[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

[[Page 1010]]

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.