[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book III)]
[October 6, 2004]
[Pages 2372-2379]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
October 6, 2004

    The President. Thank you all. Thank you all very much. Thank you 
all. Thank you all for coming. Please be seated. Thank you all. Thank 
you. Please be seated. Gosh, thanks for such a great welcome. I 
appreciate it. It's great to be in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. It's such 
an honor to be back here. I'm glad to be in a part of the world where 
people work hard, they love their families. Good to be in a part of the 
world where people like to hunt and fish.
    My regret is that Laura is not with me. She 
is----
    Audience members. Aw-w-w!
    The President. I know it. [Laughter] That's generally the reaction. 
[Laughter] Kind of like, ``Why didn't you stay home and send 
Laura.'' [Laughter] You're not going to believe 
this; it's a true story--or kind of true. [Laughter] I said, ``Will you 
marry me?'' She said, ``Fine, just so long as I never have to give a 
speech.'' [Laughter] I said, ``Okay, you got a deal.'' [Laughter] 
Fortunately, she didn't hold me to that promise. Laura--when Laura 
speaks, people see a compassionate, decent, strong First Lady.
    I had my morning briefing today with someone you're familiar with. 
That would be your former Governor Tom Ridge. So 
Laura sends her best, as does Tom Ridge.
    Today I traveled with Don Sherwood. As we 
say in Crawford, he's a good one. He's a great Member of the United 
States House of Representatives. I'm proud to work with him. He cares 
deeply about the people of this important part of the State of 
Pennsylvania. He is a fine Representative who brings integrity to the 
office. I appreciate your service.
    I want to thank all the State and local officials who are here. I 
want to thank the candidates who are here. I want to thank the 
grassroots activists who are here. I want to thank you for what you're 
going to do, which is to put up the signs, make the phone calls, turn 
out the vote. With your help, there's no doubt in my mind we'll carry 
Pennsylvania.
    I am sure many of you stayed up to watch the Vice Presidential 
debate last night. America saw two very different visions of our country 
and two different hairdos. [Laughter] I didn't pick my Vice

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President for his hairdo. I picked him for his 
judgment, his experience--a great Vice President. I'm proud to be 
running with him.
    In less than a month, you'll have a chance to vote for Dick 
Cheney and me. Think about that--less than a 
month. I'm looking forward to coming down the stretch with a positive, 
strong message. As your President, I've worked to make America a more 
hopeful and more secure place. I've led our country with principle and 
resolve. And that's how I'll lead our Nation for 4 more years.
    When I took office in 2001, the bubble of the nineties had burst. 
Our economy was headed into a recession. And because of the attacks of 
September the 11th, nearly a million jobs were lost in 3 months. It was 
a dangerous time for our economy. People were warning of potential 
deflation and depression. But I acted.
    To stimulate the economy, I called on Congress to pass historic tax 
relief, which it did, without my opponent's 
yes vote. The tax relief was the fuel that got our economy growing 
again. Thanks to the efforts of our citizens and the right policies in 
the right place at the right time, we put the recession behind us and 
America is creating jobs once again.
    We have built a broad and solid record of accomplishment. In the 
past year, the United States of America has added about 1.7 million new 
jobs, more than Germany, Japan, Great Britain, Canada, and France 
combined. Real tax--real after-tax income--that's the money in your 
pocket to spend on groceries or house payments and rent--is up more than 
10 percent since I took office. Homeownership is at an alltime high in 
America. Farm income is up. Small businesses are flourishing. The 
entrepreneurial spirit is strong in the United States of America.
    Ours is a record of accomplishment. Thanks to reforms in education, 
math and reading scores are increasing in our public schools. Ten 
million students will get record levels of grants and loans to help with 
college. Low-income seniors are getting $600 extra to help pay for 
medicine this year, in their drug discount cards. And soon Medicare will 
offer prescription drug coverage to every senior in America. We have 
made America a stronger, more hopeful country, and we're just getting 
started.
    Listen, I like to travel our country because I have a chance to talk 
to our fellow citizens. I understand the challenges facing our Nation. 
People are living and working in a time of change. Workers switch jobs 
more than they used to, which means they often need new skills and 
benefits they can take with them from job to job. We're in a changing 
world, yet the systems of Government haven't changed. I'm running for 4 
more years to change the systems of Government so people can better 
realize the great dreams of America.
    Making sure people realize those dreams, it's essential that our 
education systems work. We're going to raise the standards and 
expectations in every high school. We'll invest in our Nation's fine 
community colleges so workers can be prepared to fill the jobs of the 
21st century. We're going to expand health savings accounts so people 
can pay health expenses with tax-free money and keep the savings if they 
change jobs. We're going to improve Social Security to allow younger 
workers to own a piece of their own retirement, a nest egg that the 
Washington politicians can never take away.
    To keep this economy strong and competitive, we must make sure 
America is the best place in the world to start a business and to do 
business. To make sure America is the best place in the world to start a 
business, our taxes must be low. Congress must make the tax relief we 
passed permanent. To keep jobs here, there need to be less regulations 
on our small businesses. To keep jobs here, we must pass an energy plan 
that makes us less dependent on foreign sources of energy. To make sure 
jobs

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exist here in America, we got to do something about these junk and 
frivolous lawsuits. Trial lawyers shouldn't be getting rich at the 
expense of our entrepreneurs and our doctors.
    My opponent and I have a very different 
view on how to grow our economy. Let me start with taxes. I have a 
record of reducing them. He has a record of raising them.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. He voted in the United 
States Senate to increase taxes 98 times.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. That's a lot. [Laughter] He 
voted for higher taxes on Social Security benefits.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. In 1997, he voted for the 
formula that helped cause the increase in Medicare premiums.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. My opponent was against all 
of our middle class tax relief. He voted instead to squeeze another 
$2,000 per year from the average middle class family.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. Now the Senator is 
proposing higher taxes on more than 900,000 small-business owners. My 
opponent is one of the few candidates in history to campaign on a pledge 
to raise taxes. [Laughter] And that's the kind of promise a politician 
from Massachusetts usually keeps. [Laughter]
    He says the tax increase is only for the 
rich. You've heard that kind of rhetoric before. The rich hire lawyers 
and accountants for a reason--to stick you with the tab. The Senator is 
not going to tax you because we're going to win in November.
    The Senator and I have different views on 
another threat to our economy, frivolous lawsuits. He's been a part of 
the Washington crowd that has obstructed legal reform again and again. 
Meanwhile, all across America, unfair lawsuits are hurting small 
businesses. Lawsuits are driving up health care costs. Lawsuits are 
threatening ob-gyns all across our country. Lawsuits are driving good 
doctors out of practice. We need a President who will stand up to the 
trial lawyers in Washington, not put one on the 
ticket.
    The Senator and I have very different 
views on health care. I've got a specific plan to help Americans find 
health care that's available and affordable, lawsuit reform, association 
health care plans to help our small businesses, health savings accounts, 
community health centers to help the poor, expanding health care for 
low-income children, using technology to drive down the cost of health 
care.
    He has a different vision. Under his 
health plan, 8 million Americans would lose the private insurance they 
get at work, and most would end up on a Government program. Under his 
plan, 8 out of 10 people who get new insurance will get it from the 
Federal Government. My opponent's proposal would be the largest 
expansion of Government-run health care ever. And when Government pays 
the bills, Government makes the rules. His plan would put bureaucrats in 
charge of dictating coverage, which could ration care and limit your 
choice of doctor. Senator Kerry's proposal would put us on the path to 
``Clinton-care.''
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. I'll make sure doctors and patients are in charge of 
the decisions in America's health care.
    The Senator and I have different views on 
Government spending. Over the years, he's voted 274 times to break the 
Federal budget limits. And in this campaign, Senator Kerry has announced 
more than $2 trillion of new spending. And that's a lot of money, even 
for a Senator from Massachusetts. [Laughter]
    During his 20 years as a Senator, my opponent hasn't had many accomplishments. Of the hundreds of bills 
he submitted, only five became law. One of them was ceremonial. But to 
be fair, he's earned a special distinction in Congress. The nonpartisan 
National Journal analyzed his

[[Page 2375]]

record and named John Kerry the most liberal Member of the United States 
Senate.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. And when the competition includes Ted Kennedy--[laughter]--that's really saying something. 
[Laughter] I'm telling you, I know that bunch. [Laughter] It wasn't easy 
for my opponent to become the single most 
liberal Member of the Senate. You might even say, it was hard work. 
[Laughter] But he earned that title by voting for higher taxes, more 
regulation, more junk lawsuits, and more Government control over your 
life.
    And that sets up a real difference in this campaign. My 
opponent is a tax-and-spend liberal. I'm a 
compassionate conservative. My opponent wants to empower Government. I 
want to use Government to empower people. My opponent seems to think all 
the wisdom is found in Washington, DC. I trust the wisdom of the 
American people.
    Our differences are also clear on issues of national security. When 
I took office in 2001, threats to America had been gathering for years. 
Then on one terrible morning, the terrorists took more lives than 
America lost at Pearl Harbor. Since that day, we have waged a global 
campaign to protect the American people and bring our enemies to 
account. Our Government has trained over a half a million first-
responders. We tripled spending on homeland security. Law enforcement 
and intelligence have better tools to stop terrorists, thanks to the 
PATRIOT Act, which Senator Kerry voted for but 
now wants to weaken.
    The Taliban regime that sheltered Al Qaida is gone from power, and 
the people of Afghanistan will vote in free elections this very week. A 
black market network that provided weapons materials to North Korea and 
Libya and Iran is now out of business. Libya, itself, has given up its 
weapons of mass destruction programs. We convinced Pakistan and Saudi 
Arabia to join the fight against the terrorists. And more than three-
quarters of Al Qaida's key members and associates have been brought to 
justice.
    After September the 11th, America had to assess every potential 
threat in a new light. Our Nation awakened to an even greater danger, 
the prospect that terrorists who killed thousands with hijacked 
airplanes would kill many more with weapons of mass murder. We had to 
take a hard look at everyplace where terrorists might get those weapons, 
and one regime stood out, the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein.
    We knew the dictator had a history of 
using weapons of mass destruction, a long record of aggression, and 
hatred for America. He was listed by Republican and Democrat 
administrations as a state sponsor of terrorists. There was a risk, a 
real risk, that Saddam Hussein would pass weapons or materials or 
information to terrorist networks. In the world after September the 
11th, that was a risk we could not afford to take.
    After 12 years of United Nations Security Council resolutions, we 
gave him a final chance to come clean and 
listen to the demands of the free world. When he chose defiance and war, 
our coalition enforced the just demands of the world. And the world is 
better off with Saddam Hussein sitting in a prison cell.
    We've had many victories in the war on terror, and that war goes on. 
Our Nation is safer but not yet safe. To win this war, we must fight on 
every front. We'll stay on the offensive against terrorist networks, 
striking them before they come to America to hurt us. We'll confront 
governments that support terrorists and could arm them, because they're 
equally guilty of terrorist murder.
    And our long-term victory requires confronting the ideology of hate 
with freedom and hope. Our victory requires changing the conditions that 
produce radicalism and suicide bombers and finding new democratic allies 
in a troubled part of the region. America is always more secure when 
freedom is on the march. And freedom is on

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the march in Afghanistan and Iraq and elsewhere. There will be good 
days, and there will be bad days in the war on terror. But every day we 
will show our resolve, and we will do our duty. This Nation is 
determined. We will stay in the fight until the fight is won.
    My opponent agrees with all this, except 
when he doesn't. [Laughter] Last week in our debate, he once again came 
down firmly on every side of the Iraq war. [Laughter] He stated that 
Saddam Hussein was a threat and that America 
had no business removing that threat. Senator Kerry said our soldiers 
and marines are not fighting for a mistake but also called the 
liberation of Iraq a ``colossal error.'' He said we need to do more to 
train Iraqis, but he also said we shouldn't be spending so much money 
over there. He said he wants to hold a summit meeting so he can invite 
other countries to join what he calls ``the wrong war in the wrong place 
at the wrong time.'' [Laughter] He said terrorists are pouring across 
the Iraqi border but also said that fighting those terrorists is a 
``diversion'' from the war on terror. [Laughter] You hear all that, and 
you can understand why somebody would make a face. [Laughter]
    My opponent's endless back-and-forth on 
Iraq is part of a larger misunderstanding. In the war on terror, Senator 
Kerry is proposing policies and doctrines that would weaken America and 
make the world more dangerous. Senator Kerry approaches the world with a 
September the 10th mindset. He declared in his convention speech that 
any attack will be met with a swift and certain response. That was the 
mindset of the 1990s, while Al Qaida was planning the attacks on 
America. After September the 11th, our object in the war on terror is 
not to wait for the next attack and respond but to prevent attacks by 
taking the fight to the enemy.
    In our debate, Senator Kerry said that 
removing Saddam Hussein was a mistake because 
the threat was not imminent. The problem with this approach is obvious. 
If America waits until a threat is at our doorstep, it might be too late 
to save lives. Tyrants and terrorists will not give us polite notice 
before they launch an attack on our country. I refuse to stand by while 
dangers gather. In the world after September the 11th, the path to 
safety is the path of action. And I will continue to defend the people 
of the United States of America. [Applause] Thank you all. Thank you 
all.
    My opponent has also announced the Kerry 
doctrine, declaring that American actions in the war on terror must pass 
a ``global test.''
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. Under this test, America would not be able to act 
quickly against threats, because we'd be sitting around waiting for our 
grade from other nations and other leaders. [Laughter]
    I have a different view. America will always work with allies for 
security and peace. But the President's job is not to pass a ``global 
test.'' The President's job is to protect the American people. 
[Applause] Thank you all.
    When my opponent first ran for Congress, 
he argued that American troops should be deployed only at the directive 
of the United Nations.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. Now, he's changed his mind. 
[Laughter] No, he has, in all fairness. But it is a window into his 
thinking. Over the years, Senator Kerry has looked for every excuse to 
constrain America's action in the world. These days he praises America's 
broad coalition in the Persian Gulf war. But in 1991, he criticized 
those coalition members as, quote, ``shadow battlefield allies who 
barely carry a burden.'' Sounds familiar. At that time, he voted against 
the war. If that coalition didn't pass his ``global test,'' clearly, 
nothing will. [Laughter] This mindset would paralyze America in a 
dangerous world. I'll never hand over America's security decisions to 
foreign leaders

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and international bodies that do not have America's interests at heart.
    My opponent's doctrine has other 
consequences, especially for our men and women in uniform. My opponent 
supports the International Criminal Court, which would allow 
unaccountable foreign prosecutors and judges to put American soldiers on 
trial.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. That would be a legal nightmare for our troops. My 
fellow citizens, as long as I'm your President, Americans in uniform 
will answer to the officers and laws of the United States, not to the 
International Criminal Court in The Hague.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. The Senator speaks often 
about his plan to strengthen America's alliances, but he's got an odd 
way of doing it. In the middle of the war, he's chosen to insult 
America's fighting allies by calling them ``window dressing'' and the 
``coalition of the coerced and the bribed.'' The Italians who died in 
Nasiriyah were not window dressing. They were heroes in the war on 
terror. The British and the Poles at the head of the multinational 
divisions in Iraq were not coerced or bribed. They have fought and some 
have died in the cause of freedom. These good allies and dozens of 
others deserve the respect of all Americans, not the scorn of a 
politician.
    Instead, the Senator would have America 
bend over backwards to satisfy a handful of governments with agendas 
different from our own. This is my opponent's alliance-building 
strategy: Brush off your best friends; fawn over your critics. And that 
is no way to gain the respect of the world.
    My opponent says he has a plan for Iraq. 
Parts of it should sound pretty familiar. It's already known as the Bush 
plan. [Laughter] Senator Kerry suggests we train Iraqi troops, which 
we've been doing for months. Just this week, Iraqi forces backed by 
coalition troops fought bravely to take the city of Samarra from the 
terrorists and Ba'athists and insurgents. Senator Kerry is proposing 
that we have--that Iraq have elections. [Laughter] Those elections are 
already scheduled for January. [Laughter] He wants the U.N. to be 
involved in those elections. Well, the U.N. is already there.
    There was one element of the Senator Kerry's plan--it's a new element. He's talked about artificial 
timetables to pull our troops out of Iraq. He sent the signal that 
America's overriding goal in Iraq would be to leave, even if the job 
isn't done. That may satisfy his political needs, but it complicates the 
essential work we're doing in Iraq. The Iraqi people need to know that 
America will not cut and run when their freedom is at stake. Our 
soldiers and marines need to know that America will honor their service 
and sacrifice by completing the mission. And our enemies in Iraq need to 
know that they can never out last the will of America.
    Senator Kerry assures us that he's the one 
to win a war he calls a ``mistake,'' an ``error,'' and a ``diversion.'' 
But you can't win a war you don't believe in fighting. On Iraq, Senator 
Kerry has a strategy of retreat; I have a strategy of victory. We've 
returned sovereignty to the Iraqi people ahead of schedule. We've 
trained about 100,000 Iraqi soldiers, police officers, and other 
security personnel, and that total will rise to 125,000 by year-end. 
We've already allocated more than $7 billion for reconstruction efforts, 
so more Iraqis can see the benefits of freedom. We're working with a 
coalition of some 30 nations to provide security. Other nations are 
helping with debt relief and reconstruction aid for Iraqis. And although 
the terrorists will try to stop them, Iraq will hold free elections in 
January because the Iraqi people want and deserve to govern themselves.
    I understand some Americans have strong concerns about our role in 
Iraq. I respect the fact that they take this issue seriously, because it 
is a serious matter.

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I assure them we're in Iraq because I deeply believe it is necessary and 
right and critical to the outcome of the war on terror. If another 
terror regime were allowed to emerge in Iraq, the terrorists would find 
a home, a source of funding, vital support. They would correctly 
conclude that free nations do not have the will to defend themselves. If 
Iraq becomes a free society at the heart of the Middle East, an ally in 
the war on terror, a model of hopeful reform in a region that needs 
hopeful reform, the terrorists will suffer a crushing defeat, and every 
free nation will be more secure.
    This is why Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman calls Iraq a ``crucial battle in the global war on 
terrorism.'' This is why Prime Minister Tony Blair has called the struggle in Iraq ``the crucible in which 
the future of global terrorism will be determined.'' This is why the 
terrorists are fighting with desperate cruelty. They know their own 
future is at stake. Iraq is no diversion. It is the place where 
civilization is taking a decisive stand against chaos and terror, and we 
must not waver.
    Unfortunately, my opponent has been known 
to waver. [Laughter] His well-chosen words and rationalizations cannot 
explain why he voted to authorize force against Saddam Hussein and then voted against money for bullets and vehicles 
and body armor for the troops on the ground. He tried to clear it all up 
by saying, ``I actually did vote for the $87 billion, before I voted 
against it.'' Now he says he made a mistake in how he talked about the 
war. The mistake here is not what Senator Kerry said. The mistake is 
what he did in voting against funding for Americans in combat. That is 
the kind of wavering a nation at war can never afford.
    As a candidate, my opponent promises to 
defend America. The problem is as a Senator for two decades, he has 
built a record of weakness. The record shows he twice led efforts to gut 
our intelligence service budgets. The record shows he voted against many 
of the weapons that won the cold war and are vital to current military 
operations. And the record shows he has voted more than 50 times against 
missile defense systems that would help protect us from the threats of a 
dangerous world.
    I have a record in office as well, and all Americans have seen that 
record. On September the 14th, 2001, I stood in the ruins of the Twin 
Towers. It's a day I will never forget. There were workers in hardhats 
yelling at me, ``Whatever it takes.'' I remember trying to console 
people coming out of that rubble, and a guy grabbed me by the arm, and 
he looked me in the eye and said, ``Do not let me down.'' These men and 
women--the men and women there took it personally. You took it 
personally. I took it personally. I have a responsibility that goes on. 
I wake up every morning thinking about how to make our country more 
secure. I have acted again and again to protect our people. I will never 
relent in defending America, whatever it takes.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. Twenty-seven days from today, Americans will make a 
critical choice. My opponent offers an agenda 
that is stuck in the thinking and the policies of the past. On national 
security, he offers the defensive mindset of September the 10th, a 
``global test'' to replace American leadership, a strategy of retreat in 
Iraq, and a 20-year history of weakness in the United States Senate. 
Here at home, he offers a record and an agenda of more taxes and more 
spending and more litigation and more Government control over your life.
    The race for President is a contest for the future, and you know 
where I stand. I'm running for President to keep this Nation on the 
offensive against terrorists, with the goal of total victory. I'm 
running for President to keep this economy moving so every worker has a 
good job and quality health care and a secure retirement. I'm running 
for President to make our Nation

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a more compassionate society, where no one is left out, where every life 
matters.
    I have a hopeful vision. I believe this young century will be 
liberty's century. We'll promote liberty abroad, protect our country, 
and build a better world beyond the war on terror. We'll encourage 
liberty at home to spread the prosperity and opportunity of America to 
every corner of our country. I will carry this message to my fellow 
citizens in the closing days of this campaign, and with your help, we 
will win a great victory on November the 2d.
    God bless. God bless our great country. Thank you all. Thanks for 
coming.

Note: The President spoke at 10:13 a.m. at the Kirby Center for the 
Performing Arts. In his remarks, he referred to Prime Minister Tony 
Blair of the United Kingdom.