strong accountability measures to every public school in
    America. See, we believe every child--every child--can learn the basics
    of reading and math, and we expect every school to teach the basics of
    reading and math. This administration is challenging the soft bigotry of
    low expectations. The days of excusemaking are over. We expect results
    so that not one single child is left behind in America.
        We reorganized the Government and created the Department of Homeland
    Security to better safeguard our borders and ports and to protect the
    American people. We passed trade promotion authority to open up new
    markets for Missouri's farmers and ranchers and entrepreneurs and
    manufacturers. We passed budget agreements that is helping to maintain
    much needed spending discipline in Washington, DC.
        And last month, we completed the greatest advance in health care
    coverage for America's seniors since the founding of Medicare. The new
    Medicare law will give older Americans the option of a prescription drug
    benefit and more control over their health care so they receive the
    modern medical care they deserve.
        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 deserves a lot of credit. I enjoy my relationship
    with Speaker Denny Hastert and Leader Bill
    Frist. These are two strong, fine leaders.
        I appreciate working with the Members, the Senators from the State
    of Missouri and the Members of the House of Representatives. We're
    working hard to change the tone in Washington, DC. There's too much
    needless politics and endless backbiting, and the best way to change the
    tone is to focus on results, to be results-oriented people, to deliver
    progress on behalf of all Americans. And those are the kind of people
    I've attracted to my administration.
        I've put together the finest administration of any President in our
    Nation's history, good, honorable, decent, hard-working people who have
    come to Washington, DC, to serve a cause greater than their own self-
    interest. Our country has had no finer Vice President than Dick
    Cheney. Mother may have
    a second opinion. [Laughter]
        In 3 years, we've come far. We have done a lot, but our work is only
    beginning. I've 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 that is prosperous and compassionate
    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.
        The 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 all people can be
    certain they will never again have to fear the rule of Saddam
    Hussein. The Ba'athist holdouts, largely
    responsible for the current violence, now know there will be no return
    to the corrupt power and privilege they once held. All Iraqis who have
    taken the side of freedom have taken the winning side.
        We still face terrorists who would rather go on killing the innocent
    than accept the rise of liberty in the Middle East. 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

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    to shake the will of the United States, but America will never be
    intimidated by a bunch of assassins and thugs.
        We are aggressively striking the terrorists in Iraq, defeating them
    there so we will never have to face them in our own country. We're
    calling on other nations to help build a free Iraq, because a free Iraq
    will make the whole world more secure. We're standing with the Iraqi
    people as they assume more of their own defense and move toward self-
    government. These aren't easy tasks, but they're essential tasks. We
    will finish what we have begun, and we will win this essential victory
    in the war on terror.
        We're working hard to oppose proliferation around the world. Last
    month, after talks with the United States and Great Britain, Libya
    voluntarily committed to disclose and dismantle all its weapons of mass
    destruction programs. Leaders around the world now know weapons of mass
    destruction do not bring influence or prestige; they bring isolation and
    unwelcome consequences. And nations who abandon the pursuit of these
    weapons will find an open path to better relations with the United
    States of America.
        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. I believe that freedom is the future of every
    nation. And we know that freedom is not America's gift to the world;
    freedom is God's gift to every man and woman who lives in this world.
        America also understands that unprecedented influence brings
    tremendous responsibilities. We have duties in this world, and when we
    see disease and starvation and hopeless poverty, we will not turn away.
    On the continent of Africa, this great country is now committed to
    bringing the healing power of medicine to millions of men and women and
    children now suffering with AIDS. This great, compassionate land is
    leading the world in this incredibly important work of human rescue.
        We face challenges here at home, and our actions will prove that
    we're equal to those challenges. My administration will stay focused on
    a progrowth agenda until everyone who wants to work can find a job.
        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
    get harmed by a bad doc deserve their day in court. Yet the system
    should not reward lawyers who are simply fishing for a rich settlement.
    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
    passed a good bill to reform the system. The bill is stuck in the United
    States Senate. I want to thank the two Missouri Senators for supporting
    this incredibly important piece of legislation. Other Members of the
    Senate must understand that no one has ever been healed by a frivolous
    lawsuit in America.
        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 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 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 bill
    and get it to my desk. This Nation must promote energy efficiency and
    conservation. We must work to develop cleaner technology to help us
    explore for energy in environmentally

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    sensitive ways. For the sake of economic security and for the sake of
    national security, we need to 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, 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 the Government and become independent through hard work.
    We must continue to build on the successes 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. Both houses
    should reach agreement on my Faith-Based Initiative, so we can better
    support the armies of compassion, people of all faiths who are willing
    to lead with their heart and help solve the problems that seem
    intractable in our society. We need to support those soldiers in the
    armies of compassion who are mentoring the children, caring for the
    homeless, and offering hope for the addicted. This Nation must not fear
    the influence of faith in our society. We must welcome the works of
    faith in our society.
        A compassionate society must promote opportunity for every one of
    us, 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 have a minority
    homeownership gap in America. I want to thank the Senate for passing the
    downpayment assistance plan to help more people afford a new home. We
    want people owning and managing their own retirement accounts and owning
    and managing their own health care accounts. We want more people to own
    their own small business. This administration understands that when 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, respect
    another person's religion and their point of view. And people take
    responsibility for the decisions they make. The culture of America is
    changing from one that has said, ``If it feels good, do it,'' and, ``If
    you've got a problem, blame somebody else,'' to a culture in which each
    of us understands we are responsible for the decisions we make in life.
        If you're fortunate enough to be a mother or a dad, you're
    responsible for loving your child with all your heart. If you're worried
    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
    corporate America, you are responsible for telling the truth to your
    shareholders and your employees. And in the responsibility society, each
    of us is responsible for loving a neighbor just like we'd like to be
    loved ourselves.
        We can see the culture of service and responsibility growing around
    us. I started what's called the USA Freedom Corps to encourage Americans
    to extend a compassionate hand to a neighbor in need, and the response
    has been incredibly strong. People are serving our Nation by helping
    somebody who hurts.
        You know, the great fabric of America exists at the community level,
    where civic groups are formed to put--reach out a hand to someone in
    need. It's really one of the great strengths of our country. Policemen
    and firefighters and people who wear our Nation's uniform remind us on a
    daily basis what it means to sacrifice for something greater than
    ourselves. 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 3 years
    have come to the right nation. We're a

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    strong country, and we use our 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 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 all.

    Note: The President spoke at 5:50 p.m. at America's Center. In his
    remarks, he referred to William H.T. ``Bucky'' Bush, Missouri State
    chairman, Bush-Cheney '04, Inc.; Missouri Secretary of State Matt Blunt;
    Catherine Hanaway, speaker, Missouri State House of Representatives;
    Peter Kinder, president pro tempore, Missouri State Senate; Stephen
    Brauer, former U.S. Ambassador to Belgium, and his wife, Camilla; former
    Senator John Danforth, Special Envoy for Peace in the Sudan; and former
    President Saddam Hussein of Iraq.