[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book II)]
[November 3, 2006]
[Pages 1985-1993]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at a Missouri Victory 2006 Rally in Springfield, Missouri
November 3, 2006

    The President. Thank you all. Thanks for coming. Thank you for the 
warm welcome. It's good to be back here in southwest Missouri. This 
isn't my first time here. It's not going to be my last time here, 
either. The reason why is, I like the people from this part of the 
world. Good, down-to-earth, commonsense people live in southwest 
Missouri. And that's the kind of Senator you need in Washington, DC, 
from this State--good and decent, down-to-earth and talented.
    I appreciate you coming, giving me a chance to share with you some 
of my thoughts about Jim Talent. I've gotten 
to know him. He's effective. He's a leader. He does not need to take a 
political opinion poll to tell him where to stand. I want to thank you 
for supporting him, and I urge you to turn out the vote for Jim Talent. 
Jim's election will be good for Missouri, and it will be good for the 
United States of America.
    I not only feel that way in my family; so does Laura. She sends her love to our friends here in Missouri. She 
sends her support to the Talents, and she, like me, urges you to get out 
and vote on November the 7th.
    I'm proud to be here with Brenda Talent 
and their daughter, Chrissy. I don't know if 
you know much about the Talent family, but this man puts his family first. He just doesn't talk family values; 
he lives family values. And that's the kind of Senator you need from the 
State of Missouri.
    I'm proud to be here with the Governor, this 
boy's son--that boy's son. Where is the Governor? 
Blunt--how you doing, Blunt? Governor Matt Blunt. It looks like it's--
[applause]. People from this part of the world know how to find and 
elect and nourish good public servants. You not only nourished one 
Blunt; you nourished another Blunt. I'm proud to be up here with the 
majority whip of the United States Congress, Congressman Roy Blunt.

[[Page 1986]]

    I want to thank an effective Senator for joining us today. He's the senior Senator from 
Missouri. He doesn't like me to emphasize the senior part. He is--
[laughter]--he likes--he, like Jim Talent, 
every time I'm around him, talk about one thing, what's good for 
Missouri--and that's Senator Kit Bond.
    I want to thank the Lieutenant Governor, Peter Kinder, for joining us. I appreciate all the elected officials. I 
want to thank all the grassroots activists who are here. Grassroots 
activists are those who put up the signs, those who make the phone 
calls, those who turn out the vote. When Jim Talent wins, it's going to be because he's a man of character, 
because he's got good ideas, and because you're going to help turn out 
the vote to get him elected on November the 7th.
    We're going to sprint to the finish line. We got 4 days to go. 
What's interesting, however, is in Washington, DC, the pundits have 
already decided who's going to win.
    Audience members. Boo!
    The President. They forgot the people of Missouri hadn't voted yet. 
Oh, that's not the first time they've been forecasting elections. You 
might remember, in 2004, some of the folks in Washington listened to the 
prognosticators, and they started picking out their offices in the West 
Wing. And then it turned out the people went to the polls, and the 
movers weren't needed.
    With your hard work for the next 4 days, you'll elect Jim 
Talent to the United States Senate. We'll 
keep control of the House, and we'll keep control of the Senate. And the 
reason why I believe we're going to win around this country is because 
Republicans understand the values and the priorities of the American 
people. We're going to win this election because we got a record to run 
on. We've done some things that have made this country a better place.
    Let me start off with Jim Talent's 
record. He and I have worked closely to achieve a great national 
objective, and that is to become less dependent on foreign oil. He has 
delivered for Missouri farmers. Let me say, if the farm economy is good, 
the national economy is good. The farmers and ranchers in Missouri need 
to send this man back to the United States Senate. But we're working on 
new technologies so that the automobiles you drive will be powered by 
crops grown right here in Missouri. And Jim Talent is the leader in this 
effort. If you want to become less dependent on foreign oil, you need to 
send him back to the United States Senate.
    Jim Talent is a friend of the small-
business owner. You see, small businesses are important to our economic 
vitality. Small businesses are important to a hopeful America. And he 
understands that insurance costs are making it difficult for small-
business owners. And so that's why he has proposed and passed, when he 
was in the House of Representatives, what's called association health 
plans. These plans enable small businesses to bind together so they can 
buy insurance at the same discount that big businesses get to buy 
insurance. If you're a small-business owner in the State of Missouri, 
Jim Talent is the right man to represent you in the Senate.
    If you're somebody who is worried about methamphetamines in your 
State, Jim Talent is the right man to 
represent you. He's introduced and passed tough anti-meth legislation 
that gives law enforcement new tools to defeat this deadly drug and to 
shut down meth labs not only here in Missouri but around the country. 
He's a leader. He's getting the job done.
    And I want to talk about one other vital issue, and that is the 
nature of our judiciary. See, my job is to pick judges who will strictly 
interpret the law and not legislate from the bench. And so when people 
go to the polls here in Missouri, you're not only voting for the United 
States Senator; you're voting to determine what kind of judges will sit 
on the bench. And here's why. If the Democrats were to control the 
Senate--which they're not--but they would prevent judges like Sam 
Alito and John

[[Page 1987]]

Roberts from ever making it to the 
Supreme Court of the United States.
    I want to thank Jim Talent for being a 
strong voice for judicial restraint, a strong voice for talented judges, 
and a strong advocate for Judge Roberts 
and Judge Alito. This country is better 
off by having those two men on the Supreme Court.
    There's a lot of issues where there are differences between how we 
think and how the Democrats think. But there's no two more clear issues 
than what's going to happen to your taxes and whether or not this 
country will do everything in our power to protect you.
    First, let me start with taxes. We have a clear philosophy: We 
believe you can spend your money better than the Federal Government can. 
And the Democrats want to raise your taxes because they think they can 
spend your money better than you can.
    Audience members. Boo!
    The President. We believe that when you have more of your own money 
in your pocket to save, invest, or spend, the economy benefits. Over the 
past 5 years, we have done more than just philosophize. You don't want 
philosophers representing you; you want doers representing you. And so 
we passed the largest tax relief since Ronald Reagan was the President 
of the United States. We did more than just talk; we acted. We cut the 
taxes on every American who pays income taxes. We doubled the child tax 
credit. We reduced taxes on small businesses. We reduced the marriage--
the tax on the marriage penalty. We cut taxes on capital gains and 
dividends. And to reward family businesses and farmers here in the State 
of Missouri, we put the death tax on the road to extinction.
    Oh, you might remember the debate that took place in Washington. The 
Democrats predicted the tax cuts would not create jobs, they predicted 
the tax cuts would not increase wages, and they predicted that the tax 
cuts would cause the deficit to explode. Well, the facts are in. The tax 
cuts have led to a strong and growing economy, and this morning we got 
more proof of that. The national unemployment rate has dropped to 4.4 
percent. That is the lowest rate in 5\1/2\ years. Our economy added 
92,000 jobs in the month of October, and over the past 3 months, America 
has added 470,000 new jobs. Real wages rose 2.4 percent over the past 
year, which means an extra $1,327 for the typical family of four with 
two wage earners. And finally, thanks to our growing economy and fiscal 
restraint, we cut the deficit in half 3 years ahead of schedule.
    All those forecasts by the Democrats turned out to be wrong. And now 
they're forecasting they're going to win the elections. Well, if their 
election forecasts are as good as their economic forecasts, we're going 
to have a great day on November the 7th.
    The Democrats don't want you to know where they stand on taxes. You 
know, it's interesting, the top Democrat leader in the House made this declaration: She said, ``We love tax cuts.'' 
Well, given her record, she must be a secret admirer. [Laughter] See, 
when you all round up the vote, I want you to remind undecided citizens 
in this State that she and her party voted against reducing the marriage 
penalty, voted against cutting taxes on small businesses, voted against 
lowering the taxes for family with children, voted against reducing 
taxes on capital gains and dividends, and voting against cutting the 
death tax. That's their record. Time and time again, when she and the 
Democrats had a chance to show their love for tax cuts, they voted no. 
If that's their definition of love, I'd sure hate to see what hate looks 
like.
    You see, their plan is to let the tax cuts we passed expire. If we 
don't make the tax cuts permanent or extend the tax cuts, you get a tax 
increase. And they've asked leading Democrats, do they have any plans to 
keep the tax cuts in place? And they don't, because they want to raise 
your taxes. A big issue in this campaign is whether

[[Page 1988]]

or not we're going to have low taxes or higher taxes.
    If those tax cuts expire--just like the man who aspires to be the head of the Ways and Means Committee 
in the House has said is going to happen--I want you to think about 
this: If you've got a child and those tax cuts expire, your taxes just 
went up by $500. The child tax credit is 1,000. If the tax cuts are not 
extended or made permanent, the child tax credit drops to $500 a child. 
So when you're at dinner this evening, you count the number of children 
you've got around the table. [Laughter] And then you multiply it by $500 
per child. So if you're a family--have got four children, just go, one, 
two, three, four times 500--that's $2,000. That's a $2,000 tax increase 
if the Democrats take over. That may not seem like a lot to the 
Democrats in Washington, DC, but it seems like a lot to me, and it seems 
like a lot to Roy, and it seems like a lot to 
Senator Talent. Therefore, send him to the 
Senate, and we'll keep your taxes low.
    This election is taking place in an historic time for our country. 
And when our children and grandchildren look back at this period, one 
question will overwhelm all the rest: Did we do everything in our power 
to fight and win the war on terror? That is the fundamental question 
facing this generation. I wish I could report to you that we were not at 
war, but we are. We face an enemy that is brutal, an enemy that is 
determined to inflict damage on America because of what we stand for.
    See, they have an ideology. Their ideology is the opposite of our 
ideology. They don't believe in basic freedoms. They don't believe in 
the freedom to worship; we do. They don't believe in the freedom of 
dissent, the freedom of speech. They don't believe in the basic freedoms 
that have helped define the societies of those of us who embrace 
liberty. And they want to impose their view on the world. They believe 
that they should establish a caliphate, a governing body, a governing 
organization, based upon their ideology of hate that extends, initially, 
from Indonesia to Spain. That is their declared intentions.
    The best way to protect you from these enemies is to stay on the 
offense and to bring them to justice before they can hurt you again. 
Part of our strategy is to do just that, and we're doing that. The other 
part of our strategy is to protect this homeland. The enemy has to be 
right one time in order to attack us; we've got to be right 100 percent 
of the time in order to protect you. And that is why I made sure, as did 
these two gentlemen, that our professionals on the frontline of 
protecting you have the tools necessary to do so.
    For example, there were walls that prevented our intelligence 
services from sharing information with our law enforcement. Now, I 
understand that--you probably say, ``Well, how did that happen?'' Well, 
it just happened. You cannot fight and win this war and protect the 
American people unless our intelligence folks can share the information 
they have gotten with those who are responsible for protecting you. And 
that's why we designed the PATRIOT Act, to make sure our professionals 
have the tools, and at the same time, protect civil liberties.
    When it came time to renew the PATRIOT Act, the Senate Democrats 
voted against it. As a matter of fact, the Senate minority leader, the Democrat leader in the Senate, bragged, ``Well, we 
killed the PATRIOT Act.'' Fortunately, we had Senators like Jim 
Talent who understand our most important 
responsibility is to protect you in this new war.
    This is a different kind of war that requires a strategy that says 
we're going to find out what the enemy is thinking in order to protect 
you. And that's why I authorized a program that said if Al Qaida or an 
Al Qaida affiliate is making a phone call into the United States of 
America, we want to know why. We want to understand their intentions. 
When this bill came for a vote in the House of Representatives,

[[Page 1989]]

the overwhelming number of House Democrats voted against giving our 
professionals the tools necessary to protect you.
    See, there's a different mindset in Washington. There's an attitude 
that says, ``It's okay to wait,'' and, ``We'll respond after we're 
attacked.'' Our attitude is, we're going to prevent the attacks from 
happening in the first place.
    When we pick an enemy up on the battlefield, we need to be able to 
question that person. So I authorized the Central Intelligence Agency to 
question people we have picked up on the battlefield. Let me explain 
why. We picked up Khalid Sheikh 
Mohammed; our intelligence folks thinks he was the person that 
masterminded the September the 11th attacks. So you can imagine why I 
wanted to know what he knew. If he knew one attack, he might know 
another attack. If my job is to protect you, we better give the 
professionals the tools necessary to do so. And yet, when this program 
came up on the floor of the United States Senate and the United States 
House of Representatives, the overwhelming number of Democrats voted 
against it.
    Audience members. Boo!
    The President. We need people in the Congress who understand the 
stakes of this war. We need people in the Senate and the Congress who 
understand our most important job is to protect you. We need to make 
sure our professionals have the tools necessary to do so. That's why 
you've got to send Jim Talent to the United 
States Senate.
    We're on the offense. Every day, this country is on the offense 
against those who would do you harm. You cannot plot and plan if you're 
on the run. It is hard to organize a strike on America if you're hiding. 
So you just got to know, there's a lot of really brave people on the 
hunt.
    One of the lessons of September the 11th is that when we see a 
threat, we have got to take that threat seriously before it 
materializes. It's an essential lesson in this new war. I saw a threat 
in Saddam Hussein; Members of the United 
States Congress, both political parties, saw the same threat; the United 
Nations saw the threat. Removing Saddam Hussein was the right decision, 
and the world is better off for it.
    We're in a global war against these terrorists, and we're fighting 
on a variety of fronts. The most important front is Iraq. I've heard all 
the language out of Washington--I'm sure you have as well--that said, 
Iraq is a distraction in the war on terror. That's what the Democrats 
say. I believe Iraq is central to the war on terror. But don't take my 
word for it. Don't take my word for it; listen to Usama bin Laden. He has called Iraq--the fight in Iraq the third 
world war. He understands the stakes. He says that victory for the 
terrorists in Iraq will mean America's defeat and disgrace forever. 
That's what the enemy says.
    Now I want you to listen to the words of a leading senior 
Democrat in Washington, DC, about Iraq. She 
said, ``The President says fighting them there makes it less likely we 
will have to fight them here.'' That's what I have said, and that's what 
I'm going to continue to say, because it's the truth. [Applause] Hold on 
for a minute. She went on to say, ``The opposite is true: Because we are 
fighting them there, it may become more likely we'll have to fight them 
here.''
    Audience members. Noo!
    The President. Iraq is not the reason why the terrorists are at war 
against us. When you're out rounding up the vote, you remind people that 
we were not in Iraq when they 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 on September the 11th, 2001, when they killed nearly 
3,000 of our citizens. You do not create terrorists by fighting the 
terrorists. The best way to protect you is to stay on the offense and 
defeat them overseas

[[Page 1990]]

so we do not have to face them here at home.
    Our goal in Iraq is victory. Victory in Iraq will mean a country 
which can sustain itself, govern itself, and defend itself and serve as 
an ally in the war on terror. And there's no question, the fighting is 
tough, because the enemy understands the stakes of what a free society 
will mean to their ambitions to spread their dark vision throughout the 
Middle East and then the world. See, they understand the stakes, and we 
must understand the stakes. The enemy kills innocent people in order to 
shake the will of the Iraqis, in order to create concern amongst the 
American people. They have got a weapon, and that is their willingness 
to take innocent life. Americans value life. We appreciate life. But I 
want the enemy to understand this country. We will not run in the face 
of thugs and assassins.
    We have a plan for victory that gives our commanders all the 
flexibility they need to stay ahead of the enemy. And we've got some 
unbelievably brave and courageous people wearing the uniform of the 
United States of America. Our troops understand the stakes in Iraq. They 
understand this is a central front in the war on terror. And that is why 
I am pleased to tell you that there's no doubt in my mind, when it comes 
time to making sure our troops have all that is necessary to do the jobs 
I have asked them to do, Senator Talent is 
strong for the military.
    Something else we've got going for us to achieve our goal, and those 
are the Iraqis. They've suffered unspeakable violence. Yet, you might 
remember, nearly 12 million of them said, ``We want to be free.'' I was 
pleased, but not surprised, that people said, ``We want to be free.'' I 
believe a gift from the Almighty to every soul on the face of the Earth 
is the desire to be free. I believe in the universality of freedom, and 
I believe it is in our interest that we help people who desire to be 
free to be so.
    And therefore, we'll help this young Government politically. We will 
help them economically, to realize their vast potential. We will 
continue to train their military so they get to take the fight, so 
they're the ones who win, so they're the ones who defeat the extremists. 
And I believe that one day, Iraq will be a government of and by and for 
the people, unless we leave before the job is done. The only way we can 
lose is if we leave before the job is done. And that's a central part of 
the debate in this campaign.
    You listen to the debate, and try to listen carefully for the 
Democrat plan for success. Don't listen too long because they don't have 
one. They don't have a plan to win this important front in the war on 
terror. Oh, some of the leading Democrats in Washington argue we should 
pull out right now. Then you got other voices saying we should withdraw 
on a specific date, even though the job hasn't been completed. You 
actually had a Member of the House recommend moving troops to an island 
5,000 miles away, as part of their plan. Nineteen House Democrats 
introduced legislation that would cut off funds for our troops in Iraq.
    One of Jim Talent's colleagues, a 
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.'' Well, she's right. 
They're in agreement about one thing: They will leave before the job is 
done. I'm not saying these people are unpatriotic; I'm just saying 
they're wrong.
    On this vital issue, on the issue that will determine the security 
of this country, the Democrats have taken a calculated gamble. They 
believe that the only way they can win this election is to criticize us 
and offer no specific plan of their own. Here's how one Democrat 
senior describes their strategy: ``The election 
is about them,'' this person said. So far, the Democrats have refused to 
tell us their plan on how they're going to secure the United States. 
There's

[[Page 1991]]

still 4 days left before the election, and there's still time for the 
Democrats to tell the American people their plan to prevail in this war 
on terror.
    So if you happen to bump into a Democrat candidate, you might want 
to ask this simple question: What's your plan? If they say they want to 
protect the homeland but oppose the PATRIOT Act, ask them this question: 
What's your plan? [Laughter] If they say they want to uncover terrorist 
plots but oppose listening in on terrorist conversations, ask them this 
question: What's your plan? If they say they want to stop new attacks on 
our country but oppose letting the CIA detain and question the 
terrorists who might know what those plots are, ask them this question: 
What's your plan? If they say they want to win the war on terror but 
call for America to pull out from what Al Qaida says is the central 
front in this war, ask them this question: What's your plan?
    Audience members. What's your plan?
    The President. The truth is, the Democrats can't answer that 
question. Harsh criticism is not a plan for victory. Second-guessing is 
not a strategy. We have a plan for victory. We have a plan to secure 
this country, and part of our plan is to send Jim Talent back to the 
United States Senate.
    Victory is vital for the future of this country. Retreat from Iraq 
before the job is done would embolden the enemy. It would make our 
country more vulnerable to attacks.
    This is a different kind of war. I know I keep saying that, but it's 
important for you to understand how different it is. Unlike other wars, 
if we were to leave Iraq before the job is done, the enemy would follow 
us here. Victory--defeat in Iraq, leaving before the job is done, would 
give the enemy a new safe haven, just like they had in Afghanistan, from 
which to plan and plot further attacks. It would enable the enemy to 
recruit. It would strengthen the hand of the radicals and extremists. It 
would dash the hopes of millions of people in the Middle East who want 
to live in peace. And it would dishonor the sacrifice of the men and 
women who have worn the uniform of the United States of America.
    The consequences of retreat would be felt for generations. I see a 
lot of young folks here today. My job is to think not only how to 
protect you today but how to create the conditions for peace in the long 
run. Retreating from the Middle East because of the unspeakable violence 
that the enemy inflicts on others as well as their own troops would 
create a dangerous world for you to grow up in. You see, the enemy has 
made it clear that they expect us to lose our nerve. They have made it 
clear that they don't believe America has what it takes to defend 
ourselves. They want to topple moderate governments. They want to be 
able to use energy as a tool to blackmail the United States.
    Imagine the radicals and extremists taking over a country, and they 
were able to pull millions of barrels of oil off the market, driving the 
price up to 3 or $400 a barrel, whatever it would be, and saying, 
``Okay, we'll reduce the price, all you've got to do is surrender. All 
you've got to do is abandon your alliance with Israel, and we'll lower 
the price. All you've got to do is retreat.'' And couple that with a 
country which doesn't like us, with a nuclear weapon, and a generation 
of Americans will say, ``What happened to them in 2006? How come they 
couldn't see the impending danger? What was it that clouded their 
vision?''
    Well, I want to assure you, I clearly see the threats facing a 
generation of Americans. I see the problems we face, and that is why we 
will stay in Iraq. And that is why we will fight in Iraq. And that is 
why we will win in Iraq. Victory will be a blow to the terrorists, a 
blow to the plans of the extremists and radicals. Victory will help 
moderates--moderate people, people who want to bring their children up 
in a peaceful world, to have the boldness to

[[Page 1992]]

help us marginalize those radicals. Victory will say to reformers and 
women who long for freedom, America will not abandon you. Victory will 
say to those who believe they can impose their tyrannical vision on 
others, liberty is powerful.
    I want to share a story with you about the power of liberty. You 
might remember, recently Laura and I took Prime 
Minister Koizumi, who was then sitting as 
the Prime Minister of Japan, to Elvis's place. It was in Memphis, 
Tennessee. You been there probably. See, I had never been there. Laura 
said, ``It's about time we took a family vacation; take me down to 
Elvis's place.'' [Laughter] We also went because Prime Minister Koizumi, 
the Prime Minister of Japan, loved Elvis. [Laughter] But I also wanted 
to tell a story, and I want you all to listen to this story, because 
it's a powerful story about liberty.
    See, after Japan attacked America--where, by the way, we lost fewer 
people in Pearl Harbor than we did on September the 11th--a lot of young 
Americans volunteered to defend our Nation, one of whom was my 
dad, and I'm certain some of your relatives 
did the same thing. Thousands of Americans volunteered to fight the 
enemy in a bloody war in which thousands and thousands of citizens on 
both sides of this war lost their lives.
    And here I am, on Air Force One, flying down to Elvis's place with 
the Prime Minister of the former enemy, 
talking about the peace, talking about working together to secure peace. 
Isn't that interesting? Something happened between World War II and 
2006, when I'm on the airplane talking about how we can work together to 
send a clear message to the leader in North Korea, no nuclear weapons; or how we can work together to fight 
the scourge and the pandemic of HIV/AIDS on the continent of Africa; or 
how we can work together to feed the hungry.
    I thanked him for the 1,000 Japanese troops in Iraq, because 
he understands what I know: In this 
ideological struggle, when we find young democracies that are willing to 
stand strong against the extremists and radicals, those of us who live 
in liberty have a duty to help these young democracies succeed for the 
sake of peace. Isn't it interesting? My dad 
fought the Japanese, and his son is talking about keeping the peace. 
Something happened: Japan adopted a Japanese-style democracy.
    The lesson for all to hear is that liberty has got the capacity to 
transform an enemy into an ally. Liberty has got the capacity to 
transform a region of frustration and resentment into a region of hope. 
Someday American leaders will be sitting down with duly elected leaders 
from the Middle East talking about keeping the peace, and a generation 
of Americans will be better off for it.
    And so these are the stakes in this election. These are historic 
times, and you can make a significant difference in how our country 
responds. When you leave the hall, go find your fellow Republicans, 
discerning Democrats--[laughter]--and openminded independents, and 
remind them of the stark differences in this campaign. And the message 
is this: If you want low taxes and a correspondingly strong economy, 
vote Republican and send Jim Talent back to 
the United States Senate. If you want this country of ours to give the 
professionals they need--the tools they need to protect you and if you 
want the United States of America doing everything we can to defeat an 
enemy and lay the foundation for peace, vote Republican and send Jim 
Talent back to the United States Senate.
    I am honored you're here. I'm grateful for your time. I appreciate 
your enthusiasm. God bless you, and God bless the United States.

Note: The President spoke at 9:16 a.m. at the Springfield Exposition 
Center. In his remarks, he referred to former President Saddam Hussein 
of Iraq; Usama bin Laden, leader of the Al Qaida terrorist organization; 
and Chairman Kim Jong Il of North Korea.

[[Page 1993]]