[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book I)]
[May 31, 2006]
[Pages 1050-1056]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at a Reception for Gubernatorial Candidate Robert L. Ehrlich, 
Jr., in Baltimore, Maryland
May 31, 2006

    Thanks for coming tonight. Thank you all. So he just gave my speech. 
[Laughter] You know, when you have somebody who accomplishes positive 
things--he's got a record of accomplishment for everybody--not just a 
handful, but everybody--you need to send him back as the Governor of the 
State of Maryland.
    So in our line of work, there's a lot of big talkers. [Laughter] And 
sometimes you find a doer, somebody who knows how to set an agenda and 
lead people to accomplish that agenda. Bob Ehrlich is a doer; he's a 
great leader; and he needs to be reelected Governor of the State of 
Maryland.
    So the one thing he didn't take credit for was--I think he should 
have--was the Maryland women's basketball team. He can't even touch the 
net. [Laughter] Well, that's not true.
    We both married really well. [Laughter] He married a fabulous woman; 
the first lady of Maryland is doing a 
wonderful job. Laura and I are very fond of 
Kendel and Bob. We consider them friends. We invited them to come to 
Camp David once, which is, after all, in the State of Maryland. So he 
arrived--as did about 10 feet of snow. [Laughter] So I said, ``Come on 
back in the summer.'' [Laughter] But Laura sends her love to the 
Ehrlichs.
    And just a word on Laura. She's down in New 
Orleans today. She is a fabulous First Lady. She is really--I'm really 
proud of the job she does for our country.
    I'm also proud to be here with Bob's parents, Bob and Nancy. Thank you all for 
coming. I'm sure Nancy--[applause]--I'm sure one of the reasons why your 
son is so successful as the Governor is because you keep telling him 
what to do. [Laughter] And obviously, he's wise enough to listen. 
[Laughter] I've got the same problem in my family. [Laughter]
    Mr. Chairman, thank you for your 
leadership. I want to thank you all for supporting the Victory 
Committee. I want to thank you for giving of your money to help this 
good man and the party succeed. And I want to thank you in advance for 
what you're going to do when we come down the stretch in October/
November, and that is, turn out the vote.
    So I want to thank all the grassroots activists who are here. 
There's a couple of

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you out there, you know, stuffing the envelopes, making the phone calls, 
putting up the signs. That's how you win. When you've got somebody as 
good as Governor Ehrlich, you need to get on the streets and go to the 
coffee shops and houses of worship and tell the people, you've got a 
good man; you've got a good man who has done a fabulous job for the 
people of Maryland. By the way, when you're getting him in as Governor, 
make sure you put Michael Steele into the 
United States Senate.
    One of the things it's important to have in a chief executive 
officer, whether it be at the State level or the Federal level, is 
somebody who's willing to take on problems, to confront problems. You 
know, a lot of times in the political arena, it's easy just to shuffle 
them along. You know, you see a problem and say, ``Well, let's just not 
deal with it; let's let somebody else take care of it.'' I like Bob 
Ehrlich because he's not afraid to take on problems. He understands that 
our jobs are to solve problems. Bob Ehrlich is a problem-solver. He sets 
agendas; he makes decisions based upon principles; he doesn't worry 
about polls and focus groups; and he leads. And he's the right guy to be 
reelected to the State of Maryland.
    We're living in historic times. These are times that require 
steadfast conviction. I just want to share some thoughts with you about 
the war on terror. First of all, I want to thank the Governor for his 
strong support for the men and women who wear the uniform of the United 
States. As the Commander in Chief of a military full of incredibly fine 
people, it is important to have people in elected office like the 
Governor who know what it means to have--to be able to say strong words 
of support. These kids need our support. They're doing hard work on our 
behalf.
    My most important job and the most important job of the Governor is 
to protect the American people. And that job came home, became very 
clear to us on September the 11th of 2001. It's a day that I'll never 
forget. Many of the decisions that I have made as your President are 
based upon the lessons I learned on that day. The first lesson I learned 
on that day is, there are evil people in the world who want to do harm 
to the American citizens. I learned that you can't negotiate with these 
people; you can't rationalize with them; you can't hope for the best. 
That we must--in order to protect the country, we must bring them to 
justice before they do harm again.
    I learned that when a President speaks, he better mean what he says. 
I understand to protect this country that we must deny safe haven to 
these terrorists who'd like to do us harm. And so I said, ``If you 
harbor a terrorist, you're equally as guilty as the terrorists.'' I 
meant what I said. I gave the Taliban an opportunity to hand over Al 
Qaida. They refused to do so. And because of the bravery of our troops 
and coalition troops, Afghanistan is liberated and free and is no longer 
a threat to the United States of America.
    I learned on September the 11th a lesson I'm never going to forget, 
that we've got to take threats seriously before they come home to hurt 
us. It's really important, if you think our duty is to protect the 
folks, to take every threat seriously. You see, when we grew up, or some 
of us grew up, baby boomers grew up, we felt pretty confident that 
America could be secure from a foreign attack, except maybe by missile. 
And then that attitude changed dramatically when we realized oceans 
couldn't protect us. And so when we see a threat, we've got to take them 
seriously.
    I saw a threat. As a matter of fact, the world saw a threat with 
Saddam Hussein. See, he was a state sponsor 
of terror; he had used weapons of mass destruction; he had the capacity 
to make weapons of mass destruction; he invaded his neighbors; he was 
shooting at U.S. pilots. He was given a lot of United Nations Security 
Council resolutions, to change. He refused to change. He chose war, and 
the world is

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better off without Saddam Hussein in power.
    And now we're doing the hard work of helping people who were 
suppressed by a tyrant, to understand the blessings of liberty. But we 
shouldn't be discouraged when you see the car bombings and killings. It 
saddens us. But remember that last December, 12 million Iraqis went to 
the polls in defiance of car bombers and killers and terrorists, and 
said, ``We want to be free. We want to be free.'' We understand that 
freedom is a universal principle. It is universal--I believe in an 
Almighty, and I believe one of the great gifts of the Almighty is 
freedom. Freedom isn't just, you know, for Methodists or Texans or 
Americans; freedom is for everybody. And it shouldn't surprise us when 
12 million people are free.
    And it shouldn't surprise us that there are killers and terrorists 
who are trying to stop democracy. See, their ideology is the exact 
opposite of a free society. They don't believe in dissent. They don't 
believe in the freedom to worship. They don't believe women should have 
rights. Their ideology is dark and backwards. And yet freedom brings 
light and hope. What you're seeing is an historic--is history being made 
as societies are--as two societies, Afghanistan and Iraq, have found the 
beauty of freedom, and they're establishing constitutional Governments 
of and by and for the people.
    We're going to succeed in Iraq. We will succeed because we've got a 
great military, full of decent and honorable people. We will succeed 
because the Iraqi people want us to succeed. And we will succeed because 
the terrorists and killers offer no hope, whatsoever.
    I want to tell you something about what's going on. I just talked 
today to my buddy Prime Minister Koizumi, 
on the phone. And we were talking about peace. And every time I meet 
with him, we sit down at the table and talk about peace. We talk about 
North Korea. He's got a thousand troops in Iraq because he understands 
the power of democracy to make the world a better place. Yet that wasn't 
necessarily going to happen after World War II. My dad fought the Japanese--I'm sure relatives of yours fought 
the Japanese. They were the sworn enemy of the United States. I think 
it's amazing--don't you--that the President of the United States sits at 
the table talking about peace with the leader of an enemy, former enemy. 
You know what happened? Japan adopted a Japanese-style democracy after 
World War II. Fortunately, one of my predecessors, Harry S. Truman, 
believed in the power of freedom to transform an enemy into an ally.
    Someday, an American President will be sitting down with duly 
elected leaders of Iraq, keeping the peace. Freedom causes people to 
reach for hope. Freedom brings light into society. Democracies don't 
war. What you're seeing today is the hard work of changing a society 
that was under the brutal thumb of a dictator into one that is free. And 
we're laying the foundation of peace for generations to come.
    At home, if you're looking for work, you can find a job. Bob Ehrlich 
and I believe that the role of Government is not to create wealth but to 
create an environment in which the entrepreneurial spirit flourishes. 
That's the principle by which we make decisions. And you might remember, 
we've been through some pretty difficult times in this country when it 
came to our economy. We've been through a recession and a stock market 
correction, an attack on our country; we've been to war to defend 
ourselves; we had some terrible natural disasters; energy prices are up. 
Yet our economy is strong, and it's getting stronger.
    And the reason why our economy grew at 3.5 percent last year--it 
grew at 5.3 percent in the first quarter of this year--the reason why 
the national unemployment rate is 4.7 percent and we've added 5.2 
million new jobs since August of 2003, is because we cut the taxes. We 
believe that when someone has more money to save, spend, or invest, the 
economy grows.

[[Page 1053]]

    Bob Ehrlich and I understand this fact: 70 percent of new jobs in 
America are created by the small-business owners--70 percent. And so if 
you can stimulate small-business growth, you stimulate job growth. And 
by cutting the taxes, individual tax rates, we cut taxes on subchapter 
S's and limited partnerships and sole proprietorships. The tax cuts we 
passed have helped make our small-business sectors strong and robust, 
and America is better off for it.
    Ehrlich is going to fight to keep taxes low. It's not just low on 
some; it's low on everybody. See, we're not these kind of people who 
say, ``Let's have selective tax cuts.'' We believe if you're going to 
cut taxes, you cut taxes on everybody who pays taxes. Tax cuts are good, 
strong economic policy.
    And then there's the other thing in Washington, which Bob knows only 
too well, that says, ``Well, look, you got to raise the taxes to balance 
the budget.'' But that's not the way Washington works. I suspect it's 
not the way Annapolis works. They're going to raise your taxes, but 
they're going to figure out new ways to spend your money. [Laughter] 
That's the way Washington works. I bet that's the way the statehouse 
works too. That's why you've got to have a fiscally sound Governor as 
the Governor of the State of Maryland.
    And so the best way to cut the deficit, at least in Washington, is 
to keep your taxes low so the economy grows. When the economy grows, it 
generates more tax revenues for the treasury--and then be wise about how 
we spend your money.
    We're going to cut the deficit in half by 2009. I told the Congress, 
I said, ``Look, if you bust the supplemental we've got coming up there, 
if you're greater than 92.2 billion and--plus some for the pandemic flu, 
I'm going to veto the bill.'' I'm serious about it, you know. They've 
got to understand that we're going to cut this deficit in half by 2009 
by being wise about how we spend your money and keeping progrowth 
economic policies in place.
    Bob Ehrlich steps into office, as he told you--you took some of my 
speech away from me--[laughter]--but the people of Maryland have got to 
understand, he shows up in office, and they have a $4 billion deficit, 
see. When he shows up, you're in the hole $4 billion. Now he's standing 
up here asking for reelection, and he's able to say to the people of 
Maryland, ``We've got us a $2 billion surplus.'' Don't you want that 
kind of guy back in office?
    Sometimes the temptation, when you get into government, is to grow 
it. And a good place to look is at the office of the Governor; see, 
that's a good place to start to determine whether or not you've got 
yourself a Governor who knows how to manage. See, the chief executive 
officer not only has got to set an agenda and call people to achieve the 
agenda; he's also got to be a manager. He's got to be able to do a lot 
with less, if you're dealing with the taxpayers' money.
    Interestingly enough, he's decreased the size of Maryland's 
executive branch by 7 percent. See, he's in charge of the executive 
branch. And so the voters of Maryland--I don't care whether you're 
Republican or Democrat or independent--need to say to yourself, ``Who 
best to manage the executive branch of the State of Maryland?'' Bob 
Ehrlich has got a strong record.
    The other thing that's interesting that probably doesn't get 
discussed a lot here in Maryland, but should, is what could have 
happened had he not been the Governor. See, we've discussed what he did 
as the Governor. We know what happened since he's the Governor. The 
question is, what would have happened? Well, I'll tell you what would 
have happened. The legislature would have raised $7.5 billion in tax 
increases had you not had this man as the Governor of the State of 
Maryland.
    I'll talk about three things real quick: one, education. I used to 
say when I was the Governor of Texas, education is to a State what 
national defense is to the Federal Government. I think it's by far the

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most important--should be the most important priority of any Governor. I 
know it's a really important priority of Governor Bob Ehrlich. You know 
why? I've been to schools here in Maryland. I've seen him firsthand come 
into classrooms and talk to teachers and parents. And he generally cares 
about making sure the public school system--the public school system 
does what it's supposed to do, and that's educate everybody.
    We had--when I came to Washington, I was very concerned about a 
system that just kind of shuffled people through--social promotion. You 
know we'd say, oh, you're supposed to be--you're X age; you're supposed 
to be here. You know what happened under that system? Impoverished kids, 
inner-city black kids, or kids whose parents don't speak English as a 
first language just got moved through. That's the easiest thing to do. 
And so we changed the attitude. And I'm proud to have a partner in Bob 
Ehrlich who understands, one, you've got to set high standards, see; 
you've got to believe every child can learn; and secondly, in return for 
money, we expect people to measure.
    Now, I believe in local control of schools, and so does Bob. I'm a 
strong believer in local control of schools. But I said, in return for 
increasing Federal money, particularly for poor students, I want to 
know. I want to know whether a child can read and write and add and 
subtract. And I want to know early.
    And so we worked with Governor Ehrlich. He put in a very strong 
accountability system--that's uncomfortable for some people. Oh, I've 
heard every excuse--you know, teaching the test, or you're testing too 
much. I don't accept that and neither does Governor Ehrlich. You can't 
have a good education system unless you determine early whether a child 
can read by grade level, and whether or not, if you find a child not 
reading by grade level, you've got courage enough to change the 
curriculum and make sure that child gets extra help. No Child Left 
Behind Act is working in the State of Maryland because you've got a 
strong education leader in Bob Ehrlich.
    And how do we know? We're measuring. You know, there's an 
achievement gap. So you've got a Governor like Governor Ehrlich, who 
recognizes what I recognize: You can't have an achievement gap in 
America and have America be a hopeful place. You can't have certain kids 
reading at the fourth grade level and other kids not, and you have a 
bright future for your country. You just can't. And he understands that, 
and so do I. And so he said, ``The achievement gap is narrowing.'' Do 
you know why? Do you know? Because we're measuring. High standards, 
strong accountability, local control of schools, demanding change where 
you find the status quo is unsatisfactory is the key to success, and 
Maryland has an education Governor in Bob Ehrlich.
    Why are charter schools important? They're important because if the 
status quo is unacceptable, you need to give parents alternatives. And 
that's what the charter school movement is all about. It says, ``You 
don't trust government to make decisions for people when it comes to 
education; you trust the parents to make the decisions for the 
children.'' And if parents are not happy with the status quo, they ought 
to be given other options. The charter school movement is going to put 
Maryland on the leading edge of educational excellence, and Governor Bob 
Ehrlich gets a lot of credit for being the pioneer of the charter school 
movement in this State.
    Our party is one that has proven that you can have economic growth 
and sound environmental policy at the same time. Environmental policy 
and economic growth are not zero-sum. As a matter of fact, I happen to 
believe that in order to have a good environment, you've got to have a 
strong economy so you can afford that which is necessary to protect the 
environment. Bob Ehrlich has got a very, very strong record of 
conservation.

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    He signed the most important legislation to clean up the Chesapeake 
Bay--ever. That's leadership. Some of them talk a good game--I'm sure 
they're spouting all kinds of stuff about how--[laughter]. This man has 
delivered. The Chesapeake Bay Restoration Act--the Bob Ehrlich ``I'm 
going to protect the Chesapeake Bay'' Act--upgrades the State's 66 
largest waste water treatment plants, upgrades sewage systems to 
increase nitrogen removal.
    The Ehrlich-Steele administration has 
preserved nearly 60,000 acres of fields, forests, and open space and 
farmland. This man has got a record to run on. And if you care about the 
environment here in the State of Maryland, you need to put Bob Ehrlich 
back in as the Governor.
    Finally, I proudly wear the label of compassionate conservative, and 
so does Bob Ehrlich. Let me tell you what I think that means. I think it 
means that government has got to recognize its limits in providing 
compassionate care. See, Government can hand out money, but it can't put 
hope in a person's heart or a sense of purpose in a person's life.
    If you find somebody who hurts in society, it's best to rally a 
person who's heard a universal call to love a neighbor like you'd like 
to be loved yourself. There's nothing better than somebody putting their 
arm around a lonely person and saying, ``How can I help you, brother or 
sister?'' There's nothing better than having a church or a synagogue or 
a mosque take up the cause of feeding the hungry and finding shelter for 
the homeless. Government should not fear the involvement of faith in our 
society; we ought to welcome faith in order to help solve some of 
society's most intractable problems.
    Ehrlich's got the Office of Community Initiatives. He's got a way to 
make sure that bureaucracy gets out of the way of helping people who 
have heard a universal call to help. I oftentimes remind the American 
people that--who look at our country and say, ``Well, our strengths are 
our military''--and it's part of our strength, but that's not the 
greatest strength for America. The size of our wallets, that's 
important. We're a wealthy nation, and we can do a lot with our wealth--
which we're doing, by the way. We're leading the world when it comes to 
feeding the hungry. We're helping fight HIV/AIDS on the continent of 
Africa. This is a generous nation. We believe to whom much is given, 
much is required. But the greatest strength of this country lies in the 
hearts and souls of our citizens.
    Alexis De Tocqueville recognized that when he came to America in 
1832. He recognized that one of the really unusual things about our 
society, characteristics of our society, was the voluntary organizations 
all aimed at helping someone who is down and out. That's what he 
recognized. Our job is--my job as President and Bob's job as the 
Governor is to recognize that strength and to rally that strength and to 
call people to serve; is to help those who need help, by calling on a 
fellow citizen to love a neighbor like they'd like to be loved 
themselves.
    You've got a good man as your Governor in the State of Maryland, and 
you need to put him back in office, for the good of the people. Thanks 
for coming. God bless.

Note: The President spoke at 6:25 p.m. at the BWI Airport Marriott. In 
his remarks, he referred to John M. Kane, chairman, Maryland Republican 
Party; Michael S. Steele, Lieutenant Governor of Maryland and former 
Senatorial candidate; former President Saddam Hussein of Iraq; and Prime 
Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan.

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