    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book I)]
    [May 24, 2006]
    [Pages 1008-1013]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Pennsylvania Congressional Victory Committee Dinner in
    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
    May 24, 2006

        Thank you all. Thanks for coming. I want to thank you for joining
    the Pennsylvania Congressional Victory Committee. I am so honored to be
    standing by two of the young stars of the United States Congress. You
    know, I've been up there long enough to be able to spot talent, and Jim
    Gerlach and Mike Fitzpatrick are really talented Congressmen, and they deserve
    to be reelected to the United States Congress.
        I appreciate Karen. It's good to see you
    again, Karen. Thanks for coming. Katie,
    Rob, Joel,
    Jay, and Katelyn are
    also here. [Laughter] All you got to do is register them to vote, and
    it's a landslide. [Laughter]
        And I appreciate Kathy Fitzpatrick
    and Jimmy for being here as well. And by
    the way, Mike's mother [father],* James,
    and mom, Mary, is with us. So it's good to
    have the Fitzpatrick family well represented to pay honor to this good
    man here.
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        *White House correction.
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        I appreciate all the local officials who are here and the grassroots
    activists. See,

    [[Page 1009]]

    you win campaigns by being able to raise money--and we've raised a lot
    tonight, and thank you for that. But you also win campaigns by
    convincing people to put up the signs and make the phone calls and go to
    the coffee shops and go to your houses of worship and tell people, when
    you've got somebody who's decent, honest, and honorable, put them back
    in office. And we've got people who are decent, honest, and honorable
    representing the Sixth and Eighth Congressional Districts here from
    Pennsylvania.
        And so thank you for what you have done and what you're going to do
    coming down the stretch of the elections. We're just kind of getting
    warmed up. [Laughter] We're in the jumping-jack phase of the political
    season. [Laughter] We're getting ready to run and win. And one of the
    interesting things about politics, you can't win without a good
    candidates, and we've got two really fine candidates standing right up
    here on the stage.
        Jim Gerlach is an experienced leader. He's
    been involved for 16 years in the political process. He is a--he's an
    independent voice, which is good. It's good for the people of this
    congressional district. He believes in low taxes. I appreciate his
    strong stand on national security. He's a member of the Transportation
    and Infrastructure Committee, and that's important for people in his
    congressional district because he's helped to improve traffic and roads,
    and he's promoted open spaces as well. He's a good, thoughtful Member of
    the United States Congress. And the people in his district are lucky to
    have him there, as far as I'm concerned.
        Mike Fitzpatrick--I don't know
    what it's like in local politics here, but the county commissioner is
    somebody who generally knows the feelings of the people, and Mike was a
    county commissioner. And he's pretty--it means he was close to the
    constituents; he knows what they think. It's important to have people in
    Washington who don't lose touch with the constituents. And Mike
    Fitzpatrick certainly didn't lose the touch.
        He is an Eagle Scout, and
    interestingly enough, he continually goes to Eagle Scout ceremonies. You
    know why? He wants to help some other youngster set high values and
    understand the importance of achievement, but he also wants to thank the
    parents and those involved in the Scout troops for reaching out to help
    somebody.
        I like Mike a lot. He's an
    honorable fellow who is for low taxes, good environmental policy; he
    cares a lot about health care. The people of his congressional district
    are really lucky to have him representing them.
        We're going to win the elections in November of 2006. The reason why
    is we get things done on behalf of the American people. We've been given
    some challenges, and we've responded to meet those challenges. I spend
    the most time as your President working on ways to secure our country.
    The biggest challenge we face is to make sure that we prevent another
    attack on the American people. Much of my thinking about the presidency
    was formed on September the 11th, 2001. It's a day, of course, I will
    never forget; it's a day that all of us should never forget; it's a day
    in which our standing in the world changed dramatically. Because you
    see, we grew up thinking oceans could protect us, and we realized that
    there's an enemy out there that will do incredible harm to the American
    people. I'm proud to have allies in the United States Congress who
    understand that our most important job in Washington is to protect the
    American people.
        We face an enemy that is totalitarian in nature. They've taken a
    great religion and have hijacked it to suit their own needs. They're
    Islamo-fascists. They will kill innocent life to achieve an objective.
    They have made it clear they'd like to hurt America again. They would
    like to drive us out of regions of the world so they could establish
    safe haven. They would like to mate their

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    terrible ambitions with weapons of mass destruction. These are their
    words, not mine. They believe this country is soft, and it's just a
    matter of time before we lose our nerve. And I'm proud to have two
    Members of the United States Congress standing up here who understand
    the stakes and who are strong in the support of the men and women who
    wear our uniform and strongly support our efforts to bring the enemy to
    justice before they hurt us again.
        A battlefront in the war on terror is, of course, Iraq. And people
    in our country are unsettled because of the war, and I understand that.
    I fully understand why people in America are disquieted about what
    they're seeing on their TV screens. There's a concern about whether or
    not we can win. There's no doubt in my mind we will win. And our
    objective is to have an Iraq that can govern itself, sustain itself, and
    defend itself; an ally in the war on terror, and an example for others
    in a region that is desperate for freedom.
        The enemy cannot defeat us on the battlefield, but what they can do
    is put horrible images on our TV screens. And it's really important for
    those who wear our uniform and the enemy and the people of Iraq to know
    that the United States of America will complete the mission, and in so
    doing, will make our country more secure and will be laying the
    foundation for peace.
        I appreciate working with Members of Congress who understand the
    lessons of history. And one of the really interesting lessons of
    history, one way I'd like to describe what's taking place in the world
    today, is my relationship--I describe my relationship with the Prime
    Minister of Japan, Koizumi. He's a good
    friend of mine, personally. He's an interesting fellow. He loved Elvis.
    [Laughter] Still does. [Laughter] You know what's interesting, though,
    about my talks with the Prime Minister--and by the way, when I sit down
    at the table with him, we talk about how we can keep the peace. We talk
    about how to deal with North Korean and the fact that he's trying to develop a weapon of mass destruction and, at the
    same time, creating starvation inside his country. We talk about the
    young democracy of Iraq, where Japan has 1,000 troops. We talk about a
    fledgling democracy in Afghanistan and how we can work together to help
    this young, new democracy grow and flourish.
        It's really interesting, isn't it? What makes it even more
    interesting is the fact that 60 years ago or so, my dad went to war with the Japanese. And something happened
    between the 19-year-old Navy pilot, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush
    sitting at the table talking about the peace. And what happened was, my
    predecessor--one of my predecessors--Harry S. Truman, believed in what I
    believed in, the universality of freedom, the capacity of people to be--
    to take on democracy, and the knowledge that democracy yields the peace.
        And so what you're seeing today is tyranny going to democracy, is
    people who demanded freedom--12 million people said, ``I want to be
    free''--learning what it means to self-govern. Someday an American
    President is going to be able to tell the story of our generation.
    They're going to be able to tell the story of those of us who've been
    honored to serve our country and say, ``Thank goodness they believed in
    the capacity of freedom to take a troubled country and convert it into
    an ally.'' Someday an American President is going to be sitting down
    with a duly elected leader from Iraq, working to keep the peace, and our
    children and grandchildren are going to be better off.
        Here at home, we've got a strong economy. You know, the economy grew
    at 3.5 percent last year. That is faster than any other major
    industrialized nation in the world. The national unemployment rate is
    4.7 percent, which happens to be the unemployment rate here in the State
    of Pennsylvania. We created 5.2 million new jobs since August of 2003.
    People are working. After-tax real income is up more than 8

    [[Page 1011]]

    percent per American since 2001. Productivity is on the rise;
    homeownership is high; small businesses are flourishing. This economy is
    strong, and we intend to keep it that way.
        I think it's amazing to be able to tell you how strong the economy
    is, given through--what we have been through, however. We've been
    through a recession; we've been through corporate scandals; we've been
    through a stock market correction; we've been through an attack on our
    country; we've been through wars; we have been through natural
    disasters; we've been through high energy prices. Yet we have got a
    strong economy. You know why? Because we cut the taxes on the American
    people.
        Our progrowth economic policies work. The three of us believe that
    when you have more of your own money in your pocket to save, invest, or
    spend, the economy grows. We would rather you spend your money than the
    Federal Government spends your money.
        Now, you'll hear them in the campaign, they'll be talking about the
    deficit. I'm confident they'll be yelling about the deficit at these
    two Congressmen. Let me just set the record straight for you. See, they're
    going to say, ``We're going to run up your taxes to balance the
    budget.'' That's not the way Washington, DC, works. They're going to run
    up your taxes, and they're going to figure out new ways to spend your
    money on new programs, and there will still be a deficit.
        The best way to reduce the deficit is to keep progrowth economic
    policies in place and be wise about how we spend your money, which is
    exactly what we're doing in Washington. We're on our way to cut the
    deficit in half by 2009.
        One of my concerns is that the United States will lose our nerve and
    fear competition and become an isolated place. You know, when you see
    the global competition these days from China and India, some in our
    country say, ``Well, I don't think we want to try to compete with
    them.'' And so they worry about protectionism--they think about
    protectionism, or they're isolators--that's not my attitude, and I know
    it's not the attitude of these
    Congressmen. We have nothing to fear about the
    future, because we intend to shape it, see. We intend to make America
    the most competitive nation in the world.
        So I'm going to work with these two Congressmen to pass what we've
    called the American Competitive Initiative, which says that we will be
    the most--we'll lead the world when it comes to research and
    development. The Federal Government should double its commitment to
    basic research in physical sciences over the next 10 years. People say,
    ``Why would the Federal Government be investing?'' Well, I'll give you
    why--the Internet. The Internet came to be because of Federal research
    dollars--iPods--got one? I got one, you know--[laughter]--as a result of
    Federal research. It's important for the United States to be the most
    technologically advanced nation in the world.
        And that's why I've called for Congress to make the research and
    development tax credit a permanent part of our Tax Code. And that's why
    I look forward to working with these Congressmen to make sure that our
    schools are adept at teaching people the skills necessary to fill the
    jobs of the 21st century, which means strong math and science
    curriculum.
        So today I went out to one of the most advanced nuclear powerplants
    in the world--at least in our country. And I did so because I wanted to
    make this point: In order for us to be a competitive nation, in order
    for us to keep a high standard of living, we have got to get off of our
    addiction to oil. And I'm looking forward to working with
    these Congressmen to do that.
        And so I talked today, and I'm going to work with the Congressmen to continue to
    spend your money on research and development; for example, to speed up
    new

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    battery technology so that the hybrid--we'll have plug-in hybrid
    batteries, which means, in Philadelphia, you'll be driving the first 40
    miles per day on electricity, not on gasoline; or more advanced uses of
    ethanol so we can be using crops grown here in America rather than oil
    from the Middle East to power our automobiles. Eventually, we'll be
    firing up our automobiles using hydrogen.
        I went to the powerplant today. It's estimated that demand for
    electricity is going to increase by 50 percent over young people's
    lifetimes, which means we better have the capacity to generate
    electricity and protect our environment at the same time. And a really
    good way to do so is through nuclear power.
        I'm also going to work with the
    Congressmen to continue to spend research money
    on clean coal technology. We've got 240 years worth of coal; let's burn
    it cleanly. Let's use it in a way that says we can protect our
    environment and make sure we maintain our standard of living.
        We'll continue to invest in solar technology. Here's the dream of
    solar technology--and by the way, we've got $150 million in my budget
    for solar technology. The dream is, is that every house will have a
    solar roof to it. And if you do not use all the power generated that day
    from the sun, you feed it back into the grid. It's like your little
    powerplant. [Laughter] You become a generator of electricity. It's
    coming.
        And we intend to lead the charge to change our habits when it comes
    to energy to protect our environment, on the one hand, and to make sure
    the United States is a competitive nation on the other.
        I want to talk about health care. For years, Democrats have been
    talking about Medicare, see, how they're going to make it work better.
    They never did--they never got the job done. So we came along. We
    modernized Medicare for our seniors. We said, ``If you make a pledge to
    the seniors of the United States, make it a good pledge; make it work.''
    You see, the Government would pay $25,000 for an ulcer surgery but not a
    dime for the prescription drugs to prevent the surgery from being needed
    in the first place. What I'm telling you is, medicine had become modern,
    but Medicare hadn't.
        And so we changed it. And today, more than 32 million seniors have
    enrolled in Part D of Medicare, which means there's a prescription drug
    benefit. The average senior saves one-half on his or her drug bills. And
    if you're a poor senior--about a third of those eligible for Medicare--
    the Federal Government is going to pay 95 percent of your drug bills.
    The days of a senior having to choose between food and medicine are
    gone, thanks to the Republican Party.
        But we also understand that we don't want the Federal Government
    running your health care. The best health care system is one where the
    patient-doctor relationship is central to the decisionmaking, and that's
    why we're for transparency, information technology in the health care
    field. That's why we're strong believers in health savings accounts,
    which will help the uninsured and the small-business owners. We're
    believers in association health plans that will allow small businesses
    to pool risk across jurisdictional boundaries so they can buy insurance
    at the same discounts that big businesses get to do.
        I'll tell you what else we're for: We understand that frivolous and
    junk lawsuits run good doctors out of practice and runup the cost of
    your medicine. And you got a problem here in Pennsylvania. You got ob-
    gyns leaving your State. You got specialists who are fearful of
    practicing medicine. And you need people like these two Congressmen who
    are willing to stand up to the trial lawyers and promote good, strong
    medical liability reform.
        Finally, although they're not in the Senate, I appreciate them
    supporting me in picking judges, the right kind of judges, judges who
    will not legislate from the

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    bench but judges who will strictly interpret the Constitution. I am
    proud to have nominated Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Sam Alito,
    and I'm even prouder they got confirmed by the United States Senate.
        Ours is a philosophy that trusts people. We'd rather you have your
    money. We believe you can spend it wisely. We believe you can make the
    right decisions when it comes to medicine. We believe our seniors should
    be given modern medicine, and we delivered on our promises. The other
    bunch, they get angry, and they yell and they, you know, scream and
    holler. We just go about and get the job done. We're people who can
    deliver results on behalf of the American people.
        I've signed a Medicare reform bill; I've signed an energy bill; I've
    signed tax cuts; I've signed bills to make sure those who wear the
    uniform get the full support of the United States Government. And I'm
    proud to have these two accomplished
    men serving in Washington, DC. The
    people of Pennsylvania have got two good Congressmen in these two, and
    you need to send them back. They're serving this State with dignity, and
    they're serving our country with honor, and I'm proud to call them
    friends.

    Note: The President spoke at 5:46 p.m. at the Sheraton Philadelphia City
    Center. In his remarks, he referred to Karen Gerlach, wife of
    Representative Jim Gerlach; Kathleen Fitzpatrick, wife of Representative
    Michael G. Fitzpatrick; Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan; and
    Chairman Kim Jong Il of North Korea.