[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book II)]
[September 23, 2004]
[Pages 2189-2198]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks in Bangor, Maine
September 23, 2004

    The President. Thanks for coming. I'm honored to be back in this 
beautiful State. I wasn't sure I'd be invited back after the last time I 
came; I didn't make my bed. [Laughter] What a beautiful day in such a 
glorious part of the world. I'm so honored you all came. I'm here to ask 
for the vote. That's what I'm doing.
    I believe you got to get out amongst the people and ask for the vote 
and tell them why you're running. That's what I'm here to do today. I'm 
also here to ask for your help. I'd like for you to register your 
friends and neighbors. I'd like for you to remind people in the 
community in which you live, we have a responsibility in a free society 
to go to the polls.
    When you're out there registering, make sure you register all 
Republicans. Make sure you register independents. Don't overlook 
discerning Democrats like Zell Miller. And then 
once you get them registered, get them headed to the polls. And when you 
get them headed to the polls, tell them, if they want a safer America, a 
stronger America, and a better America, to put me and Dick 
Cheney back in office.
    My only regret is that Laura is not here with 
me. She was a public school librarian in Texas when I asked her to marry 
me. She said, ``Fine, I'll marry you, just so long as I never have to 
give a political speech.'' [Laughter] I said, ``Okay.'' Fortunately, she 
didn't hold me to the promise. The other night in New York City, the 
American people got to see Laura at her best, her--decent, strong, 
compassionate woman. She's a great mom, a great wife. She needs to be 
the First Lady for 4 more years.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. I'm proud of my runningmate, Dick Cheney. Now, listen, I admit he doesn't have the waviest hair in 
the race. [Laughter] Some of you out there don't either. [Laughter] I 
didn't pick him for his hair. I picked him for his judgment. I picked 
him because he's a man of a lot of experience. I picked him because he 
can get the job done on behalf of the American people.
    I want to thank Peter Cianchette, my 
chairman here in the State. I want to thank all of the grassroots 
activists, people like Pete who are putting up the signs and making the 
phone calls. It takes a lot of work to get this many people to show up 
here in Bangor, Maine. I want to thank all of those who helped turn out 
such a great crowd. I appreciate your effort. It means a lot.
    I'm sorry the two United States Senators are--they're working for 
you. I appreciate their friendship. I'm proud to call Olympia

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Snowe and Susan Collins friends. I know you're proud to call them Senator.
    I want to thank all the statehouse people who are here. I appreciate 
you serving your community. I appreciate your serving your State. I also 
appreciate Brian Hamel. I flew down from 
Washington, DC, with Brian Hamel. I had a chance to visit with him. 
There's no doubt in my mind he should be the next Congressman from the 
Second Congressional District. And I want to thank his wife, 
Gail, and his daughters, Natalie, Abbie, and Molly, for supporting their dad when he's out running for the 
Congress.
    I want to thank Charlie Summers. He's 
running the First Congressional District. When he wins, he's going to 
have old 41 and Barbara as constituents. [Laughter]
    I want to thank Jim Tobin, my regional 
chairman.
    I want to thank Mark Wills for being here. 
Mark, thank you. Proud you're here. I want to thank the high school band 
that's joined us today, John Bapst Band. Thank you for coming. I will 
try to keep my speech short so you can get home and do your homework. 
[Laughter]
    I want to thank Steve Hanington. He's 
the president of the American's Logger Council. I appreciate you coming. 
I want to thank all the loggers who are here today. Thank you for 
helping us put together the Healthy Forests Initiative, good piece of 
legislation. I appreciate you working on it with us. I want to thank the 
lobstermen who are here with us today. [Applause] Oh, yes.
    I want to thank the Bangor Chapter of the Blue Star Mothers of 
America for being here. Thank you for coming. The Freeport Flag Ladies 
are with us. WAVES International is with us. Veterans of the Military 
Order of the Purple Heart are with us.
    I'm really looking forward to this campaign. I like to get out and 
talk about what I believe, where I stand, and where I'm going to lead 
this Nation for the next 4 years. I believe every child can learn and 
every school should teach. I went to Washington, DC, to challenge the 
soft bigotry of low expectation. We had a practice in this country 
where, in some public schools, kids were just shuffled through grade 
after grade, year after year, without learning the basics. And that 
wasn't right. We need to raise the standards. We need to trust the local 
people to design a curriculum that works best in the local community. We 
need to support our teachers and principals. We need to measure early 
and solve problems, before they're too late.
    The reforms we passed are working. And the minority gap is closing. 
The achievement gap amongst minority students is closing in America. 
We're making progress, and we're not turning back.
    I believe we have a moral responsibility to honor our citizens with 
good health care. See, I went up to Washington to solve problems, not to 
pass them on to future Presidents and future generations. I saw a 
problem in Medicare. Medicine was changing, and Medicare wasn't. Take 
this fact: Medicare would pay $100,000 for heart surgery but wouldn't 
pay for the prescription drugs to prevent the heart surgery from being 
needed in the first place. That wasn't fair for our seniors. It meant 
the system needed to be changed for the better. I called the Republicans 
and Democrats together. I signed a law that strengthened Medicare. Our 
seniors will be getting prescription drugs in 2006, and we're not 
turning back.
    I believe in the energy, innovation, and spirit of our workers, our 
loggers, our lobstermen, our small-business owners, our farmers and 
ranchers. And that's why we unleashed that energy with the largest tax 
cut in a generation.
    We've been through a lot. This economy has been through a lot. When 
you're out there rounding up the vote, remind people what we have been 
through. That stock market started to go down about 5 months before we 
showed up in Washington. Then we had a recession we had to live with. 
Started to come out of that recession, and

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some citizens in this country forgot what it meant to be a responsible 
citizen. They fudged the books. They didn't tell the truth. It created a 
crisis of confidence. Those corporate scandals hurt our economy. We've 
passed tough laws in Washington. It's abundantly clear now that we're 
not going to tolerate dishonesty in the boardrooms of America. And then 
the enemy hit us. Some estimate that it cost us a million jobs in the 3 
months after September the 11th.
    I mean, we've been through some tough times when it comes to this 
economy. Yet, we're overcoming those obstacles. Our economy is strong, 
and it is getting stronger. Our economy has been growing at rates as 
fast as any in nearly 20 years. The national unemployment rate is 5.4 
percent. That's lower than the average of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. 
The unemployment rate in the State of Maine is 4.5 percent. This economy 
is strong. It is getting stronger, and we're not going to turn back.
    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 will not 
happen on my watch.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. I am 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's why, 
with your help, we'll carry Maine and win a great victory in November.
    I understand the world we live in is changing. Think about what 
happened over the past 30 years. You know, the workplace used to be a 
place where a man would only show up, and they'd have one job, one 
career, one pension plan, one health care plan. Today, the world is 
different. People change jobs and careers quite often. And today, the 
workplace is diversified. Women work in the house and, now, out of the 
house. And yet, when you think about it, the most fundamental 
institutions, our Tax Code, our health coverage, our pension plans, our 
worker training programs, our labor laws, were created for the world of 
yesterday, not tomorrow. I'm running to transform these systems so all 
our citizens are equipped and prepared and thus truly free to make your 
own choices and realize the great dreams of our country.
    Listen, any hopeful society has got to have a growing economy. And I 
have a plan to make sure this prosperity lasts. To create more jobs in 
America, America must be the best place in the world to do business. If 
you want jobs here, if you want people to be able to find a job, it's 
got to be the best place in the world. And that means less regulations 
on our small-business owners. That means we got to do something about 
these junk lawsuits that are making it hard for employers to expand the 
job base.
    Listen, if you want to keep jobs here, we got to have us an energy 
plan. I proposed a plan to the United States Congress 2 years ago. They 
need to get it to my desk. If we want jobs to be created here, we got to 
do a better job on conservation. We got to do a better job on promoting 
renewables such as ethanol and biodiesel. We got to modernize our 
electricity grid. We got to use our clean coal technology to make sure 
we can use the energy here at home. We got to explore for natural gas in 
environmentally friendly ways. If we want jobs here in America, this 
country must become less dependent on foreign sources of energy.
    Part of my plan to make sure jobs are here in America so people can 
find work is to open up markets overseas. See, we open our markets. And 
that's good for you as a consumer. If you have more products

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to choose from, you're likely to get that which you want at a better 
price and higher quality. That's how the market works. So I'm saying to 
places like China, ``You treat us the way we treat you. You open up your 
markets just like we have ours.'' See, we can compete with anybody, 
anytime, anywhere, so long as the rules are fair.
    To make sure this economy grows, we got to be wise about how we 
spend your money and keep your taxes low. Taxes are an issue in this 
campaign. The fellow I'm running against has 
proposed $2.2 trillion in new Federal spending so far.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. And we still got October to go. [Laughter] Two 
trillion dollars is a lot, even for a Senator from Massachusetts. 
[Laughter] So they asked him, they said, ``Well, 
how are you going to pay for this?'' He said, ``I'll just tax the 
rich.'' Now, you've heard that before, haven't you? First of all, you 
can't raise enough money to pay for 2.2 trillion by taxing the rich. 
There's a tax gap. Guess who gets to fill the tax gap in American 
history. You do. Secondly, when they say ``tax the rich,'' be careful. 
It's rich--rich hire lawyers and accountants for a reason, to stick you 
with the bill. We're not going to let him raise your taxes. We're going 
to carry Maine, and we're going to win in November.
    Let me also say something about the Tax Code. The Tax Code is a 
complicated mess. You realize, it's a million pages long. Americans 
spend 6 billion hours a year on taxes. I think we need to simplify the 
Tax Code. I think we need to make the Tax Code more fair. I'm going to 
call Republicans and Democrats together in a new term to make sure this 
Tax Code works for the people, not against the people.
    Listen, in a changing world, the job base changes, and there's a 
skills gap in America in some places. You know, I remember going down to 
North Carolina where the textile industry had been hit hard and yet, the 
health care industry was growing. And there's a skills gap, because a 
lot of people in the textile industry who wanted to work didn't have the 
skills necessary to be in the health care industry. That's why I'm such 
a big believer in the community college system here in America. We need 
to make our community colleges accessible so workers can gain the skills 
they need to fill the jobs of the 21st century.
    And most new jobs are filled by people with at least 2 years of 
college. That's what the changing world demands. And yet, only about one 
in four of our students gets there. That's why, in our high schools, 
we'll fund early intervention programs to help students at risk. We'll 
place a new focus on math and science. Over time, we'll require a 
rigorous exam before graduation from high school. By raising performance 
in our high schools and by expanding Pell grants for low- and middle-
income families, more Americans will start their careers with a college 
degree.
    We've got to do something about our health care system. We have a 
fundamental difference in this campaign about health care. When it comes 
to health care, my opponent wants Government to 
dictate. I want you to decide. Half the uninsured in America work for 
small businesses. Small businesses are having trouble affording health 
care. One way to help small businesses, one way to help those who work 
for small businesses is to allow small businesses to pool together to be 
able to buy insurance at the same discounts big companies are able to 
do. My opponent opposes such a plan. See, ours is commonsense plan. Ours 
is a practical plan. Ours is a plan that doesn't let the Federal 
Government decide everything for you.
    I believe that we ought to expand tax-free health savings accounts. 
I believe we ought to give small businesses tax credits, to encourage 
them to put money in small--in health savings accounts, so small-
business employees can get coverage. I know we need to expand community 
health centers all across America, places where the poor

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and the indigent can get good primary and preventative care.
    I know--I'll tell you what else I know. In order to make sure we do 
something about the rising cost of health care and the availability of 
health care, we got to stop these junk lawsuits that are running good 
docs out of practice. Ask your doctor what it's like to get sued all the 
time. A lot of them are quitting practice. I met ob-gyns across the 
country, all across the country who are quitting their practice. That 
means a lot of women are hurting, all of it because these junk lawsuits 
are running up the cost of staying in business. It doesn't make any 
sense. You can't be pro-doctor, pro-patient, and pro-trial-lawyer at the 
same time. I think you have to make a choice. My opponent has made his choice, and he put a trial lawyer on the ticket.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. I made my choice. I stand for medical liability 
reform--now.
    Now, there's a lot of--a big difference in this campaign. But 
anything we do in this administration to make sure health care is 
available and affordable will mean that the decisions will be made by 
doctors and patients, not by bureaucrats and insurance companies and the 
Government.
    New term, let me tell you what else we're going to do. In a changing 
times, ownership helps bring stability to people's life. During my 
administration, more people own a home than ever before. More and more 
people are owning their own home. What a hopeful sign that is. What a 
stabilizing influence that is. Over the next 4 years, we'll continue to 
expand homeownership. I like the thought of more and more people opening 
up the door where they live and saying, ``Welcome to my piece of 
property. Welcome to my home. Come on in to my place.''
    I tell you what else we need to think about, and that is the 
retirement systems. Let me talk about Social Security here for a minute. 
If you're on Social Security, you'll be paid. Don't care what they say 
in the course of the campaigns. The Government will honor its commitment 
to you. The Social Security trust has got enough money to take care of 
you. Baby boomers like me, we're in pretty good shape when it comes to 
Social Security. But we need to think about the younger kids. We need to 
think about our children and our grandchildren. I believe younger 
workers ought to be allowed to take some of their own money and set 
aside a personal savings account to make sure that Social Security 
works, a personal savings account they call their own, a personal 
savings account that Government cannot take away.
    In a world of change, some things do not change, the values we try 
to live by, courage and compassion, reverence and integrity. In times of 
change, we must support the institutions that give our lives direction 
and purpose, 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. I stand for the appointment of Federal 
judges who know the difference between personal opinion and the strict 
interpretation of the law. I stand for supporting faith-based 
organizations. Men and women of faith are performing works of hope and 
compassion all across our country. They're renewing communities. They're 
helping lift up lives, and they deserve fair treatment by our 
Government.
    That's a position I share with Republicans and Democrats from many 
callings in life, including a fine citizen in Maine named John Kerry. 
Now, Kerry runs Catholic Charities Maine in 
Falmouth, which helps people all over this State. A few years ago, the 
city of Portland denied Federal funding to Catholic Charities because 
John Kerry refused to compromise his organization's beliefs. Here's what 
he said: ``Just because you're religious doesn't mean you

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should be stopped from providing services.'' That's one John Kerry I 
agree with.
    For those of you involved in your communities, for those of you 
who've heard the call to love a neighbor like you'd like to be loved 
yourself, thank you for your works of compassion. Thank you for making a 
difference in America.
    This election will also determine how America responds to the 
continuing danger of terrorism. Since the terrible morning of September 
the 11th, 2001, we have 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 are staying on the offensive. We are striking the 
terrorists abroad so we do not have to face them here at home. We will 
work to advance liberty and freedom in the broader Middle East and 
around the world, and we will prevail.
    Our strategy is succeeding. Think about the world some 4 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 pursing nuclear weapons. Iraq was a 
gathering threat. Al Qaida was largely unchallenged as it planned 
attacks.
    Today, because we acted, Afghanistan is fighting terror; Pakistan is 
capturing terrorist leaders; Saudi Arabia is making raids and arrests; 
Libya is dismantling its nuclear weapons programs; the army of a free 
Iraq is fighting for freedom; and more than three-quarters of Al Qaida's 
leaders 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.
    Audience member. That's what you have! Thank you!
    The President. And the toughest decision came on Iraq. See, we knew 
Saddam's record. We knew he harbored 
terrorists like Abu Nidal. That's the leader of the terrorist 
organization that carried out attacks in Europe and Asia. We knew he--
Saddam harbored Abu Abbas. He took--found refuge in Baghdad after he 
killed an American, Leon Klinghoffer. Saddam paid the families of 
suicide bombers. Saddam was a sworn enemy of America. Saddam not only 
desired weapons of mass destruction; he used weapons of mass 
destruction. Saddam was a threat. He was a threat. And after September 
the 11th, our country must think differently. We must take threats 
seriously before they fully materialize.
    So I went to the Congress. They looked at the same intelligence I 
looked at. They remembered the same history I remembered, and they 
concluded Saddam Hussein was a threat and 
authorized the use of force. My opponent looked 
at the same intelligence, and he voted yes when it came to the 
authorization of force.
    Listen, before the Commander in Chief ever puts any troops into 
harm's way, we must try all options--all options--to solve a problem. 
That's why I went to the United Nations. I was hoping diplomacy would 
work. I was hoping we could solve this problem peacefully. The toughest 
decision a President ever has to make is to put our kids into harm's 
way.
    So I gave a speech to the United Nations. They looked at the same 
intelligence I had looked at. They remembered the same history we 
remembered. And they voted 15 to nothing to say to Saddam 
Hussein, ``Disclose, disarm, or face serious 
consequences.'' The other day in the United Nations I said, ``When an 
international body say something, they better mean what they say. If you 
don't mean it, don't say it.''
    Saddam Hussein ignored the demands of the 
free world--again. This wasn't the first resolution he ignored. He had 
been ignoring resolutions for nearly a decade. He

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wasn't about to disarm. He wasn't about to listen to the world. As a 
matter of fact, when the U.N. sent inspectors into that country, he 
systematically deceived the inspectors.
    So I have a choice at this point. Diplomacy has failed. We had given 
Saddam Hussein his last chance, his decision 
to make. Do I take the word of a madman and 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 ourself, because we mean--we meant what 
we said, today, 50 million people in Afghanistan and Iraq live in 
freedom. I want you to think about Afghanistan here for a minute. It 
wasn't all that long ago that these poor people were subjected to the 
brutal ways of the Taliban. These barbarians have a dark vision of the 
world. As a matter of fact, they think exactly opposite of Americans. 
They're against--they don't believe in freedom of religion, freedom of 
speech, freedom of anything. They believe you either toe their line or 
there will be reprisals.
    Think about a society in which many young girls were not allowed to 
go to school because of the Taliban or a society in which their mothers 
were pulled out in the public square and whipped and in some cases 
executed in the sports stadium because they wouldn't toe the line. 
Today, because America acted, 10 million citizens, 41 percent of whom 
are women, have registered to vote in the upcoming October Presidential 
elections. It's an amazing thought, isn't it? It's an amazing statistic, 
when you think about it.
    There were some skeptics who thought, well, maybe people don't want 
to be free. Everybody longs to be free. People yearn to be free in this 
world. And those 10 million citizens are showing it as this election 
comes closer. Of course, there's going to be violence, because these 
dark-visioned people, these evil folks cannot stand the thought of a 
free society emerging in that part of the world.
    Today I met with Prime Minister Allawi, a 
strong man. He does deserve our praise. He's a courageous fellow. In the 
press conference I had with him today, I reminded the people that were 
listening that Prime Minister Allawi woke up in an apartment one day in 
London, England--see, he had been exiled out of Iraq; Saddam Hussein 
wanted to get him--and he woke up in a bed--this is a true story I'm 
telling you; he told me personally--he woke up in the middle of the 
night. Two people were standing by his bed with axes. They had been sent 
by Saddam Hussein. Fortunately, by the grace 
of God, he woke up in time, rolled--got hurt pretty bad, recovered, went 
back to his country because he believes in freedom. He's ready to do the 
hard work. He is a strong man. There will be elections in January of 
2005 in Iraq. And we're going to stand with the people of Afghanistan 
and Iraq because when America gives its word, America must keep its 
word.
    We're also making our country safer. See, free societies in the 
Middle East will be hopeful societies which no longer feed resentments 
and breed violence for export. Free governments in the Middle East will 
fight the terrorists instead of harboring them and supporting them. 
Listen, our strategy is clear. We'll help the new leaders train armies 
so that Iraq citizens and Afghan citizens can do the hard work of 
defending their country against those who would stop the advance of 
freedom. There are over 25 million people in that country who desire to 
be free. There's only a few, relative to the 25 million, who are trying 
to start--stop the march of freedom. We'll help them get on the path of 
stability and democracy as quickly as possible, then our troops will 
come home with the honor they have earned.
    I am proud of the United States military. I'm proud of the men and 
women who serve. I've seen their unselfish courage and

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their great decency. I want to thank the veterans who are here for 
having set such a great example for those who wear the uniform. You 
know, the airport here is often the first stop in the United States for 
our troops returning home. No matter what hour they arrive or what the 
weather is like, citizens of Maine come here to thank our troops for 
their service. It's got to make them feel great. I thank you for doing 
that.
    I met Bill Knight. He organizes the Maine 
Troop Greeters to welcome military personnel here. I appreciate Bill, 
and I appreciate all those who work with Bill.
    I want to thank the military families who are here today. I made a 
commitment to our troops and to their loved ones: They'll have all the 
resources they need to do their jobs. So I went to the Congress last 
year and requested $87 billion of supplemental funding to support our 
troops in combat in both Afghanistan and Iraq. This was really important 
money. This was money for fuel, spare parts, body armor, hazard pay, 
health benefits, that which is necessary to support people in harm's 
way. And it was important. Fortunately, most Members of the Congress 
understood how important it was. We got great bipartisan support, so 
strong that only 12 Members--12 Members--of the United States Senate 
voted against this important funding, 2 of whom are my opponent and his runningmate.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. When you're out gathering the vote, when you're out 
convincing people to go to the polls and vote, remind them of this fact: 
Only four United States Senators voted to authorize the use of force and 
then voted against funding our troops, two of whom are my 
opponent and his runningmate.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. Of course, they asked him, you 
know, they said, ``Why?'' And he said, ``Well, I actually did vote for 
the 87 billion, before I voted against it.'' I don't think a lot of 
people speak that way in Bangor, Maine. They kept pressing him, and he 
said he was proud of his vote. Finally, he said the whole thing was a 
complicated matter. There's nothing complicated about supporting our 
troops in combat.
    There's hard work to do in Iraq. The Prime Minister told me they're making progress. Yet, as we're seeing on 
our TV screens, the terrorists are desperately trying to block that 
progress, is what they're trying to do. Our military cannot be beat in 
Iraq. They can't beat us. They do have a weapon, though, and that is, 
they're coldblooded killers. They'll behead somebody, and our prayers go 
to the families here in America. Our hearts break when we see that on 
our TV screens. These killers know that. See, they know we have a 
conscience, and they don't. They're trying to shake our will.
    We're going to help this Government in Iraq. We'll help them----

[At this point, there was a disturbance in the audience.]

    The President. ----help them build their troops. We'll help them 
build their infrastructure. We have a strategy that says to our 
commanders, ``Adapt to the ways on the ground. You've got the support 
your need to do what you need to do.'' The way to prevail, the way 
toward the successful conclusion we all want, the way to secure Iraq and 
bring our troops home is not to wilt or waver or send mixed signals to 
the enemy. We can grieve, but we will not waver.
    Incredibly, this week my opponent said he 
would prefer the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein to the situation in Iraq today.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. You cannot lead the war on terror if you wilt when 
times are tough. You cannot expect the Iraqi people to stand up and do 
the hard work of democracy if you are pessimistic about their abilities. 
You cannot expect the Iraqi people to do the hard work if you say that 
they'd be better off with Saddam Hussein in 
power.

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What kind of message does it send our troops, who are risking their 
lives and who see firsthand the mission is hard but know the mission is 
critical to our success? Mixed signals are the wrong signals. I will 
continue to lead with clarity, and when I say something, I'll mean what 
I say.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. I appreciate the contributions of our friends and 
allies. I appreciate what they've been doing, side by side with our 
troops and the Iraqi troops. Listen, we got a--put together a broad 
coalition of about 40 nations in Afghanistan and some 30 nations in 
Iraq. Over the next 4 years, I'll continue to strengthen our alliances. 
But I will never turn over America's national security decisions to 
other countries.
    I believe in the transformational power of liberty. The wisest use 
of America's strength is to advance freedom. A couple of days ago in New 
York, I was having a Diet Coke with my friend Prime Minister 
Koizumi. He's the Prime Minister of Japan. 
I said, ``You know, I've been talking about you on the campaign trail.'' 
He said, ``Fine.'' [Laughter] I said, ``Do you mind if I tell people 
your favorite singer was Elvis?'' [Laughter] He said, ``Okay.''
    It's amazing that I am having that discussion with Prime Minister 
Koizumi, if you really think about it, 
because it wasn't all that long ago in the march of history, some 60 
years ago, Japan was a sworn enemy of the United States of America. My 
dad fought them. Your dads and granddads 
probably did as well. And it was a tough war. A lot of people lost their 
life. But after we won World War II, Harry Truman, one of my 
predecessors, believed in the power of liberty to transform societies 
and said, ``We'll work with Japan to build a democracy.''
    There were a lot of skeptics then, and you can imagine why. A lot of 
families had been turned upside down because of loss of life in that 
horrible war. A lot of people were still angry that the Japanese had 
attacked us in Pearl Harbor. A lot of people didn't believe an enemy 
could become a friend. But there were people like Harry Truman in this 
country who believed in the power of liberty. And today, as a result of 
their belief--think about this now--I sit down with Prime Minister 
Koizumi, and we talk about the peace we 
all want. We're talking about the peace. Someday, an American President 
will be sitting down with a duly elected leader of Iraq talking about 
the peace, and our children and our grandchildren will be better off for 
it.
    These are historic times--historic times--and the work is hard. But 
we've done hard work before in this country. I believe that millions in 
the Middle East plead in silence for their liberty. I believe that women 
in the Middle East long to be free. I know that women in the Middle East 
want their little girls and boys to be able to grow up and realize their 
dreams. I believe that the people there, if given a chance, will embrace 
the most honorable form of government ever devised by man. I believe 
these things because freedom is not America's gift to the world; freedom 
is the Almighty God's gift to each man and woman in this world.
    This young century will be liberty's century. By promoting freedom 
at home and abroad, we'll 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 America. We will pass the enduring values of our 
country on to a young generation. We will continue to lead the cause of 
freedom and peace.
    For all Americans, these years in our history will always 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 
that requires firm resolve, clear vision, and a deep faith in the values 
that make this a great nation.
    None of us will ever forget that week when one era ended and another 
began.

[[Page 2198]]

I certainly won't. I was there in the ruins of the Twin Towers on 
September the 14th, 2001. The workers there--I can still hear them--were 
chanting at me, ``Whatever it takes.'' I was doing my best to console 
folks who had just come out of the rubble. A guy grabbed me by the arm. 
He looked me straight in the eye and said, ``You do not let me down.'' 
Ever since that day, I wake up trying to figure out how best to protect 
our country. I will defend the security of America, whatever it takes.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. Four years ago, as I traveled your great State asking 
for the vote, I made a pledge. I said that if you gave me the 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. Thanks for coming. Thank you all.

Note: The President spoke at 4:03 p.m. at the Bangor International 
Airport. In his remarks, he referred to Senator Zell Miller of Georgia, 
who made the keynote address at the 2004 Republican National Convention; 
Peter Cianchette, Maine State chairman, and Jim Tobin, New England 
regional chairman, Bush-Cheney '04, Inc.; Brian Hamel, candidate for 
Maine's Second Congressional District; Charlie Summers, candidate for 
Maine's First Congressional District; entertainer Mark Wills; senior Al 
Qaida associate Abu Musab Al Zarqawi; Prime Minister Ayad Allawi of the 
Iraqi Interim Government; and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan.