[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book III)]
[October 26, 2004]
[Pages 2719-2729]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks in Onalaska, Wisconsin
October 26, 2004

    The President. Thank you all. What a great way to spend a Tuesday, 
and that's to be on a bus traveling throughout the great State of 
Wisconsin. Thank you all for coming out to say hello. It's such an honor 
to be here. Laura and I are--our spirits are 
lifted up because so many have come out to say hello. We're honored you 
are here. I'm here to ask for your vote. I'm here to ask for your help. 
There's no doubt in my mind, if we turn out our vote in Wisconsin, we'll 
win a great victory on November the 2d.
    I don't know if you know the history of me and Laura. We were in the seventh grade together in San Jacinto 
Junior High in Midland, Texas, and then we became reacquainted years 
later when she was a public school librarian. And I asked her to marry 
me--I'm sure some of you can relate to this. She said, ``Fine, but make 
me a promise.'' I said, ``What is it?'' ``Well, promise me I'll never 
have to give a political speech.'' [Laughter] I said, ``Okay, you've got 
a deal.'' [Laughter] 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 warm, compassionate, great First Lady. I have been traveling your 
State a lot, talking about the

[[Page 2720]]

reasons why I think people ought to put me back into office. But perhaps 
the most important one is so that Laura will be First Lady for 4 more 
years.
    I am proud of my runningmate, Dick Cheney. 
In all due respect to those who are here who are follically challenged--
[laughter]--I readily concede my runningmate does not have the waviest 
hair in the race. You'll be pleased to know I did not pick him because 
of his hairdo. [Laughter] I picked him because of his experience and his 
judgment and his ability to get the job done.
    And I'm proud of your friend Tommy Thompson. He has done a great job. I gave him one of the toughest 
jobs in Washington, DC, and he has responded. He has done a fabulous job 
to help those who hurt. Just take the issue of Medicare. Tommy and I 
went to Washington to solve problems, not to pass them on to future 
Presidents and future generations. That's our job, to tackle the tough 
problems. Medicare was a problem. See, Medicare hadn't changed, but 
medicine had. For example, they pay nearly $100,000 for heart surgery, 
but not one dime for the prescription drugs that could prevent the heart 
surgery from being needed in the first place. Tommy recognized that 
wasn't fair. I recognized it wasn't fair. We brought Republicans and 
Democrats together. We did what other Presidents and other Secretaries 
couldn't do: We modernized Medicare, and starting in 2006, our seniors 
will get prescription drug coverage.
    Let me say one other thing to our seniors here in Wisconsin. You 
might remember the 2000 campaign, when they ran those ads that said, 
``If George W. gets elected, our seniors are not going to get their 
Social Security checks.'' Remember those? Yes. Well, I want you--as 
you're gathering up the vote, remind your friends and neighbors that 
George W. did get elected and our seniors did get their Social Security 
check. And our seniors will continue to get their Social Security 
checks. But we're also going to strengthen Social Security for our 
younger generation. Our youngsters ought to be allowed to take some of 
their payroll taxes and set up a personal savings account they call 
their own, an account the Government cannot take away.
    I want to thank Congressman Mark Green, who 
is with us today. Congressman, I appreciate you coming. He's a fine, 
good, young Member of the House of Representatives. I want to thank the 
mayor of Onalaska with us today. Mr. Mayor, 
I'm proud you're here. Thanks for coming. Fill the potholes. [Laughter]
    I'm proud to be standing with the next United States Senator from 
Wisconsin, Tim Michels. He married a lady named 
Barbara. [Laughter] I know some Barbaras. 
[Laughter] One of them is still telling me what 
to do. [Laughter] And I'm still listening, I want you to know.
    I'm very impressed by a candidate for Wisconsin's Third 
Congressional District, a man I hope you support, the next Congressman, 
Dale Schultz.
    I want to thank the grassroots activists who are here, the people 
who are putting up the signs, making the phone calls, the people who 
helped turn out such a huge crowd here. I'm honored to have your 
support. Now is the time to keep the work up. Now is the time to find 
every single voter and tell them we have a duty, a duty in this country 
to vote. 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.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. We're only one week away from the vote, and I'm 
focusing on the big issues that are facing our country's families. This 
election comes down to five clear choices for our families: your 
family's security; your family's budget; your quality of life; your 
retirement; and the bedrock values that are so critical to our country's 
future.

[[Page 2721]]

    First and foremost, I've talked about the quality retirement. When 
I'm talking about Medicare and making sure it exists and strong, that 
helps our families. When I'm talking about Social Security and making 
sure it's around today as well as around tomorrow, that helps our 
families.
    But the first, biggest concern of any President is your security. 
Our Nation is at war against a terrorist enemy unlike any we have faced 
before. The most solemn duty of the American President is to protect the 
American people. We will be relentless, determined, steadfast, and 
strong. We will not relent. We will stay on the offensive until the 
fight is won.
    Another big issue, of course, is our economy. It affects the quality 
of life. It affects your budget. It affects how much money you have in 
your wallet. We will expand and strengthen our economic recovery to make 
sure opportunity spreads throughout every corner of this country. This 
campaign offers a clear choice when it comes to the economy and our 
vision for how to create jobs. My policies support and strengthen the 
small businesses, which are creating most new jobs in America.
    I'm going to spend a little time talking about the vision of 
enhancing the entrepreneurial spirit. My opponent promises to raise your taxes.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. And unfortunately for our small-business owners, 
that's a promise most politicians tend to keep. [Laughter]
    Our economy has been through a lot. When you're out there rounding 
up the vote, I want you to remind people that 6 months prior to my 
arrival, the stock market was in serious decline. Our economy was 
declining in the last half of the year 2000. We fell into a recession. 
We had corporate scandals which affected our economy. By the way, we 
passed tough laws. We have made it abundantly clear, we will not 
tolerate dishonesty in the boardrooms of America.
    We were attacked. And those attacks cost us about a million jobs in 
the 3 months after September the 11th. But, see, I understand something. 
I understand the engine of growth that this economy has found with the 
entrepreneurs and workers of America. And that's why we passed the 
largest tax relief in a generation, tax relief which encouraged 
consumption and investment.
    And it's working. The economic stimulus plan we passed is working. 
This country created about 1.9 million jobs in the last 13 months. The 
national unemployment rate is down to 5.4 percent. And let me remind you 
of where that stands: That's lower than the average rate of the 1970s, 
the 1980s, and the 1990s. The unemployment rate in Wisconsin is down to 
5 percent. That is down almost a full point since the summer of 2003. 
We're headed in the right direction in America.
    Our farmers are doing well. Farm income is up, and that's good for 
our economy. The homeownership rate is at an alltime high in America. 
We're on the move. We're going forward, and we're not going to go back 
to the days of tax and spend.
    This is a time of fantastic opportunity. The job of Government is to 
create an environment in which the entrepreneurial spirit can flourish, 
in which people are willing to work hard to realize their dreams. 
Government doesn't create wealth. Government creates the environment 
that says, ``Take a risk. Start a business if you choose to. Own 
something.''
    Today Joan Shelley is with us. I want you 
to hear her story. Joan is right there. First of all, she is a mom. She 
and her husband have got eight children. 
Listen to her story. She didn't think she was spending enough time--she 
worked as a nurse--didn't spend enough time at home. First of all, she's 
got her priorities straight. If you are fortunate enough to be a mom or 
a dad, your most important responsibility is to love your child with all 
your heart and all your soul.

[[Page 2722]]

    So guess what happened? Six years ago, she 
decided to start an online business selling cabinet hardware from the 
basement of her home. How many times have you heard that story? You 
know, ``I sat around the kitchen table and came up with an idea and 
started a business.'' ``I started a business in my garage.'' She started 
hers in her basement. Today, KnobGallery employs 20 people, most of them 
moms who wanted more flexibility for their families. This administration 
believes in flex-time. The world has changed. Our labor laws ought to 
change with them. Moms and dads ought to be able to have the flex-time 
in the workplace so they can balance family and the need to work.
    KnobGallery is a thriving, $1.4 million business. Her family is 
working in the business: Kristina, it turns 
out, designs the company's web page. Joan is 
living the American Dream. She has started her own business. She owns 
her own company. And she--I said, ``Are you going to increase the 
jobs?'' She said, ``I'm intending to add more people to work.'' See, the 
more Joans that start up their own business, the more likely that 
somebody is going to find a job in America. The role of the Government 
is to create an environment for the Joan Shelleys to feel comfortable in 
starting and expanding their business.
    Ric Hartman is with us. There he is. Hi, 
Ric. He managed at one time the in-house design shop of a large 
packaging firm for 15 years. Last October, about a year ago, he learned 
the company was going to close his operation. So guess what he did? He 
got some of those people he worked with, put them in a van, went to a 
local flour mill and said, ``This is where we're going to start our new 
company.'' See, the entrepreneurial spirit must be strong if America is 
going to be a hopeful place. Five came with him. Today, he runs a 
profitable small business called Hartman Design. Here's what he said: 
``Deep down, I think every design person wants to run their own shop.'' 
Deep down, a lot of people in America want to run their own shop. Deep 
down, people have a desire to start their own business, and when they 
do, somebody is more likely to find a job.
    A hopeful America and one that's good for your budget is one in 
which small businesses are thriving, in which people from all walks of 
life feel comfortable about starting their own business. Do you realize 
minority businesses are up in America? That is hopeful and positive for 
the future of this country. Seven out of ten new jobs in America are 
created by small businesses. And there is a source of upward mobility in 
America that comes with ownership. When a woman owns her own business, 
she's upwardly mobile. When a Latino or an African American starts his 
or her own business, they become upwardly mobile. Ownership is a 
powerful part of the American Dream.
    And so the fundamental question in this campaign, who's got the best 
strategy to make sure the entrepreneurial spirit is strong? Who's got 
the idea, who understands, and who can best make sure that more small 
businesses grow in America? First, in order to make sure the 
entrepreneurial spirit is strong, America must be the best place in the 
world to do business. If you want businesses to start, this must be the 
best place in the world to do business. And secondly, to make sure this 
is a hopeful world, we've got to make sure the workforce is the best 
trained in the world. A lot of good jobs and a lot of good hopes start 
with good education.
    First, let me talk about how to make sure this is the best place in 
the world to do business. One, we've got to keep your taxes low. We 
passed good tax relief. We raised the child credit. That helps if you're 
a mom or a dad. We reduced the marriage penalty. I believe strongly the 
Tax Code ought to encourage marriage, not penalize marriage. We created 
a 10 percent bracket. That helps the working families. But we also said, 
``If you pay taxes, you ought to get relief.'' If you're going to have

[[Page 2723]]

tax relief, everybody who pays taxes ought to get relief. That's only 
fair.
    But guess what happens? What most Americans don't know, and 
evidently what my opponent doesn't know, is 
that most small businesses are either a Subchapter S corporation like 
the two small businesses I just mentioned or sole proprietorships, which 
means you pay tax at the individual income-tax rate. Ninety percent of 
businesses in America pay individual income taxes, which says when you 
cut the taxes on everybody who pays taxes, you're helping the small 
businesses. See, there is a connection between good tax relief and 
growth in the small-business sector.
    And so to encourage small-business investment, not only did we say, 
``You can have more money in your coffers so you can expand your 
business or pay more money or better afford health care,'' but we 
encouraged investment by increasing the small-business expensing 
deduction from $25,000 to $100,000. See, I understand if you create the 
demand for goods and services and provide incentives for investment, the 
economy grows. That's what you've got to understand. It's a difference 
of opinion. It's a difference of philosophy. My opponent believes the economy grows by growing the size of the 
Federal Government. I believe the economy grows by growing the size of 
the coffers of small businesses.
    Here's what Paul Schoeneck of New Berlin, 
Wisconsin, said. See, his business, like the other two, were Subchapter 
S corporations. He said about tax relief, ``We have doubled our 
workforce. We've increased pay. We have consistently paid out bonuses. 
We've significantly increased our gross and net income. We've increased 
our production lines by nine, remodeled our offices, and significantly 
improved our infrastructure.'' That's what he said. Those aren't my 
words. That is what a small-business owner from Wisconsin has said about 
the tax relief. He said, ``Without tax relief, this would not have been 
possible.''
    I want you, when you hear these people talking about tax relief, 
about how it only benefited certain people--this tax relief has helped 
our small businesses grow and prosper, and this economy is on the move 
because the entrepreneurial spirit is strong.
    And taxes are an issue in this campaign. I'm running against a 
fellow who's promised $2.2 trillion of new 
Federal spending. That's with a ``T.'' That is--that's a lot even for a 
Senator from Massachusetts. [Laughter] So they said, ``How are you going 
to pay for it?'' He said, ``Oh, we'll just tax the rich.'' That means 
raise the top two brackets. By raising the top two brackets, he's taxing 
the small-business sector of America. That's bad economic policy. Just 
as the economy is beginning to grow, just as the small businesses are 
feeling confident--I talked to the two small-business owners here. I 
said, ``Are you going to hire somebody?'' They said, ``We're thinking 
about hiring new people.'' But running up the taxes on them would make 
it less likely they'd hire somebody. It's bad economic policy to tax the 
small-business owners of America, which is precisely what my opponent's 
plan would do.
    See, when you say you're going to run up the top two brackets, you 
raise about $600 billion, maybe 800 billion, depending on whose 
accountant you use. [Laughter] But the point is, in either case you're 
far short of the $2.2 trillion that he has 
promised. There is a gap. There is a gap between what he's promised and 
what he can deliver. And guess who usually gets to fill the gap?
    Audience members. We do!
    The President. Yes, you do. But we're not going to let him tax you. We're going to win on November the 2d.
    The bottom line about our economic visions is this: To pay for all 
his new spending he's proposed, my opponent 
will have to raise taxes not just on small-business owners but on 
everyone who's ever worked for a small business, shopped at a small 
business, or walked by a small business.

[[Page 2724]]

[Laughter] We're not going to let him tax you; we're going to win.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. To make sure that this economy is strong and the 
small businesses can flourish, we've got to do something about the 
frivolous and junk lawsuits. These kind of lawsuits cost our economy 
about $230 billion a year. This amounts to about $3,000 a year for the 
average family. They're expensive, and they're really expensive on small 
businesses. If part of the vision is to make sure the small-business 
sector of our economy flourishes, we've got to do something about the 
liability. The average cost of tort liability for a small business is 
about $150,000. That's money that could be better used for employees, 
worker training, health care, expanding the business, creating new jobs.
    My opponent and I have a different 
approach. He's sided with the personal-injury trial lawyers time and 
time again. They're powerful in Washington, make no mistake about it. 
It's hard to get good legal reform out of the United States Senate 
because they're influential. As a matter of fact, he's raised more money 
from lawyers than any other Member of the United States Senate. That's 
about $22 million so far since 1989, and still counting. And there's a 
reason why. He's voted five times against protecting small businesses on 
punitive damages. He's made it clear where he stands. He's made it 
abundantly clear. He's put a personal-injury trial lawyer on the ticket.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. Now, I'm going to stand with our small-business 
owners and continue to be for legal reforms in Washington, DC.
    We need less regulations on our small businesses. We need reasonable 
regulations. I can't guarantee that anybody in Washington has ever read 
the forms small businesses have to fill out. I wish I could say they 
have; I doubt it. But one way to make sure we reduce the burden on our--
not only our small businesses but our--the working people here in 
America is to reform the Tax Code. It's a complicated mess. It is too 
complex. I'm going to bring people together. Listen, I recognize the--
first of all, the code is a million pages long. American workers and 
small-business owners and families spend 6 billion hours a year filling 
out the forms. We can do a better job. We can make this Tax Code pro-
growth, pro-family, and fair. And I will bring Republicans* and 
Democrats together to do so.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    *White House correction.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    A couple of other quick points on how to make sure the environment 
is good for business growth so that you've got more money, so that you 
can manage your budget better, so that people can find a job. We need--
Congress needs to pass my energy plan. It's a plan that makes sense. 
It's common sense. It encourages conservation. It encourages the use of 
renewables like ethanol and biodiesel. It uses technologies to help us 
burn coal more cleanly. It encourages exploration for natural gas in 
environmentally friendly ways. To make sure that this environment for 
growth is strong, we need to be less dependent on foreign sources of 
energy.
    Let me talk right quick about education, because I believe a good 
economy requires this workforce of ours to be educated. I think the two 
go hand in hand. I don't think you can have a hopeful environment for 
growth if our people aren't educated. It all starts with the younger 
kids. That's why I went to Washington, to challenge the soft bigotry of 
low expectations. You know, this business about just shuffling the 
children through, grade after grade, year after year, without learning 
the basics was not good enough for America, as far as I'm concerned. I 
believe every child can learn, and I believe every school must teach. 
And so we increased funding, particularly for Title I students. But we 
said, ``In return for extra funding, show us

[[Page 2725]]

whether or not a child can read and write and add and subtract.''
    See, I understand you can't solve a problem until you diagnose a 
problem. You can't fix a problem until you fully understand the nature 
of the problem. By measuring, we now know where the problems exist in 
America, and we're providing the extra money to solve them. And guess 
what's happening? Kids are learning to read and write and add and 
subtract. Because we're measuring, we now know the benchmarks. We're 
seeing progress. We're closing the achievement gap amongst minority 
students in America. And we're not going to go back to the old days of 
mediocrity and low standards.
    I think one of the country's greatest assets is the community 
college system. Community colleges are able to adjust their curriculum 
to meet the needs of the job providers. I've met small businesses who 
have told me about helping set up a curriculum in our community colleges 
so our workers can gain the skills necessary to fill the jobs of the 
21st century. You just heard about Joan's 
company, where in her basement, she started a company over the Internet. 
In other words, we need new skill sets as this economy of ours changes. 
And a great place for America's workers to gain new skill sets is in the 
community college system all across our country.
    Most of the uninsured in America work for small businesses. Small 
businesses are having trouble affording health care. That's why I 
believe small businesses ought to be allowed to pool risk to join 
together so they can buy insurance at the same discount that big 
companies are able to do.
    We'll expand health savings accounts to help our families and small 
businesses to be able to better afford health insurance and, at the same 
time, provide a health account that you can own and you can manage, you 
can take with you from job to job. And we'll make sure we do something 
about these frivolous lawsuits that are running up the cost of health 
care. This is a national issue. I have met too many ob-gyns who are 
being driven out of practice because the lawsuits are running up their 
cost of doing business, their premiums. And I've met too many patients 
of ob-gyns who are having to drive for miles, wondering whether or not 
they and their child will get the health care they need.
    Medical liability is a crisis in America, and it's a crisis because 
we can't get anything done in the United States Senate because the trial 
bar is too strong. My opponent has voted 
against medical liability reform not once, not twice but 10 times. In a 
new term, I'm going to bring people together and say, ``The people have 
spoke. We need medical liability reform now to make sure health care is 
affordable and available.''
    We have a big difference when it comes to health care in this 
campaign. And it is a big difference. I remember that debate when my 
opponent stood up there with a straight face 
and he said, ``The Government has nothing to do with it,''--``it'' being 
his health care plan. I could barely contain myself. [Laughter] The 
Government has got a lot to do with it--a lot to do with it. Eight out 
of ten people would end up on the Government health care. Think about 
this: When you run up the Medicaid, make Medicaid more eligible for 
people, it's going to provide an incentive for small businesses to not 
provide insurance for their employees because the Government will. That 
doesn't make any sense, to be moving people from private insurance to 
the Government. When the Government writes the check, the Government 
starts setting the rules, and you don't want the Federal Government 
making the rules when it comes to your health care.
    I've come here to Wisconsin to tell the people I understand how this 
economy works, and my policies are standing square with the workers, the 
families, and the small-business owners of America. I also want to tell 
you in changing times, some

[[Page 2726]]

things do not change, the values we try to live by, courage and 
compassion, reverence and integrity. In changing times, we will support 
and must support the institutions that give our lives direction and 
purpose, our families, our schools, and 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 appointment of Federal 
judges who know the difference between personal opinion and the strict 
interpretation of the law.
    My opponent takes a different approach. 
His words on these issues are a little murky, but his record is really 
clear. [Laughter] He says he supports the institution of marriage but 
voted against the Defense of Marriage Act, which overwhelmingly passed 
with Democrat and Republican votes. My predecessor signed that bill into law, which defined marriage as a 
union between a man and a woman, and my opponent voted against it. He 
says--you know, he says he's got a personal view on the issue of life, 
but he voted against the ban on the brutal practice of partial-birth 
abortion.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. He's called the Reagan 
years 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. My fellow 
Americans, he can run from his views, but he cannot hide.
    All the progress we hope for in America and all the prosperity and 
opportunity we want for every family and for our children ultimately 
depends on the security of our Nation. We're in the middle of a global 
war on terror. We face a determined enemy. In the war on terror, there's 
no place for confusion, no place for weakness, no substitute for 
victory. I believe if America shows uncertainty or weakness in this 
decade, the world will drift toward tragedy. This will not happen on my 
watch.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. Since that terrible morning of September the 11th, 
2001, we 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 services. We're transforming our military. There will be no 
draft. The All-Volunteer Army will remain an all-volunteer army. We're 
on the offensive. We will strike the terrorists abroad so we do not have 
to face them here at home.
    We're promoting democracy and liberty, the great alternatives to 
despair and terror. I want you to tell your children about what took 
place in Afghanistan. It wasn't all that long ago that young girls lived 
under the reign of the Taliban, a brutal, barbaric people. They would 
not let young girls go to school, and if their mothers didn't toe their 
ideological line, they were taken in the public square sometimes and 
whipped. These people were dark and dim. There was darkness in 
Afghanistan. Because we defended ourselves, because we believe in 
freedom, the Afghanistan people went by the millions to the polls to 
vote for their President. The first voter--the first voter--was a 19-
year-old woman.
    Iraq will have a Presidential election. Think how far that country 
has come from the days of torture chambers and mass graves. Freedom is 
on the march. Freedom is on the move, and our country is better for it.
    A President must lead with consistency and strength in these 
troubling times. In war, sometimes you change your tactics, but you 
never change your principles. And Americans have seen how I do my job. 
[Applause] Thank you. Even when you might not agree with me, you know 
where I stand, what I believe, and what I intend to do. On good days and 
on bad days, whether the polls are up or the polls are down, I am 
determined to win this war

[[Page 2727]]

on terror, and I will always support the men and women of the United 
States military.
    My opponent has taken a different 
approach. It's fair to say that consistency has not been his strong 
point. [Laughter] Senator Kerry says we're better off with Saddam 
Hussein out of power, except when he declared 
that removing Saddam made us less safe. He stated in our second debate 
that he always believed that Saddam was a threat except, a few questions 
later, when he said Saddam Hussein was not a threat. [Laughter] He says 
he was right when he voted to authorize the use of force against Saddam 
Hussein, but that I was wrong to use force against Saddam Hussein. 
[Laughter]
    And now he's throwing out a wild claim 
that he knows where bin Laden was in the 
fall of 2001, and that our military passed up a chance to get him at 
Tora Bora. It is unjustified criticism of the military commanders in the 
field. It is the worst kind of Monday morning quarterbacking. Our 
commander in Afghanistan at the time was General Tommy Franks, and he wrote this about Tora Bora, he said, ``The 
Senator's understanding of events does not square with reality.'' 
[Laughter] That's what the man who was there said. He says the American 
Special Forces were actively involved in the search for the terrorists 
in Tora Bora, and that intelligence reports at the time placed bin Laden 
in one of several countries. They didn't know whether he was here, 
there, or otherwise. In other words, they didn't have hard intelligence. 
Maybe my opponent has seen something we all haven't seen.
    As a matter of fact, Senator Kerry, before 
he got into political difficulty and revised his views, he said this 
about Tora Bora on national TV, in the fall of 2001, he said, ``I think 
we have been doing this pretty effectively, and we should continue to do 
it that way.'' At the time, the Senator said about Tora Bora, ``I think 
we have been smart. I think the administration leadership has done it 
well, and we are on the right track.'' All I can say about that is, I am 
George W. Bush, and I approve of that message.
    My opponent's record on national security 
has a far deeper problem than election-year flip-flopping. On the 
largest national security issues of our time, he has been consistently 
wrong. When Ronald Reagan was confronting the Soviet Union at the height 
of the cold war, Senator Kerry said that President Reagan's policy of 
peace through strength was making America less safe. History has shown 
that Senator Kerry was wrong and President Ronald Reagan was right.
    When former President Bush led a 
coalition against Saddam Hussein in 1991, 
Senator Kerry voted against the use of force 
to liberate Kuwait, even though the United Nations had passed a 
resolution and there was a strong coalition and agreement with U.S. 
policy. History has shown that Senator Kerry was wrong, former President 
Bush was right.
    In 1994, just one year after the first bombing of the World Trade 
Center, my opponent proposed massive cuts in 
America's intelligence budget, so massive that even his Massachusetts 
colleague, Ted Kennedy, opposed them. 
History has shown that Senator Kerry was wrong--we've got to be fair--
Senator Kennedy was right. [Laughter]
    The President must be consistent and strong in these difficult 
times. Just last year, when American troops were in combat in 
Afghanistan and Iraq, I proposed $87 billion of increased funding to 
support our troops in harm's way. It was important funding. Bipartisan 
support for that funding was very strong. As you round up the vote, I 
want you to remind your friends and neighbors of this startling 
statistic: Only 4 members of the United States Senate--4 out of 100--
voted to authorize the use of force and then voted against funding for 
our troops in harm's way, and 2 of those 4 were my opponent and his runningmate.

[[Page 2728]]

    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. You might remember, when they asked him about the vote, he said this, he said, ``I actually did 
vote for the $87 billion, right before I voted against it.'' History has 
shown that Senator Kerry was right, then wrong, then briefly right, then 
wrong again. [Laughter] They finally kept pressing him. He said the 
whole thing about the $87 billion was a complicated matter. My friends, 
there is nothing complicated about supporting our men and women in 
combat.
    And speaking about those men and women, we have got a fantastic 
military and I'm proud to be their Commander in Chief. And I want to 
thank the military families who are here today for your sacrifice. And I 
want to thank the veterans who are here today for having set such a 
great example.
    During the last 20 years, in key moments of challenge and decision 
for America, Senator Kerry has chosen a 
position of weakness and inaction. With that record, he stands in 
opposition not just to me but to the great tradition of the Democratic 
Party. The party of Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman and John Kennedy 
is rightly remembered for confidence and resolve in times of war and 
hours of crisis. Senator Kerry has turned his back on ``pay any price'' 
and ``bear any burden.'' He's replaced those commitments with ``wait and 
see'' and ``cut and run.'' Many Democrats in this country do not 
recognize their party anymore, and today I want to speak to every one of 
them: If you believe America should lead with strength and purpose and 
confidence and resolve, I'd be honored to have your support, and I'm 
asking for your vote.
    Our differences on keeping the security of the country and 
protecting our families are vast. My opponent 
says that September the 11th did not change him much at all.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. And his policies make that clear. He says the war on terror is primarily a law enforcement and 
intelligence gathering operation. Well, my outlook was changed on 
September the 11th. I'll never forget going to the Ground Zero on 
September the 14th, 2001. There were workers in hardhats there yelling 
at the top of their lungs, ``Whatever it takes.'' I'll never forget the 
sights and sounds. I'll never forget the person looking me straight in 
the eye and saying, ``Do not let me down.'' Ever since that day, I wake 
up every morning trying to figure out how best to protect our country. I 
will never relent in defending America, whatever it takes.
    When I traveled your State 4 years ago, I made a pledge that if I 
was elected, I would uphold the honor and the dignity of the office to 
which I had been elected. With your help, with your hard work, I will do 
so for 4 more years.
    Thanks for coming. God bless. Thank you all.

Note: The President spoke at 8:30 a.m. at the Onalaska Omni Center. In 
his remarks, he referred to Mayor James Bialecki of Onalaska, WI; 
Kristina Shelley, daughter of KnobGallery owner Joan Shelley; 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.

[[Page 2729]]