[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book II)]
[October 28, 2006]
[Pages 1936-1943]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks at an Indiana Victory 2006 Rally in Sellersburg, Indiana
October 28, 2006
The President. Thank you all. Thank you for your warm welcome. I
appreciate being here. You know, recently the First Lady was here. She told me there's no finer day to spend a
Saturday than in southern Indiana. She also told me there's no finer
Congressman for the people of this district than Mike Sodrel. As usual, Laura is right. Mike Sodrel needs to be
sent back to the United States Congress.
As a member of the Indiana National Guard, he has served our country in uniform, and as a Congressman,
he is a strong supporter of the United States military. Mike Sodrel
supports the veterans.
I think it's good to have a man representing you who knows what it
means to build a company from the bottom up, somebody who knows what it
means to meet a payroll, somebody who brings fiscal discipline to the
Nation's Capital. As a father and a grandfather, Mike Sodrel understands Indiana values, and he's standing up
for those values in Washington, DC.
The stakes are high in this election. Your vote will have an impact
not only on your lives here but a impact that will help determine the
course of this Nation. I want to thank you for supporting this good
man. The election of Mike Sodrel is
important for the United States of America.
Laura sends her love. Sodrel told me coming over, he said, ``The event with Laura was
so great, we felt like asking you to stay at home and bring her back.''
[Laughter] I appreciate being with Keta--Keta Sodrel. I appreciate being with all the Sodrel children and the
grandchildren. These are people who put family first, and that's
important.
I want to thank all the statewide elected officials who are here
today. Thank you for coming.
Audience members. U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!
The President. I want to thank all the grassroots activists who are
here today. I thank you for putting up the signs. I thank you for making
the phone calls. I thank you do the work--I thank you for, in advance,
what you're going to do in the next week, and that's send this good man
back to the United States Congress.
Election day is 10 days away, and we're going to sprint to the
finish line. I understand you've probably been paying attention
[[Page 1937]]
to the pundits in Washington, DC. They think the election is already
over. As a matter of fact, some of them in Washington are already
measuring the drapes for their new offices.
Audience members. Boo!
The President. In other words, they're taking your vote for granted.
Audience members. Boo!
The President. This isn't the first time that's happened. You might
remember, back in 2004, they were picking out new offices in the West
Wing. [Laughter] Things turned out a little differently on election day.
The movers never got the phone call. This November 7th, voters are going
to defy all the pundits in Washington, DC, and send this good
man back to the United States Congress. We
will control the House of Representatives, and we will control the
United States Senate. We will win this election because we've got good,
strong candidates like Mike Sodrel, and we will win this election
because we got a record to run on.
For decades, our public schools failed too many students. We passed
the No Child Left Behind Act. We demanded high standards and strong
accountability, and we are bringing America closer to the day when every
single child in this country gets a good education.
For decades, we've been growing dependent on foreign oil. So we took
the lead. We passed an energy bill that supports conservation and
expands domestic production. But we're also spending money to make sure
that Indiana farmers produce the fuel for our cars in the future.
Mike and I understand this: When the
agricultural economy is strong, that's good for the United States of
America.
For decades, Medicare was outdated. It wasn't serving our seniors as
well as it could. So we passed landmark legislation to modernize the
Medicare system. Now 33 million seniors have more choices and access to
affordable goods, and the days of our poor seniors having to choose
between food and medicine are over.
For decades, we have not had complete control over our southern
border, and illegal immigration has been on the rise. So we have acted.
I sent National Guard troops down there to help our Border Patrol. We're
adding thousands of new Border Patrol. We will reform our immigration
system, and we will uphold the immigration laws of the United States.
Activist judges try to define America by court order. Just this week
in New Jersey----
Audience members. Boo!
The President. ----another activist court issued a ruling that
raises doubt about the institution of marriage. We believe that marriage
is the union between a man and a woman, and should be defended. I will
continue to appoint judges who strictly interpret the law and not
legislate from the bench. America is better off because John
Roberts and Sam Alito are serving on the Supreme Court of the United States.
We have a record to run on. And I appreciate Mike Sodrel's support on these important issues. There are big
differences in Washington, DC, between Republicans and Democrats, and
when it comes--and perhaps the biggest differences can be seen in two
issues: Which party will keep your taxes low and keep this economy
growing, and which party will take the necessary steps to protect you
from the terrorists?
Let me start with taxes. We have a clear philosophy. We believe that
you know how to spend your money far better than the Federal Government
does. We believe that when you have more money in your pocket to save,
invest, or spend, the economy benefits. The Democrats believe they
should raise your taxes so they can spend your money.
Audience members. Boo!
The President. We not only have a philosophy, we acted on that
philosophy. We passed the largest tax relief since Ronald Reagan was the
President of the United
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States. We cut the taxes on everyone who pays income taxes. We doubled
the child tax credit. We reduced the marriage penalty. We cut taxes on
small businesses. We cut taxes on capital gains and dividends to
encourage investment. And to reward hard work and small-business owners
and farmers for a lifetime of work, we put the death tax on the road to
extinction.
You might remember the debate. The Democrats in Washington predicted
the tax cuts wouldn't create jobs, would not create wages, and would
cause the Federal deficit to explode. Truth is, the facts are in. The
tax cuts have led to a growing economy that has added 6.6 million new
jobs since August of 2003. Real wages have risen 2.2 percent over the
past 12 months. We have cut the deficit in half 3 years ahead of
schedule.
And now the Democrats in Washington have another prediction--they're
telling you they're going win on election day. If their electoral
predictions are as reliable as their economic predictions, November 7th
is going to be a great day for the Republican Party.
They don't really want you to know their position when it comes to
taxes. They really don't want you to know that they're going to raise up
your taxes. As a matter of fact, the Member from California, the ranking leader, the minority leader in the House,
who wants to be the Speaker----
Audience members. Boo!
The President. Here's what she said the
other day. She said, ``We love tax cuts.'' That's what she said. Given
her record, she must be a secret admirer. [Laughter] She and her party
voted against reducing the marriage penalty, voted against cutting taxes
on small businesses, voting against lowering taxes on families with
children, voted against getting rid of the death tax. Time and time
again, when she and the Democrat Party had an opportunity to show their
love for tax cuts, they voted no. If this is the Democrats' idea of
love, I wouldn't want to see what hate looks like. [Laughter]
See, here's the way it's going to work. If we don't make permanent
the tax cuts or if the tax cuts are not extended, you're going to get a
tax increase. And so they asked the man
who would be head of the Ways and Means Committee if we don't win--we
will win--he said he can't think of one of the tax cuts he would extend.
See, in other words, he's going to let them all expire. Now, think about
what that means if you are a small-business owner--and we've got a lot
of small-business owners here in southern Indiana. If you're a small-
business owner who pays taxes at the individual rate, the Democrats are
going to raise your taxes. If you're a small-business owner who wants to
expand and invest in new equipment, the Democrats are going to raise
your taxes.
Audience members. Boo!
The President. If you're a small-business owner who wants to pass on
your life's work to your children and grandchildren, the Democrats want
to raise your taxes. If you're a small-business owner, you better vote
for Mike Sodrel to make sure your taxes
stay low.
When a Democrat can't--say they can't think of one of the tax cuts
they would extend, I want you to think about what it means for our
families. The child tax credit would be cut in half from $1,000 to $500.
So when you're sitting around the dinner table this evening, and if
you've got one child sitting there, you can rest assured that your
taxes, if the Democrats take over, will go up by 500. If you happen to
have two children, that's $1,000 tax increase. If you have four
children, that's a $2,000 tax increase. That may not seem like a lot to
the Democrats in Washington, DC, but we understand it's a lot for you,
and we're going to keep your taxes low.
They want to get in your pocketbook, and we're not going to let
them. A big
[[Page 1939]]
issue in this campaign is taxes. The Democrats will raise your taxes,
and the Republicans will keep your taxes low.
This election is taking place in an historic time for our country.
When people look back at this period of time, the question will be, did
we do everything in our power to protect the American people and win the
war on terror? And we are in a war. It came to our shores on September
the 11th, 2001. And on that day, I vowed to use every element of
national power to defend the American people and to defeat the
terrorists.
Audience members. U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!
The President. We face an enemy that--which is brutal. There is no
negotiation with these people. These are ideologues who have a backward
and hateful vision of the world. They do not believe in freedom. They
hate America because we do believe in freedom. For those who say,
``Bring them at the table to discuss our differences,'' they do not
understand the nature of these people. The best way to protect the
American people is to bring them to justice before they hurt us again.
We have been implementing a strategy to protect you. You know, the
enemy can be right one time, and we must be right 100 percent of the
time to protect the American people. And that is why I said that we must
break down walls that prevent the intelligence community and enforcement
community from sharing information. And so, working with Members in
Congress like Mike Sodrel, we passed the
PATRIOT Act.
I understand this is a different kind of war. For you World War II
vets here, this is not a war that can be determined by how many
airplanes we shoot down or what kind of territory we take. It's a
different kind of war. And it means good intelligence. In order to be
able to protect you, we must know what the enemy is thinking and getting
ready to do. That's why when Al Qaida or an Al Qaida affiliate is making
a phone call from outside the United States to inside the United States,
we want to know why.
In this new kind of war, we must be willing to question the enemy
when we pick them up on the battlefield. We have captured people like
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who our
intelligence community thinks was the mastermind of the September the
11th attacks. When we captured him, I said to the Central Intelligence
Agency, ``Why don't we find out what he knows in order to be able to
protect America from another attack.''
In the past year, Congress has voted on each of these critical tools
in the fight against terror, and these votes have revealed a clear
pattern and a clear difference of opinion. When it came time to renew
the PATRIOT Act, more than 75 percent of the House Democrats voted
against it.
Audience members. Boo!
The President. When it came time on whether to allow the Central
Intelligence Agency to continue to detain and question terrorists,
almost 80 percent of the House Democrats voted against it.
Audience members. Boo!
The President. When it came time to vote on whether the NSA should
continue to monitor terrorist communications through the terrorist
surveillance program, almost 90 percent of House Democrats voted against
it.
Audience members. Boo!
The President. In all these vital measures for fighting the war on
terror, the Democrats in Washington follow a simple philosophy: Just say
no. When it comes to listening in on the terrorists, what's the
Democratic answer? Just say no. When it comes to detaining terrorists,
what's the Democrat answer?
Audience members. Just say no!
The President. When it comes to questioning terrorists, what's the
Democrat answer?
Audience members. Just say no!
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The President. When it comes to trying terrorists, what's the
Democrats' answer?
Audience members. Just say no!
The President. So when the Democrats ask for your vote on November
the 7th, what are you going to say?
Audience members. Just say no!
The President. Here are some questions we're asking all around the
country: Do you want your Government to listen in on the terrorists?
Audience members. Yes!
The President. Do you want your Government to detain the terrorists?
Audience members. Yes!
The President. Do you want your Government to question the
terrorists?
Audience members. Yes!
The President. Do you want your Government to do whatever it takes
to bring justice to the terrorists?
Audience members. Yes!
The President. And so when Republicans ask for your vote on November
7, what's your answer?
Audience members. Yes!
The President. We will continue to make sure our professionals have
the tools necessary to protect you. And I want to thank Mike
Sodrel for his strong support for our
professionals on the frontline of protecting the American people. But
the best way to protect you is to go on the offense and defeat the enemy
overseas so we do not have to face them here.
One of the lessons of September the 11th is that when we see a
threat, we must take it seriously before that threat comes home to hurt
us. I saw a threat in Saddam Hussein; members
of both political parties in Congress saw a threat in Saddam Hussein;
the United Nations saw the threat in Saddam Hussein. Getting rid of
Saddam Hussein was the right policy; the world is better off for it.
And now Iraq is a central front in this war against the terrorists.
You know, in Washington, DC----
Audience member. You're the man, George!
The President. I want you to listen to the words of a senior
Democrat in the House of Representatives. The
person went on to say, ``The President says that fighting them there
makes it less likely we will have to fight them here. The opposite is
true''--the person went on to say--``Because we're fighting them there,
it may become more likely we will have to fight them here.''
Here's what that person does not understand: You do not create
terrorism by fighting the terrorists, and Iraq is not the reason the
terrorists are at war against us. I would remind that Democrat that our
troops were not in Iraq when the terrorists first attacked the World
Trade Center in 1993. We were not in Iraq when they blew up our
Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. We were not in Iraq when they blew up
the USS Cole. And we were not in Iraq when they killed nearly 3,000 of
our citizens on September the 11th.
Five years after September the 11th, too many Democrats still do not
get it. The best way to protect this homeland is to find the enemy and
defeat them overseas. Oh, I know you've heard all the discussion about
Iraq. They say--in Washington, the Democrats say, it's not a part of the
war against the terrorists; it's a distraction. Well, don't take my word
for it, listen to Usama bin Laden. He has
made it clear that Iraq is a central part of this war on terror. He and
his number-two man, Zawahiri, have made
it abundantly clear that their goal is to inflict enough damage on
innocent life and damage on our own troops so that we leave before the
job is done. And why do they want to do that? They want to establish
safe haven, like the safe haven they had in Afghanistan, from which to
launch further attacks on the United States of America. They want to
have a base from which to topple moderate governments.
Imagine a world in which violent radicals have seized power in the
Middle East and they've toppled moderate governments and
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they use oil to extract blackmail from the West. And couple that with an
armed, nuclear Iran, and 30 years from now people are going to look back
and say, ``What happened to them in 2006? How come they couldn't see the
danger?'' And that is why we will defeat the enemy in Iraq.
We have a plan for victory. Our goal is a country that can sustain
itself, govern itself, and defend itself and will be an ally in the war
on terror. The enemy's goal is to get us to retreat before the job is
done. I'm in close contact with our commanders. I tell them, ``Whatever
it takes to achieve victory, I support.'' They tell me that they're
constantly adjusting their tactics to meet an enemy which is changing
its tactics. Oh, the fighting is tough; I understand that. And it is
brutal. The enemy has an advantage because they're willing to kill
innocent people, and that gets on our TV screens. It's hard to measure
the progress of a new hospital or new schools or people willing to be
brave and tough. The enemy understands that it's a matter of time, in
their mind, before we retreat. But they don't understand the American
people, and they don't understand this administration. We will put a
plan in place.
I can't tell you how proud I am to be the Commander in Chief of such
incredibly brave men and women who have volunteered to wear the uniform
of the United States.
Audience members. U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!
The President. And when it comes time--and when they send those
bills up there to support our men and women in uniform, I don't have any
doubt where Mike Sodrel is going to land.
He is a strong supporter of the military. He knows what I know: Any time
you have an American in harm's way, he or she deserves the full support
of the American Government.
We've got a strong asset in our military. We've got something else
going for us in Iraq, brave Iraqis. They have suffered unbelievable
violence. But they remember the 12 million people that voted. They want
to succeed. We've got a security track so that these Iraqis can defend
themselves. We've got a political track so that the Government is of and
by and for the people. We've got an economic track to help them realize
the vast potential of that country. We'll succeed. The only way we will
not succeed is if we leave before the job is done.
And all the people listening here, I want you to think about the
Democrat plan for success: There isn't one. [Laughter] Iraq is the
central front in this war, and yet leading Democrats argue we should
pull out right now.
Audience members. Boo!
The President. Others suggest we should draw--withdraw on a specific
date, even if we have not accomplished the mission.
Audience members. Noo!
The President. Others recommend moving our troops to an island some
5,000 miles away.
Audience members. Boo!
The President. Nineteen House Democrats introduced legislation that
would cut off funds for our troops in Iraq.
Audience members. Boo!
The President. This week, one Democrat Senator explained her party's position this way: ``We haven't
coalesced around a single plan, but we're in general agreement on the
basic principles.'' She's right. They are in agreement on one thing:
They will leave before the job is done. And we will not let them.
I'm not saying these people are unpatriotic; I'm saying they're
wrong. You cannot win a war if you're unwilling to fight the war.
Retreat before the job was done would embolden the enemy. It would
provide new safe haven. It would enable the enemy to recruit. It would
dash the hope of millions who want to simply live in peace. It would
dishonor the sacrifice of the men and women who have worn the uniform of
the United States of America.
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This is a different kind of war, and it's important for Republicans
and Democrats and independents to understand this fact: If we were to
leave before the job was done, the enemy would follow us to the United
States. And that is why victory is our goal, and that is why we will
achieve victory. A victory will be a blow to the terrorists. A victory
will say to those in the Middle East--``Do you believe in freedom?''--
that we do. A victory will make Iraq an ally on the war on terror. A
victory in Iraq will make generations of young Americans more secure.
And that is why we will stay, we will fight, and we will win.
I want to share a story with you. I want to share--if you can stand
it, I want to share a story with you. I want to talk about something
really powerful that we've got at our disposal. It's called liberty. I
don't know if you remember, but recently I flew down to Elvis's place
with the then-sitting Prime Minister of Japan. People said, ``Why did you go down there?'' And I
said, ``Well, one, I've never been there.'' [Laughter] Secondly, he
wanted to go there. [Laughter]
But I also want to tell a story about the power of liberty, and here
it is. In the late 1940s, we got attacked. And by the way, more people
died on September the 11th than died at Pearl Harbor. And a lot of young
Americans--many of them probably your relatives--volunteered to fight
the sworn enemy, the Japanese. One of them was Navy fighter pilot George
H.W. Bush, who at the age--[applause]. And
he fought them with all he had, just like a lot of other brave
Americans. Thousands and thousands didn't come home from that war.
And yet on Air Force One was the Prime Minister of the former enemy and this Navy fighter
pilot's son talking about peace. We were
talking about the fact that 1,000 Japanese troops were in Iraq helping
this young democracy. See, the Prime Minister knows what I know: that
the radicals and extremists want to overturn democracy; they want to
spread their vision across what's called a caliphate, a vision opposite
of what we believe. That's their ambitions. That's their goals. And yet
when we find young democracies, those of us who live in freedom have a
duty to support that democracy because democracies yield the peace.
We talked about North Korea, how we could work together to convince
the leader of North Korea to give up his nuclear
weapons ambitions. We talked about HIV/AIDS on the continent of Africa,
and how ``to whom much is given, much is required'' ought to apply to
the United States and Japan, and how we must end the suffering of those
poor people on the continent of Africa. We talked about a lot of big
issues.
But I find it interesting that my dad
fought the Japanese, and his son is talking about the peace with the
Japanese. Something happened, and what happened is, Japan adopted a
Japanese-style democracy. And the lesson for our fellow citizens is,
liberty has got the capacity to transform enemies into allies. Liberty
has got the capacity to transform regions of hate to regions of hope. I
firmly believe that someday an American President will be sitting down
with duly elected leaders in the Middle East talking about the peace,
and a generation of Americans will be better off.
These are historic times. These are challenging times. It is such an
honor to represent the United States of America during these historic
times. I ask you to go from here and to call up your friends and
neighbors, find our fellow Republicans, discerning Democrats--
[laughter]--intelligence independents--[laughter]--and remind them of
the stakes, remind them that the outcome of this election will determine
how much money you have in your pocket. And remind them the outcome of
this election will determine whether this Government does its most
fundamental job, and that is to protect the American people.
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No doubt in my mind, with your help, we will win. Thanks for coming.
God bless.
Note: The President spoke at 1 p.m. at Silver Creek High School. In his
remarks, he referred to Keta Sodrel, wife of Rep. Michael E. Sodrel;
former President Saddam Hussein of Iraq; Usama bin Laden, leader of the
Al Qaida terrorist organization; Ayman Al-Zawahiri, founder of the
Egyptian Islamic Jihad and senior Al Qaida associate; former Prime
Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan; and Chairman Kim Jong Il of North
Korea.