    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book II)]
    [August 31, 2004]
    [Pages 1835-1840]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks to the American Legion Convention in Nashville, Tennessee
    August 31, 2004

        Thank you all. Thanks for having me. And thank you for the warm
    welcome. Thank you all. I'm honored to be here at your 86th national
    convention.
        I--there's another convention going on in New York you might have
    heard about. [Laughter] Tomorrow they're going to choose a Presidential
    nominee. I think I got the inside track. [Laughter] I'm taking nothing
    for granted, however. I'm taking nothing for granted, so Laura headed to New York this morning to make my case, but I
    do want you to know she sends her very best regards.

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        I also want to let you know that Americans' veterans are the heart
    and soul of this Nation. When freedom was under threat, you risked your
    lives in places like Omaha Beach and Okinawa, Keshan, Kandahar, and
    Baghdad. Because you served, Americans live in freedom. I'm proud to
    stand before you as your Commander in Chief and look in the eye and say,
    America is grateful for your service.
        And America is grateful for the service of Senator John McCain. He
    gave a great speech last night in New York. He's a great American. He's
    a great American who gave his Nation some of the most difficult and
    distinguished service in the history of our military. He fought for
    America. He suffered for America. He returned for honor, and his service
    continues today. I'm proud to have John McCain
    with us and standing by my side.
        I have enjoyed working with the national commander, John
    Brieden. Maybe we got along so well
    because we both speak the same language--[laughter]--Texan. [Laughter]
    But he served this august body with class and dignity, and I'm proud of
    your service, John. Thank you, sir. And I was pleased to be introduced
    by Katherine Morris as well. She too speaks
    Texan. [Laughter] I want to thank her for her leadership as the American
    Legion Auxiliary national president.
        I'm pleased to be here with my friend Tony Principi, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. I want to thank
    Les Brownlee who is with us, the Acting
    Secretary of the Army.
        I appreciate the mayor of this great city of Nashville joining us.
    Mr. Mayor, thank you for coming.
        I appreciate Congressman Cooper from the
    State of Tennessee for joining us.
        Most of all, I want to thank the Legion members who have been so
    gracious in your hospitality. Thank you and the Auxiliary members for
    welcoming me.
        Since your founding, the American Legion has always been faithful to
    God and to country. You served our Nation in uniform, and you still
    serve today. When Hurricane Charley hit Florida a few weeks ago,
    American Legion posts gathered food and helped neighbors in need. In
    moments of crisis, Americans know Legionnaires always come through.
        Members of the American Legion and the Auxiliary are also serving
    your neighbors every day, volunteering in veterans hospitals, sponsoring
    scout troops and youth baseball, and collecting scholarship money for
    deserving students. You've started a scholarship fund for the children
    of troops killed since September the 11th, 2001, in the war on terror.
    Our country owes these families so much, and I thank you for showing the
    gratitude and the good heart of the United States of America.
        The most important gift you give our country is the example you set
    for the men and women of our Armed Forces. In Afghanistan and Iraq and
    other fronts in the war on terror, today's service men and women are
    carrying on your legacy of selfless service and courage under fire. I
    know you share America's pride in them. They are serving our country
    with pride, and they are bringing honor to the uniform.
        Our fighting men and women are serving America under a proud flag,
    and that flag should be cherished and protected. When John and your national adjutant general, Bob, have come by the Oval Office, they always remind me
    about the Citizens Flag Alliance. I appreciate your leadership in that
    important alliance. Like you, I support a constitutional amendment to
    protect the flag from desecration. I think John McCain put it best when
    he said, ``American blood has been shed all over the world for the
    American flag, and I believe it deserves respect.''
        Our Nation's veterans have made serving America the highest priority
    of your lives. And that is why I have made serving our Nation's veterans
    one of the highest priorities of my administration. To make sure my
    administration fulfills the commitment

    [[Page 1837]]

    I have made to America's veterans, I selected one really fine man in
    Tony Principi. I am proud of the job
    that our Secretary is doing.
        Thanks in large part to Tony's
    leadership, my administration has a solid record of accomplishment for
    our veterans. When my 2005 budget request is approved by Congress, we
    will have increased overall funding for our Nation's veterans by almost
    $20 billion or 40 percent since 2001. We have increased funding for our
    veterans more in 4 years than the previous administration did in 8
    years. We have increased VA medical care funding by 41 percent over the
    last 4 years. We're bringing care to more veterans more quickly. Since
    2001, we have enrolled 2.5 million more veterans in health care
    services. We have increased outpatient visits from 44 million to 54
    million. We've increased the number of prescriptions filled from 98
    million to 116 million. We've reduced the backlog of disability claims
    by about a third. We will reduce it even further. We have cut the
    average time it takes to process disability claims by 70 days. We're
    getting the job done for our veterans.
        We have focused resources on veterans who need it most, those with
    service-related disabilities and low incomes and special needs. We've
    established a new scheduling system to make certain that veterans
    seeking care for a service-connected condition are the first in line.
        For more than a century, Federal law prohibited disabled veterans
    from receiving both their military retired pay and their VA disability
    compensation. Combat-injured and severely disabled veterans deserve
    better. I was the first President in over 100 years to sign concurrent
    receipt legislation.
        My administration has launched a $35 million program to provide
    housing and health care and other support services to homeless veterans.
    No veteran who served in the blazing heat or bitter cold of foreign
    lands should have to live without shelter, exposed to the elements, in
    the very country whose freedom they fought for.
        We are modernizing VA health centers and building new ones,
    especially in the South and West where increasing numbers of our
    veterans live. Since 2001, we have opened 194 new community-based
    clinics nationwide. Through the CARES Initiative we're providing $1
    billion and have requested another half-billion for next year to
    modernize VA facilities and to provide better care for veterans in areas
    where the need is growing. When it comes to providing first-class care
    for our veterans, we are getting the job done.
        Our Nation's debt extends not just to the veterans who served but to
    the families who supported them in war and depend on them today. So last
    December, I signed the Veterans Benefits Act, authorizing $1 billion in
    new and expanded benefits for disabled veterans, surviving spouses, and
    their children.
        We meet today at a time of war for our country, a war we did not
    start, yet one that we will win. If America shows weakness or
    uncertainty in this decade, the world will drift toward tragedy. This
    will not happen on my watch.
        The world changed on that terrible September morning, and since that
    day, we have changed the world. Before September the 11th, 2001,
    Afghanistan served as the home base of Al Qaida, which trained and
    deployed thousands of killers to set up terror cells around the world,
    including our own country. Because we acted, Afghanistan is a rising
    democracy. I don't know whether you know this or not, but over 10
    million Afghan citizens have registered to vote in the coming October
    Presidential elections. Because we acted, many young girls now go to
    school for the first time. Because we acted, Afghanistan is an ally in
    the war on terror. Because we acted, America and the world are safer.
        Before September the 11th, Libya was spending millions to acquire
    weapons of mass destruction. Today, because America

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    and our allies sent a clear and easy-to-understand message, the leader
    of Libya has abandoned his
    pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, and America and the world are
    safer.
        Before September the 11th, the ruler of Iraq was a sworn enemy of America. He was defying the
    world. He was firing weapons at American pilots who were enforcing the
    world's sanctions. He had pursued and he had used weapons of mass
    destruction. He had harbored terrorists. He invaded his neighbors. He
    subsidized the families of suicide bombers. He and his henchmen murdered
    tens of thousands of his own citizens. He was a source of instability in
    the world's most volatile region. Saddam Hussein was a threat.
        After September the 11th, one of the lessons this country must
    always remember is that we must take threats seriously before they fully
    materialize. So I went to the United States Congress, and members of
    both political parties, including my opponent, looked at the
    intelligence and looked at the background and came to the same
    conclusion: Saddam Hussein was a threat.
        Before a President ever commits troops, we must try all other
    alternatives to deal with threats. And so I went to the United Nations.
    I said to the free world, ``Saddam Hussein is
    a threat.'' They looked at the same intelligence and came to the same
    conclusion with a 15-to-nothing vote in U.N. Security Council. They
    said, ``Disclose, disarm, or face serious consequences.'' The world had
    spoken.
        But as he had for over a decade. Saddam Hussein defied the demands of the free world. He ignored the
    demands of the United Nations. As a matter of fact, when we sent
    inspectors--or when the U.N. sent inspectors into Iraq, he
    systematically deceived the inspectors. So I had a choice to make: Do I
    forget the lessons of September the 11th and take the word of a madman,
    or do I take action to defend our country? Given that choice, I will
    defend America every time.
        Even though we did not find the stockpiles that we thought we would
    find, Saddam Hussein had the capability of
    making weapons of mass destruction, and he could have passed that
    capability on to the enemy, and that was a risk we could not afford to
    take after September the 11th. Knowing what I know today, I would have
    taken the same action. America and the world are safer with Saddam
    Hussein sitting in a prison cell.
        We will continue to work with friends and allies around the world to
    aggressively pursue the terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan and
    elsewhere. You cannot talk sense to these people. You cannot negotiate
    with them. You cannot hope for the best. We must aggressively pursue
    them around the world so we do not have to face them here at home. In
    this different kind of war, we may never sit down at a peace table. But
    make no mistake about it, we are winning, and we will win. We will win
    by staying on the offensive. We will win by spreading liberty. We
    believe that liberty can transform nations from tyranny into peaceful
    nations.
        And so we'll keep our commitments in Afghanistan and Iraq. We will
    help them become peaceful and democratic countries that are allies in
    the war on terror. Those countries are now governed by strong leaders
    who believe in the aspirations of their people. We'll help them in the
    political process. More importantly, we will train Afghan citizens and
    Iraqi citizens so they can defend their own country against a few who
    would stop the wishes of the many. Our military will complete this
    mission as quickly as possible so our troops do not stay a day longer
    than necessary.
        We're doing the hard work of securing our country and spreading the
    peace, and those commitments are made by the men and women of our
    military. I've had the privilege of traveling to bases around our
    country and around the world. I've met with those who defend our
    security. I've seen their great decency and their unselfish

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    courage. I can assure you, ladies and gentlemen, the cause of freedom is
    in really good hands.
        And those who wear our uniform deserve the full support of the
    Government. For the past years my administration has strengthened our
    military. We enacted the largest increases in defense spending since
    Ronald Reagan served as the Commander in Chief. We've increased military
    pay by nearly 21 percent. We provided for better housing, for better
    training, for better maintenance.
        Last September, when our troops were in combat in Afghanistan and in
    Iraq, I proposed supplemental funding to support them in their missions.
    The legislation provided funding for body armor and vital equipment,
    hazard pay, health benefits, ammunition, fuel, and spare parts. It was
    important funding. We received great bipartisan support for that
    funding. All but 12 United States Senators voted to support our troops
    in combat. My opponent chose to vote no on that
    vital legislation. When asked, he said, ``Well, I actually did vote for
    the $87 billion, right before I voted against it.'' [Laughter] When
    further pressed, he said he was proud of his vote, and then he said it
    was a complicated matter. There's nothing complicated about supporting
    our troops in combat.
        In the long run, our security is not guaranteed by force alone. We
    must work to change the conditions that give rise to terror, poverty and
    hopelessness and resentment. A free and peaceful Iraq and a free and
    peaceful Afghanistan will be powerful examples in part of the world that
    is desperate for freedom. By serving the ideal of liberty, we're
    bringing hope to others, and we're making our country more secure. By
    serving the ideal of liberty, we are making the world more peaceful, and
    by serving the ideal of liberty, we're serving the deepest ideals of the
    American soul. Freedom is not America's gift to the world; freedom is
    the Almighty God's gift to each man and woman in this world.
        We have more work to do to defend our freedom and to protect our
    country. For decades, America's Armed Forces abroad have essentially
    remained where the wars of the last century ended, in Europe and Asia.
    Much of America's current force posture was designed to protect us and
    our allies from Soviet aggression, a threat that no longer exists. And
    that's why I announced a plan to transform our global force posture, the
    numbers, types, locations, and capabilities of U.S. forces around the
    world.
        This new plan will help us fight and win the war on terror. This new
    plan will help us deal with the threats of the 21st century. It will
    strengthen our alliances while we build new partnerships to better
    preserve the peace. It will reduce the stress on our troops and on our
    military families. It will save the taxpayers money, as we consolidate
    and close bases and facilities overseas no longer needed to face the
    threats of our time and defend the peace and freedom of the world.
        This plan was carefully crafted over more than 3 years in close
    consultation with friends and allies around the world. We will have a
    presence, but we'll have a smarter presence to promote the peace.
        Within hours after I announced this plan, my opponent came out against it, and that's his right to do so.
    After all, it's a campaign. He's allowed to say what he believes. The
    only problem is that he endorsed the idea just 17 days earlier.
    [Laughter] On August the 1st, he said, ``I think we can significantly
    change the deployment of troops, not just in Iraq but elsewhere in the
    world, the Korean Peninsula, perhaps, Europe, perhaps. There are great
    possibilities open to us, but this administration has very little
    imagination.'' Well, it takes a lot of imagination to come out against a
    position you took just 17 days earlier. [Laughter]
        This world has changed a great deal since many of you have worn the
    Nation's uniform. Today, our troops have the most advanced technologies
    at their disposal.

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    Weapons are more lethal and precise than any that were available for
    you. Yet, their success in the war on terror is made possible by the
    same things that made your success possible, personal courage,
    dedication to duty, and love of our great country.
        As our troops serve today in Baghdad and Mosul and the Hindu Kush
    Mountains and around the world, I know American veterans feel a special
    pride in them. They're carrying on your legacy of sacrifice and service.
    They're determined to see the mission through. America is proud of them.
    America will stand with them.
        I want to thank you for standing by our men and women in uniform.
    Thank you for your idealism. Thank you for your example. Thank you for
    your dedication to God and country, and thank you for having me here.
    May God bless you, and may God continue to bless the United States of
    America. Thank you all.

    Note: The President spoke at 10 a.m. at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. In
    his remarks, he referred to Robert W. Spanogle, national adjutant,
    American Legion; Mayor William Purcell of Nashville, TN; and Col.
    Muammar Abu Minyar al-Qadhafi, leader of Libya.