[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book II)]
[July 11, 2006]
[Pages 1378-1384]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at a Reception for Gubernatorial Candidate Mark Green in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
July 11, 2006

    Thanks for coming. Thanks for the introduction. Thanks for 
supporting the next Governor of Wisconsin, Mark Green.
    I know a little something about what it means to be a Governor and a 
chief executive officer of government. Here is what you need: You need 
somebody who knows how to set an agenda; you need somebody who knows how 
to achieve the agenda; you need somebody who can get results without 
worrying about public opinion polls; you need somebody who stands on 
principle; you need somebody who shoots straight with the people. And 
that person is Mark Green.
    There is no doubt in my mind he will be a great Governor for 
Wisconsin. I got to know him; this isn't the first time I've been with 
him before. I've seen him in action in Washington, DC. He is a highly 
respected Member of the United States Congress. People trust his word. 
When he says something, he means it. He is a positive influence in 
Washington, DC. He can bring people together, which is what you need in 
this State. He is an honorable, decent man, and I am proud to stand with 
him as he runs for Governor. I want to thank you all for supporting him.
    I know something about running; you cannot win unless your friends 
step up. And tonight you have stepped up. And I know Mark is grateful, 
and so am I, for coming tonight. So, thanks for being here.
    You can't run for Governor unless you have a wife who loves you and 
a family standing with you. And the Green family is a fine, fine family. 
I want to thank Sue for being here and 
Rachel and Anna and 
Alex.
    I was also proud to have met Jeremy and 
Elizabeth Green, the mom and dad. The mom 
kind of reminded me of my mom--[laughter]--
constantly reminding Mark, you know, what to do, how to say it. 
[Laughter] I said, ``Are you listening to her?'' He said, ``Yes, all the 
time.'' I said, ``Then you're going to win.'' Thank you all for being 
here.
    And by the way, Laura sends her love to the 
Greens. If you really need help coming down the stretch, I suggest you 
invite Laura to come here to Wisconsin. She'll help you win. She's a 
great First Lady.
    We're having the time of our lives, by the way, and it really helps 
to--well, I have a 45-second commute. [Laughter] And it helps to commute 
to a home where there's somebody you respect and love there. And 
she sends her best. She knows what I know, that 
you can't win in politics alone. And so for those who have given money,

[[Page 1379]]

thanks. And for those of you who are kind of warming up for the 
campaign, thanks in advance for what you're going to do, which is to put 
up the signs, knock on the doors, get on the telephones; go to your 
churches, community centers, your synagogues, your houses of worship and 
say, you've got a good, decent man in Mark Green who can lead this 
State.
    So thanks for being here. It means a lot to Mark, and it means a lot 
to me. I'm traveling over from Washington, by the way, with another fine 
public servant from Wisconsin, and that's Congressman Paul Ryan.
    By the way, we're working on an important piece of legislation in 
Washington. That is to give the President the opportunity to kind of 
take some of these special interest spending out of these spending 
bills. We call it the line-item veto. It's one way to bring some fiscal 
sanity to Washington, DC. It's one way to make sure that people don't 
play politics with your money. Interestingly enough, the bill passed the 
United States House of Representatives, and the bill sponsor was this 
fine Member from Wisconsin, Paul Ryan. I want to 
thank you for your leadership.
    Green's leaving the House, and he's going to be succeeded by speaker 
John Gard. And I want to thank you for running, 
and I wish you all the very best in your run for the United States 
Congress, Mr. Speaker. You'll make a fine Member of the House of 
Representatives.
    I want to thank all the local officials who are here in the 
statehouse. By the way, if you're a member of the statehouse, a senator 
or representative, you're fixing to have a sea change when Mark wins the 
governorship. You're going to find somebody that's going to be a joy to 
work with, somebody who will make an agenda, a clear agenda, somebody 
who is making decisions based upon sound principles. So I look forward 
on your behalf to get yourself a new Governor for the State of 
Wisconsin.
    I want to thank the grassroots leaders who are here. First of all, 
Margaret Farrow is here, former Lieutenant 
Governor. Margaret, thank you for coming. I appreciate you being here. 
Good to see you again. I've spent some quality time here in the State of 
Wisconsin. Some of my most fond memories campaigning in 2000 and 2004 
were in this State. And I had the honor of getting to know Margaret. So 
it's great to see you. Thanks for coming. Thanks for helping the next 
Governor. He needs your help.
    I want the thank Rick Graber, who is the 
chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin. He is a good friend of 
mine and a good man. I want to thank Mary Buestrin, and I want to thank Klauser, Jim Klauser and thank all the grassroots activists again 
for coming.
    These are historic times in which we live. And I'm glad to have had 
Congressman Green in Washington, DC, during a time where the President 
has had to make some tough decisions and the country has been through 
some tough times. We are a nation at war. I wish I could report 
differently. But you need to have a President and you need to have 
leaders who see the world the way it is, not the way we would hope it 
would be. And my biggest job, and the biggest job of people in 
Washington, DC, is to protect the American people from further attack. 
And the way to do that is to stay on the offense, to give the enemy no 
quarter, and to bring them to justice before they hurt us again, and 
that's precisely what this administration will continue to do.
    Iraq is a part of the war on terror. It's the central front in the 
war on terror, and the reason it's a central front is because the enemy 
that attacked us has made it clear they would like to have a safe haven 
from which to attack us again. I didn't make this up. I'm just telling 
you what the enemy has said. In order to make sure this country is 
secure, you better have a Commander in Chief who listens carefully

[[Page 1380]]

to what the enemy says and takes them seriously, which I do.
    By the way, just so you know, when you're the Chief Executive 
Officer, you make a lot of decisions. And 9/11 affected my 
decisionmaking a lot. I vowed that the country would do everything--we 
would do everything to protect the country. I meant what I said. Iraq is 
part of protecting the country--not to revisit a lot of history.
    But one of the lessons of September the 11th is when this Nation 
sees a threat, it must take these threats seriously before they fully 
materialize. That's a lesson we must learn and we must not forget. And 
we saw a threat; Republicans and Democrats saw a threat in Saddam 
Hussein. After all, he had attacked his 
neighbors. He had used weapons of mass destruction. At the very least, 
he had the capacity to make weapons of mass destruction. He had 
terrorist connections. He was shooting at American pilots. The decision 
I made was the right decision. America is safer and the world is better 
off without Saddam Hussein in power.
    The enemy believes we're weak. That's what they say. They believe 
we'll lose our nerve. They believe it's just a matter of time before we 
pull out of Iraq. The stakes in Iraq are incredibly high. But we've got 
some things going for us. We've got a fantastic United States military. 
And I want to thank Mark Green and Brian for 
supporting these men and women. Listen, any time you have a man or a 
woman in uniform in harm's way, they deserve the full support of the 
United States Government. And thanks to these good Congressmen and this 
administration, we've given them the full support of the United States 
Government.
    We also have 12 million people in Iraq who say, ``I want to live in 
freedom.'' I know it seems like an eternity since the elections last 
December. I guess it's because we've got too many TV channels that 
things seem to move real quick. But it wasn't all that long ago that the 
people, when given the chance, went to the polls and said, ``We want to 
be free. We want to live in a Iraqi-style democracy. Just give us a 
chance.'' That's what they said.
    And there are a group of killers, coldblooded killers, that are 
trying to stop the advance of this young democracy. That's what they're 
trying to do. You got to ask yourself, what kind of people fear 
democracy? Who wouldn't want people to worship freely? What is the 
mindset where you can't go to the public square and express yourself 
openly? It's the same mindset that wants to attack us for what we 
believe in.
    We're not going to lose in Iraq. As a matter of fact, we will win in 
Iraq so long as we stay the course. Twelve million people have voted. 
They've now got a unity government.
    I went over there and saw the man, Prime Minister Maliki. You know what I was looking for? I was looking for, 
do we have someone there who can set an agenda; somebody who can follow 
through; somebody who is dedicated to a government of, by, and for the 
people. And I found a courageous man there. And he's wondering, he's 
wondering when he hears all the rhetoric in Washington, DC, and around 
the country, he's wondering whether the United States can keep its word. 
And I told him this, I said, ``So long as you're willing to make the 
tough decisions, so long as you're willing to represent the people, the 
United States of America will keep our word.''
    It's in our interest we succeed in Iraq. And we're going to succeed 
in Iraq. And when we succeed in Iraq, we'll be a powerful example of 
freedom in the heart of the Middle East.
    You know, you might have noticed recently that I went to Graceland--
that's Elvis's place--[laughter]--with Prime Minister Koizumi. I think 
that's really interesting. I think we need to put that visit in 
perspective about what we're talking about and the hard decisions we've 
made in Washington, DC.

[[Page 1381]]

    You see, 60 years ago my dad, and I'm 
sure some of your relatives, fought the Japanese. They were the sworn 
enemy of the United States of America. A lot of people lost their lives 
in that war, a lot.
    By the way, as you might recall, they attacked us at Pearl Harbor. 
We lost more people on 9/11 than we did in Pearl Harbor. And yet 60 
years later, after fighting this bloody war, I go to Graceland with 
Prime Minister Koizumi. Something 
happened. And what happened in between that war and today was the 
Japanese adopted a Japanese-style democracy.
    Democracies yield the peace we want. And guess what we talked about 
after we got past talking about Elvis? [Laughter] We talked about North 
Korea. I congratulated Prime Minister Koizumi for committing 1,000 troops into Iraq to help this 
young democracy. And he did so because he knows what I know: The best 
way to defeat the terrorists in the short run is to find them and bring 
them to justice and to prevent them from having safe haven. The best way 
to defeat them in the long run is the spread of liberty. Freedom yields 
the peace we want. Freedom is able to convert. Liberty has the capacity 
of converting an enemy into an ally, and someday an American president 
will be talking with a duly elected leader of Iraq and talking about the 
peace.
    We're doing the hard work necessary to protect ourselves, and we're 
doing the hard work of supporting young democracies. So we're laying the 
foundation of peace for generations to come. And I appreciate the vision 
and strength and courage of Mark Green on this tough issue.
    So today I had an interesting announcement to make, and that is that 
the projected deficit of 423 billion is now down to 296 billion in one 
year. It now means the deficit is 2.3 percent of GDP, which is about 
average over the last 40 years. What's interesting about that 
announcement is that we were able to achieve deficit reduction primarily 
because the revenues increased in spite of the fact that we cut taxes.
    You might remember the history of this administration and working 
with Mark--he understands that and so does Ryan--
that we've been through a recession and corporate scandals, a stock 
market correction, an attack on the United States of America, two wars--
two battles in theaters to defend ourselves--Afghanistan and Iraq, major 
natural disasters, high energy prices. And yet this economy of ours is 
strong, and we intend to keep it that way.
    And one of the reasons it's strong and one of the reasons we 
recovered is because we cut the taxes. We cut the taxes on small-
business people. We cut the taxes on workers. We cut the taxes on 
families raising children. We cut the taxes on dividends. We cut the 
taxes on capital gains.
    I was at Allen-Edmonds today; we accelerated depreciation, which 
caused him to buy more equipment, which makes him an incredibly, 
productive, competitive company. Cutting the taxes works. It makes this 
economy strong.
    You need a Governor who will cut the taxes in Wisconsin. Mark Green 
is that Governor.
    You know, it's amazing, the rhetoric in Washington is beyond belief 
at times. They say in order to solve the deficit, you've got to raise 
taxes. We just proved them wrong. In order to solve the deficit, you cut 
taxes, you increase economic vitality, which yields more taxes. That's 
how it works. You need a tax cutter as your Governor here. It's just a 
philosophical difference, by the way, between people like myself and 
others, me and Mark and others. And it's this: We trust you with your 
money. Who best to spend your money? You? Or the government?
    We believe that you can best spend your money. Do you realize the 
tax cuts we passed left $1.1 trillion in the hands of workers and small-
business owners and entrepreneurs and farmers?

[[Page 1382]]

    And I made the point today: You have clearly shown that you can 
spend your money better than the Federal Government can, and therefore, 
our economy is strong. It's the envy of the world. One thing we've got 
to do in Washington, DC, is to make sure that we continue to grow. And 
one good way to do that is to make the tax cuts permanent.
    The other equation in reducing the deficit, by the way, is to make 
sure we're wise about how we spend your money. You need a Governor who 
knows how to set priorities. I appreciate working with the 
Speaker and the leader in the 
Senate; we've set priorities. I told you what the 
priorities are. It's defending this country and giving our troops what 
they need to win the war on terror. Beyond that, believe it or not, 
we've actually cut discretionary spending on non-homeland and defense 
spending.
    We're doing a good job about watching your money. And it's hard 
work. Everybody's got a good idea. Every program sounds fantastic. 
You've got to make sure you've got a good fiscal hawk in your Governor's 
seat. You've got to have somebody who's willing to take on the sacred 
cow. Somebody's asking, ``Do these programs produce results?'' Somebody 
who is willing to look beyond the title of the program to determine 
whether or not they're delivering result for the people. Mark Green is 
that kind of guy. He's going to do you a fine job as the Governor when 
it comes to watching your money.
    This is a little off subject here, but the biggest problem we got in 
the long term is dealing with these entitlement programs that we can't 
pay for; that's Medicare and Social Security and Medicaid. If you're an 
older person, you're in good shape. If you're a younger person who is 
just working, you're in lousy shape. And I can't wait to work with 
Congress to solve the Social Security and Medicare issue.
    One reason I ran for office is to solve problems and not pass them 
on to other Presidents and other Members of Congress. It's time for the 
United States Congress to stop playing politics with Social Security and 
Medicare so a young generation of Americans can look at these 
entitlement programs and say, ``I'm not putting my money into a black 
hole.'' And it's hard work.
    It's hard work, but I'm confident we can get it done. I'm going to 
keep working it. That's what the people expect us to do. And I 
appreciate Congressman Ryan. He's not afraid to 
take on the tough issues--that's the kind of person you want in 
Washington, DC--and neither is Mark Green. You see, you've got to have 
somebody in the Governor's chair who sees a tough issue and says, ``I'm 
going to take it on; that's why I ran.'' You've got too many people in 
politics who say, ``Well, it might affect my poll numbers and therefore, 
I'm going to duck it.'' I just can't imagine people running for office 
and saying I'm going the duck the tough issue.
    You've got to have you a Governor who is willing to stand up and 
make the tough calls. And Mark Green is that man. He also understands 
this. I used to tell people when I was the Governor of Texas that 
education is to a State what national defense is to the Federal 
Government. I really believe that a Governor has got to make education 
the number-one priority of the State. And Mark Green is going to do 
that.
    I worked with him on passing the No Child Left Behind Act, and this 
is a powerful piece of legislation and necessary reform. Here's the way 
it works: It says, first of all, that we believe everybody can learn to 
read and write and add and subtract, and we refuse to accept a system 
that doesn't hold people to account if they're not learning to read and 
write and add and subtract. We said in Washington, DC, if you're going 
to receive Federal money, which States do, that we expect you, the 
State, to measure to determine whether we are achieving certain 
objectives.
    There was a huge howl, of course, when you lay that kind of 
initiative out there.

[[Page 1383]]

People said, ``How dare you measure.'' And my answer is, how dare we not 
measure. How can you expect the school system to be good unless you're 
willing to test to see whether or not children are learning to read and 
write and add and subtract. And guess what happens, by the way, in a 
school system that has no accountability? Guess who loses? Generally 
inner-city kids or parents who don't speak English as a first language.
    See, it's easy to quit on those kinds of children. It's easy just to 
shuffle them through the grades: say, ``When you're 10, you're supposed 
to be here; if you're 11, you're supposed to be in this grade.'' We blew 
the whistle on that kind of soft bigotry of low expectations. We said we 
were going to measure to determine whether or not the schools are 
succeeding. And if they're not succeeding, we're going to make sure a 
child gets extra help early, before it gets too late.
    I know there's a big debate here about school choice, and there 
should be a debate. And it's an important debate. And my attitude is, 
when you find a child trapped in a school that will not teach and will 
not change, you have got to give parents other options.
    In Mark Green you'll have a Governor who's willing to challenge the 
status quo in education, a Governor who's willing to insist upon high 
standards and excellence in the classroom, a Governor who will not rest 
if he finds children trapped in mediocrity. He understands that the 
future of a State depends upon the State's capacity to provide an 
excellent education for every child regardless of what he or she looks 
like. And that's the Governor Mark Green's going to be.
    I bet the doctors in this State can't wait to get yourself a 
Governor who's willing to support medical liability reform. You can't 
have good health care; you cannot have affordable and available health 
care if you have a liability system that has run amok. And I know how 
tough these trial lawyers are in some of these States. I took them on in 
the State of Texas. And you need to have a Governor, for the sake of 
good medicine, for the sake of affordable medicine, for the sake of 
patients, and for the sake of needed professionals, to stand up to the 
trial bar and pass medical liability reform. And Mark Green is going to 
do that.
    I think you can tell I'm quite enthusiastic about him. [Laughter] I 
do want to conclude by saying this about Mark: He and I understand that 
government is limited in its capacity to love. I mean government--you 
can pass laws, and you can hold people to account. And government is 
justice, as it should be. Government is fairness. But government can't 
put hope in a person's heart or a sense of purpose in a person's life. 
That happens when a loving person puts their arm around a lost soul and 
says, ``I love you, brother,'' or, ``I love you, sister. What can I do 
to help?''
    I think the State of Wisconsin will benefit mightly from having a 
person as Governor who is willing to rally the faith-based community and 
community center groups to do their duty to help change Wisconsin one 
heart and one soul and one conscience at a time.
    Our society should not fear the involvement of faith in helping to 
cure some of the intractable social ills. We ought to have leaders who 
welcome those who've heard the universal call to love a neighbor just 
like you'd like to be loved yourself, to make your State as good as it 
can possibly be. And that Governor is going to be Governor Mark Green. 
Thank you all for coming tonight. God bless.

Note: The President spoke at 5:51 p.m. at the Hilton Milwaukee City 
Center. In his remarks, he referred to Mary Buestrin, national 
committeewoman, Republican Party of Wisconsin; James R. Klauser, former 
secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Administration; former 
President Saddam Hussein and

[[Page 1384]]

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki of Iraq; and Prime Minister Junichiro 
Koizumi of Japan.