[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book III)]
[October 26, 2004]
[Pages 2729-2741]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks in a Discussion in Richland Center, Wisconsin
October 26, 2004

    The President. Thank you all for being here. Laura and I are--we're glad you came, and we are glad we 
came. I'm here to give you some reasons why I think you ought to put me 
back into office. I'm here to talk about issues that matter to our 
future. We're going to have--we're going to do it a little interesting 
way today. I've asked some of your fellow citizens to come up and talk 
about how our policies have affected their lives. And this will perhaps 
give people a clear view of why I have made some of the decisions I have 
made.
    Perhaps the most important reason why people ought to put me back 
into office is so that Laura will be the First 
Lady for 4 more years. I'm going to take my jacket off. Okay. Some of 
you all may relate to this. When I asked her to marry me--actually, we 
had gone--I don't know if you know this or not, but we were in seventh 
grade together in San Jacinto Junior High in Midland, Texas. We became 
reacquainted--are you from Midland?
    Audience member. Lubbock.
    The President. Lubbock, Texas, 150 miles south of Midland. Anyway, 
thank you, welcome.
    When we became reacquainted, she was a public 
school librarian. It's fitting we're in a school here, by the way. We 
want to thank the teachers who work in this school to help every child 
realize their dreams. Thank you.
    She said, ``Fine, I will marry you''--this is after I asked 
her, of course--``only if you make me one 
promise.'' I said, ``What is the promise?'' ``Promise me I'll never have 
to give a political speech.'' [Laughter] I, of course, said, ``Okay, 
you've got a deal.'' She didn't hold me to the promise, thankfully. 
She's giving a lot of speeches, and when she does, the American people 
see a warm and compassionate and great First Lady.
    I want to thank our friend Tommy Thompson. I want to thank him for his service to our country, and I 
want to thank him for his friendship. Tommy has done a great job in 
Washington. You trained him well. [Laughter] He was a wonderful Governor 
of Wisconsin; I knew that when I was looking for a Cabinet Secretary. I 
gave him a tough assignment, and he's handled it brilliantly. And I want 
to thank you, Tommy, for your service. Appreciate you.
    You know, Tommy and I went to 
Washington to get some things done, and one of the things we had to do 
was to make sure our seniors had quality health care. Medicine was 
changing; Medicare was not. For example, the Government would pay 
thousands of dollars for a heart surgery under Medicare but not one dime 
for the prescription drugs that could prevent the heart surgery from 
being needed in the first place. And Tommy and I understood that didn't 
make any sense for our seniors and it didn't make any sense for the 
taxpayers, so we worked together with both Republicans and Democrats to 
strengthen Medicare, to keep the promise to our seniors. And beginning 
in the year 2006, all seniors will be able to get prescription drug 
coverage under Medicare. I think it's important for you to know that 
when I say something, I mean it, and I'm going to get the job done.
    I want to thank thank Congressman Mark Green. 
I appreciate you coming, Congressman, a fine young Congressman from 
Wisconsin. He's not from this part of the world, but you'll get to know 
him, and when you do, you'll like him. He's a good, honest man.
    I want to thank Jack Voight for being 
here, the State treasurer of the great State of Wisconsin. Jack, thank 
you, sir. Good to see you again. And I want to thank the mayor. Madam 
Mayor, thanks for coming.

[[Page 2730]]

I'm proud you're here. I appreciate you being here. It means a lot.
    I want to thank U.S. Senate candidate Tim Michels and his wife, Barbara. You 
need to put him in the Senate. He's a good man. He's got good values. 
He'll make you a fine United States Senator. And I'm going to tell you 
who's going to make you a fine United States Congressman, and that would 
be Dale Schultz. Appreciate you--Schultz. He's 
working. He's shaking a lot of hands. He's putting up a lot of signs. I 
know firsthand. See, I'm taking the bus throughout this part of the 
world. [Laughter] And I've seen a lot of the signs, and that's a good 
sign. And I also want to thank Rachel--Rachel Schultz, who happens to be the district superintendent of the 
schools. And I want to thank you for your--being in education. I want to 
thank John Cler and all the folks associated with 
the high school for letting us come here today. I appreciate you coming. 
I want to thank the students. Thanks for coming, letting me come. All 
right. Study more than you watch TV. [Laughter] And if you're 18, make 
sure you vote.
    See, that's what I'm here to do. I'm here to ask people for the vote 
and for their help. We have a duty in this country to vote. We have a 
duty in democracy to go to the polls. People need to exercise their 
right in a free society. And I'm asking you for your help to get people 
to go to the polls. I know you've done a lot of work in this part of the 
world. I've seen a lot of signs for me, too, and I appreciate it. But 
those signs are important, but they don't pull the lever. And so coming 
down the stretch, I'm here to ask for your help in turning out the vote. 
And there's no doubt in my mind, with your help, we're going to carry 
the State of Wisconsin.
    We've really enjoyed our bus trips through Wisconsin. Today we 
stopped off and saw John and Connie 
Turgasen.
    Audience members. [Inaudible]
    The President. Evidently you've 
heard of them. That's good. [Laughter] Well, 
I wonder if they'd reconsider when they saw four buses pull up in their 
front yard. [Laughter] But they're dairy farmers. There were four 
generations of Turgasens right there, making a living off that one farm. 
It reminds me about how important it is to support our small businesses, 
our farmers, our ranchers. When you're getting people to go to the 
polls, remind them of this, that under the Bush administration, the 
farmers are doing just fine. The income is up, and people are making a 
living. And that's good for people all across this part of the world. We 
enjoyed going to that farm, and we enjoyed meeting that great Wisconsin 
family.
    You know, we've overcome a lot in this country. I pledged to make 
this country a more hopeful place, and that means hopeful for everybody. 
But we've had to overcome a lot in order to make it more hopeful. When 
you're out rounding up the vote, remind people about what this economy 
has been through. You know, a hopeful country is one in which people can 
make a living, people can stay on the farm, people who say to me, ``Mr. 
President, we've been able to support four generations of Turgasens on this farm.''
    But we've been through a lot in this economy. You know, the stock 
market was in serious decline 6 months prior to my arrival in 
Washington, DC. And then we had a recession. And then we had some 
corporate scandals, and that affected our economy. It's now abundantly 
clear that we're not going to tolerate dishonesty in the boardrooms of 
America. We expect people to be responsible citizens in this country. 
And we got attacked. And that attack of September the 11th cost us 
nearly a million jobs in the 3 months after the attack. We've had some 
obstacles put in our path.
    But we acted. I understand that when somebody's got more money in 
their pocket, they're likely to demand an additional good or a service. 
And when you demand

[[Page 2731]]

an additional good or a service in our marketplace, somebody is going to 
produce it. When somebody produces it, somebody is likely to find a job. 
The tax relief we passed is working. The tax relief we passed has got 
this economy growing again.
    And the facts are clear. We've added 1.9 million jobs in the last 13 
months. We're growing at rates as fast as any in nearly 20 years. Our 
farmers are doing well. Homeownership rate is at an alltime high. The 
unemployment rate nationally is 5.4 percent. Let me put that in 
perspective for you: 5.4 percent is lower than the average of the 1970s, 
the 1980s, and the 1990s. The unemployment rate in the State of 
Wisconsin is 5 percent. We're moving forward, and we're not going to go 
back to the days of tax and spend. That's not an economic policy; that's 
a way to get in your wallet and grow the size of the Federal Government.
    So there's more to do. It's one thing to talk about a record, but 
the only reason to look back is to be able to say to people, ``Here's 
what we're going to do as we move forward.'' The job of the President is 
to make sure the entrepreneurial spirit is strong, the environment for 
small-business creation is good, that people have a chance to make a 
living.
    So what does it take? One, it means we've got to keep your taxes 
low. I'm about to talk to some small-business owners here who know what 
it means to pay high taxes and what it means to have their taxes 
lowered. But taxes are an issue in this campaign. As you travel in your 
district and travel talking to people, remind people that taxes are an 
issue. The fellow I'm running against has 
proposed $2.2 trillion of new Federal spending. That's trillion with a 
``T.'' That's a lot. Even for a Senator from Massachusetts, that's a 
lot.
    And so they said--and you know the legitimate question is, ``Fine, 
you made all these promises; how are you going to pay for them?'' And 
he threw out that same old line we've heard 
almost every campaign: ``Oh, we're just going to tax the rich.'' Now, 
we've heard that before. Let me tell you the two things wrong with that.

    One is that when you tax the rich--in other words, when you're 
running up the top two income brackets--you're going to tax small-
business owners. Many small businesses pay tax at the individual income-
tax rate because they're called Subchapter S corporations or sole 
proprietorships. Those are fancy legal and accounting words which mean 
they pay income tax at the individual rate. That's just the truth. About 
90 percent of all small business pay individual income taxes. So when 
you hear somebody say, ``Oh, we're just going to tax the rich,'' I want 
you thinking about the truth. And the truth is they're talking about 
taxing about 900,000 to a million small businesses. You know what the 
problem with that is? Seventy percent of new jobs are created by small 
businesses in America. It makes no sense to be taxing the job creators.

    And here is the other thing wrong with it. If you promise 2.2 
trillion, but your tax plan only raises between 600 and 800 billion, 
there is a gap between what is promised and what can be delivered. Now, 
there is a--my opponent has a history; it's a 
record. I like to tell people I'm running on my record. He's not running 
on his; he's running from his record. And part of his record--in his 20 
years as Senator, part of his record is he's voted to raise taxes 98 
times. That's a record; that's what he's done. I'm not making it up. 
That's five times every year he's been in the Senate. That's a 
predictable pattern. And so when you're trying to find out who's going 
to fill the tax gap, think about predictable patterns. In order to fill 
that gap, in order to make the difference between what he's promised and 
what he can deliver, guess who's going to get stuck with the bill? Yes, 
that's always what happens.

[[Page 2732]]

    We're not going to let him tax you; we're not going to let 
him tax the small businesses, because we're 
going to carry Wisconsin and win on November the 2d.
    A couple of other things that I want to talk to you right quick 
about to make sure this economy continues to grow. First, we will 
continue with good farm policy. I'm for the MILC program--MILC, which is 
helping our dairy farmers. I'm for the reauthorization of that. Ask your 
dairy farmers whether that means something to them, and you're going to 
find out it does.
    We'll continue to open up markets, opening up markets for 
agriculture products and manufacturing products and high-tech products. 
They're good for the job creation and the job creators. Listen, we've 
opened up our market for goods from overseas, and that's good for you as 
a consumer. Think about how the market works. If you have more products 
to choose from, you're likely to get that which you want at a better 
price and higher quality. That's how the market works. So instead of 
shutting down our market when it comes to trade and hurting our 
consumers, our strategy is to say to places like China, ``You treat us 
the way we treat you,'' is to open up markets, is to demand that others 
are fair to us. And the reason why I do that is because I know we can 
compete with anybody, anytime, anywhere, so long as the rules are fair.
    If you want jobs to stay here, we've got to do something about the 
energy situation. I submitted a plan to the United States Congress 2 
years ago that encourages conservation, that encourages the use of 
ethanol and biodiesel. Think about the idea of being able to say as the 
President, ``The corn crop is up, and we're less dependent.'' Think 
about that, that someday it's going to happen. We're going to continue 
to spend research and development dollars so we can grow our way toward 
less reliance.
    We're promoting clean coal technology so that your powerplants can 
have power. We're going to modernize the electricity grid. We're going 
to explore for natural gas in environmentally friendly ways. What I'm 
telling you is this: In order to make sure that jobs continue to grow, 
that people can make a living, this country must become less dependent 
on foreign sources of energy.
    We're going to talk to a small-business manufacturer here. He told 
me he's had a problem with health care. Small businesses are having 
trouble affording health care. Most of the uninsured in America work for 
small businesses. So here's some commonsense ways to help you on health 
care.
    Small businesses ought to be able to pool together, pool risk so 
they can buy insurance at the same discounts that big companies get to 
do. You know, there needs to be economies of purchase in the 
marketplace. If you're a stand-alone small business, it costs you a lot 
of money to afford health care. If you're able to pool across 
jurisdictional boundaries, if you get more people to spread the risk, 
you're able to get insurance at better prices for your workers. That's a 
commonsense way of helping small businesses.
    We'll expand health savings accounts, which are commonsense ways of 
enabling people to be able to manage their own health care account, low-
premium, high-deductible accounts where you can save tax-free. It will 
help your families. If you change jobs, you can take your health account 
with you from year to year. If you save money, you can roll over your 
savings in your health account tax-free. It's a way to make sure the 
decisionmaking is between you and your doctor, not between some 
insurance person and your doctor. The more you're able to have--the more 
you're involved with your health care decisions, the more likely it is 
there's a cost discipline in the marketplace.
    Listen, we'll take care of the needy. We have an obligation in our 
society to do so.

[[Page 2733]]

I'm a big believer in community health centers, places where the poor 
and the indigent can get good primary and preventative care. My pledge, 
I said in the convention speech and I'm saying all over the country, is 
that in a new term, we'll make sure every poor county in America has got 
a community health center to take the pressure off our emergency rooms 
and our hospitals.
    But let me tell you another practical way to make sure health care 
is available and affordable. We must do something about the litigious 
nature of our society. There's too many lawsuits. Lawsuits are running 
up the cost of doing business. Lawsuits are running good doctors out of 
practice. Lawsuits are hurting people who need health care. I have met 
too many ob-gyns around this country that are having to leave their 
practice because these lawsuits are running up their premiums. They 
cannot afford to practice medicine. I've met too many women who are 
deeply concerned about their health care and the health of their child 
because their local doctor no longer practices. And that's not right for 
America.
    If we're interested in our quality of life, we'd better do something 
about all these lawsuits. You cannot be pro-doctor, pro-patient, and 
pro-personal-injury-trial-lawyer at the same time. You have to choose in 
life. My opponent made his choice, and he put 
a personal injury trial lawyer on the ticket. I 
have made my choice. I am standing with the Wisconsin docs and patients 
and small-business owners. I am for medical liability reform--now.
    We have a difference of opinion when it comes to health care. I 
remember the debate when my opponent--they asked him about his health care plan, and he actually looked in the 
camera and said, ``The Government has nothing to do with it.'' You know, 
I could barely contain myself when he said that. [Laughter]
    The Government has a lot to do with his plan, and that's what I want 
you to understand. His plan is one--for 
example, when you run up Medicaid, run up the eligibility for Medicaid, 
it provides an incentive for small businesses to not provide insurance 
for their employees because the Government will. It's estimated some 8 
million people will go from private insurance to Government insurance. 
Eight out of ten people will be signed up to a Government program under 
his plan. I just strongly disagree. You don't want the Federal 
Government running your health care. When the Government starts paying, 
the Government starts deciding. And then the Government rations, and the 
Government chooses your doctor. It is not the right way to go when it 
comes to making sure there's quality health care for the people.

    Let me talk about another issue, and then we're going to talk to our 
guests. I have made a commitment to our seniors not only to good-quality 
Medicare but to Social Security. And Tommy 
and I were talking about the 2000 campaign. We were coming down the 
stretch, and they ran some ads here in this State that said to the 
seniors of Wisconsin, ``If George W. gets elected, you're not going to 
get your check.'' I don't know if you remember those. Tommy sure 
remembered them. Well, I want you to tell your friends and neighbors 
this: George W. did get elected, and the seniors got their checks. And 
the seniors will continue to get their checks. The Social Security 
trust, no matter what the politicians say, is in good shape for our 
seniors. It's going to meet--the seniors have nothing to worry about. 
Every 4 years, the scare tactics come out. I just assure you, you're 
going to get your checks. And baby boomers like me, we're in pretty good 
shape when it comes to the Social Security trust.

    But a President must deal with problems--you want a President who 
confronts problems, not passes them on to future generations and future 
Presidents. We have a problem with Social Security when it

[[Page 2734]]

comes to our children and our grandchildren. When the baby boomer 
generation retires, there is a question as to whether or not the 
children will have a--Social Security accounts available for them unless 
we think differently. I believe younger workers ought to be allowed to 
take some of their payroll taxes and set up a personal savings account, 
a personal savings account that will earn a greater rate of return than 
the current Social Security trust, an account they call their own, an 
account the Government cannot take away.
    Eric Sauey is with us. Eric, you ready to say 
something?
    Eric Sauey. Yes, sir.
    The President. Good. [Laughter] I hope so. I call him ``Mr. 
President.'' He's the president of?
    Mr. Sauey. Seats, Incorporated.
    The President. Based in?
    Mr. Sauey. Reedsburg, Wisconsin.
    The President. What do you do?
    Mr. Sauey. We manufacture seating for 
vehicles with wheels or tracks, other than passenger cars.
    The President. Okay. [Laughter]
    Mr. Sauey. Some of the markets that we serve 
are off-highway equipment, semi tractors, commercial turf mowers, 
firetrucks, delivery vans, many different custom-types of seats.
    The President. Are you making a living?
    Mr. Sauey. We're making a living.
    The President. Good. Tell me--first of all, I want you to know--how 
are you organized?
    Mr. Sauey. We're an S corporation. We're a 
family-run, family-owned business. We're an S corporation. We're in the 
process of trying to expand here into Richland Center. Some of the 
things that we have, from the basic values that we have--[applause].
    The President. Sounds like they want you here. [Laughter]
    Mr. Sauey. We have some values of a small 
business that were passed on to me by my father, who helped start this 
business, and my mother, that--we can't take all the profits out of the 
business. We have to put them back into the business to grow the 
business, to nurture it. I'm second generation. I hope to pass it--the 
business goes to my kids or nieces and nephews, and we can't do that if 
we're paying taxes. We need to invest that back into the business for 
capital, reinvestment, R&D.
    The President. Perfect. Let me--so here's the tax relief. Remember 
all the rhetoric about the tax relief, ``only certain people benefit.'' 
When you cut the taxes for everybody who pays taxes, you're benefiting 
small-business owners like Subchapter S corporations. Have you hired 
anybody this year?
    Mr. Sauey. We've hired a lot of people this 
year. We're up to about 380 people right now; we're looking to hire 
more.
    The President. Yes, see, they're hiring. They're expanding. They're 
growing. One reason why they're doing well, they've got innovative 
leadership. Isn't that right?
    Mr. Sauey. Yes, sir. [Laughter]
    The President. Another reason why is they've got more money. See, 
the money is not going to the Federal Government; the money is staying 
with his company, which gives him the optimism 
and confidence to expand. Seventy percent of new jobs are created by 
small businesses. Our economic policies recognize that and we say to 
people like Eric, ``Go for it. Expand. Here's some extra money, your 
money to begin with.'' And he says he's going to hire. He may come here 
to Richland Center.
    And so my opponent says, oh, he's just 
going to tax the rich. You're looking at the rich. [Laughter] You're 
looking at a man who said, ``We may come to 
Richland Center. We may hire new people.'' They're less likely to expand 
and to hire new people if the Federal Government takes money from them. 
That just makes sense. That's just simple economics.
    Let me ask you something. Do you ever invest?

[[Page 2735]]

    Mr. Sauey. We invest a lot. Every year we 
invest in excess of $1\1/2\ million. This last year we've invested more 
than $2 million in capital equipment. We are in the process right now of 
installing a computerized--[inaudible]--machine, a computerized--
[inaudible], a 400-ton punch press--[laughter].
    The President. That sounded like a big one to me. [Laughter] You 
see, good tax policy says to businessowners, ``Invest,'' because you 
know what investment means? Investment means jobs. And so in our tax 
policy we said to small-business owners that you're able to deduct up to 
$100,000 for equipment expensing in the year in which you buy it, as 
opposed to $25,000. And why did we do that? Because we want to encourage 
Eric to invest. And so he says he buys a 400-
ton----
    Mr. Sauey. Punch press.
    The President. Punch press. [Laughter] Kind of hard to say if you're 
from Texas--[laughter]--punch press. But guess what, because of the 
decision he made, two things happened: One, his 
business is more productive; it's more likely that he can compete. He's 
bought a piece of equipment that makes him more competitive. And we live 
in a competitive world, and the more competitive he is, the more likely 
it is someone is going to work for his company. The more competitive he 
is, the more likely it is he's going to expand his business here. But 
guess what else, because he bought the 400-ton punch press, somebody had 
to make it. And when somebody makes it, somebody is more likely to find 
work at the punch press manufacturing business.
    This economy is moving because people like Eric are confident about the future. He's sitting here in 
front of all these cameras and these people saying, ``I'm going to 
expand my business.'' That's what you want to hear. And the question is, 
which one of the Presidential candidates, one, understands the 
importance of small businesses and the entrepreneurial spirit, and which 
one of us has the plans to make sure Eric feels comfortable investing 
and expanding his business? And I make the case to the people of 
Wisconsin, it is George W. Bush who understands that.
    Ready to go, Greeley?
    Jim Greeley. I'm ready for you, I think.
    The President. All right. Jim Greeley, 
small-business owner. What do you do?
    Mr. Greeley. Thank you.
    The President. Greeley Signs, yes.
    Mr. Greeley. Yes.
    The President. Tell us what you do.
    Mr. Greeley. Well, Mr. President, I have a 
sign company that I started about 30 years ago. And I'm at the point now 
where I'm passing it along to my son. But in the last 2 years, we've 
expanded with a 20,000 square foot addition. We've added new printing 
equipment so we can print giant posters, such as political posters. If 
you need any, you know where to look. [Laughter]
    The President. It's a little late. You should have gotten your order 
in early. But anyway. [Laughter]
    Mr. Greeley. We've added a laser engraver, 
and we've added several other such printing equipment----
    The President. So you've been investing.
    Mr. Greeley. Pardon?
    The President. You've been investing.
    Mr. Greeley. I've been investing, and we've 
been putting our money where our mouth is. We have to. We have to have 
confidence in the future of America----
    The President. Right.
    Mr. Greeley. ----and confidence in the 
future of this country.
    The President. See, he's investing $140,000 
this year. I hope you didn't mind me saying that. [Laughter] And he 
saved $27,000 as a result of the tax relief package, because of the 
investments. See, good tax policy says to Jim, ``If you make a capital 
investment, there's an incentive to do so.'' And it's very important for 
people to understand that the reason we passed tax policy when we did 
was to help move this economy forward, and the best way to

[[Page 2736]]

move it forward is to talk--is to address the needs of small-business 
owners. If 70 percent of the new jobs in America are created by the Jims 
of the world, then we ought to encourage him, and we ought to provide 
incentives for him to expand his business.
    Did you hire anybody? Are you going to hire anybody? Tell me.
    Mr. Greeley. Oh, yes, we'll keep hiring.
    The President. Good. Well, it says here you hired three in 2004.
    Mr. Greeley. Say again?
    The President. You hired three people in 2004.
    Mr. Greeley. Yes, we've hired three in 2004, 
and we'll hire more because we have plans of continuing to expand. In 
fact, we have dibs on another acre and a half of land.
    The President. There you go.
    Mr. Greeley. We want to keep on----
    The President. See, here's what's happening in America. Small 
businesses hire 3 people there, 100 here, 50 there, and it's the real 
vitality of our economy, when you think about it.
    I want to say something else about small-business ownership, two 
other things. And this relates to our farmers too. You heard both 
these men say they're 
thinking about passing their business on to their family members, but 
our Tax Code discourages that. The Tax Code makes it really hard for 
somebody--the Turgasens were talking about it, how hard it is to pass their 
dairy farm on to the next generation. You know why? Because this Tax 
Code of ours taxes a person twice, once when they're living and once 
when they die. And the death tax is hard on our small-business owners 
and really hard on our farmers. If you're interested in keeping family 
farms alive, then you need to support me when it comes to getting rid of 
the death tax forever. If you want there to be a small business--
[applause].
    Thank you, sir. You did a great job.
    Mr. Greeley. Did you see the Packer-Dallas 
game? [Laughter]
    The President. I saw that, and I know the Wisconsin Badgers are 
undefeated, you know. And let me tell you what else I know. I know the 
Packers beat Dallas at Lambeau Field. Who invited you? [Laughter]
    Anyway, you know, one of the things we did--good tax policy also 
helps families. And part of our tax plan was to help families be able to 
better afford life and better enable them to raise their children.
    Margie Seamans is with us. When people 
are arguing about this Tax Code, remind them we raised the child credit 
to 1,000. We reduced the marriage penalty. By the way, there is a--I 
can't imagine a Tax Code that penalizes marriage. The Tax Code ought to 
encourage marriage.
    And so what do you do?
    Margie Seamans. I work at Land's End, and 
I do payroll and scheduling.
    The President. Very good company. Yes. And David--your husband, 
David?
    Mrs. Seamans. Yes. My husband, David, is 
not employed right now.
    The President. Right.
    Mrs. Seamans. He has a back injury that 
he had in the service.
    The President. Service, right.
    Mrs. Seamans. And so he currently stays 
home right now.
    The President. You're bringing home the money.
    Mrs. Seamans. I'm bringing home the 
money.
    The President. And children?
    Mrs. Seamans. I have two children--
Danielle, 13, and Megan, 11.
    The President. Fabulous. Teenage years, I remember them fondly. 
[Laughter] The tax relief we passed saved this family $1,700 a year. Now 
that may not sound a lot to people in Washington, DC. It's a lot for 
this family.
    Mrs. Seamans. It was a blessing when we 
received the child tax credit. My husband had outstanding medical bills, 
and we

[[Page 2737]]

used those--used that money to pay for those. And just having that lower 
tax from my paycheck each week, it makes a big difference, a noticeable 
difference.
    The President. See, here's the fundamental difference in the 
campaign. By the way, my opponent voted 
against all this tax relief. It would have cost the average family--
middle-class family $2,000 extra in Federal taxes, and that's the 
philosophical difference. Who do you want spending your own money?
    See, we're setting priorities in Washington, and we'll meet those 
priorities. You're going to hear me talk about a big priority here 
pretty soon, which is defending the homeland. But I believe 
this family can 
spend their money better than the Federal Government can spend their 
money.
    Thanks for coming, Margie. I appreciate 
you being here.
    Finally, we've got Corey Kanable. Welcome.
    Corey Kanable. Thank you. [Applause]
    The President. You've got quite a following here. [Laughter] I'll 
tell you why he's here. He bought a home. You 
know, one of the greatest things in America is when somebody opens up 
the door where they live and says, ``Welcome to my home. Welcome to my 
piece of property.'' Do you realize the homeownership rate is at an 
alltime high under my administration.
    So when did you buy it?
    Mr. Kanable. We bought our home in July 
2003.
    The President. Good. What's it like? You like it?
    Mr. Kanable. Oh, we love it. It's a three-
bedroom ranch on the west side of town. It's a nice quiet neighborhood--
most of the town is. It's real comfortable to be in your hometown. My 
wife, Gretchen, and I both grew up in this area and wanted to come back 
here and----
    The President. Fantastic. Good.
    Mr. Kanable. It allowed us to do so.
    The President. And you were a renter before?
    Mr. Kanable. We rented 2 years out of the 
area. And I mean, the American Dream of owning your own home was 
realized to us because of the tax credit and the interest rate. We 
couldn't go wrong.
    The President. Well, this is important for, I think, for the future 
of this country, is to encourage owner--homeownership as well as 
ownership. We want youngsters being able to own and manage their own 
Social Security account. We want businesses flourishing and people to 
own their own small business. And we want people owning their own home. 
You know why? Because when you own something, you have a vital stake in 
the future of your country. I like to tell people, no one ever washes a 
rental car. [Laughter]
    Mr. Kanable. Absolutely.
    The President. So how has it changed your life? If somebody is 
watching and hears--says, ``Gosh, I don't know whether I want to buy a 
home or not,'' how has it changed your life?
    Mr. Kanable. Oh, it's great. I mean, you 
have something of your own, something you've invested in. We've had the 
privilege of doing some remodeling to it, things that, you know, it 
would be great to be able to do. We would like to do this. We recently 
were able to get a FEMA grant to fix our basement; it had a water 
problem. So now we can finish that off. You know, we're looking at new 
siding, new roofing, and maybe adding a garage on. We're planning on 
building a deck this spring, things that we just--you know, in an 
apartment, you can't do that.
    The President. Right, it's your home.
    Mr. Kanable. That's right.
    The President. The tax relief saved this 
family $1,000 this year and last year. So 
you hear a person say, ``Gosh, I'm thinking about adding a garage,'' you 
know, ``I'm thinking about doing something to my piece of property.'' 
Tax relief has helped people realize their dreams. Tax relief is a vital 
part not only of helping this economy recover, but it's a vital part of 
enhancing the

[[Page 2738]]

quality of life of our citizens. And that's why I'm going to keep your 
taxes low.
    I've got a couple other things--if you've got time, I've got a 
couple other things on my mind.
    First, I've been talking about a changing world, and it's important 
that we know the world is changing. In a changing world, jobs change, 
the nature of jobs change, the skill sets necessary to fill jobs change. 
That's why education is so vital. That's why we've got to make sure we 
get it right. The No Child Left Behind Act is a great piece of 
legislation because we believe in high standards and accountability. 
We're challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations. We want to make 
sure the high school diploma means something. We'll expand Pell grants 
for lower and middle-income families so more children are able to start 
their career with a college diploma. I'm a big believer in the community 
college system, because community colleges are able to devise curriculum 
for the jobs which actually exist, to be able to help people get the 
skills necessary to fill the new jobs which are being created.
    But in times of change, some things do not change, the values we try 
to live by, courage and compassion, reverence and integrity. We stand 
for a culture of life in which every person matters and every being 
counts. We stand for marriage and families, which are the foundations of 
our society. And we stand for judges who know the difference between 
personal opinion and the strict interpretation of the law.
    And on these issues, there is a difference of opinion. My 
opponent's words on values issues are a little 
murky--[laughter]--but his record is clear. You know, the Congress in 
the mid-nineties voted on what was called the Defense of Marriage Act. 
It's an act that defined marriage as between a man and a woman. It 
received big bipartisan support. Republicans voted for it. Democrats 
voted for it. President Clinton signed 
the bill into law. My opponent was one of a few out-of-the-mainstream 
Democrats that voted against the Defense of Marriage Act. He voted 
against the ban on the brutal practice of partial-birth abortion. He has 
said that the Reagan years were a period of moral darkness. There is a 
mainstream in American politics, and he sits on the far left bank. He 
can try to run, but he cannot hide from his record.
    And finally, I want to talk to you about how to keep the peace. I 
want to talk to you about the overriding issue in this campaign, which 
is the security of the American people. See, all we've talked about is 
really important, but unless we're secure, unless we're able to achieve 
the peace, we won't be able to achieve a hopeful America. And the people 
are confronted with a clear choice in this campaign on this issue.
    Let me tell you what I have learned and what I know about the post-
September the 11th world. First, that we're fighting against a ruthless 
enemy that has no conscience, which means you cannot negotiate with 
them, you cannot appease them, you cannot hope for the best with them. 
The way to deal with them and protect the American people is to stay on 
the offense, find them where they hide, defeat them overseas so we do 
not have to face them here at home. Secondly--[applause]. Thank you. 
Thank you all.
    I tell people that if we show uncertainty or weakness during these 
troubled times, this world of ours will drift toward tragedy. It's not 
going to happen so long as I'm your President. I understand that we must 
not show weakness. We must be certain in our resolve. The terrorists 
must absolutely understand they can't intimidate us; they can't force us 
to not defend our freedom.
    Second lesson is that when the President says something, he better 
mean what he says in order to keep this world peaceful. And I meant what 
I said when I said, ``If you harbor a terrorist, you're equally as 
guilty as the terrorists.'' In other words, this is a different kind 
of--we have a different challenge to defend our country.

[[Page 2739]]

And I was speaking at that moment in time specifically to the Taliban in 
Afghanistan.
    Why was I doing that? Because you might remember, some 3\1/2\ years 
ago, Al Qaida was training in Afghanistan. They were like the parasite, 
and the host was slowly but surely being overcome by the parasite, it 
seemed like to me. But there was a--kind of a convenience of philosophy. 
These people are ideologues of hate. They have a backward, dim vision of 
the world. I want the kids here to understand what life was like in 
Afghanistan. Young girls could not go to school. There was a grim 
ideology that expected certain things, particularly out of women. And if 
the women did not toe the line, they were taken to the public square and 
whipped and sometimes executed in a sports stadium.
    These are barbaric people, the Taliban. This is their view of the 
world and Al Qaida's view of the world. They've hijacked a great 
religion. They hate what we stand for because we're the opposite. We 
believe in freedom. We believe people can express their opinion anyway 
they see fit, that you can worship the Almighty or not worship the 
Almighty in America and you're equally American. And if you choose to 
worship the Almighty, you're just as American if you're a Muslim, Jew, 
or Christian. That's what we believe in our country. And that's the 
opposite of them. They don't believe that.
    And so I said, you know, ``If you harbor a terrorist, you're equally 
as guilty.'' And they just ignored what we said. And we removed the 
Taliban from power, thanks to a great United States military, and as a 
result--it's important to uphold doctrine when you say it--sent a 
message throughout the world that when America says something, we mean 
it. When we say we're going to defend ourselves, we mean it.
    And as a result of the Taliban being removed from power, Al Qaida no 
longer trains in Afghanistan. As a result of the Taliban no longer being 
in power, millions of citizens registered to vote and voted in a 
Presidential election. And the first voter was a 19-year-old 
woman, the first voter in the Afghanistan 
election. Unbelievable moment.
    Think about how far that society has come in a brief period of time. 
You know, I'm confident there were a lot of doubters as to whether or 
not democracy would take hold in Afghanistan. You can understand why. I 
mean, who would have ever thought that people that had been subjected to 
such a brutal life would conceivably want to vote. But they forgot what 
we know: Freedom lurks in everybody's heart. People want to be free in 
the world. Freedom is on the march, and America is more secure for it.
    Thirdly, when we see a threat, we must take it seriously before it 
comes to hurt us. Prior to September the 11th, if we saw a threat, we 
could deal with it or not deal with it because we felt secure. We felt 
oceans could protect us. But we learned a different lesson on September 
the 11th. It's essential the American people and the American President 
understand that when we see a threat, we must take it seriously. 
Elsewise, it might come and hurt us. I saw a threat in Saddam 
Hussein, and the world is better off with 
Saddam Hussein sitting in a prison cell.
    And our strategy in Iraq is clear. We'll train Iraqi citizens so 
they can do the hard work of defending their freedom against the likes 
of Zarqawi. You know, I've heard the 
critics say, ``Well, if we hadn't been on the offensive, the terrorists 
wouldn't be as active as they are.'' Well, Zarqawi was planning in 
Afghanistan; he was in a training camp until we arrived and closed the 
camp down. Then he moved to Baghdad, where he's beheading people and 
setting off car bombs. What do these people think Zarqawi would be 
doing? Do they think he'd be kind of a peaceful small-business owner? 
[Laughter] He hates America. It is best we defeat Zarqawi in Iraq so he 
doesn't come here and hurt us. It is best

[[Page 2740]]

we secure our country by defeating the enemy overseas.
    And we're training the Iraqis to do the hard work. I remember the 
debates. He said, ``Well, America is suffering 
all the casualties.'' That excludes and ignores the casualties being 
lost by the Iraqi people as they defend their own country. We mourn 
every single life in America, and we mourn the lives of those brave 
souls who are defending freedom in Iraq as well.
    Iraq is going to have elections. Think about how far that country 
has come in a brief period of time from the days of torture chambers and 
mass graves, the days of a brutal tyrant. 
We're better off with America helping to promote liberty around the 
world. And so we'll get those countries on the path to stability and 
democracy as quickly as we can. And then our troops will come home with 
the honor they have earned.
    I want to thank those who are here who have set such a great example 
for those who wear the uniform, our veterans. I appreciate your service 
to our country. I want to thank the military families who are here for 
your sacrifice. I want to thank those who wear the uniform. We got a 
great United States military. [Applause] And I want to assure--please be 
seated, thank you. We've still got a lot--a little work left to do. Just 
a little, then we're heading on the bus to Cuba City.
    So I want to assure the loved ones of those who wear the uniform 
that so long as I'm the Commander in Chief, we'll give your loved ones 
all the support they need to complete their missions. That's why I went 
to the Congress and asked for $87 billion of vital funding for our 
troops in harm's way, and it was important. It was important--such an 
important request that we got great bipartisan support. I want you tell 
your friends and neighbors of this startling statistic: 4 Members of the 
United States Senate, 4 out of 100, voted to authorize the use of force 
and then voted against the funding to support our troops in combat--4 
people, 2 of whom were my opponent and his 
runningmate. Think about that--voted yes for 
the authorization but voted no when it came time to support the troops.
    They asked him why, and he said, ``I 
actually did vote for the $87 billion, right before I voted against 
it.'' [Laughter] I haven't been in any coffee shops in this part of the 
world; I suspect not a lot of people talk like that. [Laughter] He's 
given a lot of explanations since, a lot of them. One of the most 
interesting ones of all is, he finally said about the $87 billion vote, 
``The whole thing was a complicated matter.'' There is nothing 
complicated about supporting our men and women in harm's way.
    I believe that liberty has the power to transform societies. It's 
etched in my very being. Let me help make my case by describing our 
relationship to Prime Minister Koizumi of 
Japan. We like him a lot--I say, ``we''; Laura 
and I do. We've had him to our ranch. He's a good man. I saw him in the 
U.N. I said, ``You know, I'm out on the campaign trail, and I'm telling 
people about my relationship with you. I hope you don't mind.'' He said, 
``Oh, fine, go ahead and talk about it.'' What I didn't ask him was 
permission to tell you that Elvis was his favorite singer--[laughter]--
true.
    Anyway, so we have got a good relationship with him. And that's--I'm sure to some doesn't seem odd. ``So 
what, the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of Japan 
working together; it's happened with other Presidents.'' That's right, 
except it wasn't all that long ago that we were at war with the 
Japanese. Some 60 years ago, Japan was the sworn enemy of the United 
States of America. There's a generation of Americans still alive today 
that fought in that war. My dad was one; 
your dads--I'm sure somebody here did that very same thing. There's a 
gentleman right there. Thank you, sir. There's another man. Yes, sir. 
There's another gentleman.

[[Page 2741]]

Thank you. Another one--well, they're everywhere. Yes, sir, thanks. It 
makes my point. It wasn't all that long ago that we were at war with the 
Japanese. They were the bitter enemy of the United States.
    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 and worked to build a democracy in Japan. Now, there was a lot of 
skeptics. You can understand why. Why should we help an enemy? A lot of 
people's lives were turned upside down as a result of that war with the 
Japanese, and they weren't interested at all about helping the Japanese. 
I'm sure there were skeptics saying the enemy couldn't conceivably 
become a democracy--a lot of doubters. There was also people in this 
country had faith in the ability of liberty to transform societies. As a 
result of that faith, I sit down at the table with Prime Minister 
Koizumi, talking about how to keep the 
peace that we all want.
    Think about that. Think about what liberty can do to a society. And 
that's what I want the young to understand, what's taking place in the 
world today. Someday, an American President will be sitting down with a 
duly elected leader from Iraq, talking about the peace in the broader 
Middle East. And our children and our grandchildren will be better off 
for it.
    I believe everybody yearns to be free. I believe people in the 
broader Middle East want to be free. I believe that 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.
    So I've come to your good city to ask for the vote and ask for your 
help. I know why I'm running again. I want to extend prosperity and hope 
to every corner of the country. I want to promote an ownership society 
where more and more citizens from all walks of life can say, ``I own my 
home. I own my business.'' I want people to be able to realize a great 
tomorrow by making sure this country is safe and secure from an enemy. I 
know where I want to take us. We've done the hard work together over 
3\3/4\ years. We've climbed the mountain, and now we can see the valley 
below, a valley which is hopeful and prosperous and peaceful. And with 
your help, we will get there together.
    God bless. Thank you for coming. I appreciate you being here. Thank 
you all. Thank you, sir.

Note: The President spoke at 11:43 a.m. at Richland Center High School. 
In his remarks, he referred to Mayor Rita Kidd of Richland Center, WI; 
Dale Schultz, candidate in Wisconsin's Third Congressional District, and 
his wife, Rachel, district administrator, Richland School District; John 
Cler, principal, Richland Center High School; senior Al Qaida associate 
Abu Musab Al Zarqawi; and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan.