    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 32 (Monday, August 12, 2002)]
    [Pages 1325-1331]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Remarks at a Luncheon for Representative Charles W. ``Chip'' Pickering
    in Jackson, Mississippi

    August 7, 2002

        Thank you. Well, Chip, thank you very much. It's nice to be back
    here to Mississippi. I did bring Laura her coffee this morning.
    [Laughter] I don't want to put any pressure on Trent. [Laughter] But the
    good news is it was in Crawford, Texas. [Laughter]
        I want to thank you for having me. I'm not going to stay for lunch;
    I'm going to head on home. I've changed addresses for a brief moment. I
    took my office from Washington to Crawford. I look forward to spending
    some time outside of our Nation's Capital. And I'm honored that the
    first place that I've come to since I've moved my office was the great
    State of Mississippi. It's wonderful to be back here again. Laura and I
    have got a lot of friends here, and we appreciate our friends.
        I want to thank you all for coming to help Chip. I'm here today
    because I want to make

    [[Page 1326]]

    it as clear as I possibly can: You need to send Chip Pickering back to
    the United States House of Representatives. And I want to thank you all
    for helping. I want to thank you for contributing not only your money
    but your time. I know many of you are involved with grassroots politics,
    and that's good. That's how you win, is to invigorate the grassroots,
    like this man is doing. So I want to thank you not only for what you
    have done, but what you're going to do--which is to man the phones and
    put up the signs and turn out the vote. I like to put it this way: When
    you find a good one, you've got to keep him. And you've got a good one
    in Chip Pickering.
        And he's got a fine family. I want to thank Leisha for her
    dedication to the Pickering family. I don't know where all the ones in
    the red shirts are, but they were at the last place I was. Those
    Pickering boys kept coming, one after another. [Laughter] But I love a
    man who loves his family, and Chip loves his family. I also want to
    thank Margaret Ann Pickering for being here, Chip's mom.
        And I want to say something as clearly as I can about why we need to
    control the United States Senate. I put a good man up, named Judge
    Pickering, for a higher court. And the people who control the Senate
    maligned this good man's character. They didn't treat him right. It's
    not good for America to have this kind of politics--take a good person
    and not treat him well, not give him the benefit of the doubt. We need
    to change the United States Senate, so that we end this kind of politics
    on the judiciary and allow good people, good, honorable judges, to serve
    our Nation. The Senate did wrong by Judge Pickering. I did right by
    naming him to the bench.
        And he has no better friends in the Senate than Thad Cochran and
    Trent Lott, and I appreciate their leadership. I want to thank Thad and
    Trent for their friendship. When it comes to Mississippi, those men are
    pretty good about making the Mississippi case; you just need to know
    that. [Laughter]
        One of my favorite things to do--I'm an early morning guy; I get to
    the White House early. And I love to take Barney out on the South Lawn.
    He's a Scottish terrier. The Lotts, Tricia and Trent, they love Scottish
    terriers. And I bring Spot there to the Oval Office. Spot was born at
    the White House, so she's quite used to being in the Oval Office and
    respects the new rug. [Laughter] And I get there early in the morning.
    One of my favorite things to do is to call up Trent--he's not an early
    morning guy--[laughter]--and share with him my Barney stories.
    [Laughter] But you're well represented by these two fine men. They're
    doing a great job for Mississippi, and they're doing a great job for
    America too.
        And it's great to see Tricia, great to see Tricia. Laura and Tricia
    are fast friends, and I look forward to telling Laura today when I get
    back home that I got to see her buddy Tricia, Tricia Lott.
        I also want to thank Congressman Roger Wicker. He, too, has done a
    fine job. He and Chip make a pretty darn good pair for the people of
    Mississippi. I want to thank Clinton LeSueur for running for the United
    States Congress. Where are you, Clinton? Go get them; I wish you all the
    best.
        I appreciate so very much my friend G.V. Sonny Montgomery for being
    here, Sonny Montgomery. Sonny is a long-time friend of my family's.
    We're really proud to call him friend. He was a fabulous Congressman for
    the State of Mississippi. When I'm town there in Washington, I go to
    church right across the street. Sonny always reserves me a spot in the
    pew there. But I forgot to say in the earlier rally, he also puts a
    couple of dollars in the plate on my behalf. [Laughter] I'm running up
    quite a debt to Sonny. [Laughter] Keep giving, Sonny, and one of these
    days I'm going to pay you back. [Laughter] Oh, we're even now? Okay,
    good. [Laughter] But anyway, it's great to see Sonny.
        It's great to see Haley Barbour here, the former RNC Chairman, a man
    who loves Mississippi and has never left. I want to thank Phil Bryant,
    who is the Mississippi State auditor. Phil, thank you for being here;
    appreciate you being here, sir. And Dick Hall, the Mississippi
    transportation commissioner, is here with us as well. Thank you, Dick.
        I want to thank Jim Herring, who is the chairman of the mighty
    Republican Party of Mississippi. And Cindy Phillips, national
    committeewoman, I want to thank her for

    [[Page 1327]]

    coming too. Thank you, Cindy; good to see you.
        I appreciate so very much you all coming to help Chip. It's
    important Denny Hastert remain the Speaker of the House. Equally
    important, it's important that you're represented by this good man. He
    is what we call an up-and-comer. He's a star today; he's going to be a
    bigger star tomorrow, because he's a man of principle. See, he doesn't
    get up there and kind of try to wag his finger to figure out which way
    the wind is blowing. He stands on principle, and he stands strong on
    those principles. He believes in faith and family and Mississippi, in
    that order.
        Before September the 11th, he was for a strong military, just like a
    lot of folks in Mississippi believe in a strong military. That was good,
    because after September the 11th, we needed a strong military. He's
    going to work with me to make sure that our military budgets are sound.
        He's a fellow who believes in educating every child--every child. We
    passed a good piece of legislation. Interestingly enough, it's called
    the No Child Left Behind legislation. I mean that, by the way, and so
    does Chip--no child left behind. The principles behind that bill are
    pretty simple and easy to understand. First, you've got to set high
    standards. See, if you believe certain children can't learn, certain
    children won't learn. So you've got to insist upon high standards.
    There's a Federal role for insisting upon high standards because we
    spend a lot of money helping people, helping States. So we expect the
    best. We believe every child can learn.
        And if you believe every child can learn, then you ought to insist
    that we measure, to see whether every child is learning. If you believe
    every child can learn, therefore we ought to know whether that's the
    case. If you believe certain children can't learn, then don't bother to
    measure. But if you believe every child can learn, and if you're taking
    Federal money, the bill we passed says, show us--it's not a Federal
    Government test--you in Mississippi show us whether or not children are
    learning to read and write and add and subtract.
        And if they are, they'll be praise for the teachers. See, we believe
    in local control of schools. There will be praise for those who have
    insisted upon excellence for every child. But if you can't show us, then
    you need to change. The reason why we insist upon accountability is not
    to punish but to save lives. It is not to say, ``These people are bad.''
    It's to say, ``What you're doing isn't working.'' We insist that every
    child in America learn, and nobody should be left behind.
        I appreciate Chip's support and vision about economic security. The
    role of Government is not to create wealth. The role of Government is to
    create an environment in which the entrepreneur can flourish, in which
    small businesses can grow to be big businesses, in which people feel
    confident about expanding the job base, so people can find work. The
    foundations for economic growth are strong in America. Inflation is low.
    Monetary policy is good. Productivity is up. There is growth in our
    economy. But so long as somebody who wants to find work can't find work,
    I think we have a problem and need to continue to work on policies that
    will encourage economic growth. And Chip understands that.
        You know, when I came into office, we were beginning a recession. I
    remember the Vice President saying that clearly. And immediately the
    world in Washington start wagging their finger at him, and it turns out
    he was right. The numbers, the statistics have shown that for the first
    three quarters of my Presidency, we were in recession. It was during
    that period that I argued for a tax cut for the American people. See, in
    times of recession, it's important to let people keep their own money.
    And when they keep their own money, they're going to demand some good or
    service. And by demanding a good or a service, somebody will produce the
    good and service, which means jobs. That's what that means.
        I want to appreciate Chip's support of the tax relief plan. Those
    tax cuts were well-timed. And by the way, inherent in the tax relief is
    not just a reduction of rates on income taxes; it's a small-business
    vitality program, because most small businesses are sole proprietors, or
    most small businesses are limited partnerships, and they pay taxes at
    the individual rate. And thereby, dropping individual rates, you've
    stimulated small-business growth.

    [[Page 1328]]

        We've also slashed the marriage penalty and have done a--gone a long
    way toward repealing the death tax, which is punitive on Mississippi
    farmers and ranchers and small-business owners. I say ``gone a long
    way'' because, because of a quirk in the Senate law, after 10 years
    those tax relief packages revert back to where they were. And so one way
    to continue to set the foundation for economic growth is to have
    certainty in the Tax Code. Therefore, it's important for Mississippi to
    send somebody to Washington who understands that, who is willing to join
    me in making sure the tax relief package we passed in the midst of a
    recession are permanent. I call upon Congress to make the tax cuts
    permanent so the American people can plan and grow.
        I understand full well what has happened here in Mississippi and in
    other communities when they have been deceived by corporate wrongdoing.
    Today I met with two ladies who worked for WorldCom here in Mississippi.
    They had their savings invested in the company. They no longer work for
    the company. They're disillusioned, and they should be. They should be
    disillusioned. Anybody--anytime anybody abuses their positions of
    authority by hedging numbers, that's not right--by not being open and
    honest, particularly when a shareholder or employee is relying upon you.
    Chip understands that. The Congress understood that. They passed good
    laws. And this administration is going to investigate; we will arrest;
    and we will prosecute those who betray the trust of the American people
    and their shareholders and employees of American companies.
        Today I came to Mississippi to talk about liability reform. I'm
    worried about what the frivolous lawsuits have done to the health care
    systems across America. There is a Federal responsibility when it comes
    to health care. After all, we write checks for Medicare. Chip talked
    about prescription drugs for Medicare. We need a prescription drug
    program for the seniors. We need a modern Medicare system. But we also
    spend a lot of money. And these frivolous lawsuits run up the cost of
    Medicare, and they run up the cost of Medicaid, and they run up the cost
    of veterans programs. It's a Federal responsibility. And so for the sake
    of controlling health care costs, we need medical liability reform at
    the Federal level.
        I worry about health care systems, not only where the costs are high
    but where people have trouble finding health care they need. We heard
    from stories today about ob-gy--or pediatricians in the Delta. One
    fellow came, named Kooyer, Dr. Kooyer. He came down to Mississippi
    because, as he said, his Christian calling asked him to come down, told
    him to come down to help people in need. There's a pediatrician in some
    of the poorest counties in America wanting to provide health care for
    people in need, and he's leaving your State because the lawsuits are
    driving him out of the State. You need to do something about it here in
    Mississippi, and we need to do something about it in Washington, DC. And
    Chip Pickering understands that.
        No, I appreciate Chip. I appreciate his attitude. I hope Mississippi
    rejects the politics of putting people in one class or another and
    pitting them against each other. That's not how you get ahead in a
    society. We've got too much of that in Washington. And one of the
    reasons, one of the objectives I've got is to get rid of that kind of
    politics, of saying, you know, ``If you're in this group or that group,
    you're either no good, or we're going to make you fight in order to get
    ahead.'' That is not good for the country. Chip is a unifier; he's not a
    divider. He sets the right tone, as far as I'm concerned. And that's the
    kind of tone that will make you proud when you send him back to
    Washington, DC.
        I look forward to working with Congress when we get back,
    particularly the Senate, to make sure this Department of Homeland
    Security that I proposed is set up right. I say that because our number
    one priority now is to make sure that the enemy doesn't hit us again.
    And they're out there, by the way. These are people that hate America
    because we love freedom. They hate what we stand for. They hate the fact
    that we worship freely, that all religions are welcome here in America.
    They hate that. They hate the fact that we speak our mind. They hate the
    fact that we have good political discourse. They hate everything we
    stand for, and so therefore, they're going to keep coming.

    [[Page 1329]]

        And my job and the job of the Congress is to work together to do
    everything we can to protect our homeland. It's to make sure that we do
    everything we can to get our agencies cooperating, make sure that the
    agencies involved with homeland security, of which there's over 100,
    have as their number one priority the protection of the American people.
    And so I said, ``Why don't we put them all under a single Department of
    Homeland Security?'' Look, I recognize I wasn't the guy that ran for
    office and said, ``Vote for me. I'm for bigger Government.'' I did say I
    want to make Government work better. And I think this will make
    Government work better.
        And the House of Representatives passed a good piece of legislation
    which will allow our administration, or the next administration or the
    next administration after that, to put the right people in the right
    place at the right time in order to protect the homeland. And I will not
    accept a bill that hamstrings the capacity of an administration to do
    that. And the Senate just needs to know--and I appreciate Senator Lott
    and Senator Cochran's support on this issue--that we will continue to
    argue for what's best for the American people, not what's best for
    either political turf or special interest groups in Washington, DC. The
    protection of the people is more important than setting up so many
    bureaucratic rules that we won't be able to protect the people. And so I
    look forward to getting a good bill out of the Senate and a bill on my
    desk.
        In the meantime, I hope you realize that there are a lot of people
    working hard to protect our homeland. We're doing a better job of
    sharing information. We're running down every lead, every hint. Every
    time we find out that somebody might be thinking about doing something
    to America, we're reacting. And there's a lot of good people reacting on
    our behalf. And I want to thank you for that, and I want to assure you
    that we take every possible hint seriously. We do.
        I also want to tell you that I know the best way to protect the
    homeland is to find the killers and bring them to justice. We must hunt
    them down, one by one, to secure America, and we will. It's a different
    kind of war. I know you know that. The American people have come to
    understand that, that the first war of the 21st century is different
    from the previous wars. In the past, we would follow infantries and
    formations of aircraft and fleets of ships across oceans. We would know
    where they were, and we'd watch whether or not battlefields were taken
    or not. Now we're fighting individuals who hide in caves and send
    youngsters to their death. We're fighting people that move money around
    surreptitiously and attack by means of terror. That's who we're
    fighting. But it's still a war. We fight for freedom. Just like the
    previous wars we fought for freedom, we fight for freedom now, which
    means that we have to think differently about how we fight the war.
        The first stage of any war is to make certain doctrines clear. One
    doctrine we made clear, and we're continuing to make clear, is, no
    matter what the cost, we defend freedom in America. That's why I
    submitted a significant budget--a defense budget, the biggest since
    Ronald Reagan, because I understand the price of freedom is high. But
    it's not too high, as far as I'm concerned. Anytime we put our uniformed
    folks into harm's way, they deserve the best pay, the best training, and
    the best possible equipment. It also is a signal, by the way--the size
    of the defense bill is a signal that says, we're in this for the long
    run. I like to remind people, there's not a calendar on my desk. Senator
    Lott will tell you, or Senator Cochran who's been in the office, there's
    not a calendar in the Oval Office that says, oh, by such-and-such a
    date, we're through, that we'll all go home. That's not the way it is
    when it comes to defending freedom and winning the first war of the 21st
    century. We're relentless, and we're determined.
        And so the first doctrine is, no matter what the cost to defend our
    freedoms, we'll pay it. The second doctrine is, if you harbor a
    terrorist, or if you feed a terrorist, you're just as guilty as the
    terrorists.
        And the Taliban learned now what we meant. The Taliban found out
    what we meant. And I want you all to remind your youngsters who are
    here, or remind your youngsters if they're not here, that their
    Government sent our military into Afghanistan not to conquer a people
    but to free a people,

    [[Page 1330]]

    to free people from the clutches of a barbaric regime which would not
    even educate young girls. And so for the first time in Afghanistan, many
    young girls get to go to school, thanks to the United States and our
    coalition.
        The other doctrine is, is that either you're with us and those of us
    who love freedom, or you're with the enemy. And that doctrine still
    holds too. We've put together a vast coalition of people that understand
    the stakes, and the coalition still is strong. I mean, we're trying to
    disrupt money. We're sharing intelligence. We've hauled in over 2,000
    people--2,000 of these killers. Another 2,000 or more haven't been as
    lucky.
        The other day, the Government of Gloria Arroyo in the Philippines
    went after the Abu Sayyaf * group. It looks like the head of that group
    met his demise. That's the group, by the way, that had captured American
    missionaries; the husband of a wonderful lady named Gracia Burnham was
    killed. Either you're with us, or you're with the enemy. The Philippines
    and other countries around the world are denying sanctuary to these
    killers. We've got them on the run. We're going to keep them on the run.
        * White House correction.
        As well, ``Either you're with us, or you're with the enemy'' also
    applies to nations which harbor weapons of mass destruction; nations
    which have got abysmal human rights record at home, at their own homes;
    nations which have not been able to live at peace with their neighbors;
    nations which would use those weapons of mass destruction to either
    destroy and/or blackmail the United States and our friends and allies.
        I'm a patient person. I've got a--we've got a lot of tools at our
    disposal. I believe in consultation with Congress. I believe in
    consultation with our friends and allies. But those who have talked to
    me know that history has called us to this moment. For the sake of our
    children and our grandchildren, we can't let the world's worst leaders
    blackmail and threaten the United States with the world's worst weapons.

    [At this point, there was a gap in the audio feed.]

    --is going to come some good. I love to speculate about what was going
    through the enemy's mind. What were they thinking when they hit America?
    They must have thought that we were so materialistic or self-absorbed or
    shallow or so worried about our own prosperity, our own individual
    wealth, that we were unwilling to serve something greater than ourself
    in life; that when the enemy hit, we would just kind of make noise and
    do nothing about it. They didn't understand the character of the
    American people. I do. That's why I can predict with confidence that out
    of the evil done to America will come some good.
        I know this Nation. I know our heart. I know our determination. I
    know our resolve. I firmly believe that by remaining strong in the face
    of terror and by remaining committed to the human values that we hold
    dear, that we can achieve peace in parts of the world that may have
    given up on peace. I believe we can lead others to realize that peace is
    possible and peace can happen and peace will happen in the Middle East
    or in South Asia. And I believe we can achieve the peace we dream for,
    for our children and our children's children.
        I also know at home that out of the evil done to America can come
    some incredible good, because I've seen the spirit of America. I saw it
    when I saw the coal miners that were rescued in Pennsylvania. I see it
    firsthand everywhere I go. I saw it today with a child who came out--18-
    year-old girl who came out to the airport to greet me, who upon her own
    initiative signed up her classmates to mentor children in need and fed
    the homeless, fed the hungry. I saw her in action. I saw her love, and I
    saw her compassion. It didn't require an act of Government to get her to
    love a neighbor like she'd like to be loved herself. She felt the
    spirit, and she felt the call.
        And that's happening all across America. That's what this Nation is
    made out of. There are thousands of people all across this country who
    reach out to a child and say, ``What can I do to make sure you
    understand that America is meant for you?'' You see, our society can
    change and will change, one heart, one soul, one person at a time. And
    people say, ``Well, I can't do everything.'' But you

    [[Page 1331]]

    can do something. You can do something to make the community in which
    you live a better place.
        And that's why I'm such a believer in the Faith-Based Initiative.
    Government shouldn't discriminate against faith. Government should
    welcome faith, the power--the power of faith, whether it comes through
    the Christian church, through Judaism, or through Islam, can change
    people's lives for the better. And we must welcome that faith in our
    society.
        I started running for office in Texas because I was hopeful to be a
    part of a cultural change in America, a change from a culture which had
    said, ``If it feels good, just go ahead and do it, and if you've got a
    problem, blame somebody else.'' I believe the culture is shifting in
    America. People are beginning to understand that serving something other
    than yourself is an important part of being an American.
        And perhaps the most vivid example of that came on Flight 93.
    Average citizens were flying across the country that fateful day. They
    heard their airplane was going to be used as a weapon, perhaps against
    the Capitol or against the White House, certainly against innocent
    Americans. They said a prayer. They told their loved ones goodbye. One
    guy said, ``Let's roll,'' and they drove the plane in the ground. It is
    a signal, a symbol of what it means to be an American, of serving
    something greater than yourself in life. No, out of the evil done to
    America is going to come some incredible good, because we're the
    greatest nation, full of the finest people, on the face of the Earth.
        Thank you all for coming. God bless.

    Note: The President spoke at 12:35 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom at the
    Hilton Jackson and Convention Center. In his remarks, he referred to
    Representative Pickering's wife, Leisha, and his father, Charles W.
    Pickering, Sr.; Senator Trent Lott and his wife, Tricia; Clinton B.
    LeSueur, candidate for Mississippi's Second Congressional District; and
    Star Wallin, founder, Project CARE. The transcript released by the
    Office of the Press Secretary did not include the complete remarks of
    the President due to a gap in the audio feed from the event.
    Representative Pickering is a candidate for reelection in Mississippi's
    Third Congressional District.