    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book II)]
    [September 7, 2006]
    [Pages 1629-1635]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Reception for Congressional Candidate Max Burns in Pooler, Georgia
    September 7, 2006

        Thanks for coming. I want to thank you all for coming and joining me
    in supporting my friend Max Burns to be the next Congressman from this
    district.
        Max, this is a good sign that so many people would show up.
    [Laughter] And I thank you for supporting him. I know him quite well.
    See, as he mentioned, we have worked together before. He's not an
    unknown quantity. You don't have to guess about his political
    philosophy. You don't have to worry about whether he will do the right
    thing. Max Burns is a man who is the right man to represent the 12th
    Congressional District for the State of Georgia. And I want to thank you
    for giving him this strong support.
        Max not--I not only think Max is the right guy, but so does
    Laura. [Laughter] She sends her love to the Burns
    family, to Lora and Max. She sends her thanks to
    all of you. And she reminded me to remind--to thank you for the
    fantastic experience we had down here in 2004. If you ever want to host
    an international conference, I strongly suggest this part of the
    country. The G-8 was a great success, primarily because of the beauty of
    the coastline and, more importantly, the warmth of the people here on
    the coastline. And so we're proud to be back in Savannah. This is good
    country with good people. And I'm proud to be back, and I'm real proud
    to be supporting Max.
        Today I'm traveling from Atlanta, where I gave a speech, the third
    of three speeches on what we're doing to secure this country, and I
    traveled over on Air Force One with a man who is doing a fabulous job as
    the Governor of an important State, and that's Governor Sonny
    Perdue. Sonny, thanks for coming. He's a
    straightforward fellow. He's the kind of guy, frankly, that the Texas
    voters would be comfortable with. [Laughter] He's no-nonsense. He's
    down-to-earth. What you see is what you get. And even though he didn't
    ask, I do want to remind you to support him for his reelection. He
    deserves it.

    [[Page 1630]]

        Max is going to be working with a really important and a very fine
    senatorial group of folks from Georgia. I know firsthand because I work
    with them all the time. This State has done a very smart thing in
    sending Saxby Chambliss and Johnny
    Isakson to the United States Senate. I'm
    proud they're here, and I thank them for coming.
        I'm looking forward to getting my instructions on Air Force One
    flying back to Washington. [Laughter] They're not shy about telling me
    what's on their mind, and it usually starts with, ``Here's what's best
    for Georgia.''
        I'm proud to be here with Eric Johnson,
    president pro tem of the Georgia State Senate. Thanks for coming,
    senator. Tommie Williams, who is the
    majority leader of the Georgia State Senate, is with us. Senator, thank
    you for coming as well.
        I know Max appreciates the statehouse people supporting him. I know
    he is proud to have the support of those who run for office themselves.
    It's a good sign. When people have been out there knocking on doors
    saying, ``I'm for this man for Congress,'' they know what the grassroots
    are thinking; they know what the people want. The people want Max Burns
    to return to the United States Congress, and so do I.
        Swainsboro mayor, Mayor Charles Schwabe
    is with us today. Mayor, thank you for coming. I appreciate Karen
    Handel, who's the candidate for secretary of
    state, joining us today. Perry McGuire, the
    candidate for the attorney general for the State of Georgia, is with us
    as well. Brent Brown and Gary Black--they're colorful characters--[laughter]--running
    for the labor commissioner and agriculture commissioner.
        I appreciate--let me just say this--I appreciate all of you running
    statewide. It's hard work. I know you want me to say this--these folks
    need your help too. It's not easy to be a candidate; it just isn't. And
    when you find somebody as honest as Max, who's willing to step up there
    and run, I believe you owe him more than just writing a check; I believe
    you owe him putting up those signs. That's what I believe. I believe you
    owe him time, if you don't mind me saying so. He's counting on it, and
    so am I. It's important to have good, strong, decent, honorable people
    like Max Burns representing you in the United States Congress.
        I want to thank Mike Wiggins, the candidate
    for the Georgia Supreme Court. I appreciate you being here, Mike.
        And finally, I can't--I want to thank the original members of the
    Mighty Eighth Air Force. I want to thank the museum director. This is a spectacular facility, and we're grateful
    that we could use it.
        These are historic times in which we live. These are--and that's why
    it's important to have people in the Congress who clearly see the
    challenges this Nation faces. We are a nation at war. I can't tell you
    how much I wish I could come to Savannah, Georgia, and say we weren't at
    war. I wish I could report that to you, but I can't.
        It should have been clear to the American people that we're still
    under threat when a couple of weeks ago, working with Great Britain, we
    uncovered yet another plot. People were going to get on airplanes bound
    for the United States and destroy them because they can't stand what we
    believe. We're facing ideologues.
        In other words, these are people that have a belief system. The best
    way to understand the belief system they have is to think opposite of
    what we believe. We believe in the freedom of people to worship. See,
    you're equally American if you're Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu,
    agnostic, whatever. You're equally American. You have the right to
    choose. The people that face us, the radicals and extremists who attack
    us, believe you ought to worship one way, the way they believe, or else
    you're condemned. We believe in people being able to express themselves
    in the public square. We believe in dissent. We believe in the freedom
    of the press. We believe in freedom, and they don't.

    [[Page 1631]]

        I will be in New York City and in Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon
    next Monday with Laura. It is a day for us to
    remember the sorrow and the horror of that day. It's a day for us to
    remember the incredible bravery of first-responders who were willing to
    rush into danger to save life. It's a day to remember those on the
    airplane that drove that airplane into the ground, which was the first
    victory in the war on terror.
        And it's also a day to remember the lessons learned. And the first
    lesson learned from that day is that the most important duty that those
    of us in the executive branch and the legislative branch have is to
    protect the American people from harm. And the best way to do so is to
    stay on the offense, is to defeat the enemy overseas so we do not have
    to face them here at home.
        So I need Members of Congress who understand that we must give our
    troops and intelligence and those responsible for protecting America all
    the support they need. See, in order to stay on the offense, we have got
    to support those on the frontline of protecting the American people. We
    will use all assets to defend this Nation.
        I learned another lesson, and that is, in order to protect the
    country, we must deny the enemy safe haven. See, the people were
    plotting and planning to attack us from Afghanistan, and so I laid out a
    doctrine that said, if you harbor a terrorist, you're equally as guilty
    as the terrorist. You'll be an enemy of the United States, and we will
    hold you to account.
        The Taliban found out what I meant, and so over the last 5 years, we
    liberated 25 million people in Afghanistan but, equally important,
    denied the radicals, the extremists, a safe haven from which to plot and
    plan. I need Members of Congress who understand--Members like Max
    Burns--that when the President says something, he better mean what he
    says, in order to make sure the world is a more peaceful place.
        A lesson of September the 11th, an important lesson for the
    President and Members of Congress and people of the United States is
    that when we see a threat, we must take the threat seriously before they
    come to the United States and hurt us. I saw a threat in Iraq. I not
    only saw the threat; nations around the world saw the threat.
    Republicans and Democrats in the United States Congress saw the same
    threat. We went to the United Nations and said to Saddam
    Hussein, ``Disclose, disarm, or face serious
    consequences.'' I believe that when the President and the world speaks,
    they better mean what they say, in order to keep the peace. I meant what
    it said. Saddam Hussein didn't. He ignored the demands of the free
    world. Our coalition removed Saddam Hussein from power, and the world is
    better off.
        And now the question is, will the United States of America keep its
    word and help this young democracy survive? It's really the challenge.
    And it's hard work. I fully understand why Americans are troubled by the
    death and destruction they see on their television screens. I know that.
    You see, it's easy to understand because I understand the compassion of
    the United States of America. Isn't it a wonderful country when people
    suffer when they see a child maimed by an extremist's car bomb. It's the
    nature of our country. We care deeply. We suffer when one of our
    youngsters lose their life in combat.
        The stakes in Iraq are incredibly high, however. It's really
    important that we succeed. It's important for a lot of reasons. If we
    were to leave before the job is done, and the job is this: to help this
    young democracy govern itself, sustain itself, and defend itself; to
    help this young democracy that has formed because 12 million people went
    to the polls and said, ``We're tired of tyranny; we're tired of
    subjugation; we want to be free.''
        That's the challenge. If we leave before the job is done, if we
    leave before this

    [[Page 1632]]

    country's forces are able to defend themselves from the enemies of
    freedom who want to destroy this young democracy, if we forget the words
    of Usama bin Laden, who has declared that
    Iraq is the central part of this war on terror, if we ignore the words
    of Zawahiri, the number-two man in Al
    Qaida, who has said that what we're going to do is drive America out of
    Iraq; we'll be able to use Iraq then as a launching pad to destroy
    moderate governments in the Middle East; we'll be able to launch attacks
    against our enemy, America. If we ignore those words, if we ignore the
    hopes and aspirations of the Iraqi people, we will have failed when
    history looks back.
        We will have created a situation that is more dangerous than today.
    We will have said to our enemies that we will give you a key victory in
    the war on terror. We will have said to our friends, ``You can't count
    on us.'' We will have said to the reformers and moderates in the Middle
    East who are so desperate to live in a society that is hopeful that
    ``You don't matter.'' We will say to the troops and their families who
    have sacrificed, ``Your sacrifice wasn't worth it.''
        Make no mistake about it, if the United States leaves before the
    mission is complete, the enemy will follow us here to America. The
    stakes are high. We will help this Government succeed, and we will
    achieve victory in Iraq.
        I have defined the struggle we're in as the ideological struggle of
    the 21st century. You see, we face the task not only of protecting
    ourselves in the short run by staying on the offense and improving our
    intelligence and finding people before they come here; we also have a
    weapon for the long term. And that is, in order to win an ideological
    struggle, you have to be able to have an ideology of hope that defeats
    an ideology of hate.
        And we have such an ideology; we live it. It's an ideology based
    upon liberty. It's this notion that we strongly believe here in America
    that democracies don't war, that a free society is the best way to
    prevent radicalism and extremism from convincing people to become
    suiciders. Free societies equal hopeful societies.
        You know, one of the challenges I face as your President is to make
    it absolutely clear the stakes in this war on terror. And what I'm
    saying is, the stakes are more than just protecting you from attack. The
    stakes really are protecting future generations from attack. If we were
    to leave early and concede the Middle East to the enemies of freedom,
    imagine a world in which moderate governments get toppled. Imagine a
    world in which extremists and radicals have control of oil that they'll
    be able to use to inflict incredible economic damage on those of us who
    love liberty. Imagine a world in which state sponsors of terror have a
    nuclear weapon to be able to blackmail the world. Imagine such a world.
    I can see it coming if America does not do our duty and support
    moderation over extremism.
        The other day in a speech, I said, ``Fifty years from now, if the
    United States does not rise to the challenge, a generation of our
    citizens will look back and say, `What happened? What happened to
    America?' '' No President is going to allow this to happen, and I'm not
    going to allow this to happen. We will--[applause].
        And I got great confidence in the outcome. You know, I guess the
    best way for me to describe why I'm confident is to tell you about my
    experience with Prime Minister Koizumi of
    Japan. You might remember, recently I had the pleasurable experience of
    going to Elvis's place--[laughter]--Graceland, right there in Memphis,
    Tennessee. Isn't that interesting? I thought it was. [Laughter] I
    invited him to go down to Graceland, and I'd never been to Graceland. I
    thought it would be kind of fun to go down there, and Laura wanted to go. [Laughter] More importantly, he wanted to
    go. See, he's an Elvis fan. [Laughter] I also wanted to send a message

    [[Page 1633]]

    to our fellow citizens that is relevant today, and here it is. One way
    to put it is--and can you imagine somebody in 1948, after World War II,
    after the bloody battles and fighting the Japanese--the sworn enemy of
    the United States--saying, ``You know, I'll make a prediction for you;
    someday, an American President is going to be taking a Japanese Prime
    Minister to the home of a famous American singer.'' [Laughter] I don't
    think that person would have had much credibility. [Laughter]
        Something happened between when my dad
    and many of your relatives fought the Japanese in a bloody war, and the
    43d President is on Air Force One flying down to see Elvis Presley.
    Something happened: Japan adopted a Japanese-style democracy. Liberty
    has got the capacity to convert enemies into allies. That's what history
    tells us. You know, when the Prime Minister and I flew down on Air Force One to Elvis's place,
    we didn't talk about Elvis. We talked about keeping the peace. We talked
    about North Korea. We talked about the fact that he had 1,000 troops
    helping this young democracy in Iraq, because he understands what I
    know: Liberty can transform areas of hate into areas of hope. Someday,
    an American President is going to be sitting down with duly elected
    leaders in the Middle East talking about keeping the peace, and a
    generation of Americans will be better off.
        Max Burns understands the stakes. He's going to be the right guy to
    represent you in Washington. He also understands this: He, like me,
    understands that if you're worried about whether your economy is going
    to grow, that the best way to encourage growth is to just let you keep
    more of your own money. See, we have a theory that says, if you have
    more money in your pocket to save, invest, or spend, the economy will
    grow.
        And you know what? We tested our theory in the face of recession,
    corporate scandal, war, Katrina, high energy prices, and it works.
    Today, the national unemployment rate is 4.7 percent. We've added over
    5\1/2\ million jobs since August of 2003. Our economy is the strongest
    of any major industrialized nation in the world. Lowering your taxes has
    worked.
        I want to work with Max to make sure the tax cuts we passed are
    permanent. You know, it's interesting in Washington; you'll hear people
    say, ``Well, we just need to raise your taxes to balance the budget.''
    That's the language of a lot of folks up there. That's not the way
    Washington works. Max understands this, as do I. Here's the way it
    works: They'll say, ``Okay, we'll raise your taxes, but we will figure
    out new ways to spend your money.'' [Laughter] The best way to balance
    this budget--and we're on the way to doing so. I said we'll cut the
    deficit in half by 2009; we're cutting it in half by 2008. The best way
    to balance the budget is to keep progrowth economic policies in place--
    that means low taxes and be wise about how we spend your money--is to
    set priorities about how we spend your money.
        And here are my priorities. Here are my priorities. The first
    priority is to spend enough money to make sure we can protect the
    homeland. The Port of Savannah, I understand, is an important part of
    securing the homeland. You need a Congressman who can pick up the phone
    and say, ``Mr. President, you came and talked about the Port of Savannah
    when you campaigned for me.'' That Congressman is going to be Max Burns.
        And the other priority is to make sure our troops, our brave men and
    women who wear the uniform of the United States of America, have all it
    takes to defend the United States of America. Max understands that. He
    understands when you put a kid in harm's way, they deserve the full
    support of the United States Government.
        A couple other things I want to talk about right quick is, you know,
    the country shouldn't fear the future. We really shouldn't. As a matter
    of fact, we ought

    [[Page 1634]]

    to welcome the future and shape the future. And the best way to remain
    the world's leading economy, which I strongly think we ought to do, is
    not only keep taxes low and keep lawsuits reasonable, make sure the
    entrepreneurial spirit is strong--is to do some things on energy. I am
    concerned about the fact that we are addicted to foreign oil. I know
    that might sound odd for somebody from Texas to say, but I am a
    realistic fellow. See, I get to see the consequences of needing energy
    from parts of the world that don't like us. That creates a national
    security issue.
        The world is connected today so that when demand for crude oil goes
    up in China and India, it affects the price of gasoline in Savannah,
    Georgia. There are economic consequences, and there are national
    security consequences for being dependent on foreign sources of oil, and
    we have started a very strong initiative to diversify away from oil. And
    I'm going to work with Max to make sure that the ethanol initiative that
    we promoted--an initiative that says we want Georgia farmers growing
    energy on behalf of the American people.
        Old Max said this--I thought this was an interesting quote--so for
    all the farmers who might be listening to what your Congressman thinks,
    he said, ``I already know Georgia farmers are the best providers of food
    and fiber in the world, and if we can grow it, eat it, drink it, and
    wear it, then certainly we can burn it.'' And we need to be selling that
    which Georgia grows.
        Now, I know the trade is important for the Port of Savannah. I just
    want to tell you my view on trade. I believe it's in the interest of
    Georgia farmers--I know it's in the interest of Savannah, people who
    depend upon the Port of Savannah--to have more markets for U.S. goods.
        We're 5 percent of the people in the world, in the United States.
    That means 95 percent of the world is potential customers. But trade
    means this to me--it just says--let me put it to you this way: I want
    the other people to treat us the way we treat them. That's all I ask.
    Treat us fairly. America can compete with anybody, anytime, anywhere, so
    long as the playing field is level, and that's what we'll be working for
    in Washington, DC.
        In order for America to be a great nation, we got to make sure that
    we have got an education system that is giving the kids the skills
    necessary to be able to compete in a global economy. And that starts
    with the early grades. It means we got to make sure a child can read,
    write, and add and subtract early, before it's too late.
        I'm a strong believer in the No Child Left Behind Act. It believes
    in local control of schools. It says the Governor sets the policy. But
    it also says that, in return for Federal money, you measure, so we can
    know. There's nothing worse than a system that guesses on whether a
    child has got the skills necessary to compete. We need to know early.
    And if we find a child that needs extra help, we'll provide extra help
    so no child is left behind.
        Max is an educator. He knows what he's talking about when it comes
    to education. And 2007 is going to be an important year when it comes to
    reauthorizing No Child Left Behind. This district would be wise to send
    a good man, who knows what he's talking about when it comes to educating
    children, to Washington, DC.
        Laura said, ``Don't talk too long when you
    get up there.'' I'm running out of oxygen, and so are you. [Laughter]
        I do want to share one other thought about our country. I mean
    there's a lot of issues, and Max will be talking about them. One of the
    most important initiatives that I have started in Washington is called
    the Faith-Based and Community-Based Initiative.
        The reason it's an important initiative is because it taps into the
    strength, the true strength of the American people, and that is the
    hearts of the American people. We are a compassionate neighbor. It's
    just an amazing country, isn't it, where there are millions of acts of
    kindness that take place

    [[Page 1635]]

    on a daily basis without one government edict. People are listening to
    a--many times, to a higher calling, a calling much higher than
    government.
        De Tocqueville, a Frenchman, came to America in the 1830s and saw
    the spirit of America. He saw the fact that America is a unique place
    because there were voluntary associations where people bound together to
    help solve community problems.
        I strongly believe that many of the most intractable problems in
    society require something more than government, and therefore, our
    society must welcome the healers and helpers and people full of love as
    a part of solving and improving the human condition. And one practical
    thing--the way to do this is to open up Federal money for competitive
    grants to houses of worship.
        See, I firmly believe that there are some neighborhoods in which the
    church or the synagogue or the mosque can be much more effective than
    the government program. After all, people who go to the houses of
    worship go because they want to love a neighbor just like they'd like to
    be loved themselves.
        Ours is a fantastic country, full of the armies of compassion that
    feed the hungry and find shelter to the homeless and put their arm
    around somebody and says, ``I love you, brother; what can I do to
    help?'' Government is of law and justice; love comes from a higher
    calling. And I need Members of the United States Congress who are
    willing to stand strong to make sure the Faith-Based Initiative in
    Washington, DC, is strong, active, and alive, so we can help change
    America one heart, one soul, one conscience at a time.
        And so I've come back to Savannah with a simple message: Please send
    a good man--a good, smart man--a good, honest, smart man, who loves his
    family and loves the people of this district, to the United States
    Congress. And that man is Max Burns.
        Thanks for coming. May God bless.

    Note: The President spoke at 1:46 p.m. at the Mighty Eighth Air Force
    Museum. In his remarks, he referred to Walter E. Brown, president and
    chief executive officer, Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum; former
    President Saddam Hussein of Iraq; Usama bin Laden, leader of the Al
    Qaida terrorist organization; Ayman Al-Zawahiri, founder of Egyptian
    Islamic Jihad and senior Al Qaida associate; and Prime Minister
    Junichiro Koizumi of Japan.