[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book II)]
[September 10, 2004]
[Pages 2006-2014]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks in Chillicothe, Ohio
September 10, 2004
The President. Thank you all for coming. I'm honored to be here. Old
Bob Ney, he said, ``Why don't you come over to
the Ross County Fairgrounds. Maybe a couple of people will come over and
say hello.'' Thanks for having me. It's good to be here. I'm here to ask
for the vote; that's what I'm doing.
I've been traveling on that bus throughout your beautiful State
telling people I'd like their vote. And we're ending our bus trip right
here in Ross County, and it's a good place to stop. This is where the
people work hard. They value family. They like hunting and fishing, and
they love their country.
I'm traveling with my friend Zell Miller.
He--what Zell said is something I appreciate. He said, ``You can be a
Democrat and vote for George W. Bush.'' I understand there's a lot of
people here in this part of your State who call themselves Democrats,
and we welcome you here, and we welcome your vote. I want to thank my
friend Zell Miller for traveling with me. He's a great American. He is a
solid, solid citizen of this great country. And I'm proud to call him
friend.
Not only am I here to ask for your vote, I'm here to ask for your
help. I'd like for you to go out and register your friends and
neighbors. Remind them they have a duty to do in this democracy of ours,
to participate in the process. So go to your coffee shops and your
community centers, and register people. Register our Republican friends,
the independents, and discerning Democrats. Not only register them, I'm
here to ask you, then, to get them to go to the polls, voting time. And
when
[[Page 2007]]
you head them to the polls, remind them if they want a safer America, a
stronger America, a better America, to put me and Dick Cheney back in office.
I am sorry Laura is not here today.
Audience members. Aw-w-w!
The President. Most people usually do groan. [Laughter] So when I
asked her to marry me, I said, ``Will you?'' And
she said, ``Fine--[laughter]--``just so long as I don't have to give any
political speeches.'' [Laughter] I said, okay, you don't have to give
any political speeches. Fortunately, she didn't hold me to my word.
[Laughter] See, last week in New York, people got to see Laura. They got
to see her calm, steady, compassionate self. I love her dearly. And
perhaps the most important reason to put me back in to office is so
she'll be First Lady for 4 more years.
I appreciate my runningmate, Dick Cheney.
I'm proud to be running with him. Admittedly, he doesn't have the
waviest hair in the race. [Laughter] I didn't pick him for his hair.
[Laughter] I picked him because he's a man of sound judgment, strong
experience, and he can get the job done for the American people.
I appreciate Congressman Bob Ney, straight
shooter, good friend, and a fine Member of the United States Congress.
I'm proud your Governor is here. Mr. Governor,
thank you for coming. I appreciate my friend Bob Taft joining us today.
I'm going to thank my friend Rob Portman,
Congressman from the Cincinnati area, Congressman from the district
right next door--great American. Thank you for coming, Robbie.
I appreciate it. I'm proud Mike DeWine is
with us today. Mike is a fine United States Senator. I want to thank--
oh, by the way, speaking about Senators, put Voinovich back in there. He's running too. He's a great United
States Senator. He's serving these people--the people of this State with
class and dignity, and I'm proud to call him friend. I know you're proud
to call him Senator.
And I want to thank Attorney General Jim Petro
for being here. Senator Doug White--I want to
thank all the senators and house members who are here. I want to thank
the local officials who've come. Thank you for serving.
I appreciate my friend Anthony Munoz,
who's with us today. You might remember Anthony. He's nothing but an NFL
Hall of Famer. He's a Hall of Famer in my book too because he's trying
to help us get reelected here in the State of Ohio.
I want to thank John Stone, the country music
artist who was here today. I appreciate, John.
We've had a great trip. I had the honor of visiting on the bus with
some employees from Piketon. I appreciate those workers for being with
me today. I reminded them, in the year 2000, I wrote the Governor a
letter. I said, ``If I'm President, I'm going to save that plant.''
Promise made; promise kept.
Appreciate the grassroots activists who are here. Those are the
people who put up all the signs we saw coming in today, people who will
man phones when it comes time to get people to vote, people who are
going to talk it up when it comes time to talk it up. Thank you for what
you have done, and thank you for what you're going to do. With your
help, we will carry Ohio again. With your help, we will be able to serve
this great country for 4 more years.
Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
The President. I'm looking forward to this campaign. I like getting
out with the people. I like to tell people where I stand, what I
believe, and where I'm going to lead this Nation.
I believe every child can learn, and we expect every school to
teach. I went to Washington to challenge the soft bigotry of low
expectations. I believe every child can learn. We've raised the
standards. We're measuring early so we can solve problems now, before
it's too late. We trust the local people to make the right decisions
[[Page 2008]]
for the schools. We're making progress here in America. We're closing
the achievement gap, and we're not turning back.
I believe we have a moral responsibility to honor our seniors with
good health care. You might remember the endless debates on Medicare. As
a matter of fact, they used to call it ``Medi-scare.'' I went to
Washington to fix problems. We had a problem in Medicare. People say,
``What do you mean?'' Well, I'll tell you what I mean. Medicare would
pay $100,000 for heart surgery, but they wouldn't pay for the medicines
to prevent the heart surgery from being needed in the first place. That
wasn't right for the seniors. That was lousy for the taxpayers.
Beginning in 2006, our seniors will get prescription drug coverage:
they'll get a modern system, and we're not turning back.
I believe in the energy, innovation, and spirit of America's
workers, small-business owners, and farmers. And that is why we
unleashed that energy with the largest tax cut in a generation.
When you're out there rounding up the vote, remind people we've been
through a lot. This economy has been through a lot. You know, months
before we got ere, the stock market started to decline. Right after we
got there, they declared a recession. Then we had corporate scandals. By
the way, it is now clear in America, we will not tolerate dishonesty in
the boardrooms of America. And then we got attacked. Some people
estimate that attack cost us a million jobs in the 3 months after the
attack.
But we've overcome those obstacles. We've overcome them because
we've got great people here in America. I believe we've overcome them
because our economic stimulus plan is working. See, this economy is
strong; it is getting stronger. We've been growing at rates as fast as
any in nearly 20 years. We've added 1.7 million new jobs since August of
'03. The national unemployment rate is 5.4 percent, lower than the
average rate of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.
I fully understand there are parts of your great State which are
lagging behind the national recovery. But that doesn't mean we ought to
go to lousy policies. That means we ought to continue the progrowth
policies that we put in place. We ought to continue to grow this economy
so people can find work.
I believe a President must confront problems, not pass them on to
future generations or future Presidents. I believe the most solemn duty
of the American President is to protect the American people. If America
shows uncertainty and weakness in this decade, the world will drift
toward tragedy. This isn't going to happen on my watch.
I'm running for President with a clear and positive plan to build a
safer world and a more hopeful America. I'm running with a compassionate
conservative philosophy that Government should help people improve their
lives, not try to run their lives. I believe this Nation wants steady,
consistent, principled leadership, and that is why, with your help,
we'll win a great nationwide victory in November.
I fully understand the world in which we live in is changing. See,
our dads and granddads generally had one job, one career, worked for one
company that provided health and pension plans. The world we live in is
different from that. Most people have more than one career. They change
jobs several times. The most significant change in our workplace is that
a lot of women work in the home and out of the home now. Yet the
fundamental systems haven't changed. See, these are systems designed for
yesterday, not tomorrow, the Tax Code, health coverage, and pension
plans and worker training. In a new term, we will transform these
systems so all citizens are equipped, prepared, and thus truly free to
make your own choices, to be able to pursue your own dreams.
[[Page 2009]]
Any hopeful society is one in which this economy is moving forward.
To create more jobs in America, America must be the best place in the
world to do business. To create more jobs here, we need to reduce the
regulations that burden our employers. To create new jobs here, we've
got to do something about these frivolous lawsuits that make it hard for
small businesses to expand. To create jobs here, we need a sound energy
policy.
Listen, 2 years ago, I submitted a plan to the United States
Congress, and it got stuck, for political reasons. It needs to get
unstuck. If we want jobs here, we need a plan that encourages
conservation, encourages the use of renewables like ethanol and
biodiesel, modernizes the electricity grid, uses coal--clean coal
technology, a plan that makes us less dependent on foreign sources of
energy.
If we want to keep jobs here, we've got to open up markets around
the world for U.S. products. See, we open up the markets for foreign
goods, and that's good for you. If you've got more choices, it's going
to mean you'll get what you want at a better price and a better quality.
So my message to places like China is, ``You treat us the way we treat
you.'' That's why I'm enforcing these laws. Rather than fallen prey to
the language of economic isolationism, what I'm saying is, ``You open up
your markets,'' because we can compete with anybody, anytime, anywhere,
so long as the rules are fair.
Listen, to create jobs, we've got to be wise about how we spend your
money in Washington, and we've got to keep your taxes low. Taxes are an
issue in this campaign. See, the fellow I'm
running against has so far proposed over $2 trillion in new Federal
spending.
Audience members. Boo-o-o!
The President. And we still got October to go--[laughter]--and a lot
of September. So they asked him, they said,
``Well, how are you going to pay for it?'' He said, ``Oh, you know, I'm
just going to tax the rich.'' Two problems with that. One is that, his
plan to tax the rich raises about $650 billion. If you propose $2.2
trillion and your plan raises $650 billion, you're a little short.
[Laughter] You know what that means, don't you, when they get that
shortfall between the promise and the plan? You're going to get stuck.
The other problem with that plan of taxing the rich is, we've heard that
rhetoric before out of Washington. See, that's why they hire accountants
and lawyers, so you get stuck with the bill. We're not going to let him
tax you because we're going to win in November.
We need to do something about the Tax Code as well. This Tax Code of
ours is too complicated. It is full of special interest loopholes. It
takes the American people about 6 billion hours a year to fill out their
taxes. That is too much time. In a new term, I'm going to call
Republicans and Democrats together and make this Tax Code more simple
and more fair, for the sake of economic growth and for the sake of
fairness to the taxpayer.
In a changing world, jobs change. And I know that, and you know
that. In order to help people when jobs change, we've got to make sure
our community colleges are more accessible for American workers. We want
people to be able to train for the skills that are needed to fill the
jobs of the 21st century. Same things comes to our high school students.
Most new jobs today are filled by people with 2 years of college, yet
one in four of our students gets there. That's why we will fund early
intervention programs to help at-risk students in high school. We'll
place a new focus on math and science so the kids have got the skills
necessary to fill the new jobs. Over time, we'll require a rigorous exam
before graduation. By raising performance in high schools and by
expanding Pell grants for low- and middle-income families, we'll help
more Americans start their career with a college diploma.
We've got to do more to make sure health care is available and
affordable.
[[Page 2010]]
More than half of the uninsured are employees of small businesses. See,
small businesses are having trouble affording health care. One way to
help small businesses afford health care and to take care of American
families is to allow them to join together to purchase insurance at the
discounts available to big companies. Another way to help small
businesses and the workers is to expand health savings accounts. We'll
expand community health centers in every poor county in America, to help
people get preventative care and primary care.
To make sure health care is available and affordable, we got to do
something about these frivolous lawsuits that are running good docs out
of practice and running your costs up. See, you cannot be pro-doctor,
pro-hospital, pro-patient, and pro-trial-lawyer at the same time. You
have to choose. My opponent made his choice, and
he put him on the ticket. I made my choice. I'm
for medical liability reform--now. In all we do to improve health care,
we'll make sure the health care decisions are made by patients and
doctors, not by bureaucrats in Washington, DC.
In changing times, stability can be brought to people's life if they
own something. I believe in promoting an ownership society in America.
One of the most hopeful statistics of the last couple of years is that
under my administration, homeownership rates are at an alltime high.
More and more people are owning their own home. We've got a plan over
the next years to promote more ownership. We want people opening up the
front door, saying, ``Welcome to my home. Welcome to my piece of
property.''
I see a lot of younger workers here. I want to thank you all for
coming. I want to talk to you right quick about pension plans, Social
Security. If you're an older worker, Social Security will take care of
you. I don't care what they say in the campaign. You've heard it every 4
years, ``They're going to take away your Social Security check.'' That's
old, stale, tired, Washington, DC, talk. You're going to be just fine.
Baby boomers like me are going to be just fine when it comes to Social
Security. We need to worry about our children and our grandchildren. And
so therefore, I believe younger workers ought to be able to take some of
their own money and set up a personal account to help them with Social
Security, a personal account they can call their own, a personal account
Government cannot take away.
We have a difference of philosophy in this campaign. If you listen
carefully to the rhetoric of my opponent, they
all aim to expand Government. This campaign intends to expand
opportunity because we trust the American people.
In a world of change, there are some things that do not change, the
values we live by, courage and compassion, reverence and integrity. In a
time of change, we'll support the institutions that matter, that bring
us stability, our families, our schools, our religious congregations. We
stand for a culture of life in which every person counts and every being
matters. We stand for marriage and family, which are the foundations of
our society. We stand for the Second Amendment, which gives every
American the individual right to bear arms. I stand for the appointment
of Federal judges who know the difference between personal opinion and
the strict interpretation of the law.
This election will also determine how America responds to the
continuing danger of terrorism. Since the terrible morning of September
the 11th, 2001, we've fought the terrorists across the Earth, not for
pride, not for power, but because the lives of our citizens are at
stake. Our strategy is clear. We're defending the homeland. We're
transforming our military. We're strengthening our intelligence
services. We will stay on the offensive. We will chase the terrorists
around the world so we do not have to face them here at home. We will
work to advance liberty in the broader
[[Page 2011]]
Middle East and elsewhere, and we will prevail.
Our strategy is succeeding. Four years ago, Afghanistan was the home
base of Al Qaida; Pakistan was a transit point for terrorist groups;
Saudi Arabia was fertile ground for terrorist fundraising; Libya was
secretly pursuing nuclear weapons; Iraq was a gathering threat; Al Qaida
was largely unchallenged as it planned attacks. Because we led, the
Government of a free Afghanistan is fighting terror; Pakistan is
capturing terrorist leaders; Saudi Arabia is making raids and arrests;
Libya is dismantling its weapons programs; the army of a free Iraq is
fighting for freedom; and more than three-quarters of Al Qaida's key
members and associates have been brought to justice. We have led. Many
have joined, and America and the world are safer.
This progress involved careful diplomacy, clear moral purpose, and
some tough decisions. The toughest came on Iraq. We knew Saddam
Hussein's record of aggression and support
for terror. We knew his long history of pursuing and using weapons of
mass destruction. We knew that after September the 11th, we must think
differently. We must take threats seriously before they fully
materialize.
In Saddam Hussein we saw a threat. I went
to the United States Congress. I said, ``We see a threat.'' They looked
at the same intelligence, remembered the same history that we
remembered, and concluded Saddam Hussein was a threat, and they
authorized the use of force. My opponent looked
at the very same intelligence I looked at, and he concluded Saddam
Hussein was a threat and voted yes when it came to the authorization of
force.
Before the Commander in Chief puts troops in harm's way, we must try
every avenue to solve the problem. I was hoping diplomacy would work. I
went to the United Nations. I said, ``We see a threat.'' They looked at
the same intelligence. They remembered the same history. They concluded
Saddam Hussein was a threat. They passed a
U.N. Security Council resolution 15 to nothing that said, ``Saddam
Hussein, disclose, disarm, or face serious consequences.'' The world
spoke.
But as he had for resolution after
resolution after resolution, Saddam Hussein ignored the demands of the
free world. As a matter of fact, when the U.N. sent inspectors in, he
systematically deceived them.B
So I'm now confronted with a choice. The choice was whether to take
the word of a madman, to forget the lessons of September the 11th, or
take action to defend this country. Given that choice, I will defend
America every time.
Because we acted to defend our country, 50 million people in
Afghanistan and Iraq now live in freedom. And the world is better off.
It wasn't all that long ago that young girls didn't get to go to school
in Afghanistan because of the backward ways of the Taliban. It wasn't
all that long ago that their mothers were pulled out in the public
square and whipped because they wouldn't toe the line to their dismal
ideology of hatred. But think about this. Today, 10 million people, 40
percent women, have registered to vote in the upcoming Presidential
election. It's amazing. Freedom is so powerful. People long to be free.
In Iraq, despite ongoing violence, there's a strong Prime
Minister, a National Council, and national
elections are scheduled for January.
We'll stand with the people of Afghanistan and Iraq. It's in our
interest we stand with them. As well when America gives its word,
America must keep its word. I say it's in our interest--I believe it is
because freedom societies in the Middle East will be hopeful societies
which no longer feed resentments and breed export--breed violence for
export. Freedom governments in the Middle East will fight terrorists
instead of harboring them. And that will make us safer in the long run.
[[Page 2012]]
Our strategy is clear in those countries. We will help new leaders
train their armies so they can do the hard work of defending themselves.
We'll help them move toward elections. We'll get them on the path of
stability and democracy as quickly as possible, and then our troops will
return home with the honor they have earned.
We've got a great United States military. I want to thank the
veterans who have joined us today for setting such a great example for
those who wear today's uniform. I've seen the unselfish courage of our
troops. I know their decency. The cause of freedom is in really good
hands.
I made a pledge to those who wear the uniform and their loved ones
that the Federal Government will give them all the support they need to
do their jobs. That's why a year ago, I went to the United States
Congress and proposed supplemental funding for $87 billion. It was an
important piece of legislation, really important. It provided funding
for body armor and spare parts, ammunition, fuel, supplies, necessary
money for troops in harm's way in both Iraq and Afghanistan. We received
great bipartisan support in the Halls of Congress. The support was so
strong that only 12 Members of the United States Senate voted against
the vital funding, 2 of whom are my opponent and
his runningmate.
Audience members. Boo-o-o!
The President. No, I know. In fact, only four United States Senators
voted to authorize the use of force and then voted against funding our
troops. And two of those are my opponent and his
runningmate.
Audience members. Boo-o-o!
The President. You might remember when he said, when they asked my
opponent why, and he said, ``Well, of course, I
did vote for the $87 billion, right before I voted against it.'' Not
exactly the way they talk here in Ross County. [Laughter] He went on to
say, well--said he was proud of the vote. And finally, he just said,
``It's a complicated matter.'' There's nothing complicated about
supporting our troops in combat.
See, I think a Commander in Chief must be clear and steady. When it
comes to Iraq, my opponent has more different positions than all his
colleagues in the Senate combined. [Laughter] Senator Kerry once said, ``It would naive to the point of grave danger
not to believe that if left to his own devices, Saddam Hussein will
provoke, misjudge, or stumble into a future of more dangerous
confrontation with the civilized world.'' End quote. That's what he
said.
In 2002, he voted for the war but then voted
against the funding for body armor and combat pay and other needed
measures. When the heat got on him in the Democrat primary, he declared
himself the antiwar candidate. Then several months later, he said he
would still have voted to go to war even knowing everything we know
today. Earlier this week, he adopted the language of his one-time rival
Howard Dean, saying, ``It's the wrong war at the
wrong* time,'' even though he earlier said it was the right decision and
he supported it.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
*White House correction.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The newest wrinkle is that Senator Kerry has
now decided we're spending too much money in Iraq, even though he
earlier criticized us for not spending enough. One thing about Senator
Kerry's position is clear: If he had his way, Saddam Hussein would still be in power and would still be a threat to
the security of America and the world.
Audience members. Boo-o-o!
The President. I want to thank our friends and allies for the
contributions they've made to making this world a more peaceful place.
There are nearly 40 nations involved in Afghanistan, some 30 nations
involved in Iraq. The next 4 years, we'll continue to work with our
allies and friends, but I will never turn over America's national
security decisions to leaders of other countries.
[[Page 2013]]
I believe in the transformational power of liberty. The wisest use
of American strength is to advance freedom. I tell people about the fact
that I've got great relations with the Prime Minister of Japan. We have consultations. We talk about important
matters. What's interesting about those consultations is, it wasn't all
that long ago in the march of history that Japan was a sworn enemy. My
dad fought against the Japanese. Your dads
and granddads, husbands fought against the Japanese. They were the sworn
enemy.
After we won in World War II, my predecessor Harry Truman and many
Americans believed that if Japan would become a free society, the world
would be better off. A lot of people were skeptical about that in
America, at that time. You can understand why. They were the enemy. But
they had--my predecessor had great faith that liberty could transform an
enemy into a friend.
Because we helped Japan become a democracy, today, I sit at the
table with the head of a former enemy talking about the peace, talking
about how to see the Korean Peninsula is more peaceful, talking about
Iraq and how to keep the peace there. We're talking about feeding the
hungry and helping people with disease. We're sitting down as allies and
friends talking about a better world.
Someday, a free Iraq is going to elect a leader, and an American
President is going to be sitting down with him or her, and they'll be
talking about the peace. The world will be better off with a free Iraq.
America will be more secure with a free Iraq. A free Iraq will send such
a clear signal to people throughout the Middle East that freedom and
liberty are possible.
I believe that millions in the Middle East plead in silence for
their liberty. I believe that given the chance, they will embrace the
most honorable form of government every devised by man. I believe this,
because freedom is not America's gift to the world; freedom is the
Almighty God's gift to every man and woman in this world.
Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
The President. This young century will be liberty's century. By
promoting freedom at home and freedom abroad, we will build a safer
world and a more hopeful America. By reforming our systems of
Government, we'll help more Americans realize their dreams. We'll spread
ownership and opportunity to every corner of the land. We'll pass the
enduring values of our country to a new generation. We will continue to
work to make this world more free and, therefore, more peaceful.
For all Americans, these years in our history will always stand
apart. You know, 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 when we need firm resolve, clear vision, and a deep faith in
the values that make us a great nation.
None of us will ever forget that week when one era ended and another
began. On September the 14th, 2001, I stood in the ruins of the Twin
Towers. It's a day I will never forget. It's a day that workers in
hardhats were there yelling at me at the top of their lungs, ``Whatever
it takes.'' I was trying my best to thank the workers, people who had
been in the rubble. A guy grabbed me by the arm. He said, ``Do not let
me down.'' Ever since that day, I wake up every morning trying to better
protect this country. I will never relent in defending America, whatever
it takes.
Four years ago, I traveled your great State asking for the vote. I
made a pledge that if you gave me a chance to serve, I would uphold the
honor and the dignity of the office to which I had been elected. With
your help, with your hard work, I will do so for 4 more years.
God bless. Thank you all for coming. Thank you all.
Note: The President spoke at 4:40 p.m. at the Ross County Fairgrounds.
In his remarks, he referred to Senator Zell Miller of Georgia,
[[Page 2014]]
who made the keynote address at the 2004 Republican National Convention;
Gov. Bob Taft of Ohio; Ohio State Attorney General Jim Petro; Ohio State
Senator Doug White; pro football Hall of Famer Anthony Munoz; Prime
Minister Ayad Allawi of the Iraqi Interim Government; former Democratic
Presidential candidate Howard Dean; and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi
of Japan.