[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 11 (Monday, March 15, 2004)]
[Pages 360-365]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at a Bush-Cheney Reception in Houston, Texas

March 8, 2004

    Thank you all. Go ahead and be seated--[laughter]--unless you don't 
have a seat. Thanks for a great Houston welcome. I'm so glad to be back 
home. Nothing like a weekend in Texas to kind of refresh the soul. By 
the way, if you see 41, tell him I was asking about him--[laughter]--or 
Mother, over there at the Rice Epicurean. [Laughter] I do want to thank 
you all for being so kind to Mother and Dad. They love Houston. They 
love the citizens of Houston. They're proud to call this place home, 
just like I'm proud to call Texas home.
    I'm feeling pretty good about my chances in Texas. [Laughter] But 
I'm not going to take anything for granted. With your help,

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Texas is going to be the cornerstone for a national victory in November 
of this year. Vice President Cheney and I are looking forward to working 
here in Texas to get as many votes as we can get. If you think about the 
Vice President, I picked the right man. Dick Cheney is doing a great 
job. I like to tell people, Vice President Cheney is the greatest Vice 
President the country has ever had. One time Mother said, ``Wait a 
minute.'' [Laughter]
    I married the greatest First Lady the country has ever had--Mother 
included. [Laughter] Laura sends her love. I'm really proud of her. She 
is steady and strong, decent and compassionate. I'm lucky she said, 
``Yes,'' when I said, ``Will you marry me?''
    I'm proud to be here with Rich Kinder and Nancy. I want to thank 
them for their loyal friendship. He said, four years ago he introduced 
me. He's been introducing me for years and years and years, and I'm 
grateful for that.
    I'm proud to be here with the great Governor of the State of Texas, 
Rick Perry. He's doing a fine job for the people of Texas, all the 
people of Texas.
    We're blessed to have a great congressional delegation in 
Washington. I take great comfort in knowing that Kay Bailey Hutchison 
represents the State of Texas. She's a leader on the Senate floor. If 
you need to get anything done in the Senate, you give Kay Bailey a 
holler. [Laughter] I'm also proud that John Cornyn is representing our 
State so well in the United States Senate.
    Tom DeLay can deliver the vote. We've had a great record of 
accomplishment, working together. But make no mistake about it, this guy 
can deliver the vote in the House of Representatives, and the country is 
better off for it.
    Joe Barton is with us tonight. I want to thank Joe for coming. He's 
a Congressman from up north--that is, north of Texas. [Laughter] Kevin 
Brady is with us. Congressman Brady, thank you for coming. Congressman 
Culberson is here from the great city of Houston. I'm honored you're 
here, John. Congressman Neugebauer from Lubbock is with us today too. 
Randy, thank you for coming. You're probably wondering why the 
Congressman from Lubbock came all the way over to Houston to hear me 
speak. He heard Air Force One is flying back to Washington after the 
speech. [Laughter] I think you'll like the accommodations. [Laughter]
    I'm proud of my friend Fred Meyer for being the State finance 
chairman for the State of Texas. Thank you, Fred, and Jeanne Johnson 
Phillips. My friend Mercer Reynolds, the national finance chairman--he's 
from Cincinnati, Ohio. We let him come into Texas anyway. [Laughter] And 
he's doing a great job. I'm proud of Mercer and proud of you all, for 
all of you have worked hard, particularly this cast of characters 
sitting on the stage. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart 
for being good friends and for helping us prepare for what's going to be 
a good, strong campaign.
    I finally got an opponent. [Laughter] And I called him last Tuesday 
to congratulate him, and I told him I'm looking forward to a spirited 
campaign. It's going to be an interesting debate on the issues. He spent 
two decades in Washington, and he's built up quite a record. Senator 
Kerry has been in Washington long enough to take both sides on just 
about every issue. [Laughter] Senator Kerry voted for the PATRIOT Act, 
for NAFTA, for the No Child Left Behind Act, and for the use of force in 
Iraq. Now he opposes the PATRIOT Act, NAFTA, the No Child Left Behind 
Act, and the liberation of Iraq. My opponent clearly has strong beliefs. 
They just don't last very long. [Laughter]
    The voters have a very 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 putting these 
alternatives squarely before the American people. I look forward to this 
campaign.
    We've achieved great things the last 3 years, and I look forward to 
telling the American people that. But most importantly, we have a 
positive vision for the years ahead, a positive vision for winning the 
war against terror and for extending peace and freedom throughout our 
world, a positive vision for creating jobs and promoting opportunity and 
compassion here at home. We'll leave no

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doubt where we stand, and come November, we'll be reelected for 4 more 
years.
    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 
our economy was heading into recession. But we acted. We delivered 
historic tax relief for the American people, and now our economy is the 
fastest growing of any major industrialized nation.
    We had to confront corporate crimes that cost people their jobs and 
their savings, so we passed strong corporate reforms and made it very 
clear, 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 enemy across the world. We've captured or killed many of the 
key leaders of the Al Qaida network, and the rest 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 office, we found a military that was 
underfunded and underappreciated. We gave our military the resources and 
respect they deserve. And today, no one in the world can doubt the 
strength and the skill and the spirit of the United States military.
    When we came to office, people had gotten 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. We came to the 
Nation's Capital to get some things done for the people. We passed major 
reforms to raise the standards in public schools. We passed reforms in 
Medicare to give prescription drugs and choices to seniors. We chose to 
lead, and we have delivered for the American people.
    It is the President's job to confront problems, not to pass them on 
to future Presidents or future generations. A President must stand up, 
make tough decisions, and keep his commitments. And that is how I will 
continue to lead our great Nation. 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 hasn't offered much in the way of strategies to win the 
war or policies to expand our economy. So far all we hear from the other 
side is a lot of old bitterness and partisan anger. Anger is not an 
agenda for the future of America. I'll take on the big issues with 
optimism and resolve and determination. Dick Cheney and I will make it 
clear to this country, we are ready to lead our Nation for 4 more years.
    A big issue for every family in America is the Federal tax burden. 
With the biggest--with the largest tax relief since Ronald Reagan was 
the President, we've left more money in the hands that earned it. By 
spending and investing and helping create new jobs, the American people 
have used their money far better than the Federal Government could have.
    Because we acted, the economy is growing stronger. The economy grew 
in the second half of 2003 at the fastest rate in nearly 20 years. 
Productivity is high. Business investment is rising. Interest rates and 
inflation are low. Homeownership is at its highest rate ever. 
Manufacturing is increasing. We've added more than 350,000 new jobs over 
the last 6 months. The tax relief is working.
    My opponent has plans for those tax cuts. [Laughter] He wants to 
take them away. He will 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 this economy growing. We need fiscal 
discipline in Washington, DC. We need to protect small-business owners 
and employees from frivolous lawsuits. We need to control needless 
regulation. We need to help control the cost of health care by 
association health care plans, by health savings accounts. We need 
medical liability reform at the Federal level. This country ought to be 
opening up markets, new markets, for our farmers and ranchers and 
entrepreneurs and manufacturers. We need to pass sound energy 
legislation to modernize

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our electricity system and make this country less dependent on foreign 
sources of energy.
    My opponent talks 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. The way to create jobs is our pro-
growth, pro-entrepreneur, small business-owner economic agenda.
    This economy is changing, and people need skills. All skills start 
with education, so I worked with Congress to pass the No Child Left 
Behind Act. It's a good law. We're challenging the soft bigotry of low 
expectations. We've raised the bar for every single child. We've 
demanded accountability in our public school system. We expect the 
schools to teach our children how to read and write and add and 
subtract, so not one single child is left behind in this country.
    We have a plan to help our high school students who fall behind in 
reading and math. We've got an aggressive plan to help our community 
colleges to train the workers for the industries, the new jobs being 
created for the 21st century. Education is the gateway to a hopeful 
future, and this administration understands the gate must be open to all 
Americans.
    We're also working hard to make sure America promotes ownership. We 
promoted an ownership society in this administration. We want more 
people to own their own homes. We want people to own their own savings. 
We want more people owning their own small businesses. We want people to 
own and manage their health care plans. We want younger workers to own 
and manage their retirement under the Social Security system. We 
understand that when people have assets of their own, they gain 
independence and security and dignity and more control over their 
future. I believe in private property so much, I want every American to 
have some.
    On issue after issue, the American people have a clear choice. My 
opponent is against personal retirement accounts. He's against putting 
patients in charge of Medicare. He's against the tax relief. He seems to 
be against every idea that gives Americans more authority and more 
choices and more control over our own lives. It's the same old 
Washington mindset: They'll give the orders, and you pay the bills. 
[Laughter] I got news for the Washington crowd. America has gone beyond 
that way of thinking, and we're not going back.
    Our future also depends on America's leadership in the 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. This will not happen on my 
watch.
    This Nation is strong and confident in the cause of freedom. And 
today, no friend or enemy doubts the word of the United States. 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; the dictator now sits in a prison cell.
    September the 11th, 2001, taught a lesson I will never forget. 
America must confront threats before they fully materialize. In Iraq, my 
administration looked at the intelligence information, and we saw a 
threat. Members of Congress looked at the intelligence, and they saw a 
threat. The United Nations Security Council looked at the intelligence, 
and it saw a threat. The previous administration and Congress looked at 
the intelligence and made regime change in Iraq the policy of our 
Government, of our country. In 2002, the United Nations Security Council 
yet again demanded a full accounting of Saddam Hussein's weapons 
programs. As he had for over a decade, he chose defiance. And so I had a 
choice to make: Either 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 him from power. [Laughter] Maybe 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 Hussein's torture chambers are 
closed. Because we acted,

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Iraq's weapons programs are ended forever. Because we acted, nations 
like Libya have gotten the message and renounced their own 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. You see, they 
know that a free Iraq would be a major defeat in the cause for terror. 
That's what they know, and they're right. This collection of killers is 
trying to shake the will of America. They don't really understand our 
country. America will never be intimidated by thugs or assassins.
    We are aggressively striking the terrorists in Iraq, defeating them 
there so we do not 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 secure. We're standing with the Iraqi people as 
they assume more of their own defense and move towards self-government. 
These are not easy tasks, but they are essential tasks. We will finish 
what we have begun, and 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. [Laughter] I'm for united action, and so 
are 34 coalition partners in Iraq right now. 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. 
Just the other day, my opponent indicated that he's not comfortable 
using the word ``war'' to describe the struggle we're in. He said, ``I 
don't want to use that terminology.'' He also said the war on terror is 
far less of a military operation and far more of an intelligence-
gathering, law enforcement operation. I strongly disagree. Our Nation 
followed that 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, plotting in other 
nations, and drawing up more ambitious plans. After the chaos and 
carnage of September the 11th, it is 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.
    One very important part of this war is intelligence gathering, as 
Senator Kerry says. Yet in 1995, 2 years after the first attack on the 
World Trade Center, my opponent introduced a bill to cut the overall 
intelligence budget by $1.5 billion. His bill was so deeply 
irresponsible that he didn't have a single cosponsor in the United 
States Senate. [Laughter] Once again, Senator Kerry is trying to have it 
both ways. He's for good intelligence, yet he was willing to gut the 
intelligence services. And that is no way to lead our Nation in a time 
of war.
    Our intelligence professionals are taking great risks, and they're 
doing great work. And so are the men and women of the United States 
military. At bases across our country and the world, I have had the 
privilege--the high privilege--of meeting with those who defend our 
country and sacrifice for our security. I've seen their great decency 
and unselfish courage, and I can assure you, ladies and gentlemen, the 
cause of freedom is in good hands.
    This 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 and compassion, 
reverence and integrity. We are 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 from all 
faiths, 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.

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    We stand for a culture of life in which each 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 and 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 America from one that has said, ``If it feels good, do 
it,'' and ``If you've got a problem, blame somebody else,'' to a new 
culture in which each of us understands we are responsible for the 
decisions we make in life. If you are a mom or a dad, 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 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 this new responsibility culture, each of us 
is responsible for loving our neighbor just like we'd like to be loved 
ourselves.
    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 isn't one of those times. You and I are 
living in a period where the stakes are high, the challenges are 
difficult, the choices are clear, a time when 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. Workers in hardhats were shouting, 
``Whatever it takes.'' I remember a guy pointing 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 the security of America, whatever it takes.
    In these times, I've also been a witness to the character of this 
country. Not long ago, some had their doubts about the American 
character, our capacity to meet serious challenges or our ability 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 qualitites 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 to every part of this 
country. 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. Thank you all.

Note: The President spoke at 5:55 p.m. at the Hilton Americas. In his 
remarks, he referred to Rich and Nancy Kinder, fundraisers, Jeanne 
Johnson Phillips, Texas State finance vice chairman, and Mercer 
Reynolds, national finance chairman, Bush-Cheney '04, Inc.; Gov. Rick 
Perry of Texas; Fred Meyer, chairman, Republican National Committee 
Presidential Victory Team; and former President Saddam Hussein of Iraq.