[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book II)]
[December 9, 2005]
[Pages 1831-1835]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at a Reception for Senatorial Candidate Mark Kennedy in Minneapolis, Minnesota
December 9, 2005

    Thanks for coming. Thank you all. I appreciate the warm reception. 
[Laughter] This is a Senator Kennedy I can work with. [Laughter] I have 
come because I know Mark, and I know he is going to make a great United 
States Senator for the people of Minnesota.
    He's a down-to-earth fellow. After all, he was raised in rural 
Minnesota. He brings commonsense values to Washington, DC. He's not one 
of these kind of fancy guys; he's a guy that gets the job done. He 
focuses on results. He works on behalf of the people. He'll make a great 
United States Senator from Minnesota.
    Laura sends her love. Mark and I both married 
above ourselves. [Laughter] I'm proud to be up here with Debbie 
Kennedy as well. I met the--Sarah--the Kennedy family, if you don't know it, 
is quite large. [Laughter] If they all vote--[laughter]--it's a 
landslide. [Laughter] But Laura sends her very best.
    One of the important things about running for office is to have a 
family that stands with you. It can be a little lonely out there at 
times. But there's nothing better than coming home to a great wife, and 
in Mark's case, and a family that dearly loves him. One reason to send 
Mark Kennedy to the United States Senate is, he understands the 
importance of family in our society today.
    I want to thank the Governor of your great State, Tim 
Pawlenty, for being here. He's a fine man 
and doing a great job as Governor. I want to thank the Lieutenant 
Governor who is here. I want to thank all the 
State and local officials.
    I want to thank my friend Norm Coleman. 
Congressman Jim Ramstad is with us today. Jim, 
I appreciate you coming--newlywed, I might add. Mark and I flew over 
with Congressman John Kline--you talk about a 
patriot and a good man who needs to be reelected to the United States 
Congress.
    I want to thank a longtime family friend of ours, Rudy 
Boschwitz, for his great leadership. I 
appreciate the Boschwitz family for being here--all the Boschwitz boys. 
[Laughter] And they didn't ask for any advice, but I gave it, and I 
said, ``Listen to your mother.'' [Laughter] Mark, you need to be 
listening to yours too. [Laughter]
    I want to thank all the grassroots activists. Thank you all for 
coming. Here's the deal. It's important to contribute like you have. But 
your contributions are going to be needed to win this campaign, and 
these are contributions of talking to your neighbors, going to your 
community centers and houses of worship and places you work, and telling 
people that when you've got somebody who's honest and decent like Mark 
Kennedy, they need to send him to the United States Senate for the good 
of all people of Minnesota.
    So I want to thank you for what you have done for this good man and 
what

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you're going to do. I know he's going to work hard. He was just telling 
me today how many parades he's marched in. [Laughter] That's a lot, by 
the way. [Laughter] Showed me that old football schedules that he passes 
out. [Laughter] He's a grassroots-type fellow, gets down to where the 
people are. He tells them what's on his mind, and when he says 
something, he does it. And that's the kind of people we need in 
Washington, DC.
    I also look forward to working with Mark. We're facing--we're living 
in historic times. These are dangerous times, and they're times of great 
opportunity. And I'm looking forward to working with Senator Mark 
Kennedy to secure this country, to do our duty in Washington, DC, and do 
everything we can to protect the people.
    Our lives and the life of our Nation changed on September the 11th, 
2001, and we must never forget the lessons of that day. We must deal 
with threats before they fully materialize. There's an enemy--
[applause]. We have got to see the world the way it is, not the way we'd 
like it to be. There is an enemy which hates America. They hate us 
because we stand for what they don't believe in. We believe in freedom. 
We believe in the freedom for people to worship any way they want in the 
United States of America. We believe that people can speak their mind 
freely. We believe that people can write their editorials the way they 
want to write them. We believe in freedom, and we're not going to 
change.
    And we face an enemy that has got an ideology and a strategy and a 
tactical plan to achieve their strategy. These people have hijacked a 
great religion and turned it to their advantage--they think. They're 
trying to spread a totalitarian empire from Indonesia to Spain. How do I 
know? Because they've told us. They've told us pointblank what they're 
looking for. They're trying to drive the United States out of the Middle 
East so they can take over other countries to spread their dark view of 
the world. They want safe haven from which to launch attacks.
    Think about Afghanistan. They had achieved their objective for a 
short period of time. They had taken over Afghanistan so they could plot 
and plan their attacks, one of which was the September the 11th attack. 
I told the world--and I meant it--``If you harbor a terrorist, you're 
equally as guilty as the terrorist.'' Our troops liberated the people of 
Afghanistan and routed the Taliban. And that part of the world is better 
off, and our country is more secure because democracy has taken hold in 
Afghanistan.
    The enemy has made it abundantly clear that Iraq is a central front 
in their war against humanity. That's what they've said. And our Nation 
must understand that Iraq is the central front in the war against the 
terrorists. And that's why we have--we're there for one reason, and that 
is to achieve a victory, to make America more secure.
    We took the threat seriously, and we removed that threat. And now 
our strategy is twofold. On the one hand, we're helping the brave Iraqis 
establish a democracy. Any way you look at it, these people that lived 
under the brutal thumb of a tyrant have made 
incredible progress. They had January elections. They approved a 
Constitution. And next week, they're voting for a 4-year Government. 
Democracy is making progress because of the courage of the Iraqi people.
    And the second prong of our strategy is to train Iraqis so they can 
take the fight to the enemy, so they can bring people to justice. And 
we're making progress there as well. Of course, it's been uneven at 
times. But it's important for you to know that the Iraqis want to secure 
their democracy, and democracy helps make this world more peaceful.
    Now, there's a debate raging in Washington, DC. There are some who 
are arguing for a fixed timetable of withdrawal. I think it's the wrong 
policy, and so does

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Mark Kennedy. A fixed timetable of withdrawal would embolden the enemy, 
would confuse the Iraqis, and would send the wrong signal to our young 
men and women in uniform. The United States of America--[applause].
    We have got a strategy for victory, and we'll see that strategy 
through. We will defeat the terrorists in Iraq. We will not let Al Qaida 
take a stronghold--get a stronghold in Iraq. We'll help this country 
develop a democracy, which will send a powerful signal to people in 
Damascus and Tehran.
    Our short-term objective is to stay on the hunt and bring the 
killers to justice before they hurt us again. I'd rather be defeating 
them there than facing them here at home. And our long-term objective is 
to spread the power of democracy and freedom.
    You know, I recently went to the Far East, as you may know, and 
visited with my friend Prime Minister Koizumi of Japan. He's a good fellow, and he's a good 
friend. It struck me then, like it has in previous times, about how 
ironic it is, in a way, that the son of an 18-year-old Navy fighter 
pilot who fought the Japanese is now 
talking peace with the leader of a country that was our sworn enemy. 
Think about that for a minute. Sixty years ago, a lot of folks, a lot of 
your relatives, signed up to fight an enemy that attacked us. By the 
way, we lost more people on September the 11th than we did when Pearl 
Harbor was bombed. And a lot of people went and fought, and there was a 
lot of death and destruction. And yet, 60 years later--which seems like 
a long time when you're 59--[laughter]--but it's really not all that 
long in the march of history--I'm talking with Prime Minister Koizumi 
about how to keep the peace. So something happened between the time that 
my dad and your relatives signed up in World War II, and I'm talking 
peace with Koizumi. And what happened was, Japan became a democracy.
    These are historic times. We have an obligation and a duty to 
protect the American people. And we'll do just that. That's why Mark 
Kennedy needs to be in the United States Senate. And we have an 
opportunity--and we have an historic opportunity to lay the foundation 
of peace for generations to come. I'm absolutely convinced that someday, 
50 or 60 years from now, an American President will be speaking to an 
audience saying, ``Thank goodness a generation of Americans rose to the 
challenge and helped people be liberated from tyranny. Democracy spread, 
and the world is more peaceful for it.''
    And there's no doubt in my mind Mark Kennedy understands the stakes 
and shares the vision for laying that foundation for peace. He needs to 
be a United States Senator from the State of Minnesota.
    I've enjoyed working with Mark Kennedy on economic matters. We share 
a philosophy that says this: The role of government is not to create 
wealth; the role of government is to create an environment in which the 
entrepreneurial spirit is strong in America.
    We've been through some tough times in this country. As you might 
recall, we had a recession, some corporate scandals, an attack on our 
country, a war, major hurricanes. And yet the third quarter growth in 
2005 was 4.3 percent. We've added 4.5 million jobs since May of 2003. 
The unemployment rate in Minnesota is 3.7 percent. The unemployment rate 
nationally is 5 percent. Homeownership is at an alltime high. More 
minorities own a home than ever before in our Nation's history. This 
economy is strong, and it's going to be stronger.
    And one reason it's strong is we cut the taxes on the people. We 
understand that when somebody has got more money to spend or save, this 
economy is going to grow. And Mark Kennedy understands that. He also 
understands that we must have certainty in the Tax Code. We need to make 
the tax cuts we passed permanent. By the way, when you hear somebody 
say, ``Don't

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make the tax cuts permanent,'' that's Washington, DC, code for saying, 
``We're going to raise your taxes.'' [Laughter] That's what that is.
    And the other thing we've done is, we've worked hard to make sure 
that we've been wise about how we spend your money. Each year we've cut 
the rate of growth of nonsecurity discretionary spending. I'm hoping to 
sign a series of appropriation bills that will actually have negative 
growth in nondiscretionary--in nonsecurity discretionary spending, the 
first time since Ronald Reagan was the President. Mark Kennedy is a 
fiscal conservative. He is a CPA. It seems like to me we got enough 
lawyers in the United States Senate; why shouldn't we have a CPA in the 
United States Senate?
    I want to talk about a couple of more issues. We got a farm bill 
coming up. This is an important farm State. It seems like to me you want 
to have a United States Senator who can come in the Oval Office and talk 
to the President about Minnesota farmers. We passed a good farm bill. I 
want to thank Mark for working on it. And in that farm bill was not only 
a safety net for our farmers but a commitment to open up markets for 
Minnesota farmers. Here's what I think. I think if you're good at 
something, like the Minnesota farmers are, they ought to be given 
opportunity to sell product all across the world.
    In the farm bill, there was a strong conservation title called the 
CRP program. It's good for Minnesota ranchers and farmers. If you're 
interested in a strong ag economy like we got today, if you're a 
Minnesota farmer, there's only one man suited to be the United States 
Senator in this race, and that's Mark Kennedy.
    Health care is an issue. It's an issue for patients. It's an issue 
for docs. It's an issue for small-business owners. We intend to do 
something about it. There's a philosophical divide, however, and there 
will be one in this race. There are some who believe that the Government 
ought to be making all the decisions. And there's people like Mark and I 
who believe that the best decisionmaking in health care is between the 
patient and the doctor. And that's why we strongly support health 
savings accounts, associated health plans for small businesses, 
community health centers, a reformed Medicare program.
    But I want to talk about one other issue in health care. You cannot 
have affordable and available health care if your doctors are getting 
sued all the time. We got a problem in this country. We got too many 
docs being run out of the practice of medicine because of these junk 
lawsuits. And you're paying for it twice. You're paying for it as a 
result of higher doctor bills when you go to the office, and you're 
paying for it through higher--because the Federal Government has got a 
huge, huge share of health care spending.
    See, when I first went to Washington, I said, ``Well, this is a 
local issue. The Governors can take care of it.'' But then I realized 
all these frivolous lawsuits and the defensive practice of medicine and 
the increase of premiums for docs are costing us billions of dollars a 
year at the Federal level--through Medicaid, Medicare, and veterans 
spending, for example. So medical liability is a national problem that 
requires a national solution. And I look forward to working with United 
States Senator Mark Kennedy to make sure health care is available and 
affordable for Minnesota patients.
    There are three branches of Government, as you know. Well, some of 
them back there think there's four branches. [Laughter] The Constitution 
recognizes three branches. [Laughter] I'm proudly part of the executive 
branch. You'll be proudly part of the--he is a part of the legislative 
branch. And we've got to make sure that the judiciary--judicial branch 
of Government functions the way the framers of our Constitution wanted 
it to function, and that is to have people who serve on our bench who 
are not going to try to legislate but

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who will strictly interpret the Constitution of the United States of 
America.
    I look forward to working with the United States Senator Mark 
Kennedy, who will make sure that the judges I name, those strict 
constructionists, those who will not try to legislate from the bench, 
are given an up-or-down vote on the floor of the United States Senate 
and confirmed--judges like John Roberts 
and Judge Sam Alito.
    So I've come to thank you for supporting a good man. I've come to 
lay out my opinion, and that is, he's the right person for the job. He 
thinks right. He acts right. He's not one of these kind of politicians 
that takes a poll and then tries to figure out what to believe. We got 
too many of those in Washington, DC. We need straight shooters, people 
of principle, and people who care deeply about the State of Minnesota. 
And that person is Mark Kennedy.
    Thanks for coming, and God bless.

Note: The President spoke at 12:34 p.m. at the Hilton Minneapolis Hotel. 
In his remarks, he referred to senatorial candidate Kennedy's wife, 
Debbie, and his daughter, Sarah; Gov. Timothy Pawlenty and Lt. Gov. 
Carol Molnau of Minnesota; Rudy Boschwitz, head of the U.S. delegation 
to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights; and former President 
Saddam Hussein of Iraq.