Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book II)

[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book II)]
[August 27, 2004]
[Pages 1756-1763]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

Remarks in Miami
August 27, 2004

The President. Thank you all for coming. Vamos a ganar en Noviembre.
Thanks for coming. I like a line of work where you get introduced by
your wife. I love her dearly. She's a great wife,
a wonderful mother, and she is a terrific First Lady. I'm going to give
you some reasons why I think you need to put me back in, but perhaps the
most important one of all is so that Laura is the First Lady for 4 more
years.
Listen, Laura and I are thrilled to be here
with our friend Zell Miller from Georgia. He
is--I've asked him to give a big speech next week. He's the keynote
speaker for our convention. I asked him because he puts his country
above partisan politics. I asked him because he's a man of--he's got a
great heart, and he cares about people from all walks of life. I picked
the right guy to give a big speech for us next Wednesday night.
I'm sorry my brother is not here, mi hermanito.
He's working. He's doing what the people of Florida expect him to do,
and that is to do his job. I just saw him, and we were talking about the
damage done by Hurricane Charley and the response by the Federal
Government and the State government, which has been swift and sure.
We're helping the people that need help on the west coast and throughout
the

[[Page 1757]]

interior of your State. We're doing our jobs as public servants.
I was just talking to the chairman of the Appropriations Committee.
He was with us. He happens to be from Florida as well, Chairman
Young, and we both agreed we'll provide the
money necessary to help people with their housing and small-business
loans and Government assistance as well to help the citrus growers and
vegetable growers and nursery men and women who've been hurt by this
storm. I want to thank them for their hard work.
I appreciate Congressman Mark Foley who's
with us today--Congressman Foley. I want to thank my friend Mario Diaz-
Balart, who's with us today. Mario--
bienvenidos, Mario.
I want to appreciate David Dermer, who
happens to be the mayor of Miami Beach. I appreciate him being here. Mr.
Mayor, gracias por su apoyo. Su apoyo es muy importante.
I appreciate my friend Lynn Swann. He's
the head of the President's Council on Physical Fitness, and he is an--
he sets an important message: Exercise. [Laughter] Take care of your
bodies. Get out and move around. He just warned me, he forgot to tell me
what it means to fall off a mountain bike. [Laughter] But I'm proud of
my friendship with Lynn. I want to thank him.
I want to thank all the grassroots activists who are here, the
people who are participating in the political process. We have a duty in
this country to vote. See, we have a duty in a free country to go to the
polls. I'm asking you to register your friends and neighbors to vote.
See, reach out to people from all walks of life. You can find
Republicans who need to register. You'll find some discerning
independents who need to register. You can find some Democrats just like
Zell who need to register. And get them to the
poll and remind them that if they're interested in this country being
safer, stronger, and better, put Dick Cheney and
me back in office.
Now, I want to thank you for what you have done. I want to thank you
for what you're going to do, which is to turn out that vote. When we're
coming down the stretch, get your friends and neighbors to the polls and
remind them that we've been through a lot together during the past years
and we've accomplished a lot. But there's only one reason to look
backward, and that is to determine who best to lead us forward. I'm here
to tell you, I'm ready to lead this country for 4 more years. I've got
an agenda.
Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
The President. We have more to do. We have more to do to make sure
our public schools are the centers of excellence we know they all can
be. You might remember what it was like 3\1/2\ years ago. We had a
system that just shuffled the children through, grade after grade, year
after year, without them learning the basics. We came to Washington to
challenge that system. Listen, we provided more Federal funding to help
the schools down here, but we now expect results. We're challenging the
soft bigotry of low expectations. We're raising the bar. We believe in
accountability. We're helping kids early, before it's too late.
We're making progress. And at my speech next week, I'm going to talk
about how to continue to build on the foundation of excellence we laid.
We want more high school kids taking math and sciences so they can
compete in the 21st century. We're going to have problems--we'll be
solving problems early so every child has a chance to succeed. We want
to make sure a high school diploma means something. What I'm telling you
is, after 4 more years, a rising generation will have the skills and
confidence necessary to compete in the 21st century.
There's more work to be done to make sure health care is available
and affordable. I know some seniors in this State have heard that old
Medicare debate campaign after campaign after campaign, and nothing

[[Page 1758]]

ever got done. The system needed to be changed to help our seniors. I
went to Washington with an idea and a plan to strengthen Medicare for
our seniors, and we got the job done.
We've not only helped our seniors, we've helped low-income Americans
by expanding community health centers all across our country. We
provided health savings accounts so families can save tax-free for their
own health care needs. But there's more to be done. Listen, I fully
understand most new jobs in this country are created by small
businesses. Most small businesses are having trouble--many small
businesses are having trouble affording health insurance for their
employees. It seems to make sense to me to allow small businesses to
join together to purchase insurance at the rate, the discounts that big
companies are able to do.
There is more work to be done in order to make sure health care is
available and affordable here in south Florida. We need to stop those
junk lawsuits that are running up the cost of medicine.
Audience member. Kerry won't do it.
The President. Right. See, I don't think you can be pro-patient and
pro-doctor and pro-plaintiff-attorney at the same time. I think you have
to make a choice. My opponent made his choice. He
put him on the ticket.
Audience members. Boo-o-o!
The President. I made my choice. I'm standing with the patients and
docs and hospitals for medical liability reform. In all we do to improve
health care in America, we will make sure the health decisions are made
by patients and doctors, and not by Government bureaucrats in
Washington, DC.
We've got more to do to keep this economy growing. Remind your
friends and neighbors what this--what we've been through. We've been
through a recession. We've been through an attack. We've been through
corporate scandals. And yet, we've overcome these obstacles. You know
why? We've got the best workers in the world. We've overcome these
obstacles because we've got great entrepreneurs in America. The
entrepreneurial spirit is strong. The small-business sector of our
economy is doing well. We've overcome these obstacles because of our
farmers and ranchers. We've also overcome these obstacles because of
well-timed tax cuts.
You might remember that we--our theory was, if you pay taxes, you
get relief. We didn't try to pick or choose winners. We reduced the
rates of everybody. We also increased the child credit. If you're a mom
or dad, we wanted to help you out. We reduced the marriage penalty. See,
we believe the Tax Code ought to encourage marriage, not discourage
marriage. We helped our small businesses.
Because we acted, our economy has been growing at rates as fast as
any in nearly 20 years. Because we acted, America has added about 1.5
million new jobs over the last 12 months. Because we acted, the national
unemployment rate is down to 5.5 percent, below the national average of
the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Because we acted, the unemployment rate in
the State of Florida is 4.4 percent.
Listen, there's more work to be done to keep this economy growing.
To keep jobs here in America, we need to reduce the regulatory burden on
the employers of America. We need tort reform so that small businesses
are able to keep their doors open. We need to make sure that trade
around the world is fair. We just want countries to treat us like we
treat them, because we can compete with anybody, anytime, anywhere when
the rules are fair.
Audience members. U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!
The President. In order to make sure we have jobs here in America
and the economy continues to grow, we need an energy plan. I submitted a
plan to the Congress 2 years ago. It's a plan that encourages
conservation and encourages renewable sources of

[[Page 1759]]

energy. It encourages exploration for natural gas in environmentally
friendly ways. It encourages clean coal technology. What it says is in
order to grow this economy, we must be less dependent on foreign sources
of energy.
In order to make sure this economy continues to grow and people can
find work here at home, we need to be wise about how we spend your money
and we need to keep your taxes low. I'm running against a fellow--
he's already made over $2 trillion worth of
promises. [Laughter] And we're just coming down the stretch. We have 2
more months to go. Imagine what it's going to be like. And so they said,
``How are you going to pay for it?'' And he put out that same old, tired
slogan, ``Oh, I'm going to pay for it by taxing the rich.''
Audience members. [Inaudible]
The President. Yes. But you've heard that before, haven't you?
Audience members. [Inaudible]
The President. Yes. You know how the system works. They say they're
going to tax the rich, but they hire lawyers and accountants, and then
you get stuck with the bill. But we're not going to let him tax you because I'm going to win.
We have more to do. We have more to do to wage and win the war
against terror. America's future depends on our willingness to lead in
the world. If America shows uncertainty or weakness in this decade, the
world will drift toward tragedy. This will not happen on my watch.
The world changed on a terrible September morning, and since that
day, we've changed the world. Before September the 11th, Afghanistan
served as the home base of Al Qaida, which trained and deployed
thousands of killers in cells around the world, including the United
States. Because we acted, Afghanistan is a rising democracy. Over 10
million people in that country have registered to vote. Afghanistan is
an ally in the war on terror. Because we acted, many young girls now go
to school for the first time in their lives. 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 and our allies have
sent a strong and clear 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 pilots enforcing the world's sanctions.
He had pursued and he had used weapons of mass destruction. He harbored
terrorists. He invaded his neighbors. He subsidized the families of
suicide bombers. He murdered tens of thousands of his own citizens. He
was the source of great instability in a world's volatile region, and
so, I saw a threat.
One of the lessons of September the 11th that we must never forget
is that this Nation must deal with threats before they fully
materialize. It's an important lesson. So with that in mind, I went to
the United States Congress--I went to the Congress. I said, ``I see a
threat. My administration sees a threat.'' They looked at the same
intelligence I did. They remembered the same history of the
dictator, and they saw a threat, including my
opponent. He saw a threat. He saw a threat and,
along with many, authorized the use of force.
Committing our troops into combat is the last choice of a
President--it must be the last choice, so I went to the United Nations.
And I said, ``We see a threat.'' They looked at the intelligence. They
remembered the history, and they saw a threat. Remember, they passed a
resolution 15 to nothing that said, ``Saddam Hussein, disclose, disarm, or face serious consequences.''
But as he had for over a decade, he
refused to comply with the demands of the free world. He chose defiance
once again. As a matter of fact, when we tried to send

[[Page 1760]]

inspectors into the country, he systematically deceived the inspectors.
So I had a choice to make. The choice was: Do I trust a madman and
forget the lessons of September the 11th, or take actions to defend
America? I will defend America every time.
Even though we did not find the stockpiles we expected to find,
Saddam had the capability of making weapons
of mass destruction, and he could have passed that capability on to
others, including our enemy. Knowing what I know today, I would have
made the same decision. America and the world are safer with Saddam
Hussein sitting in a prison cell.
I'm running because I understand we have more to do to defend this
country. It's the most solemn duty of Government, is to defend the
American people. So we'll continue to work with our friends and allies
to aggressively pursue these terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan and
elsewhere around the world. You cannot talk sense to these people. You
can't rationalize with them. You cannot hope for the best. We must
aggressively pursue them and defeat them around the world so we do not
face them here at home.
We will continue to lead the world with confidence and moral
clarity. See, we put together a strong coalition. Nearly 40 nations are
involved in Afghanistan. Some 30 nations are involved in Iraq. We will
continue to work with our alliances and our friends for the sake of
freedom and peace, but I will never turn over America's national
security decisions to leaders of other countries.
We will keep our commitments to help Afghanistan and Iraq become
peaceful democratic societies. That's what we're going to do. You see,
these two nations are now governed by strong leaders. They're on the
path to elections. In Afghanistan and Iraq, we've set a clear goal,
peaceful and democratic countries that are allies in the war on terror.
Our military forces will help them meet that goal by training Afghan and
Iraqi forces so they can defend their own countries. Our military will
complete--un momento--we will complete our mission as quickly as
possible so our troops do not stay a day longer than necessary.
Our commitments are being kept by a fantastic military. I am so
proud----
Audience members. U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!
The President. At bases across the country and around the world,
I've seen the great decency and the unselfish courage of our service men
and women. I want to thank the veterans who are here for setting such a
great example for those who wear the uniform. I made a commitment to our
troops and to the loved ones of our troops that they will have the
resources they need to fight and win the war on terror. That's why last
September, while our troops were in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, I
proposed supplemental funding to support them in their mission. This was
legislation that provided funding for body armor and vital equipment,
for hazard pay, health benefits, ammunition, fuel, and spare parts. This
was necessary funding. We received great bipartisan support. In the
Senate, matter of fact, the bipartisan support was so strong only 12
Members voted against it.
Audience members. Boo-o-o!
The President. Two of those twelve Senators are my opponent and his runningmate.
Audience members. Boo-o-o!
The President. He said--they asked him, they
said, ``Why did you do that?'' He said, ``Well, I actually did vote for
the 87 billion, right before I voted against it.'' ``Voto si, y despues
voto no.'' Muy claro. [Laughter]
And so they said, ``Well, wait a minute.'' And they kept pressing.
And he said, ``Well, I was proud of the vote.'' And then finally
he said, ``It's just 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
will work to

[[Page 1761]]

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 their neighborhood. See, we
believe in America that free countries do not export terror; free
countries do not stifle the dreams of their citizens.
By serving the ideal of liberty, we're bringing hope to others, and
that makes America more secure. By serving the ideal of liberty, we're
spreading the peace that we all long for. By serving the ideal of
liberty, we're serving the deepest ideals of our national 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.
And over the next 4 years, I will continue to work to ensure that
gift of freedom reaches the men and women of Cuba. Last weekend, we're
continuing to implement our strategy of la verdad, the truth. We took
action to continue breaking the dictator's
information blockade. We launched the first of what will be regular
airborne broadcasts into Cuba. We will continue those broadcasts. The
Cuban people are hearing the truth once again.
I believe and strongly believe the people of Cuba should be free
from the tyrant. And I believe that enforcing the embargo is a necessary
part of that strategy. My opponent has a different approach. Last year,
after Castro launched a brutal crackdown on
dissidents, my opponent responded by voting to
reward the dictator by lifting the tourism travel ban.
Audience members. Boo-o-o!
The President. He even criticized some of the
dissidents. He said their efforts to promote democracy were
counterproductive.
Audience members. Boo-o-o!
The President. And he said they had brought
down the hammer on themselves.
Audience members. Boo-o-o!
The President. Sus palabra. A few years earlier in 2000, he said the only reason we don't change the embargo is
because of the politics of Florida.
Audience members. Boo-o-o!
The President. Now he's changing his tune.
Earlier this year, he came down here, and he explained his position on
the Helms-Burton law. It's a tough measure that has succeeded in denying
hard currency into Cuba to the Castro regime so he can exploit the
people. He said, and I quote, ``I voted for the Helms-Burton
legislation,'' end quote. That's what he said. But there's one problem.
He voted against it.
Audience members. Boo-o-o!
The President. To clear things up, his campaign said that while he
did vote against final passage, he had voted for
it months earlier.
Audience members. Boo-o-o!
The President. In other words, he voted for
it before he voted against it. ``Voto si, y despues voto no.''
When I say something, I mean it. We will not rest until the Cuban
people enjoy the same freedoms in Havana that they receive here in
America.
There's more work to be done to protect the homeland. We've got more
work to do. I just want you to know there's a lot of really good people
who are working hard and long hours to protect you, people at the
Federal level, people at the State level, first-responders here at the
local level. We're spending a lot of time. I appreciate the firefighters
and police officers and emergency teams that are here with us today.
There's more work to be done. You know, we created the Department of
Homeland Security. We're now reforming our intelligence service so we
can get better intelligence and share the intelligence better to disrupt
terrorist plots. We've got to do better in our ports and on our borders.
We've got a lot of work to do. But I just want to warn you, reform isn't
easy in Washington. There's a lot of entrenched interests up there. A
lot of people say they

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like the status quo. It's not enough to advocate reform. You've got to
be able to get the job done.
So when you go out and work on our behalf, you tell them that when
it comes to reforming our schools and raising the standards and
improving the lives of our children, we're getting the job done. When it
comes to health care reforms that helps our seniors and our families,
we're getting the job done. When it comes to improving our economy and
creating quality jobs, we are getting the job done. When it comes to
better securing our homeland and fighting the forces of terror and
spreading peace and freedom, we're getting the job done. When it comes
to a firm policy on Cuba, we're getting the job done. When it comes to
electing a President, put somebody back in office who can get the job
done.
Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
The President. These are changing times we live in. These are
changing times, and they're challenging times. They're exciting times as
well. But in these changing times, there are--some things will never
change: Our belief in liberty and opportunity and the nonnegotiable
demands of human dignity; our belief in the values we try to live by,
courage and compassion, reverence and integrity. In changing times, we
will honor our families, our schools, and our religious congregations.
We stand for institutions like marriage and family, which are the
foundations of society. We stand for a culture of life in which every
person matters and every person counts. We stand for judges who
faithfully interpret the law instead of legislating from the bench.
We stand for a culture of responsibility in America. Our culture is
changing from one that has said, ``If it feels good, do it,'' ``You got
a problem, blame somebody else,'' to a culture in which each of us
understands we're responsible for the decisions we make in life. If
you're fortunate enough to be a mother or a father, you are responsible
for loving your child with all your heart and all your soul. 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 a responsibility society, each
of us is responsible for loving our neighbor just like we'd like to be
loved ourselves.
For all Americans, these years in our history will stand apart.
There are quiet times in the life of a nation when little is expected of
its leaders. This isn't one of those times. This is a time where we need
firm resolve, clear vision, and deep belief in the values that make this
country such a wonderful country.
Audience members. U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!
The President. None of us will ever forget that week when one era
ended and another began. I was traveling with Rudy Giuliani yesterday in New Mexico, and I--it reminded me of
the day we spent together, September the 14th, 2001, the day I stood in
the ruins of the Twin Towers, the day that, obviously, I'll never
forget. There were workers in hardhats yelling, ``Whatever it takes.'' I
was walking down, thanking people, and a fellow looked me and said, ``Do
not let me down.'' This is one of these memories that have been
indelibly etched in my mind. I wake up every day in this great job of
mine thinking about how best to protect America. I will never relent in
defending our country, whatever it takes.
We have done a lot together. We have done a lot together, and we've
done a lot of hard work. We've done a lot of hard work. There's more
work to be done. We will spread ownership and opportunity to every
corner of this country--I mean every corner. I want everybody, no matter
where they're from, where they were raised, to be able to realize the
great potential, the

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great dream of America. We'll pass the enduring values of our country on
to another generation. During the next 4 years, we will continue to lead
the cause of freedom and peace.
When I campaigned in your great State 4 years ago and around our
Nation, I made a pledge to my fellow Americans, if you honored me with
the great responsibility of being President, I would uphold the honor
and the dignity of the office to which I had been elected. Y con su
apoyo--and with your help, I will do so por quatro mas anos.
Thank you all for coming. Vamos a ganar. Thank you all. God bless.

Note: The President spoke at approximately 5:13 p.m. at the Miami Arena.
In his remarks, he referred to Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida; Col. Muammar
Abu Minyar al-Qadhafi, leader of Libya; President Fidel Castro of Cuba;
and Rudolph W. Giuliani, former mayor of New York City. The transcript
released by the Office of the Press Secretary also included the remarks
of the First Lady, who introduced the President.