[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book II)]
[October 4, 2006]
[Pages 1765-1772]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at a Breakfast for Congressional Candidate Richard G. 
Renzi in Scottsdale, Arizona
October 4, 2006

    Thank you all. Thanks for coming. Please be seated. I'm honored to 
be here. Thanks for a warm Arizona welcome. You know, there's nothing 
like waking up in Arizona with a fantastic sunrise. What a great way to 
brighten the spirit. And thank you for coming. It brightens my spirits, 
as well, to know that there are a lot of good folks from northern 
Arizona and other parts of this State who are willing to stand up and 
support a good man, Rick Renzi, in his quest to be reelected to the 
United States Congress. So thank you for coming. Both of us are really 
glad you're here. I remember campaigning for Rick in Flagstaff in a rain 
storm. That didn't dampen our spirits, nor did it dampen my enthusiasm 
in saying as clearly as I could, I'm confident he will make a great 
Congressman. And he has proven me right. He deserves to be reelected to 
the United States Congress, and I thank you for helping him.
    I say he deserves it because he's got a record. And I'm going to 
talk a little bit about what we have done together to make Arizona and 
the country a better place. But one thing about Renzi, he stands strong 
on principle. He's got his priorities straight. He prioritizes his 
faith. He loves his family, all of them. [Laughter] Three of his boys 
are here, Rob, Ron, and 
Rick. Listen, when you got 12 
kids, it's good to have their names start with the same letter; that way 
you don't forget them. [Laughter] But I want to thank the Renzi boys for 
being here. Thanks for supporting your dad.
    I'm sorry mama is not here; Roberta is 
taking care of the kids. I understand that. But one of the good things 
about Rick is his family stands squarely with him, and

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it's important when you're in public service, when you're serving the 
people, that your family is with you. And that ought to give people in 
northern Arizona comfort, to know that they got a Congressman who not 
only works hard on their behalf in Washington and when he's back in the 
district, but he's got good priorities. I'm proud to support Rick Renzi 
in his reelection effort, and I thank you for coming.
    I've got somebody else here who is running for reelection, and he's 
a man who has brought a lot of dignity to the office of United States 
Senator. He's solid; he is strong; he is influential, and that is 
Senator Jon Kyl. And I appreciate you coming, 
Senator--he brought Caryll along.
    I appreciate Congressman J.D. Hayworth, who's up for reelection, and I urge you to vote for J.D. 
Thanks for coming, J.D. J.D. has got him a race, and I hope the people 
of his district are wise enough to send him back to Washington, DC.
    I'm proud to be here with another Congressman, and that would be 
U.S. Congressman Trent Franks, who brought his 
wife, Josie, with him. Trent, thanks for 
coming--and sweet Josie.
    Last night when I got here at the airport, I was greeted by a young 
person running for Governor, an attractive man--
[laughter]--a family man, an honest man, and that's Len Munsil. I 
appreciate you coming, Governor. I'm glad you're here, and I wish you 
all the very best.
    I know Renzi well enough to know that he can be a plain-spoken 
fellow, and he said to me, ``I want you to know, you weren't my first 
choice for this breakfast.'' [Laughter] I said, ``Well, thanks for 
having me fly all the way out here,'' you know. [Laughter] I said, ``Who 
might that have been?'' He said, ``Well, I really wanted Laura to come.'' [Laughter] Another reason to put him back in 
Congress is because he's got good judgment. [Laughter]
    Laura sends her best. She's proud of your 
service. She says hello to all our friends here in the great State of 
Arizona. I'm a lucky man that Laura Bush said yes when I asked her to 
marry me.
    We're getting ready for--we're coming down the stretch in these 
campaigns. I'm looking forward to traveling the country, making it 
clear, there are substantial differences in the philosophy we adhere to 
and the philosophy advocated by the Democrats. I like campaigns. It's a 
good opportunity to explain to the American people why we make the 
decisions we make. It's a good chance to explain the philosophy of the 
two different parties.
    I'd like to start with talking about our economic philosophy. Rick 
and I believe that the way to grow an economy is to let you keep more of 
your own money so you can save, spend, or invest. We strongly believe 
that the more money you have in your pocket, the more likely it is 
somebody is going to be able to find work. That is not only our 
philosophy; that is a practice that we adhere to.
    See, you might remember--and when you're out there campaigning--I 
know Rick says, look what we have been through. In other words, we're 
not just talkers; we're doers. We've been through a recession. We had 
corporate scandals. We had a significant stock market correction. We had 
to suffer a terrorist attack on the United States of America, which hurt 
our economy. I made the decision to defend this country, and we have 
been in two theaters in this war on terror with troops. We had 
hurricanes, high energy prices, and yet the American economy is the envy 
of the industrialized world.
    It's one thing to go out and advocate a philosophy; it's another 
thing to put it into effect. Progrowth economic policies work. We cut 
the taxes on people who were paying taxes. Small businesses are growing. 
The entrepreneurial spirit is strong. Productivity is up. Our farmers 
and ranchers are doing well. The progrowth economic policies of the 
Republican Party have made

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a significant difference to the working people in the United States.
    And if the other bunch gets elected, they're going to raise your 
taxes. Make no mistake about it, we have a different philosophy. See, 
they think they can spend your money better than you can. They want more 
of your money to enhance their vision of bigger government. Oh, I know 
that words get couched in different ways or--the reason we campaign is, 
we help clarify Washington-speak. You'll hear people say, ``Well, all 
we're going to do is just let the tax cuts expire''--those would be tax 
cuts on people who have got children, small businesses, those who are 
married--``Oh, we'll just let them expire.'' What that means is, they're 
going to raise your taxes. See, if those tax cuts expire, your taxes are 
going up. It's like an employer saying to somebody, I'm going to give 
you a raise, and a couple of weeks later, I'm going to take it away, but 
I hope you still think you got the raise. [Laughter]
    Rick and I strongly believe that the best way to keep this economy 
growing, the best way to keep America to be entrepreneurial heaven is to 
make the tax cuts we passed permanent. Oh, you'll hear them say in 
Washington, ``Oh, we just need to raise some of the people's taxes in 
order to balance the budget.'' You know, I've been there long enough to 
tell you, that's not how it works. Yeah, they'll raise your taxes, all 
right, but they will figure out new ways to spend your money. The best 
way to balance the budget is to keep taxes low so we grow the economy 
and to prioritize how we spend your money. You know, I said we can cut 
the deficit in half by 2009; because of progrowth economic policies and 
strong fiscal policy out of the House of Representatives, because of 
votes like Rick Renzi, this deficit is going to be cut in half by 2008. 
The worst way to treat the budget is to run up your taxes, slow down 
economic growth, and expand Federal Government. And we're not going to 
let them do it. We're going to win the election because we're progrowth 
and wise about the money.
    It's really important that Congress prioritize, set priorities. If 
you try to be all things to all people, we're going to spend foolishly. 
And I've set some priorities. And I want the people of Arizona to 
understand that the number-one priority for this Government is to defend 
this country and to make sure our troops have all that is necessary to 
do their job for the sake of security. And I thank Congressman Renzi and 
the other Congressmen here in this audience and Senator Kyl for standing strong for those brave men and women who put 
on the uniform of the United States of America. What an honor it is to 
be the Commander in Chief of such a fine group of people.
    I appreciate the fact that Rick joins me in what I call cooperative 
conservation. That means we're going to work with local folks, local 
stakeholders, and States to conserve our environment. You know, there is 
a mindset in Washington that says, we'll tell the folks in Arizona how 
to do it. That's not my view. See, I'm from Texas; I believe that Texans 
can manage the environment in Texas plenty fine. And I believe the same 
thing in Arizona.
    I worked with Rick to pass what's called the Healthy Forest 
Initiative. See, his district has got a lot of important forests. It 
means that we can work together with local folks to thin out those 
forests so they're not full of combustionable fuel, to be able to help 
deal with the catastrophic fires that have plagued this State and other 
States. It is a wise use of government resources to plan and affect good 
environmental policy by working with the local folks. Rick understands 
that. People in northern Arizona must feel confident that their 
Representative, Rick Renzi, trusts their judgment and is willing to work 
on behalf of them in Washington, DC, in a cooperative way.

[[Page 1768]]

    Rick and I firmly believe that it's really important that we 
diversify away from foreign sources of oil. Look, we're all applauding 
the fact that gasoline prices are going down. I'm sure it pleases you if 
you drive a car. I know it helps our small-business owners and our 
families who are concerned about whether or not they'll have enough 
money to save for their child's education, for example. Declining 
gasoline prices are good for the economy, but they should not cause us 
to forget that dependence upon foreign oil is a national security 
problem. It's a national security concern. And therefore, I look forward 
to continuing to work with the Arizona delegation and Congressman Renzi 
to provide research and development money to enable us to fuel our 
automobiles in different ways.
    I can't wait for the day when we can continue to say, ``Corn is up, 
and therefore, dependence upon oil is down.'' I can't wait that we 
develop new ways to develop ethanol, like from wood chips, so that 
people in northern Arizona become significant producers of energy that 
will enable this country to diversify away from reliance on foreign 
crude oil. One day we'll have hybrid vehicles with new batteries, plug-
in hybrids, and you'll be able to drive the first 40 miles on 
electricity, and your car won't have to look like a golf cart. 
[Laughter] When these kids are learning to drive, they'll be having 
hydrogen-powered automobiles at their disposal. In other words, we're on 
a massive effort to diversify away from foreign sources of oil.
    And in the meantime, we need to be exploring for natural gas and oil 
in our own hemisphere in environmentally friendly ways. We've got a 
comprehensive plan to help this Nation's national security and economic 
security by having a comprehensive energy bill, and I want to thank 
Congressman Renzi for working on that.
    Oh, there's going to be a lot of domestic issues we'll work on, but 
there's no issue more important than protecting the American people. 
It's the calling of the 21st century. The most important job for the 
Federal Government is to protect you. After 9/11, I vowed that we would 
do everything in our power to prevent a further attack. We're at war 
with an enemy that would like to hurt us again. I know some would hope 
that the President wouldn't say that, but that's the reality of the 
world in which live. I live it every day. I think about the importance 
of defending this country every single day of my Presidency.
    It's important to have Members of Congress who see the world the way 
it is and who understand the nature of the enemy. These are evil people 
who have taken the tenets of a great religion and used it to their ends 
to achieve objectives. These are ideologues. These are people bound by 
an ideology of hate. Their ideology is opposite of what we believe. We 
believe that anybody can worship any way they want and be an equal 
citizen of the United States of America. We believe Jew, Muslim, 
Christian, atheist, agnostic are all equally American. We believe in the 
great right of an individual to choose how to worship as they see fit. 
The enemy says, ``If you don't worship the way we worship, you're 
guilty.''
    We believe in dissent in the public square. Oh, sometimes it gets a 
little loud, but nevertheless, we welcome dissent. We welcome the fact 
that in our country, people can express themselves any way they want. If 
you express dissent with these ideologues, they will hold you to 
account. They have a dark vision of the world. It stands in stark 
contrast with those of us who believe in liberty, who love freedom. And 
they'll do anything they can to drive us out of parts of the world so 
they can achieve their ambitions. They will murder innocent lives in the 
hopes that the United States of America will lose its will to confront 
them.
    After 9/11, I vowed that in order to protect the United States of 
America, we must stay on the offense. We must defeat the enemy overseas 
so we don't have to face

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them here. We must bring them to justice before they hurt Americans 
again. And that's what we're doing. We're on the offense every single 
day. It's hard to plot, plan, and kill when you're running or when 
you're hiding in a cave. We've got fantastic people working on your 
behalf, unbelievably brave men and women in our intelligence services or 
in the United States military who are pressing this enemy every single 
day.
    And now we're involved in a great conflict in the war on terror in 
Iraq. And there's a debate in Washington, DC, and the debate is whether 
or not Iraq is a part of the war on terror. You'll hear the Democrats 
say, ``Well, it's a distraction on the war on terror.'' I strongly 
disagree. I fully understand the nature of this enemy. I fully 
understand their intent is to drive us out of the Middle East so they 
can topple moderate governments and get a hold of oil resources, develop 
weapons of mass destruction and safe havens from which to attack the 
United States again.
    If you don't believe me, listen to the words of Usama bin Laden and the number two of Al Qaida, 
Zawahiri. They have made their intentions 
clear. They have made it clear that Iraq is a central front in this war 
on terror. They have made their intentions known, out loud--well, they 
probably didn't want us to hear it, but nevertheless, we did--that they 
want to drive us out of Iraq. It's just a matter of time, in their mind. 
They believe that the lessons of Somalia will apply to Iraq. They think 
that with enough carnage and bloodshed and death and the murder of the 
innocent, the United States will let them have their way.
    They're wrong. The United States understands that the security of 
the United States of America, for our children, depends upon victory in 
Iraq. We will stand with the 12 million brave citizens who demanded 
their freedom. We will help the new unity Government succeed. We will 
train Iraqis so they can take the fight to the enemy. In the meantime, 
we will stay in the battlefield and achieve the victory for a generation 
of Americans to come.
    Right after 9/11, I said to the American people, we'll make sure 
that those on the frontline of defending this country have the tools 
necessary to do so. The reason I said that is because I understand the 
nature of this war. See, it's a different kind of battle. The old World 
War II vets here--and I thank you for your service--will remember--or 
the Korean war vets--will remember the days that you could measure 
success against an enemy based upon the number of ships sunk or aircraft 
shot out of the air. This is a different kind of war. It's a war that 
depends upon our capacity to find individuals and bring them to justice 
before they strike again. And therefore, it requires intelligence and 
tools that we didn't need in other wars.
    And so I vowed--and the reason I know this is because, you see, 
we've got to be right 100 percent of the time to protect you. And the 
enemy has got to be right one time. And therefore, I worked with people 
like Rick Renzi and other Members of Congress to make sure those on the 
frontline of terror had what it needed--had what they needed to defend 
you.
    That's why I proposed and worked hard to pass the PATRIOT Act. See, 
the PATRIOT Act--prior to the PATRIOT Act, intelligence and law 
enforcement could not communicate. I know that's hard for you to 
believe, but matter--somebody whose job it is to collect intelligence on 
what might be happening in the United States, and because of walls that 
had grown up over the years, it was impossible for them to share that 
intelligence with law enforcement. You cannot protect the United States 
if our--those responsible for protecting you cannot communicate.
    And so I said to Congress, ``This is ridiculous. Let's tear down the 
walls that prevented good people from talking.'' And they agreed. The 
House passed a bill; right after 2001, the Senate did, 98 to 1. But I 
want you all to remember, when the bill came

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up again for renewal in 2005, Democrat Senators filibustered the bill. 
Evidently, their attitude changed. Filibuster is Washington-speak for, 
like, try to talk it to death. I promise I'm not going to filibuster you 
here today. [Laughter] As a matter of fact, during that period--I think 
it is illustrative for people to hear the words of the Senator minority 
leader. He bragged, ``We killed the PATRIOT 
Act.'' That's what he said. And then when pressed by the press, he 
said--they said, ``Are you sure this is the right thing to do, to 
celebrate killing the PATRIOT''--he said, ``Of course it is.''
    See, we just have a different attitude about the war on terror. My 
attitude is, we've got to give people the tools necessary to protect you 
and not wait for another attack. You know, they filibustered the PATRIOT 
Act and then--after they had voted for it--kind of sounds familiar. 
[Laughter] That old refrain from 2004--[laughter]--appears to be coming 
back to--coming back into the political dialog.
    The reason I bring this up is, in an election year, I want the 
American people and the people of Arizona to understand, there is a 
clear difference of opinion about how to protect this country. Oh, they 
can talk good talk. But when it came time to vote, the American people 
can see exactly where the Democrat Party stands in protecting this 
country.
    You might remember that I instituted a program through the National 
Security Agency to establish what's called the terrorist surveillance 
program. I felt it was very important for those of us whose job it is to 
protect you to understand the nature of the enemy. And if somebody from 
Al Qaida is calling into the United States, in order to protect you, we 
need to know why and what they're planning and what they're thinking. 
See, this is a different kind of war, and we need to know the intention 
of the enemy now in order to protect you from attack.
    This bill came up--the idea of providing additional authority for 
the terrorist surveillance program came to the House floor recently. And 
there was a vote, and people got to stand up and declare whether or not 
this program was important: 177 Democrats voted against listening in on 
terrorist communications; 177 of the opposition party said, ``You know, 
we don't think we ought to be listening to the conversations of 
terrorists.''
    If the people of Arizona, if the people of the United States don't 
think we ought to be listening in on the conversations of people who 
could do harm to the United States, then go ahead and vote for the 
Democrats. If you want to make sure those on the frontline of protecting 
you have the tools necessary to do so, you vote Republican, for the 
safety of the United States of America.
    After the 9/11 attacks, I established a CIA program to detain and 
question key terrorist operatives and leaders who we captured on the 
battlefield. I did so because I believed that those who were 
responsible--we think were responsible for planning attacks, such as the 
9/11 attack, might be able to tell us some information about how the 
enemy operates, where they operate, and what they intend. I understand 
this is a different kind of war and our most solemn duty is to protect 
you. And I felt--I know it's vital to get this kind of information. For 
5 years, really fine professional people at the CIA have worked 
tirelessly to get information from these captured terrorists.
    It's important for people of Arizona and the Nation to understand 
what this program has meant to our security. Information from the 
terrorists questioned by the CIA helped break up a cell of Southeast 
Asian extremists and terrorist operatives who had been groomed for 
attacks inside the United States of America. The program helped stop an 
Al Qaida cell from developing anthrax for attacks against the United 
States. Information that we gained helped to stop a planned strike on a 
Marine base in Djibouti and helped prevent an attack on

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the U.S. consulate in Karachi and helped foil a plot to hijack passenger 
planes and fly them into Heathrow and London's Canary Wharf.
    The reason I bring--I declassified this information because I wanted 
the American people to understand the stakes of the debate on the 
detainee program, and I wanted them to understand with clarity that this 
program is essential to help get information to protect you. Were it not 
for information gained from the terrorists questioned by the CIA, our 
intelligence community believes that Al Qaida and its allies would have 
succeeded in launching another attack against the United States of 
America. And these are the facts.
    And the Congress held a vote on the future of this CIA program, and 
the choice between every Member of Congress was clear: Should this 
program continue or not? Congress, fortunately, continued the program. 
I'm going to sign it into law, and I thank them for their leadership.
    But I want you to understand what happened during this vote. In the 
House of Representatives, 160 Democrats, including the entire Democrat 
leadership, voted against continuing the program. I want you to 
understand that I would never question a person's patriotism; I don't. 
They just have a different point of view about the war on terror, and 
it's a point of view that the American people must understand.
    Think about that vote. Think about what it says between different 
philosophies. Think about the difference of how we view the world. 
Eighty percent of the House Democrats--nearly 80 percent want to stop 
the program that has provided invaluable intelligence that saved lives, 
that saved lives of the United States of America. In the Senate, 32 
Democrats, including every member of their Senate leadership save one, 
voted to kill the vital program. This means that nearly three-quarters 
of the Democrats in the United States Senate voted to stop the men and 
women of the CIA from continuing a program to get information from 
extremists and terrorists like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed about planned attacks on the United States of America.
    We just think differently. And it's important, during a campaign, 
for the American people to understand the facts. There is a difference 
between rhetoric and action in Washington, DC. And the votes of the 
Democrats to deny the tools necessary to protect you speak loud and 
clear about their vision of the world in which we live.
    We've got a clear record. We believe strongly that we must take 
action to prevent attacks from happening in the first place. They view 
this election--they view the threats we face like law enforcement, and 
that is, we respond after we're attacked. And it's a fundamental 
difference, and I will travel this country for the next 5 weeks making 
it clear the difference of opinion.
    You know, the House Democrat leader summed 
up her party's approach to the midterm elections this way. She said, 
``This election should not be about national security.'' I strongly 
disagree. There's an enemy that wants to hurt the American people. The 
most solemn responsibility of the President and those of us who have 
been honored to serve you is to do what is necessary to protect the 
American people, and we will continue to do so.
    I'm optimistic we will prevail in the great ideological struggle of 
the 21st century. You are witnessing historic times, and this is an 
historic election. You're witnessing a struggle between moderation and 
extremists, tyranny and freedom. You're witnessing a struggle between 
those who would impose their dark vision on others and people who just 
want to live in peace. These are historic times, and it's going to 
require strong U.S. leadership to help win this ideological struggle.
    But I have got great faith. I believe in the universality of 
freedom. I believe all souls want to be free, and if given a chance, 
they will help us yield the peace we want. I believe the hard work that 
we're doing

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to protect you is also laying the foundation of peace for generations to 
come. I want it to be said when people look back at this moment of 
history that the United States of America had confidence in the values 
that caused our founding to begin in the first place; that we believed 
strongly in an obligation to help others realize the blessings and 
benefits of liberty. We did our duty; we did what we were called to do. 
And that's going to happen.
    I want to thank you for your interest. I thank you for supporting 
good, solid people who share my vision of peace. May God bless you all, 
and may God continue to bless the United States.

Note: The President spoke at 8:32 a.m. at the Camelback Inn. In his 
remarks, he referred to Caryll Kyl, wife of Sen. Jon Kyl; Usama bin 
Laden, leader of the Al Qaida terrorist organization; and Khalid Sheikh 
Mohammed, senior Al Qaida leader responsible for planning the September 
11, 2001, terrorist attacks, who was captured in Pakistan on March 1, 
2003.