[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 41 (Monday, October 14, 2002)]
[Pages 1721-1727]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks to the Community in Alcoa, Tennessee

October 8, 2002

    The President. Thank you all for coming. Thanks for coming. It's an 
honor to be back in East Tennessee. If I was dragging coming on this 
day, this Tennessee band kind of livened my step. [Laughter] I'm honored 
to see you all again. I'm proud to be in your presence. You represent a 
great university and a great State, and I'm honored you're here. I want 
to thank you all for coming. I've got some things on my mind, and I want 
to share them with you.
    The first thing on my mind is this. I know--I know what it takes to 
be a good Governor. I know the characteristics necessary for someone to 
be able to assume that high office. Van Hilleary has what it takes to be 
a great Governor for Tennessee. I've also learned a lot about the United 
States Senate--[laughter]--and I know we need Lamar Alexander in the 
United States Senate.
    I appreciate so much Bill Frist. He's a distinguished citizen. He's 
a good friend, a good, honorable man who cares deeply about the citizens 
of this State, brings a lot of expertise to the Senate. He's kind of one 
of those fellows who can get something done in the United States Senate, 
and that's the kind of attitude we need in the United States Senate. And 
I appreciate Bill. I want to tell you how proud I am to be on the stage 
with Janice Bowling, who's going to be the next Congresswoman.
    I appreciate my friend the mayor, the honorable Victor Ashe, for 
being here. I've known Victor for a long, long time. We both proved that 
you don't have to graduate from--with honors from college in order to 
hold higher office. I'm really proud to be with Victor's mother. I've 
known Mrs. Ashe for a long, long time. I'm proud to see you, Martha. 
Thanks for coming to say hello. I'm proud you're here.
    I want to talk about the future of your State and the future of our 
country. First, let me talk about your State. It's important you get a 
good soul to be your Governor, somebody who shares your values, the 
values of hard work and family, the values of service to others. It's 
important you get somebody who when they speak, they speak your 
language, who knows the soul of the citizens of the State. It's 
important to get somebody in there who doesn't need a poll or a focus 
group to tell them what to think, somebody who makes decisions based 
upon a philosophy, somebody who stands tall when sometimes the winds of 
public opinion may be drifting a different way, somebody you can count 
on, somebody, when they turn up the butane, the political butane, you 
know where they stand. That person, no doubt in my mind, is Van 
Hilleary.
    One of the things I like about him is he--when the country called, 
he stepped up, and he served in Operation Desert Storm and Desert 
Shield. Then he decided that he wanted to serve in Congress. He went to 
one of those districts where they said, ``This is a district where a 
Republican can't possibly win.'' He went out and said, ``Listen, I want 
to represent everybody. I'm not here just to appeal to a small segment 
of the district. I'm here to represent a philosophy and a way of life in 
a State I care deeply about.'' And he won where people didn't think he 
could win. And for a while, they didn't think he could win here in 
Tennessee. You watch what happens on election day. Van Hilleary is going 
to be the next Governor.
    He understands agriculture, and that's important for this State. He 
understands budgeting. That's important for this State. [Laughter] He's 
been dealing with the Washington budget. If you can figure out the 
Washington budget, I can assure you, you can figure out the Tennessee 
budget. But the thing I like most about Van is, he understands the most 
important priority of a State is to make sure that every single child 
gets educated.
    I like--when I was the Governor of a State that started with the 
letter T and has a university that wears orange and called UT--
[laughter]--I used to say that education is to a State what national 
defense is to the Federal Government. It's ``the'' priority. And I want 
to tell you all something, and you need to tell your friends at the 
coffee shops and at your community centers, that when it came to writing 
one of the most comprehensive pieces of education reform ever in the

[[Page 1722]]

history of our country, Van Hilleary played a significant role.
    And let me share with you right quick the philosophy, because it's 
important to understand the philosophy behind educational excellence, at 
least our philosophy. He mentioned challenging the soft bigotry of low 
expectations in order to make sure every child learns in America. We 
must do that. We can never assign any child to failure. Every child can 
learn. If you believe every child can learn, then you must have a 
Governor who's willing to set high standards and high expectations. If 
you lower the bar, you see, if you believe certain kids can't learn--
``Let's just move them through to get them off our--get them off the 
agenda''--if you lower the bar, you're going to get bad results.
    Secondly, you've got to trust the local folks. See, one in--one of 
the key parts of the bill says that one size doesn't fit all when it 
comes to education, that you've got to trust local people to chart the 
path to excellence. You've got to empower local people to make the 
decisions for the children in their district. The people that care more 
about the children in Tennessee aren't in Washington; they're in 
Tennessee. And therefore, local control of schools is a fundamental part 
of education reform.
    But let me tell you one other part. And it's important for the 
citizens of Tennessee to pay attention to this part of the education 
debate. If you believe every child can learn, like we do--see, if you 
believe that every child can learn, then you're willing to measure to 
determine if every child is learning. Those who don't believe every 
child can learn will say, ``We don't need to measure,'' because if you 
don't believe they can learn, then why should you care? In order to make 
sure every child learns, it's essential that the good people of this 
State have a Governor who's willing to insist upon accountability.
    We need to know in society--we need to know whether or not the 
curriculum is working. We need to know whether our teachers have the 
tools necessary to teach. We need to know whether or not schools are on 
the right track. We need to know whether or not each child in Tennessee 
can read and write and add and subtract. If you can--if you can't find 
out, you'll never know. If you don't measure, you'll never know. In 
order to make sure no child gets left behind--I don't mean any single 
child in this State--you better have a Governor who is willing to hold 
people accountable for results. And when you find children trapped in 
schools that won't teach and won't change, you better have a Governor 
who's willing to challenge the status quo, and that man is Van Hilleary.
    And I'm proud to strongly endorse the candidacy of Lamar Alexander. 
There's no question in my mind, and there should be no doubt in the 
minds of your fellow citizens, Republican, Democrat, or independent 
alike, that this man has proven his worth in the public sector and will 
be another great United States Senator from the State of Tennessee.
    He knows education. He knows fiscal responsibility. But let me tell 
you another reason why we need him up there. One of the most serious 
parts of my job is to make sure that the Federal bench has got good 
judges on it, good, honorable, decent people who are willing to serve 
their communities and their Nation on the Federal bench, people who 
won't use the bench to act like or serve like a legislator. See, we've 
got the legislative branch. We don't need our judges acting like 
legislators. We need our judges there to strictly interpret our United 
States Constitution.
    And I've named good judges. I named a lady the other day from the 
State of Texas, who I know well. She got elected several times statewide 
in my State, overwhelmingly so; came out of the law school class--one of 
the tops in her law school class; was ranked by the American Bar 
Association with the highest of high ratings; was embraced by both 
Republicans and Democrats alike. I put her nomination up there. They 
played politics with her nomination. They distorted Priscilla Owen's 
record. I need Senators like Lamar Alexander who will join me in making 
sure our Federal judiciary is strong and sensible and will not rewrite 
the Constitution from the bench.
    And I appreciate Janice Bowling, willing to run and serve in 
Washington, DC. It's very important that we make sure that Denny Hastert 
is the Speaker of the House, make sure that coming into the next session 
that

[[Page 1723]]

we've got a Speaker with whom I can work. Janice stands for a lot of 
good things, stands for a lot of good issues, but the thing that I'm 
most impressed with is, she'll vote for Denny Hastert to be the Speaker 
of the House in Washington, DC.
    We've got a lot of work to do in Washington. We've got a lot of work 
to do to make America a stronger place and a safer place and a better 
place. Making sure America is a stronger place really means we've got to 
make sure people can find work if they can't find work--people are able 
to find a job. We've got to do everything we can to make sure that the 
policies in Washington stress economic growth, to do things that 
stimulate that part of the economy which will grow jobs.
    See, I worry about it when people can't find work. If somebody is 
looking for a job and they can't find work, we've got a problem in 
America. We want our people to be able to put food on the table. 
Obviously, I'm concerned as well when the stock market is declining. But 
I want you to know, I'm optimistic about our future. Interest rates are 
low; that's a good sign. Inflation is low; that's a good sign. We've got 
the best workers in America. Our productivity is the highest in the 
world. Our entrepreneurial spirit is strong. The foundation for growth 
is good. But I'm going to work as hard as I possibly can to do 
everything we can do to make sure our economy grows.
    It starts with a--the belief, the firm belief that when times are 
slow, we must let people keep more of their own money. When times are 
slow, the best way to encourage economic growth is not to increase the 
size of Government but to increase the size of money in our citizens' 
pockets.
    Here's what we believe, and this is a fundamental difference between 
some of the voices in Washington and what I believe and what others on 
this stage believe. By letting people keep more of their own money, they 
will then more likely demand a good or a service. They'll demand 
something. And in a marketplace economy, somebody is likely to produce 
that good or a service. If there's a demand for a good or a service, in 
our society somebody's going to produce it. And when somebody produces 
it, it means somebody is more likely to find work.
    The tax relief plan that Van supported and Senator Frist supported 
and many members of the Tennessee delegation supported came at the 
absolute right time. It was important that we cut the taxes on the 
people to provide wind to the economic growth and vitality. And there 
are some in Washington who want to get away with that--get rid of that 
tax relief plan. There are some who don't believe--it's a good, honest 
debate--they don't believe in our philosophy. But for the sake of 
economic vitality, we must not let them raise your taxes. And for the 
sake of economic vitality, we must make the tax relief permanent.
    The House has got a budget, and I want to thank Van for working on 
the Budget Committee, and it's a good budget. It's a budget that says, 
we can get back to balance if we're realistic on how we spend your 
money. The Senate doesn't have a budget. And you can imagine what that 
could mean for your money. Without a budget, without kind of a go-by, 
without constraints in a society or in an environment in which every 
program sounds like a brilliant program, except they all cost billions 
of dollars, it's likely that we could have some runaway Federal 
spending. And we can't have that, for the sake of economic vitality. We 
can fund our priorities--listen, we've got plenty of money to fund the 
priorities. We can stay focused with your money on our priorities. But 
for the sake of job creation, the Congress must not overspend. For the 
sake of economic vitality, for the sake of the strength of the future of 
our economy, the Congress must remember whose money they're spending. 
It's not the Government's money. It's your money. They need to be 
responsible with your money, in order to make sure the foundation for 
economic growth is strong.
    And before they go home, there's something else they can do. They 
can pass a terrorism insurance bill. See, there's $15 billion worth of 
construction projects which are on hold around America because people 
can't get insurance for the project. The enemy hit us, and it made it 
very difficult for people to be able to insure those projects. And so, 
therefore, I think it's a useful role for the

[[Page 1724]]

Congress to serve as a backstop against a potential terrorist attack.
    This is a jobs program. This is a way to get our people back to work 
the right way, to encourage private sector jobs. There's over 300,000 
jobs, good hardhat jobs that have been delayed because we can't get a 
terrorism insurance package out of the United States Congress. There's a 
lot of voices up there talking about the economy, and I'm glad they're 
talking about it. But they ought to stop talking, and they ought to 
start doing, by getting a terrorism insurance bill to my desk so we can 
get people back to work. And that terrorism insurance bill must remember 
who we're trying to help. We're not trying to help the trial lawyers. 
We're trying to help the hardhats of America. Now, I--the economy is on 
my mind because I want our fellow countrymen working; I want them to be 
able to put bread on the table.
    The safety of the country is on my mind, too. See, there's still an 
enemy which hates America, lurking around. And so long as that's the 
case, my most important job is to protect you. My most important job is 
to rally the assets of Government at all levels to do everything we can 
to deny the enemy, to prevent them from hitting America.
    People say, ``Well, why''--and I know a lot of kids are probably 
asking, ``Well, why America?'' And you've just got to understand that 
the enemy hates us because of what we love. We love freedom. We love the 
idea of people--[applause]. We love the fact that, in this great 
country, people can worship an almighty God any way they see fit. That's 
what we love. We love free political--we love the debates. We love 
free--we love the discourse of free people. We love a free press. We 
love everything about our freedom, and we're not going to change. We're 
going to stand tall and stand strong.
    We also value life in America. Everybody counts. Everybody has 
worth. Everybody is a precious soul. And the enemy we--the enemy doesn't 
regard life the way we do. You see, they hijack a great religion and 
kill innocent people. They don't care, but we do. And so long as we hold 
those values dear, which we will, the enemy will try to strike us.
    And so we've got a lot of good people, you just need to know, 
working hard to protect you, a lot of good folks. We're sharing 
information. I mean, we're running down every hint, every idea. Every 
piece of evidence we get, we're chasing it down so that we can say to 
the American people, ``We're doing everything we can do.''
    That's why I went to Congress and asked them to put together a 
Department of Homeland Security, to join me in creating a new 
Department, so we could better coordinate the over 100 agencies that are 
involved with protecting you. And we got a good bill out of the House, 
and it's stuck in the Senate.
    And the reason it's stuck in the Senate is because there is a 
disagreement over how best to manage the agency. On the one hand, they 
want us to have a thick book of rules to micromanage the decisionmaking 
process. I'll give you one example. The Customs agents should be wearing 
radio detection devices--radiological detection devices on their belt so 
that, if when they're looking for weapons of mass destruction and they 
come close to one, it--this device will send a signal. It ought to be a 
part of their job. But the thick book of rules says, ``Well, that's up 
for collective bargaining before you can make a person do that.'' See, 
we've got--that violates a rule, and therefore, we got to negotiate that 
out.
    Folks, we don't have time to negotiate a lot of these issues. We've 
got time to negotiate some issues. We've got time to negotiate some 
issues, of course. But we don't have time to sit around and negotiate 
the work rules necessary to protect you. The enemy doesn't sit around 
worrying about a thick book of regulations. And so, for the sake of our 
national security interests, the Congress, the Senate ought to give this 
President and future Presidents the ability to put the right people at 
the right place with the right equipment at the right time to protect 
America.
    But the best way to protect America for the short term and the long 
term is to hunt the killers down, one person at a time, and bring them 
to justice, and that's what we're going to do. I say one at a time, 
because that's the kind of war we're in. See, we're facing an enemy 
which hides in caves and sends youngsters to their death, suicidal 
deaths. They don't have tanks. They don't have big

[[Page 1725]]

infantries. They don't have industrial complexes. They are coldblooded 
killers. And the only way to measure success against this part of the 
war against terror is to hunt them down one at a time. A man named bin 
al-Shibh popped his head up the other day; he's no longer a problem to 
America.
    It's a different kind of war. You might think about it as an 
international manhunt, which means we've got to make sure that those of 
us--that those hunting with us are strong and buoyed in their--our 
mutual love for freedom. That's why the doctrine that says, ``Either 
you're with us, or you're with the enemy,'' still stands; it still 
holds. We've got a lot of people working with us to chase these people 
down. And I want you to know, the coalition that we put together is 
still strong, still viable, and still necessary.
    I bet you we've--I say, I bet you--I don't have an exact count, but 
we've hauled in a couple of thousand or more. And like number haven't 
been so lucky, thanks to the United States military, in large part. 
We've making progress. Slowly but surely, we're making progress. And 
that's the kind of war we fight. Sometimes you'll see it on TV, and 
sometimes you're just not going to see it on your TVs, as we make 
progress.
    I submitted a significant increase in defense spending to the 
Congress to--because I want to send two messages. One, anytime we put 
one of our youngsters into harm's way, any time we put our military into 
harm's way, they deserve the best training, the best equipment and the 
best possible pay. We owe that to those soldiers, and we owe it to their 
loved ones.
    I also want to send a clear message to friend and foe alike that the 
United States is in this for the long haul, that there is not a calendar 
that says, it's time to quit. See, when it comes to the defense of our 
freedoms, it doesn't matter how long it takes to defend our freedom. We 
love our freedoms, and we're not going to quit. We're not going to look 
at this kind of--group of international killers and say, ``Well, it's 
time to go home.'' That's not the way we think in America, and that's 
not the way we want the world to see us.
    See, we want the world to see us the way we are. We're determined, 
and we're after them. And we're going to stay after them until we're 
able to more secure the peace. And that's why the United States Congress 
needs to get the defense bill to my desk before they go home. They've 
been talking about this defense bill for quite a while. Before they go 
home, they ought to stop playing politics with the defense bill and let 
me sign it. It's important for the future of the country.
    Last night, I continued a dialog on the war on terror. I talked 
about a significant threat to our country, and that threat is Saddam 
Hussein and some of the folks in Iraq.
    Audience member. Chase 'em out!
    The President. I truly believe that, as you could tell from my 
discussion last night if you listened, that he is a threat. He is a 
threat to the United States. He's a threat to our friends in the region. 
He's a threat to anybody who holds freedom dear to his heart.
    People are concerned about Saddam, and I understand that. But a lot 
of Americans have understood that the dynamics have shifted since 11 
years ago, because of what happened on September the 11th. No longer are 
we secure. No longer can we feel free because we've got two oceans 
separating us from--from that part of the world, for example. And 
therefore, it's very important for us as a country to think about how 
best to protect us for the short run and the long run. We owe this to 
our children. This debate is an incredibly important debate for our 
country to have.
    I want to thank members of both political parties for taking a--for 
realizing the seriousness of this issue. This week, you'll see the 
Congress debate this issue. As I said last night, this isn't an issue of 
committing our military one way or the other. It doesn't say this--the 
resolution--threat is imminent, nor does it say it's unavoidable. But it 
does send a clear signal to the world, and I mean not only the United 
Nations but the whole world, that we take this threat very seriously in 
America, that we'll be speaking with one voice, that we love our 
freedoms, and that if the United Nations is unable to deal with the 
problem--and I certainly hope they can--that the United States will 
lead--and if Saddam Hussein chooses not to deal with it. See, he's the 
guy who said he would have no weapons of mass destruction. He's the

[[Page 1726]]

person who told the world plainly, ``I won't have chemical weapons or 
biological weapons,'' or, ``I won't seek a nuclear weapon.'' He said 
that. He's the man who said, ``I promise you I won't do this.'' Yet for 
11 years, he's defied resolution after resolution after resolution. It's 
his choice to make.
    And the U.N. can show whether or not it's the United Nations or the 
League of Nations. They get that choice to make, too. It's their choice. 
But my message, and the message from the Congress, people of both 
political parties, will be, for the sake of peace--and I emphasize, for 
the sake of peace--if they won't deal with this man, the United States 
of America will lead a coalition to disarm him--for the sake of peace.
    I take my responsibilities as the Commander in Chief very seriously. 
A military option is my last choice, the last choice. But should we 
commit our military, we'll be ready; we'll be prepared; we'll have a 
great plan. And make no mistake about it, we will prevail.
    And finally, as we work to make America stronger and safer, we've 
got to make--work to make America a better place, too. Always got to 
remember that a better America is on the forefront of our agenda. That 
not only means a working America, but that means an educated America. 
That means making sure we've got a health care system that's modern and 
make sure we understand that medicine has changed and Medicare hadn't. 
We need prescription drugs for our seniors to make sure Medicare is a 
modern program that works.
    But there's something else we can do in this country. We can fight 
evil by doing acts of kindness and decency. We can fight evil by loving 
our neighbor like we'd like to be loved ourselves. In our society, in 
this great land, this great society and this wonderful country, there 
are pockets of despair and hopelessness. There are people who hurt in 
America, people who hurt because of addiction or loneliness, people who 
wonder whether or not the American Dream--what that means. It's empty 
words for some. They just don't see any future. There is no hope. And we 
can change that in this country. We can change it.
    Listen, Government is limited in its scope. It can hand out money. 
But what Government cannot do is put a sense of purpose in people's 
lives or hope in people's lives. That happens when a neighbor says to a 
person in need, ``I love you. What can I do to help you? What am I able 
to do to make your life more hopeful?''
    See, our society can change and, in my judgment, will change, one 
heart, one soul at a time, because people are now understanding that 
after September the 11th, 2001, there is a new definition to patriotism. 
Patriotism is more than just putting your hand over your heart. 
Patriotism is serving your community by helping somebody in need.
    And that can happen all kinds of ways. See, if you mentor a child 
like Linda Clark does--I met Linda, who's a--she's a soldier in the army 
of compassion. She came out to the Air Force One to say hello. She 
started a mentoring program. She's involved with Project Grad. She 
understands one person can make a difference in somebody's life. I don't 
know where you are, Linda. Where are you? You've got a lousy seat. But 
anyway, Linda mentors a fifth grade child. She's making a huge 
difference in that child's life.
    You can go to a shut-in's home and say, ``I love you.'' That's part 
of what I'm talking about. Run a Boy Scout troop or a Girl Scout troop 
or a Boys or Girls Club. There's all kinds of ways that each of us can 
make a difference. We've got different talents; we've got different 
views; and each of us can use those talents and our views to make a 
difference in changing America for the better.
    Listen, the enemy hit us. They didn't know what they were thinking 
about. They probably thought we'd file a lawsuit or two. [Laughter] They 
didn't know America, did they? See, they didn't know this. They didn't 
know that this great Nation loves freedom and loves peace, and we will 
work hard to achieve and maintain both. They also didn't realize that 
we're also not only a tough nation, but a compassionate nation, a nation 
which is a nation full of people who are going to respond to this evil 
with helping a neighbor in need.
    You know, there's a period of personal responsibility, I think, 
coming into the country.

[[Page 1727]]

Really important for our youngsters to understand that the culture which 
has said, ``If it feels good, do it, and you've got a problem, blame 
somebody else,'' is a culture that's moving on. It's being replaced. 
We're replacing it with a culture that says, ``Each of us are 
responsible for our behavior and our decisions.'' If you're a mother or 
a dad--if you're fortunate enough to be a mom or a dad, you're 
responsible for loving your child with all your heart and all your soul. 
If you're lucky enough to live in Tennessee or Knoxville, Tennessee, 
you're responsible for the quality of education in a neighborhood. If 
you're running a corporation, you're responsible to tell the truth to 
your shareholders and employees.
    I feel it happening. I feel it happen, which allows me to boldly 
predict that, because we're the greatest nation on the face of the 
Earth, we will not only face down evil, but we can achieve peace in a 
country which is more hopeful, more decent, more optimistic for 
everybody who's lucky enough to be called an American.
    Listen, thanks for coming today. May God bless you all, and may God 
bless America.

Note: The President spoke at 10:30 a.m. at McGhee Tyson Airport. In his 
remarks, he referred to gubernatorial candidate Van Hilleary; senatorial 
candidate Lamar Alexander; Janice Bowling, candidate for Tennessee's 
Fourth Congressional District; Mayor Victor Ashe of Alcoa, and his 
mother, Martha Ashe; Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen, whose 
nomination to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Fifth Circuit failed on 
September 5 when the Senate Judiciary Committee refused to send it 
forward for a vote by the Senate; Ramzi bin al-Shibh, an Al Qaida 
operative suspected of helping to plan the September 11, 2001, terrorist 
attacks, who was captured in Karachi, Pakistan; and President Saddam 
Hussein of Iraq.