[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book II)]
[October 30, 2006]
[Pages 1953-1960]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at a Texas Victory 2006 Rally in Sugar Land, Texas
October 30, 2006

    The President. Thank you all very much. Thank you. I always feel 
better when I'm in Texas. Thanks for coming out. I'm honored you are 
here. I appreciate you taking time out of your day.
    I thank you for joining me and saying loud and clear to the people 
of the 22d Congressional District: Shelley Sekula Gibbs is the right person to serve you in the United States 
Congress. She served in public office before, you might remember, she 
was a member of the Houston City Council, where she helped pass tax 
cuts. She's a doctor. She's a doctor, where she's helped heal broken 
bodies. She is going--she's a mother who understands the importance of 
family values. She's the right person to send to Washington, DC.
    If you'll give me a chance maybe to, kind of, serve as the secretary 
of state for Texas for a second--[laughter]--for those folks who haven't 
been paying attention to this election yet--want good government, you 
get to vote twice for Shelley. You get 
to check her name in the special election portion of the ballot, and 
then you get to write her name in. See, if you want to send Shelley to 
the United States Congress, you're going to have to take a pencil into 
the ballot box.
    Now, you can bring a piece of paper with you that's got her name on 
it, so you can copy it down on the ballot. So remember, when you show up 
to vote on November the 7th, bring your pencil, bring your

[[Page 1954]]

paper, and write Shelley's name in for 
good government.
    Laura sends her love. As President, I make a 
lot of decisions, but the best decision I have made as a person is 
asking Laura to marry me. Some of her friends are still wondering 
whether the best decision she ever made was to say yes. [Laughter] But 
I'm real proud of her. She's a fantastic wife, a great mom, and a great 
First Lady for the United States.
    Speaking about great ladies, this State is fortunate to have Kay 
Bailey Hutchison as the 
United States Senator. She is effective; she is capable; she's all 
Texan. And it's important for this State to send her back to the United 
States Senate with a strong, strong vote. I appreciate Kevin 
Brady joining us. He's the Congressman from 
over there. [Laughter] I know him well. He's a good one.
    And I want to thank my friend Commissioner Michael 
Williams, who's joined us today. I want 
to thank all the statehouse folks; they're sitting behind me. I remember 
serving with them when I was their Governor--a little different here in 
Texas than it is in Washington. [Laughter] These are good people, and I 
appreciate them joining us.
    I want to thank the mayor, Mayor David Williams [Wallace],* right here from Sugar Land, Texas, for joining us. I 
thank all the grassroots activists who've joined us. I want to thank you 
for the job you're going to do, and that is, turn out your neighbors on 
November the 7th with a pencil and a piece of paper, and tell them to 
write in Shelley Sekula Gibbs to be the 
next United States Congresswoman.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    *White House correction.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to sprinting to the 
finish line. I'm looking forward to this campaign. I like campaigning. I 
like getting out and about the people. I like telling them what's on my 
mind. You know, what's interesting in Washington, some of the folks over 
there are already picking out their new offices. [Laughter]
    Audience members. Boo!
    The President. That's not the first time it's happened since I've 
been in Washington. You might remember in 2004, some of them were 
measuring the drapes in the West Wing. [Laughter] They had their office 
suites all picked out. Except their problem was, the movers weren't 
needed. [Laughter] And the same thing is going to happen this year. 
We're going to elect Shelley, and we're 
going to control the House and the United States Senate.
    We've got a record to run on. We've done some things that are 
positive for the United States of America. For decades, the public 
schools failed too many children. And so we passed the No Child Left 
Behind Act, which demanded results in return for Federal money. And now 
test scores are rising, the achievement gap is beginning to close, and 
we're bringing closer to the day when every single child in America gets 
their quality education.
    For decades, we've been growing too dependent on foreign oil. So we 
passed a good energy bill that encourages conservation, additional 
production for oil and gas in the United States. We're doing something 
else that's smart too: We're spending money on technology so that our 
automobiles will be able to be running on crops grown right here in the 
State of Texas. We want to be less dependent on foreign sources of oil.
    For decades, Medicare was outdated, so we did something about it. We 
passed landmark legislation that modernized the Medicare system. Today, 
33 million seniors have more choices and more access to affordable 
drugs, and because of our action, poor seniors no longer have to choose 
between food and medicine.
    For decades, we hadn't had complete control over our southern 
border. Illegal immigration has been on the rise. So we acted. I sent 
the National Guard down there to help the Border Patrol do their

[[Page 1955]]

job. We're adding thousands of new Border Patrol agents. We're 
modernizing this border. We will reform our immigration system, and this 
country of ours will enforce our immigration laws.
    For decades, activist judges have tried to redefine America by court 
order. I don't know if you've been following what happened in New Jersey 
recently. Another activist court issued a ruling that raises doubts 
about the institution of marriage. We believe marriage is a union 
between a man and a woman and should be defended. And I believe I must 
continue to appoint judges who will strictly interpret the law and not 
legislate from the bench.
    No, we got a strong record to run on. This country is better off 
because John Roberts and Sam 
Alito are serving on the Supreme Court 
of the United States. And I want to thank Senator Kay Bailey 
Hutchison for her strong 
support helping get those nominees on the floor of the Senate and 
getting them confirmed as Supreme Court Justices.
    Now, there are big differences between the Democrats and the 
Republicans. Perhaps the two biggest differences can be seen in these 
two issues: One, which party is going to keep your taxes low to keep 
this economy growing? And which party is going to take the necessary 
steps to protect the United States of America?
    Let me start with taxes. Shelley 
and I have a clear philosophy: We believe that you know how to spend 
your money far better than the Federal Government can. We believe that 
when you have more money in your pocket to save, invest, or spend, the 
economy benefits.
    The Democrats want more of your money because they think they can 
spend it better than you can.
    Audience members. Boo!
    The President. Over the past 5 years, we've acted on our philosophy. 
In other words, we just didn't go to Washington to talk. We went to 
Washington to get a job done on your behalf. We passed the largest tax 
relief since Ronald Reagan was the President of the United States.
    When you're out there rounding up votes, remind them of this record: 
We cut taxes on everyone who pays income taxes; we doubled the child tax 
credit; we reduced the marriage penalty; we substantially cut taxes on 
small businesses; we cut taxes on capital gains and dividends to 
encourage investment and jobs; and to reward family businesses and 
farmers and ranchers for a lifetime of work, we put the death tax on the 
road to extinction.
    I know Senator Hutchison and Congressman Brady 
remember the debate in Washington. They remember those Democrats 
predicting that the tax cuts would not create jobs, would not increase 
wages, and would increase the Federal deficit. Well, the facts are in. 
The truth is, the tax cuts have led to a growing economy that has added 
6.6 million new jobs since August of 2003. Real wages are on the rise, 
and we cut the deficit in half 3 years ahead of schedule.
    Around this country, a lot of people don't understand the Democrats' 
position on taxes. So part of my job is to clarify matters, is to make 
it clear their intentions. Part of the confusion comes about because the 
leading lady in the Congress proclaimed this--
you're not going to believe what she said, but she actually said this on 
TV the other--she said, about the Democrats: ``We love tax cuts.'' The 
problem is, 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, 
voted against taxes--lowering taxes for families with children, voted 
against reducing taxes on capital gains and dividends, voted against 
eliminating the death tax. That's their record. Time and time again, 
when she had a chance to show her love for tax cuts, she voted no. My 
attitude is, if this is the Democrats' idea of love, I don't want to see 
what hate looks like. [Laughter]

[[Page 1956]]

    Here's what happens: If we do not make the tax cuts we passed 
permanent or extend the tax cuts, you'll get a tax increase. That's just 
the way it is. You know, it's interesting; they asked the man who would be the chairman of the House Ways and 
Means Committee--the Democrat who will be the chairman of the Ways and 
Means Committee, if the Democrats were to take over the House--which 
they're not--[applause]. And here's what he said--it's important for 
Americans to know the facts. Here's what he said. He said, when asked 
about extending the tax cuts or making them permanent, he said he 
couldn't think of one of the tax cuts he would extend. In other words, 
what they're telling you is, they're going to raise your taxes.
    I want you to think about this. I want you to think about this: If 
the child tax credit were to expire, your taxes will go up by $500 per 
child. See, in other words, we increased the child tax credit from $500 
to $1,000 per child. For those of you with children, you know what I'm 
talking about. If that tax cut were to expire--just like the man who 
wants to be the head of the tax committee said--your taxes per child go 
up $500. So when you're eating dinner tonight and you're looking around 
the table, you can take the number of children around your table and 
multiply it by $500, and that's going to be part of the tax increase you 
have to pay.
    Audience members. Boo!
    The President. You take a family working hard to get ahead, and they 
got four children; they're looking at a $2,000 tax increase. That may 
not seem like a lot to Democrats in Washington, DC, but it seems like a 
lot to me. And I know it's a lot for you. And the best way to make sure 
it doesn't happen is to send Shelley to 
the United States Congress.
    So when they're out there campaigning and somebody comes up and 
says, ``Shel, tell me the difference 
between what the Republicans are going to do and the Democrats,'' it's 
real easy. We're going to keep your taxes low, and they're going to 
raise your taxes. And a tax increase would not only be bad for your 
wallet; a tax increase would be bad for the economy of the United States 
of America.
    We're meeting in historic times. This election is happening during 
historic times. And when our children and grandchildren look back at 
this period, one question is going to overwhelm all the rest: Did we do 
everything in our power to fight and win the war on terror?
    We face an enemy that is brutal. They have an ideology. It's the 
opposite of our ideology. We love freedom. They hate freedom. They will 
kill innocent people to achieve their objectives. You cannot negotiate 
with these radicals and extremists. You can't hope for the best with 
these radicals and extremists. The only way to protect America, which is 
our most important job, is to stay on the offense and bring them to 
justice before they can hurt us again.
    Our most important job is to protect you. I wish I didn't have to 
report that there's an enemy still out there, but there is. And they 
want to attack again. We have to be right 100 percent of the time to 
protect the American people, and they have to be right one time in order 
to achieve their objectives. And that's why I put some tools in the 
hands of our professionals, so they could better do their job.
    You know, when I--right after 9/11 when we analyzed part of the 
problem, there was a wall that existed between our intelligence 
gathering people and our law enforcement, and they couldn't share 
information. I know that's hard for you to believe, but that's the way 
it was. So I asked Congress to pass the PATRIOT Act, and thanks to 
Senators like Kay Bailey Hutchison and Congressmen like Kevin Brady, we passed the PATRIOT Act.
    In this different kind of war, we must understand what the enemy is 
thinking, in order to be able to protect you. And so therefore, when we 
found Al Qaida or Al Qaida affiliates making phone calls into the

[[Page 1957]]

United States, I thought it was important to understand why, in order to 
protect you. We are picking up the enemy on the battlefield. And when we 
pick people who understand what the plans are about attacks, we need to 
know what they're thinking.
    See, this is a different kind of war. It requires pinpoint 
intelligence, advanced knowledge in order for us to do our job. And so 
we picked up people off the battlefield, like Khalid Sheikh 
Mohammed. You might have heard of 
him. He was the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks; at least that's what our 
intelligence people think. In other words, he was the--they think he was 
the person that organized and ordered the attacks that killed nearly 
3,000 people on one day. I thought it was important to have the CIA be 
in a position to question him to find out what he knew, in order to 
protect America.
    If anybody has any doubts about the differences of opinion in 
Washington, DC, between Republicans and Democrats, I want them to 
analyze the recent votes that took place on these important programs. 
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 to vote on whether or not to allow 
the CIA to continue its program to detain and question captured 
terrorists, more than 80 percent of House Democrats voted against it.
    Audience members. Boo!
    The President. When it came time to vote on whether the National 
Security Agency should continue to monitor communications that we think 
would be--contain information that would protect you, more than 90 
percent of the House Democrats voted against it.
    Audience members. Boo!
    The President. In all these vital measures for fighting a war on 
terror, the Democrats in Washington follow a simple philosophy: Just say 
no. [Laughter] When it comes to listening in on the terrorists, what's 
the Democrats' answer?
    Audience members. Just say no!
    The President. Just say no. When it comes to detaining terrorists, 
what's the Democrats' answer?
    Audience members. Just say no!
    The President. When it comes to questioning terrorists, what's the 
Democrats' answer?
    Audience members. Just say no!
    The President. When it comes to trying terrorists, what's the 
Democrats' answer?
    Audience members. Just say no!
    The President. And so when the Democrats ask for your vote on 
November 7th, what's your answer?
    Audience members. Noo!
    The President. No doubt in my mind, I can count on Shelley Sekula 
Gibbs to make sure that our 
professionals have the tools necessary to protect you in this dangerous 
world. But the best way to protect you, the best way to make sure that 
an enemy is unable to do us harm, is to stay on the offense and keep the 
enemy on the run. It is hard to plot, plan, and attack when you're on 
the run. And that's precisely what we're doing.
    I can't tell you how honored I am to be a Commander in Chief of a 
military full of decent and honorable Americans who have volunteered to 
protect this country. And one of the things that I make a pledge to the 
families of those who wear our uniform is that we'll continue to make 
sure our troops have all that is necessary to be able to do the job that 
I have asked them to do. And I know that Congresswoman Shelley Sekula 
Gibbs will be a strong and steady vote 
for the men and women of the United States military.
    One of the lessons of September the 11th is that this Nation must 
take threats seriously before they come home to hurt us. We must take 
every threat we see overseas very seriously. Otherwise, if we don't, 
there's an enemy that lurks and intends to hit us again. I saw a threat 
in Saddam

[[Page 1958]]

Hussein. Members of both political parties 
saw a threat in Saddam Hussein. The United Nations saw a threat in 
Saddam Hussein. I made the right decision to get Saddam Hussein out of 
power.
    We're in a global struggle against these killers. And the war is 
fought on many fronts, but right now, the central front in this war on 
terror is Iraq. Oh, I hear them in Washington say, ``Iraq is a 
distraction from the war on terror.'' Well, they shouldn't take my word 
for it; they should take the word of Usama bin Laden, who has said that the fight in Iraq is the third world 
war. He said victory for the terrorists in Iraq will mean America's 
defeat and disgrace forever. That is what the enemy has said. It's 
important for all Americans to listen carefully to the words of the 
people who would do us harm.
    Now I want you to listen to the words of a senior Democrat in the House of Representatives, one of the leaders. 
She said, ``The President says that fighting them there''--she's talking 
about Iraq--``makes it less likely we will have to fight them here.'' 
This is exactly what I've said. She went on to say, ``The opposite is 
true; because we're fighting them there, it may become more likely we 
will have to fight them here.''
    Here's what the person doesn't understand: Iraq is not the reason 
the terrorists are in the war against us. I would remind the House 
Democrat, our troops were not in Iraq when the terrorists first attacked 
the World Trade Center in 1993. We weren't in Iraq when they blew up our 
Embassies in Kenya or Tanzania, or blew up the USS Cole. And we were not 
in Iraq when they killed nearly 3,000 people on September the 11th, 
2001. We do not create terrorists by fighting the terrorists. The best 
way to protect you is to stay on the offense and bring the terrorists to 
justice wherever we find them.
    Our goal in Iraq is clear: It's victory. We want to help this young 
democracy grow so it can sustain itself and govern itself and defend 
itself and become an ally in the war on terror. And the fighting is 
tough. I know it's tough, and you know it's tough. It's tough because we 
fight an enemy that has no conscience. We fight an enemy that can't 
stand the thought of a free society. We fight an enemy whose ideology is 
the opposite of our ideology.
    The enemy kills innocent men, women, and children. They film the 
atrocities, and they broadcast them for the world to see. Our enemies 
hope these violent images will cause us to lose our nerve and pull out 
before the job is done. They don't understand the United States of 
America. We will not run from thugs and assassins.
    I'll make sure our commanders have what they need to complete this 
job. If they want more troops, they get more troops. If they want less 
troops, they get less troops. They are flexible. We're constantly 
adjusting our tactics to meet the tactics of the enemy.
    We got another asset going for us beside our military, and these are 
brave Iraqis. They have suffered unspeakable violence, yet they're 
committed to a free society. They're committed to reject the extremists 
and radicals who try to overturn their will. They voted--nearly 12 
million people--to say, ``We want to be free.'' It's in the United 
States interest to help them succeed. It's in our interest to defeat the 
radicals. It's in our interest to defeat the extremists. The only way we 
won't succeed in Iraq is by leaving before the job is done.
    You listen to the debate about Iraq, the Democrat plan for success, 
well, they don't have a plan for success. [Laughter] It's a serious 
political party in the midst of a war, and they have no plan for 
success. They don't even have a plan for victory. [Laughter] Last week, 
one Democrat Senator described her 
party's position: ``We haven't coalesced around a single plan, but we're 
in general agreement on the basic principles.'' She's right; the only 
principle about which they can agree is, get out before the job is done.

[[Page 1959]]

    You know, they put it different ways. Some say, immediate 
redeployment. Some say they wouldn't spend another dime on our troops in 
Iraq. Some say that the idea that we're going to win this war is an idea 
that, unfortunately, is just plain wrong. Well, however they put it, 
their approach comes down to this: The terrorists win, and America 
loses.
    Audience members. Boo!
    The President. The Democrat goal is to get out of Iraq. The 
Republican goal is to win in Iraq.
    I'm not saying that these Democrats are unpatriotic, I'm just saying 
they're wrong. You can't win a war unless you're willing to fight the 
war. Retreat from Iraq before the job was done would embolden an enemy 
and make this country more vulnerable to attack, would allow the 
terrorists to gain a new safe haven, which is precisely what they said 
is part of their plan, in Iraq. And why do they want a safe haven? They 
want a safe haven like they had in Afghanistan so they can launch 
further attacks.
    Retreat from Iraq would strengthen the hands of these radicals and 
extremists and enable them to recruit better. Retreat from Iraq before 
the job was done would dishonor the sacrifice of the men and women who 
have worn the uniform of the United States of America in Iraq to protect 
us. The consequences of failure in Iraq would be felt for generations.
    You see, the enemy has clearly stated they want us to retreat. They 
want to topple moderate governments. They want their extremism to become 
the philosophy of a governing structure that stretches from Indonesia to 
Spain. It's called a caliphate. That's what they've said. Imagine a 
Middle East in which violent forms of extremists compete for power, 
moderate governments are overturned, oil-rich states are controlled by 
the radicals who will use the energy to create blackmail for the United 
States, and in the midst, a country with a nuclear weapon that can't 
stand us. Thirty years from now, if that were to happen, people will 
look back and they'll say, ``What happened to that generation in 2006? 
How come they couldn't see the impending danger? How come they couldn't 
see the threat?''
    I want you to know, I see the threat. That is why we will support 
our troops, we will fight, and we will win in Iraq.
    We've got another powerful tool at our disposal, and it's called 
freedom. I would like to share a story with you about a recent 
experience I had. Well, it's when I went down to Elvis's place. 
[Laughter]
    You might remember, my guest was the then-sitting Prime Minister of 
Japan. Laura said, 
``Why you going down there?'' I said, because I never been. [Laughter] 
By the way, she decided to come too. Prime Minister Koizumi wanted to go 
because he loved Elvis.
    But I wanted to tell a story to the American people about the power 
of liberty, and I want to share it with you right quick. You see, after 
the Japanese attacked America, where more people--by the way, more 
people died on September the 11th than the attack of Pearl Harbor. When 
they attacked, a lot of brave Americans, including one George H.W. 
Bush, volunteered to defend America.
    I bet you a lot of folks out here had relatives who did the same 
thing. They said, ``I volunteer to protect this country against a mortal 
enemy.'' I'm flying down on Air Force One with the Prime 
Minister of the sworn--the country that 
used to be our sworn enemy talking about keeping the peace. I was 
talking to him about the fact that Iraq had 1,000 troops--I mean, Japan 
had 1,000 troops in Iraq because he knows what I know: In this 
ideological struggle, when we find young democracies, which will serve 
as a major defeat for ideologues who hate, that we've got to support 
them. We talked about convincing the leader of North Korea to give up his nuclear weapon for the sake of peace.
    In other words, we were talking about peace. Isn't it interesting? 
My dad fought

[[Page 1960]]

the Japanese as a sworn enemy; his son is sitting down with the leader 
of that country talking about peace. Let 
me tell you something: Liberty has got the capacity to change an enemy 
into an ally. And liberty has got the capacity to change a region of the 
world that is so desperate for freedom into a place of peace. Someday an 
American President will be sitting down with duly elected leaders from 
the Middle East talking about the peace, and a generation of Americans 
will be better off.
    So these are the stakes in this election, and I thank you for giving 
me a chance to come out and urge you on, to urge you to go to the polls 
and to take your friends. Find Republicans, discerning Democrats, 
discerning independents, and remind them, if you want more money in your 
pocket, vote Republican, and if you want a party who will take the steps 
necessary to protect you today and to protect a generation of Americans 
coming up, vote for Shelley and vote 
for Republicans.
    God bless. God bless America.

Note: The President spoke at 5:04 p.m. at the Sugar Land Regional 
Airport. In his remarks, he referred to Michael L. Williams, 
commissioner, Texas Railroad Commission; former President Saddam Hussein 
of Iraq; Usama bin Laden, leader of the Al Qaida terrorist organization; 
former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan; and Chairman Kim Jong 
Il of North Korea.