[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 35 (Monday, September 1, 2003)]
[Pages 1106-1110]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at a Bush-Cheney Luncheon in St. Paul, Minnesota

August 26, 2003

    Thanks for the warm welcome. I appreciate such a huge response for 
our invitation to come for a little light meal. [Laughter] It's an honor 
to be back in the beautiful State of Minnesota and two such vibrant 
cities. The temperature differential is nice too, I might add. 
[Laughter]
    I came up from Crawford today. What I really want to do is thank you 
for your support and your friendship and to let you know that today 
we're laying the groundwork for what is going to be a great national 
victory in November of 2004.
    I appreciate the fact that you have contributed, but I want you to 
know I'm going to count on you to contribute more. I need you to tell 
your neighbors, and for those of you who go to coffee shops, you be 
telling them in the coffee shops that this President and this 
administration will continue to work for a positive and hopeful vision 
for every single American.
    I'm loosening up, and I'm getting ready for the campaign. [Laughter] 
But there's going to be plenty of time for politics, because I've got a 
job to do. I'm focused on the people's business, and we have a lot on 
our agenda in Washington, DC. Until the political season starts for me, 
I will continue to work to earn the confidence of every American by 
keeping this Nation secure and strong and prosperous and free.
    My big regret today is that the First Lady is not traveling with me. 
She's in Crawford with Barney. [Laughter] But I want you to know that it 
is a great comfort to live in the White House with Laura Bush. She is a 
great First Lady, a fabulous wife. I love her dearly, and she sends her 
best.
    I want to thank Ben Whitney for his willingness to lead this 
campaign here in the State of Minnesota. I appreciate my friend Rudy 
Boschwitz for taking a leadership role for this event today and for the 
remaining events. I want to thank all the State cochairmen, starting 
with a fine man and a guy who is doing a good job as your Governor, Tim 
Pawlenty. Tim, thank you for coming today.
    I'll never forget the rally that I attended here in 2002 for United 
States Senator Norm Coleman. I'm sorry Norm can't be here, but it's a 
joy to work with him in the United States Senate. He is doing a fine job 
on behalf of the citizens of Minnesota.
    I thank Congressman Gil Gutknecht for coming today. I appreciate his 
hard work, and it's been a joy to work with him and others of the 
Minnesota delegation. I want to thank your State auditor for coming. I 
appreciate the leadership of the legislature for being here, the speaker 
of the house as well as the Minnesota minority leader in the State

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senate. I'm honored you all have taken time out of your day to come to 
say hello.
    I appreciate my friend Mercer Reynolds, who is the national 
fundraising chairman for Bush-Cheney. He's from Cincinnati, Ohio. He's a 
businessperson. He's taking time out of his life to work hard to see 
that we raise the monies necessary to wage a viable and strong campaign.
    I want to thank Rob Eibensteiner, who is the chairman of the 
Republican Party of Minnesota. I want to thank former Governor Al Quie 
for coming. But most of all, I want to thank you all for your loyal and 
strong support.
    You know, in the last 2\1/2\ years, this Nation has acted decisively 
to confront great challenges. I came to the office of President of the 
United States to solve problems instead of passing them on to future 
Presidents and future generations. I came to seize opportunities instead 
of letting them slip away. We are meeting the tests of our time.
    Terrorists declared war on the United States of America, 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 and 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 it needed, and morale was beginning to suffer. We increased 
the defense budget to prepare for the threats of a new era. And today, 
no one in the world can question the skill and the strength and the 
spirit of the United States military.
    Two-and-a-half years ago, we inherited an economy in recession. And 
then our country was attacked, and scandals broke out in corporate 
America, and we were headed to war, which all affected the people's 
confidence. But we acted. We passed tough new laws to hold corporate 
criminals to account. And I have twice led the United States Congress to 
pass historic tax relief to get our economy moving again.
    Here's what I believe, and here's what I know, that when Americans 
have more take-home pay to spend, to save, or invest, the whole economy 
grows and people are more likely to find a job. I also understand whose 
money we spend in Washington, DC. It is not the Government's money; it 
is the people's money that we spend in our Nation's Capital.
    We're returning more money for people to help them raise their 
families. We're reducing taxes on dividends and capital gains to 
encourage investment. We're giving small businesses incentives that are 
needed to hire new people. With all these actions, we're laying the 
foundation for greater prosperity and more jobs across our country so 
that every single person has a chance to realize the American Dream.
    Two-and-a-half years ago, there was a lot of talk about education 
reform, but there wasn't much action. So I called for and the Congress 
passed the No Child Left Behind Act. With a solid bipartisan majority, 
we delivered the most dramatic education reforms in a generation. We're 
bringing high standards and strong accountability measures to every 
public school in America. See, we believe that every child can learn the 
basics of reading and math. We believe every school must teach the 
basics of reading and math. This administration is challenging the soft 
bigotry of low expectations. The days of excuse-making are over. In 
return for Federal money, we expect results in every single classroom so 
that not one child in America is left behind.
    We reorganized the Government, the largest reorganization since the 
Defense Department was reorganized in the late forties and early 
fifties. And we did so to create the Department of Homeland Security to 
safeguard our borders and ports and to better protect the American 
people.
    We passed a trade promotion authority to open up new markets for 
Minnesota's farmers and ranchers and entrepreneurs and manufacturers. We 
passed budget agreements that is helping to maintain much needed 
spending discipline in Washington, DC. On issue after issue, this 
administration has acted on principle, has kept its word, and has made 
progress for the American people.
    The United States Congress has shared in these great achievements. I 
particularly enjoy working with Speaker of the House Hastert

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and Majority Leader Frist. I'm proud of Norm Coleman and the members of 
the congressional delegation that you've sent to Washington from the 
State of Minnesota. I will continue to work with these leaders to change 
the tone in Washington, DC, to get rid of the needless partisan 
bickering and to focus on the people's business and to concentrate on 
results.
    And that's the nature of the men and women I've asked to join my 
administration, results-oriented people. I have put together a fantastic 
administration on behalf of the American people. There has been no 
greater Vice President of the United States than Richard B. Cheney. 
Mother may disagree. [Laughter]
    In 2\1/2\ years, we have come far; we've done a lot; we've taken on 
a lot of problems. But 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 great promise of our country. It is 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're keeping it.
    Our war on terror continues. The enemies of freedom are not idle, 
and neither are we. This country will not rest; we will not tire; and we 
will not stop until this danger to civilization is removed.
    Yet, our national interest involves more than eliminating aggressive 
threats to our security. 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 terror. Americans believe that freedom is the 
deepest need and hope of every human heart. And I believe that freedom 
is the right of every person and the future of every nation.
    America also understands that unprecedented influence brings 
tremendous responsibilities. We have duties in the world. When we see 
disease and starvation and hopeless poverty, we will not turn away. On 
the continent of Africa, this great Nation is committed to bringing the 
healing power of medicine to millions of men and women and children now 
suffering with AIDS. Our great country is leading the world in this 
incredibly important work of human rescue.
    We face challenges at home as well. We've got big challenges here at 
home, and no doubt, our actions will prove that we're equal to those 
challenges. First, I'm concerned about people not being able to find a 
job. I want our people working. And therefore, we'll continue to work to 
create the environment necessary to have a strong entrepreneurial 
spirit, to make sure capital flows, to make sure the workforce expands 
so that anybody in the State of Minnesota or elsewhere who wants to work 
and can't find a job will be able to do so.
    We have a chance to keep our commitment to America's seniors by 
strengthening and modernizing Medicare. A few weeks ago, the Congress 
took historic action to improve the lives of our older Americans. For 
the first time since the creation of Medicare, the House and the Senate 
have passed reforms to increase the choices for seniors and to provide 
coverage for prescription drugs.
    The recess is almost over. It is now time for both Houses to come 
together to iron out their differences and to get a bill to my desk. The 
sooner they finish the job, the sooner America's seniors and those of us 
who will be seniors soon will have a modern Medicare plan. We owe it to 
our seniors.
    For the sake of our health care system, we need to cut down on the 
frivolous lawsuits which increase the cost of medicine. People who have 
been harmed by a bad doctor deserve their day in court. Yet, the system 
should not reward lawyers who are fishing for rich settlements. Because 
frivolous lawsuits drive up the cost of health care, they affect the 
Federal budget.
    Medical liability reform is a national issue that requires a 
national solution. I have proposed a plan--[applause]--I proposed a good 
plan to reform medical liability. The House of Representatives passed a 
good bill. It is stuck in the Senate. It is time for the

[[Page 1109]]

United States Senate to realize that no one has ever been healed by a 
frivolous lawsuit.
    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 for 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 Senate 
floor. It is time for Members of the Senate to stop playing politics 
with American justice.
    The Congress needs to complete work on a comprehensive energy plan. 
I came to your great State to lay out my vision for a comprehensive 
energy plan. And now it's time for the Congress to act. And the recent 
breakdown of the deliverability of electricity on the east coast should 
send a clear signal to the United States Congress that we need a 
comprehensive energy plan, that we need to modernize our system, that we 
need mandatory reliability standards, and we need incentives to 
encourage investment. This country also must become less dependent on 
foreign sources of energy. For economic security and for national 
security, we must use our technology to explore in environmentally safe 
ways to increase the energy supply of the United States of America.
    Our strong and prosperous Nation must also be a compassionate 
nation. I will continue to advance our agenda of compassionate 
conservatism by applying the best and most innovative ideas to helping 
our fellow citizens in need. There are still millions of men and women 
who want to end their dependence on the Government and become 
independent through hard work. We must work to build on the welfare 
reform successes of the immediate past to bring work into the lives of 
more of our citizens.
    Congress should complete the ``Citizen Service Act'' so that more 
Americans will serve their communities and their country. And both 
Houses should reach agreement on my Faith-Based Initiative to support 
the armies of compassion, to support the Christians and Jewish people 
and Muslims, all who've heard the universal call to help a neighbor in 
need, to encourage the mentoring of children and caring for the homeless 
and offering hope to the addicted.
    A compassionate society must also promote opportunity for all, 
including the independence and dignity that come from ownership. This 
administration will constantly strive to promote an ownership society in 
America. We want more citizens owning their own home. We want people to 
own and manage their own retirement accounts. We want people to have 
control over their own medical accounts. We want there to be more 
ownership of small businesses in America because we understand when 
America--an American owns something, he or she has a vital stake in the 
future of our country.
    In a compassionate society, people respect one another and they take 
responsibility for the decisions they make. We're changing the culture 
of America from one that has said, ``If it feels good, do it,'' and ``If 
you've got a problem, blame somebody else,'' to a culture in which each 
of us understands that we're responsible for the decisions we make in 
life.
    If you are fortunate enough to be a mother or father, you're 
responsible for loving your child with all your heart and all your soul. 
If you're concerned about the quality of the education in the community 
in which you live, you're responsible for doing something about it. If 
you're a CEO in corporate America, you're responsible for telling the 
truth to your employees and your shareholders. And in a responsibility 
society, each of us is responsible for loving our neighbor just like 
we'd like to be loved ourself.
    We can see the culture of responsibility and the culture of service 
growing around us, particularly since 9/11, 2001. You know, I started 
what's called the USA Freedom Corps to encourage Americans to extend a 
compassionate hand to a neighbor in need, and the response has been 
significant. Our charities and our faith-based organizations are vibrant 
and strong all across America. And policemen and firefighters and people 
who wear our Nation's uniform are reminding us what it means to 
sacrifice for something greater than yourself. Once again, the children 
of America believe in heroes, because they see them every day. In these 
challenging times, the world has seen the resolve

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and the courage of America, and I've 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 use our strength to defend the 
peace. We're an optimistic country, confident in ourselves and in ideals 
bigger than ourselves. Abroad, we seek to lift whole nations by 
spreading freedom. At home, we seek to lift up lives by spreading 
opportunity to every corner of our country. This is the work that 
history has set before us. We welcome it. And we know that for our 
country and for our cause, the best days lie ahead.
    Thank you for coming, and may God bless.

Note: The President spoke at 12:12 p.m. at the St. Paul RiverCentre. In 
his remarks, he referred to Ben Whitney and Rudy Boschwitz, Minnesota 
State finance cochairmen, Bush-Cheney '04, Inc.; Patricia Awada, 
Minnesota State auditor; Steve Sviggum, speaker, Minnesota State house 
of representatives; and Dick Day, minority leader, Minnesota State 
senate.