[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 10 (Monday, March 8, 2004)]
[Pages 340-344]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at a Bush-Cheney Luncheon in Santa Clara, California

March 4, 2004

    Thanks a lot. Thanks for coming. Thanks for the warm welcome. It is 
great to be back. I appreciate it. Thanks. Be seated, please. Thanks for 
the warm welcome. It is great to be back in Santa Clara. Such a 
beautiful part of our country, isn't it? It's a wonderful day.
    I have had a great trip here to California. I was in Los Angeles 
yesterday and Bakersfield this morning. I don't know if you know that, 
but in 1949 we called that home. I was quick to remind the people in 
Bakersfield I'd called it home. [Laughter]
    Had a chance to spend some quality time with your Governor 
yesterday. I know you were a little disappointed, like I was, that 
``Terminator 3'' didn't win any Oscars. [Laughter] But Arnold has had a 
pretty good year. By electing Governor Schwarzenegger, the voters of 
California have shown that no party can take California for granted.
    The Vice President and I are going to be spending some quality time 
here this coming year. With your continued help, California is going to 
be an important part of a nationwide victory in November 2004. Speaking 
about the Vice President, I made a really good pick when I asked Dick 
Cheney to serve by my side. He is a fabulous Vice President for our 
country. Mother may have a second opinion. [Laughter]
    I'm sorry Laura is not with me. She is in Texas. She was visiting 
her mother in Midland, Texas, where both of us were raised. She's on her 
way to Crawford. After I give this speech, I'm on my way to Crawford. 
She sends her best greetings to our friends here in the Bay Area. I tell 
you, Laura is a great First Lady. I'm a fortunate man that she is--
agreed to marry me, and I love her dearly.
    I want to thank Brad for his friendship and leadership here in the 
State of California, and my friend Gerry Parsky, who is the State 
campaign chairman. I too want to thank Katie Boyd and Gregory Slayton 
for their hard work, and thank my friend Mercer Reynolds from 
Cincinnati, Ohio, who is the national finance chairman of Bush-Cheney 
'04--good people working hard to make sure that we're well-funded. And 
we will be.
    I appreciate Bill Jones, the next United States Senator from the 
State of California, with us today. The next United States Senator from 
the State of South Dakota is with us today, Congressman John Thune. 
Thank you for coming, John.
    I want to thank all the grassroots activists who are here, the 
people who are going to make the phone calls and put up the signs and 
turn out the vote. I want to thank you in advance for what you're going 
to do. It's important.
    Last Tuesday night I placed a call to Senator Kerry. I told him I 
was looking forward to a spirited campaign, and I congratulated him on 
his victory. It's going to be an interesting debate on the issues. My 
opponent has spent two decades in Washington, and he's built up quite a 
record. In fact, Senator Kerry has been in Washington long enough to 
take both sides on just about every issue. [Laughter]
    Voters have a clear choice between keeping the tax relief that is 
moving this economy forward or putting the burden of higher taxes back 
on the American people. They have a clear choice between an America that 
leads the world with strength and confidence or an America that is 
uncertain in the face of danger.
    I look forward to setting these alternatives squarely before the 
American people. I look forward to this campaign. We have a great 
record. We've achieved a lot during the last 3 years. And most 
important, we have a positive vision for the years ahead, a positive 
vision for winning the war against terror and extending peace and 
freedom throughout the world, a positive vision for creating jobs and 
promoting opportunity and compassion here at home. I will leave no doubt 
where I stand. We look forward to winning on the 2nd of November.
    The last 3 years have brought serious challenges, and we have given 
serious answers. We came to office with the stock market in decline and 
an economy headed into recession, delivered historic tax relief, and now 
our economy is the fastest growing of any major industrialized nation.

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    We had to confront corporate crimes that cost people their jobs and 
their savings, so we passed strong corporate reforms and made it 
abundantly clear that we will not tolerate dishonesty in the boardrooms 
of America.
    We saw war and grief arrive on a quiet September morning, so we 
pursued the terrorist enemy across the world, captured or killed many of 
the key leaders of the Al Qaida network. And the rest of them will learn 
there is no cave or hole deep enough to hide from American justice.
    We confronted the dangers of state-sponsored terror and the spread 
of weapons of mass destruction, so we ended two of the most violent and 
dangerous regimes on Earth. We freed over 50 million people. And once 
again, America is proud to lead the armies of liberation.
    When Dick Cheney and I came to Washington, we found a military that 
was underfunded and underappreciated, so we gave our military the 
resources and respect they deserve. And today, no one can question the 
skill and the strength and the spirit of the United States military.
    We came to office, and people in Washington were used to gridlock, 
and old problems were used to score points. Old problems were 
politicized and debated and then just passed on from year to year. But 
we came for a purpose. We came to get some things done for the people. 
We passed major reforms to raise the standards in public schools. We 
passed reforms for Medicare to give prescription drugs and choices to 
senior citizens. We chose to lead, and we produced results for the 
American people.
    It is the President's job to confront problems, not to pass them on 
to future Presidents and future generations. A President needs to step 
up and make the hard decisions and keep his commitments, and that is how 
I will continue to lead our country.
    Great events will turn on this election. The man who sits in the 
Oval Office will set the course of the war on terror and the direction 
of our economy. The security and prosperity of America are at stake. My 
opponent has not offered much in the way of strategies to win the war or 
policies to expand our economy. So far all we hear from that side is a 
lot of old bitterness and partisan anger. Anger is not an agenda for the 
future of America. We're taking on the big issues with optimism and 
resolve and determination. I stand ready to lead this Nation for 4 more 
years.
    The big issue for every family in America is the Federal tax burden. 
With the largest tax relief since Ronald Reagan was President, we have 
left more money in the hands that earned it. By spending and investing 
and helping to create new jobs, the American people have used their 
money far better than the Government would have.
    Because we acted, our economy is growing stronger. The economy grew 
in the second half of 2003 at one of the fastest rates in nearly 20 
years. Productivity is high. Business investment is rising. Interest 
rates and inflation are low. Homeownership is at the highest rate ever. 
Manufacturing is increasing. We've added 366,000 new jobs over the past 
5 months. The tax relief we passed is working.
    My opponent has plans for those tax cuts. He wants to take them 
away. He would use that money to expand the Federal Government. I have a 
better idea: To keep this economy growing and to create jobs, the tax 
cuts must be permanent.
    We must do more to keep the economy growing. We need to maintain 
fiscal discipline in our Nation's Capital. We need to protect 
businessowners and employees from frivolous lawsuits and needless 
regulation. We need to control the health--the cost of health care by 
passing medical liability reform at the national level. We need to open 
up markets for California's entrepreneurs and farmers and ranchers and 
manufacturers. We need to pass sound energy legislation to modernize the 
electricity system and to make America less dependent on foreign sources 
of energy. My opponent has talked about job creation, but he's against 
every one of these job-creating measures. Empty talk about jobs and 
economic isolationism won't get anyone hired.
    This economy of ours is going through a time of change and 
challenge. We're helping people to gain the skills and the security to 
make a good living and to look forward to

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a good retirement. All skills start with education. I worked with 
Congress to pass a really good piece of legislation, the No Child Left 
Behind Act. This good law is challenging the soft bigotry of low 
expectations. In return for increased Federal dollars, particularly for 
Title I students, we demanded that every public school in America show 
us whether or not each child is learning to read and write and add and 
subtract. We have done so because we refuse to accept mediocrity. We 
expect the best so that not one single child is left behind in America.
    We're doing more. We have plans to help high school students who 
fall behind in reading and math. We've got a sound strategy to help our 
community colleges to train workers for the industries that are creating 
the new jobs for our economy. Education is the gateway to a hopeful 
future; this administration understands the gate must be open to all 
Americans.
    We're also working to promote an ownership society in America in 
which more people own their own homes and build their own savings. We 
want more people owning their own small businesses. We want people to 
own and manage their own health care plans. We want younger workers to 
own and manage their own retirement under Social Security. When people 
have solid assets, this administration understands they gain 
independence and security and dignity. I believe in private property so 
much, I want everybody to have some.
    On issue after issue, the American people have a clear choice. My 
opponent is against personal retirement accounts, against putting 
patients in charge of Medicare, and against tax relief. He seems to be 
against every idea that gives Americans more authority and more choices 
and more control over their own lives. The same old Washington mindset: 
They'll give the orders, and you'll pay the bills. I've got news for the 
Washington crowd. America has gone beyond that way of thinking, and 
we're not going back. The policy that this administration is promoting 
trusts the people of America, to trust the people to make the best 
decisions with their own money, to trust the people to manage their own 
health care and their own retirement and their own lives.
    Our future also depends on America's leadership in this world. The 
momentum of freedom in our time is strong, but we still face serious 
challenges. Al Qaida is wounded but not broken. Terrorists are testing 
our will in Afghanistan and Iraq. Regimes in North Korea and Iran are 
challenging the peace. If America shows weakness and uncertainty in this 
decade, the world will drift toward tragedy. That is not going to happen 
on my watch.
    This Nation is strong and confident in the cause of freedom. No 
friend or enemy today doubts the word of America. America and our allies 
gave an ultimatum to the terror regime in Afghanistan. The Taliban chose 
defiance. The Taliban are no longer in power. America and our allies 
gave an ultimatum to the terror regime in Iraq. The dictator chose 
defiance. Now the dictator sits in a prison cell.
    September the 11th, 2001, taught a lesson I have not forgotten. 
America must confront threats before they fully materialize. In Iraq, my 
administration looked at the intelligence information, and we saw a 
threat. The Congress looked at the intelligence information, and they 
saw a threat. The United Nations Security Council looked at the 
intelligence information, and it saw a threat. The previous 
administration and Congress looked at the intelligence and made regime 
change in Iraq the policy of our country. In 2002, the U.N. Security 
Council yet again demanded a full accounting of Saddam Hussein's weapons 
programs. As he had for over a decade, Saddam Hussein refused to comply. 
So I had a choice to make, either to take the word of a madman or take 
action to defend America. Faced with that choice, I will defend our 
country every time.
    My opponent admits that Saddam Hussein was a threat. He just didn't 
support my decision to remove Saddam from power. Perhaps he was hoping 
Saddam would lose the next Iraqi election. [Laughter] We showed the 
dictator and a watching world that America means what it says.
    Because our coalition acted, Saddam's torture chambers are closed. 
Because we acted, Iraq's weapons programs are ended forever. Because we 
acted, nations like Libya have gotten the message and renounced their 
own

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weapons programs. Because we acted, an example of democracy is rising at 
the very heart of the Middle East. Because we acted, the world is more 
free, and America is more secure.
    We still face thugs and terrorists in Iraq who would rather go on 
killing the innocent than accept the advance of liberty. They know that 
a free Iraq will be a major defeat in the cause of terror. This 
collection of killers is trying to shake our will. They don't understand 
America. America will never be intimidated by thugs or assassins.
    We're aggressively striking the terrorists in Iraq, defeating them 
there so we won't have to face them in our own country. We're calling on 
other nations to help Iraq to build a free society, which will make the 
whole world more peaceful and secure. We're standing with the Iraqi 
people as they assume more of their own defense and move toward self-
government. These aren't easy tasks, but they're essential tasks. We'll 
finish what we have begun. We will win this essential victory in the war 
on terror.
    On national security, Americans have the clearest possible choice. 
My opponent says he approves of bold action in the world, but only if 
other countries don't object. I'm all for united action, and so are the 
34 coalition partners we have in Iraq right now. Yet America must never 
outsource America's national security decisions to leaders of other 
countries.
    Some are skeptical that the war on terror is really a war at all. 
Here's what my opponent said. He said the war on terror is far less of a 
military operation and far more of an intelligence-gathering, law 
enforcement operation. I disagree. Our Nation followed this approach 
after the World Trade Center was bombed in 1993. The matter was handled 
in the courts and thought by some to be settled. But the terrorists were 
still training in Afghanistan. They were still plotting in other 
nations. They were drawing up more ambitious plans. After the chaos and 
carnage of September the 11th, it's not enough to serve our enemies with 
legal papers. With those attacks, the terrorists and their supporters 
declared war on the United States of America, and war is what they got.
    At bases across our country and the world, I have had the privilege, 
the high privilege of meeting with the men and women of our military who 
are defending our country and sacrificing for our security. I've seen 
their great decency and unselfish courage. I can assure you, ladies and 
gentlemen, the cause of freedom is in good hands.
    The Nation is prosperous and strong. Yet we need to remember that 
our greatest strength is in the hearts and souls of our citizens. We're 
strong because of the values we try to live by, courage, compassion, 
reverence, and integrity. We're strong because of the institutions that 
help give us direction and purpose, families and schools and religious 
congregations.
    These values and institutions are fundamental to our lives, and they 
deserve the respect of our Government. We stand for the fair treatment 
of faith-based groups so they can receive Federal support for their 
works of compassion and healing. We will not stand for Government 
discrimination against people of faith.
    We stand for welfare reforms that require work and strengthen 
marriage, which have helped millions of Americans find independence and 
dignity. We will not stand for any attempt to weaken those reforms and 
to send people back into lives of dependence. We stand for a culture of 
life in which every person counts and every person matters. We will not 
stand for the treatment of any life as a commodity to be experimented 
upon or exploited or cloned. We stand for the confirmation of judges who 
strictly and faithfully interpret the law. We will not stand for judges 
who undermine democracy by legislating from the bench or try to remake 
the culture of America by court order.
    We stand for a culture of responsibility in America. We're changing 
the culture of this country 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 we're responsible for the 
decisions we make in life. If you're fortunate enough to be a mother or 
father, you're responsible for loving your child with all your heart. If 
you're worried about the quality of the education in the community in 
which you live, you're responsible for doing something

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about it. If you're a CEO in corporate America, you have the 
responsibility to tell the truth to your shareholders and your 
employees. And in the responsibility society, each of us is responsible 
for loving our neighbor just like we'd like to be loved ourself.
    For all Americans, these years in our history will always stand 
apart. There are quiet times in the life of a nation, when little is 
expected of the leaders. This is not one of those times. You and I are 
living in a period when the stakes are high, the challenge is difficult, 
and resolve is needed. None of us will ever forget that week when one 
era ended and another began.
    On September the 14th, 2001, I stood in the ruins of the Twin 
Towers. I'll never forget that day. I remember the workers and the 
hardhats who were shouting, ``Whatever it takes.'' I remember the guy 
who pointed his finger at me and said, ``Don't let me down.'' As we all 
did that day, these men and women searching through the rubble took it 
personally. I took it personally. I have a responsibility that goes on. 
I will never relent in bringing justice to our enemies. I will defend 
our country, whatever it takes.
    In these times, I've also been a witness to the character of this 
Nation. Not so long ago, some had their doubts about the American 
character, about our capacity to meet serious challenges or to serve a 
cause greater than self-interest. But Americans have given their answer. 
I've seen the unselfish courage of our troops. I've seen the heroism of 
Americans in the face of danger. I've seen the spirit of service and 
compassion renewed in our country. We've all seen our Nation unite in 
common purpose when it mattered most.
    We'll need all these qualities for the work ahead. We have a war to 
win, and the world is counting on us to lead the cause of freedom and 
peace. We have a duty to spread opportunity and hope to every part of 
America. This is the work that history has set before us. We welcome it. 
And we know that for our country, the best days lie ahead.
    May God bless you all.

Note: The President spoke at 1 p.m. at the Santa Clara Convention 
Center. In his remarks, he referred to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of 
California; Brad Freeman, California State finance chairman, Gerald L. 
Parsky, California State chairman, and Mercer Reynolds, national finance 
chairman, Bush-Cheney '04, Inc.; Bill Jones, Republican candidate for 
California Senator; and former Representative John R. Thune, Republican 
candidate for South Dakota Senator.