[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 2 (Monday, January 12, 2004)]
[Pages 33-38]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at a Bush-Cheney Luncheon in Knoxville

January 8, 2004

    Thank you all. Thanks for coming. Thank you all very much. Thanks 
for the warm welcome. It's glad--I'm glad to be in the land of the 
orange and white. UT--kind of sounds like home. [Laughter] Really 
appreciate coming back to Knoxville. I'm so thrilled that so many came 
out to support the Bush-Cheney ticket. As you might recall, we had 
pretty good success here in the year 2000. Because of today, we're 
laying the foundation for what is going to be even better success in 
Tennessee in 2004. We're on our way to a national victory in November of 
2004.
    I'm loosening up--[laughter]--and I'm getting ready. But there will 
be plenty of time for politics, because I've got a job to do on behalf 
of every citizen of this country. I'm focused on the people's business 
in Washington, DC. My administration will continue to work hard to earn 
the confidence of all Americans, by keeping this Nation secure and 
strong and prosperous and free.
    I'm honored you invited me here today. I know I wasn't your first 
choice. [Laughter] Laura was tied up. [Laughter] She's a fabulous First 
Lady. I'm a lucky man that she said yes when I said, ``Will you marry 
me?'' She really sends her best and her love. She's--I'm really proud of 
her.
    I also want to thank my friend Lamar Alexander for doing such a fine 
job in the United States Senate on behalf of the great people of 
Tennessee. He brings such class and dignity to public office. You've 
known that when he was your Governor. He's now doing it again as the 
Senator, as is the other Senator from the great State of Tennessee, 
Senator Bill Frist, the majority leader of the United States Senate. 
You've done a great job of sending two fine people to the Senate.
    I'm honored that members of the congressional delegation from 
Tennessee have joined us today, starting with your own homegrown Jimmy 
Duncan. I appreciate you, Jimmy. I got off Air Force One and the first 
thing he said was, ``This is my district.'' [Laughter]
    I want to thank Congressman Zach Wamp for joining us today. Thank 
you for being

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here, Zach. Congressman Bill Jenkins is with us today. Congressman, 
thank you for coming. I see you got a seat in the back. [Laughter] And 
Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn is with us today. Marsha, thank you for 
being here.
    I'm honored that members of the statehouse have come. It's always a 
good sign when the State senators and State legislators are coming. 
After all, all good politics is local politics. I want to thank Ben 
Atchley, he's the Republican leader in the State senate, for joining us 
today. Beth Harwell, who is the chairman of the Tennessee Republican 
Party, is with us. I want to thank you for coming too, Beth.
    I'm so honored that many of you all took time to make this event a 
successful event. Jim Haslam is event cochairman. Big Jim, I thank you 
for your friendship, and I appreciate--I also appreciate Jimmy for being 
the event cochairman. And I appreciate the fact that the mayor is with 
us today as well.
    I want to thank my friend Mercer Reynolds. He's from Cincinnati, 
Ohio. He's the national finance chairman of Bush-Cheney. He's working 
hard to make sure that this campaign is well-funded. When the campaign 
starts, we want to be ready to go. And thanks to the people in this 
room, and thanks to people around the country, when the campaign gets 
started we are going to be ready to go.
    I appreciate David Kustoff, who is the State chairman. His job is to 
rally the grassroots. And so, for those of you who are involved in 
grassroots politics here in Tennessee, I want to thank you for what 
you're going to do. I want to thank you for the signs you're going to 
put up. I want to thank you for the phone calls you're going to make. 
I'm want to thank you for joining us as we turn out the vote to make 
sure this good State turns out in significant numbers.
    And as you're turning out that vote, I want you to remind them, in 
the last 3 years our Nation has acted decisively to confront great 
challenges. I came to this office to solve problems, not to pass them on 
to future Presidents and future generations. I came to seize 
opportunities instead of letting them slip away. My administration is 
meeting the tests of our time.
    Terrorists declared war on the United States of America, and war is 
what they got. We've captured or killed many of the key leaders of the 
Al Qaida network, and the rest of them know we're on their trail. In 
Afghanistan and 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.
    Three years ago, our military was not receiving the resources it 
needed, and morale was beginning to suffer. So we increased the defense 
budgets 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.
    Three years ago, the economy was in trouble and a recession was 
beginning. And then we had attacks on our country and corporate scandals 
and war, which all affected the people's confidence. But this 
administration acted. We passed tough new laws to hold corporate 
criminals to account. And to get the economy going again, I have twice 
led the United States Congress to pass historic tax relief for the 
American people.
    We understand 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. So we're returning more money--money to people to help 
them raise their families. We're reducing taxes on dividends and capital 
gains to encourage investment. We've given small businesses incentives 
to expand and to hire new people. With all these actions, we are laying 
the foundation for greater prosperity and more jobs across America so 
that every single person in this country has a chance to realize the 
American Dream.
    Today, the American economy is strong, and it is getting stronger. 
The figures for the third quarter of 2003 show that the economy grew at 
an annual rate of 8.2 percent, the fastest pace in nearly 20 years. 
Productivity is high. Business investment is rising. Housing 
construction is increasing. We've added over 300,000 new jobs in the 
last 4 months. The tax relief we passed is working.
    Three years ago, there was a lot of talk about education reform, but 
there wasn't much action. So I acted. I called for and the

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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 spending more money at the Federal level, but we're 
finally asking the question, ``Are you teaching the children how to read 
and write and add and subtract?'' This administration is challenging the 
soft bigotry of low expectations because we believe that every child can 
learn, and we expect every school to teach. The days of excusemaking are 
over. No child should be left behind in America.
    We reorganized the Government and created the Department of Homeland 
Security to better safeguard the borders and ports of our country and to 
better protect the American people. We passed trade promotion authority 
to open up new markets for Tennessee's farmers and ranchers and 
entrepreneurs and manufacturers. We passed budget agreements that is 
helping to maintain much-needed spending discipline in Washington, DC.
    And last month, we completed the greatest advance in health care 
coverage for America's seniors since the founding of Medicare. The new 
Medicare law, that I pushed for and signed, will give older Americans 
the option of a prescription drug benefit and more control over their 
health care, so that they can receive the modern health care that they 
deserve.
    On issue after issue, this administration has acted on principle, 
has kept its word, and has made great progress for the American people. 
A lot of credit belongs to the Members of the United States Senate and 
the United States Congress. I enjoy working with Majority Leader Bill 
Frist. You know as well as I do he's plenty capable, plenty competent, 
and a very decent man. I enjoy working with Speaker Denny Hastert, who 
shares the same characteristics as Bill Frist, an honorable, decent man.
    We're working hard to change the tone in Washington, DC. There's too 
much backbiting, endless politics, name-calling. The best way to change 
the tone is to focus on the people's business and to focus on results. 
And that's what we're doing with the Congress. Our record has been a 
good record. And those are the kind of people I've asked to join my 
administration. I put together a fantastic team of people, people from 
all walks of life to serve our country, people who have come to the 
Nation's Capital not to represent their own special interests but to 
represent the greatest country on the face of the Earth. There's been no 
finer Vice President than Dick Cheney. Mother may have a second opinion. 
[Laughter]
    In 3 years, we've done a lot. We have come far, but our work is only 
beginning. I've set 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 will work for a society that is prosperous and compassionate 
so every citizen has a chance to work and to succeed and to 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 are 
keeping it.
    The war on terror continues. The enemies of freedom are not idle, 
and neither are we. This country will not rest; we will not tire; we 
will not stop until this danger to civilization is removed. We are 
confronting that danger in Iraq, where all people can be certain that 
they will never again have to fear the rule of Saddam Hussein. He 
started last year in a palace. He ended this year in a prison. The 
Ba'athist holdouts largely responsible for the current violence now know 
there will be no return to the corrupt power and privilege they once 
held. All Iraqis who have taken the side of freedom have taken the 
winning side.
    We still face terrorists who would rather go on killing the innocent 
than accept the rise of liberty in the Middle East. And there is a 
reason why. They know that the advance of freedom in Iraq will be a 
major defeat for the cause of terror. This collection of killers is 
trying to shake the will of America. America will never be intimidated 
by a bunch of thugs and assassins.
    We're aggressively after them in Iraq, defeating them there so we 
will never have to face them in our own country. Other nations are 
helping, because they understand a free Iraq will make the world more 
secure. We're

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standing with the Iraqi people as they assume more of their own defense 
and move toward self-government. These are not easy tasks, but they are 
essential tasks. We will finish what we have begun. We will win this 
essential victory in the war on terror.
    We're working to oppose proliferation of weapons around the world. 
Last month, after talks with the United States and Great Britain, Libya 
voluntarily committed to disclose and dismantle all its weapons of mass 
destruction programs. Leaders around the world now know weapons of mass 
destruction do not bring influence or prestige; they bring isolation and 
unwelcomed consequences. And nations who abandon the pursuit of these 
weapons will find an open path to better relations with the United 
States of America.
    Yet our greatest security comes from the advance of freedom, 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. I believe 
that freedom is the future of every nation, and we understand that 
freedom is not America's gift to the world. Freedom is the Almighty 
God's gift to every man and woman in this world.
    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, America is now committed to bringing the 
healing power of medicine to millions of men and women and children now 
suffering with AIDS. This powerful, strong, and compassionate land is 
leading the entire world on this incredibly important work of human 
rescue.
    We face challenges here at home as well. We'll be equal to those 
challenges. This administration will continue to push a progrowth, pro-
entrepreneur economic agenda so that people who want to work and can't 
find a job today will be able to find that job.
    And 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 doc deserve their day in court. Yet the system 
should not reward lawyers who are simply fishing for a rich settlement. 
Frivolous lawsuits drive up the cost of health care and they, therefore, 
affect the Federal budget.
    Medical liability reform is a national issue that requires a 
national solution. I sent a bill over to the House, and the House of 
Representatives passed a good bill to reform the system. The bill is 
stuck in the Senate. I look forward to working with Senator Frist and 
Senator Alexander to convince reluctant Senators to act on behalf of all 
the people in America and get a good medical liability bill to my desk. 
Some Members of the Senate must understand that no one in America has 
ever been healed by a frivolous lawsuit.
    I have a responsibility as your 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 of the 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 some Members of the United States Senate to 
stop playing politics with American justice.
    The Congress needs to get an energy bill to my desk. This Nation 
must be more energy-efficient. We must conserve our resources. We must 
do a better job of protecting the quality of the air in places like 
Knoxville, Tennessee. But for the sake of economic security and for the 
sake of national security, we must become less dependent on foreign 
sources of energy.
    A strong and prosperous nation must also be a compassionate nation. 
I will continue to advance our agenda of compassionate conservatism, 
which means we'll apply the best and most innovative ideas to the task 
of helping our fellow citizens in need. There's still millions of men 
and women who want to end their dependence on the Government and become 
independent through hard work. We must build on the success of welfare 
reform to bring more work and, therefore, dignity

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into the lives of our fellow citizens who are still dependent upon the 
Government.
    With the help of Congress, we're working to ensure that more 
Americans can serve their communities and their country through citizen 
service programs. I urge both Houses of the United States Congress to 
pass my Faith-Based Initiative, which will help empower the armies of 
compassion that are mentoring our children and caring for the homeless 
and offering hope to the addicted.
    One of the great strengths of our country is that we're a nation of 
many faiths, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faiths. Out of that faith 
comes the deep desire for many of our citizens to heed the universal 
call to help a neighbor who hurts. The Federal Government should never 
fear the influence of faith-based programs. We ought to welcome faith-
based programs into helping solve some of the intractable problems of 
our society.
    A compassionate society is one, also, that must promote opportunity 
for all, including the independence and dignity that come from 
ownership. This administration understands the power of owning something 
in our society. We'll constantly strive to promote an ownership society. 
Listen, we have a minority homeownership gap in America. I proposed 
plans to the Congress to help close that gap. We want more people owning 
their own home. We want people owning and managing their own health care 
accounts and their own retirement accounts. We want more people owning 
their own small businesses. And that's why developing the 
entrepreneurial spirit and keeping it strong is so important. You see, 
we understand that when a person owns something, he or she has a vital 
stake in the future of our country.
    In a compassionate society, people respect one another. They respect 
each other's religious beliefs, political opinions. People take 
responsibility for the decisions they make in life. See, the culture of 
America is changing 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're fortunate enough to be a mother or a father, 
you're responsible for loving your child with all your heart. If you're 
worried about the quality of the education in Knoxville, Tennessee, 
you're responsible for doing something about it. If you're a CEO in 
corporate America, you are responsible for telling the truth to your 
shareholders and your employees.
    And in the new responsibility society, each of us is responsible for 
loving our neighbor just like we'd like to be loved ourself. We can see 
that culture--the culture of service is strong in America. You know, I 
started the USA Freedom Corps right after September the 11th to 
encourage our fellow citizens to extend a compassionate hand to a 
neighbor in need. And the response has been fantastic. People from all 
walks of life are serving our Nation by helping people who hurt. Our 
neighborhood healers are vibrant and strong. Faith-based and charitable 
organizations thrive in our country. Policemen and firefighters and 
people who wear our Nation's uniform remind us what it means to 
sacrifice for something greater than ourself. 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 and the 
courage of America, and I have been privileged to see the compassion and 
the character of the American people. All the tests of the last 3 years 
have come to the right nation. We're a strong country, and we use that 
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 America. This is the work that 
history has set before us. We welcome it and know that for our country, 
the best days lie ahead.
    May God bless you all.

Note: The President spoke at 12:55 p.m. at the Knoxville Convention 
Center. In his remarks, he referred to Mayor Bill Haslam of Knoxville, 
TN; and former President Saddam Hussein of Iraq.

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