    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book II)]
    [August 16, 2004]
    [Pages 1668-1673]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks to the Veterans of Foreign Wars Convention in Cincinnati, Ohio
    August 16, 2004

        Thank you all very much. Thanks for the warm welcome. And thanks for
    inviting me for your 105th national convention. I'm proud to be here.
        One of the great honors of being Commander in Chief is meeting the
    courageous men and women who stand watch for freedom. Nothing gives me
    greater pleasure than to look them in the eye and say on behalf of our
    country, ``Thank you for your service.'' The same is true of each of you
    here today. When the enemies of freedom were on the march and our
    country and the world needed brave Americans to take up arms and stop
    their advance, you stepped forward to serve. And today I'm proud to
    stand before you as Commander in Chief, look you in the eye, and say,
    America thanks you for your service.
        I want to thank Ed Banas for his service
    in being an effective commander of the VFW. I appreciate the job he's
    done, and

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    I want to thank his wife, Sandra, for standing
    by his side during this important time for the VFW. Ed, thank you, sir,
    for your service. I also thank my friend Bob Wallace, the executive
    director of the VFW.
        I want to thank Governor Bob Taft for joining
    us today, from the State of Ohio; my friend Tony Principi--I'll say something about him here in a minute;
    and Congressman Rob Portman, Congressman from
    Ohio, is with us as well. I'm honored that these elected officials--and
    in Principi's case, appointed official--is with us today.
        I want to thank John Furgess, the incoming
    VFW national commander in chief, and Alma. I
    want to thank Evelyn McCune, the VFW Ladies
    Auxiliary national president, and her husband, Don. I want to thank JoAnne Ott. I want
    to thank the VFW and Ladies Auxiliary members for letting me come and
    address you.
        In the audience today are two people I've gotten to know during a
    very traumatic period during their lives. Carolyn and Keith Maupin are with us
    today. They're from this part of the world. Their son, Matt, has been missing in action for 4 months in
    Iraq. I have vowed to them we will do everything we can to find their
    loved one, Matt. I appreciate their courage. I continue to send my
    prayers to these two fine Americans during these difficult times for
    them. May God bless you, Keith and Carolyn.
        The Veterans of Foreign Wars have always stood up for our Nation and
    those who wear the uniform. Since your founding in 1899, the members of
    the VFW have been serving the men and women who served America. I
    appreciate your dedication. The VFW and its Ladies Auxiliary are
    volunteering by transporting sick and disabled vets to and from their
    medical appointments. You're showing great compassion. You're supporting
    the men and women who serve today. Some 1,500 VFW posts have adopted
    military units deployed in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other distant
    theaters. You've distributed more than 3.5 million prepaid calling cards
    to our deployed forces. You've sent thousands of care packages to our
    troops in the field. You've helped the families back home with groceries
    and home repairs and other necessities. America respects our military
    and their families. I thank you for showing that respect every day.
        All our Nation's veterans have made serving America the highest
    priority of their lives, and serving our veterans is one of the highest
    priorities of my administration. To make sure my administration fulfills
    the commitments I have made to America's veterans, I selected one of the
    finest men ever to serve as the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, a combat-
    decorated Vietnam veteran, Secretary Tony Principi.
        Thanks in large part to Tony's
    leadership, my administration has a solid record of accomplishment for
    our veterans. When my 2005 budget 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. To provide health care to veterans, we've increased VA medical
    care funding by 41 percent over the past 4 years.
        We are bringing care to more veterans more quickly. Since 2001,
    we've enrolled 2.5 million more veterans in health care services. We've
    increased outpatient visits from 44 million to 54 million. We've
    increased the number of prescriptions filled from 98 million to 116
    million. We're getting the job done. We've reduced the large backlog of
    disability claims by about a third. We will reduce it even further.
    We've cut the average time it takes to process disability claims by 70
    days.
        We have focused resources on the 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 first in line. For
    more than a century, Federal law prohibited disabled

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    veterans from receiving both their military retired pay and their VA
    disability compensation. Combat-injured and severely disabled veterans
    deserve better. I was proud to be the first President in over 100 years
    to sign concurrent receipt legislation. We're getting the job done in
    Washington, DC.
        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. And through the CARES initiative, we are 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, including here in Ohio. Our VA hospitals are,
    on average, 50 years old. That's why we are modernizing our facilities
    to make sure our veterans have 21st century health care. For example,
    here in Ohio, we're building one of the largest new VA clinics in
    America in Columbus, Ohio. We're spending more than $100 million to
    consolidate two VA hospitals in Cleveland into a single 21st century
    facility. When it comes to providing first-class care for our Nation's
    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. Last
    December, I signed the Veterans Benefits Act, authorizing $1 billion in
    new and expanded benefits for disabled veterans and surviving spouses
    and their children.
        America's veterans have defended America in hours of need. And to
    honor the veterans from the Second World War for their service to our
    country, the World War II Memorial now stands on the Washington Mall.
    And I thank you for your efforts and your hard work to get this memorial
    built. And we honor all of those here today who fought to defend freedom
    in the Second World War.
        Like the Second World War, the war we face today began with a
    ruthless surprise attack on America. The world changed on that September
    morning, and since that day, we have changed the world. Before September
    the 11th, Afghanistan served as the home base of Al Qaida, which trained
    and deployed thousands of killers to set up terrorist cells around the
    world, including our own country. Because we acted, Afghanistan is a
    rising democracy; Afghanistan is an ally in the war on terror;
    Afghanistan is now a place where many young girls get to go to school
    for the first time. America and the world are safer.
        Before September the 11th, Libya was spending millions to acquire
    weapons of mass destruction. Today, because America and our allies sent
    a clear and strong message, the leader of Libya has abandoned his pursuit of weapons of mass
    destruction. 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 murdered tens of
    thousands of his own citizens. He was a source of instability in the
    world's most volatile region. He was a threat.
        One of the lessons of September the 11th, a lesson this Nation must
    never forget, is that we must deal with threats before they fully
    materialize. I remembered what Saddam Hussein
    was like; I looked at the intelligence. I called upon Congress to
    remember his history and look at the intelligence. I thought it was
    important to

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    bring Congress--get their opinion on the subject of Saddam Hussein. So
    members of both political parties, including my opponent, looked at the same intelligence and came to the same
    conclusion that I came to: Saddam Hussein was a threat. I went to the
    United Nations. The U.N. Security Council looked at the intelligence and
    came to the same conclusion: Saddam Hussein was a threat. As a matter of
    fact, they passed a resolution, 15 to nothing, which said to Saddam,
    ``Disclose, disarm, or face serious consequences.'' As he had for the
    past 12 years, he refused to comply. He ignored the demands of the free
    world. He systematically deceived the weapons inspectors.
        So I had a choice to make: Either forget the lessons of September
    the 11th and trust a madman, or take action to defend America. Given
    that choice, I will defend our country every time.
        Even though we did not find the stockpiles that we thought we would
    find, Saddam Hussein had the capability to
    make weapons of mass destruction, and he could have passed that
    capability on to our enemy, to the terrorists. It is not a risk, after
    September the 11th, that we could afford to take. Knowing what I know
    today, I would have taken the same action. America and the world are
    safer because Saddam Hussein sits in a prison cell.
        We have more hard work to do. I'll continue to work with friends and
    allies around the world to aggressively pursue the terrorists in Iraq
    and Afghanistan and elsewhere. See, you can't talk sense to these
    people. You cannot negotiate with them. You cannot hope for the best. We
    must aggressively pursue them and defeat them in foreign lands, so we do
    not have to face them here at home.
        America will continue to lead the world with confidence and moral
    clarity. We have put together a strong coalition to help us pursue the
    terrorists and spread the peace. There are over 40 nations involved in
    Afghanistan, some 30 nations involved in Iraq. I appreciate the
    sacrifices of the mothers and fathers from those countries, to have
    their sons and daughters stand with our troops to spread freedom and
    peace. I'll continue to build on those alliances and work with our
    friends for the cause of security and peace. But I will never turn over
    America's national security decisions to leaders of other countries.
        We'll keep our commitments in Afghanistan and Iraq. We'll help them
    become peaceful and democratic societies. These two nations are now
    governed by strong leaders; they're on the path to elections. We set a
    clear goal that Iraq and Afghanistan will be peaceful and democratic
    countries that are allies in the war on terror. We'll meet that goal by
    helping secure their countries, allowing a peaceful political process to
    develop, and by training Afghan and Iraqi forces so they can make the
    hard decisions, so they can defend their country against those who are
    preventing the spread of freedom. Our military will complete this
    mission as quickly as possible so our troops do not stay a day longer
    than necessary.
        It's important we send the right signals when we speak here in
    America. The other day, my opponent said if he's
    elected, the number of troops in Iraq will be significantly reduced
    within 6 months. I think it sends the wrong signal. It sends the wrong
    signal to the enemy; they could easily wait 6 months and 1 day. It sends
    the wrong message to our troops, that completing the mission may not be
    necessary. It sends the wrong message to the Iraqi people who wonder
    whether or not America means what it says. Our friends and allies must
    know that when America speaks, we mean what we say. We will stay until
    the job is completed.
        In the long run, our security is not guaranteed by force alone. We
    will 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

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    and examples in a neighborhood that is desperate for freedom. You see,
    by serving the ideal of liberty, we are bringing hope to others, and
    that makes America more secure. By serving the ideal of liberty, we're
    spreading the peace. Free countries do not export terror. Free countries
    are peaceful countries. And by serving the ideal of liberty, we're
    serving the deepest ideals of America. We believe that freedom is not
    America's gift to the world; freedom is the Almighty God's gift to each
    man and woman in this world.
        These are crucial times. We have an historic opportunity to win the
    war on terror by spreading freedom and peace. Our commitments are being
    kept 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 seen
    their great decency and their unselfish courage. I assure you, ladies
    and gentlemen, the cause of freedom is in really good hands.
        Those who wear our uniform deserve the full support of our
    Government. For almost 4 years, my administration has strengthened our
    military. We have enacted the largest increases in defense spending
    since Ronald Reagan served as the Commander in Chief. We've increased
    military pay by 21 percent. We have provided better housing and better
    training and better maintenance.
        And last September, while our troops were in combat in Afghanistan
    and Iraq, I wanted to make sure they had the very best, so I proposed
    supplemental funding to support them in their mission. The legislation
    provided funding for body armor and vital equipment, hazard pay, health
    benefits, ammunition, fuel, and spare parts. The VFW strongly supported
    my request. I thank you for standing up for our troops. Your work on
    Capitol Hill paid off. After all, the funding received strong bipartisan
    support--so strong that in the United States Senate, only 12 Members
    voted against the funding, 2 of whom were my opponent and his runningmate.
        When pressed, he explained his vote, ``I
    actually did vote for the $87 billion, before I voted against it.''
    [Laughter] He went on to say he was proud of the vote and the whole
    thing is a complicated matter. There's nothing complicated about
    supporting our troops in combat.
        We have more work to do to defend freedom and protect our country.
    We will ensure that our forces are well-prepared and well-positioned to
    meet the threats of the future. Our Armed Forces have changed a lot.
    They're more agile and more lethal. They're better able to strike
    anywhere in the world over great distances on short notice. Yet for
    decades, Americans' Armed Forces abroad have essentially remained where
    the wars of the last century ended, in Europe and in Asia. America's
    current force posture was designed, for example, to protect us and our
    allies from Soviet aggression. The threat no longer exists.
        More than 3 years ago, we launched a comprehensive review of
    America's global force posture, the numbers, types, locations, and
    capabilities of U.S. forces around the world. We've consulted closely
    with our allies and with Congress. We've examined the challenges posed
    by today's threats and emerging threats. And so, today I announce a new
    plan for deploying America's Armed Forces.
        Over the coming decade, we'll deploy a more agile and more flexible
    force, which means that more of our troops will be stationed and
    deployed from here at home. We will move some of our troops and
    capability to new locations, so they can surge quickly to deal with
    unexpected threats. We'll take advantage of 21st century military
    technologies to rapidly deploy increased combat power.
        The new plan will help us fight and win these wars of the 21st
    century. It will strengthen our alliances around the world, while we
    build new partnerships to better preserve the peace. It will reduce the
    stress

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    on our troops and our military families. Although we'll still have a
    significant presence overseas, under the plan I'm announcing today, over
    the next 10 years, we will bring home about 60,000 to 70,000 uniformed
    personnel and about 100,000 members and civilian employees--family
    members and civilian employees.
        See, our servicemembers will have more time on the homefront and
    more predictability and fewer moves over a career. Our military spouses
    will have fewer job changes, greater stability, more time for their kids
    and to spend time with their families at home. The taxpayers will save
    money as we configure our military to meet the threats of the 21st
    century. There will be savings as we consolidate and close bases and
    facilities overseas no longer needed to face the threats of our time and
    defend the peace.
        The world has changed a great deal, and our posture must change with
    it, for the sake of our military families, for the sake of our
    taxpayers, and so we can be more effective at projecting our strength
    and spreading freedom and peace.
        Today, our troops have the most advanced technologies at their
    disposal. Weapons are more lethal, more precise than were available for
    you. Our troops are more mobile. They can communicate better. Yet their
    success in the wars we fight is being made possible by the same things
    that made your success possible, personal courage, love of country,
    dedication to duty.
        As our troops fight today in Baghdad, in Najaf, in the Hindu Kush
    Mountains, and elsewhere, I know America's 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. This country stands with
    them.
        I want to thank you for the example you have set for our men and
    women in uniform. I want to thank you for your idealism, for your
    dedication to God and our country. May God bless you all, and may God
    continue to bless the United States of America. Thank you all very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:04 a.m. at the Dr. Albert B. Sabin
    Cincinnati Cinergy Center. In his remarks, he referred to Edward S.
    Banas, Sr., commander in chief, Bob Wallace, Washington office executive
    director, and John Furgess, senior vice commander in chief, Veterans of
    Foreign Wars; and Evelyn McCune, national president, and JoAnne Ott,
    national senior vice president, Ladies Auxiliary VFW. He also referred
    to the Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services (CARES)
    initiative of the Department of Veterans Affairs.