[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 25 (Monday, June 23, 2003)]
[Pages 776-779]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at a Bush-Cheney 2004 Reception

June 17, 2003

    Thank you all. I would say take a seat, but--[laughter] Thanks for 
coming. There's nothing like having a few friends over for a cocktail or 
two. [Laughter]
    I appreciate you all being here. I had an uneventful ride over from 
the White House; nobody got hurt, and my Segway is parked outside. 
[Laughter]
    I do want to thank you all for coming. Your support is laying the 
groundwork for a strong nationwide effort next year. Your support is 
going to help us achieve a strong nationwide victory.
    I want to thank you for your help tonight. I want to thank you for 
what you're going to do as well. I want to thank you for helping to 
invigorate the grassroots all across this country. I want to thank you 
for the phone calls you'll make, for the signs you'll put up in the 
yard, and for helping spread the positive message of this 
administration.
    The political season will come in its own time. Right now, this 
administration is focused on the people's business. We've got a lot on 
the agenda. We will continue to earn the confidence of the American 
people by keeping this Nation prosperous, strong, and secure.
    I want to thank Marv and Doro for reading the introductions just 
like I wrote them. [Laughter] I really am sorry that one member of our 
family is not here, the great First Lady of the United States. She sends 
her best. Now that she's not here, I can tell you I am incredibly proud 
of the job she is doing. She is a strong, steady, gracious First Lady. 
And I say, ``Now that she's not here''--she'd probably be angry with me 
for bragging on her.
    I want to thank the chairman of our campaign-to-be, Marc Racicot. I 
want to appreciate Marc for his service to our country. I appreciate so 
very much my friend Mercer Reynolds' willingness to be the chairman of 
the Bush-Cheney National Finance Committee. This is our first event, as 
Marv and Doro indicated. It also happens to be Mercer's 58th birthday. 
He doesn't look a year older than 58. [Laughter]
    I want to thank Julie Finley, Shelly Kamins, Jim and Sandy Langdon, 
Dwight and Martha Schar, and Dick Hug for being the cochairmen of this 
event. I want to thank all the folks who worked hard to put it on. 
Mostly, I want to thank you all for your generous contributions.
    You know, in the last 2\1/2\ years, our great Nation has faced some 
great challenges. And we have acted decisively to confront them. I came 
to this office to solve problems, not to pass them on to other 
Presidents and other generations. I came to seize opportunities and not 
let them slip away. We are meeting the tests of our time.
    Terrorists declared war on the United States, and war is what they 
got. We have captured or killed many key leaders of the Al Qaida 
network, and the rest of them know we're on their trail. In Afghanistan, 
in Iraq, we gave ultimatums to terror regimes. Those regimes chose 
defiance, and those regimes are no more. Fifty million people in those 
two countries once lived under tyranny, and now they live in freedom.
    Two-and-a-half years ago, our military was not receiving the 
resources as needed, and morale was beginning to suffer. We increased 
the defense budget to prepare for threats of a new era. And today, no 
one in the world can question the skill and strength and spirit of the 
United States military.
    Two-and-a-half years ago, we inherited an economy in recession. Then 
the attacks on our country, scandals in corporate America, and war 
affected the people's confidence,

[[Page 777]]

and that hurt our economy. But we acted. We passed tough new laws to 
hold corporate criminals to account. We got the economy going again 
because we worked with the United States Congress to pass historic tax 
relief, not once but twice.
    This administration stood on principled ground. We understand that 
when Americans have more take-home pay to spend or invest, the ecomomy 
grows and people are more likely to find a job. We're returning more 
money to American families to help pay their bills. We're reducing taxes 
on dividends and capital gains to encourage investment. We're giving 
small businesses incentives to expand and to hire new people. With all 
these actions, we have laid the foundation for greater prosperity and, 
more importantly, more jobs all across America so our fellow citizens 
have a chance to live the American Dream.
    Two-and-a-half years ago, there was a lot of talk about education 
reform but not much action. So I called for and Congress passed the No 
Child Left Behind legislation with a solid bipartisan majority, 
delivering the most dramatic education reforms in a generation. We're 
bringing high standards and accountability to every public school in 
America. Every child can learn the basics of reading and math, and every 
school must teach those basics. This administration is challenging the 
soft bigotry of low expectations. The days of excuse-making are over. We 
now expect results in every classroom so not one single child in America 
will be left behind.
    We have reorganized the Government and created a Department of 
Homeland Security to safeguard the borders and ports of America and to 
protect our people. We passed trade promotion authority to open new 
markets for America's farmers and ranchers and manufacturers. We passed 
a budget agreement that is helping to maintain spending discipline in 
Washington, DC.
    On issue after issue we acted on principle. We kept our word, and we 
made progress for the American people.
    And I want to thank the United States Congress for joining in these 
achievements. We will continue to work together to change the tone in 
Washington, DC, by showing good will and by focusing on results.
    One of the reasons this administration has been successful is 
because I have surrounded myself with really fine men and women who 
serve the people of America. They're task-oriented people. They know 
their job is to get results on behalf of the people.
    There is no finer member of my administration then our Vice 
President, Dick Cheney. He's a great friend, a great adviser, a steady 
hand. He is the finest Vice President our Nation has ever had, even 
though Mother may not agree. [Laughter]
    The Vice President and the members of the Cabinet and all who work 
in this administration have formed a great team of true public servants 
who put the interests of the American people first. In 2\1/2\ years, 
we've come far, yet our work is only beginning. We have great goals 
worthy of this great Nation.
    First, America is committed to expanding the realm of freedom and 
peace for our own security and for the benefit of the world. And second, 
in our own country, we must work for a society of prosperity and 
compassion so that every citizen has a chance to work and succeed and 
realize the promise of America.
    Across this world, it has never been more clear that the future of 
freedom and peace depend on the actions of America. This Nation is 
freedom's home and freedom's defender. We welcome this charge of 
history, and we will keep this charge of history.
    The war on terror continues. The enemies of freedom are not idle, 
and neither are we. The country will not rest; we will not tire; and we 
will not stop until the danger to the free world is removed. Yet, our 
national interest involves more than eliminating aggressive threats to 
our safety. Our greatest security comes from the advance of human 
liberty, because free nations do not support terror. Free nations do not 
attack their neighbors. Free nations do not threaten the world with 
weapons of mass destruction.
    As Americans, we believe that freedom is the deepest need and hope 
of every human heart. And we believe that freedom is the right of every 
person. And we believe that freedom is the future of every nation.
    I also understand that unprecedented influence brings tremendous 
responsibilities. We have duties in the world, and when we

[[Page 778]]

see disease and starvation and hopeless poverty, we will not turn away. 
On the continent of Africa, America is now committed to bringing the 
healing power of medicine to millions of men and women and children now 
suffering with AIDS. We will lead the world in this great work of 
rescue.
    We face challenges at home, and our actions prove that we are equal 
to those challenges. We have a duty to keep our commitment to America's 
seniors by strengthening and modernizing Medicare so they have more 
choices and better access to prescription drugs. The time has arrived 
for Congress to pass Medicare reform, and that reform must give seniors 
good options that meet their needs. Members of Congress and their staffs 
currently get a choice of health care plans, and seniors ought to have 
the same kind of choices, including the choice to keep their Medicare 
coverage the way it is. If choice is good for Members of the United 
States Congress, it is good for America's seniors.
    And for the sake of our health care system, we need to cut down on 
frivolous lawsuits which increase the cost of medicine, lawsuits which 
increase the cost of medicine and force good doctors to shut down their 
practices. People who have been harmed by doctors deserve their day in 
court. Yet, the system should not reward lawyers who are fishing for a 
good settlement. The medical liability issue is a national problem that 
requires a national solution. No one has ever been healed by a frivolous 
lawsuit. The health care system needs Federal liability reform now.
    And we have other measures to do to make sure our legal system is 
fair. I strongly support the class action reform bill passed by the 
House of Representatives last week, a bill which will ensure more 
settlement money goes to real victims, not to trial lawyers.
    Speaking about legal matters, I have a responsibility as President 
to make sure the judicial system runs well. And I have met that duty. I 
have nominated superb men and women to the Federal courts, people who 
will interpret the law, not legislate from the bench.
    Some Members of the Senate are trying to keep my nominees off the 
bench by blocking up-or-down votes. Every judicial nominee deserves a 
fair hearing and an up-or-down vote on the floor of the United States 
Senate. It is time for Members of the Senate to stop playing politics 
with American justice.
    The Congress needs to pass the comprehensive energy plan I 
submitted. This Nation must promote energy efficiency and conservation. 
We must work to develop cleaner technology. And we need to produce more 
natural gas here at home. We've got a problem with supply of natural 
gas. And sure, conservation will help with that problem. But we've got 
the technology necessary to explore for natural gas without damaging the 
environment. For the sake of economic security and for the sake of our 
national security, we must make America less dependent on foreign 
sources of energy.
    Our strong and prosperous Nation must also be a compassionate 
nation. I will continue to advance our agenda of compassionate 
conservatism, applying the best and most innovative ideas to the task of 
helping our fellow citizens in need. There are still millions of men and 
women who want to end their dependence on Government and become 
independent through work, so we must build the success of welfare reform 
to bring work and dignity to the lives of more Americans.
    Congress should complete the ``Citizen Service Act'' so more 
Americans can serve their communities and our country. And both Houses 
should reach agreement on the faith-based bill to support the armies of 
compassion that--who are mentoring to our children, caring for the 
homeless, and offering help to the addicted.
    A compassionate society must promote opportunity for all of us, 
including the independence and dignity that come from ownership. I 
believe strongly in promoting an ownership society. We want more 
families to own their own home. We want people to have a--own a piece of 
their retirement. We want Americans to own their own health care plan. 
And we want people to be able to start their own business. As 
Republicans, we understand that when somebody owns something, they have 
a vital stake in the future. An ownership society is a hopeful society 
in America.
    In a compassionate society, people respect one another and take 
responsibility for the

[[Page 779]]

decisions they make in life. My hope is to change the culture from one 
that has said, ``If it feels good, do it; if you've got a problem, blame 
somebody else,'' to one in which every single American understands that 
he or she are responsible for the decisions that you make; you're 
responsible for loving your children with all your heart and all your 
soul; you're responsible for being involved with the quality of the 
education of your children; you're responsible for making sure the 
community in which you live is safe; you're responsible for loving your 
neighbor just like you would like to be loved yourself.
    I will continue to work to see that the responsibility era arrives 
in America. And we can see it beginning to happen, as a result of the 
culture of service that is arising around us. I proposed and started the 
USA Freedom Corps to encourage people from all walks of life, all across 
America, to extend a compassionate hand to neighbors in need. And the 
response has been strong.
    Our faith-based charities across America are also strong, and 
they're vibrant, bringing hope and healing to our fellow Americans. 
Policemen and firefighters, people who wear our Nation's uniform, are 
reminding us what it means to sacrifice for something greater than 
yourself. And once again, the children of America believe in heroes 
because they see them every day.
    In these challenging times, the world has seen America's resolve and 
courage. And I have been privileged to see the compassion and the 
character of the American people. All the tests of the last 2\1/2\ years 
have come to the right nation. We're a strong country, and we will use 
that strength to defend the peace.
    We're an optimistic country. We're confident in ourselves, and we're 
confident in ideals bigger than ourselves. We seek to lift whole nations 
by spreading freedom. And at home, we seek to lift up lives by spreading 
opportunity to every corner, to every person of this great country.
    This is the work that history has set before us. We welcome it, and 
we know that for our country better days lie ahead.
    May God bless you, and may God continue to bless America. Thank you 
all.

Note: The President spoke at 6:46 p.m. in the International Ballroom at 
the Washington Hilton. In his remarks, he referred to his brother, 
Marvin Bush, and sister, Dorothy Bush Koch; and Republican National 
Committee chairman Marc Racicot.