[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book II)]
[September 20, 2004]
[Pages 2135-2142]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at a Rally in New York City
September 20, 2004

    The President. Thank you all for coming.
    Audience members. Viva Bush! Viva Bush! Viva Bush!
    The President. Thank you all. Thanks for coming. Thank you all for 
coming. So I said to Pataki, try 
introducing me at the convention. If it works out well, you can 
introduce me here tonight. [Laughter] He gave a great introduction at 
the convention, for which I am grateful. And I appreciate his 
leadership, and I appreciate his friendship.
    I also appreciate the friendship of Rudy. I had the privilege of traveling with Rudy in New Mexico. 
They've even heard of him there. [Laughter] And he did a great job. It 
was a lot of fun. Thanks for coming.
    So when I asked Laura to marry me, she said, 
``Fine, just so long as I never have to give a speech.'' [Laughter] I 
said, ``Well, okay, you'll never have to give a speech.'' Fortunately, 
she didn't hold me to that promise. The American people got to see a 
compassionate, strong, kind person.
    I want to thank--I also want to thank Libby and Emily Pataki for 
joining us, and Judith Giuliani for joining 
us as well. I wish Howard Mills all the best in 
his race for the United States Senate. I want to thank Lew 
Eisenberg for his hard work to make this 
event successful. I want to thank Al Hoffman for 
his hard work. I want to thank my friend Mercer Reynolds, Sandy Treadwell, Mike Long. Most of all, I 
want to thank you all for coming. Vito Fossella is here. Where is old Vito? Somewhere around here. He's 
a Congressman. He's a great guy.
    Thanks for coming. My spirits are high. I'm honored you're here. I 
appreciate the support we receive here in the great State of New York. 
And a couple of folks slid across the border from New Jersey and 
Connecticut as well. [Laughter] I'm proud you're here. I'm not much of a 
prognosticator, but things seem to be going awfully well in the three 
States I just mentioned. I'm enjoying myself on the campaign trail.
    We've got a great country, and I love to get out amongst the people. 
Laura and I are traveling a lot. The crowds are 
huge. Enthusiasm is high. We're going to win in November.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. Thank you all. I'm ready for the stretch run. I know 
where I want to lead the country. I look forward to telling the people 
what I believe. I believe that schools can do a better job of teaching 
our children. Listen, I went to Washington to challenge this practice of 
just shuffling kids through schools year after year, grade after grade. 
It's what I call challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations.
    We've raised the bar. We've increased funding. But in return, we're 
now saying, ``Why don't you measure early so we can correct problems 
early, before they're too late.'' And the achievement gap in America is 
closing, and we're not going to turn around. We're not going to go 
backwards. We're going to stay on this path to excellence for every 
child, por cada nino, por cada nino.
    I went to Washington to fix problems. I believed that we needed to 
fix Medicare. You know, medicine has changed; Medicare hadn't. We would 
pay $100,000 for heart surgery but not a dime for prescription

[[Page 2136]]

drugs that might prevent the heart surgery from being needed in the 
first place. We used to call it ``Medi-scare'' because politicians were 
afraid to talk about it. I'm not afraid to take on the tough issue. 
We've modernized Medicare. Our seniors are going to get prescription 
drug coverage in 2006, and we're not going to turn back.
    I believe the role of Government is not to create wealth but an 
environment in which the entrepreneurs can flourish. I believe that good 
Government policy unleashes the innovation and energy of our farmers, 
ranchers, small-business owners, dreamers, doers. And that's why we 
unleashed that energy with the largest tax cut in a generation.
    Listen, we've been through a lot when it comes to this economy. I 
don't need to tell people in New York what it's been like. We had a 
recession. We had some corporate citizens forget what it means to be 
responsible citizens, and they didn't tell the truth. That affected our 
economy, by the way. We passed laws that now say, ``We're not going to 
tolerate dishonesty in the boardrooms of America, pure and simple.'' The 
attacks on this city hurt us. They say we lost about a million jobs in 
the 3 months after September the 11th, but we've overcome these 
obstacles. This economy of ours is growing at a rate as fast as any in 
nearly 20 years. The national unemployment rate is 5.4 percent, which is 
lower than the average of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Over the past 
year, 47 of the 50 States have added jobs, including the great State of 
New York. This economy is strong, and it is getting stronger.
    A President's most solemn duty is to protect the American people. 
And here's what I believe: I believe if we show any uncertainty or 
weakness in this decade, this world will drift toward tragedy. This will 
not happen on my watch.
    I've got a clear and positive plan to build a safer world and more 
hopeful America. I'm running with what I call a compassionate 
conservative philosophy that Government should help people improve their 
lives, not try to run their lives.
    I also understand the world in which we live is changing. Listen, 
the workforce has changed. Years ago, a man would be the worker, and he 
would have one job, one career, and receive one pension plan, one health 
care plan, and that was it. This world we live in is really different. 
People change careers and jobs. Women are working both inside and 
outside the house.
    And yet the fundamental institutions of our Government have not 
changed with the times. Think about it: The retirement systems haven't 
changed; the health care systems haven't changed; the Tax Code hasn't 
changed; worker training hasn't changed. I'm running for 4 years to 
change the basic systems of Government to reflect the world we live in, 
so people will have a better chance of realizing the great dreams of 
this country.
    Audience member. [Inaudible]
    The President. Vamos a ganar. Mis amigos Latinos estan aqui.
    Audience members. Viva Bush! Viva Bush! Viva Bush!
    The President. I've got some more I've got to say. [Laughter] I'm 
talking about a hopeful world, and you can't be hopeful unless the 
economy grows.
    Audience member. [Inaudible]
    The President. Si. [Laughter] America has got to be the best place 
in the world to do business. If we want jobs to be created here, this 
has got to be the best place in the world.
    So people say, ``What do you mean?'' I'll tell you what I mean: Less 
regulations, legal reform, an energy policy that encourages conservation 
and renewables and uses our technology to change how we consume and use 
energy. But in order to keep jobs here, we have got to become less 
dependent on foreign sources of energy.
    Trade policy has got to be wise. I tell the people, we've opened up 
our markets for foreign goods, and that's good for consumers. If you've 
got more to choose from,

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you're going to get the product you want at a better price and better 
quality. So what we're saying to places like China, ``You treat us the 
way we treat you.'' The best trade policy is to level the playing field, 
because we can compete with anybody, anytime, anywhere in this world.
    Audience member. [Inaudible]
    The President. Okay. Un momento. [Laughter] Whoo! Only in New York. 
[Laughter] I love this city. What a great place--tremendous diversity. 
Un momento. [Laughter]
    I've got to talk about taxes. [Laughter] Let me tell you something, 
if we want the economy to grow, we've got to keep the taxes low. This is 
an issue in this campaign. The guy I'm running 
against says, ``Well, I've got $2.2 trillion of new spending, and I'm 
going to pay for it by taxing the rich.'' First of all, you can't raise 
enough money by taxing the rich. Secondly, by running up the top two 
brackets, you're hurting every S-corp and every limited partnership in 
America that's creating most of the new jobs in this country. Thirdly, 
the American people don't buy that, because they understand people hire 
lawyers and accountants for a reason--[laughter]--to stick them with the 
tab. [Laughter] He's not going to tax the American people, because we're 
going to win in November.
    A couple of other things about a changing world. Listen, there's a 
skills gap in America. We've got communities where jobs have left, and 
there are new jobs being created. And so what we've got to do is fill 
that skills gap through good policy, Pell grants for community colleges. 
We've got great ideas to make sure people have the skills necessary to 
fill the jobs of the 21st century. Two out of--one out of every--two out 
of every four jobs are created--require a college degree. And yet, one 
in four of the students gets there. It's a problem. That's why I'm for 
remedial education in high schools. I believe over time we've got to 
have rigorous exams before they graduate. I want to expand Pell grants 
so more people start their careers with a college diploma.
    The health care system is an issue. We've got an issue in health 
care in this country. And there's a great philosophical divide. The guy 
I'm running against, Senator Kerry, wants to 
nationalize health care. He wants the bureaucrats to make the decisions 
for the doctors and patients.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. Exactly what he's for. For 
example, he wants to crowd out small businesses--health insurance for 
small businesses by raising Medicare, putting more people on Medicaid. 
That's just bad policy, in my judgment. The best way to deal with health 
care is to make sure the poor have got health care at places like 
community health centers, is to expand the children's health insurance 
programs to take care of low-income families that need help, is to 
expand health savings accounts, is to promote association health care 
plans so small businesses can pool risk, get insurance at the same rate 
that big businesses get.
    I'll tell you what else needs to happen, we've got to stop these 
frivolous lawsuits that are running good docs out of business. It's an 
issue in this campaign. Everywhere I go, people that understand the high 
cost of medicine occurs because of these frivolous lawsuits. They also 
understand they're having trouble finding good docs. You talk to what 
it's like--to people what it's like to be an ob-gyn here in America 
these days. Many young pregnant moms are having troubling finding an ob-
gyn. They travel miles to get the help they need. I don't think you can 
be pro-doctor and pro-patient and pro-trial-lawyer at the same time. I 
think you have to make a choice. I think you've got to make a choice, 
and I made my choice. I'm standing with the docs, and I'm standing with 
the patients. I am for medical liability reform--now.
    I'm going to talk about Social Security in this campaign. I'm going 
to remind the seniors who are on Social Security, you're fine. You don't 
have to worry. The trust

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has got you taken care of. Baby boomers like me are fine when it comes 
to Social Security. But we need to be worrying about our children and 
grandchildren. That's who we need to be worrying about when it comes to 
retirement. I believe younger workers ought to take some of their tax 
money and set it aside as personal savings accounts so Social Security 
meets the promise for them, an account they call their own, an account 
they can pass on to whomever they want, and an account the Government 
can't take away.
    I also will tell you, in times of change, things shouldn't change, 
courage and compassion, reverence and integrity. I believe in a culture 
of life in which everybody matters and every person counts. I believe in 
family and marriage, which are the foundations of our society. And I'm 
going to 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 we respond to terrorism, and 
terrorism is a continuing danger. You know, since September the 11th, we 
have been on the offense, and we'll stay on the offense. We're pursuing 
these terrorists around the world, not for pride, not for power, but 
because the lives of our citizens depend on it.
    We've got a clear strategy. We're going to defend the homeland. I 
appreciate the first-responders in this great city. You know what I'm 
talking about when it comes to defending the homeland. Police and 
firefighters and EMS squads of New York City are fabulous people. We're 
transforming our military. We're strengthening the intelligence 
services. We're staying on the offensive. We will strike the terrorists 
abroad so we do not have to face them here in America.
    And we'll work to advance liberty in Afghanistan and Iraq and 
elsewhere, and we're going to prevail. We'll prevail. If we're 
steadfast, if we're steady, if we're strong, we'll prevail. I--our 
strategy is working. Just think about this. Four years ago, Afghanistan 
was the home base of Al Qaida; Pakistan was a transit point for 
terrorist killers; Saudi was fertile ground for terrorist fundraising; 
Libya was secretly pursuing nuclear weapons; Iraq was a gathering 
threat; and Al Qaida was largely unchallenged as it plotted and planned 
for death and destruction. Today, because we acted, because the United 
States has led, Afghanistan is fighting terror; Pakistan is capturing 
terrorist leaders; Saudi Arabia is making raids and arrests on Al Qaida 
leadership; Libya is dismantling its weapons programs; Iraq now has a 
free army, which is fighting for its freedom; and more than three-
quarters of Al Qaida's known leaders and associates have been brought to 
justice.
    Progress involved careful diplomacy, clear moral purpose, and some 
tough decisions. And the toughest came on Iraq. Saddam Hussein was a sworn enemy of America. He was firing weapons at 
American pilots, which were enforcing the world's sanctions. He harbored 
terrorists. Abu Nidal was a coldblooded terrorist killer who killed Leon 
Klinghoffer. Abu Nidal and his organization was in Iraq. 
Zarqawi, the person who likes to behead 
people in order to shake our will, was in Baghdad. He had a network of 
people in that country.
    Saddam Hussein paid the families of 
suicide bombers. Saddam Hussein possessed and used weapons of mass 
destruction. He was a threat. We had been to war with him once. He was 
hoping the world would turn away and not watch him. I went to Congress 
and said to Congress, ``We see a threat.'' And I went to Congress 
because after September the 11th, our Nation must think differently. We 
must take threats seriously before they fully materialize. Prior to 
September the 11th, we would see a threat, and say, ``Well, it may come 
to hurt us or may not. We can deal with it if we want, or we can ignore 
it.'' No longer do we have the luxury of doing that in this country. It 
is essential that this country never forget that lesson.

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    So with that in mind, I went to Congress. They looked at the same 
intelligence I looked at. They remembered the same history I remembered, 
and they concluded that Saddam Hussein was a 
threat. And they authorized the use of force. Now, before a President 
ever uses force, he ought to try all options in order to deal with the 
threat. Listen, committing troops into harm's way is, by far, the 
toughest decision I'll ever have to make, and it's a serious decision. 
And I was hoping that diplomacy would work. So I went to the United 
Nations. They looked at the same intelligence. They concluded, 15 to 
nothing, that Saddam Hussein must disclose, disarm, or face serious 
consequences.
    I believe when a President speaks, he must mean what he says. And I 
believe when an international body speaks, it must mean what they say. 
Saddam Hussein--he ignored the resolution, 
just as he had for over a decade. He was hoping the world would forget 
him. He was hoping we would grow tired and weary. But we weren't growing 
tired and weary, because we remember the lessons of September the 11th, 
2001. He also systematically deceived the inspectors.
    So I have a choice to make at this point in time. Diplomacy had 
failed. He had been given his choice, his last option to listen to the 
demands of the free world. He ignored that option. So I have a choice: 
Do I forget the lessons of September the 11th and take the word of 
Saddam Hussein, or take action to defend this 
country? Given that choice, I will defend our country every time.
    Listen, I thought we would find stockpiles of weapons. Everybody 
did. But Saddam still had the capability of making weapons, and he could 
have passed that capability on to a terrorist enemy. And that's a risk 
we could not afford to take. Knowing what I know today, I would have 
made the same decision. And our country is better off with Saddam 
Hussein sitting in a prison cell. And as a 
result of defending ourselves, as a result of defending ourselves, 50 
million people are free.
    Think about what's happening in Afghanistan. Listen, 3 years ago, 
Afghanistan was a place where many young girls couldn't go to school 
because the Taliban were so backward and so barbaric. And their moms 
were pulled out in the public square and whipped and sometimes killed in 
a sports stadium because they wouldn't toe the line of these people that 
have only the darkest of visions. Today, 10 million citizens, 41 percent 
of whom are women, have registered to vote in the upcoming Presidential 
election in Afghanistan. It's unbelievable. It's powerful. What a 
powerful, powerful statement.
    Think about that. There were people who said, ``Oh, well, maybe some 
people don't want to be free in this world.'' Forget it. People long to 
be free. People from all religions long to be free, from all walks of 
life, and a free Afghanistan will make us safer.
    Iraq--it's tough work in Iraq right now. These killers cannot stand 
the thought of a free society emerging in Iraq. They understand the 
stakes. And so do I. They understand a free society in Iraq will be a--
stand in stark contrast to their ideology of hate, and it scares them, 
and therefore, they're willing to kill innocent people. And it's tough 
work. It's tough work. But Prime Minister Allawi, with whom I'll be meeting tomorrow, and who the country 
will get to see on TV, is one strong man who believes that Iraq will be 
free, who believes in the hopes and aspirations of the Iraqi people. 
There's going to be national elections in January in Iraq. Think about 
how far that country has come since the days of mass graves and torture.
    Remember I told the story at the convention of the seven guys 
walking in who had had their hands cut off--seven Iraqi men came to the 
Oval Office. First of all, walking in the Oval Office is not easy. It's 
a powerful place. These guys walk in there,

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and they're overwhelmed by the environment. I was overwhelmed by them. 
They'd come to America to get new hands put on. Fantastic story, to 
think about the contrast in societies. They--and I talked to them--they 
longed for freedom. Let me tell you something, when you build a free 
society, the institutions will be bigger than the people, and no longer 
will a dictator be able to cut off your hand 
just because he feels like it.
    We'll stand with the people of Afghanistan and Iraq. When this 
country gives its word, it will keep its word. And our strategy is 
clear--our strategy is clear. We're going to train the Iraqis and the 
Afghan citizens so they can defend themselves. And that's what we're 
doing, so they can do the hard work.
    Audience member. [Inaudible]
    The President. Gracias. [Laughter] She kind of shook me there for a 
minute--[laughter]--just as I was getting to the strategy. [Laughter] 
We're going to train the troops. We're going to put them on the path to 
stability and democracy, and as quickly as we can, our troops will come 
home with the honor they earned.
    We've got a great military, by the way. I can't tell you how proud I 
am. We're going to support them. We'll support those in our military. We 
have a duty in this country to support those we put in harm's way. 
That's why, a year ago, I went to the Congress and asked for $87 billion 
of supplemental funding. And it was vital funding. This was not only for 
folks in Iraq. This was for troops in Afghanistan as well. And the 
support was strong for that piece of legislation, because most people in 
the Congress understood how vital it was. Only 12 Senators voted against 
it, 2 of whom are my opponent and his 
runningmate. [Laughter]
    And when you're out there campaigning, remind them, four people 
voted to authorize the--four Senators voted to authorize the use of 
force and not fund our troops. Two of those were my opponent and his runningmate.
    So they said to him, ``Why?'' And he said, 
``I actually did vote for the $87 billion, before I voted against it.'' 
[Laughter] You know what else? They kept pressing him, and he said 
finally, ``The whole thing is a complicated matter.'' [Laughter] There's 
nothing complicated about supporting the men and women in the uniform.
    The President of the United States must speak clearly and mean what 
he says. In order for this world to be peaceful, we must mean what we 
say. And it's important not to send mixed signals around the world. 
Today my opponent continued his pattern of twisting in the wind, with 
new contradictions on old positions in Iraq. He woke up this morning and 
now decided, ``No, we shouldn't have invaded Iraq.'' [Laughter] After, 
last month, saying he would still have voted for using force, knowing 
everything we know today. He believes our national security would be 
stronger with Saddam Hussein in power, not in 
prison.
    Today he said, and I quote, ``We have traded 
a dictator for a chaos that has left America 
less secure.'' Direct quote.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. I--anyway. [Laughter] You cannot--it's hard to 
imagine a candidate running for President who prefers the stability of a 
dictatorship to the hope and security of democracy. If I might, I'd like 
to read a quote he said last December: ``Those 
who doubted whether Iraq or the world would be better off without Saddam 
Hussein and those who believe we are not 
safer with his capture, don't have the judgment to be President or the 
credibility to be elected President.'' I couldn't have put it better.
    I look forward to my meeting with Prime Minister Allawi. It's an important meeting, because I'm going to remind 
him, so long as I'm the President, we're going to stand with the people 
of Iraq. It's in our interests that we do so. I believe in the 
transformational power of liberty. I believe that

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it's possible to take a society that was so hopeless because of the 
tyranny that they have been through and encourage them through democracy 
that they'll become strong allies in the war on terror. That's what I 
believe.
    I believe that--I believe in the power of liberty because I have 
worked closely with Prime Minister Koizumi, who I also will be working with today. Think about 
this for a minute. When you hear the skeptics and doubters talk about 
our policies, think about the fact that I sit down with the Prime 
Minister of Japan as a friend. Now, it wasn't all that long ago that my 
dad and your dads and grandfathers were 
fighting the Japanese as a sworn enemy. And after that war was over, 
fortunately, Harry Truman and other American citizens believe that 
liberty could transform an enemy into an ally and work with Japan to 
develop a Japanese style democracy.
    And as a result of that faith in the power of liberty, today I sit 
down with Prime Minister Koizumi--tomorrow 
I'll actually sit down with him--and talk about keeping the peace, 
talking about the peace that we all yearn for. Liberty is powerful.
    Someday, an American President is going to be sitting down with the 
duly elected leader of Iraq talking about the peace. People who are 
desperate for hope will be looking at the Iraq model and saying, 
``That's possible for me.'' The Palestinians will realize that their 
failed leadership, the leadership that has failed them for decades, must 
change, in order for them to have a hopeful, peaceful life.
    No, liberty is powerful. It will serve as the beacon. These are 
historic times. In the short term, we'll defend ourselves by staying on 
the offense. In the long term, we'll work to spread liberty. And I 
believe people yearn to be free. Freedom is not America's gift to the 
world; freedom is the Almighty God's gift to each man and woman in this 
world. That's what I believe.
    This young century will be liberty century. We're going to reform 
the systems of Government so people will be free to be able to realize 
their dreams, to be able to achieve the great hope of this country. 
We're going to continue to lead the world for freedom and peace.
    I want to tell you, I assure you that I'll never forget the day that 
Rudy and George and I were in the ruins of the Twin Towers. It was 
September the 14th, 2001. It's a day that--that day might as well have 
happened yesterday as far as I'm concerned. It is still so vivid in my 
memory, particularly the workers in the hardhats screaming at all of us, 
particularly me, I think, ``Whatever it takes.'' That's what they were 
yelling at the top of their lungs. We did our best to console people, to 
hug people, to cry with people, to thank people for their work. A guy 
looked me right in the eye, and he said, ``Do not let me down.'' Since 
that day, I wake up every morning trying to figure out how best to 
protect our country. I will never relent in defending America, whatever 
it takes. [Applause]
    Finally--un momento. Por fin, uno mas te dije. When I campaigned in 
New York and around the country, I said, if you gave me the honor of 
serving as the President, I would uphold the honor and the dignity of 
the office. With your help and thanks to your contributions tonight, I 
will continue to do so for 4 more years.
    God bless. Thanks for coming. On to victory. Thank you all.

Note: The President spoke at 6:02 p.m. at the Sheraton Hotel of New 
York. In his remarks, he referred to Gov. George E. Pataki of New York, 
his wife, Elizabeth ``Libby,'' and their daughter, Emily; former Mayor 
Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York City, and his wife, Judith; Howard 
Mills, senatorial candidate in New York; Al Hoffman, finance chairman, 
and Mercer Reynolds, 2004 Victory national finance chairman, Republican 
National Committee; Alexander F. ``Sandy'' Treadwell, chairman, New York 
Republican

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State Committee; Mike Long, chair, Conservative Party of New York State; 
senior Al Qaida associate Abu Musab Al Zarqawi; Prime Minister Ayad 
Allawi of the Iraqi Interim Government; and Prime Minister Junichiro 
Koizumi of Japan.