    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2007, Book I)]
    [May 10, 2007]
    [Pages 563-568]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Republican National Committee Gala
    May 10, 2007

        The President. Thank you all. Thanks for coming. Please be seated,
    unless, of course, you don't have a chair. [Laughter] I'm glad you're
    here. And I'm glad I'm here with you, and I thank you. Thanks for
    coming; thanks for supporting the Republican Party. Here's our mission:
    Our mission is to keep the White House in 2008 and retake the Senate and
    the House. And you're helping, and you're helping a lot, and I really
    appreciate it.
        I appreciate my friend, Senator Mel Martinez, for being the general chairman of the Republican
    National Committee. You know, I believe that he is the first RNC
    chairman to speak English as a second language. [Laughter] Some people
    think I'm the first President who can make the same claim. [Laughter]
        But I'm proud to be with Mel and Michael Duncan and
    Elliott Broidy and all the good folks who are
    helping make sure that we're ready to run a vibrant and active campaign
    in 2008.
        I wish Laura were here. No, I know it; I
    know. I'm proud of her. She is a gracious, lovely person. And I am a
    lucky man to have had her by my side during this fantastic experience of
    being your President. She sends her love, and she sends her best. I want
    to--yes, I love her too. Yes, she's good. [Laughter]
        Audience member. I love you too.
        The President. Thank you. Well, it's one of these kind of
    interactive crowds. [Laughter]
        I've learned something about how you win campaigns. I've been
    through a few, myself. I have found that if you stand for something, the
    people will believe in you. If you stand on principles and enunciate
    that which you believe, the people will follow. And so as we head into
    campaign season next year, it's very important for the Republican Party
    to enunciate that which we believe, to stand for something, not be one
    of these parties that takes a focus group to tell us what to believe but
    to tell people what we believe and what those beliefs are, beliefs
    etched in our soul.
        I believe that everybody has the right to be free. I believe freedom
    is universal. I believe this country needs a strong national defense. I
    believe that the best way to encourage economic vitality so that people
    can realize the American Dream is through less government and more
    entrepreneurship. I believe that the government ought to trust in the
    judgment of ordinary citizens. I believe that technologies can help
    transform the world in a better way. And I believe when we find somebody
    who hurts, we ought to encourage faith-based and community groups to
    surround them with love. That's what I believe.
        These are difficult times for the United States. These are troubling
    times because we are a nation at war. I wish I could report that was not
    the case, but it is the case. And the most solemn obligation of
    government is to protect the American people from harm. Our most solemn
    duty is to use all our powers to protect you from further attack.
        I must tell you that my attitude toward the world changed
    dramatically on September the 11th, 2001. It was a day that affected our
    Nation deeply, and it affected me as President. And I vowed on that day
    and the days following that attack that I wouldn't tire, I wouldn't
    weary, that I would use all my capacities to rally the American people
    and the assets of this country to protect you.
        The enemy we face is fearless. They're mean. They know new--they
    know no boundaries of civilization as we know it, see. They kill to
    impose their will. It's hard for Americans to believe that we face such

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    evil people, but we do. And the fundamental question facing this country
    is that we--will we have the will to face the threats of the 21st
    century?
        I have put forth a strategy that does protect America. In the short
    term, we will pursue the enemy wherever we find them. It is best to
    defeat the enemy overseas so we don't have to face them here in America.
        And so the war on terror is being fought on many fronts: in
    Afghanistan, in Southeast Asia, the Horn of Africa, and of course, the
    Middle East. In the long term, the best way to defeat an enemy that
    believes in a hateful ideology is to support the spread of an ideology
    that's hopeful, an ideology that lifts people's lives, an ideology that
    can defeat those who try to prey on innocent young people and convince
    them to murder. And that ideology is the ideology of liberty.
        We're implementing this strategy, and of course, the debate now
    centers on Iraq. And it's a tough fight. But I believe it's a necessary
    fight to protect the American people. There's been some progress. If you
    think about how far Iraq has come in a relatively short period of time,
    it's historic. The people there in that country have gone from life
    under a brutal tyrant who was an enemy of the United States to a society
    where 12 million Iraqis voted for one of the most modern constitutions
    in the history of the Middle East, a society where people were given a
    chance to express their will at the polls and elect a government.
        A thinking enemy, however, realized that progress was being made and
    used their brutal ways to try to foment sectarian violence. The enemy we
    face in Iraq is a multifaceted enemy. But the enemy that's causing the
    car bombs, the enemy that is causing the spectacular deaths of the
    innocent, is Al Qaida, the very same people that launched the attacks
    that killed nearly 3,000 citizens on our soul--soil.
        I was confronted with a choice. I had a decision to make. I told
    people that, you know, had they--had I been one of the people that
    answered a poll last fall, I would have said I disapprove of what was
    happening in Iraq. It was not satisfactory to me of what was taking
    place. The sectarian violence that was deep in that society was looking
    like it was going to make it impossible for this young democracy to
    survive. You can't have your capital city as a place where murderers
    stalk innocent people and expect for a young democracy to be able to get
    its roots and to grow.
        One choice was to pull back and hope that the violence wouldn't
    spill out across the country and out across the Middle East. The other
    choice that I made, in consultation with our military folks, was rather
    than pull back, to send reinforcements into the capital of that country,
    all aiming to give this young democracy an opportunity to do the
    reconciliation work necessary to have a country that can defend itself,
    govern itself, sustain itself, serves--serve as an example to other
    moderate people, and be an ally in the war on terror. And that's exactly
    what the policy is we're now following.
        I asked a new general, General David Petraeus, to implement the policy. Our goal is to help the Iraqis
    secure their population, especially in Baghdad. The operation is still
    in its early stages. The fourth of five groups of soldiers we're sending
    into Iraq have arrived; the fifth is on its way. In other words, the
    operational plan that David Petraeus explained to the United States
    Congress is still being implemented. We don't have the full complement
    of troops that I told the American people we would send into Baghdad.
        And yet there's some positive signs. One positive sign is that
    sectarian murders are down substantially, even before all our troops
    have arrived to help the Iraqi citizens. Sectarian murders are down.
    There's--people are gaining confidence, slowly but surely, in a
    government, because security is improving, and, therefore, there's more
    tips, more information being passed

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    on to Iraqi forces and American forces so that we can help that society
    have the security necessary to do the hard work. We've had successful
    operations against extremists, whether they be Sunni or Shi'a. We're
    making progress.
        And now we're in a debate here in Washington, DC. And it's a debate,
    as you know, about whether or not to fund our troops. I think it's very
    important that Congress have an honest debate. And I don't question the
    patriotism of anyone who is expressing their views. But as I made clear
    to Members of Congress, a supplemental bill--a war spending bill that
    mandated withdrawals by an arbitrary date--or a bill that imposes
    restrictive conditions on our commanders, or a bill that would spend
    billions of dollars unrelated to the war was unacceptable, and that's
    why I vetoed the bill.
        I will continue to reach out to Democrats and Republicans to come up
    with a way to get this money to our troops as quickly as possible. We're
    not going to agree on every issue, but we don't want to put the men and
    women who wear our uniform in the midst of a Washington, DC, debate.
    These troops need the money, and Congress needs to get it to them.
        If I didn't think it was worthy, if I didn't think it was necessary,
    if I didn't realize and believe that it's important to defeat Al Qaida
    in Iraq, I wouldn't have our young men and women there in the first
    place. I believe this is a necessary action to protect our country.
        Much of the debate doesn't focus on the consequences of failure.
    There's a lot of talk about withdrawal, but it's important for our
    fellow citizens to understand what the consequences would be if we fail,
    if we left before the job was done. There would be a vacuum in the--in
    Iraq, and in that vacuum would flow extremists. Murderers and killers
    would take advantage of the lack of security. That violence could spill
    out across all Iraq. I believe there's a good chance the violence would
    spill out all across the Middle East. I know that people would take
    heart at the fact that the United States of America didn't keep its
    commitment to the moderates and the young--this young democracy.
        It would embolden Al Qaida. Al Qaida has clearly stated--the enemy
    that attacked America has clearly stated that they seek safe haven in
    Iraq, that they want to drive us from Iraq so they can have a safe haven
    from which to plan and plot other attacks. I know that the Iranians
    would see that we left before the job was done, and that would embolden
    them. One of the great dangers facing our children, one of the great
    dangers facing civilization, is an Iran with a nuclear weapon. It's
    important that we succeed in Iraq and send a clear message to the
    people.
        I don't want it to be said 50 years from now: ``What happened to
    America in 2007? How come they forgot the lessons of September the 11th?
    How come they couldn't see the impending dangers facing a generation of
    Americans?'' I want you to know I see the impending dangers. I
    understand the consequences of this historic moment. And we will succeed
    in Iraq.
        I just want you to know our foreign policy is more than just the
    spread of liberty and the protection of our country. I firmly believe
    that to whom much is given, much is required. It's a principle on which
    I try to operate. It's a principle on which I make decisions. I
    understand the consequences of a pandemic like HIV/AIDS on the continent
    of Africa. The United States of America must boldly lead, must not shirk
    from our duty, and must help people wherever we find suffering, to the
    best of our ability.
        I'm proud to announce that since we have put together the
    Presidential initiative on HIV/AIDS in Africa, there have been 850,000
    people receiving antiretroviral drugs, up from 50,000, 3 years ago.
        People have questioned: Is it a necessary action to take? I say it's
    necessary. I say

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    it's necessary to help relieve human suffering. I also say it's
    necessary to make sure our soul is strong. The spirit of America remains
    intact. Our foreign policy is robust, it is aggressive, and it will lead
    to peace--the peace we all want.
        At home, we're coming down to a campaign next year. A big issue, of
    course, is going to be the economy. I'm looking forward to talking about
    the economy. This economy has been through a lot. You might remember the
    recent economic history of the United States. We went through a
    recession. We had the terrorist attack. We had corporate scandals. We
    had people doubting our capacity to grow our economy. And yet the
    economy has been robust. We've created 7.8 million jobs over the past 4
    years; unemployment is low; inflation is low; wages are rising; the
    entrepreneurial spirit is strong in America. And the question is, how do
    we keep it that way?
        I told you, one of the core principles on which I operate is: I
    believe we ought to trust the people of the United States to make their
    own decisions. And perhaps the best way to exhibit that trust is to let
    you keep more of your own money. When you have more money to spend, this
    economy benefits. And there's a debate here in Washington, DC. There's a
    constant struggle about who best can spend the American people's money.
    Well, I made up my mind a long time ago when I convinced the Congress to
    cut the taxes on everybody who pays taxes. The tax relief is working.
        And now the question is, are we going to let that tax relief expire?
    My answer is, absolutely not. We need to make the tax relief permanent.
        Oh, I know you'll hear them say in Washington and you'll hear them
    campaigning, listen: ``All we've got to do is tax the rich to balance
    the budget.'' That's the same old mantra they trot out about every
    campaign cycle. The problem is, it doesn't work that way in Washington.
    Oh yes, they'll tax you. But if you're middle class, you better watch
    out. See, they can't raise enough money to meet their spending
    ambitions. They'll raise the taxes, but when they do, they'll figure out
    new ways to spend your money.
        The best way to grow this economy and fix this deficit is to keep
    taxes low so the economy grows, which yields more tax revenues, and be
    wise about how we spend your money, be fiscally sound.
        I put forth a budget that eliminates the Federal deficit within the
    next 5 years because we set priorities. And the top priority of this
    Government ought to be, make sure our troops have that which is
    necessary to protect the American people.
        The Democrats pass budgets. They harken back to those old days of
    tax and spend. And I believe when it comes down to it, when they hear
    the clear differences of our points of view and the principles by which
    we make decisions, the American people don't want to return to the days
    of tax and spend.
        I want to talk to you a little bit about education. Education is a
    vital issue for the United States. It's a vital issue to make sure that
    we're a competitive nation in the 21st century. If we don't educate our
    children now, the United States of America will have a hard time being
    the economic leader of the world. I'm an advocate of public schools. You
    might remember, I was once the Governor of the State of Texas.
    [Applause] I'm glad they let you into town. [Laughter]
        I used to say this as Governor: Education is to a State what
    national defense is to the Federal Government. In that statement,
    there's some interesting principles. One, I believe in local control of
    schools. I believe it is essential that the governance of schools take
    place not in Washington but locally. I also believe, however, in this
    principle: that if we spend money, we want to see results, and we've got
    to ask about the results. We spend a fair amount of money here in
    Washington, DC, a lot of money on the schoolchildren, particularly the
    poor

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    schoolchildren. And that's fine, and that's noble, and it is necessary.
        And so I went to Congress and said: Listen, we'll spend the money,
    but why don't we start asking some important questions, like, can you
    read--[laughter]--can you write; can you add; and can you subtract? I
    believe in measurement. And I believe in measurement not because I want
    to punish anybody, but I believe in measuring so we can correct problems
    early, before it's too late. That piece of legislation is called the No
    Child Left Behind Act. The gap--the achievement gap is closing in
    America. Congress needs to reauthorize that good piece of legislation.
        I'm a strong believer in technology. I believe technology will help
    improve American lives, and I strongly believe that technology will
    enable us to become less dependent on foreign oil. Now I believe that we
    can explore for oil and gas in environmentally friendly ways, and we
    should. But I am deeply concerned about our dependence on oil. It
    creates a national security issue. Plain way of putting it is that, not
    everybody we buy oil from likes us. [Laughter] Having a dependence on
    foreign oil is an economic security issue. When the demand for crude oil
    goes up in the developing world, it causes the price of gasoline to go
    up here in America. Dependence on oil creates an environmental issue.
        So I put forth an innovative way of dealing with our dependence on
    oil, and that is to promote alternative forms of energy to power our
    cars. I believe it makes sense to encourage automobiles to be driven by
    ethanol derived from corn, for example. I want American farmers growing
    energy for American people. I believe strongly that we ought to be
    spending your taxpayers' money to come up with alternative fuel sources,
    like switchgrass. Is it possible? You bet it's possible. It's called
    cellulosic ethanol.
        One of these days, I can't wait to go out West where it's a little
    dry and see all the switchgrass farmers that are growing product
    necessary to produce ethanol so you can drive it in your cars, and we
    become less dependent on foreign sources of oil. It's coming. And the
    role of the United States has got to be to lead and to promote new
    technologies.
        We can do a good job, by the way, of using some of our power sources
    here in America by developing clean coal technologies. We ought to be
    promoting nuclear power that is safe, so that we can be responsible
    stewards of the environment and make sure you got electricity supplies
    as we head out into the 21st century. No, we got a comprehensive energy
    plan that makes a lot of sense, that is going to call upon the ingenuity
    of the American people and make sure this economy remains the leader in
    the world.
        I want to talk about health care. There's a principle involved in
    health care I want to share with you, and that is we want consumers
    making decisions. We want patients and their doctors making decisions,
    not insurance agents and not the Federal Government, when it comes to
    health care.
        I called for reform in the Tax Code. I believe there ought to be a
    standard tax deduction for health insurance like there's a standard tax
    deduction for dependents. And the reason why I believe that is because I
    believe it's important for us to encourage the development of an
    individual market, so individuals can buy good health care, so there can
    be more risk spread across more people, so there's a vibrant market for
    people to be able to--if you're not employed, or if you're a small-
    business owner, that you can go--or employed without insurance--you can
    find a product that will give you that security.
        What I don't want to do is encourage the Federal Government to run
    the health care system. I think that would be a huge mistake. I think
    it's important to promote policies that say the consumer matters when it
    comes to buying health care needs. And that's exactly what this
    administration is doing.

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        By the way, there's some other practical things we can do. We can
    promote health savings accounts, which all empower the individual that
    says, we trust you. Here's a way for you to have health insurance, and
    we trust you to make the decisions. We can expose prices. I don't know
    how many of you ever shopped for medical care. I know I haven't. I don't
    remember asking anybody: ``Let me see the lists. How do you price your
    product relative to the neighbor?'' I've never seen a hospital say,
    ``Well, here's my prices compared to my--to the hospital down the
    road.'' There needs to be more transparency when it comes to pricing, so
    consumers can make rational choices.
        One thing is for certain: We've got to make sure, if you want health
    care to be available and affordable, to have good policies that counter
    this notion of driving good docs out of business. What I'm telling you
    is there's too many junk lawsuits suing too many doctors, and we need to
    have medical liability reform in the United States of America.
        I hope you get a sense of the philosophy that I think needs to be
    inherent in good policy. And that is, we trust you, and we trust in the
    ingenuity of the American people. We believe the future is brighter.
    We're putting good policy in place to encourage that bright future.
        I've got another job, by the way, and it's to make sure one branch
    of our Government is sound and solid and reflects a philosophy that I
    campaigned on. And it's this: Judges should strictly interpret the law
    and not legislate from the bench. And I will continue to name--
    [applause]--continue to name good, solid judges that adhere to that
    principle.
        You know, people ask me all the time, ``Do you enjoy being the
    President?'' And my answer is, absolutely. I love being your President.
    I like being the Commander in Chief. I enjoy being the educator in
    chief. I like talking about what we believe in because I firmly believe
    the philosophy we believe in is best for America. I believe it is the
    type of philosophy that inspires people. I believe it's a philosophy
    that inherits the greatness of our economy. I believe that we are the
    party of the entrepreneur. I believe we're the party of the doer, the
    dreamer, the people that work. I believe we're the party of low taxes.
    And I know we're the party of strong national defense to protect the
    United States of America.
        And so I appreciate you coming tonight. Thanks for giving me a
    chance to share with you some ideas. But more importantly, thank you for
    contributing of your hard-earned money to make sure that this great
    Republican Party is ready for the task ahead.
        May God bless our country. May God bless you. Thanks for coming.

    Note: The President spoke at 7:02 p.m. at the D.C. Armory. In his
    remarks, he referred to Michael Duncan, chairman, Republican National
    Committee; Elliott Broidy, chairman and chief executive officer, Broidy
    Capital Management; and Gen. David H. Petraeus, USA, commanding general,
    Multi-National Force--Iraq.