[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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