    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2007, Book I)]
    [January 26, 2007]
    [Pages 68-71]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks to the House Republican Conference in Cambridge, Maryland
    January 26, 2007

        Thank you. I appreciate the warm applause. Thank you very much. It's
    good to be with you again; twice in 1 week, and I'm better off for it.
    [Laughter] Laura sends her very best to those of
    you who've run and won and to your families. I want to say something
    about the families. I know how hard it is to be in a political family,
    and I know the sacrifices that the spouse and children make. And so on
    behalf of a grateful nation, I thank you for standing by your loved one
    as he or she serves a

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    noble cause, and that is the cause of democracy here in the greatest
    country on the face of the Earth: the United States.
        I am glad to be among friends. I count a lot of you as personal
    friends. I particularly count the leadership as friends. I've gotten to
    know John Boehner and Roy Blunt over the past 6 years. I value their friendship; I look
    forward to working with them. And I know that the Republican Party is in
    good hands in the House of Representatives with these fine leaders.
        I, of course, have known Kay a long time. She and I were blessed, like old Judge
    Carter, to be raised in Texas. For those of
    you from Texas, you know what I'm talking about, being blessed to be
    raised there; for the rest of you, come on down and visit us sometime.
    [Laughter]
        I've come to admire Adam Putnam. You call
    him Adam; I call him ``Red.'' [Laughter] But, nevertheless, he is a
    strong leader and a good friend. I appreciate Tom Cole and Thaddeus McCotter as
    well. These two gentlemen are new to the leadership, but I'm confident
    they'll be able to provide a lot of good direction to the caucus. And so
    I'm looking forward to working with you all, and I appreciate you taking
    on big responsibilities.
        I want to spend a little time talking about the state of the Union.
    I want to remind you that as a result of our philosophy, this economy of
    ours is strong. I said to the country the other night, we're a country
    with low inflation, low unemployment, and increasing wages. We've got
    people working, and they're putting more money in their pocket. And one
    of the reasons this economy is strong is because we had the wisdom to
    cut the taxes on the working people. And we need to keep them low.
        I'm looking forward to working with you on balancing the budget.
    Your old colleague Rob Portman, who is
    now the head of the OMB, will be submitting a budget that shows we can
    balance this budget within the next 5 years without raising taxes on the
    American people.
        I want to work with you on earmarks. I know many of you are
    concerned about these spending items that just show up in bills that you
    didn't vote on and you didn't discuss. I want to work with you on
    entitlement reform. There's a lot of discussion about the budget, and
    there ought to be. There's focus on whether or not we can balance the
    budget in the short term, but the truth of the matter is, the bigger
    problem we've got is unfunded liabilities inherent in programs like
    Medicare and Social Security. And in my judgment, now is the time to fix
    this problem and not pass them on to future Congresses and future
    Presidents.
        I know it sounds counterintuitive for a Texan to say that we're too
    dependent on oil, but we are. And we need to do something about it. And
    the amazing thing is, we're on the verge of technological breakthrough
    that will enable us to power our cars in different ways, starting with
    ethanol derived from corn and, eventually, ethanol derived from wood
    chips, cornstalks, all kinds of stuff. It's called cellulosic ethanol.
    And I ask you to join me in continuing to spend taxpayers' money on
    research that will be necessary to develop new technology so we become
    less dependent on foreign sources of oil.
        I want to work with you on health. I'm a big believer in No Child
    Left Behind. I think it needs to be reauthorized. I want to work with
    you on immigration reform, and I want to work with you on health care
    reform. These are big ideas, and it's going to require us working
    together to get the job done on behalf of the American people.
        And I also appreciate your understanding that we're still a nation
    at war. You know, when I talked to the country the other night, I wish I
    could have reported differently. But it's not the truth, and it's not
    the reality. There's an enemy out there that would still like to strike
    us. And as I said-- and I know most of you believe--the best way to
    defend this country is to stay on

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    the offense and bring the enemy to justice before they hurt us again.
        I talked about the progress and the advance that democracy was
    making around the Middle East, and then the fact that the enemy struck
    back. And they struck back against these young democracies, because they
    cannot stand the thought of freedom. You see, the best way to defeat
    totalitarianism in the long run is to offer a more hopeful ideology. And
    that's what we offer through the ideology based on human rights and
    human dignity, the central theme of which is all people desire to be
    free. And it's in the interests of the United States to not only defend
    ourselves against the enemy in the short term, but it's in the interests
    of our children and grandchildren to spread freedom so that we can live
    in peace in the long term.
        I've spent time talking about Iraq, and I'll talk with you a little
    bit later on. But my message to the American people was, I thought about
    all kinds of ideas about Iraq. And I told the American people, I fully
    understand there are differences of opinion. But one of the things I
    have discovered is, in Washington, DC, most people understand the
    consequences of failure. And if failure is not an option, then it's up
    to the President to come up with a plan that is more likely to succeed.
    And I spent a lot of time on the subject, because I understand how
    serious the issue is. And the plan I outlined to the American people is
    one that I believe can succeed.
        Today I had the honor of welcoming David Petraeus to the Oval Office. He had just been confirmed by the
    United States Senate without one dissenting vote. And as I looked at
    that general, who is willing to go back into the war zone to represent
    our country, it reminded me, as the President, I must make sure he has
    everything he needs--that he thinks he needs to succeed in the mission
    that we have sent him on. And I look forward to working with you to make
    sure that our generals and our troops that we put into harm's way have
    the support of the United States Congress.
        I talked about the need to have a foreign policy that's more than
    just military, a foreign policy that's got active diplomacy, which we do
    all around the world. I mentioned in my speech that the United States
    does not stand alone. As a matter of fact, our troops are in Iraq based
    upon a United Nations mandate. We're working with the countries in the
    neighborhood to support this young democracy, and making it clear the
    stakes of the ideological struggle we're in.
        I talked about the fact that we've encouraged and worked with NATO
    to be an active participant in Afghanistan--it's the first time that
    alliance has deployed outside of Europe in the history of its existence.
    I talked about the fact that we will never forget the importance of
    freedom, whether it be in our hemisphere, in Cuba, or in Burma, or in
    Belarus. And when we call a human tragedy ``genocide,'' like in Darfur,
    we'll continue to rally the world to solve the problem.
        I want to thank Members of the Congress for supporting the HIV/AIDS
    initiative on the continent of Africa. It gave me great pleasure to tell
    the American citizens that because your actions--because you acted,
    50,000 people--what was once 50,000 people receiving lifesaving drugs
    has increased to 800,000 people in 3 short years. I firmly believe what
    I said: ``To whom much is given, much is required.'' A lot has been
    given to the United States, and it's in our interests to help people who
    suffer from disease and hunger. And I thank you for your support. And
    the next great initiative is to eliminate malaria in countries on the
    continent of Africa, and I ask you to join me.
        I said, finally, introducing the people that were there, something I
    believe: I believe the state of this Union is strong, and it's strong
    because the character and decency of the American people remain strong.

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        And so I'm looking forward to serving with you this year and next
    year. I thank you for your sacrifices. I have confidence in the future
    of this country, because we're a country full of such decent and
    courageous and loving people.
        Thanks for having me.

    Note: The President spoke at 12:26 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Chesapeake
    Bay. In his remarks, he referred to Gen. David H. Petraeus, USA,
    incoming commanding general, Multi-National Force--Iraq.