[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book III)]
[October 20, 2004]
[Pages 2600-2608]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks in Mason City, Iowa
October 20, 2004

    The President. Thank you all for coming. Thank you all for coming 
out to say hello. It is great to be in Mason City, Iowa. I appreciate 
the warm welcome. It's the home of fine corn, fine people, and fine 
music.
    I'm here to ask for your help. We're less than 2 weeks away from 
voting time. And I'd like for you to get your friends and neighbors and 
remind them we have a duty in democracy to vote. And get them headed to 
the polls, and remind them, if they want a safer America and a stronger 
America and a better America, to put me and Dick Cheney back in office.
    My only regret is that Laura is not traveling 
with me today.
    Audience members. Aw-w-w!
    The President. That is generally the reaction. [Laughter] ``Why 
didn't you send her, and you stay at home?'' 
[Laughter] She was a public school librarian when I met her

[[Page 2601]]

for the second time. See, we were in the seventh grade together in San 
Jacinto Junior High in Midland, Texas. She became a public school 
librarian, and I met her again. 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.'' Fortunately, she didn't hold me to that 
deal. She is giving a lot of speeches, and when she does the American 
people see a warm, compassionate, great First Lady. I am traveling in 
Iowa today to give you reasons why I think you ought to put me back into 
office, but perhaps the most important one of all is so that Laura is 
the First Lady for 4 more years.
    This morning in the Oval Office, I met with our fine Vice President, 
Dick Cheney. I was there, of course, to discuss 
national security matters before we hit the campaign trail today. I'm 
proud of my Vice President. I admit to you, he does not have the waviest 
hair in the race. [Laughter] You'll be happy I didn't pick him because 
of his hairdo. [Laughter] I picked him because of his judgment, his 
experience, and his ability to get the job done.
    I am proud of your United States Congressman, Tom Latham. He is doing an excellent job. You're proud to call him 
Congressman. I'm proud to call him friend. And I appreciate his wife, 
Kathy, as well. She's a fine, fine lady.
    I'm also proud to be working with your United States Senator, 
Charles Grassley. I told him when I saw 
him--I saw him the other day in Cedar Rapids. I took him aside, and I 
said, ``Listen, the South Lawn at the White House has got a lot of 
grass.'' [Laughter] I'm proud to work with him, and with your help, I'll 
continue to work with him for 4 more years.
    I want to thank the house majority leader, Chuck Gipp, who's with us. I want to thank all those who serve in 
State and local government.
    I appreciate the mayor being here. I'm honored that the 
mayor is taking time out to be here. My only 
advice to the mayor is to pave the potholes. [Laughter] I appreciate 
your service, Mayor.
    I want to thank all the grassroots activists. I thank you for what 
you have done and what you're going to do. Put up the signs. Get on the 
phone. Turn people out to vote. Talk to your friends and neighbors. Go 
to your community centers. Go to your coffee shops. Go to your houses of 
worship. Remind people we have a duty. With your help, we will carry 
Iowa and win a great victory in November.
    Listen, in the last few years, the American people have come to know 
me. They know my blunt way of speaking. I got that from my mother. [Laughter] They know that sometimes I mangle the 
English language. I got 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. That had been an indication that our 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. Today, the homeownership rate is at an alltime high 
in America. In the past 13 months, we've added more than 1.9 million new 
jobs. The unemployment rate in America is 5.4 percent, lower than the 
average rate of the 1970s, 1980s, and the 1990s. Farm income is up. The 
unemployment rate in Iowa is 4.5 percent. This economy is moving 
forward, and we're not going to go back to the days of tax and spend.
    To keep this economy strong, we'll continue to stand with our 
farmers. I understand a good national economy depends on a good farm 
economy. I signed a good farm bill that's helping our farmers. We're 
phasing out the death tax to help our farmers

[[Page 2602]]

keep their farms from generation to generation. We have extended 
contracts in the Conservation Reserve Program to help protect our 
wildlife, to help improve land, and to help our farm families. We're 
expanding broadband technology to make high-speed Internet access 
available to all Americans by 2007. We're opening up markets for Iowa 
farmers all across the world.
    We are pursuing an energy strategy that encourages conservation, 
increased domestic production, and renewables like ethanol and 
biodiesel. When I campaigned in your State in 2000, I told the people of 
Iowa I support ethanol. I kept my word. To make sure jobs remain here, 
America must be the best place in the world to do business. That means 
less regulations on our job creators. That means we must do something 
about the frivolous lawsuits that make it hard for small-business owners 
to expand their companies. We will open up markets around the world. We 
will make sure that we're wise about how we spend your money. And to 
make sure this economy continues to grow, we must keep your taxes low.
    Now, my opponent has his own history on 
the economy. [Laughter] In 20 years as a Senator from Massachusetts, he 
has built a record of a Senator from Massachusetts. [Laughter] He has 
voted to raise taxes 98 times.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. I want to remind you, he 
voted to tax Social Security benefits.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. He's been there for 20 
years. That's about five tax increases every year. I'd call that a 
predictable pattern. I'd call that an indicator. He looked in the camera 
the other night with a straight face and said he's not going to raise 
taxes on anyone who earns less than $200,000. The problem with that is 
to keep that promise, he would have to break almost all of his other 
ones. He has proposed more than $2.2 trillion in new Federal spending. 
That's trillion with a ``T.'' [Laughter] And so they asked him, ``How 
are you going to pay for it?'' He said, ``Oh, I'll just tax the rich.'' 
Now, we've heard that before, haven't we?
    Audience members. Yes!
    The President. See, you can't raise enough money by raising the top 
two brackets to pay for $2.2 trillion of new spending. There is a gap 
between what he has promised and what he can 
deliver, and guess who usually has to fill that gap?
    Audience members. We do!
    The President. There's also something else wrong with taxing the 
rich. The rich hire lawyers and accountants for a reason--[laughter]--to 
slip the tab and stick you with the bill. The good news is, we're not 
going to let him tax you; we're going to carry 
Iowa and win in November.
    When I came into public office, too many of our public schools were 
passing children, grade to grade, year after year, without learning the 
basics. So I pledged to restore accountability to our schools and to end 
the soft bigotry of low expectations. I kept my word. The No Child Left 
Behind Act is a solid piece of reform. We're now seeing results. Our 
children are making sustained gains in reading and math. We're closing 
achievement gaps all across our country, and we're not going to go back 
to the days of low expectations and mediocrity in our classrooms.
    When I came into office, we had a problem in Medicare. Medicine was 
changing, but Medicare was not. And that was a problem. Let me give you 
an example. Medicare would pay tens of thousands of dollars for heart 
surgery but not one dime for the prescription drug that could prevent 
the heart surgery from being needed in the first place. That was not 
fair to our seniors or our taxpayers. In 2002, I remember campaigning 
around your State saying that we were going to reform Medicare so rural 
hospitals would be treated more fairly in the State of Iowa. I kept my 
pledge. I kept my word. Iowa's rural hospitals are being treated fairly. 
Thanks to

[[Page 2603]]

the good work of Senator Chuck Grassley 
and Congressman Tom Latham, beginning in 2006, 
all seniors will be able to get prescription drug coverage under 
Medicare.
    There's more to do in health care. We need to make sure health care 
is available and affordable for all our citizens. We need a safety net 
for those with the greatest needs. We'll do more to make sure our poor 
children are fully subscribed in our programs for low-income families so 
they get the health care they need. I believe in community health 
centers, places where the poor and the indigent can get health care. 
Since I took office, we have opened or expanded more than 600 community 
health centers. We've provided care to more than 3 million patients, 
including many from farm communities. In a new term, we'll open or 
expand another 600 centers, and we will make sure every poor county in 
America has a community or rural health center.
    Most of the uninsured today work for small businesses. Small 
businesses are having trouble affording health care. To help workers get 
the health care they need, we must allow small businesses to join 
together so they can buy insurance at the same discounts that big 
companies can buy insurance. 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 call their own.
    To make sure health care is available and affordable, we must do 
something about the junk lawsuits that are running up the cost of 
medicine and running good doctors out of practice. By forcing doctors to 
practice defensive medicine, these medical lawsuits cost the Federal 
Government $28 billion a year. That means they cost you $28 billion a 
year. Lawsuits drive up insurance premiums, which drives good doctors 
out of practice. I've talked to too many ob-gyns, for example, who are 
having to leave their practice because of lawsuits. And I've met too 
many women who are worried about the quality of the health care they 
receive because of lawsuits. You cannot be pro-doctor and pro-patient 
and pro-trial-lawyer at the same time. I think you have to choose. My 
opponent made his choice, and he put a 
personal injury trail lawyer on the ticket.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. I made my choice. I'm standing with the docs and the 
patients. I'm for medical liability reform--now.
    We have big differences in this campaign when it comes to health 
care. My opponent has laid out one that calls for a bigger and more 
intrusive Government. Now, the other day, in the debate, he looked right 
in the camera again, and he said this, he said, ``The Government has 
nothing to do with it.'' I could barely contain myself. [Laughter] The 
facts are that 8 out of 10 people who get health care under Senator 
Kerry's plan would be placed on a Government 
program. Those are the facts.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. He said his plan would help small businesses, yet 
upon analysis, small-business groups have concluded that it is an 
overpriced albatross that would saddle small businesses with 225 new 
mandates. I want to help our small businesses and will through 
association health plans, but we're not going to saddle them with a 
bunch of new Government regulations. My opponent wants to move in the direction of Government health care. 
Health decisions, in my plan, will be made by doctors and patients, not 
by officials in Washington, DC. He can run from his plan, but he cannot 
hide.
    We'll continue to promote an ownership society in America. You know, 
there's a saying that says no one ever washes a rental car. [Laughter] 
There's a lot of wisdom in that statement. See, when you own something, 
you care about it. And when you own something, you have a vital stake in 
the future of our country. That's why we will continue to promote 
entrepreneurship.

[[Page 2604]]

Every time a small business is started, someone is achieving the 
American Dream.
    That's why we're encouraging health savings accounts, so people can 
have the security of managing and owning their own health care account. 
That's why we'll continue to promote homeownership in America. I love it 
when more and more people open up the door where they live and say, 
``Welcome to my home. Welcome to my piece of property.''
    In a new term, we'll take the next step to build an ownership 
society by strengthening Social Security. Now, I want to take you back 
to the 2000 campaign, if I might, when they ran all those ads that said, 
``If George W. gets elected, you will not get your check.'' You remember 
those? I want you to remind your friends and neighbors that they got 
their Social Security checks. No one is going to take the Social 
Security check away from our seniors. And as far as the baby boomers 
like me go, we're in pretty good shape when it comes to Social Security.
    But we need to worry about our children and our grandchildren when 
it comes to the Social Security system. We need to worry about whether 
or not Social Security will be around when they need it. I believe we 
need to think differently about Social Security for our youngsters. For 
their sake, we must strengthen the system by allowing younger workers to 
save some of their own payroll accounts--payroll taxes in a personal 
savings account that they can call their own, that the Government cannot 
take away.
    The other night, my opponent said he's 
going to maintain the status quo when it comes to Social Security. That 
is unacceptable. The job of a President is to confront problems, not to 
pass them on to future Presidents and future generations.
    We have a different philosophy of Government. On just about every 
issue, my opponent is for more authority to 
the United States Government. I'm for more authority to the people. On 
issue after issue, from Medicare without choices to schools with less 
accountability to higher taxes, he takes the side of bigger Government.
    And there's a word for that attitude. It is called liberalism. Now, 
he just dismisses that word as a label. He 
must have seen it differently when he told a newspaper, ``I am liberal 
and proud of it.'' [Laughter] There have been people who have judged 
people's records in politics--the nonpartisan National Journal Magazine 
did a study and named him the most liberal Member of the United States 
Senate. That takes hard work. [Laughter] See, he can run, but he cannot 
hide.
    I have a different record and a different philosophy. I do not 
believe in big Government, and I do not believe Government should be 
indifferent. I'm a compassionate conservative. I believe in policies 
that empower people to improve their lives, not try to run their lives. 
So we're helping men and women find the skills and tools to prosper in a 
time of change. We're helping people realize their dreams so they can 
find dignity and independence in America, and that is how I will 
continue to lead our country for 4 more years.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. In a time of change--in this time of change, some 
things do not change, the values we try to live by, courage and 
compassion, reverence and integrity. In a time of change, we must 
support the institutions that give our lives direction and purpose, our 
families, our schools, our houses of worship. 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.

[[Page 2605]]

    My opponent's words on these issues are a 
little muddy, but his record is plenty clear. [Laughter] He says he 
supports the institution of marriage, but he voted against the Defense 
of Marriage Act. He says he's--he called himself the candidate with 
conservative values, but he voted against the ban on the brutal practice 
of partial-birth abortion.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. He described the Reagan 
years as a time 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. In this 
campaign, he can try to run from his record and his philosophy, but he 
cannot hide.
    This election will also determine how America responds to the 
continuing danger of terrorism. 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've 
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 reforming and strengthening our intelligence gathering 
capabilities. We're defending the homeland. We're transforming our 
military. The All-Volunteer Army will remain an all-volunteer army. 
We're 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. Afghanistan was the home base of Al Qaida. It's 
where terrorists were training to inflict great harm on America and the 
free world. 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.
    But because we acted, because the United States of America was 
steadfast and resolved, Afghanistan is now a free nation and an ally in 
the war on terror; Pakistan is capturing terrorist leaders; Saudi Arabia 
is making raids and arrests; the army of a free Iraq is fighting for 
freedom; and more than three-quarters of Al Qaida's key members and 
associates have been brought to justice.
    Now we're standing with the people of Afghanistan and Iraq. When 
America gives its word, America must keep its word. But I want the 
youngsters here to hear what is happening in the world in which you 
live. Think about Afghanistan 3\1/2\ years ago. There were young girls 
there who couldn't go to school, and their mothers were pulled in the 
public square and whipped if they didn't toe the line of these 
ideologues of hate who ran the country. They were called the Taliban. 
These were barbaric, brutal people.
    Because we acted in our own self-interest, because we upheld the 
doctrine that said, ``If you harbor a terrorist, you're equally as 
guilty as the terrorist,'' today, Afghanistan is free. Millions of 
people voted in a Presidential election. The first voter in the Afghan 
Presidential election was a 19-year-old woman. Freedom is on the march. People want to be free. 
That's what you've got to know. People desire to be free.
    In Iraq, there will be elections in January. Think how far that 
society has come from the days of torture chambers, the days of a brutal 
dictator who was willing to cut the hands off 
people arbitrarily. Think about the difference that is from the days of 
the mass graves. See, free societies help us keep the peace. Free 
societies will be hopeful societies which no longer feed resentments and 
breed violence for exports. Free countries will join us in fighting 
these ideologues of hate instead of supporting

[[Page 2606]]

them. And that helps us keep the peace we all long for.
    And so our mission is clear. We will help train police and armies in 
Afghanistan and Iraq so people in those countries can do the hard work 
of defending their own freedom. We will get those countries on the path 
to stability and democracy as quickly as possible, and then our troops 
will come home with the honor they have earned.
    It is such an honor to be the Commander in Chief of such a great 
military. And it is a great military because of the character of the 
people who wear our Nation's uniform. And I want to thank the veterans 
who are here today for having set such a great example.
    And I want to thank the military families who are here. And I want 
you to know that we will keep our commitment to those who wear the 
uniform and their families by making sure that our troops have all they 
need to complete their missions. That's why I went to the United States 
Congress in September of 2003 and asked for $87 billion in supplemental 
funding to support our troops in harm's way, in both Iraq and 
Afghanistan. I was very pleased with the overwhelming bipartisan support 
for that important funding request. As a matter of fact, the support was 
so strong that only 12 Members of the United States Senate voted against 
the funding to support our troops in combat, 2 of whom were my 
opponent and his runningmate.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. Now, let me remind you of a startling statistic, and 
I want you to remind your friends and neighbors of this startling 
statistic. There were only 4 Members of the United States Senate--4 out 
of 100--who voted to authorize the use of force and then voted against 
the funding to support our troops in combat. Two of those four were my 
opponent and his runningmate.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. So I asked him why. I asked 
him about that vote. And that's when he said, ``I actually did vote for 
the $87 billion, before I voted against it.'' Now, I don't know if a lot 
of folks around the coffee shops in this part of the world talk like 
that. [Laughter] I doubt they do. They continued to press him. He's 
given them a bunch of answers as to why he made that vote. One of the 
most interesting ones of all is he finally just said, ``It was a 
complicated matter.'' [Laughter] There's nothing complicated about 
supporting our troops in combat.
    This is America's first Presidential election since September the 
11th, 2001. The security of our country is at risk in ways different 
from any we have before faced. We are in the midst of a global war 
against a well-trained, highly motivated enemy, an enemy who hates 
America for the very freedoms and values we cherish most. The next 
Commander in Chief must lead us to victory in this war, and you cannot 
lead a war when you don't believe you're fighting one.
    Senator Kerry was recently asked how 
September the 11th had changed him. He replied, ``It didn't change me 
much at all.'' And this unchanged world view becomes obvious when he 
calls the war against terror primarily an intelligence and law 
enforcement operation, rather than what I believe, a war which requires 
the full use of American power to keep us secure.
    Senator Kerry's top foreign policy 
adviser has questioned whether this is 
even a war at all. Here's what he said, and I quote, ``We're not in a 
war on terror in the literal sense. It is like saying `the war on 
poverty.' It is just a metaphor.'' End quote. Confusing food programs 
with terrorist killings reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of the 
war we face, and that is very dangerous thinking.
    My opponent also misunderstands our battle 
against insurgents and terrorists in Iraq, calling Iraq a ``diversion'' 
from the war on terror. The case of one terrorist shows how wrong his 
thinking is. The terrorist leader we face in Iraq today, the one

[[Page 2607]]

responsible for planting car bombs and beheading Americans, is a man 
named Zarqawi. Zarqawi ran a terrorist 
training camp in Afghanistan until our military coalition destroyed that 
camp. He then fled to Iraq, where he got medical treatment and continued 
his plotting and planning. To confirm where he's coming from, just the 
other day, Zarqawi publicly announced his sworn allegiance to Usama bin 
Laden.
    If Zarqawi and his associates were 
not busy fighting American forces in Iraq, does Senator Kerry think he would be leading a productive and peaceful 
life? Of course not. And that's why Iraq is no ``diversion'' but a 
central commitment in the war on terror, a place where our military is 
confronting and defeating terrorists overseas so we do not have to face 
them here at home.
    You cannot lead our Nation to decisive victory, on which the 
security of every American family depends, if you do not see the true 
dangers of a post-September the 11th world. The war against terror 
requires all our resources, all our strength. We will stay on the 
offense. We will improve our homeland protections. And of course, we'll 
continue to work with our allies and our coalition to keep us safe.
    Senator Kerry's view of alliance-building 
is to call them ``the coerced and the bribed,'' is to insult the friends 
who stands with us and try to placate countries who disagree with us. 
No, we'll work hard with all our friends and allies, but I will never 
give a country a veto power over our national security.
    I believe in the transformational power of liberty. That's what I 
believe. You know, I have had many conversations with Prime Minister 
Koizumi of Japan. That may not seem like 
much to some here. But it wasn't all that long ago, when you think about 
it, that we were at war with Japan. Japan was the sworn enemy of the 
United States of America. My dad fought 
against the Japanese. I'm confident many out here's relatives fought 
against the Japanese as well. And after we won that war, Harry S. 
Truman, President of the United States, believed in the power of liberty 
to transform an enemy into an ally.
    There was a lot of skepticism about that during that period in our 
history. You can understand why. ``Japan couldn't conceivably become a 
democracy,'' people would say. ``Why do we want to help a country that 
inflicted such harm on the United States of America,'' others would say. 
There was pessimism and doubt.
    But fortunately, predecessors of ours believed in the power of 
liberty to transform, and as a result of that belief and because we 
helped Japan become a democracy, I now sit at the table with Prime 
Minister Koizumi, talking about how to 
keep the peace we all want.
    Someday, an American President will be sitting down the a duly 
elected leader of Iraq, talking about keeping the 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 freedom. I believe women in the Middle East want to live in a free 
society. I believe mothers and dads in the Middle East want to raise 
their children in a free and peaceful environment. 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.
    We have climbed the mountain, and we see the valley below. And the 
valley below is one of peace and hope and optimism. You know, 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. [Laughter] 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. I will never forget the day. I will never forget the voices

[[Page 2608]]

of those in their hardhats yelling at me at the top of their lungs, 
``Whatever it takes.'' I will never forget the look in the man's eye who 
grabbed me by the arm, and he said, ``Do not let me down.'' 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 in the caucuses and 
then in the general election, 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 had been elected. With your help, with your hard work coming 
down the stretch, I will do so for 4 more years.
    God bless. Thank you all for coming. I appreciate you being here. 
Thank you all.

Note: The President spoke at 10 a.m. at the North Iowa Fairgrounds. In 
his remarks, he referred to Chuck Gipp, majority leader, Iowa State 
House of Representatives; Mayor Jean Marinos of Mason City, IA; former 
President Saddam Hussein of Iraq; 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.