[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 7 (Monday, February 17, 2003)]
[Pages 176-179]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at the ``Congress of Tomorrow'' Republican Retreat Reception in 
White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia

February 9, 2003

    Thank you. Please be seated. Nothing like about an hour's speech for 
a Sunday lunch--[laughter]--trying to loosen up my vocal cords for the 
week.
    Thanks for having me. And thanks for serving our country. First, I 
want to tell the family members who are here, I appreciate your 
sacrifice. I know it's hard to leave a district and a State that you 
love. I know your spouse is working incredibly long hours, and I want 
you to know that I feel that you're just as an important part of your 
spouse's mission. So on behalf of a grateful nation, thank you all very 
much for the sacrifices you make.
    I want to thank the Speaker and I want to thank Senator Frist for 
their leadership. I'm confident in their abilities. I know we can work 
together. And I'm proud to call them friends. I want to thank DeLay for 
serving in the capacity he does. He brings a lot of Texas wisdom into 
the House of Representatives. [Laughter] Texas tough, and I'm proud to 
call him friend as well. I've known Tom a long time, and I'm confident 
by working together we can get a lot done.
    I want to thank Santorum--Rick Santorum, that is--and I want to 
thank Deborah for putting on this event. Where are you, Santorum? There 
you are. I know it's not easy to herd cats. It's a lot easier when you 
do it in a beautiful place like the Greenbrier though. [Laughter]
    I want to thank Roy Blunt for being a good vote counter, and we're 
counting on you to count. And I appreciate--and Jon Kyl. Thank you, Jon, 
I'm honored you're up here with us today.
    So we've got some big challenges facing us. I don't exaggerate when 
I say this is a significant year for our country. I truly believe that. 
My attitude, it doesn't matter how high the hurdle is; we'll cross it. 
It doesn't matter how big the obstacle is; we'll deal with it, because 
we represent the greatest country on the face of the Earth.
    I know there's a lot of people paying attention to what's happening 
overseas, and so am I. But I want to begin by reminding us that we've 
got a domestic agenda that is positive and strong and hopeful and 
optimistic.
    We believe strongly that if somebody is looking for work and can't 
find a job, then we've got to do everything we can to grow our economy. 
Our whole philosophy is based upon growth of the economy. We equate jobs 
and growth. And we know the role of Government is not to create wealth 
but an environment in which the entrepreneurial spirit flourishes, in 
which small businesses can grow to be big businesses.
    And that is why I am passionate about my plan to give people more 
money. The more money they have in their pockets, the more likely it is 
that somebody will find work. It is also important for us never to 
forget that

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we represent the entrepreneurs of America and that when you reduce the 
individual income-tax rates, you're putting money into the pockets of 
the sole proprietorship or the limited partnership or the subchapter S. 
The tax reduction plan that I want you to pass and I want to sign will 
put more money into the pockets of the entrepreneurs of America, which 
is good for those who are looking for work.
    We've already passed it once. We had a pretty good battle. I see 
some of the soldiers in the tax cut fight of 2001 sitting out there. I 
repeat what I said earlier: If the tax relief is good 2 or 4 or 5 years 
from now, with an economy that is not as strong as we want it to be, it 
is good enough today. Let us get the tax relief plan passed.
    And while we're doing it, it makes sense to help our seniors and to 
make the Tax Code more fair. The double taxation of dividends is unfair. 
It is unfair to tax profits and the distribution of those profits. And 
therefore, for the sake of capital formation and for the sake of the 
lifestyle of the 10 million seniors who receive dividend income, let us 
end the double taxation of dividends.
    I want to appreciate those who are involved with appropriations for 
working hard to get an appropriations bill to my desk as soon as 
possible. It would be nice to get the 2003 issue out of the way, as we 
start to deal with the 2004 budget and appropriations process. I am 
serious about holding the line on Federal spending. I submitted a budget 
to you which sets clear priorities, meets those priorities, and will 
enable us to say to the American taxpayer, ``We are wise with your 
money.'' And therefore, I look forward to working with you to pass a 
budget which is realistic and a budget which is responsible.
    We will address the Medicare issue in a way which enables us to say 
as a country, ``We've fulfilled our promise to senior citizens.'' 
Medicine is becoming modern. Medicare isn't, and we have an obligation 
to the future of this country to modernize the Medicare system, to 
fulfill the promise to thousands of seniors, a system which includes 
more choice, more options, and prescription drugs for the senior 
citizens of this country.
    We need an energy bill in America, a bill which encourages 
conservation and exploration. We need a Clear Skies legislation so that 
we can say our party has led to reasonable, sane environmental policy. 
And we need a forest policy in America, a Healthy Forest Initiative 
which enables us to maintain the vast treasures, particularly of forest 
land in the West, and at the same time be wise about how we clear 
underbrush so that we don't encourage forest fires that--some of the 
devastating forest fires that took place in the West this year.
    I look forward to working with the Senate to get my judges 
confirmed. I have named some really honorable people to the bench. I 
want to thank Senator Hatch and other members of the Senate Judiciary 
Committee for kind of putting aside all that political--the politics 
that so dominated the discourse.
    The first test, of course, is Miguel Estrada. Fabulous story. He's a 
great, great jurist--a lawyer who will be a great jurist. And I expect 
that he be given a fair hearing on the floor of the Senate. I expect the 
people of the Senate not to hold him up, not to try to talk his 
nomination into the ground, because Miguel Estrada not only represents 
the American Dream but will do us proud on the bench. I want to thank 
the Senators for standing strong for this good nominee. And when the 
vote comes up, this guy is going to be confirmed, and America--the bench 
and America will be better for it.
    I look forward to working with you on a compassion agenda, one that 
recognizes that in our plenty there are people who hurt, there are 
people who need love and compassion, there are people who wonder whether 
or not the American experience is meant for them. I look forward to 
working to get the Faith-Based Initiative out of the House and the 
Senate. I look forward to getting the ``Citizen Service Act''--a 
reformed ``Citizen Service Act'' passed as well.
    I'm going to Nashville tomorrow to talk about the compassion agenda. 
We've got a role in Washington, but the biggest role, of course, takes 
place in the neighborhoods of our country, when people hear the call to 
love somebody like they'd like to be loved themselves, when people fully 
understand that one person can make a significant difference in the life 
of somebody who hurts. I'm going to reiterate my call for a mentoring

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initiative, aimed particularly at junior high students as well as 
children whose mom or dad may be in a prison. I'm going to call for a 
focus on those who are addicted to drugs. Listen, we will work hard to 
continue to drive the demand for drugs down and interdict supply, but 
there are sad souls in our society who are hooked on drugs. And I look 
forward to working with the Congress to empower programs which work, 
particularly faith-based programs which work, to help save Americans one 
heart, one soul, one conscience at a time.
    And as we show our compassion here at home, I feel strongly about 
our need to show our compassion abroad as well. Some of you have been to 
Africa and have seen the suffering. Some of you know firsthand the 
stories about thousands of abandoned children who are in orphanages, 
crowded orphanages, because their mom or dad--and dad--and/or dad have 
died because of AIDS. Some of you know the startling statistics that the 
people of the continent face. It's a pandemic. It is destruction of 
human life, the likes of which the modern world hasn't seen, and we need 
to do something about it.
    In my strong judgment, this Nation needs to stand up and show our 
compassion when a fellow human being suffers. See, if we say every life 
matters, if we believe that every life has worth, that the Almighty God 
believes in the worth of every individual, if we believe that, then it 
makes sense for us to help save lives when we can.
    I want to work with you to get the AIDS initiative passed out of the 
Senate and the House as quickly as possible. It is a plan that is a plan 
of mercy. It's an important initiative. It's a vital initiative, because 
we're talking about saving human life. We're talking about showing the 
world the great strength and compassion of the United States of America. 
There is no doubt that when you pass this initiative, when our time in 
Washington, DC, is past and we go home and--sitting around the ranch in 
Crawford or the front porch in Plano or in Woodlands, that we'll say we 
heard the call, the cry of people who suffer, and we responded, and the 
world is a better place because of the actions we took.
    And I believe the world will be a better place because of the 
actions we take when it comes to fighting terror. First, I thank you all 
for your hard work to get us a homeland security bill late last year. 
We'll work with the Congress to implement that so that we can all say 
that we're doing everything we can to protect the homeland. We've got 
other initiatives. The BioShield initiative is an important initiative, 
and we look forward to working with the respective committees and, of 
course, the House and the Senate to get that passed.
    The best way to secure the homeland is to continue to hunt the 
killers down one at a time. The best way to deal with the threat we face 
is to find them and bring them to justice, which is precisely what our 
military is doing right now. We are sharing intelligence the likes of 
which we've never done before. We're cutting off money. We've got some 
of our best units chasing these people down, and one by one, we are 
dismantling their network.
    The other day the Italians hauled some in. The Brits hauled some in. 
Anytime one of these people is arrested, whether we do it or not, we're 
making progress against the shadowy killer network of Al Qaida. Slowly 
but surely, we're bringing them to justice, and we're not quitting until 
the American people are secure and safe.
    The issue facing our Nation and the world is the extension of the 
war on terror to places like Iraq. Prior to September the 11th, there 
was apparently no connection between a place like Iraq and terror. Oh, 
sure, he had run some terrorist networks out of his country, and that 
was of concern to us. But it was very difficult to link a terrorist 
network and Saddam Hussein to the American soil. As a matter of fact, it 
was very difficult to link any attack on the American soil, because 
prior to September the 11th, we were confident that two oceans could 
protect us from harm.
    The world changed on September the 11th. Obviously, it changed for 
thousands of people's lives for whom we still mourn. But it changed for 
America, and it's very important that the American people understand the 
change. We are now a battleground. We are vulnerable. Therefore, we 
cannot ignore gathering threats across the ocean. It used to be that we 
could pick or choose whether

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or not we would become involved. If we saw a threat, it may be a threat 
to a friend, in which case we would be involved, but never did we 
realize the threat could be directed at the American people.
    And that changed. And therefore, when we hear of stories about 
weapons of mass destruction in the hands of a brutal dictator who hates 
America, we need to take that seriously, and we are. And when we find 
out there's links between Baghdad and a killer who actually ordered the 
killing of one of our fellow citizens, we've got to realize the--what 
that means to our future.
    And that's why this administration and this country is holding the 
U.N. Security Council and the world to its demands that Saddam Hussein 
disarm. It is important for the country to realize that Saddam Hussein 
has fooled the world for 12 years, is used to fooling the world, is 
confident he can fool the world. He is--wants the world to think that 
hide-and-seek is a game that we should play. And it's over.
    You see, our country recognizes, and a lot of other countries now 
recognize as well, the role of the inspector is to show up and verify 
whether Saddam Hussein is disarming. That's the role of the inspector. 
The role of inspectors--there's 104 of them--the role of the inspector 
is not to go into a state the size of--a country the size of California 
and try to figure out where this guy has hid things over a 12-year 
period of time.
    And the inspectors have gone to Iraq, and it is clear that not only 
is Saddam Hussein deceiving, it is clear he's not disarming. And so 
you'll see us, over the next short period of time, working with friends 
and allies and the United Nations to bring that body along. And it's a 
moment of truth for the United Nations. The United Nations gets to 
decide shortly whether or not it is going to be relevant in terms of 
keeping the peace, whether or not its words mean anything.
    But one thing is certain: For the sake of peace and for the sake of 
security, the United States and our friends and allies, we will disarm 
Saddam Hussein if he will not disarm himself.
    And so we've got a lot to do--we've got a lot to do to leave behind 
a safer country and a better country and a safer and better world. But 
I'm glad history has called this country into action at this point in 
time, because there's no doubt in my mind, when we make our mind up, we 
can achieve a lot.
    And there's no doubt in my mind, when the United States acts abroad 
and home, we do so based upon values, particularly the value that we 
hold dear to our hearts, and that is, everybody ought to be free. I want 
to repeat what I said during my State of the Union to you: Liberty is 
not America's gift to the world. What we believe strongly and what we 
hold dear is, liberty is God's gift to mankind. And we hold that value 
precious, and we believe it is true.
    And as we work to make the world a safer place, we'll also work to 
make the world a freer place. And as we work to make America a freer 
place, we'll work to make it a more compassionate place. Big obstacles 
have been placed in our way. Working together, we will achieve what we 
need to achieve to cross those obstacles.
    Thank you all for your interest. May God bless you, and may God 
bless America.

Note: The President spoke at 11:23 a.m. at the Greenbrier. In his 
remarks, he referred to Representative Deborah Pryce of Ohio; Miguel A. 
Estrada, nominee to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia 
Circuit; and President Saddam Hussein of Iraq.