[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 41 (Monday, October 13, 2003)]
[Pages 1349-1355]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at Pease Air National Guard Base in Portsmouth, New Hampshire

October 9, 2003

    Thanks for coming. Thanks for such a warm welcome. I'm pleased to be 
back in the great State of New Hampshire again. And I'm honored to be 
with the Army and Air National Guard, and with reservists from every 
branch of our military. You are demonstrating that duty and public 
service are alive and well in New Hampshire. You stand ready to defend 
your fellow citizens, and you

[[Page 1350]]

need to know your fellow citizens are grateful.
    All of you are balancing jobs and your lives and public service. You 
care about your communities, and you care about your country. Today I'm 
going to talk about two great priorities for our country. We'll promote 
economic growth and create jobs for America, and we'll wage the war on 
terror until it is won.
    I want to thank Major General Blair for the introduction and for 
putting up with my entourage. [Laughter] I want to thank his commander 
in chief, the Governor of the great State of New Hampshire, for joining 
us today, Governor Benson, and first lady Denise. I want to thank Major 
General Joseph Simeone, Brigadier General John Weeden, Brigadier General 
Benton Smith, Colonel Protzmann--Carolyn Protzmann, Lt. Colonel Robert 
Monahan, and Lt. Colonel Leroy Dunkelberger, State Command Sergeant 
Michael Rice, Command Chief Master Sergeant Ronald Nadeau. And thank you 
all. Thank you for coming to say hello. I'm honored that you are here.
    This State is fortunate to have an excellent Governor. You're 
fortunate to have an excellent congressional delegation as well. I'm 
proud to be here today with two fine United States Senators, my friend, 
Judd Gregg--and his wife, Cathy--and my friend John Sununu. Thank you, 
Senators, for being here. These Senators are strong supporters of your 
mission. They appreciate what you do. They vote for strong defense 
budgets because they know what I know, that any time we put our troops 
into harm's way, you must have the best training, the best equipment, 
the best possible pay. Congressman Charlie Bass and Congressman Jeb 
Bradley, who are with us today, understand that as well. Thank the 
Congressmen for coming with me today. Thank you all for being here.
    My friend Ruth Griffin is here from the Executive Council of New 
Hampshire. Maureen Barrows is here as well. I appreciate the local 
officials who have come--State and local officials--to greet me and to 
be here with you today.
    I know that the New Hampshire Wildcat hockey players are here. I'd 
like to give you some advice, but I don't know how to ice-skate. 
[Laughter]
    Today when I landed, I met a lady named Cathy Rice. It's important 
for me to herald the armies of the soldiers of compassion, people I meet 
when I land in respective cities. It's important because it helps our 
country understand our true strength is not our military might or the 
size of our wallet. The true strength of America is the hearts and souls 
of fellow citizens who are willing to help people who need help.
    You see, Cathy Rice supports--provides support services to hundreds 
of New Hampshire National Guard families. She helps find babysitters and 
prepares meals and assists with paying bills, helps families when 
there's a deployment. She knows people stay behind; they worry about 
their loved ones. She helps fill that void with love and compassion and 
care. She offers support to the New Hampshire Army National Guard Family 
Volunteer Program. It's an important service. It's an important part of 
completing the mission. She does so because she cares about a fellow 
citizen.
    I'm proud of Cathy. I'm proud of her heart. I want to thank her for 
her service and encourage each and every one of you to love a neighbor 
just like you'd like to be loved yourself. America's strength is the 
heart and soul of our citizens.
    New Hampshire has had citizen soldiers since before America was a 
country. Militia and volunteers and guardsmen have served from the 
Revolution to the Civil War to World War II to Desert Storm. Honor and 
service and courage are great New Hampshire traditions, and you're 
upholding those traditions. We live in an era of new threats, and the 
citizens of New Hampshire are stepping forward to meet those dangers.
    Citizen soldiers have performed mid-air refueling missions for 
coalition forces in Iraq. You're training members of the Afghan National 
Army. You're guarding suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, preparing 
for homeland security missions. Citizen soldiers are serving on every 
front on the war on terror, and you're making your State and your 
country proud.
    Serving your country can bring sacrifice and uncertainty and 
separation. Your lives

[[Page 1351]]

can be changed in a moment, with a sudden call to duty. I want to thank 
you for your willingness to heed that important call. And I want to 
thank your families. I want to thank your sons and daughters, your 
husbands and wives, who share in your sacrifice, who are willing to 
sacrifice for our country, and who stand behind you.
    You're serving at a time of testing for this Nation. And we're 
meeting the tests of history. We're defeating the enemies of freedom. 
We're confronting the challenge to build prosperity for our country. 
Every test of America has revealed the character of America. And after 
the last 2 years, no one in the world, friend or foe, can doubt the will 
and the character and the strength of the American people.
    When you become the President, you cannot predict all the challenges 
that will come. But you do know the principles that you bring to the 
office, and they should not change with time or with polls. I took this 
office to make a difference, not to mark time. I came to this office to 
confront problems directly and forcefully, not to pass them on to other 
Presidents and other generations. The challenges we face today cannot be 
met with timid actions or bitter words. Our challenges will be overcome 
with optimism and resolve and confidence in the ideals of America.
    Because we believe in our free enterprise system, we can be 
confident in our economy's future. Our economy has been through a lot. 
When I took office, the stock market had been declining for 9 months, 
and our economy was headed into recession. And just as we started to 
recover, the attacks of September the 11th struck another blow to our 
economy. And then investor confidence was shaken by scandals--scandals 
in corporate America, dishonest behavior we cannot and we will not 
tolerate in our country. And then we faced the uncertainty that preceded 
the battles of Afghanistan and Iraq.
    No, we've been through a lot. But we acted. We led. We acted to 
overcome these challenges and acted on principle. Government doesn't 
create wealth. The role of Government is to create the kind of 
conditions where risktakers and entrepreneurs can invest and grow and 
hire new workers. We acted to create the conditions for job growth so 
people can find work. When Americans have more take-home pay, more money 
in their pocket to spend or save or invest, the whole economy grows, and 
people are more likely to find a job. So I twice led the United States 
Congress to pass historic tax relief for the American people.
    We wanted tax relief to be broad and fair as possible, so we reduced 
taxes on everyone who pays income taxes. We have a Tax Code that 
penalizes marriage. That doesn't make sense. [Laughter] So we reduced 
the marriage penalty. It costs a lot to raise children--we understand 
that in Washington, DC--and it costs a lot to pay for their education. 
So we increased the child credit to $1,000 per child. And when we said, 
``The check was in the mail,'' we meant it.
    We recognize that it's counterproductive to discourage investment, 
especially during an economic recovery. So we quadrupled the expense 
deduction for small-business investment and cut tax rates on dividends 
and capital gains.
    It is unfair to tax the estates of people--people leave behind after 
a lifetime of saving or building a small business or running a farm. 
When you leave this world, the IRS shouldn't follow you. [Laughter] So 
we're phasing out the Federal death tax.
    I proposed and signed these measures to help individuals and help 
families, but I did so as well to help small businesses. See, most 
small-business owners pay taxes under the individual tax rates, and 
therefore, when we cut all rates, small businesses benefit. We help mom-
and-pops and start-ups and small businesses by allowing higher expense 
deductions.
    The reason I did so is because I understand small businesses create 
most of the new jobs in America. If we're worried about job creation, if 
we want there to be jobs for America, we must encourage small 
businesses. See, small businesses are the first to--usually the first to 
take risk, the first to hire new people. By helping small businesses, we 
help the entire economy.
    These actions are helping people across this State. We've cut taxes 
on 112,000 small-business owners in New Hampshire. We've reduced the 
marriage penalty for 192,000

[[Page 1352]]

couples. We've increased the child credit for 124,000 families. See, I 
know this: I know that New Hampshire citizens can spend their money 
better than the people in Washington, DC.
    We're following a clear and consistent economic strategy, and I'm 
confident about our future. Last month this economy exceeded 
expectations and added net new jobs. Inflation is low. After-tax incomes 
are rising. Homeownership is at record highs. And productivity is high, 
and it is rising as well. Factory orders, particularly for high-tech 
equipment, have risen over the last several months. Our strategy has set 
the stage for sustained growth. By reducing taxes, we kept a promise, 
and we did the right thing at the right time for the American economy.
    We're moving forward, but we are not satisfied. We can't be 
satisfied so long as we have fellow citizens who are looking for work. I 
understand that here in New Hampshire, one out of every five jobs have 
been lost in the manufacturing sector. That's an issue we must deal 
with. We must act boldly from this point forward to create jobs for 
America. So I want Congress to join me in a six-point plan to encourage 
job creation.
    First, we must help small businesses grow and hire by controlling 
the high cost of health care. I have laid out a plan to do so.
    We must confront the junk lawsuits that are harming a lot of good 
and honest businesses. I have laid out a plan to do so.
    We must have a sound national energy policy. We must keep the lights 
on and make America less dependent on foreign sources of energy.
    We must continue to cut useless Government regulations that choke 
job creation. We must work for a free trade policy that opens up markets 
and levels the playing field for American workers and manufacturing 
companies.
    And we need to make sure the tax relief we passed doesn't disappear 
in future years. Now, you're wondering why I would say that. Well, 
because of a quirk in the legislation, the tax cuts that we passed are 
scheduled to go away unless we act. See, the child credit goes away in a 
couple of years. In other words, you get the $1,000 now; it's going down 
to $700 in a couple years--unless the Congress acts. The death penalty 
which is scheduled to go away comes back unless the Congress acts.
    You see, when we passed tax relief, I know most Americans did not 
expect to see higher taxes come back through the back door. I also 
understand for job creation, it's important to have certainty in the Tax 
Code. People have got to be able to plan. And so if Congress is really 
interested in job creation, they will make the tax cuts we passed 
permanent.
    And as we overcome our challenges to the economy, we're answering 
great threats to our security. September the 11, 2001, moved our country 
to grief and moved our country to action. We made a pledge that day, and 
we have kept it: We will bring the guilty to justice; we will take the 
fight to the enemy.
    We now see our enemy clearly. The terrorists plot in secret. They 
target the innocent. They defile a great religion. They hate everything 
this Nation stands for. These committed killers will not be stopped by 
negotiations; they won't respond to reason. The terrorists who threaten 
America cannot be appeased. They must be found. They must be fought, and 
they must be defeated.
    This is a new kind of war, and we must adjust. It's a new kind of 
war, and America is following a new strategy. We're not waiting for 
further attacks. We're striking our enemies before they can strike us 
again. We've taken unprecedented steps to protect our homeland. And for 
those of you who are here who are on the frontlines of homeland 
protection, thank you. Thank you for what you're doing.
    Yet wars are won on the offensive, and our friends and America are 
staying on the offensive. We're finding them. We're on the hunt. We're 
rolling back the terrorist threats, not on the fringes of its influence 
but at the heart of its power. We're making good progress. We're hunting 
the Al Qaida terrorists wherever they hide, from Pakistan to the 
Philippines to the Horn of Africa to Iraq. Nearly two-thirds of Al 
Qaida's known leaders have been captured or killed. Our resolve is firm; 
our resolve is clear: No matter how long it takes, all who plot against 
America will face the justice of America.

[[Page 1353]]

    We have sent a message understood throughout the world, ``If you 
harbor a terrorist, if you support a terrorist, if you feed a terrorist, 
you are just as guilty as the terrorists.'' And the Taliban found out 
what we meant. Thanks to our great military, Afghanistan is no longer a 
safe haven for terror, the Afghan people are free, and the people of 
America are more secure from attack.
    And we have fought the war on terror in Iraq. The regime of Saddam 
Hussein possessed and used weapons of mass destruction, sponsored 
terrorist groups, and inflicted terror on its own people. Nearly every 
nation recognized and denounced this threat for over a decade. Last 
year, the U.N. Security Council--in Resolution 1441--demanded that 
Saddam Hussein disarm, prove his disarmament to the world, or face 
serious consequences. The choice was up to the dictator, and he chose 
poorly.
    I acted because I was not about to leave the security of the 
American people in the hands of a madman. I was not about to stand by 
and wait and trust in the sanity and restraint of Saddam Hussein. So our 
coalition acted, in one of the swiftest and most humane military 
campaigns in history. And 6 months ago today, the statue of the dictator 
was pulled down.
    Since the liberation of Iraq, our investigators have found evidence 
of a clandestine network of biological laboratories. They found advanced 
design work on prohibited longer-range missiles. They found an elaborate 
campaign to hide these illegal programs. There's still much to 
investigate, yet it is now undeniable that Saddam Hussein was in clear 
violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441. It is 
undeniable that Saddam Hussein was a deceiver and a danger. The Security 
Council was right to demand that Saddam Hussein disarm, and we were 
right to enforce that demand.
    Who can possibly think that the world would be better off with 
Saddam Hussein still in power? Surely not the dissidents who would be in 
his prisons or end up in mass graves. Surely not the men and women who 
would fill Saddam's torture chambers or the women in his rape rooms. 
Surely not the victims he murdered with poison gas. Surely not anyone 
who cares about human rights and democracy and stability in the Middle 
East. There is only one decent and humane reaction to the fall of Saddam 
Hussein: Good riddance!
    Now our country is approaching a choice. After all the action we 
have taken, after all the progress we have made against terror, there is 
a temptation to think the danger has passed. The danger hasn't passed. 
Since September the 11th, the terrorists have taken lives. Since the 
attacks on our Nation that fateful day, the terrorists have attacked in 
Casablanca, Mombasa, Jerusalem, Amman, Riyadh, Baghdad, Karachi, New 
Delhi, Bali, and Jakarta. The terrorists continue to plot and plan 
against our country and our people.
    America must not forget the lessons of September the 11th. America 
cannot retreat from our responsibilities and hope for the best. Our 
security will not be gained by timid measures. Our security requires 
constant vigilance and decisive action. I believe America has only one 
option: We must fight this war until the work is done.
    We're fighting on many fronts, and Iraq is now the central front. 
Saddam holdouts and foreign terrorists are trying desperately to 
undermine Iraq's progress and to throw that country into chaos. The 
terrorists in Iraq believe that their attacks on innocent people will 
weaken our resolve. That's what they believe. They believe that America 
will run from a challenge. They're mistaken. Americans are not the 
running kind.
    The United States did not run from Germany and Japan following World 
War II. We helped those nations to become strong and decent, democratic 
societies that no longer waged war on America. And that's our mission in 
Iraq today. We're rebuilding schools--a lot of kids are going back to 
schools--reopening hospitals. Thousands of children are now being 
immunized. Water and electricity are being returned to the Iraqi people. 
Life is getting better.
    It's a lot better than you probably think. Just ask people who have 
been there. They're stunned when they come back--when they go to Iraq, 
and the stories they tell are much different from the perceptions that 
you're being told life is like.
    You see, we're providing this help not only because we've got good 
hearts but because

[[Page 1354]]

our vision is clear. A stable and democratic and hopeful Iraq will no 
longer be a breeding ground for terror, tyranny, and aggression. Free 
nations are peaceful nations. Our work in Iraq is essential to our own 
security, and no band of murderers or gangsters will stop that work or 
shake the will of America.
    Nearly every day in Iraq we're launching swift, precision raids 
against the enemies of peace and progress. Helped by intelligence from 
Iraqis, we're rounding up the enemy. We're taking their weapons. We're 
working our way through the famous deck of cards. We've already captured 
or killed 43 of the 55 most wanted former Iraqi leaders, and the other 
12 have a lot to worry about. [Laughter] Anyone who seeks to harm our 
soldiers can know that our soldiers are hunting for them.
    Our military is serving with great courage. Some of our best have 
fallen. We mourn every loss. We honor every name. We grieve with every 
family. And we will always be grateful that liberty has found such brave 
defenders.
    In defending liberty, we are joined by more than 30 nations now 
contributing military forces in Iraq. Great Britain and Poland are 
leading two multinational divisions. And in this cause, with fine 
allies, we've got the Iraqis as well. They care about the security of 
their country. They want to be free. They love freedom just like we love 
freedom. Last week, the first battalion of the New Iraqi Army completed 
its training. Within a year, Iraq will have a 40,000-member military 
force. Tens of thousands of Iraqi citizens are also guarding their own 
borders, defending vital facilities, and policing their own streets. Six 
months ago, the Iraqi people welcomed their liberation. Today, many 
Iraqis are armed and trained to defend their liberty.
    Our goal in Iraq is to leave behind a stable, self-governing society 
which will no longer be a threat to the Middle East or to the United 
States. We're following an orderly plan to reach this goal. Iraq now has 
a Governing Council, which has appointed interim Government ministers. 
Once a constitution has been written, Iraq will move toward national 
elections. We want this process to go as quickly as possible, yet it 
must be done right. The free institutions of Iraq must stand the test of 
time. And a democratic Iraq will stand as an example to all the Middle 
East. We believe, and the Iraqi people will show, that liberty is the 
hope and the right of every land.
    Our work in Iraq has been long. It's hard, and it's not finished. We 
will stay the course. We will complete our job. And beyond Iraq, the war 
on terror continues. There will be no quick victory in this war. We will 
persevere, and victory is certain.
    I am confident of victory because I know the character of our 
military, shown in people like Master Sergeant Jack Negrotti of 
Plaistow, New Hampshire. Jake is a member of the New Hampshire Air 
National Guard who's volunteered for overseas deployments 3 times since 
September the 11th. He served in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Right 
now Jake is an airport manager at Baghdad Airport, helping make sure our 
military and humanitarian operations move ahead.
    People like Jake Negrotti are showing what it means to be a patriot 
and a citizen. We're honored to have Jake's wife, Donna, and his 
children, Alicia and Christopher, with us here today. Next time you talk 
to Jake, Donna, you tell him his President appreciates his service, and 
his country is grateful.
    The war on terror has brought hardship and loss to our country, 
beginning with the grief of September the 11th. Let us also remember 
that the first victory in this war came on that same day, on a hijacked 
plane bound for the Nation's Capital. Those men and women on Flight 93 
took action, served their country, knowing they would die. They found 
incredible courage in their final moments to save the lives of others. 
In those moments and many times since, terrorists have learned that 
Americans are courageous and will not be intimidated. We will fight them 
with everything we have.
    Few are called to show the kind of valor seen on Flight 93 or on the 
field of battle. Yet all of us do share a calling, to be strong in 
adversity and to be unafraid in danger. We Americans have come through 
so much together, and we have much yet to do. If we're patient, united, 
determined, our Nation will prosper, and our Nation will win.
    May God bless you all. Thank you all very much.

[[Page 1355]]

Note: The President spoke at 9:50 a.m. In his remarks, he referred to 
Maj. Gen. John E. Blair, adjutant general, and Maj. Gen. Joseph K. 
Simeone, deputy adjutant general, New Hampshire National Guard; Gov. 
Craig Benson of New Hampshire and his wife, Denise; Brig. Gen. John J. 
Weeden and Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Rice, New Hampshire Army National 
Guard; Brig. Gen. Benton ``Chick'' M. Smith, assistant adjutant general, 
headquarters, and Lt. Col. Robert T. Monahan, New Hampshire Air National 
Guard; Col. Carolyn J. Protzmann, vice wing commander, Col. Leroy 
Dunkelberger II, and Wing Command Chief Master Sgt. Ronald H. Nadeau, 
157th Air Refueling Wing, New Hampshire Air National Guard; Ruth L. 
Griffin, councilor, New Hampshire Executive Council; Maureen Barrows, 
chair, Rockingham County Board of Commissioners; and former President 
Saddam Hussein of Iraq.