[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book III)]
[October 22, 2004]
[Pages 2646-2653]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
October 22, 2004

    The President. Thank you all for coming. It seems like yesterday I 
was here in Wilkes-Barre. Come to think of it, I was. [Laughter] I 
figure if I keep coming back, I'll meet everybody in town.
    I'm coming back because I want you to know how important your vote 
is. That's why I'm here. We're close to voting time. I've come back to 
tell you how important your help is in this election. Find your friends 
and neighbors. Convince them to go to the polls on November the 2d. Do 
not overlook discerning Democrats, people like Senator Zell 
Miller. And remind your friends and neighbors, 
if they want safer America, a stronger, and a better America, to put me 
and Dick Cheney back in office.
    I regret that Laura is not traveling with us 
today.
    Audience members. Aw-w-w!
    The President. Yes, that is generally the reaction--[laughter]--kind 
of like, ``Why didn't you stay home and let her 
come?'' [Laughter] You know, we were in the same grade at San Jacinto 
Junior High in Midland, Texas. That would be the seventh grade. And then 
I became reacquainted with her when she was a public school librarian. 
[Laughter] And when I asked her to marry me, she said, ``Fine, but make 
me a promise.'' I said, ``What is it?'' ``Promise me I'll never have to 
give a speech.'' [Laughter] I said, ``Okay, you got a deal.'' 
Fortunately, she didn't hold me to that

[[Page 2647]]

promise. She's giving a lot of speeches. And when she does, the American 
people see a warm, compassionate, great First Lady.
    I love traveling with my daughters on the campaign trail. There's 
nothing better than being with somebody who, well, tells you to keep 
your tie straight. [Laughter] ``Don't spill your food before you get out 
there and talk to the people.'' [Laughter] You know, I used to tell 
Barbara and Jenna 
that one of these days we'll go on a camping trip together, the great 
family camping experience. I'm sure they envisioned the Colorado River 
or somewhere. Well, darling, this is it. This is the great--[laughter]. 
We're traveling this country asking for the vote, and I'm glad Barbara 
is by my side.
    I spoke with our great Vice President this 
morning. His spirits are high. He's working hard. I admit that Vice 
President Cheney does not have the waviest hair in the race. [Laughter] 
I didn't pick him because of his hairdo. [Laughter] I picked him because 
of his experience, his sound judgment, and his ability to get the job 
done for the American people.
    I'm pleased to be sharing the platform with Congressman Don 
Sherwood. He's doing a great job. And 
Congressman Jim Greenwood is traveling 
today. He comes up from the suburbs of Philadelphia. I'm proud to have 
his support, and I'm proud to call him friend. Thanks for coming, 
Congressman.
    Specter is out there working on behalf of 
his own campaign, and Santorum is out there 
working for mine. They're two fine United States Senators. I hope you 
put Arlen Specter back in office.
    I want to thank all the State and local officials. I want to thank 
Jean Craige Pepper for being here, the 
candidate for treasurer of the State. I appreciate people who are 
running for office. I want to thank my friend Sammy Kershaw, country singer.
    Most of all, I want to thank the grassroots activists who are here, 
the people putting up all the signs, making the phone calls, writing the 
letters. I'm here to thank you for what you're going to do as we're 
coming down the stretch. There is no doubt in my mind, with your hard 
work and with your help, we will carry Pennsylvania and win a great 
victory in November.
    With just 11 days left in this campaign--who's counting? [Laughter] 
Voters are focusing on the issues that matter most for their families 
and for our country. You've heard the debates. You know where I stand. 
Sometimes you even know where my opponent 
stands. [Laughter] You've had a chance to see both of us in action, to 
measure our consistency, our resolve, our values, and our ability to 
lead. This election comes down to five clear choices for the American 
families, five choices on issues of great consequence: your family's 
security, your budget, your quality of life, your retirement, and the 
bedrock values that are so critical to our families and our future.
    The first clear choice is very 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 threat to our country. The enemies who killed 
thousands of innocent people are still dangerous and determined to 
strike us again. The outcome of this election will set the direction of 
the war against terror, and in this war, there is no place for confusion 
and no substitute for victory.
    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're defending the homeland. We're strengthening our intelligence 
capabilities. We are transforming our All-Volunteer

[[Page 2648]]

Army to make sure it remains an all-volunteer army. We are staying on 
the offensive.
    And we are succeeding. More than three-quarters of Al Qaida's key 
members and associates have been brought to justice, and the rest of 
them know we're after them. We are in a real war, and the only strategy 
must lead to victory.
    My opponent has a different approach. He 
says that September the 11th, quote, ``didn't change me much at all.''
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. And that's pretty clear. He 
considers the war on terror primarily a law enforcement and intelligence 
gathering operation. His top foreign policy adviser has questioned whether it's even a war at all, saying 
that's just a metaphor, like the ``war on poverty.'' I've got news. 
Anyone who thinks we are fighting a metaphor does not understand the 
enemy we face and has no idea how to win the war and keep America 
secure. My opponent also misunderstands our battle against insurgents 
and terrorists. He's called it a ``diversion'' from the war on terror. 
My opponent used to recognize Saddam Hussein 
as a threat. That's until he started to slide in the polls.
    Saddam Hussein was a threat to the United 
States. He hated America. He had a long history of pursuing and even 
using weapons of mass destruction. He had ties to terrorists. He was 
firing missiles at American pilots enforcing the sanctions of the world. 
He paid families of suicide bombers. He was a threat.
    We didn't find the stockpiles that we thought were in Iraq, that I 
thought was there, that my opponent thought was there, that the United 
Nations thought was there, that the world thought was there. But I want 
you to remember--tell your friends and neighbors what the 
Duelfer report did find. It said that 
Saddam Hussein had the intent and capability 
and the expertise to rebuild a weapons program, that he was gaming the 
system, he was using the Oil for Food Programme to try to influence 
officials of other nations to get rid of the sanctions. And why? Because 
he wanted the world to look the other way so he could restart his 
programs. That was a risk we could not afford to take. Knowing what I 
know today, I would have taken the same action. America and the world 
are safer with Saddam Hussein sitting in a prison cell.
    Remember, my opponent called our action a 
``mistake.'' That's after he started slipping in the polls. [Laughter]
    Iraq is still dangerous because terrorists there are trying to stop 
the advance of freedom and elections. A man named Zarqawi is responsible for planting car bombs and beheading 
Americans in Iraq. He ran a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan until 
our coalition forces destroyed that camp. He then fled to Iraq where 
he's fighting us today. To confirm where he's coming from, he recently 
announced his allegiance to Al Qaida. If Zarqawi and his associates were 
not busy fighting American forces in Iraq, does my opponent think they would be peaceful citizens of the world? 
[Laughter] Does he think they'd be opening a small business somewhere? 
[Laughter] Fighting the likes of Zarqawi in Iraq is not a ``diversion'' 
from the war on terror; it is the way we will win the war on terror.
    When it comes to your security, the choice in this election could 
not be clearer. 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 the post-September the 11th era. My opponent has a September 10th point of view. At his convention, he 
declared his strategy was to respond to attacks after America had been 
hit.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. As we learned on September the 11th, it's too late to 
respond. In our debates, he said we can defend 
America only if we pass a ``global test.''
    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 friends 
and allies,

[[Page 2649]]

but I will never turn over America's national security decisions to 
leaders of other countries.
    For the sake of our freedom and for your security, we'll fight this 
war with every asset of our national power. We will protect America by 
striking the terrorists abroad so we do not have to face them here at 
home. And we will prevail.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. We've got another powerful asset at our disposal, and 
that's liberty. And that's freedom.
    I want the youngsters here listening to think about what has 
happened in a brief period of time, some 3\1/2\ years in Afghanistan. It 
wasn't all that long ago in that country that young girls were not 
allowed to go to school, and their mothers were taken into the public 
square and whipped or sometimes taken to a sports stadium and executed 
because they refused to toe the line of the ideologues of hate, the 
Taliban, which ran Afghanistan. In working to secure ourselves, in 
ridding that country of terrorist camps, of upholding a doctrine that 
said, ``If you harbor a terrorist, you're just as guilty as the 
terrorist,'' we liberated over 25 million people in Afghanistan. And 
just a couple of weekends ago, millions of Afghan citizens voted in a 
Presidential election, and the first voter was a 19-year-old 
woman.
    Freedom is on the march. That society has gone from darkness to 
light because of liberty, and America is more secure because of it. Free 
societies are peaceful societies. Free societies will not harbor 
terrorists. Free societies will be hopeful places where people can 
realize their dreams.
    Iraq will have elections in January. Iraq is changing. Think how far 
that country has come from the days of mass graves and torture chambers 
and the brutal reign of one man. I believe liberty has the capacity to 
transform societies and make the world a more peaceful place.
    One of our friends in the world is Prime Minister Koizumi. I said ``our''--I'm talking about Laura and me. He is--he's a good man. He's a person with whom 
I work. It wasn't all that long ago that we were at war with the 
Japanese. See, 60 years ago, we were fighting the Japanese. My dad was in that war. I'm confident many other people 
were in that war, or families represented here were--had fathers and 
grandfathers in the war against the Japanese.
    After World War II, Harry Truman--after we won that war, Harry 
Truman believed in the power of liberty to transform an enemy into an 
ally. There were a lot of skeptics then. There were a lot of doubters, 
the Japanese--the enemy--could never become a democracy. ``Why do we 
even want to help them,'' some would say. After all, they destroyed a 
lot of the U.S. lives. But there was faith and belief in the power of 
liberty to transform societies. And today, because of that belief, I sit 
down with the Prime Minister of Japan 
talking about keeping the peace that we all want, talking about dealing 
with the world's problems.
    Someday, a duly elected leader from Iraq will be sitting down with 
the President of the United States of America, talking about the peace 
in the Middle East, and our children and our grandchildren will be 
better off for it.
    Freedom is on the march in this world. I believe everybody in the 
Middle East desires to live in freedom. I believe women in the Middle 
East want to live in a free society. I believe mothers and fathers 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.
    The second clear choice in this election concerns your family 
budget. When I ran for President 4 years ago, I pledged to lower taxes 
for American families, and I kept my word. To help our families, we 
doubled the child credit to $1,000 per

[[Page 2650]]

child. We reduced the marriage penalty. Our Tax Code should encourage 
marriage, not discourage marriage. We dropped the lowest tax bracket to 
10 percent so working families, working Americans can keep more of their 
paychecks. We reduced income taxes for everyone that pays taxes. That's 
the fair way of doing things.
    As a result of our policies, real after-tax income, money in your 
pocket that you can spend, is up about 10 percent since I took office. 
Because of tax relief, because we increased consumer spending and 
investment, our economy is overcoming the tough times we've been 
through.
    Remind your friends and neighbors that when I got in office, the 
stock market had been in serious decline for 6 months prior to our 
arrival. Then we were in a recession. And the attacks of September the 
11th, 2001, cost us nearly a million jobs in the 3 months after the 
attacks.
    But because we acted, this economy of ours is strong and it's 
getting stronger. Our economy is growing at rates as fast as any in 
nearly 20 years. We've added 1.9 million new jobs in the last 3 months. 
The State of Pennsylvania has added 4,600 jobs in the month of September 
2004. The unemployment rate across America is at 5.4 percent, lower than 
the average rates of the 1970s, the 1980s, and the 1990s. And the new 
unemployment rate figure in the State of Pennsylvania released today is 
5.3 percent.
    My opponent has a very different plan for 
your budget. He intends to take a bigger chunk out of it.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. He voted against the--he 
voted against a higher child tax credit. He voted against marriage 
penalty relief. He voted against lowering the tax rates. If his vote had 
prevailed, an average middle-class family would be paying $2,000 more a 
year to the IRS.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. That's a fact. It's also part of a pattern. See, the 
Senator voted 10 times to raise taxes on 
gasoline. All told, during his 20 years in the United States Senate, my 
opponent has voted to raise taxes 98 times. That's about five times a 
year. When he does something that often, he must really enjoy it. 
[Laughter] During his campaign, my opponent has made a lot of big, 
expensive promises. He promised about $2.2 trillion of new spending. 
That's with a ``T.'' [Laughter] That's a lot even for a Senator from 
Massachusetts. So they said, ``How are you going to pay for it?'' He 
said, ``Oh, we'll just tax the rich.'' We've heard that before, haven't 
we? He's going to raise the top two brackets. There's three things--a 
lot of things wrong with it, but let me give you three right off the 
bat.
    One is, by raising individual rates, you're taxing many, many small 
businesses. Seventy percent of the new jobs in America are created by 
small businesses. Most small businesses pay tax at the individual 
income-tax level. And by running up the top two brackets, you're taxing 
the job creators. And that's bad economic policy.
    Secondly, there's a gap between what he's 
promised and what he can deliver. By raising the top two brackets, you 
raise about 600 billion to 800 billion dollars, and he's promised 2.2 
trillion. So there's a gap, a gap between the promises and what he can 
deliver. Guess who gets to usually fill those gaps?
    Secondly--or thirdly, the rich hire lawyers and accountants for a 
reason when it comes to taxes. That's to slip the bill and stick you 
with it. But we're going to protect the family budgets; we're going to 
carry Pennsylvania and win a great victory on November the 2d.
    When it comes to your budget, you have a clear choice. My 
opponent has earned--and I mean earned--his 
rank as the most liberal Member of the United States Senate. He'll raise 
your taxes to fund bigger Government. I'm going to keep your taxes low. 
This is the road to prosperity. It's a road to economic vitality. Now, 
when it comes to taxes, he may try to run in a

[[Page 2651]]

camouflaged outfit--[laughter]--but he cannot hide.
    The third choice in this election involves the quality of life for 
our families. I believe a good education and quality health care are 
important for successful lives. When I ran for President 4 years ago, I 
promised to end the soft bigotry of low expectations by reforming our 
public schools, and I kept my word. We passed good education reform. 
We're raising the standards. We're making sure our schools are 
accountable, accountable to our parents. We're seeing progress. Math and 
reading scores are on the rise. We're closing the achievement gap all 
across this country. We will build on these reforms. We will extend them 
to our high schools so that not one single child in America is left 
behind.
    We will continue to improve life for our families by making health 
care more affordable and more accessible. We'll expand health savings 
accounts and create association health plans so small businesses can 
cover their workers, so more families are able to get health insurance 
plans they manage and they call their own. We'll help families in need 
by expanding community health centers. We'll make sure every eligible 
child is enrolled in our Government's low-income health insurance 
program.
    To make sure health care is available and affordable for the 
American citizens, we're going to do something about the junk lawsuits 
that run up the cost of medicine and run good doctors out of practice.
    Doctor Linda Barrasse is with us today, a 
cardiologist. She's got a group practice in Scranton. She's just like 
the docs I met yesterday in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Doctors are 
concerned about the quality of health care in Pennsylvania because of 
all these junk lawsuits. They're running good docs out of practice. 
There are too many ob-gyns being run out of practice and too many 
Pennsylvania women having to drive for miles to get the care they need 
and deserve. Linda talks about the--needing to close offices. They're 
having trouble recruiting new doctors. Medical liability is an issue in 
the Pennsylvania. It is an issue across this country. It is a national 
problem that requires a national solution. I am for medical liability 
reform.
    Senator Kerry has a different point of 
view on our schools and our health care system. Now, he voted for the No 
Child Left Behind Act, but now wants to weaken the accountability 
standards. He's proposed including measures like teacher attendance in 
the accountability measures to judge whether students can read and write 
and add and subtract. He voted against health savings accounts. He 
opposed association health care plans that would help our small 
businesses. He has voted 10 times against medical liability reform on 
the floor of the United States Senate.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. The other day, he said, 
well, he's for some kind of plan.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. He put a trial 
lawyer on the ticket.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. He can run, but he cannot 
hide.
    He's proposed a big Government health care plan that would cause 8 
million families to lose the private coverage they get at work and have 
to go on a Government plan. Eighty percent of the people who get 
coverage under his proposal would be enrolled on a Government program. 
You might remember one of our debates. He tried to tell the Americans 
when it comes to his health care plan, and I quote, ``The Government has 
nothing to do with it.'' I could barely contain myself when I heard 
that. My opponent's plan would move America 
down the road to Federal control of health care, and that is the wrong 
road to take for American families.
    In all we do to reform health care, we will make sure the decisions 
are made by doctors and patients, not by officials in Washington, DC.

[[Page 2652]]

    Fourth clear choice in this election involves your retirement. Our 
Nation made a solid commitment to America's seniors on Social Security 
and on Medicare. When I ran for President 4 years ago, I promised to 
keep that commitment and improve Medicare by adding prescription drugs. 
I kept my word. Leaders in both political parties have talked about 
strengthening Medicare for years. We got the job done. Seniors are now 
getting discounts on medicine with drug discount cards. Low-income 
seniors are getting $600 to help them with their prescription drugs this 
year, another $600 next year. And beginning in 2006, all seniors will be 
able to get prescription drug coverage under Medicare.
    My opponent voted against the Medicare 
bill that included prescription drugs, even though it was supported by 
AARP and other seniors groups. During this campaign, he said, quote, 
``If I'm President, we're going to repeal that phony bill,'' end quote. 
Then, of course, later on, he said, ``No, I don't want to repeal it.'' 
Sounds familiar. [Laughter] As your President for the next 4 years, I 
will defend the reforms we have worked so hard to pass, and we will keep 
the promise of Medicare for America's seniors.
    We will keep the promise of Social Security for our seniors and 
strengthen Social Security for generations to come. Every election, 
politicians try to scare seniors about Social Security. It's 
predictable. In the 2000 campaign, they ran ads saying that, ``If George 
W. gets elected, our seniors will not get their checks.'' You might 
remember those ads. As you round up the vote, would you please remind 
our seniors, George W. got elected, and our seniors got their checks. 
And when I get elected this time, the seniors will still get their 
checks.
    But I know today's moms and dads and grandparents are concerned 
about their children and grandchildren when it comes to Social Security. 
Someday, our youngest workers, of course, will retire, and we need to 
make sure Social Security will be there when they need it as well. I 
believe younger workers ought to take some of their own money and put it 
in a personal savings account, a personal savings account that will earn 
a greater rate of return than a Social Security trust, a personal 
savings account they can call their own, an account the Government 
cannot take away.
    My opponent takes a different approach. He 
talks about protecting Social Security, but I want everybody to 
remember, he is the only candidate who has voted eight times for higher 
taxes on Social Security benefits.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. When it comes to the next generation, he has offered nothing to strengthen Social Security. 
American families have a clear choice in this election. My opponent 
wants to scare the seniors of today and do nothing to secure the system 
for seniors of tomorrow. I'll keep the promise of Social Security and 
Medicare and strengthen these great systems for our children and our 
grandchildren.
    The fifth clear choice in this election is on the values that are so 
crucial to keeping America's families strong. Here, my opponent and I are miles apart.
    I believe marriage is a sacred commitment, one of the most 
fundamental, most enduring, and most important institutions of our 
civilization. My opponent says he supports 
marriage, but his record shows he will not defend it. This isn't a 
partisan issue. The vast majority of Democrats, for example, supported 
the Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage as the union of a 
man and a woman--a bill which President Clinton signed into law. But Senator Kerry was a part of the far 
left bank, far left minority, that voted against that piece of 
legislation. I will always stand firm to protect the sanctity of 
marriage.
    I believe it is important to work with people to find common ground 
on difficult issues. Republicans and Democrats, many citizens on both 
sides of the life issue, agreed we should ban the brutal practice

[[Page 2653]]

of partial-birth abortion. But Senator Kerry 
was part of a far left minority that voted against the ban.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. He also voted against 
parental notification laws and voted against the Unborn Victims of 
Violence Act. I will continue to----
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. I will continue to reach out to Americans of every 
belief and move this goodhearted Nation toward a culture of life.
    My opponent has said that you can find the 
heart and soul of America in Hollywood. [Laughter] Most of us don't look 
to Hollywood as the source of values. The heart and soul of America is 
found right here in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
    All these choices make this one of the most important elections in 
our history. The security and prosperity of our country, the health and 
education of our citizens, the retirement of our seniors, and the 
direction of our culture are all at stake. The decision is in the best 
hands because the decision belongs to the American people.
    I believe in the future of this country. We see a great day for the 
American people. One of my favorite quotes was written by a Texan, a 
friend of ours. He said, ``Sarah and I live on the east side of the 
mountain. It's the sunrise side, not the sunset side. It is the side 
that sees the day that is coming, not to see the day that is gone.'' My 
opponent has spent a lot of this campaign 
talking about the day that is gone. I see the day that's coming.
    We've been through a lot together. We've been through a lot together 
in the last years. Because we've done the hard work of climbing that 
mountain, we see the valley below. We'll protect our families. We'll 
build on their prosperity. We'll defend our deepest values. We will 
spread freedom and peace, and as we do, America will be safer here at 
home.
    Four years ago, when I traveled your great State asking for the 
vote, I made a pledge that if you honored me with this office, I would 
uphold the honor and the dignity. With your help, I will do so for 4 
more years.
    Thanks for coming. On to victory! Thank you all. Thank you all.

Note: The President spoke at 10:30 a.m. at the Wachovia Arena at Casey 
Plaza. In his remarks, he referred to Charles Duelfer, Special Advisor 
to the Director of Central Intelligence; former President Saddam Hussein 
of Iraq; senior Al Qaida associate Abu Musab Al Zarqawi; and Prime 
Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan. He also referred to the 
``Comprehensive Report of the Special Advisor to the DCI on Iraq's 
WMD,'' issued September 30.