    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book I)]
    [June 2, 2005]
    [Pages 929-936]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Dinner for Senator James M. Talent in St. Louis, Missouri
    June 2, 2005

        Thank you all for coming. Thanks for the warm welcome. Please be
    seated. My arm still hurts from the last time--or one of the last times
    I came to St. Louis. I tried to fire a 90-mile-an-hour fastball on
    opening day--[laughter]--got up there about 60, maybe. [Laughter] But I
    love coming to your town. Thanks for having me. Thank you all. Those of
    you who have traveled--I want to thank those of you who traveled from
    outside this great city of St. Louis to come to support Talent.
        The ``Show Me'' State--my attitude is, show me a good Senator, and
    I'm going to back him. And we've got a great Senator in Jim Talent. I
    appreciate his spirit. I appreciate his working with the White House.
    He's an independent enough guy to tell

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    us if we're not doing right. In other words, he is the kind of person
    you want from a State of strong, independent people: Tough, principled,
    unwilling to yield when he stands for--when he believes he's correct.
    And that's the way Jim Talent is. Every time I'm with him, he's always
    talking about the citizens of Missouri. I say, ``What about Texas?'' He
    says, ``Well, they're all right down there.'' [Laughter]
        So I'm proud to stand here with him. And I think the people of
    Missouri will be wise to send this good man back to the United States
    Senate.
        And Talent married well--[laughter]--Brenda, I appreciate you being here. It's good to meet your
    mother-in-law. It's a smart thing to bring the
    mother-in-law through the photo op line. [Laughter] Not only is he a
    good Senator, he's a smart son-in-law. [Laughter] I was also thrilled to
    meet Michael and Kate
    and Chrissy, Jim and Brenda's children. See,
    what's important to the Talents is putting their family first. That's
    what I like about Jim Talent. He's got his priorities absolutely
    straigh--faith, family, and the United States of America.
        He married well, and so did I. And Laura
    sends her love to all our friends here in Missouri. You might have
    noticed that she's become quite a comedienne. [Laughter] More
    importantly, she's a great First Lady. I was proud of her trip recently
    to the Middle East. She's sending a strong message as part of the
    freedom movement, and that is, you can't be free unless women have a
    free role in society. So not only is she a great comedienne, she's a
    great diplomat. But more importantly, she's a wonderful mother,
    wonderful wife, and a great First Lady for the United States.
        And I want to thank the senior Senator. That's appropriate to call
    you senior, but you are a little older than Talent, at least. [Laughter]
    Kit Bond has served this State
    with great distinction for a long time. He's a great friend and a great
    man. I appreciate you being here, Kit, and his wife, Linda Bond.
        And I'm proud of your Governor. It still
    amazes me that you are old enough to meet the age requirement.
    [Laughter] He's the youngest looking Governor in America. It turns out
    he's a young-looking man who can get a lot done. And I appreciate your
    leadership in the statehouse, Matt. Good job. And the Lieutenant
    Governor is with us, Pete Kinder. I've known
    Pete a long time, and I appreciate your serving, Pete, and joining Matt
    and making this State be all that it can be.
        I want to thank Congressman Kenny Hulshof
    as well, and his wife, Renee. Kenny is a
    bright star in the House of Representatives from the great State of
    Missouri. I love talking to Kenny. He's a thoughtful fellow. Every time
    I see him he says ``soybeans.'' [Laughter]
        I thank Mike Gibbons and his wife,
    Liz. Mike is the State senate president pro tem.
    I want to thank Rod Jetton, the speaker of the
    statehouse, and his wife, Cassie. Thank you
    all for coming. I want to thank all of you all who serve.
        Somebody told me they thought Ambassador Danforth would be here tonight. I hope so. I do want to say that he
    represented our country so well. Jack, thanks for coming, and thanks for
    serving. Thanks for serving so admirably in the United Nations. As well,
    thanks for taking on a tough assignment. I asked Jack Danforth from the
    State of Missouri to help resolve the Sudan civil war, the conflict
    between north and south. And unfortunately, Darfur has obscured the
    great progress that Ambassador Danforth made on behalf of peace. And
    when it's all said and done, Jack, your contribution to helping solve
    that problem will go down in history as one of the great humanitarian
    gestures by our country, led ably by you. Thank you, sir.
        I want to thank all the folks who helped put on this fundraiser.
    It's an incredibly successful evening and--which speaks not only to your
    hard work but also to the

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    admiration that your Senator has earned by the people of Missouri.
        We've got a lot to do in Washington. One of the things I like about
    Talent is he understands that our job in Washington is to confront
    problems, not pass them on to future Congresses. In my case, to confront
    problems and not pass them on to future Presidents. That's our job.
    That's what the American people expect from those of us who have been
    elected. And we've got some problems we got to solve.
        Now, we dealt with one of our problems, and that is our economy. We
    had some tough times for a while because of the enemy attack and the
    down cycle of our economy. I don't know if you know this or not, but in
    the last 2 years, we've added over 3.5 million new jobs. More Americans
    are working today in our country than in the Nation's history. And I
    appreciate the fact that Jim understands we can't rest, that the job of
    Government isn't to create the wealth but an environment in which people
    are willing to risk capital, an environment in which there's a
    reasonable chance for America to stay competitive in the world.
        And one way to do that is to make sure we finally get an energy
    policy out of the United States Congress. When I first got to
    Washington, I recognized that our country was too dependent on foreign
    sources of energy. And so I went to the Congress and said, ``Here is a
    strategy that will encourage more conservation, a strategy that will use
    research and development dollars to make it more likely we'll have more
    renewable sources of energy, a strategy that says we can explore for oil
    and gas in environmentally friendly ways in America, a strategy that
    recognizes we need to use nuclear power, a strategy that says we need
    clean coal technology, a strategy that says we can use soybeans to
    refine biodiesel.'' It's a smart strategy.
        But it's been stuck. There's too much politics in Washington, DC.
    It's been stuck. They got it out of the House, and thanks to Jim
    Talent's leadership and Kit Bond's leadership, they're going to get a good bill off the
    Senate floor. I'm going to sign a bill. For the sake of national
    security and for the sake of economic security, Congress needs to get me
    a good energy bill by the recess, by the summer recess break this year.
        Jim Talent knows what I know: Smart policy will enable us to grow
    out of our hydrocarbon society, which we're going to have to do. I went
    to a refinery in Virginia the other day--it's an unusual kind of
    refinery; it's a refinery that refines biodiesel--and saw a new C.A.T.
    engine that can burn 100 percent biodiesel with no exhaust. See,
    technology is going to enable us to diversify away from our old habits,
    which will be good for our country, good for our economy. And the United
    States Congress can help that diversification process through wise
    policy. Jim Talent understands that, and I'm going to keep pushing hard
    to make sure the rest of the United States Senators understand that.
        I appreciate the fact that we passed a good, tough budget out of the
    United States Senate. I hope you appreciate that as well. We've got to
    show the people of this country that we can be wise about how we spend
    your money. Notice I didn't say the Government's money--how we spend
    your taxpayers' money. And so I said to them, ``Here's a way to cut our
    deficit in half, meet our priorities, but it requires fiscal
    discipline.'' And I want to thank Jim Talent for his understanding that
    you can't be all things to all people when it comes time to spending the
    taxpayers' money. You have to set priorities. You have to have goals,
    and you must show fiscal discipline. We passed a good budget. I'm
    looking forward to working with this good Senator to make sure the
    appropriation process stays stuck to the budget.
        I'm also working on Social Security for a reason. The reason is, is
    that there is a huge problem looming for a younger set of Americans. I
    just came from Hopkinsville, Kentucky--Hopkington, Kentucky,

    [[Page 932]]

    and I told the people there what I've been telling folks all across the
    country, that if you get your check, you have nothing to worry about. I
    mean, the Social Security system is just fine for people receiving their
    check. But because baby boomers like me are getting ready to retire--
    see, my retirement age shows up at 2008--[laughter]--which is a
    convenient year. [Laughter] But the problem for younger workers is
    there's more than just me retiring. There's a whole slew of us called
    baby boomers. As a matter of fact, about 73 million of us are set to
    retire.
        To put that in perspective, there's something like 42 million
    retirees today. And I don't know about the rest of you baby boomers
    here, but I plan on living longer than the previous generation. As a
    matter of fact, I'm trying to exercise on a daily basis so that I do
    live longer. And not only that, but we have been promised greater
    benefits than the previous generation. So you've got a lot of baby
    boomers living longer, getting greater benefits, with fewer people
    paying into the system.
        In 1950--I don't know if you know this or not--but 16 workers paid
    for every retiree. Today, there's 3.3 workers paying for every retiree.
    Soon there will be 2 workers paying for every retiree. So we've got a
    problem, folks. It's not a problem for people who receive their check.
    It's a problem for people coming up. It's a problem not for the
    grandparents but the grandchildren.
        And so I think now it's time to do something about it, and so does
    Jim Talent. And I've laid out some proposals. One of them is, why don't
    we just slow down the growth rate of benefits for some of the wealthier
    citizens. Their benefits will grow but not as quite as fast as Congress
    of the past thought they ought to grow. It's called progressive
    indexing, which, by the way, will get most of the problem solved.
        I also think younger workers ought to be allowed to take some of
    their own payroll tax and set up in a voluntary personal savings
    account. You know why? Right now the Government gets a whopping 1.8
    percent on your money when we hold it in the payroll tax. With a
    conservative mix of bonds and stocks, you can get at least 4\1/2\
    percent. You compound that difference over time, somebody is going to
    have a pretty sizable nest egg they can call their own.
        The reason I like Jim Talent is because he wants to promote an
    ownership society in America. He and I reject this business about the
    investor class only pertains to a certain group of people. We believe
    everybody in this country ought to own assets. We believe everybody
    ought to have the ability to pass on their assets to whomever they
    choose. We know that when you own something, you have a vital stake in
    the future of the United States of America. Now is the time to not only
    fix Social Security for generations to come but to make Social Security
    a better deal for all Americans.
        And when we get that done, we're going to reform the Tax Code. I put
    together a group of Democrats and Republicans to make some
    recommendations. I'm looking forward to seeing what those
    recommendations are. But I'll tell you one thing: I know I will have a
    strong ally in Jim Talent in making sure the Tax Code is more fair, is
    less large, and accomplishes the mission, and that is to collect
    revenues for our Government in a fair, honest way.
        Do you realize that--I read a report the other day where some person
    estimated from the IRS that there's about $325 billion a year in people
    avoiding taxes. That just isn't right. And part of it has to do with the
    complexities of the Tax Code. For the sake of an economy that grows and
    for the sake of a better America, we've got to reform the Tax Code of
    the United States, and we will.
        I've got a good ally in Jim Talent when it comes to legal reform.
    One sure way to make sure this country isn't competitive is to allow
    these frivolous and junk lawsuits to continue to plague people who are
    trying

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    to run businesses. We got too many lawsuits in America, plain and
    simple. I want to congratulate Matt for getting
    good legal reform out of the legislature. We ought to do the same thing
    in Washington. We got a good class-action reform bill out, and I want to
    thank Jim for his work on that. I think we're going to get an asbestos
    bill out here pretty quick, which would be good news. Got a good
    bankruptcy bill out.
        We need one other bill that's really important. You know, when I
    went to Washington, I said, ``Well, most of these legal matters can be
    solved at the State level,'' until I began to look at the effect on the
    Federal budget of these junk and frivolous lawsuits against docs.
    Because of these lawsuits, doctors either get run out of business, or
    the premiums go up--which cost you or the taxpayers more money--or they
    practice defensive medicine in order to stay out of the courts. It's
    estimated that these lawsuits cost the Federal Government about $28
    billion a year. That's a lot. Even for all the money we spend, that's a
    lot. [Laughter] And it's not necessary. We want people to have their day
    in court if they get injured by a lousy doc, but we got to do something
    about these frivolous lawsuits.
        I proposed a good piece of legislation that's now stuck in the
    United States Senate. Jim Talent is a strong backer for medical
    liability reform at the Federal level, and I want to thank him for his
    support.
        I remember when Jim ran for the Senate, he said he would be
    Missouri's health care Senator, and he has kept that promise. We worked
    together to strengthen Medicare by giving seniors more choices and by
    modernizing the system to include a prescription drug benefit. Talent
    understood what I know--what kind of system is it where we pay for
    surgery from a heart attack but not the medicine to prevent the surgery
    from being needed in the first place? It was an antiquated, outdated
    system that needed market incentives in the program and needed to be
    brought up to date for the sake of our seniors. The Medicare bill that
    Jim helped pass out of the United States Senate is a good piece of
    legislation that will mean better quality of life for our seniors in
    America.
        And finally, an issue I know is dear to his heart is association
    health plans. You know, too many small businesses can't afford health
    insurance for their employees. And there's a practical way to deal with
    the problem, and that is to allow small businesses to pool risk across
    jurisdictional boundaries so they can buy insurance at the same
    discounts that big companies get to do. It is a sensible approach to
    helping deal with health care costs. It makes a lot of sense. Talent is
    the author of that idea on the Senate floor, and I look forward to
    working with him to get association health care plans past. And I want
    to thank you for your leadership on that issue.
        There's a lot of issues that we could be talking about here, and he
    said, when I got up here, he said, ``Make sure you keep it relatively
    short. These people paid a lot of money.'' [Laughter] I do want to talk
    about a couple of other things, though. Because of Jim Talent's
    leadership and steadfast support, our party will continue to support
    faith-based and community groups as a way to help heal hurt in America.
        You know, I gave a speech the other day at Calvin College, and I
    talked about Alexis de Tocqueville. He had interesting observations
    about America in 1832. He talked about the strength of America being in
    the souls of our citizens and that people were able to find great
    comfort and solace and strength through civic organizations, voluntary
    organizations where people come together to help heal the hurts of
    society. That was true in 1832, and it's darn sure true today in 2005.
    The strength of this country lies in the hearts and souls of our
    citizens. And the Federal Government should not fear--should not fear
    the presence of faith to help deal with social problems, as a matter of
    fact, ought to welcome

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    faith programs and to help deal with social problems.
        I appreciate Jim's willingness to join me in promoting a culture of
    life in America. I want to thank Jim for helping defend the institution
    of marriage from being redefined by activist judges. And speaking about
    judges--[laughter]--I want to thank both Senators from Missouri for
    understanding that every nominee a President sends up must have a fair
    hearing in the Judiciary Committee, an expeditious hearing in the
    Judiciary Committee and then an up-or-down vote on the floor of the
    United States Senate.
        I nominated a fantastic woman named Priscilla Owen over 4 years ago to the bench, Fifth Court. She's a
    fantastic lady, tops in her law school class. In our State, you got to
    run for Supreme Court, and she ran for Supreme Court, got endorsed by
    Republicans and Democrats, won something like 80 percent of the State
    because she's a great judge. For 4 long years her nomination was held up
    for pure partisan reasons--4 years--and finally, as a result of never
    giving up and being steadfast and strong, she got her vote. I want to
    thank Senators Talent and Bond
    for supporting this great woman.
        We got another confirmation that needs to get done too. It's time
    for the United States Senate to stop playing pure politics, stall
    politics, and give John Bolton an up-or-down
    vote on the Senate floor. People look at the Government and say,
    ``What's going on with all this filibustering? Why can't people come
    together and do what's right for the country?'' Listen, the United
    Nations needs reform, and I've got a man who can go up there and reform
    it. And John Bolton needs a vote. People are tired of this. And I
    appreciate the folks in Missouri sending a strong message to Washington:
    Focus on the people's business; stop playing politics; get something
    done for the good of the country. And that's the attitude Jim Talent
    brings to the Senate floor, and I appreciate that a lot.
        Jim Talent also understands the war on terror goes on. He's a
    strong, strong supporter of our military, and I want to thank you for
    that. You know, we have a duty to make sure these troops get the best
    possible equipment and the best possible training. And we're fulfilling
    that obligation. You know, our strategy is clear on the war on terror.
    We're going to find them overseas so we don't have to find them--face
    them here at home. We will defeat them there in order to protect the
    homeland. The only way to defend America is to stay on the offense
    against these people, and that's exactly what the United States of
    America will continue to do.
        There are two ways to stay on the offense. One is through good
    intelligence and good movement of troops and good work with the allies.
    And there's another way to stay on the offense against the terrorists,
    and that's to spread freedom. There's nothing that frightens these
    ideological killers more than democracy. It scares them a lot. They
    can't survive in a democracy. They can survive in places where tyrants
    have discouraged hope, suppressed people. They can't survive in an open
    society. See, they can't stand the light of freedom.
        And so our strategy is twofold. One, we'll be tough as heck and stay
    on the offense, but we will also have great faith in the capacity of
    freedom to transform hateful societies to hopeful societies, to
    transform the conditions that create hate to the conditions that create
    hope. And that's what you're seeing around the world. It's a fantastic
    period in American history.
        If you've got young children, I hope you explain to them what
    they're seeing. Think about the people in Afghanistan. It wasn't all
    that long ago that those poor people lived under the barbaric clutches
    of the Taliban. These people were so barbaric that young girls weren't
    even allowed to go to school, and if their mothers dared speak out, they
    were taken to the public square and whipped.

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        We liberated Afghanistan for our own sake. Remember, Afghanistan was
    the home of Al Qaida and its training camps. I laid out a doctrine that
    said, ``If you harbor a terrorist, you're as guilty as the terrorists.''
    And we told the Taliban to get rid of Al Qaida, and they wouldn't do it,
    and so it's important that when you say something, you mean it. It's
    important that when you say you're going to do it that you go ahead and
    do it, for the sake of peace. And we did. But as importantly, 25 million
    people were liberated in Afghanistan. It's fantastic to think about
    that.
        I've had a lot of friends go over to Afghanistan, and Karen
    Hughes was there early on after the
    liberation, and she went again. And Laura has
    been over. And they say that the change is noticeable. Life is coming
    back, and people are excited.
        I'll tell you a great American story. My barber was raised in Afghanistan. And she came over here to--
    there was a revolution or civil war or whatever you want to call it, and
    she decided to stay in America, raised her three kids here, and used her
    great talents and enthusiasm for her country to raise money to build two
    schools. Think about that. What kind of a country is it where you got a
    barber to the President working hard, using her influence and her
    contacts and her friends to raise money--quite a bit of money, by the
    way--to build schools in a faraway country, spectacular country that
    encourages compassion not only at home but abroad. Afghanistan is
    changing for the better, and as it does, the world will be more
    peaceful.
        Listen, we got rid of Saddam Hussein in
    Iraq. Saddam Hussein was a threat to peace. Iraq is changing. I'm sure
    you were amazed, as was much of the world, at the 8\1/2\ million people
    who defied the car bombers and the killers and the suiciders to say as
    loud as they possibly can, ``You will not prevent us from voting and
    exercising our rights as free citizens.'' What a spectacular moment in
    history.
        And now we're standing with the Government as they struggle against
    these suiciders. But they're getting there. And our mission is clear
    there as well, and that is to train the Iraqis so they can do the
    fighting, make sure they can stand up to defend their freedoms, which
    they want to do. And then our troops are coming home with the honor they
    earned. And the world will be better off with a free Iraq and a free
    Afghanistan in the broader Middle East.
        Ukraine had a freedom revolution. Lebanon is now having a freedom
    revolution. Listen, freedom is on the march. And the role of the United
    States of America is to stand with freedom lovers and reformers and
    believers in the power of democracy. And when we do so and as we do so,
    we'll leave a foundation of peace behind for our children and
    grandchildren.
        We're living in a fantastic period in world history. And I want to
    thank Jim Talent for understanding the great opportunities America has
    to leave the world a better place for generations coming up.
        Again, I want to thank you for supporting this good man. He's--like
    we used to say in Texas, when you find a good one, keep him. You got a
    great Senator in Jim Talent. I thank you for recognizing his talents. I
    thank you for contributing to his campaign. I thank you for talking up
    his good work in the coffee shops all around the State of Missouri. You
    don't have to worry about him; he'll be out right behind you, working
    hard to make sure that in this reelection campaign--the citizens of this
    State do the right thing.
        It's an honor to be your President. I'd like to stay a little
    longer, but I'm headed to Crawford. I appreciate your warm reception.
    God bless you, and God bless our great country.

    Note: The President spoke at 6:05 p.m. at the Millennium Hotel St.
    Louis. In his remarks, he referred to Gov. Matt Blunt of

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    Missouri; Karen P. Hughes, former Counselor to the President; and former
    President Saddam Hussein of Iraq.