[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book III)]
[October 28, 2004]
[Pages 2806-2813]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks in Yardley, Pennsylvania
October 28, 2004

    The President. Thank you all for coming. I have had a fabulous day 
today. What a great way to end it. Thanks for lifting my spirits. It is 
such an honor to be back in Bucks County.
    First, I want to thank Ruth Wright, who's 
the owner of this beautiful farm. And I want to thank her for enrolling 
the land in the Conservation Reserve Program, to help preserve the open 
spaces of Bucks County. What a great citizen. What a fantastic 
contribution to this beautiful part of the world. Ms. Wright, we are 
honored that you let us all come here. Some of us will stay over 
afterwards and help clean up. [Laughter] I, of course, will be going to 
another State to keep putting the message out.
    I'm here to ask for your vote, and I'm here to ask for your help. 
We're coming down the stretch. There's not many days left. We have a 
duty in this country to vote, and I'm asking you to get your friends and 
neighbors to go to the polls. Tell your friends and neighbors that in a 
free society, all of us have an obligation to participate in our 
democracy. Make sure our fellow Republicans get the word. Make sure 
independents get the word. And don't overlook discerning Democrats. They 
too want what we want, which is a safer America, a stronger America, and 
a better America.
    I am sorry that Laura is not with me this 
evening.
    Audience members. Aw-w-w!
    The President. That is generally the reaction. I take it like, ``Why 
didn't you stay home and send her?'' [Laughter] What a fabulous 
woman she is. You know, when I asked her to marry 
me, she was a public school librarian. She said, ``Fine, I'll marry you, 
but make me a promise.'' I said, ``What is the promise?'' She said, 
``Promise me I'll never have to give a political speech.'' [Laughter] I 
said, ``Okay, you got a deal.'' Fortunately, she didn't hold me to that 
promise. She was in Florida today giving speeches. When the people see 
Laura Bush give a speech, they see a strong, compassionate, great First 
Lady.
    I'm proud of my runningmate, Dick Cheney. I 
do not want to offend anybody here who's follically challenged, but I 
admit my runningmate does not have the best hairdo in the race. 
[Laughter] I didn't pick him because of his hairdo. I picked him because 
of his judgment, his experience. He is getting the job done for the 
American people.
    I'm honored to be introduced by Chad Lewis. 
No, I know you know him as a fine football player. Michele knows him as

[[Page 2807]]

a loving dad and a great husband. I know him as a man of character. I'm 
proud to be standing on stage with Chad, and I want to thank the other 
Eagles for coming here today. I'm honored you all are here. 
Congratulations on a great season. Just don't be too tough on the 
Cowboys. [Laughter]
    I want to thank my friend Arlen Specter 
for being here today. I hope you put him back in for 6 more years. And I 
enjoy the other Senator from Pennsylvania, a good friend of mine, I know 
a friend of yours, Rick Santorum.
    I'm a little angry at your Congressman. He's leaving. I've enjoyed 
working with Jim Greenwood. He cares 
deeply about the people of Pennsylvania and Bucks County. He has done a 
fine job as a Member of the United States Congress, and I wish him all 
the best in this new venture. And I urge you to support Mike 
Fitzpatrick to take his place.
    I welcome Melissa Brown here. She too is 
running for the United States Congress from the Thirteenth Congressional 
District. I wish Melissa all the best. I want to thank all the other 
candidates who are here. I appreciate the entertainers who are here.
    Most of all, I thank you all for coming. Thanks for putting up the 
signs. Thanks for making the phone calls. Thanks for working hard to 
turn out such a big crowd. I want to thank you for what you're going to 
do. Turn out the vote--no doubt in my mind, we can carry and will carry 
Pennsylvania and win a victory on November the 2d.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. And one other person I want to recognize, and that's 
Sam Evans. Sam Evans is 101 years young. He is 
with us tonight. He is the chairman of the American Foundation of Negro 
Affairs. I am proud to have his support. Mr. Evans, God bless you, and 
thanks for coming.
    The election comes down to some clear choices for America's 
families, and that's what I'm here to talk about. The first clear choice 
is the most important because it concerns the security of your family. 
All progress on every issue depends on the safety of our citizens. This 
will be the first election since September the 11th, 2001. Americans 
will go to the polls in a time of war and ongoing threats. The 
terrorists who killed thousands of innocent people are still dangerous, 
and they are determined. The outcome of this election will set the 
direction of the war on terror. The most solemn duty of the American 
President is to protect the American people. If America shows 
uncertainty or weakness in these troubled times, the world will drift 
toward tragedy. This will not happen on my watch.
    Since that terrible morning of September the 11th, 2001, we've 
fought the terrorists across the Earth, not for pride, not for power but 
because the lives of our citizens are at stake. Our strategy is clear. 
We're strengthening the protections of our homeland. The former Governor 
of Pennsylvania, Tom Ridge, is doing a great job 
as the Secretary of Homeland Security. We're reforming our intelligence 
capabilities. We are transforming our military. There will be no draft. 
The All-Volunteer Army works, and we'll keep it an all-volunteer army. 
We are relentless. We are determined. We are staying on the offense 
against these terrorists so we do not have to face them here at home.
    And we're making progress. 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 on their trail. And at the same time, we use all our 
assets to protect ourselves.
    We've got one other asset, and that's our deep belief in liberty and 
freedom. We believe in the power of liberty to transform societies. I 
want you to tell your children and grandchildren about the astonishing 
events that are taking place.
    In a short period of time, Afghanistan has gone from a country ruled 
by barbarians who would not let young girls go to

[[Page 2808]]

school. And if their mothers didn't toe their line of hatred, they were 
taken into the public squares and whipped and sometimes executed in a 
sports stadium. Because we defended ourselves, because we upheld the 
doctrine that said, ``If you harbor a terrorist, you're equally as 
guilty as the terrorist,'' millions of people voted in a Presidential 
election in Afghanistan. And the first voter was a 19-year-old 
woman. Because of freedom, that society has 
gone from darkness to light, and America is more secure to have 
Afghanistan as an ally in the war on terror.
    Iraq will hold Presidential elections in January. Think how far that 
society has come from the days of mass graves and torture chambers, from 
the days of a brutal dictator, Saddam Hussein. Freedom is on the march. The world is changing because 
of our deep belief in freedom. We believe everybody wants to be free. 
Freedom is not America's gift to the world; freedom is the Almighty 
God's gift to each man and woman in this world.
    A President must lead with consistency and strength. In a war, 
sometimes your tactics change but not your principles. Americans have 
seen how I do my job. Even when you might not agree with me, you know 
what I believe, you know where I stand, and you know where I'm going to 
lead this country. On good days and on bad days, whether the polls are 
up or the polls are down, I am determined to protect the American 
people, and I will always support the men and women who wear our 
uniform.
    I see a sign that says ``Moms of Military.'' I want to thank the 
families who are here--the families of our military who are here for 
their sacrifices. I want to thank the veterans who are here for having 
set such a great example for those who wear the uniform. And I want to 
assure those who wear the uniform and their loved ones, we will make 
sure they have all the resources they need to complete their missions. 
That's why I went to the United States Congress in September of 2003 and 
asked the Congress for support--to support our men and women in harm's 
way. We asked for $87 billion, and it was necessary. It was important 
funding.
    The bipartisan support for that measure was overwhelming. 
Republicans and Democrats both understood the need to support our troops 
in harm's way. It was so strong that only 12 Members of the United 
States Senate voted against the funding, 2 of whom are my 
opponent and his runningmate. As you're out gathering up the vote, as you find people 
who wonder about which candidate can lead, you might remind them of this 
startling statistic: Four Members of the United States Senate voted to 
authorize the use of force and voted against providing the funding 
necessary to support our troops in combat--only 4 out of 100--4 Members 
of the Senate, 2 of whom are my opponent and his runningmate.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. They asked him why, and you 
might remember the famous quote of the 2004 campaign, when he said, ``I 
actually did vote for the $87 billion, right before I voted against 
it.'' He's given several explanations since then about that vote. 
Perhaps the most interesting and telling of all is when he finally said, 
``Well, the whole matter was a complicated matter.'' There is nothing 
complicated about supporting our troops in combat.
    Senator Kerry'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 
secure. Well, history has shown that Senator Kerry was wrong and 
President Ronald Reagan was right.

[[Page 2809]]

    When former President Bush led a 
coalition against Saddam Hussein in 1991, 
Senator Kerry voted against the use of force 
to liberate Kuwait. Well, history has shown that Senator Kerry was wrong 
and former President Bush was right.
    In 1994, just one year after the first bombing of the World Trade 
Center, Senator Kerry proposed massive cuts in 
America's intelligence budget, so massive that even his Massachusetts 
colleague, Ted Kennedy, opposed them. 
Well, history has shown that Senator Kerry was wrong and--we've got to 
be fair--[laughter]--Senator Kennedy was right.
    During the last 20 years, in key moments of challenge and decision 
for America, Senator Kerry has chosen the 
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. 
Senator Kerry has turned his back on ``pay and price'' and ``bear any 
burden,'' and he has replaced those commitments with ``wait and see'' 
and ``cut and run.''
    Many Democrats in this country do not recognize their party anymore. 
And today, here in the great State of Pennsylvania, I want to speak to 
every one of them: If you believe that America should lead with strength 
and purpose and confidence in our ideals, I would be honored to have 
your support, and I am asking for your vote.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. The security of our families is at stake. Senator 
Kerry says that September the 11th did not 
change him much at all. That's what he said. His policies make that 
clear. He says the war on terror is primarily a law enforcement and 
intelligence gathering operation.
    September the 11th changed me, and changed my outlook. I'll never 
forget the day that I stood in the ruins of the Twin Towers, September 
the 14th, 2001. I'll never forget the sights and sounds of that day, the 
workers in hardhats yelling at me at the top of their lungs, ``Whatever 
it takes.'' I remember the firefighter or police officer, I'm not sure 
which one, who'd come out of the rubble. He grabbed me by the arm. He 
looked me square in the eye, and he said, ``Do not let me down.'' Ever 
since that morning, I've gotten up thinking about how to best protect 
America. I will never relent in defending our country, whatever it 
takes.
    The second clear choice in this election concerns your family's 
budget. When I ran for President 4 years ago, I pledged to lower taxes 
for American families. I kept my word. We doubled the child credit to 
$1,000 per child to help the moms and dads. We reduced the marriage 
penalty. I believe the Tax Code ought to encourage marriage, not 
penalize marriage. We dropped the lowest bracket to 10 percent so 
working families can take--keep more of their paychecks. We reduced 
income taxes for everybody who pays income taxes. And real after-tax 
income, the money you have in your pocket, is up by about 10 percent 
since I've been your President.
    When you're out gathering the vote, remind people about what this 
economy has been through. Six months prior to my arrival in Washington, 
the stock market was in serious decline. It foretold a recession that we 
went through. And then we had some corporate scandals. But we acted. We 
passed good legislation that made it abundantly clear we will not 
tolerate dishonesty in the boardrooms of America. And then we got 
attacked, and those attacks cost us about a million jobs in the 3 months 
after September the 11th.
    But our economic policies are working. By stimulating consumption 
and increasing investment, this economy is strong, and it is getting 
stronger. Think about what's taken place. Homeownership is at an alltime 
high in America. More minority families own a home than ever before in 
our

[[Page 2810]]

Nation's history. Pennsylvania farmers, like farmers everywhere, are 
making a good living under the Bush administration. Small businesses are 
flourishing. The entrepreneurial spirit is strong in America.
    We've added 1.9 million new jobs in the last 13 months. The national 
unemployment rate is 5.4 percent. Let me put that in perspective for 
you: That's lower than the average rate of the 1970s, the 1980s, and the 
1990s. The unemployment rate in Pennsylvania is 5.3 percent. This 
economy is moving forward, and we're not going to go back to the days of 
tax and spend.
    My opponent has a different plan for your 
family's budget. He's going to take a big chunk out of it. You remind 
your friends and neighbors about these facts. He voted against the 
child--increasing the child credit. He voted against the marriage 
penalty relief. He voted against lower taxes. If he had had his way, the 
average American family would be paying 2,000 more in Federal income 
taxes.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. That probably doesn't seem like a lot to people in 
Washington. It's a lot to people who are trying to make ends meet in 
Bucks County, Pennsylvania. It matters to families right here in this 
part of the world.
    He's been in the United States Senate 20 
years, and he's voted for higher taxes 98 times. That is five times a 
year. I would call that a predictable pattern, a leading indicator. When 
a Senator does something that often, he must really enjoy it. [Laughter]
    I want you to couple that fact with this one: He's proposed about $2.2 trillion in new Federal spending. 
That's trillion with a ``T.'' That's a lot. That's a lot even for a 
Senator from Massachusetts. [Laughter] And so they asked him, ``How are 
you going to pay for it?'' And he threw out that same old tired line 
we've heard before. He's going to tax the rich.
    Let me tell you two things about that. One, most small businesses 
are sole proprietorships or Subchapter S's. They pay tax at the 
individual income-tax level. Seventy percent of new jobs in America are 
created by small businesses. By running up the top two brackets, you're 
taxing the job creators. You're taking money out of the coffers of small 
businesses, and that is bad economic policy.
    This may interest you as well. By raising the top two brackets, by 
taxing the rich, you raise about 600 billion to 800 billion dollars. 
That is far short of the 2.2 trillion that he had promised. That's what 
we call a tax gap. That's the difference between what's promised and 
what's delivered. Guess who usually fills the tax gap? You do. But the 
good news is, we're not going to let him tax 
you; we're going to carry Pennsylvania and win on November the 2d.
    The third clear choice in this election involves the quality of life 
for our families. A good education and quality health care are important 
to our families. As a candidate, I pledged to challenge the soft bigotry 
of low expectations by reforming our public schools. I kept my word. I 
signed the No Child Left Behind Act and proudly so. We're raising the 
standards. We're spending more money, but in return, we're asking for 
results. We believe every child can learn, and we expect every school to 
teach.
    You cannot solve a problem until you diagnose the problem, and we're 
now diagnosing problems and we're solving them. Test scores are up in 
reading and math. We're closing an achievement gap for minority students 
all across America. And we're not going to go back to the days of low 
standards and mediocrity in our classrooms.
    We'll continue to improve life for our families by making health 
care more affordable and available. We'll make it available by making 
sure the poor and the indigent are able to get care in community health 
centers, places where people can get good preventative care and good 
primary care without burdening the emergency rooms of

[[Page 2811]]

your local hospitals. We'll make sure that children of low-income 
families are--subscribe to the programs aimed to help them, to make sure 
health care is affordable.
    We'll help our small businesses. Small businesses ought to be 
allowed to pool risk across jurisdictional boundaries so they can buy 
insurance at the same discounts that big companies are able to do. We 
will expand health savings accounts to help our small-business owners 
and families afford health insurance and manage their own health care 
plans.
    To make sure health care is available and affordable in a State like 
Pennsylvania and others, we will do something about the frivolous 
lawsuits that are running up the cost of medicine and running good 
doctors out of practice. We have a problem in this Nation when it comes 
to medical liability. There are too many lawsuits. I have met too many 
ob-gyns from the State of Pennsylvania who are being driven out of 
practice because their premiums are so high because of the lawsuits. And 
I, unfortunately, have met too many patients of ob-gyns who are deeply 
concerned about the quality of health care for not only the mom but the 
baby. This is a national problem.
    You cannot be pro-doctor and pro-patient and pro-personal-injury-
trial-lawyer at the same time. You have to make a choice. My 
opponent made his choice, and he put a 
personal-injury trial lawyer on the ticket.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. He's voted against medical 
liability reform 10 times in the United States Senate. I made my choice. 
I'm standing with the doctors of Pennsylvania. I'm standing with the 
patients of Pennsylvania. I am for real medical liability reform.
    My opponent proposed a plan. You might 
remember, at one of our debates, he looked straight in the camera and he 
said about his plan, ``The Government doesn't have anything to do with 
it.'' I could barely contain myself. [Laughter]
    The Government's got a lot to do with it. Eighty percent of the 
people in this plan will end up on a Government plan. If you make it 
easier for people to get on Medicaid, it is likely small-business owners 
will stop providing insurance for their employees because the Government 
will cover them. That's moving people from the private sector to the 
public sector when it comes to health care. And when the Government 
writes the checks, the Government makes the rules. And when the 
Government starts making the rules for your family's health care, they 
start making decisions for you. And they make decision for the docs. And 
they start making decisions on rationing of care.
    Countries that have tried centralized health care can't get away 
from it quick enough. The wrong prescription for American families is to 
federalize health care in America. In all we do to make sure health care 
is available and affordable, we will make sure the decisions are made by 
doctors and patients, not by officials in Washington, DC.
    The fourth clear choice in this election involves your retirement. 
Our Nation has made a solemn commitment to America's seniors on Social 
Security and Medicare. When I ran for President 4 years ago, I promised 
to keep that commitment and improve Medicare by adding prescription drug 
coverage. I kept my word.
    We reformed Medicare. The system need to be fixed. We would pay 
thousands of dollars for a heart surgery but not one dime for the 
prescription drugs that could prevent the heart surgery from being 
needed in the first place. And that was not fair to our seniors, and it 
certainly wasn't fair to the taxpayers. And so we modernized Medicare. I 
brought Republicans and Democrats together. I proudly signed the 
Medicare bill. And beginning in 2006, all seniors in America will be 
able to get prescription drug coverage under Medicare.
    We'll keep the promise of Social Security for our seniors, and we'll 
strengthen Social Security for generations to come. In the 2000 
campaign, I remember some of those

[[Page 2812]]

ads that said, ``If George W. gets elected, our seniors won't get their 
checks.'' You might remember those. When you're out gathering up the 
vote, remind people George W. got elected, and the seniors got their 
checks. Those scare tactics are not going to work in 2004. They're too 
old, and they're too tired. Seniors will always get their checks. Baby 
boomers like me, like some of you, are in pretty good shape when it 
comes to the Social Security trust.
    But we need to worry about our children and our grandchildren. We 
need to worry about whether the Social Security system will be there 
when they retire, and that's why I think younger workers ought to be 
allowed to take some of their own payroll taxes and set up a personal 
savings account, a personal savings account that will earn a better rate 
of return, a personal savings account they call their own, a personal 
savings account the Government cannot take away.
    My opponent takes a different approach. He 
said he's going to protect Social Security, but tell your friends and 
neighbors about this fact: He voted eight times for higher taxes on 
Social Security benefits.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. And when it comes to the next generation, he has offered no reform. See, the job of a President is 
to confront problems, not to pass them on to future Presidents and 
future generations. In a new term, I'll bring people together to 
strengthen Social Security for generations to come.
    The fifth clear choice in this election is on the values that are so 
crucial to keeping a family strong. I stand for the appointment of 
Federal judges who know the difference between personal opinion and the 
strict interpretation of the law. I stand for marriage and family, which 
are the foundations of our society. I stand for a culture of life in 
which every person matters and every being counts. And I proudly signed 
the ban on partial-birth abortion.
    My opponent has taken a different 
position. He voted against the Defense of Marriage Act. He voted against 
the ban on partial-birth abortion. And at one point in this campaign, he 
actually said that the heart and soul of America can be found in 
Hollywood.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. That's what he said. Most 
Americans do not look to Hollywood as a source of values. The truth of 
the matter is, the heart and soul of America is found in communities in 
Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
    I'm running for a reason. I see clearly where this country needs to 
go.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. I thank you all. I know where I want to lead us. You 
know, one of my favorite quotes is from a fellow Texan named Tom 
Lea, and he said, ``Sarah and I live on the 
east side of the mountain. It is the sunrise side, not the sunset side. 
It is the side to see the day that is coming, not to see the day that is 
gone.'' The course of this campaign, my opponent has spent much of it talking about the day that is gone. 
I'm talking about the day that's coming.
    I'm talking about a day in which our families are able to realize 
their dreams for their children. I'm talking about a day where 
prosperity reaches every corner of America, a day in which every school 
sets high standards so every child can realize the great promise of 
America. I'm talking about a day when we achieve the peace we all 
desperately want.
    When I campaigned across Pennsylvania 4 years ago, I made this 
pledge, that I would uphold the honor and the dignity of the office. 
With your help, I will do so for 4 more years.
    God bless. On to victory. Thank you all.

Note: The President spoke at 6:25 p.m. at Broadmeadows Farm. In his 
remarks, he referred to professional football player Chad Lewis and his 
wife, Michele; Mike Fitzpatrick, candidate in Pennsylvania's

[[Page 2813]]

Eighth Congressional District; and former President Saddam Hussein of 
Iraq.