[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book I)]
[February 25, 2008]
[Pages 265-269]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks at the Republican Governors Association Gala
February 25, 2008
Thank you all. Please be seated--unless, of course, you don't have a
seat.
Governor, thank you very much for your
kind introduction. Thank you all for coming, and thanks for supporting
our Republican Governors. If you want to raise money, if you want to get
a job done, call on the Texas Governor--and this Governor has delivered.
I appreciate all the other Governors who are here. I particularly
want to thank Matt Blunt and Mark
Sanford, who are leading the RGA, and
all the other Governors that have--on the stage today. I have--I can't
thank you enough for your service to the country.
I also want to recognize Laura. She's
starring in a new movie: ``Mother of the Bride.'' [Laughter] I'm not
very objective when I say this, but Laura is a fabulous First Lady. I
appreciate the members of the Cabinet who are here.
Republican Governors are smart, capable people. I'd like to read the
roster of former Governors who worked in the Bush administration:
Thompson, Ashcroft, Ridge, Whitman, Cellucci,
Johanns, Leavitt, Kempthorne, and
Schafer. Three people that worked in the
Bush administration went on to be Governors: Daniels, Huntsman, and
Jindal. I'm smart enough to hire
Republican Governors, and so are the people in the States that these men
are from.
I don't know about you, but I'm confident we'll hold the White House
in 2008. And I don't want the next Republican President to be lonely.
[Laughter] And that is why we got to take the House, retake the Senate,
and make sure our States are governed by Republican Governors.
Our ideas are those embraced by the American people. American people
want strong national defense, and they want the Government to protect
the people from further attack, and that's precisely what Republicans
will give them. Americans want lower taxes and less government, and it's
precisely what Republicans will give them. Americans want strong,
principled leadership, and that is precisely what Republicans will give
them.
And so when I say I'm confident, I am so because I understand the
mentality of the American people, and I understand the mentality of our
candidates. And there's no question in my mind, with your help, 2008 is
going to be a great year.
I want to talk about two issues that will affect the upcoming
elections. The first is, is that we must elect candidates who understand
that this Nation is involved with an ideological struggle against
coldblooded killers who would like to do us harm again,
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and that we better be strong and resolute in the face of this enemy.
Our philosophy is that the best way to defend America is to defeat
the enemy overseas so we do not have to face them here at home. And
that's precisely what the United States of America is doing.
There are two major fronts in this war: One is in Afghanistan, and
one is in Iraq. And I want to spend a little time on Iraq. First of all,
the decision to remove Saddam Hussein was the right decision for world
peace and for the security of the American people.
One year ago, extremists, coldblooded killers, people who kill
innocent men, women, and children to achieve their ideological
objectives were succeeding in their efforts to plunge Iraq into chaos.
So I had a choice to make. Do I suffer the consequences of defeat by
withdrawing our troops, or do I listen to my commanders, the considered
judgment of military experts, and do what it takes to secure victory in
Iraq? I chose the latter. Rather than retreating, we sent 30,000 new
troops into Iraq, and the surge is succeeding.
High-profile attacks are down. Civilian deaths are down. Sectarian
killings are down. U.S. and Iraqi forces, who are becoming more capable
by the day, have captured or killed thousands of extremists in Iraq,
including hundreds of key Al Qaida leaders, the very same people that
would like to hurt America once again.
The progress in Iraq is tough, the progress in Iraq is tangible, and
the progress in Iraq is enabling this young democracy to begin to make
progress under the most modern Constitution written in the Middle East.
I can promise you this: For the next 10 months, I will make the
necessary decisions to make sure that we succeed in Iraq. And I believe
the American people understand that a success in Iraq is necessary for
the long-term security of the American people. And we will elect someone
in the White House who will keep up the fight to make sure Iraq is
secure and free.
One of the principles by which I have been operating is this: I
believe in an Almighty, and I believe a gift of that Almighty to every
man, woman, and child is freedom. And I believe it is in the interests
of the United States of America to free people from disease and hunger
and want and tyranny. It is in our interests to make sure that we defeat
the ideologues of hate with an ideology that has worked throughout the
centuries. I believe 50 years from now, people will look back at this
period of time and say, thank God the United States of America did not
lose its faith in the transformative power of liberty to bring the peace
we want for our children and our grandchildren.
And we've got to do everything we can to stop attacks on the
homeland. There are thousands of people who are working day and night to
do the job that the American people expect them to do, and that's to
protect you from further attack. Make no mistake about it: There is an
enemy that lurks and plots and plans, an enemy that would like to do us
harm again.
And therefore, it is incumbent, it is essential that the
professionals who are working hard to protect you have the tools they
need to be able to do the job we expect them. And one such tool is the
ability to listen to the phone conversations or the trafficking of the
enemy. We need to know what they're thinking, who they're talking to,
and what they're planning in order to do the job the American people
expect us to do.
And that is why we worked with the United States Congress last
summer to pass the Protect America Act. And the Congress passed the act,
giving our professionals the tools they need. The problem is, the act
expired recently, and yet to--the threat to America has not expired. And
so now we're in a debate about whether or not we ought to pass a good
piece of legislation necessary to protect the American people.
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And here's the crux of the problem: Companies that were believed to
have helped us protect America from attack are now being sued for
billions of dollars. That's wrong, it's a mistake, and the United States
Congress needs to give those companies liability protection. And let me
tell you why.
First, it is not fair to treat these companies this way. Our
Government told them that their participation was necessary in order to
protect us from further attack. And we asked them--and when we asked
them to make those protections, we told them it was legal to do so. And
I firmly believe it is legal for them to help us protect the American
people. And now they're getting sued. What's more important? Lawyers or
protecting the United States of America from further attack?
Secondly, these lawsuits would require disclosure of information
which would make it harder to protect the country. If these trials--if
these cases go to trial, these companies will have to defend themselves.
And they'll be asked all kinds of questions about the tactics they have
used to help protect our country. It makes no sense to reveal our
secrets to the enemy.
Thirdly, and finally, these--without law, without liability
protection for a job that we asked them to do in service to the United
States of America, it will make it harder to convince companies to
participate in the future. If you've done something that you think is
perfectly legal and all of a sudden you're facing billions of dollars of
lawsuits, it is going to be hard to provide--with credibility--
assurances that you can go forward.
And that's the crux of the problem. People say, ``Well, you know,
it's a--there's a bunch of folks that just don't see it that way.''
Well, I want to remind you that a good, bipartisan bill came out of the
United States Senate. And there's enough votes in the House of
Representatives to pass this piece of legislation. It is time the
leadership in the House stops worrying about lawyers and starts worrying
more about protecting the United States of America from further attack.
And one thing the American people can be assured of: Our Republican
candidates understand the threats facing us, and our Republican
candidates will make sure that our professionals have the tools
necessary to protect the American people.
Our domestic agenda is based upon this simple principle: We trust
the American people, and we will empower them to make the right
decisions for their families. We trust in the collective wisdom of the
American citizenry.
On health, we trust patients to make their own decisions. And we
empower them with HSAs and AHPs, all aimed at making sure health care
decisions are made between patients and doctors, not by bureaucrats here
in Washington, DC.
We trust parents when it comes to education and empower them with
strong accountability. We believe in an ownership society for Americans
from all walks of life. When it comes to the economy, this is the basis
for our views. We trust America's consumers and farmers and ranchers and
producers and small-business people, and we empower them by allowing
them to keep more of their own money.
Now, I want you to understand and remind you of the history of our
economy, recent history. We've been through a lot. In 7 years, we've
been through a recession and attacks on the United States of America and
corporate scandals and war and natural disasters and high oil prices.
But instead of increasing the size of government, we cut taxes on
everybody who pays taxes in the United States of America and had 52
months of uninterrupted job growth, the longest in the history of the
American economy.
And at the same time, we were fiscally responsible with your money.
Now, I admit, we increased spending in certain areas, and I'm going to
continue to increase spending in this important area. We will make sure
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that our troops have all that is necessary to do the job the United
States of America has asked them to do. And you can bet our Republican
candidates will do the exact same thing.
On nonsecurity discretionary spending, we reduced it lower than the
rate of inflation and have submitted to the United States Congress a
budget which will be in balance by 2012.
Now our economy is facing uncertainty again, and the fundamental
question is, what do we do? Some in Washington want to increase
spending. Fortunately, enough realize that the best way to deal with
this economic uncertainty is to empower our consumers and our
businesses, both large and small, to make investments that will affect
job growth this year.
And so I was pleased to sign a $157 billion progrowth economic
package, which should help us deal with these economic uncertainties.
People say, ``What else should we do?'' Well, unless Congress acts, most
of the tax reliefs we delivered over the past 7 years will be taken
away. We cut taxes on families with children. We cut taxes on small
businesses. We cut taxes on capital gains. We cut taxes on dividends.
We've put the death tax on the road to extinction. We cut taxes on
everybody who paid taxes, and unless the Congress acts, those tax cuts
will end.
Some Democrats argue that letting tax relief expire is not a tax
increase. Well, they're going to have to explain that to 116 million
American taxpayers who would see their taxes rise by an average of
$1,800. That may not seem like a lot of people, in Washington, DC, but
it's sure a lot of people who are trying to make their mortgages and
send their kids to college.
In times of uncertainty, we don't need uncertainty in our Tax Code.
And the United States Congress must make the tax relief we passed
permanent. And the American people can be assured that our candidates
will not be running up taxes.
Those are the two big issues facing us: who best to protect America
and who best to keep taxes low. I'm looking forward to this campaign.
I'm excited about taking our message to the American people. With your
help and hard work, there's no doubt in my mind--no doubt--that we'll
win.
And I'm looking forward to finishing my term in office. I want to
tell you this: I'm going to finish strong. My vision is clear. My energy
is high. My enthusiasm for the United States of America has never waned
since I've had the high honor of serving you as President.
I thank you for your prayers. I thank you for your support. God
bless America.
Note: The President spoke at 6:56 p.m. at the National Building Museum.
In his remarks, he referred to Gov. J. Richard Perry of Texas, chairman,
Republican Governors Association, who introduced the President; Gov.
Matthew R. Blunt of Missouri, vice chairman, and Gov. Mark C. Sanford,
Jr., of South Carolina, dinner chairman, Republican Governors
Association; former Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy G.
Thompson; former Attorney General John Ashcroft; former Secretary of
Homeland Security Thomas J. Ridge; former Administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency Christine Todd Whitman; former U.S.
Ambassador to Canada Argeo Paul Cellucci; former Secretary of
Agriculture Michael O. Johanns; Secretary of Health and Human Services
Michael O. Leavitt; Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne; Secretary
of Agriculture Edward T. Schafer; Gov. Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr., of
Indiana; Gov. Jon M. Huntsman, Jr., of Utah; and Gov. Piyush ``Bobby''
Jindal of Louisiana.
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