[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 41 (Monday, October 14, 2002)]
[Pages 1702-1709]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks to the Community in Manchester, New Hampshire

October 5, 2002

    Thank you all very much. Please be seated, except for those of you 
who don't have a chair. [Laughter]
    I've been here before. This was the site of the great pancake flip-
off. [Laughter] A lot of time has passed since I was flipping pancakes 
in this armory. [Laughter] And I want to thank you all for coming. I 
want to thank my fellow citizens for taking time out of your day to give 
me a chance to come and talk about issues that confront our country, and 
my strong desire to work with all who live in America, to make America a 
safer, a stronger, and a better place.
    My dream is for this country to be a strong country, as importantly, 
a safe country, and

[[Page 1703]]

a country in which each of us who live here realizes the great American 
potential belongs to everybody.
    I want to thank you for bringing your families out to say hello. I 
want to thank you for sending some good people to Washington, DC. I'm 
proud to call Judd Gregg my friend. He's doing a great job as the United 
States Senator.
    I'm honored that Governor Shaheen is here today. I appreciate her 
taking time out of her schedule to come and pay her respects to the 
Presidency. I appreciate the mayor of Manchester. I appreciate members 
of the congressional delegation, Congressman Charlie Bass and 
Congressman John Sununu, for joining us as well.
    I'm glad--I am glad that your mayor, the mayor of Manchester, Mayor 
Baines, is with us today. Mr. Mayor, thank you for coming as well. Ray 
Wieczorek is here, who is on the New Hampshire Executive Councilor. I 
appreciate Ray.
    But most of all, I appreciate my fellow citizens. I appreciate those 
of you who are here to work hard to make your community and New 
Hampshire a strong place.
    I want to tell you one of the things on my mind, and it's, I worry 
about people being able to find work in America. Anytime anybody who 
wants to work and can't find a job, says to me we've got a problem, and 
we must do everything we can to grow our economy--that all of us 
together must work to do that which we can to enable our environment, 
our economic environment, to prosper, so people can find work. I want 
Americans to be able to put food on the table.
    And we've got an issue here in the country, and we've got to work 
together to solve it. Now, you've got to know something: I am optimistic 
about our economic future. First of all, I understand the American 
spirit. We've got the best workers in the world. We've got the best 
entrepreneurs in the world. Our productivity is the best there is. 
Interest rates are low. Inflation is low. The foundation for growth is 
solid. But it's not good--going good enough.
    Yesterday we had a good report: The unemployment rate dropped across 
the country. It's still not good enough, and we ought to continue to do 
that which is necessary to grow our economy. And I've got a couple of 
ideas, and Congress can help. I readily concede my vision of Government 
is not to create wealth but to create an environment in which the small 
business can grow to be a big business, in which the entrepreneur can 
realize his or her dreams, in which our producers can find markets. The 
job of Government is to create an environment in which growth is 
possible.
    That's why I am such a strong believer and strong advocate of 
letting people keep more of your own money. You see, it is when times 
are slow that you let people have money in their pocket. When somebody 
has more money in their pocket, they're more likely to demand a good or 
a service. And in the marketplace, when somebody demands a good or a 
service, somebody is likely to produce the good or a service. And when 
somebody produces a good or a service, somebody is more likely able to 
find work.
    Tax relief came at the absolute right time. But the reason I'm still 
talking about it, the reason we have to talk about it is because there 
is a quirk in the Senate rules. On the one hand, they giveth; on the 
other hand, they taketh away, because after 10 years the tax relief 
package ends. All the relief that had happened resorts back to the way 
it was prior to last year. I know that's hard to understand. That's one 
of those Washington things.
    But for the sake of economic vitality, Congress needs to make the 
tax cuts permanent. People need to be able to plan. Part of an 
environment which will encourage economic growth means people--there's 
certainty. And there needs to be certainty in the Tax Code. You can't 
have a Tax Code that's one way for a while and reverts back. That's not 
certainty.
    The tax relief plan is incredibly good for small businesses. Most 
small businesses are sole proprietorships. Most small businesses are 
limited partnerships, which means the small business pays taxes at the 
income tax rate--personal income tax rates. And so therefore, when you 
reduce all rates, you inject needed capital into the small-business 
sector. Seventy percent of new jobs in America are created by small-
business owners. For the sake of job creation, for the sake of 
certainty, for the sake of the growth of our small-

[[Page 1704]]

business sector, Congress needs to make the tax cuts permanent.
    A stronger America--a stronger America is one in which people can 
find work. We have got a problem when it comes to construction projects 
in America. The terrorists hit us, and now--lot of folks who want to put 
steel in the ground can't get insurance. We need the Congress to act on 
terrorism insurance. We need to have Congress act as a stopgap for those 
who want to put construction projects forward. There's over $15 billion 
of construction projects which are now on hold because we can't get 
terrorism insurance done. They've been talking about it, but we can't 
get it out of the--can't get it out of what they call the conference 
committee. Fifteen billion dollars' worth of projects are stalled, which 
means 300,000 jobs.
    My call to Congress, before they go home, for the sake of jobs, for 
the sake of putting hardhats back to work, for the sake of letting 
people have a chance to put food on their table, we need a terrorism 
insurance package which does not reward trial lawyers but does reward 
the hardhats of America.
    Like you, I'm concerned about the fact that 401(k)s are being 
affected, that people's savings have been eroded. I'm concerned about 
that. We need to create an environment in Washington which promotes 
growth and certainty.
    One thing that will send a good message to markets and to our fellow 
Americans is if Washington can show some fiscal discipline. And that 
starts with understanding whose money we spend in Washington. We're not 
spending the Government's money. We're spending your money in 
Washington, DC.
    See, we need to set priorities. We need to set clear priorities, 
winning this war on terror and protecting the homeland, making sure our 
kids get educated. We ought to set priorities, but we ought not to spend 
beyond those priorities. And here's the danger. There is no budget in 
the United States Senate. You see, if you don't have a budget, guess 
what can happen, particularly in an environment in which every idea 
sounds like a great idea? See, in Washington, every idea is--sounds 
wonderful. The problem in that town is, is that the price tag usually 
runs in the billions. Without a budget, there is a danger that the 
Congress will overspend.
    I submitted a budget that shows us getting back to balance in a 
reasonable period of time if there's fiscal sanity in Washington. For 
the sake of job creation, for the sake of improving the economic 
environment here in America, the United States Congress must fund our 
priorities, must not try to get re-elected with extraneous spending, and 
must remember whose money we spend in Washington, and it is the people's 
money.
    I will continue to work to make America a stronger country by 
working hard to improve our economy, by working hard to help people find 
work, by working hard to bring confidence back into the American system.
    And by the way, that started with me having the honor of signing the 
most significant corporate reforms since Franklin Roosevelt was the 
President. Here's the message: If you're running a corporation in 
America, we expect you to be open; we expect you to be honest; we expect 
you to treat your shareholders with respect; we expect you to treat your 
employees with respect. If you break the law, we're going to come and 
get you; you're going to spend hard time.
    And we're going to work hard to make sure America is a stronger 
place, but my most important job is to make America a safer place. I'm 
reminded of that every time I come and give a speech and see the little 
ones here. I'm also reminded, since some of them are going to sleep, to 
keep my speeches shorter. [Laughter]
    I want you to know that I say we have to work to make America a 
safer place because there is still an enemy out there who hates America. 
And they hate us because of what we love. They hate us because we love 
freedom in America. We love freedom to the point we will never back down 
and relinquish our freedoms. We love the idea of anybody in America 
being able to worship an almighty God anyway he or she sees fit. We love 
the fact that in our society there is discourse about elections and 
politics. A free society has open debate. We love that. We love a free 
press. We love everything about our freedoms. And that's why the enemy 
hates us.

[[Page 1705]]

    It's hard for some youngsters to understand that. But you've just 
got to know there are people that don't value life, either. See, that's 
one of the things that differentiates us. America says, ``Everybody 
counts. Everybody matters. Every life has worth. Everybody is precious 
in the eyes of the Almighty.'' And our enemy is willing to hijack a 
great religion and murder innocent life without caring. And so long as 
they're out there, we must do everything we can as a nation, as 
governments at the Federal, State, and local level, to protect the 
American people. It is our most important and solemn job, and I take it 
seriously.
    I want you to know there are a lot of good people working incredibly 
hard on your behalf. We're doing a much better job of sharing 
information than we had in the past. I mean, after all, we now know that 
America is a battlefield. Anytime we get a hint, anytime we get an idea 
that somebody might be trying to do something to some American 
somewhere, we are moving; we're acting on it. We take every threat 
seriously. We are on alert as a nation. Times have changed, and you just 
need to know we have changed with the times.
    Now, I have asked Congress to join me on creating what I call a 
Department of Homeland Security, and I want to share right quickly why I 
did that. There's over 100 agencies in Washington involved with securing 
the homeland, or 100 agencies involved with some aspect of doing their 
job that I expect them to do.
    But the problem is, is that with so many agencies scattered around, 
it's hard to align authority and responsibility. It's hard to have 
accountability. It's hard to make sure the cultures of the agency are 
aligned properly. It's hard to make sure their number one job is to 
protect you. And so therefore, I said, ``Let's create this Department so 
that we can say to the American people, we're doing everything we can to 
protect you.''
    The House passed a good bill. The Senate is still debating it. And 
here's the issue. The issue is whether or not the Senate is going to 
micromanage the executive branch and future Presidents or whether or not 
this President and future Presidents and the Cabinet Secretaries will be 
able to move the right people to the right place at the right time to 
protect the American people. The question is this: Are we going to have 
rules, civil servant rules, which will make the process so cumbersome 
that we can't respond?
    I'll give you an example. The Customs Service thought it appropriate 
that our inspectors wear radiation detection devices on their belts. 
That makes sense. If you're worried about weapons of mass destruction 
coming into America, you want your inspectors to have the tools 
necessary to do their job. The union said that they needed to have a 
negotiating session; they needed to go to collective bargaining as to 
whether or not the inspectors ought to be told to wear this, whether or 
not it would be involuntary or voluntary. That would take a long time to 
settle.
    Nothing wrong with collective bargaining rights, I'm all for them. 
But what I'm not for is work rules that prohibit us from doing the job 
of protecting the American people.
    This is a chance for people of both parties to come together and 
leave behind a legacy, because this enemy isn't going away anytime soon. 
And protecting the homeland is going to be an important job of future 
Presidents. So for the sake of the security of our country, I ask the 
Senate to be reasonable, to be realistic, and to understand their job is 
to leave a legacy behind that will allow those of us who have gotten the 
position you've elected us to, to do the jobs you expect us to do.
    But the best way to secure the homeland in the short term and in the 
long term is to chase the killers down, one person at a time, and bring 
them to justice. And that is what we're going to continue to do. This is 
a different kind of war. We're not used to this kind of war we fight. In 
the old days, it used to be you could destroy an enemy's tanks or 
airplanes or ships, and you're making progress. The people we fight 
don't have tanks or airplanes. These are coldblooded killers who hide in 
caves or the dark recesses of certain cities and send youngsters to 
their suicidal deaths. That's why I say our job is to hunt them down, 
one at a time.
    The doctrine that says, ``Either you're with us, or you're with the 
enemy,'' still stands.

[[Page 1706]]

And as a result, there's still a coalition of freedom-loving countries 
that are after the killers. And we're doing a good job. Sometimes you'll 
see the progress on your TVs, and sometimes you won't, in this new war.
    The other day, you saw progress when this fellow named bin al-Shibh, 
he popped his head up. [Laughter] He's no longer a threat to the United 
States and our friends and allies. He was the man who thought he was--
wanted to be the 20th hijacker, bragged about the fact that he wanted to 
be one that was able to kill thousands of our citizens.
    We're calling them in one at a time. I bet you we've captured over a 
couple of thousand of them. And a like number haven't been as lucky, and 
like number weren't as lucky because we have got a fantastic United 
States military. I want you to know I have great confidence in the men 
and women who wear the uniform of the United States. I have great 
respect for the men and women who wear the uniform. For the loved ones 
of those who wear the uniform, I thank you as well for your sacrifice, 
along with theirs, on behalf of a grateful nation.
    I submitted to the United States Congress the largest increase in 
defense spending since Ronald Reagan was the President. I did so for two 
reasons: One, anytime we send our youngsters into harm's way, they 
deserve the best pay, the best training, and the best possible 
equipment; and secondly, I wanted to send a clear message to friend and 
foe alike that when it comes to the defense of our freedoms and values 
we hold dear, the United States is in for the long haul. There is no 
calendar on my desk that says, by such-and-such a date, we pretty well 
had it, time to quit. When it comes to the defense of that which we 
love, which is our country, when it comes to doing our duty, which is to 
protect the future for our children and our children's children, when it 
comes to the defense of the peace, the United States of America will 
stay the course.
    I have sent that bill to the Congress. It hasn't made it to my desk 
yet. We are at war. I expect to get the defense bill, the defense 
appropriations bill, on my desk before the Congress goes home. For the 
sake of sending the right message, Congress should not play politics 
with the defense appropriations bill.
    Our job is to keep the peace. Our job is to make the world a more 
peaceful place. And sometimes it's a pretty steep hill to get there. 
Sometimes we're going to have to cross some hurdles. Sometimes we're 
going to have to anticipate problems before they become so acute that it 
will be difficult to keep the peace. One such area, where the Nation is 
now beginning an important national discourse, is with Iraq. This is a 
country which, 11 years ago, promised the world they would have no 
weapons of mass destruction. And yet, for 11 years they have lied and 
deceived the world community. This is a country run by one of the most 
brutal dictators in modern history. On Monday night, I will make the 
case to the country on TV yet again, but I want to share some of my 
thoughts with you here.
    I want you to remember that this is a man who kills his opponents in 
cold blood. This is a person who suppressed people. This is a person who 
has used weapons of mass destruction on his own citizens. This is a 
person who has used weapons of mass destruction on people in his 
neighborhood. This is a person who hates America and yet still possesses 
weapons of mass destruction.
    At one time, inspectors had a free hand in Iraq, like they should 
have, and they determined that had this man not been checked in the 
early nineties, he would have had possession of a nuclear weapon. He 
still wants to have a nuclear weapon. This is a man who has used weapons 
of mass destruction. This is a man who hates so much, he's willing to 
kill his own people, much less Americans. This is a man who would be a 
tremendous threat to world peace and security if he ever were to have 
and possess a weapon of mass destruction as devastating as a nuclear 
weapon.
    I went to the United Nations the other day because I wanted to make 
it clear, a couple of things. One, I want the United Nations to be 
successful. We face a new threat for world peace. We're dealing with 
these treacherous terrorist organizations who have designs and desires 
to hook up with nations such as Iraq that have developed weapons of mass 
destruction. See, old Saddam might

[[Page 1707]]

not have to show up, but he might get a surrogate who could do it for 
him.
    In order to deal with those new threats, in order to deal with the 
reality that America is no longer protected by two vast oceans, it 
seemed like sense to me that we should give the United Nations to be an 
effective peacekeeping body, somebody who would keep the peace, somebody 
who was strong enough. Well, I've told the United Nations, ``Either you 
can be the United Nations, or you can be the League of Nations, your 
choice.''
    Sixteen different times the United Nations, an important world body, 
has said, ``You must disarm.'' Sixteen times, and he's defied them all 
16 times. He's lied, and he's deceived. And so now the choice is the 
United Nations' to make. The choice is also Mr. Saddam Hussein's to 
make. See, there's no negotiations. There's nothing to talk about. We 
don't want you to have weapons of mass destruction. You agreed to that; 
you said you would agree to that. Now you've got to show the world you 
don't have them. It's up to you, Mr. Hussein.
    Nobody likes war in America. We're a peaceful nation. Nobody wants 
there to be war. On the other hand, a lot of folks--Republicans and 
Democrats, people who could care less about political parties--now are 
beginning to understand the true threat. In order to keep the peace, Mr. 
Hussein and the world community must work to disarm him. And if they 
won't, I will lead a coalition of nations, like-minded nations to send 
the world that we long for peace--send a message: We long for peace in 
this world, and we will not let the world's worst leaders threaten, 
blackmail, hurt America, our friends and allies with the world's worst 
weapons.
    We owe this to our children. We owe it to peace. We owe it for a 
peaceful world to deal with the threats we see. We cannot ignore 
history. We must not ignore reality. We must do everything we can to 
disarm this man before he hurts one single American.
    I am proud--I was proud the other day to stand in the Rose Garden 
with members of both political parties who agreed that this man is a 
threat--both political parties. We had the Speaker, and we had Dick 
Gephardt. From the Senate we had Trent Lott and Joe Lieberman and John 
McCain and Evan Bayh, Republicans and Democrats alike. We're working on 
a resolution so this country can speak with one voice when it comes to 
the defense of our freedoms and our desire for peace.
    This is not an issue of political parties. This is an issue of 
national concern. I look forward to hearing the debate. I welcome the 
voices on all sides. I understand the need for there to be a good and 
honest and open discourse on peace and security and freedom.
    And as we work to secure the peace and to make the country a 
stronger and safer place, we've always got to remember to make America a 
better place, too, a better place for every single citizen who lives in 
this country. That starts with making sure that every child in America 
gets an education, not some but every child.
    I was honored to work with Judd and Ted Kennedy. Believe it or not--
[laughter]--it's amazing what can happen when people put their minds to 
do what's right for America and cast aside all the nonsense of the 
politics and focus on what's right. I signed a really good education 
bill. I want to share it with you because it's your responsibility, by 
the way, to make sure the citizens in this community get educated. See, 
I believe in local control of schools; that bill said that. But let me 
tell you two other things it said.
    It said two other things that are really important. It said, in 
America, we believe each child can learn. And therefore, we must set 
high standards and high expectations. As a nation, if we want America to 
be a better place, we must challenge the soft bigotry of low 
expectations.
    And you see, if you believe every child can learn, if you believe 
that--you've got to believe it; you just can't say it; you've got to 
believe it. You've got to believe our inner-city kids can learn. You've 
got to believe that a child whose parents may not speak English as a 
first language can learn. You have to believe it.
    And if you do believe that, like I believe it, then you want to 
know. Then you want to know whether or not the children are learning. 
And therefore, in return for Federal

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money, we have said, ``Show us, New Hampshire. You show us. You show us 
whether our children are learning to read and write and add and 
subtract. You chart the path to excellence, and you measure. In return 
for the biggest increase in education spending in a long, long time, we 
expect every child to be educated. And when you find children in schools 
which will not teach and will not change, in order to make sure no child 
is left behind, you've got to demand something different. You've got to 
demand excellence in your schools for every single child.''
    A better America is one that says, we're going to help people in 
need, but we want them to work. Any good welfare reauthorization must 
have work as its central component. We'll help you, fine. We'll train 
you. But work leads to dignity. Work gives people a hopeful future.
    A better America is one that recognizes that medicine has changed, 
but Government programs like Medicare haven't. Medicine is modern. 
Medicare isn't. For the sake of a better America, our seniors need to be 
treated with a Medicare program that includes prescription drugs and is 
a modern program.
    But see, one of the things that you've got to understand about 
Government: Government can hand out money, but what Government cannot do 
is put love in a person's life. What Government cannot do is put hope in 
hearts. And that's why, in order to make sure that America is a better 
place, we've got to really unleash the great strength of America. And 
the great strength of this country is the people of this country. The 
great strength of America lay in the hearts and souls of our fellow 
Americans.
    Today we are honored--and I was honored at the airport there--to 
greet Bonnie Monahan and Patrick Fraser. They are two of our fellow 
citizens. Bonnie is the vice president of the Timberland Company, and 
Patrick works for the City Youth--City Year Youth Service Corps. And the 
reason I bring them up is, there's two examples about what I'm talking 
about, about the great strength of the country. Timberland offers 
employees 40 hours of paid leave to volunteer in their communities. This 
good company, this company, which is doing their best to look at the 
bottom line, also understands the bottom line is more than just dollars 
and cents. The bottom line is being a good citizen. They provide paid 
leave for people to be involved with helping our community be a better 
place. They've got City Year Youth Service Corps, where Freedom Corps 
volunteers--kids who understand we can save America, one heart and one 
soul at a time--working in Timberland. I want to thank the City Corps, 
and I want to thank Timberland for coming.
    I want to thank you all for being here. See, it's an important 
signal that one person can't do everything, but one person can do 
something to be a part of changing America. People have often asked me, 
``What can I do to help in the war against terror?'' You can join the 
war against terror and fight evil by loving your neighbor just like 
you'd like to be loved yourself.
    A better America is an America which understands that in the midst 
of our plenty, there are people who hurt. There are pockets of despair. 
There's loneliness. Some communities you say, ``Hey, American Dream,'' 
and they go, ``What does that mean? I don't know what you're talking 
about.''
    If one of us hurts, we all hurt. And therefore, we must do 
everything we can to make this country a better place, a more optimistic 
place. And it starts with each of us. If you want to be a part of a 
change of America, all you've got to do is put your arm around a 
neighbor in need and say, ``I love you.'' Mentor a child. Start a Boy 
and Girls Club. Feed the hungry. Help house the homeless.
    And it's happening in America. The amazing thing about September the 
11th--a day in which we still grieve as a nation; we still send our 
prayers to those whose lives were completely disrupted--but this Nation 
is so strong and so confident and so good, instead of being cowed by the 
enemy, we rose up. Out of the evil done to America is going to come some 
incredible good. I don't know what was in the mind of the enemy. They 
must have thought we were so selfish and materialistic and self-absorbed 
that when they attacked us, we might file a lawsuit or two. [Laughter]
    Instead, what they're finding out about this country is, we love our 
freedom. And if we remain strong and focused and tough when we need to, 
if we continue to speak clearly

[[Page 1709]]

about right from wrong and defend the values, which are not American 
values but God-given values, we can achieve peace. We can achieve peace 
in the world. We can achieve peace for our citizens.
    And here at home, if we remember the definition a patriot is 
something more than just putting your hand over your heart--the 
definition of a patriot in the face of the evil done to America is to 
serve something greater than yourself in life, is to help somebody in 
need, is to love a person, one at a time, as we remember that--which I 
know we will.
    The enemy will have hit us, but America will be a stronger, more 
compassionate, better place for all of us. There's no question in my 
mind that we can meet our goals, that we can meet this challenge, 
because, my fellow Americans, this is the greatest nation, full of the 
finest people, on the face of the Earth.
    Thank you for coming. May God bless you all, and may God bless 
America.

Note: The President spoke at 10:32 a.m. at the National Guard Armory. In 
his remarks, he referred to Gov. Jean Shaheen of New Hampshire; Mayor 
Robert A. Baines of Manchester; Raymond J. Wieczorek, New Hampshire 
Executive Councilor for District Four; and President Saddam Hussein of 
Iraq.