[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book III)]
[October 27, 2004]
[Pages 2762-2769]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks in Vienna, Ohio
October 27, 2004
The President. Thank you all for coming. Thanks so much for coming.
My fellow Republicans, discerning Democrats, wise independents, I'm here
to ask for your vote and ask for your help.
We're getting close to voting time here in Ohio. It's coming close
to time for people to get out and exercise their responsibility in a
free society. And so I'm asking you to get people to go to the polls.
I'm asking you to get your friends and neighbors to do their duty. Don't
overlook discerning Democrats, people like the mayor and Senator Miller. Don't overlook
people who understand that I stand for all of America, that my vision is
a vision for everybody. And when you get them headed to the polls,
remind them, if they want a safer America, a stronger America, and a
better America, to put me and Dick Cheney back
in office.
Perhaps the most important reason why your fellow citizens ought to
vote for me is so that Laura is the First Lady
for 4 more years. I'm sure many of you will relate to this. When I asked
Laura to marry me, she said, ``Fine, but make me a promise.'' I said,
``Okay, what is it?'' She said, ``Promise me I'll never have to give a
political 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 speaks, the American people see a warm,
compassionate, strong First Lady.
I'm proud of my runningmate, Dick Cheney.
Now, look, I admit it, he does not have the waviest hair in the race.
[Laughter] I see some others who are follically challenged. [Laughter]
But you'll be happy to hear I did not pick the man because of his
hairdo. [Laughter] I picked him because of his experience. I picked him
because of his judgment. I picked him because he can get the job done
for the American people.
Nothing better than traveling throughout Ohio with Zell
Miller. What a good man, good, down-to-earth,
solid citizen of the United States of America. Zell, we're proud you're
here.
And I want to thank George McKelvey,
the mayor of Youngstown, Ohio. I can't thank him enough for his
friendship and his strong support.
I'm proud to be with your fine Governor, Bob Taft. Governor, thanks for being here. I want to thank all the
State and local officials, all the candidates who are running for
different offices.
I want to thank my friend Sammy Kershaw. I
appreciate you, Sammy. And I want to thank Lorrie Morgan as well. We're honored you're here. I want to thank
the Boardman High School marching band for being here.
Most of all, I want to thank you all for coming. You're lifting my
soul and lifting my spirits. It is so great to see such a big crowd. I
want to thank you for putting up the signs. I want to thank you for
making the phone calls. I want to thank you for what you're going to do
as we're coming down the stretch, which is to turn out that vote. With
your help, there is no doubt in my mind, we will carry Ohio again and
win a great victory.
Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
[[Page 2763]]
The President. Thank you all. This election comes down to some clear
choices for America's families, choices on issues of great consequence.
The first clear choice is the most important because it concerns the
security of your family. All progress on every other issue depends on
the safety of our citizens. This will be the first Presidential election
since September the 11th, 2001. Americans will go to the polls in a time
of war and ongoing threats to our Nation. The terrorists who killed
thousands are still dangerous, and they're determined. The outcome of
this election will set the direction of the war against terror.
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've strengthened the protections for the homeland. We're
reforming our intelligence services. We're transforming our military.
There will be no draft; the All-Volunteer Army will remain an all-
volunteer army. We are relentless. We are steadfast. We are pursuing the
enemy across the Earth so we do not have to face them here at home.
And we are spreading liberty. I want you to tell your children what
a monumental event has taken place in Afghanistan. It wasn't all that
long ago that young girls couldn't go to school, and if their mothers
didn't toe the line of the ideologues of hate, the Taliban, they were
pulled out in the public square and whipped and sometimes executed. But
because we acted in our self-defense, because we acted to remove
terrorist training camps in Afghanistan, because we upheld doctrine that
said, ``If you harbor a terrorist, you're equally as guilty as the
terrorist,'' millions of people in Afghanistan went to the polls to vote
for a President. The first voter was a 19-year-old woman. Freedom is on the march.
Iraq will have Presidential elections. Think how far that country
has come from the days of torture chambers and mass graves. We believe
everybody wants to be free. We believe in the power of liberty to
transform societies. And we believe that not because freedom is
America's gift to the world; freedom is the Almighty God's gift to each
man and woman in this world.
A President must lead with consistency and strength. In war,
sometimes you change your tactics but never your principles. Americans
have seen how I do my job. Even when you might not agree with me, you
know where I stand, you know what I believe, and you know where I intend
to lead this country. On good days and on bad days, whether the polls
are up or the polls are down, I am determined to protect the American
people. I will continue to lead with resolve. And I can assure you, I
will always stand by the men and women who wear our Nation's uniform as
they protect us.
And that's why I went to the United States Congress in September of
2003, asking for $87 billion to support our troops in harm's way. It was
vital funding request. We got good support for that request except from
a handful of people. I see we got a lot of veterans here. I want to
thank you for serving and setting such a great example. You all know
what I'm talking about when I say ``support our troops in harm's way.''
You know how important that is. Well, most of them in Congress
understood how important it was. I want you to tell your friends and
neighbors, Republicans, Democrats, independents, about this startling
statistic: There were only four Members of the United States Senate that
voted to authorize the use of force and then did not provide the funding
to our troops in combat--only four, two of whom were my opponent and his runningmate.
Audience members. Boo-o-o!
[[Page 2764]]
The President. So they asked him about
that vote, and you might remember perhaps the most famous quote of the
2004 campaign when John Kerry said, ``I actually did vote for the $87
billion, right before I voted against it.''
Audience members. Boo-o-o!
The President. You know, I haven't spent as much time in Youngstown
as the mayor has, but you know, I talked
to the mayor, and he assures me not many people in Youngstown, Ohio,
talk like that. [Laughter] People in this part of the world like
somebody who shoots straight with them.
They finally pressed him, and Senator Kerry finally said, after about four or five different answers
as to--about why he made the vote he made, he said, ``The whole thing
was a complicated matter.'' My fellow Americans, there is nothing
complicated about supporting our troops in combat.
A President must be consistent. After repeatedly calling Iraq the
``wrong war'' and a ``diversion,'' Senator Kerry this week seemed shocked to learn that Iraq was a
dangerous place full of dangerous weapons. [Laughter] The Senator used
to know that, even though he seems to have forgotten it over the course
of this campaign. But after all, that's why we went into Iraq. Iraq was
a dangerous place run by a dangerous tyrant
who hated America and who had a lot of weapons. We've seized or
destroyed more than 400,000 tons of munitions, including explosives, at
more than thousands of sites. And we're continuing to round up the
weapons almost every day.
I want to remind the American people, if Senator Kerry had his way, we would still be taking our ``global test.''
Audience members. Boo-o-o!
The President. Saddam Hussein would still
be in power.
Audience members. Boo-o-o!
The President. He would control all those
weapons and explosives and could have shared them with our terrorist
enemies.
Audience members. Boo-o-o!
The President. Now the Senator is making
wild charges about missing explosives, when his top foreign policy
adviser admits, ``We don't know the
facts,'' end quote. Think about that. The Senator is denigrating the
actions of our troops and commanders in the field without knowing the
facts. Unfortunately, that's part of the pattern of saying anything it
takes to get elected, like when he charged that our military failed to
get Usama bin Laden at Tora Bora, even
though our top military commander, General Tommy Franks, said, ``The Senator's understanding of events does not
square with reality,'' and intelligence reports place bin Laden in any
of several different countries at the time.
See, our military is now investigating a number of possible
scenarios, including this one: that explosives may have been moved
before our troops even arrived--even arrived at the site. The
investigation is important and ongoing. And a political candidate who
jumps to conclusions without knowing the facts is not the person you
want as the Commander in Chief.
We have a very different perspective when it comes to protecting the
American people. Senator Kerry says that
September the 11th did not change him much at all.
Audience members. Boo-o-o!
The President. Those were his words. That's what he said. And his policies make that clear. He says the war on
terror is primarily a law enforcement and intelligence gathering
operation. My outlook was changed on September the 11th. It changed my
view of risks we face.
I'll never forget the day when I was at Ground Zero on September the
14th, 2001. The sights and sounds of that day will never escape my
memory. Workers in hardhats were yelling at me at the top of their
lungs, ``Whatever it takes.'' I remember the man coming out and grabbing
me by the arm and looking me square in the eye, and he said, ``Do not
let me down.'' Ever since that day, I have awakened wondering how best
to protect this country, trying to
[[Page 2765]]
figure out everything we can do to protect you. I will never relent in
defending America, whatever it takes.
The second clear choice in this election concerns your families'
budget, your wallet. When I ran for President 4 years ago, I pledged to
lower taxes for American families. I kept my word. We doubled the child
credit to $1,000 per child to help you raise your kids. We reduced the
marriage penalty. We believe the Tax Code ought to encourage marriage,
not penalize marriage. We dropped the lowest tax bracket to 10 percent
to help the working Americans. We reduced income taxes for everybody who
pays taxes.
I want you to tell your friends and neighbors, remind them before
they go to the polls, what our economy has been through. Six months
prior to my arrival in Washington, the stock market was in serious
decline--six months prior to my arrival. Then we had a recession. Then
we had some corporate scandals. We passed laws, tough laws that now make
it abundantly clear we will not tolerate dishonesty in the boardrooms of
America. We lost nearly one million jobs after the attacks on our
country on September the 11th, 2001. We have been through a lot.
But our economic policies, our policies of helping the small
businesses and helping the families, have led us back to growth. Our
economy is growing as fast as any in nearly 20 years. Homeownership rate
is at an alltime high in America. We have added 1.9 million new jobs in
the last 13 months. The national unemployment rate is 5.4 percent.
That's lower than the average rate of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. I
understand you've had tough times in Ohio. I know that. I've traveled
your State a lot. But let me remind you, things are getting better here.
The unemployment rate dropped from 6.3 percent to 6 percent last month.
We added 5,500 new jobs in one month here in the State of Ohio.
But there's more work to be done. There's more work to be done. I
signed a bill last week to help our manufacturing sector here in Ohio
and across the country. We'll continue to support our community
colleges. We've expanded trade adjustment assistance to make sure our
workers have got the skills necessary to fill the jobs of the 21st
century. We have overcome a lot together. Our economy is strong, and it
is getting stronger.
My opponent has a different point of view,
a different view about your family's budget. To put it bluntly, he
intends to take a big chunk out of it.
Audience members. Boo-o-o!
The President. He voted for all the tax
relief--against all the tax relief. We put the tax relief up there to
stimulate the economy, to encourage consumption, to help investment, to
stimulate our small businesses. And he voted ``no.'' If he had had his
way, the average family in America would be paying 2,000 more dollars in
income taxes to the Federal Government.
Audience members. Boo-o-o!
The President. He's been in the United
States Senate 20 years, and he's voted to raise taxes 98 times. That's
five times a year. I would call that a predictable pattern. [Laughter] I
would call that as an indicator. When a Senator does something that
often, he must really enjoy it. [Laughter] I also want to remind you,
he's promised $2.2 trillion of new Federal spending. That's trillion
with a ``T.'' That's a lot even for a Senator from Massachusetts.
So they asked him, ``How are you going to
pay for it?'' He threw out that same old, tired line we've heard every 4
years: ``Oh, I'll pay for it by taxing the rich.'' The problem is, is
that when you raise the top two brackets, you only raise between 600 and
800 billion dollars. There is what I would call a tax gap. That would be
the difference between what he's promised and what he can pay for. And
when you have a tax gap like that and you've got a man of his record
running for President, guess who usually gets to pay?
Audience members. We do!
[[Page 2766]]
The President. Here's the good news. We're not going to let
him tax you; we're going to carry Ohio and win
a great victory. Senator Kerry can run from his record, but he cannot
hide.
Third clear choice in this election involves the quality of life for
our families. A good education and quality health care are important for
our families. As a candidate, I pledged to challenge the soft bigotry of
low expectations by reforming our public schools. I kept my word. We
passed education reforms to bring high standards to our schools. We
increased Federal spending, but instead--in return for Federal spending,
increases of Federal spending, we said, ``Measure. Show us.'' We believe
in accountability. You cannot solve a problem unless you diagnose a
problem. We are diagnosing and solving problems all across America. Math
and reading scores are up. The achievement gap for minority students
across our country is closing. We'll extend these kind of reforms and
high standards to our high schools so that no child is left behind in
America.
We'll improve our lives for our families by making sure health care
is affordable and accessible. We'll take care of the low-income and the
needy by expanding community health centers across our country. We will
work to make sure our low-income children's health program is fully
subscribed. To make sure health care is affordable, we will promote
health savings accounts, which will help our families and small
businesses better afford insurance. We will allow small businesses to
pool risk, to join together so they can buy insurance at the same
discounts big companies are able to do.
And to help families and small businesses afford health care, we
will do something about the frivolous lawsuits that are running up the
cost of health care. We have a problem when it comes to these lawsuits.
I have met too many ob-gyns that are being run out of the practice of
medicine because their premiums are too high. I have met too many
pregnant moms who are worried about their health care and the health
care of their child because they can't find an ob-gyn that's close to
the community in which they live. This is a national problem that
requires a national solution. You cannot be pro-doctor, pro-patient, and
pro-personal-injury-trial-lawyer at the same time. You have to choose.
My opponent made his choice, and he put a
personal-injury trial lawyer on the ticket.
Audience members. Boo-o-o!
The President. I have made my choice. I'm standing with the doctors
of Ohio, the patients of Ohio. I'm for medical liability reform--now.
I remember one of those debates when my opponent looked straight in the camera and said--when asked about
his health care plan, he said, ``The Government doesn't have anything to
do with it.'' I could barely contain myself. [Laughter]
The Government has got a lot to do with it. About 80 percent of the
people who sign up for health insurance under his plan will end up on the Government. Do you realize, when
you make it easier for people to get on Medicaid, small businesses will
no longer provide insurance because the Government will provide
insurance, moving people from the private sector to the Government? Now,
listen, when the Government starts writing checks, the Government starts
making rules. And when the Government starts making rules, the
Government starts making decisions on behalf of the people, and the
Government starts to ration health care, and they decide your doctors,
and then they start telling your doctors what to do. Federally-run
health care is the wrong prescription for America's families. In all we
do to improve health care, we'll make sure the decisions are made by
doctors and patients, not by officials in Washington, DC.
The fourth clear choice in this election involves your retirement.
Our Nation has made a solemn commitment to our seniors on Social
Security and Medicare. When I
[[Page 2767]]
ran for President 4 years ago, I promised to keep that commitment and
improve Medicare by adding prescription drugs. I kept my word. We are
strengthening Medicare. Seniors are now getting discounts on medicine
with drug discount cards. Poor seniors can get $600 worth of help on
their drug discount card this year and next year. And beginning in 2006,
all seniors will be able to get a prescription drug benefit when it
comes to Medicare.
And we'll keep our promise of Social Security for our seniors. Let
me remind you about what took place in the 2000 campaign. That same old,
tired scare tactic was unleashed--probably being done today too, who
knows. People said, ``If George W. gets elected, our seniors will not
get their checks.'' Now, I want you to remind your friends and
neighbors, George W. did get elected, and the seniors did get their
checks. And our seniors will continue to get their checks. And baby
boomers like me and a couple of others I see out there, we're in pretty
good shape when it comes to the Social Security trust.
But we need to worry about our children and our grandchildren. We
need to worry about whether or not Social Security will be available for
them when they retire. I believe younger workers ought to be able to
take some of their own money and set up a personal savings account, an
account that earns a better rate of return, an account they call their
own, an account the Government cannot take away.
My opponent takes a different approach. He
has said that he is going to protect Social Security, but I want you to
remind your friends and neighbors of this fact: He's the only candidate
in this race who has voted eight times for higher taxes on Social
Security benefits.
Audience members. Boo-o-o!
The President. He can run from that
record, but I'm not going to let him hide.
And when it comes to the next generation, when it comes to our
children and our grandchildren, he hasn't
offered any reform. See, the job of a President is to confront problems,
not to pass them on to future generations and future Presidents. In a
new term, I'll bring Republicans and Democrats together to strengthen
Social Security so our children will be able to have a Social Security
system that works.
In this campaign, I'm speaking to the hopes of all Americans. The
President's job is not to lead one party but to serve one Nation. I'm
proud to have lifelong Democrats like Zell and
George by my side in this campaign, and
they're joined by millions of other Democrats all across this country.
As the citizens of this Nation prepare to vote, I want to speak directly
to the Democrats. I'm a proud Republican, but I believe my policies
appeal to many Democrats. In fact, I believe my opponent is running away from some of the great traditions of the
Democratic Party. If you're a Democrat and you want America to be strong
and confident in our ideals, I would be honored to have your vote.
The Democratic Party has a great tradition of leading this country
with strength and conviction in times of war. I think of Franklin
Roosevelt's commitment to total victory. I think of Harry Truman's clear
vision at the beginning of the cold war. I think of John Kennedy's brave
declaration of American ideals. President Kennedy said, ``The rights of
man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of
God.''
Many Democrats look at my opponent and
wonder where that great tradition of their party has gone. My opponent
takes a narrow, defensive view of the war on terror. As the United
States of America hunts down the terrorists and liberates millions from
tyranny and aids the rise of liberty in distant lands, my opponent
counsels retreat. He votes against supporting our troops in combat. He
downplays the power of democracy and adopts a narrow so-called realism
that is little more than defeatism.
I believe--I believe that American leadership is the hope of the
oppressed, the
[[Page 2768]]
source of security, and the greatest force for good in this world. I
believe the liberation of captive peoples is a noble achievement that
all Americans can be proud of. I believe that our troops in the field
need our support 100 percent of the time.
If you are a Democrat who wants America to lead with strength and
idealism, I would be honored to have your support. The Democratic party
has a tradition for support of our public schools. I think about Lyndon
Johnson and Hubert Humphrey, who always stood up for the right of the
poor and minority children to get the best education America could
offer. Many Democrats look at my opponent and
wonder where that firm conviction has gone. Just as teachers and
principals across America are lifting the sights of our schools and
raising the test scores of minority children, my opponent is talking
about weakening the standards and going back to the old days of
stagnation and excuses for failure.
Audience members. Boo-o-o!
The President. I got into politics and I ran for Governor of my
State because I would not stand by and watch another generation of
students miss out on the opportunity of America. And when I came to
Washington, I made schools my top domestic priority. If you are a
Democrat who believes in strong public schools that teach every child,
I'd be honored to have your vote.
Americans of both political parties have always had respect and
reverence for the institution of marriage. Never in our history has
marriage been a partisan issue, and it's not a partisan issue today.
Yet, many Democrats look at my opponent and
wonder, where is his commitment to defending the basic institution of
civilization?. He says he supports marriage, but he will do nothing to
defend it.
Audience members. Boo-o-o!
The President. My opponent even voted
against the Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage as between a
man and a woman. And two-thirds of the Democrats in the Senate supported
it, and my predecessor, Bill Clinton,
signed it into law. On the issue of protecting marriage, the Senator
from Massachusetts is outside the mainstream of America and outside the
mainstream of the Democratic Party.
I believe that our society must show tolerance and respect for every
individual. Yet, I do not believe this commitment to tolerance requires
us to redefine marriage. If you are a Democrat who believes that
marriage should be protected from activist judges, I'd be honored to
have your vote.
The Democrat Party is also a great tradition of defending the
defenseless. I remember the strong conscience of the late Democratic
Governor of Pennsylvania, Robert Casey, who once said that when he
looked to an unborn child, the real issue is not when life begins but
when love begins. I remember the moral clarity of the late Senator
Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Democrat of New York, who said that partial-
birth abortion is, quote, ``as close to infanticide as anything I have
come upon.''
Many opponents--many Democrats look at my opponent and see an attitude that is much more extreme. He says
that life begins at conception but denies that our caring society should
prevent even partial-birth abortion.
Audience members. Boo-o-o!
The President. He voted against the ban on
partial-birth abortion.
Audience members. Boo-o-o!
The President. I proudly signed the ban on partial-birth abortion.
Preventing partial-birth abortion is an ethical conviction shared by
many people of every faith and by people who have no religion at all. I
understand good people disagree on the life issue, and I'll continue to
work with Republicans and Democrats to find common ground on the
difficult questions and move this goodhearted Nation toward a culture of
life. If you are a Democrat who believes that our society must always
have room for the voiceless and the vulnerable, I would be honored to
have your vote.
[[Page 2769]]
I know that Democrats are not going to agree with me on every issue,
yet on the big issues of our country's security, victory in the war
against terror, improving our public schools, respecting marriage and
human life, I hope people who usually vote for the other party will take
a close look at my agenda. If you are a Democrat and your dreams and
goals are not found on the far left wing of the Democratic Party, I'd be
honored to have your vote. And next Tuesday, I ask you to stand with me.
Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
The President. I am optimistic about our great land. I love my
country. The great strength of America is found in the hearts and souls
of our people. What a fantastic land we have. One of my favorite quotes
was written by a fellow Texan, a fellow named Tom Lea. And here's what he said, he said, ``Sarah and I live on
the east side of the mountain. It is the sunrise side, not the sunset
side. It is the side to see the day that is coming, not to see the day
that is gone.'' You know, my opponent has
spent much of this campaign talking about the day that is gone. I'm
talking about the day that is coming.
Because we have done the hard work of climbing that mountain, we can
see the valley below. Over the next 4 years, we'll work to protect our
families; we'll build our prosperity; we will defend the deepest values.
Over the next 4 years, we'll continue to spread liberty so we can
achieve the peace we want for our children and our grandchildren.
When I traveled your State 4 years ago, I made you this pledge: I
said if I was--if I happened to win that election, I would uphold the
honor and the dignity of the office to which I had been elected. With
your help, I will do so for 4 more years.
God bless. Thank you all for coming. Thank you all.
Note: The President spoke at 2:16 p.m. at the Youngstown-Warren Regional
Airport. In his remarks, he referred to entertainers Sammy Kershaw and
Lorrie Morgan; former President Saddam Hussein of Iraq; Usama bin Laden,
leader of the Al Qaida terrorist organization; and Gen. Tommy R. Franks,
USA (Ret.), former combatant commander, U.S. Central Command.