[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 41 (Monday, October 14, 2002)]
[Pages 1727-1734]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at a Luncheon for Gubernatorial Candidate Van Hilleary in 
Knoxville, Tennessee

October 8, 2002

    Thanks for coming. Thank you all very much. Please go ahead and be 
seated. Well, thank you for that kind introduction, ``Governor.'' 
There's no doubt in my mind that Van Hilleary is the right man to be the 
Governor of Tennessee. And I want to thank you all for coming. I feel 
comfortable in a State where the university is UT, the colors are orange 
and white, and the political climate is friendly. [Laughter]
    I made a lot of friends here, and I'm proud to be amongst you all. 
Thanks for your prayers, and thanks for your support. My only regret is 
that Laura didn't come with me today. She sends her very best to 
Meredith and Van and sends her best to our buddies here in Tennessee. I 
don't know if you know this or not, but when I married Laura, she was a 
public school librarian. She didn't care for politics. She didn't like 
politicians. [Laughter] And now she's the First Lady of the United 
States, and she's doing a fabulous job. I'm really, really proud of her, 
and we're doing great. We really are.
    And I want to thank, for those of you who came through the line here 
recently and said they pray for our family. That's the kindest thing you 
can do for a President and his family.
    I believe strongly that the character of a person matters, and I 
believe Van Hilleary has the character necessary to be the kind of 
Governor that you can trust. He's a down-to-earth fellow that speaks his 
mind. He is the kind of person who does in office what he said he would 
do. He doesn't require focus groups or polls to tell him what to 
believe. And he can get the job done, and that's what you want in a 
Governor. See, I know what it takes to be a Governor, and he's got what 
it takes to be your Governor.
    And I had the privilege of meeting Meredith, the next first lady. 
She's a schoolteacher. I think it makes a lot of sense to have a 
schoolteacher as the first lady for the State of Tennessee. I think it 
makes sense that--it's also good to meet Van's mom and dad. It kind of 
looks like he got saddled with the same kind of mom I've got, somebody 
who will tell you exactly what she thinks. [Laughter] But I love the 
fact that they've got a strong family, and they care for each other a 
lot.
    There's no doubt in my mind that Lamar Alexander will be a great 
United States Senator from Tennessee. And I'm not saying that just 
because he married a Texan. [Laughter]

[[Page 1728]]

I'm saying that because he's got a great record and a great heart. And 
we need him, along with another great United States Senator, and that is 
Bill Frist.
    Tennessee has had a great history of sending important Senators to 
the Senate. You've sent really fine people, and you will continue that 
tradition with Lamar. I look forward to working with him. I look forward 
to having somebody in the Senate who I can count on when it comes to 
making sure the judges I name not only get a fair hearing but get 
appointed to the bench. We need people who will not--we need people on 
our bench who won't legislate but will strictly interpret the 
Constitution. I've got to tell you, the way the Senate is now set up, 
they're playing politics with my good nominees. They're distorting their 
record. And for the sake of a good, sound Federal judiciary, I need 
Senators like Lamar Alexander in Washington, DC.
    I want to thank Janice Bowling for running for Congress and soon to 
be elected to the United States Congress. I appreciate her service and 
her willingness to run.
    I want to thank my old college classmate--you used to call him 
Bulldog; we call him Victor--the mayor of Knoxville, Mayor Victor Ashe. 
I'm honored to call him friend. I appreciate his public service. And I 
appreciate Mike Ragsdale, who is a Knox County executive; and Beth 
Harwell, who is the chairwoman of the Tennessee State Republican Party. 
I want to thank Jim Henry, who tossed his hat in the ring and has been 
so gracious about helping to unite behind the next Governor of your 
State.
    I want to appreciate all the grassroots activists who are here. 
Listen, I understand how politics works. You can't ever get elected 
unless you've got people who are willing to put up the signs and dial 
the phones and stuff the mailers. And on behalf of a grateful President 
and a grateful soon-to-be Governor, thanks for the hard work you have 
done, and more importantly, thanks for the hard work you're going to do. 
You see, we're about to the sprint phase of the campaign. And in order 
for Van to win, he needs you going to the coffee shops and the community 
centers and talking it up. See, my attitude is, when you find a good 
one, you've got to support him, and you've got a good one in Van 
Hilleary. And he's counting on you. And I want to thank you for the work 
you're going to do.
    A couple of points I want to make about Van's agenda, his platform. 
One, he's a--he understands budgets. He's on the House Budget Committee. 
If he can figure out the Federal Government budget, you're darn sure he 
can figure out the Tennessee budget. [Laughter] But he understands you 
can't overspend. We share this common understanding of whose money we 
spend. You hear these people in Washington or probably in Nashville talk 
about, ``Well, we're spending the Government's money.'' It's not the 
Government's money, you see; it's the people's money. In order to have 
fiscal sanity, you've got to start with that attitude.
    He understands agriculture. He knows the importance of value-added 
agriculture. The thing I love about his agenda, though, is his focus on 
education. It's by far the most important thing a Governor will do in 
any State. You see, educating the children of a State is really the most 
important priority of a State. Teaching a child to read is the new civil 
right. Teaching children to read is the beginnings of a hopeful 
tomorrow. And you better have you a Governor who's got the right 
philosophy.
    He talked about the No Child Left Behind legislation, which we 
passed in Washington. It is a significant piece of education reform. And 
I want to share the principles with you because, as this debate goes on 
here in Tennessee, about who best to handle the public school system of 
this State, you need to listen carefully to the words that these 
candidates are talking about.
    First, you need to have a Governor who is willing to challenge what 
I call the soft bigotry of low expectations. See, if you lower the bar, 
if you believe that certain kids can't learn, if you believe the inner-
city children are too tough to educate and, therefore, we ought to have 
low standards, or you say a child whose parents does not speak English 
as a first language cannot be educated, you will have the soft bigotry 
of low expectations. You need to have a Governor who believes every 
child can learn and is willing to set the highest of high standards for 
every person in the State of Tennessee.

[[Page 1729]]

    It is important to understand one size does not fit all when it 
comes to educational excellence. You've got to have local control of 
schools. It's important. You can't have your schools controlled from 
Washington, DC. The crux of the--one of the most important reforms in 
the bill is, we passed power out of Washington. We decentralized the 
process. We trust local people. The same thing goes for the State of 
Tennessee. You've got to trust the local folks. You've got to empower 
the local teachers and principals and parents to chart the path for 
excellence.
    But the key to reform as well is the measurement. And that's a 
fundamental difference, I suspect, in this campaign. If you believe 
every child can learn, if that's what you believe, in your heart of 
hearts believe that's the case, then you want to know whether every 
child is learning. If you believe that every child can read, then the 
next logical step is, ``Show me, please. Show me whether or not the 
children of this State are learning how to read and write and add and 
subtract.''
    The No Child Left Behind legislation had as its cornerstone, it said 
this: It said, if you receive Federal money, for the first time in our 
Nation's history, prove to us that you're succeeding. And if you are, 
there will be plenty of praise for the hard-working teachers. But if we 
find children trapped in schools which won't teach and won't change, you 
better have yourself a Governor who's willing to challenge the status 
quo. If you don't measure, you don't know. If you don't measure, you're 
not able to enforce high standards. If you don't measure, you can't 
truthfully say to the people of Tennessee, ``I will make sure that no 
child is left behind.''
    And so Van Hilleary gets it, in my judgment. He understands. He 
understands there are no second-rate children in Tennessee. And when he 
finds schools that will not change, you will have a Governor who will, 
for the sake of the children of this State, challenge the status quo.
    I look forward to working with Senator Frist and Senator Alexander 
and Governor Hilleary to make sure America is a safer, stronger, and 
better place. And I want you to know that I know we've got challenges. I 
live with them every day. One of the biggest challenges we face is to 
make sure our economy continues to grow. I'm an optimist about our 
economy because I know the foundations for growth are strong. Anytime 
that you've got interest rates that are low, inflation which is low, and 
productivity which is incredibly high, we've got the ingredients for 
growth.
    We've had a few things we've had to overcome. We've had a recession 
we've had to overcome. We've had some people in our society who thought 
they could lie to the American people, to shareholders and employees. I 
had the honor of signing one of the most comprehensive corporate 
responsibility bills since Franklin Roosevelt was the President. I 
appreciate the support of the House Members and the Senate. And here's 
what it said. It said there's not going to be any more easy money in 
America. We expect you to be a responsible citizen. We expect you to 
fully tell the truth, and if not, we're going to let you serve some 
time.
    The market is adjusting, and that's not good news for savers, which 
means we've got to do everything we can to make sure that people can 
find work. I took this page out of the economic textbook, and I think 
Van shares it with me: When times are slow, when the economy is bumping 
along, one way to help create jobs is to let people keep more of their 
own money. And there's a big difference of opinion in Washington, DC, 
about that. And the difference is, is that do you increase the size of 
Government, or do you let people have more money in their pocket?
    In order to stimulate small business and the entrepreneurial spirit, 
it's important to let people keep more money so that they demand a good 
or a service. And when they demand a good or a service in the 
marketplace, somebody will produce that good or a service. And when 
somebody produces that good or a service, somebody is more likely to 
find work. The tax cuts came at the exact right time in American 
economic history.
    It's hard to explain this. Maybe Senator Frist can explain it better 
than me, but the Senate agreed to the tax cuts, but they go away after 
10 years. On the one hand, we giveth; on the other hand, we taketh away. 
It sounds pretty typical of Washington. After 10 years the tax relief 
plan that we passed reverts back to where--the tax rates revert

[[Page 1730]]

back to where they were last year. The marriage penalty that we slashed 
goes back to where it was. The death tax, which is a terrible tax--it's 
a terrible tax on farmers and ranchers and entrepreneurs and small-
business people--is no longer repealed after 10 years. For the sake of 
economic growth, for the sake of job creation, and for the sake of 
giving our small businesses the chance to plan and for tax certainty, we 
need to make the tax cuts permanent.
    And we need to control spending in Washington, DC. There is a 
danger--it's an election year, and there is no budget in the Senate. 
There is no constraint. I submitted a budget to the House--to the 
Congress that the House passed, which shows us getting back to balance 
as quickly as possible if we're careful about spending the people's 
money, if we fund our priorities but not get excessive. Without a budget 
in the Senate, we have a potential problem.
    The Congress must understand, if they're interested in job 
creation--and by the way, there's a lot of talk about that up there, and 
not much action yet. But if they're interested in job creation, if 
they're interested in making sure people can find work, they must not 
overspend the people's money. There needs to be fiscal sanity in 
Washington, DC.
    And there are other things we can do to strengthen the economy. And 
I'll give you one practical idea. And that is, we need terrorism 
insurance. There's $15 billion worth of projects that have been put on 
hold or canceled in America because the manager of the project can't get 
insurance. The terrorists struck, and they can't get the insurance 
necessary to cover for terror. And therefore, these projects are on 
hold. There's over 300,000 jobs which are going begging because these 
projects aren't going forward.
    And so I thought it made sense for the Congress to come together and 
write a law that would provide a backstop. It's a good jobs program. 
It's a way to immediately affect the lives of the good, hard-working 
people who wear the hardhats in America. They've been talking about this 
issue now for a year. Before they go home, they need to get a good 
terrorism insurance bill. If they're interested in jobs, if they want 
people back to work, join me in getting a good terrorism insurance bill, 
one by the way, that rewards the hardhats of America, not the trial 
lawyers of America.
    Now, there's a lot we can do to work to keep this economy growing. 
And I just want you to know I'm not going to rest until people can find 
work. We're going to continue to build on the foundation of the--of 
economic growth. But my most important job is to protect America. That's 
what's on my mind a lot, is how best to secure this homeland.
    I have to tell you that because there's still an enemy out there 
which would like to strike us. They hate us because of what we love. We 
love our freedoms, and we're not changing. So long as we love freedom, 
they will hate us, which means they're going to hate us for a while, 
because we're not changing our attitude. And they're out there, and 
they're lurking around.
    It's a different kind of war. In the old days, you know, you'd 
measure infantries or air forces or flotillas, and you could tell how 
big the enemy was or where they were or whether or not you were making 
progress against them. This is a group of people, their leaders hide in 
a cave or the dark corners of a city somewhere, and they send youngsters 
to their suicidal deaths. They're nothing but a bunch of coldblooded 
killers. We value life. In this country, we say everybody's precious; 
everybody counts. They don't value life. They've hijacked a great 
religion and murder in the name of that religion.
    And so we've got to do everything we can to prevent the enemy from 
hitting us again. The Government's working long hours--I say the 
Government--the people in the Government are working long hours to run 
down every bit of evidence we get, every piece of intelligence. And 
we're better coordinated than we ever have been to really secure the 
homeland, to disrupt any cells that we think might exist, that we're 
doing everything we can to let the enemy know that we know they're 
there. And when we think they're there, we obviously respect our 
Constitution, but we're moving. And we're moving pretty darn good.
    But there's a way for me to better protect you and a way for future 
administrations to better protect you, and that is to take all the 
agencies involved with homeland defense

[[Page 1731]]

and put them under one Cabinet officer. And it sounds simple, except 
when you start stepping on some bureaucratic toes. And the House passed 
a good bill, and the Senate is wrestling with it now, because some 
Senators really want to micromanage the managerial process. They want to 
pass a book of thick regulations that gets to make the managerial 
decisions for the Homeland Security Department. And that's not right. It 
just doesn't make any sense to tie the hands of the President and future 
Presidents when it comes to a matter of deep national concern.
    I'll give you a couple of examples, what I'm talking about. On our 
border, we need to know who's coming into the country, what they're 
bringing into the country, and whether or not they're leaving the 
country when they say they're going to leave it. And yet we've got three 
fine agencies on the border. We've got your Border Patrol, your INS, and 
your Customs. They wear different uniforms. Sometimes they have 
conflicting strategies. We need to be able to move people interagency. 
We need to be able to button it up. We need to make it seamless. We need 
to be able to put the right people at the right place at the right time. 
But you can't do that under the--one of the versions coming out of the 
United States Senate. There's not the flexibility necessary to better 
enforce our borders.
    I'll give you another example. Customs people wear radiation 
detection devices. They should. If you're interested in finding weapons 
of mass destruction, you've got to have the device on your belt 
necessary to do that. The union head said no, that in order to do that, 
it needs to go to collective bargaining. We don't have the time to argue 
about whether or not somebody ought to be wearing a device to better 
protect the homeland.
    Listen, I believe these hard-working employees ought to be able to 
have collective bargaining. But I also know I need the capacity to 
manage the agency in a way so I can look the American people in the eye 
and say, ``We're doing everything we can to protect you.'' The Senate 
must hear this. We will not accept a bill that does not give this 
administration and future administrations the capacity to protect the 
homeland.
    The best way to protect the homeland, however, is to take the fight 
to the enemy, to chase them down, one killer at a time, and bring them 
to justice, which is exactly what the United States of America is going 
to do. And we are making progress. The doctrine that says, ``If you're 
with us--either you're with us, or you're with the enemy,'' still 
stands. It's clear. It hasn't changed. And therefore, we still have this 
coalition of like-minded people or friends that are joining us in 
hunting these people down.
    Now, this is a different kind of war, as I mentioned. Sometimes you 
will see progress on your TV screens or hear about it, and sometimes 
you're just not going to know. That's the nature of the war. 
Intelligence sharing is an integral part of being able to succeed 
against the enemy. Cutting off their money is an integral part of 
fighting the enemy. Arresting them or bringing them to justice is an 
integral part of fighting the enemy.
    The other day this bin al-Shibh showed up or, as I like to say, 
popped his head up. He was the person that was going to be the 20th 
hijacker. And we got him in Pakistan, thanks to work with the Pakistan 
Government and our own Government. We ferreted him out, and he's no 
longer a problem. He's no longer a threat to the United States and any 
of our friends.
    That's the kind of war we are waging in this part of the battle. And 
I bet you we've hauled in a couple of thousand of these killers. They're 
detained. They're no longer a problem. And like number weren't as lucky, 
thanks to the United States military.
    And there's quite a few more to go; there's quite a few more out 
there. It's going to take a while. And that's why I've submitted the 
largest increase in defense spending--asked the Congress to increase 
defense spending--the largest amount since Ronald Reagan was the 
President, because I want to make it clear, a couple of things clear. 
One, when we put our kids into harm's way, they deserve the best pay, 
the best training, and the best possible equipment. We owe that to them, 
and we owe it to their parents.
    And I also want to send a message to our friends and our foes: It 
doesn't matter how long it takes to defend our freedom; we will

[[Page 1732]]

defend freedom. There's no quit in America, that we understand the 
stakes. The enemy made clear the stakes on September the 11th, 2001, and 
we're not going to forget. You can hide in any cave you want; we're 
coming after you. It doesn't matter where you think you can hide; the 
long arm of justice of the United States of America will find you.
    And we've got some hills to climb. We've got some pretty tough 
stepping to do to get there, but the country is ready for it. And the 
Congress needs to get that bill--the defense bill to my desk. We've been 
talking about it now for a while. And they're getting ready to go home. 
The leadership has got to understand that the country expects, and I 
expect, the defense bill--in a time of war--the defense bill to get to 
my desk. They need to stop playing politics with the defense bill of the 
United States.
    You need to tell your kids about America, and our not only desire to 
answer history's call and to defend our freedom but also that anytime 
our Nation goes anywhere, we go not to conquer anybody but to liberate 
people. I think one of the great lessons of this--of the first phase of 
this war was in Afghanistan. And we're still there, by the way, and 
there's still killers there. And we've still got troops there, and we're 
going to be there for a while. But we went there, not only to uphold the 
doctrine that says, ``If you harbor a terrorist, you're just as guilty 
as the terrorists,'' but we also went because we believe life matters 
not only in America but everywhere. We believe every child has worth. We 
believe every person has worth. And we believe in freedom. We believe in 
freedom not only for ourselves, but we believe freedom is God-given. We 
believe freedom is a right that everybody should realize.
    And you need to tell your kids that this country liberated people 
from the clutches of one of the most barbaric regimes in history. And 
thanks to the United States and thanks to our friends and allies, young 
girls--many young girls go to school for the first time. It's an 
important lesson for our children that in the defense of our own 
freedoms, that this Nation will fight if we have to, to free others as 
well.
    I've got a problem, obviously, with Mr. Saddam Hussein, and so do 
you. And that is, he poses a threat. He poses a threat to America. He 
poses a threat to our friends, our Israeli friends, our friends in his 
own neighborhood. He is a threat, and we've started a debate in this 
country about how to deal with that threat. And it's a really important 
debate. I don't view this as a political discourse or a political 
debate. I view this as a debate about our future, the role of the United 
States and the world, about security and freedom. And I welcome the 
debate, and I look forward to watching the Congress debate this issue 
this week. I believe we're going to get a strong resolution, backed by 
both Republicans and Democrats.
    But it's their choice to make, just like it's Mr. Saddam Hussein's 
choice to make as to whether or not he will do what he told the world he 
would do, which is to stop lying, stop deceiving, and disarm. He told 
the world that he would not have weapons of mass destruction, and yet 
for 11 years he has deceived the world.
    I went to the United Nations. I want to share with you why, because 
I really do want the United Nations to be effective. I don't want the 
United Nations to be the League of Nations. I want the United Nations to 
be an effective agent for peace. I want the United Nations to be able to 
help deal with the new issues we face. It's their choice to make as 
well. See, for 11 years they've passed resolution after resolution after 
resolution after resolution after resolution--16 resolutions, only to be 
defied by Saddam Hussein. And in the meantime, he has gotten stronger.
    And so the fundamental question facing the world is, do we deal with 
this guy or not? It's the world's choice to make. We'll see whether or 
not the United Nations has the desire, has the backbone necessary to 
uphold its own resolutions and help keep the peace. But if they're 
unable to act, and if Saddam Hussein can't do what he said he would do, 
which is disarm, this country will lead a coalition and disarm him, for 
the sake of peace.
    Committing our military into harm's way is my last choice. I say--I 
talk about military options as the last option, not the first option, 
because I understand the consequences. But I want you to know that if we 
have to commit

[[Page 1733]]

our military--and we may not have to, but if we have to--then we'll have 
the best plans. The full force and fury of the United States military 
will be unleashed, and make no mistake about it, we will prevail.
    History has put the spotlight on this great Nation. And I'm 
confident this country will show the world and history our character, 
our strength, our determination, our absolute love for freedom and the 
values which we hold dear.
    You know, the enemy hit us. I just can't imagine what was going 
through their mind. I suspect they thought we were so materialistic and 
so self-absorbed, so selfish that all we would do after September the 
11th was maybe file a lawsuit or two. They didn't understand. They 
really didn't understand, and they're going to pay a severe price for 
not understanding. See, this country, instead of stepping back and said, 
``Oh, gosh, we're going to be terrorized and so fearful we won't act,'' 
made the absolute, decided effort to act in the name of peace and 
freedom.
    Out of the evil done to the--to our country is going to come some 
good. And one of the good is going to be peace. You need to tell your 
children, amidst all of the discussion and the debate they hear, there 
is a strong desire by this President and my administration and our 
country to achieve peace. I believe by remaining strong and focused and 
determined and unrelenting in our desire to wipe out terror, we can 
achieve peace for ourselves, and we can achieve peace in the Middle 
East, peace in South Asia. I believe it's possible. I believe the enemy 
has handed us an unbelievable opportunity to make the world a more 
peaceful place, an opportunity which I intend to seize.
    And at home, the enemy hit us. And instead of us falling down in 
self-pity, we took a step back and made an assessment of that which is 
important and decided as a nation to fight evil by millions of acts of 
kindness and decency, that a lot of people in our country stepped back 
and realized that serving something greater than yourself in life was an 
incredibly important part of being a patriotic American. You know, as we 
fight to make--work to make America a stronger place and safer place, 
we've also got to work to make it a better place. It's happening across 
our country now.
    People understand that to fight evil, all you've got to do is do 
some good. And it doesn't have to be majestic acts: Mentoring a child is 
part of doing good; going to a shut-in's home and telling them you love 
them; recognizing that, in our society, there are people who hurt, 
people who are addicted, people who wonder what the American Dream was 
all about; and also recognizing that you can be a part of changing a 
person's attitude and outlook by loving them.
    See, Government can hand out money, but it can't put hope in 
people's hearts. It can't put a sense of purpose in people's lives. 
That's done when our fellow citizens take it upon themselves to be 
responsible for the society in which we live and love a neighbor just 
like you'd like to be loved yourself.
    No, the enemy hit us. They didn't know who they were hitting. 
They've awakened a spirit of America here. The American spirit is 
strong, evidenced most clearly on that fateful day when people were 
flying across the country on Flight 93. They heard the plane was being 
used as a weapon. They realized America--that vast oceans could no 
longer protect us, and we were a battleground. They told their loved 
ones goodbye. They used the word ``love'' a lot. They said a prayer. A 
guy said, ``Let's roll.'' They took the plane into ground to serve 
something greater than themselves in life.
    The American spirit is alive and strong. It's not only an 
entrepreneurial spirit; it's a spirit of compassion and decency and 
kindness. There is no question in my mind that this country can overcome 
the obstacles in our way, and out of the evil done to America will come 
great good, peace around the world, and a hopeful, decent, compassionate 
America in which each of us who lives in this country understands the 
American Dream is meant for them.
    I want to thank you all for coming. May God bless you, and may God 
bless America.

Note: The President spoke at 12:23 p.m. at the Knoxville Convention 
Center. In his remarks, he referred to candidate Van Hilleary's wife, 
Meredith, and his parents, Bill and Evelyon Hilleary; former Tennessee 
gubernatorial candidate Jim Henry; senatorial candidate Lamar Alexander, 
and

[[Page 1734]]

his wife, Honey; Janice Bowling, candidate for Tennessee's Fourth 
Congressional District; 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.