[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book III)]
[October 21, 2004]
[Pages 2639-2646]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks in Hershey, Pennsylvania
October 21, 2004

    The President. Thank you all. Thank you all for coming. So he said, 
``A couple of hundred people might show up if you came.'' I came--
thousands are here, and I'm grateful. You know what this tells me. With 
your help, we will carry Pennsylvania on November the 2d.
    Listen, we have a duty in our country to vote. And I'm asking you to 
turn to your friends and neighbors, go to your coffee shops, your houses 
of worship, your community centers, and tell people that we have a duty. 
And as you get people going to the polls, don't overlook discerning 
Democrats, people like Senator Zell Miller from 
Georgia. Our message is for everybody. If you want a safer America, a 
stronger America, and a better America, put me and Dick Cheney back in office.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. Thank you all for coming. I am so grateful so many 
came. It means a lot. My only regret is that Laura is not here to see this crowd. She was a public school 
librarian when I met her for the second time. See, we went to the 
seventh grade together, San Jacinto Junior High in Midland, Texas. When 
I met her the second time and I finally asked her to marry me, she said, 
``Fine, just so long as I never have to give a speech.'' [Laughter] I 
said, ``Okay, you got a deal.'' Fortunately, she didn't hold me to that 
promise. She's giving a lot of speeches, and when she does, the American 
people see a compassionate, strong, great First Lady. She is not with me 
today, but one of our twin daughters, 
Barbara, has come. Thank you for coming, 
baby. There's nothing better than campaigning for a President with a 
daughter you love.
    I'm proud of my Vice President, Dick Cheney. 
Now, look, I admit it, he does not have the waviest hair in the race. 
[Laughter] I did not pick him because of his hairdo. [Laughter] I picked 
him because of his experience, his judgment. I picked him because he can 
get the job done.
    I am proud to have been introduced to this great crowd by Major Dick 
Winters, an American hero who 
commanded Easy Company in World War II.
    I want to thank Congressman Todd Platts 
for joining us today. I'm proud you're here, Congressman. I want to 
thank the folks who are here from the statehouse and local office. I'm 
here to say as clearly as I can that Scott Paterno needs to be the next Congressman from the 17th 
Congressional District. I appreciate Tom Corbett, who is going to be the next attorney general, and Jean 
Craige Pepper, who's running for 
treasurer.
    But most of all, I want to thank you all for coming. It's getting 
close to voting time. It's time to crank up the phones. It's time to put 
up the signs. It is time to carry Pennsylvania.
    In the last few years, the people have come to know me. They know my 
blunt

[[Page 2640]]

way of speaking. I get that from my mother. 
They know I mangle the English language sometimes. I get that from my 
dad. [Laughter] Americans also know I tell 
you exactly what I'm going to do, and I keep my word.
    When I came into office, the stock market had been in serious 
decline for 6 months. And the American economy was sliding into a 
recession. To help families and to get this economy growing again, I 
pledged to reduce taxes. I kept my word. The results are clear. The 
recession was one of the shallowest in American history.
    Over the last 3 years, our economy has grown at rates as fast as any 
in nearly 20 years. The homeownership rate in America is at an alltime 
high. The past 13 months, we've added 1.9 million new jobs. The 
unemployment rate across our country is 5.4 percent--lower than the 
average rates of the 1970s, the 1980s, and the 1990s. Farm income is up. 
This economy is moving forward, and we're not going to go back to the 
days of tax and spend.
    To make sure jobs are here in America, to make sure people can find 
work, America must be the best place in the world to do business. That 
means less regulations on our job creators. That means we've got to do 
something about these frivolous lawsuits that are plaguing small-
business owners.
    To keep jobs here in America, Congress needs to pass my energy plan. 
It's a plan that encourages conservation and encourages renewables. It's 
a plan that encourages clean coal technology. It is a plan that 
recognizes, to keep jobs in America, we must be less dependent on 
foreign sources of energy.
    To keep jobs here in America, we must open up markets for U.S. 
products. Listen, we can compete with anybody, anytime, anywhere, so 
long as the rules are fair.
    To make sure this economy continues to grow, we've got to be wise 
about how we spend your money and keep the taxes low. Taxes are an issue 
in this campaign.
    Now, my opponent has his own history on 
the economy.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. Yes. In 20 years as a Senator from Massachusetts, 
he's built a record of a Senator from 
Massachusetts. [Laughter] He's voted--he has voted to raise taxes 98 
times.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. Yes. He voted to tax Social 
Security benefits.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. Ninety-eight times in twenty years--that's about five 
times a year. I would call that a predictable pattern. See, he can run from his record, but he cannot hide.
    Now he's promising not to raise taxes for 
anyone who earns less than $200,000 a year. He said that with a straight 
face. [Laughter] The problem is, to keep that promise he'd have to break 
all his other promises. He has promised $2.2 trillion in new Federal 
spending. That's trillion with a ``T.'' And so they said, ``How are you 
going to pay for it?'' And he said, fine, he's just going to raise taxes 
on the rich. Now, you've heard that before. When you try to raise taxes 
on the rich, that raises between 600 billion and 800 billion. There's a 
gap between what he's promised and how he says he's going to pay for it. 
And guess who usually gets to fill the gap?
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. There's something else wrong with the ``tax the 
rich'' slogan. The rich hire lawyers and accountants for a reason: to 
slip the bill and pass it to you. We are not going to let him tax you; we will carry Pennsylvania and win on 
November the 2d.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. When I came into office, our public schools had been 
waiting decades for hopeful reform. Too many of our children were being 
shuffled through school without learning the basics. I pledged to 
restore accountability in the

[[Page 2641]]

school and to challenge the soft bigotry of low expectations. I kept my 
word. We passed the No Child Left Behind Act, and we're seeing results. 
Our children are making sustained gains in reading and math. We're 
closing achievement gaps all around this country, and we're not going to 
go back the days of low standards and accepted mediocrity.
    When I came into office, we had a problem in Medicare. Medicine was 
changing, but Medicare was not. For example, we'd pay hundreds--tens of 
thousands of dollars for heart surgery but not one dime for the 
prescription drugs that could prevent the heart surgery from being 
needed in the first place. That did not make any sense to our seniors. 
It wasn't right. I pledged to bring Republicans and Democrats together 
to strengthen and modernize Medicare. I kept my word. Seniors are 
getting discounts on medicine. And beginning in 2006, all seniors will 
be able to get prescription drug coverage under Medicare.
    We got more to do on health care. We've got to make sure health care 
is available and affordable. We'll have a safety net for those with the 
greatest needs. That's why I believe in community health centers for the 
poor and the indigent. We'll do more to make sure poor children are 
fully subscribed in our programs for low-income families.
    Most of the uninsured in America work for small businesses. Small 
businesses are having trouble affording health care. To enable small 
businesses to afford health care, we must allow them to pool together so 
they can buy insurance at the same discount big companies get to do. We 
will expand health savings accounts so workers and small businesses are 
able to pay lower premiums and people can save tax-free in a health care 
account they manage and call their own.
    To make sure health care is available and affordable, we have to do 
something about the frivolous lawsuits that are running up the cost of 
medicine and running good doctors out of practice. You have a problem 
here in the State of Pennsylvania because of these junk lawsuits. You're 
losing too many good docs. Too many ob-gyns are leaving the practice. 
Too many pregnant women are wondering whether or not they're going to 
get the health care they need in order to bring their child into this 
world. The system is broken. You cannot be pro-doctor, pro-patient, and 
pro-personal-injury-lawyer at the same time. You have to make a choice. 
My opponent put a personal injury 
lawyer on the ticket.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. He voted against medical 
liability reform 10 times. I'm standing with the doctors. I'm standing 
with the patients. I'm standing with the people of Pennsylvania. I'm for 
medical liability reform--now.
    I laid out a health care plan that's sensible and reasonable. Now, 
my opponent has got his health care plan of 
his own. And it's a plan for bigger Government.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. Now, the other day in the debate, he looked right in the camera again, and he said this about 
his health care plan: ``The Government has nothing to do with it.'' I 
remember him saying that. I was standing right there. [Laughter] I could 
barely contain myself. The Government has got a lot to do with his 
health care plan. Eight out of ten Americans would end up on a 
Government health insurance program. Eight million Americans would lose 
their private health insurance at work, and most would go on a 
Government plan. He says his plan helps small businesses. That's what--
that's not what small-business groups think. They've called it an 
overpriced albatross that would saddle small businesses with 225 new 
mandates.
    I have a different view. We've got to help small businesses afford 
insurance, not saddle them with a bunch of rules and regulations from 
Washington, DC. In all we do to reform health care, I believe the

[[Page 2642]]

health decisions need to be made by doctors and patients, not by 
officials in our Nation's Capital.
    I'll continue to set out policies for an optimistic and hopeful 
America. I believe this country should be an ownership society. You 
know, there's a saying, no one ever washes a rental car. [Laughter] 
There's a lot of wisdom in that statement. When you own something, you 
care about it. When you own something in America, you care about the 
future of our country.
    That's why we promote entrepreneurship in this administration. Every 
time a small business is started in America, somebody is achieving the 
American Dream. We're encouraging health savings accounts so people have 
the security of owning and managing their own health care account. We're 
encouraging homeownership. Listen, more and more people are able to open 
up the door where they live and say, ``Welcome to my home. Welcome to my 
piece of property.'' And America is better off for it.
    In a new term, we'll take the next step to build an ownership 
society by strengthening Social Security. Now, let me speak to the 
seniors who are here. You remember the 2000 campaign when they were 
running the TV ads that said, ``If George W. gets elected, the seniors 
will not get their checks.'' That's old-style scare politics. I want you 
to remind your friends and neighbors, they got their checks. They'll 
continue to get their checks. And baby boomers like me are in pretty 
good shape when it comes to the Social Security trust fund.
    But we need to worry about our children and our grandchildren. See, 
we need to worry about whether or not the Social Security trust will be 
solvent when they need help in retirement. I think younger workers ought 
to be allowed to take some of their payroll taxes and set up a personal 
savings account that earns a better rate of return, an account they call 
their own, an account the Government cannot take away.
    When it comes to Social Security, as you heard the other night in 
the debates, my opponent wants to maintain the 
status quo.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. The job of a President is to confront problems, not 
pass them on to future generations or future Presidents. He's against the Social Security reforms I laid out, and 
he's against about every other reform that gives more authority and 
control to the individual. On issue after issue, from Medicare without 
choices to schools with less accountability to raising taxes, he takes 
the side of more centralized control and more Government.
    There is a word for that attitude. There is a word for that 
philosophy. It is called liberalism. Now, he 
dismisses that word as a label. He must have seen it differently when he 
said, ``I'm a liberal and proud of it.'' [Laughter] The others have 
noticed as well. There's a nonpartisan National Journal magazine that 
did a study and named him the most liberal Member of the United States 
Senate. That takes a lot of hard work in that bunch. [Laughter] Can you 
imagine being more liberal than Ted Kennedy?
    Audience members. No-o-o!
    The President. He can run--he can even run 
in camo--but he cannot hide.
    I have a different record. I have a different philosophy. I do not 
believe in big Government, and I do not believe Government should be 
indifferent. I'm what I call a compassionate conservative. I believe in 
policies that empower people to improve their lives, not try to run 
their lives. We'll continue to help men and women all across this 
country find the skills and tools they need to prosper in a time of 
change, skills and tools necessary to realize the great promise of our 
country. That's how I have led, and that's how I will continue to lead 
for 4 more years.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. In this time of change, some things do not change. 
Those are the

[[Page 2643]]

values we try to live by, courage and compassion, reverence and 
integrity. In changing times, we will 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 matters and every being counts. We stand for marriage and family, 
which are the foundations of our society. We stand for the second 
amendment, which protects every American's individual right to bear 
arms. We stand for the appointment of Federal judges who know the 
difference between personal opinion and the strict interpretation of the 
law.
    My opponent's words on these issues are a 
little muddy, but his record is plenty clear. He says he supports the 
institution of marriage but voted against the Defense of Marriage Act.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. He voted against the ban on 
the brutal practice of partial-birth abortion.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. He called the Reagan years 
as a period of moral darkness.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. There is a mainstream in American politics, and my 
opponent sits on the far left bank. During 
this campaign, he can run, but he cannot hide.
    This election will also determine how America responds to the 
continuing danger of terrorism. I believe the most solemn duty of the 
American President is to protect the American people. If America shows 
uncertainty or weakness in this decade, the world will drift toward 
tragedy. This will not happen on my watch.
    Since that 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 are defending the homeland. I thank the first-responders who 
are here with us today. We're strengthening our intelligence. We're 
transforming our military. We will not have a draft. The All-Volunteer 
Army will remain an all-volunteer army. We are staying on the offensive. 
We will strike the terrorists abroad so we do not have to face them here 
at home. We will spread freedom and liberty. And we will prevail.
    Our strategy is succeeding. Think about the world, the way it was 
some 3\1/2\ years ago--think about this. 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 dangerous place and a gathering 
threat. And Al Qaida was largely unchallenged as it planned horrific 
attacks.
    Because the United States of America led, Afghanistan is an ally in 
the war on terror and is now a free nation; 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 its country's freedom; and more than three-quarters of Al Qaida's 
associates and members have been brought to justice.
    We are standing with the people of Afghanistan and Iraq. I want the 
youngsters here to understand what has taken place during a brief period 
of your life. It wasn't all that long ago that young girls couldn't go 
to school in Afghanistan. It wasn't all that long ago that their mothers 
were taken into the public square and whipped because they wouldn't toe 
the line of these ideologues of hate called the Taliban. It wasn't all 
that long ago that the people of that country lived in darkness. Because 
we acted in our own self-interest, because we acted to destroy the Al 
Qaida terrorists' training camps, because we worked to secure ourselves, 
25 million people live in freedom. They had Presidential elections a 
couple of weekends ago in Afghanistan. The first voter in Afghanistan 
was a 19-year-old girl. Freedom is on the 
march, and the people of Afghanistan have gone from darkness to light.

[[Page 2644]]

    The people of Iraq will be voting for a President in January. Think 
how far that society has come from the day of torture chambers and mass 
graves. It's in our interest that we spread freedom. Free societies 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. Freedom will help us keep the 
peace we all want. Freedom is on the move, and America is more secure 
for it.
    So our mission is clear--our mission is clear. We will help these 
countries train armies and police forces and security forces in 
Afghanistan and Iraq so they can do the hard work of defending their 
freedom, so they can stand up and fight these terrorists who are trying 
to stop the advance of freedom. We'll help the countries get on the path 
of stability and democracy as quickly as possible, and then our troops 
will come home with the honor they have earned.
    We have a great United States military because those who wear the 
uniform are people of such great character and service and duty and 
honor. And I want to thank the veterans who are here today for having 
set such a great example for those who wear the uniform. And I want to 
thank the military families who are here for the sacrifices you have 
made. And I assure you, we'll keep the commitment we have made to the 
troops and their families. They will have the resources they need to 
complete their missions.
    That's why I went to the Congress in September of 2003 and asked for 
$87 billion of supplemental funding to support our troops in harm's way. 
I received great bipartisan support. Your Senators, Senator 
Specter and Santorum, voted with me on that bill. It was an important piece of 
legislation. Most people up in Congress understood how important it was. 
As a matter of fact, only 12 Members of the United States Senate voted 
against funding for our troops, 2 of whom were my opponent and his runningmate.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. Now, I want to tell you another startling statistic. 
When you're out gathering the vote--I want to tell you another startling 
statistic, a true fact. There were only 4 Members of the United States 
Senate--4 out of 100--that had voted to authorize the use of force and 
then voted against the funding to support our troops in harm's way, 2 of 
whom are my opponent and his 
runningmate.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. So they asked him how he 
could have made that vote. They asked him how he could have made that 
vote. And you might remember perhaps the most famous quote of the 2004 
campaign. Here is what he said: ``I actually did vote for the $87 
billion, before I voted against it.''
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. They kept asking him, and 
he kept answering. He must have given five or six different 
explanations. One of the most interesting ones of all is he finally 
said, ``The whole thing was a complicated matter.'' [Laughter] There's 
nothing complicated about supporting our troops in harm's way.
    All elections come down to a choice, and in this, America's first 
Presidential election since September the 11th, the security of our 
country is at risk in many ways different than we have ever faced 
before. We're in the midst of a global war against a well-trained, 
highly motivated enemy, an enemy that has no conscience, an enemy that 
hates Americans because of the very freedoms we love. The next Commander 
in Chief must lead us to victory in this war. Yet, you cannot win a war 
when you do not believe you are fighting one.
    Senator Kerry was recently asked how 
September the 11th had changed him. And he replied this: ``It did not 
change me much at all.'' End quote.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!

[[Page 2645]]

    The President. His unchanged world becomes obvious when he calls the war against terror primarily an 
intelligence and law enforcement operation rather than a war which 
requires the full use of American strength. Senator Kerry's top foreign 
policy advisor questioned this is even 
a war at all. And here's what he said: ``We're not in a war on terror in 
a literal sense. It's like saying `the war on poverty'--it's just a 
metaphor.'' End quote. It's a different mindset, a different attitude. 
Confusing food programs with terrorist killings reveals a fundamental 
misunderstanding of the world we live in, of the world we face. And this 
is very dangerous thinking.
    Senator Kerry also misunderstands our 
battle against insurgents and terrorists in Iraq. He called Iraq a 
``diversion'' from the war on terror. Let me talk about the case of one 
terrorist to show you how wrong this thinking is. The terrorist leader 
we face today in Iraq, the one responsible for car bombings and 
beheadings of Americans, is a man named Zarqawi. Zarqawi ran a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan until 
our military arrived. He then went to Iraq. He received medical care in 
Iraq. He plotted and planned in Iraq. To confirm where he's coming from, 
just the other day Zarqawi announced his allegiance to Usama bin 
Laden. Zarqawi and his associates were not 
busy fighting American forces in Iraq, does my opponent think they would 
be living peaceful and productive lives? Course not. That's why Iraq is 
not a diversion but a central commitment in the war on terror.
    The Senator the other day talked about the 
need for America to pass a ``global test'' when it comes to committing 
our troops.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. I'm not making that up. He 
was standing right there when he said it. No, we'll work with our 
friends and allies. I'll continue to build alliances and strong 
coalitions. But I will never turn over America's national security 
decisions to leaders of other countries.
    Audience members. U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!
    The President. I believe in the transformational power of liberty. 
That's what I believe. I believe liberty can transform nations. One of 
our friends--Laura and my friends is Prime 
Minister of Japan. He's a friend. I saw 
him at the United Nations in New York. I said, ``Listen, I'm going to be 
talking about you on the campaign trail. Do you mind?'' He said, ``No, 
go ahead and talk about me.'' I said, ``Okay.'' What he didn't--I didn't 
ask him permission to tell you that Elvis is his favorite singer. 
[Laughter] We've gotten to know him quite well.
    It probably doesn't sound much to folks out there, that I would call 
him my friend. But remember, 60 years ago, we were at war with Japan. 
They were the sworn enemy of the United States of America. My dad, like many of his generation, like many of the 
Band of Brothers, fought against the Japanese--people of that generation 
served. And your dads and granddads did the same, I'm confident.
    After we won the war, Harry S. Truman, President of the United 
States, believed that liberty could transform an enemy into an ally. 
That's what he believed. There was a lot of skepticism about that, a lot 
of doubt. There was a lot of anger because of the war, and you can 
understand why. Families' lives have been turned upside down because of 
death during the war. A lot of people just said, ``Well, the enemy can't 
possibly become a democracy.'' But our predecessors stayed with it. And 
as a result of that belief, I sit down at the table today talking about 
how to keep the peace with Prime Minister Koizumi.
    Someday, an American President will be sitting down with a duly 
elected leader of Iraq, talking about peace in the Middle East. And our 
children and our grandchildren will be better off for it.
    I believe that millions in the Middle East plead in silence for 
their liberty. I believe women in the Middle East want to live

[[Page 2646]]

in a free society. I believe mothers and fathers in the Middle East want 
to raise their children in a free and peaceful world. I believe all 
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.
    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 makes 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 is a day I will never forget. I will never forget the voices 
of those in hardhats yelling at me at the top of their lungs, ``Whatever 
it takes.'' I will never forget the police or firefighter coming out of 
the rubble who grabbed me by the arm, and he looked me square in the 
eye, and he said, ``Do not let me down.'' Ever since that day--ever 
since that day, I wake up every morning thinking about how to better 
protect our country. I will never relent in defending America, whatever 
it takes.
    Four years ago, when 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 have 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 4:20 p.m. at Hershey Park Stadium. In his 
remarks, he referred to Tom Corbett, candidate for Pennsylvania State 
Attorney General; Jean Craige Pepper, candidate for Pennsylvania State 
Treasurer; senior Al Qaida associate Abu Musab Al Zarqawi; Usama bin 
Laden, leader of the Al Qaida terrorist organization; and Prime Minister 
Junichiro Koizumi of Japan.