[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 20 (Monday, May 17, 2004)]
[Pages 824-837]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks and a Question-and-Answer Session in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin

May 7, 2004

    The President. Thank you all. Thanks for coming. I better take off 
my jacket. Listen, thank you all for coming. They told me we were 
coming--please sit down. It may take a while. [Laughter] They told me I 
was coming to Cabela's, and I said, ``All right, fine. I'm looking for 
some power worms.'' [Laughter] I like to be in hunting and fishing 
country.
    I thought what I'd do is share some thoughts with you, I'd talk to 
some of the citizens of this part of the world about what life has been 
like as a small-business owner or a family trying to raise their 
children and then, if we've got time, answer some questions. And then 
we've got to get on the bus and head up the road.
    First, I want you to know I'm asking for your vote. I'm here to--it 
may seem like a little early to start. It may seem like the election is 
pretty far away. But if you really want to win, like I want to win, you 
can't start too soon. And I want you to know that my purpose after this 
is to let you know I have a reason for running. I know where I want to 
lead the country. And we've got a job to do together to make this 
country safer and stronger and better. We've got a mission together.
    Probably the best reason to put me back in there is so that Laura 
has got 4 more years as the First Lady. We were both raised in Midland, 
Texas, which is a relatively small west Texas town. And when I met her 
later on in life--we actually went to San Jacinto Junior High together 
in the seventh grade--and then when I saw her afterward, after we'd both 
gone to college and did some things, she wasn't particularly fond of 
politics or politicians. [Laughter] Fortunately, she said yes when I 
asked her to marry me, and now she is a fabulous First Lady of our 
country.
    She has come to realize what I know, that in this office that we 
both occupy, President and First Lady, that we can make an enormous 
difference in people's lives, that we can help people help themselves. 
It's such an honor to be the President of such a great country. It 
really is, and I'm so proud that Laura is standing by my side with such 
calm and dignity and love.
    I really appreciate the Cabelas for being here. You'll hear me talk 
about the entrepreneurial spirit, and, Ms. Cabela, you are a true 
entrepreneur. You had a dream. You counted on good people to help you 
realize that dream, and you built one of the great companies in America. 
And we're proud to be here at the Cabela site in this part of Wisconsin.
    And I know this: I know that if Mr. Cabela were standing up here, 
he'd say, ``Yes, I had a good idea, but it's the people that worked with 
me that have made this company grow.'' I want to thank the folks who 
work here at Cabela's for your hospitality. Thanks for letting us 
disrupt your day. [Laughter] Thanks for making sure the fishermen and 
hunters of the country have got--well-equipped.
    I'm here to ask for your help as well. I hope I give you some 
reasons to go out and turn to your fellow citizen and ask them to

[[Page 825]]

make sure they vote. I think you ought to talk to everybody from all 
political parties, people who don't even like politics. You need to tell 
them to show up and do their duty in democracy. I'd start, if I were 
you, by telling them that a President has got to put together a good 
team of people to serve the country, which is what I've done. I've 
surrounded myself with excellence, people from all walks of life, people 
from different backgrounds, people who have come to Washington, DC, to 
serve their country and not their self-interest.
    I'm running with a fabulous guy in Dick Cheney. He is a great Vice 
President of the country. I, one time, said in front of my mother, I 
said, ``Dick Cheney is the finest Vice President our country has ever 
had.'' [Laughter] She said, ``Wait a minute, buster.''
    I want to thank Steve Freese for coming. Mr. Speaker, thank you. I'm 
proud you're here. I want to thank all the other--thanks for coming 
over. I want to thank Gabe Loeffelholz for coming as well. I'm honored 
you're here. I appreciate the local officials who have come out. We had 
the mayor of Lancaster show up. We did an impromptu stop. There were 
people in the town square there, so we stopped the bus just to say hi. 
The mayor was there. I said, ``Mayor, I've got some advice for you: Fill 
the potholes.'' [Laughter] I don't know if he appreciated the advice or 
not.
    I'm here to talk about ways to make this country safer and stronger 
and better. My biggest duty and most solemn duty is to protect America 
and--from another attack. And you've just got to know there's an enemy 
out there that still hates us. September the 11th changed the country. 
It changed how we've got to look at our future. September the 11th made 
us realize that oceans would not protect us from people who would want 
to do our citizens harm.
    There are some other lessons that we must learn in order to protect 
the country: One, that we face a killer that has no conscience. The 
people of this country have a conscience. The people we face don't. 
Secondly, these are not religious people, in my judgment. These are 
people who have hijacked a great religion. This is a battle between good 
and evil. These are people that are so evil that they will kill innocent 
life, trying to shake the will of the United States of America, trying 
to get us to retreat from our duties in the world.
    There was another lesson on September the 11th, and that is, when 
the American President says something, he better mean it. I told the 
American people this is a different kind of war than we were used to. I 
have an obligation to remind the American people, no matter how painful 
it may be to some, that we're still at war. That's my duty, to remind 
people that we're--there's still danger. And remember, the enemy only 
has to be right one time, and we've got to be right 100 percent of the 
time to protect the country.
    You need to know there's a lot of really good folks that are working 
really hard to protect the homeland. We've got wonderful people in law 
enforcement at all levels of government, the local level, the State 
level, the Federal level, that are talking like they have never talked 
before, sharing intelligence like they have never shared intelligence 
before, nor were allowed to share intelligence, by the way, prior to 
September the 11th, in some cases.
    I don't know if you know this, there's a lot of talk about what they 
call the PATRIOT Act, but the PATRIOT Act was passed to allow the 
criminal division of the FBI to be able to talk and share intelligence 
with the intelligence division of the FBI. Prior to September the 11th, 
they couldn't even talk together. How could you possibly defeat an enemy 
that is able to slide in our country if you can't share intelligence 
among law enforcement?
    At any rate, there are good people working hard. We've got people 
that are doing a better job of guarding our borders and our ports. You 
know, they're making you take off your shoes at the airports. [Laughter] 
I know it's a pain, but it's necessary to do everything we can to 
protect the homeland. But the best way to protect the homeland is to 
stay on the offense and bring these killers to justice before they hurt 
us again. [Applause] Thank you.
    I told the American people that we would go on the offense and we 
would stay on the offense, that we would do so with firm determination 
and resolve. And that's what I want

[[Page 826]]

to do. If I'm fortunate enough to become your President for 4 more 
years, I will continue to lead this great Nation in utilizing every 
asset we have, not just a few or some but every single asset we have to 
protect the American people. That's our most solemn duty.
    I also said right after September the 11th that if you harbor a 
terrorist, you're just as guilty as a terrorist. I want to tell you 
something which is true about this job: When you speak you better mean 
what you say. The President has got to speak clearly so there's no 
ambiguity about what his words mean, and then when he says something, 
he's got to act on it. In order to keep the world--make the world more 
peaceful, the President must be sincere about when he says something. 
And so when I said that I was--I meant it, and we told that to the 
Taliban.
    The Taliban were these awful characters that were running 
Afghanistan. I say awful--look at the movie ``Osama,'' and you'll know 
what I'm talking about. Let me put it to you this way: They were so bad 
that they would not allow many young girls to even go to school. They 
were so backwards, so barbaric that they literally enslaved people to an 
empty ideology. And so we said, ``You're training Al Qaida. You're 
harboring Al Qaida. Give them up.'' They said no, and they're no longer 
in power. And the world is better off for it. The United States of 
America is better off for it, and so are the people of Afghanistan.
    I want you all to know that because we enforced doctrine, because we 
worked to make our own country more secure, we liberated people. People 
now have a chance to realize their dreams. Free societies are peaceful 
societies.
    A cornerstone of my vision in foreign policy is the understanding of 
the power of freedom and what freedom can mean for people. I believe 
free societies are peaceful societies. I know that where people do not 
have hope, freedom can change that. And so we have freed the people of 
Afghanistan, and a peaceful society is beginning to emerge.
    The other lesson on September the 11th that's very important to 
understand is that when we see a threat, we must not allow it to gather. 
In other words, when we see a threat, we've got to deal with it. In the 
past, if you didn't feel like you were a battlefield in the war on 
terror, you could see a threat and maybe hope that it would go away, but 
you were pretty certain it wouldn't affect you. 9/11 changed that. It's 
essential for the President of the United States to understand the 
realities we face, and the reality is that there's an enemy out there 
that is able to train and gather and equip and gets help from different 
places.
    And so I looked at the intelligence after September the 11th and saw 
a threat in Iraq. And the United States Congress looked at the very same 
intelligence, and they came to the same conclusion I did, that there was 
a threat in Iraq. I want to remember--I want to remind you of the 
history. The United Nations Security Council looked at the same 
intelligence, and they saw a threat. The Security Council saw the 
threat, and the members on the Security Council saw the threat. These 
are nations like France and Russia and other countries that looked at 
the same intelligence--Saddam's a threat. And so the world said, 
``Disarm, or face serious consequences.'' And of course, we said the 
same thing. If America says something, you better mean what you say.
    The reason why I believe that the world reacted the way they did is 
because not only did they look at the intelligence, they remembered what 
Saddam Hussein was like. He attacked countries in his own neighborhood. 
He paid terrorists to go kill innocent Israelis. In other words, he was 
funding terrorist activity. Suiciders would receive money from him. He 
had terrorist connections. And by the way, we're still seeing some of 
the people that were in Iraq, still moving in Iraq right now, a guy 
named Zarqawi--he used weapons of mass destruction against people in 
neighboring countries, and he used weapons of mass destruction against 
his own people.
    So the world remembered the history. We remembered what he was like, 
and I remembered the lessons that we learned on September the 11th. We 
saw a threat. I had a choice to make. Either trust the decision of a 
madman, a tyrant, a torturer, a hater, or to protect America. And given 
that choice, I will protect America every time. [Applause] Thank you 
all.

[[Page 827]]

    Because we acted, torture chambers are closed. Because we acted, 
countries like Libya understood we meant business, and they voluntarily 
disarmed. Because we acted, there is a democracy beginning to grow in a 
part of the world that needs freedom and hope. Because we acted, this 
man's weapons programs will never be. Because we acted, our country is 
more secure. Because we acted, the world is more free.
    We've got hard work to do in Iraq now. It's really hard work. And 
the reason it is, is because there are people who want to stop the 
advance of freedom. Freedom frightens terrorists. Freedom frightens 
people who believe that they can impose their will through acts that are 
unconscionable, through killing innocent people. That's what you're 
seeing.
    You're seeing a mixture of supporters of a young Shi'a named Sadr 
who is a--he's promoting lawlessness. You're seeing people that used to 
be loyal to Saddam Hussein who realized that there's no hope for them 
unless there's anarchy and the rule of law doesn't prevail. And you're 
seeing the influence of foreign fighters, like this guy Zarqawi. That's 
what you're seeing. You're also seeing incredibly brave action by 
American troops as we stay on the offensive.
    The enemy wants us to quit. That's what they want. The Iraqi 
citizens who long for freedom are worried that we will. See, some people 
don't want to take a risk for peace, if they think they do, and then 
they're--and then they were punished if there's not security. And the 
enemy is trying to shake our will. My job as your President is to stand 
strong. My job as your President is to be as--to show utmost 
determination in our belief that freedom will prevail, and it will 
prevail.
    I believe that freedom is embedded in everybody's soul. I believe 
people want to be free. I believe moms and dads want to raise their 
children in a peaceful environment. I believe moms and dads want their 
children to be educated and to be able to grow up and realize their 
dreams. I believe that is the aspirations of all people. I know freedom 
is not America's gift to world. Freedom is the Almighty God's gift to 
each man and woman in this world. And I believe this strong and generous 
and compassionate nation must work to continue to spread freedom, not 
only for our own security but for the sake of others who have been 
enslaved by tyrants.
    I've told the Iraqi people this, and I mean it: We will transfer 
sovereignty to the Iraqi people on June the 30th. Of course, I know 
I'm--American citizens hear, ``Well, maybe the Iraqis don't want us to 
occupy them.'' Who wants to be occupied? Nobody wants to be occupied. 
People do want to be liberated. The Iraqis want us there to help with 
their security, but they want to run their own country. And I don't 
blame them. And so on June the 30th, we'll start the--we will transfer 
sovereignty and start a process that will allow them to have elections 
in January 2005.
    The closer we come to sovereignty, the more the enemy will make us 
want to leave, and I know how hard it is. I know how hard it is for moms 
and dads who have got troops overseas. I know how hard it is for a mom 
or dad to lose a son. It's tough. And nobody in America--America suffers 
when one of us suffers, is the best way to put it. But I've told those 
mothers and dads when I've had the opportunity to see them, ``We will 
finish what we have begun. Your son or daughter will not die in vain.''
    I see we've got some troops here. I want to thank you all for 
coming. I have the duty to make sure they get what they need. When we 
put somebody in harm's way, those of us in positions of responsibility 
have the duty to make sure they've got the best possible equipment. 
That's why I asked Congress to vote for an $87 billion, what they call, 
supplemental. That just means $87 billion available, 67 of which is 
available to the troops to make sure they have the best equipment.
    I don't want to get too political here, but my opponent voted 
against it, and they asked him why. His answer was, ``I voted for the 87 
billion, right before I voted against it.'' Let me tell you something: 
This country doesn't need double talk; it needs plain talk; and it needs 
people to be able to support these troops.
    I'll just say one other thing about our troops--a couple other 
things. I told our commanders, ``Tell me how many you need on the 
ground, and you'll get it.'' This war is going to be--the decisionmaking 
part

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about what the troops need in this war is going to be made by generals, 
not politicians. The people in the Army, the Marines, and the Air Force 
will be making the decisions. The President sets the strategy. The 
President sets the goals, and our commanders on the ground tell us what 
it takes to meet those goals.
    The second thing I want to say about our military, I'm just as 
disgusted of those pictures you've seen on TV as you are. This isn't the 
America we know. Let me tell you something: Those few people have 
stained the honor of this country. They have put--they've helped paint a 
picture of the country that doesn't exist. The men and women we have 
sent into harm's way for our security and for freedom in the world are 
the finest of citizens in this country. [Applause] Thank you all. And I 
can't tell you how proud I am to be their Commander in Chief.
    I want to say one other thing about this, these horrible pictures 
and what we've seen. In a free society, we will find out the truth, and 
everybody will see the truth. In a society that is a free society, there 
will be transparency in the process. People will testify. There will be 
fair trials, if there are trials. The truth will be known. In societies 
run by tyrants, you never see the truth. You never find out the truth. 
This country honors every individual. We believe in human rights and 
human dignity, and the example we will set for the world will confirm 
that.
    Now, let me talk a little bit about how to make the country 
stronger. You make the country stronger by making sure the 
entrepreneurial spirit in this country is strong so that people can find 
work. The role of Government is to create an environment in which small 
businesses can grow to be big businesses, in which people can realize 
their dreams by starting their own business, so that people can find 
work. That's the role of Government. That's what I want to talk a little 
bit about today.
    First, I can't tell you how optimistic I am about our economy. In 
fact, we had a pretty good job increase today--just came out at 288,000 
new jobs for the month of April has just been posted. We're growing. 
That's 1.1 million jobs since last August have been created. That's 
really incredibly good news.
    When I find out people are looking for work, it troubles me. So my 
job is to work to make an environment such that people expand their 
businesses so people can work. That's what we want. We want people 
working. We want people realizing their dreams of being able to put food 
on the table for their families, and it's happening.
    But let me remind you right quick what we have overcome. I think it 
will help make these numbers even more amazing to you. This country, in 
a very brief period of time, overcame the stock market decline, starting 
in March of 2000. If you're a saver, that affected your outlook in life. 
If you're a retired citizen that has stock that you're relying upon in 
your retirement, it affects your outlook.
    Then we went to a recession. Starting in early 2001, we went through 
a recession. That means we're going backward. That means if you're a 
worker, you're wondering about whether or not you're going to keep your 
job. That means if you're a small-business owner, you're wondering 
whether it makes sense to make investment. It is a negative period.
    And then, just as we were coming out of that recession, the enemy 
hit us. I've talked to you about what it means from a foreign policy 
perspective. It also meant we lost jobs and work. It affected our 
economy. It just did. Any time your country gets attacked as 
significantly as it was, it affected the economy. We overcame that.
    Then we had another problem in our economy, one that shook the 
confidence of the American people, and that is we had some people forget 
to tell the truth. There's some corporate CEOs who fudged the numbers 
and didn't tell the truth, and it affected us. We acted on that, by the 
way. I worked with both Republicans and Democrats in Congress to pass 
tough law--tough law. The message is real clear in America. If you're in 
a position of responsibility, you behave responsibly when it comes to 
shareholders and employees, or you'll be held to account. We're not 
going to tolerate dishonesty in the boardrooms of America.
    Then of course, I've talked about my decision to go into Iraq. But 
remember, on your TV screens it said ``March to War'' during that period 
of time. That's something the

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economy had to overcome because when you read about marching to war, it 
is negative. People who are making capital decisions or decisions to 
expand take a look at that and say, ``Gosh, I'm not sure I want to 
expand if we're marching to war.'' Now we're marching to peace.
    Things have changed. Our economy is growing. It's strong, and it's 
getting stronger. Witness the numbers today. And what it really speaks 
to is the fact that the entrepreneurial spirit in this country is 
strong, that small businesses are vibrant and strong. Seventy percent of 
new jobs in America are created by small businesses. And if you've got 
your job base growing as fast as it is, it means somebody is growing the 
job base. We're going to talk to a couple of small-business owners here 
today.
    I'd like to take a little credit for the progrowth that's happening 
today because of the tax cuts. See, I believe that when you give people 
more of their own money--and notice I said ``more of their own money''--
it's not the Government money we're passing back. It's the people's 
money we take in the first place. We're going to talk about the effect 
of tax cuts on some families here. But when you've got more money in 
your pocket, you're likely to demand an additional good or a service, 
and when you demand an additional good or a service in our marketplace-
type economy, somebody will produce it. And when somebody produces the 
good or a service, somebody is more likely to keep a job or find work. 
That's just the way it works.
    The tax cuts were important economic policy. They also helped 
families because we've increased the child credit. We reduced the 
marriage penalty. My attitude about that is, why do you want to penalize 
marriage? You ought to encourage marriage and family. And we helped 
small businesses. But the tendency in politics is to focus on the now. 
My job is to focus on the future, to make sure that we're the most 
competitive place to do business in the world. In other words, it's a 
good place to do business so that the job base expands. So the question 
is: What do we need to do to make sure we're the leader in the world?
    Let me tell you a couple ideas. I want to talk about one other 
thing, and then I'm going to talk to some of our citizens here.
    First, I believe there needs to be certainty in the Tax Code. We 
should not raise the taxes on the American people right now, in order to 
keep this economy growing, and it's an issue in the campaign. I'm 
telling you, it's an issue. We've been counting the number of new 
promises the fellow I'm running against is making. He's up to $1.9 
trillion so far, of new promises. And we got a long way to go in the 
campaign. Pretty easy to stand up in front of people and say, ``Well, I 
promise you this, and I'll spend that,'' and then it begins to mount up 
after a while. So the question is, how is he going to pay for it?
    And the answer--his answer, of course, is taxing rich people, but 
the problem is there's not enough tax revenue to be generated to pay for 
$1.9 trillion worth of new spending by taxing rich people. And so 
there's a tax gap, and I'll you how he's going to fill the tax gap. You 
get to fill the tax gap. In order to fulfill the promises, the only way 
he can do so is to tax the hard-working people of America. The good news 
is, we're not going to let him do it.
    Right quick, let me tell you how you have a vision--how you 
implement a vision to make sure people can find work. One, education 
matters a lot. We got to make sure our children learn to read and write 
and add and subtract early so that they're better able--this No Child 
Left Behind Act I've signed is good, really good. I'll tell you why: It 
raises the bar. We spent more money at the Federal level for Title I 
kids, and for the first time the Federal Government says, ``Please show 
us whether or not the children can read and write and add and 
subtract.'' If they can't, we'll find out early and get the kids extra 
help. If they can, we'll praise the teachers for doing the work that we 
expect them to do. If the curriculum works, we'll find out. If it 
doesn't work, we'll find out.
    We'll find out a lot through making sure that the facts are known as 
to whether or not children are learning. The way to make sure you 
challenge the soft bigotry of low expectations is to raise the bar and 
measure and correct problems early, before they're too late.

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    A second challenge for education is, is that technology races 
through our economy. It's one of the facts of the 21st century. There's 
new technologies happening all the time. Take the health care field. 
It's changing dramatically in a very rapid period of time. And there's a 
lot of communities looking for health care workers, but a lot of times, 
the worker doesn't have the skill necessary to fill the job. And so 
we've got to be really wise about how we use places like the community 
college system, to make sure that they match willing workers with people 
looking for work, with the skills necessary for the jobs for the 21st 
century. By reeducating people for the jobs which actually exist, we 
also increase the productivity level of the workforce. And a more 
productive workforce is a workforce that makes more money.
    Let me give you an example. I've been to a lot of community colleges 
around the country because I believe so deeply in their value, and 
they're important. Again, the economy changes, and we're in a period of 
change now, and we better make sure the workforce has got the skills to 
change with it. And so I met a lady in Mesa Community College in 
Arizona, and she was telling me her story. She went back and got an 
associate's degree with a high-tech emphasis. And she had been a graphic 
design artist and, after 12 years, she was making X number of dollars, 
went back to the community college--and by the way, there's money 
available to help people. There's trade adjustment assistance. There's 
Pell grants. There's money, and that's good. The Federal Government 
wants to help retrain people.
    And she got retrained, and she made more money in her level entry 
job, having gotten an associate's degree, than she made after 12 years 
of being a graphic artist. In other words, going back to school makes 
the citizen more productive, and they make more money.
    Secondly, there's a lot of talk about trade. When you're good at 
something, you want to promote it. And we're in farm country here. We're 
really good about growing things in America. We've got the best farmers 
in the world. We've got the most productive--and where we're from, we 
think we're pretty good about raising cows. [Laughter] But if you're 
good at it, you want to open up markets rather than close markets. Farm 
income is strong now. A lot of it has to do with the fact that we're 
selling more farm product overseas than ever before. Trade policy needs 
to be confident, not pessimistic, in the ability for Americans to 
compete.
    Most Presidents have opened up our markets for other countries. 
That's good for consumers. If you've got more product from which to 
choose, you're likely to get a better price and better quality. In other 
words, the more choice you get, the more that people will meet demand 
with better product at a price you can afford.
    But the problem is, other countries haven't responded. And so rather 
than becoming economic isolationists, for the sake of long-term job 
growth, this country must say, ``Treat us like we treat you.'' With a 
level playing field, we can compete with anybody, anyplace, anywhere. 
Good trade policy is necessary to make sure jobs exist not only in the 
short term, in the long term.
    We need to make sure we do something about the cost of health care. 
I'm for health savings accounts, association health care plans, and 
medical liability reform at the Federal level so that health care costs 
make it--don't make it impossible for small businesses to continue to 
employ people.
    Two other quick points, then one other point. [Laughter] Laura said, 
``Keep it short. The bus might leave.'' [Laughter] She's been hearing me 
give a lot of speeches for a long time, which means she's a pretty 
patient lady.
    We need tort reform. If you're a businessowner, somebody expanding 
the job base of small business, a frivolous or junk lawsuit makes it 
awfully hard on you as a businessperson. Remember, jobs are created when 
businesses expand. And if people are afraid to risk capital, which is 
how you expand, because of a junk lawsuit, it makes it very hard. We 
need justice in America. But we've got to make sure the justice--the 
scales of justice are balanced and fair.
    And finally, it is very important for us to have an energy policy in 
America. We've got to increase supply in this country. We have got to--
we've got to utilize--of course, we want to work on the demand side by 
encouraging conservation. That's important. And

[[Page 831]]

we've got things in the bill that will encourage conservation. But you 
can't conserve your way to a lack of dependence on foreign sources of 
energy. You've also got to increase supply so that you don't have to 
rely upon foreign sources of energy. And one of the things we've got in 
the energy bill is the continued expansion of the use of soybeans and 
corn to diversify the energy supply. It makes a lot of sense to do so.
    I'm a supporter of biodiesel and ethanol because I understand the 
practicality of it. At some point in time, we're going to say, ``Gosh, 
the yields on corn are real good, and now we're less dependent.'' We 
need clean coal technology. We've got a lot of coal. We need to expand 
clean coal technology. We need--in my judgment, we need to have a safe 
nuclear energy program in order to expand. We need to be drilling for 
natural gas in environmentally friendly ways. What I'm telling you is, 
in order to make sure that we're a good place to do business, so we can 
expand the job base, we need to become less reliant on foreign sources 
of energy.
    The other strategy is to make America a better place. The Government 
can help, but Government is not love. Government is justice and law. 
Love comes from the hearts and souls of citizens. And that is--which is 
the true strength of the country, by the way. We talk about our 
military, and it's an important part of our strength, and we'll keep you 
strong. We talk about our wealth, and that's an important part of our 
strength, and we want to continue to expand our economy. The true 
strength of this country is the hearts and souls of the American 
citizens.
    Let me tell you what I mean by that. That happens--the strength 
happens when somebody takes time out of their life to love somebody who 
hurts. In the land of plenty, there are people who are--who hurt. There 
are people who are addicted, people who are homeless, people who are 
hungry. And the best way to cure that aspect of our society's ills is to 
rally the armies of compassion. See, society can and does change one 
heart, one soul at a time.
    I want to be your President for 4 more years, not only to keep the 
country safe and stronger but to continue to rally the spirit of 
America, to call upon our fellow citizens to heed the universal call, 
the call of all religions, to love your neighbor just like you'd like to 
be loved yourself.
    You know what I'm talking about. You know how societies can change. 
You've seen what happens in your communities when people take it upon 
themselves to help those who hurt, to build a home for the homeless 
through Habitat for Humanity, who take time out to instill values in Boy 
Scouts and Girl Scouts. You've seen what it's like when people say, 
``I'm going to be a coach in a Little League to help a kid learn a team 
sport and, at the same time, sportsmanship.'' You know what it means 
when you've seen church groups come together and say, ``Let's go feed 
this family that hurts.'' You have seen what happens when the great 
compassion of this country wells up and starts saving lives. The 
strength of this country lies in the hearts and souls of our fellow 
citizens, which makes us such a fabulous nation.
    I've asked some folks to come today. Paul Darley is a small-business 
owner, W.S. Darley. He is the president and chief operating officer.
    Tell us what you do.
    Paul Darley. Our company is a 96-year-old family business. We 
manufacture firefighting equipment, specifically firetrucks, fire pumps, 
that we distribute all over America and around the world.
    The President. Based right here?
    Mr. Darley. We're based in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. We just last 
year built a $3.8 billion plant. And additionally, we bought equipment 
worth over $1 million, which we were able to do as a result of the tax 
relief that took place over the last 2 years.
    The President. One of the important parts of the tax relief that I 
hope people understand is this: Most small businesses, like this good 
man's business, pay tax at the individual income-tax level. A lot of 
citizens don't know that. But if you're a Subchapter S corporation or a 
sole proprietorship, you pay tax at the individual income-tax level. So 
when you heard us talking about reducing individual income taxes, not 
only, obviously, did it affect citizens, it affects small businesses. 
And so when you hear people say, ``We're going to tax the rich by 
running up some of those income taxes,'' they're taxing small

[[Page 832]]

businesses. It's important for people to understand that.
    The other thing we did was we helped with what they call bonus 
depreciation. In other words, if you make an investment, you get to 
deduct more money. In other words, there was an incentive in the Tax 
Code.
    So what did you do with the money? You built a----
    Mr. Darley. We built a new $3 million plant. We also built about a 
million dollars' worth of equipment. But additionally, we were able to 
take that money, through less--because we had less dividends to pay out 
because our tax burden was less, we were able to reinvest that money 
back into our business. We were able to create jobs. We were able to 
train our employees. We were able to compete in a global environment.
    The President. Yes. See, when he builds something, like expands his 
plant--I think he needed to add employees?
    Mr. Darley. We did.
    The President. So when you hear--the reason I bring this up is when 
you hear that tax relief encourages investment--there's two aspects to 
investment--two effects of investment. First, when he buys equipment, 
new equipment, somebody has got to make it, right? If somebody makes 
it--some business makes it, some laborer who is making the product for 
the business is more likely to keep a job, or if the demand is greater, 
they'll add jobs to make the new equipment, orders for new equipment.
    Secondly, when he says he's invested in his company because of the 
tax incentives, he's got to have people to work that additional plant 
and equipment. So when you hear ``investment equals jobs,'' that's how 
it works. He makes a decision. Somebody produces the product for him, 
and as he expands his business, he hires new people.
    Is that what happened? So how many people did you hire last year?
    Mr. Darley. I think 24 in the last 2 years and then, additionally, 9 
since the beginning of January this year, and we plan to hire 14 or 15 
more in the next 7 months.
    The President. That's good news. It's good news if you're somebody--
thank you, Paul.
    There's a lot of small businesses like Paul's, a lot of companies. 
See, the entrepreneurial spirit is strong. You heard him say, ``I'm 
thinking about hiring 14 more.'' There's a lot of people out there 
feeling the same way now. That's really encouraging.
    And so the key is whether or not the the workforce is trained to be 
able to do the jobs he's looking for. You heard him say, ``I took some 
of the savings so that we could train workers.'' There's all kinds of 
ways workers get trained. I mentioned the community college, but a lot 
of times, businesses train their own workers too. And tax relief has 
helped make his workforce more productive.
    I want to thank you for hanging in there. Thanks for expanding your 
business.
    Jim Hutchison is with us as well. Jim is the owner--when did you 
start your business, and what does it do?
    Jim Hutchison. 1994. And first of all, thank you for coming to 
Prairie du Chien, Mr. President.
    The President. Well, I'm glad to be here.
    Mr. Hutchison. We started in 1994.
    The President. Thanks for the excuse of getting out of Washington. 
[Laughter]
    Mr. Hutchison. And it's a nice drive for you too.
    The President. It's beautiful. It really is--a little different from 
Midland, Texas--[laughter]--which is flat and in the desert. Go ahead.

[Mr. Hutchison, owner, Prairie Industries, made brief remarks.]

    The President. Did you start this?
    Mr. Hutchison. I started it in 1994. We started with seven people.
    The President. How did you think of it?
    Mr. Hutchison. Well, I heard some people from the 3M company were 
shipping a lot of work out of the area. They didn't have anyone to 
package for them. And I was able to get an interview with them. I 
thought it would last 15 minutes. It lasted 4 hours. And 300 people 
later, here we are.
    The President. That's in 10 years. Good. I don't want to hog the 
spotlight, but the entrepreneurial spirit--you just heard it. He just 
defined what that means. The guy had a dream. He said, ``I can do 
something better than that which was being done. Give me

[[Page 833]]

a chance to compete.'' And the key is for policy to encourage those 
dreams to go on, for people to say, ``Look, with a good idea and hard 
work, I can achieve a dream.''
    Go ahead.

[Mr. Hutchison made further remarks.]

    The President. Sixty employees this year--see, it's happening. 
Here's an optimistic guy. He stands in front of the President and the 
cameras and people and says, ``Look, I'm optimistic. I'm growing my 
business. I want to compete, and I'm investing so I can become more 
productive.'' That's how the economy works. Good tax policy encourages 
this.
    By the way, if the Congress doesn't act on some of this tax policy, 
the taxes go up. And to me, if the taxes start going up at this point, 
it changes the attitude of those who are risking capital. So I've told 
you we don't need to be raising taxes right now. I'm trying to put a 
face as to why we don't need to. See, it's one thing for me to stand up 
there and say it. They'll say, ``Sure, he's running for office.'' But 
the reason--I have a reason to say it, and these small-business owners 
helped me make the case.
    Thank you both for coming. I'm proud of your entrepreneurial spirit. 
Good job, real good.
    Christine and Mark Seeley are with us. I'm proud you all are here. 
They're a family of--they got three kids. And the reason I've asked them 
to come, along with the Hendricksons, is so that people can hear what 
tax relief has meant to their life. Again, it's easy for us to spew 
numbers in Washington, but tax relief affects people in such positive 
ways that it's important for people who don't agree with the tax relief 
or are willing to take--raise the taxes on people to understand the 
consequences. And that's why they're here.
    First of all, what do you do?
    Mark Seeley. I'm an athletic trainer with Prairie du Chien Memorial 
Hospital right here in town.
    The President. Good. My knee hurts. [Laughter]
    Mr. Seeley. See me afterwards. [Laughter]
    The President. Yes.
    Mr. Seeley. And Christine is a stay-at-home mom.
    The President. That's good. Congratulations.
    Christine Seeley. Thank you.
    The President. Because we raised the child credit, expanded the 10-
percent--reduced--created a 10-percent bracket, and relieved the 
marriage penalty, this couple saved 2,200?--$2,200 in '03 and in '04. 
That may not seem like a lot to people who are throwing around a lot of 
zeroes in Washington, but I bet--well, I'll let them tell you if it 
means anything to them. I'm like--I'm not a lawyer, you'll be happy to 
hear, but I realize I'm leading the witness. [Laughter] Tell us about 
the money.
    Mr. Seeley. Well, what we were able to do with that refund is 
basically invest it right back into our house. We were having a couple 
issues with some leaky roofs, so we hired a couple----
    The President. Right. Pretty hard to raise a family with a leaky 
roof.
    Mr. Seeley. That's right. You have to keep the roof over their 
heads, so we hired a couple of contractors to come in and repair our 
roof. And that's where that money went.
    The President. Good. Somebody had to come over. In other words, you 
got the relief, and you said, ``We better get on the phone and call 
Joe's Roofing Company.'' Is that who it was? [Laughter]
    Mr. Seeley. Randy Jones Construction.
    The President. Randy. All right, here's Jones' chance. Did you do a 
good job? Did he do a good job?
    Mrs. Seeley. Oh, fabulous.
    Mr. Seeley. Yes, he did a great job.
    The President. Great job. Good. I don't know where Jones is. If he's 
listening, he just got a plug for business. Anyway, he came over. I 
presume he didn't do it by himself.
    Mr. Seeley. No, he had actually two other crew members, and then we 
had another company that put on some rubber roofing in back of the 
house. And I think they employed--had four guys with them.
    The President. Yes. Let me tell you what happens if Congress doesn't 
act. These folks pay a $1,000 tax increase, see? That's the debate in 
Washington. You're hearing this debate about whether to make the tax 
relief

[[Page 834]]

permanent. That's not the way to look at it. The way to look at it is, 
if Congress doesn't act, instead of $2,200, they're going to be $1,000 
less than that. It's like a tax increase. That's $1,000 less money in 
their pocket. I like to remind people that this economy is cranking and 
beginning to grow because the people have spent their money far better 
than the Government would have.
    Now that you've got the floor, you can say anything you want. 
[Laughter] Thanks for coming.
    Mr. Seeley. Thank you.
    The President. Glad you're here. I appreciate you taking time out of 
your life. Where are the little ones? Are they here?
    Mr. Seeley. They couldn't make it.
    The President. They're at home?
    Mrs. Seeley. Yes.
    The President. Too little.
    Mrs. Seeley. Yes.
    The President. Afraid the President would speak too long. [Laughter] 
I understand.
    Tina and Mike Hendrickson are with us as well. Oh, there they are. 
Good. Thank you all for coming. They are--what do you do, Michael?
    Michael Hendrickson. I work for the highway county department.
    The President. Good. So when I said, ``Fill the potholes,'' you knew 
what I'm talking about. [Laughter]
    Mr. Hendrickson. That's right.
    The President. I wasn't speaking to you. I was speaking to the 
decisionmaker. Maybe you are the decisionmaker?
    Mr. Hendrickson. No, I get told to go fill the potholes. [Laughter]
    The President. That's right. And Tina is a worker.
    Tina Hendrickson. Yes, I work at Prairie Industries. I'm a warehouse 
manager.
    The President. Thank you. Great. Thanks for coming. I'm proud you're 
both here. They've got two young children. So when we increased the 
child credit to $1,000, it affected them. And they're married, and so 
we've reduced the marriage penalty--it affected them, and so did the 
expansion of the 10-percent bracket, all of which will go away next year 
unless Congress acts.
    The tax savings were?
    Mr. Hendrickson. I forget--$3,000, something like that.
    The President. Less.
    Mrs. Hendrickson. 1,900.
    The President. 1,900--well, 1,900 here, 3,000 there. [Laughter] And 
so what--how does it affect you? What do you do? When you get a $1,900 
check, less taxes, how does it affect your thinking?
    Mrs. Hendrickson. A lot. Well, we've been able to start saving for 
college for the kids.
    The President. Good.
    Mrs. Hendrickson. That's a plus.
    The President. Doing their duty as a mom or a dad, taking that extra 
money, it makes it easier for them to fulfill their obligations. And I 
appreciate that.
    What else?
    Mrs. Hendrickson. We went to St. Louis in April--short vacation.
    The President. Good. And I presume--you stayed in a motel, or what?
    Mrs. Hendrickson. Yes.
    The President. Yes. So the clerk at the motel was able to keep a 
job, because if the motel was empty, there wouldn't be a need to have a 
clerk.
    Yes, thank you all for coming. I'm glad you're here.
    The reason why--this tax relief affected people. It increases their 
confidence about the future. It enables them to better raise their 
families. These people are working hard to raise their two sons. They're 
thinking about, ``How can we put money aside for college,'' which is a 
vital part of the duty of being a parent, isn't it? And you want your 
children to be able to realize their dreams, and college is an important 
part of it. The tax relief matters, and Congress does not need to be 
raising the taxes on these people.
    The reason I've asked them to come, both small business and 
individuals to come is, I hope it helps you better understand the 
progrowth package, how it works, and the philosophy behind the decisions 
we made.
    I think I've got a little time to answer some questions. This is 
called ``Ask George Bush,'' so you might as well start asking so at 
least we fulfill the promise of the program's name. But I'll be glad to 
answer--ask some questions.

[[Page 835]]

    Yes, what have you got? This is a written question. [Laughter] This 
isn't exactly off the top of your head, is it? [Laughter]
    Q. I was afraid I couldn't read my own writing, so I did go ahead 
and type it. [Laughter]
    The President. Are you a doctor?

Religious Freedom

    Q. No, I'm not. [Laughter] Mr. President, as a member of the local 
clergy of this city, I'm appalled at the different lengths of political 
correctness that has affected religious rights in Canada, Australia, 
France, and other European nations. Laws are being passed to limit 
offensive speech. If reelected, what will your administration do to the 
rights--to help the rights of conservative Christians so that courts in 
America can't limit our free speech when it comes to offensive speech 
toward different groups?
    The President. Yes. Look, here's the thing. Freedom to speak is a 
valuable part of our country, and a President has got to protect that. 
People ought to be allowed to speak the way you want to speak, but there 
are limits. And it is very important for our society to work with those 
that push the limits without abridging anybody else's freedom to speak.
    Let me talk about freedom of religion as well, which is an 
incredibly important part of our society. My job as the President is to 
make sure--this may get to your question, by the way, besides speech--an 
incredibly important part about what you're asking is, can people 
worship freely as well? Yes. That's the part of the job of the 
President, is to make sure that people can worship any way they want--
any way they want. And they can choose any religion they want, or they 
can choose no religion. You see, you're just as big a patriot--as good a 
patriot as the next fellow if you choose not to worship. It's your 
choice to make. And the freedom of this country is that you can choose 
to do any way you want. And it's important that we keep that freedom 
real and intact.
    I happen to believe that it would be very difficult to be the 
President without believing. I believe that--I know it's been an 
important part of my Presidency. And I appreciate the fact--but what I'm 
answering to you is, is that we've got to be very careful about 
tampering with freedoms in America, the freedom to speak or the freedom 
to worship. It is the thing that sets us apart from other parts of the 
world, that people can come to this country and express themselves the 
way they see fit.
    Obviously, there's a line to cross when it comes to speech. That's 
been a difficult challenge for our country, to figure out where it is 
and where it isn't. You know, sometimes on TV, there are things you 
don't want to see. But that's why you put an off-on button on there. You 
just kind of turn it off. You don't have to watch it. You can also pay 
attention--and there are other things we can do to make it easier for 
parents to make sure their children aren't watching garbage. And there 
are things you can do on the Internet to make sure that garbage doesn't 
get in your living room. But it's very important that we remain a 
country of free speech and free religion.
    Anybody else got something? Yes, ma'am.

Steel Industry/International Economy

    Q. Hi. I'm from LaCrosse. My name is Karen Heffner. My husband and I 
own a small steel fabricating business.
    The President. Oh, good.
    Q. I know. You'd like that one, right? [Laughter]
    The President. Well, first of all, I'm glad you own a business. How 
long have you owned it?
    Q. Since '92.
    The President. Good.
    Q. And we have been growing steadily too. We started with about six 
employees--but a couple of setbacks along the way. I just want to know--
my question is, with the steel market so volatile, what can we do to 
help stabilize that and all the construction trade?
    The President. Yes. She is referring to the fact that the price of 
steel, which was very low at one point, is now higher. And the reason 
why is, is because the world's economies are beginning to grow. For a 
period of time, the world was in recession. We were recession--in 
recession, and other countries were. And all of a sudden, the world is 
beginning

[[Page 836]]

to come out of its recession. There's a cyclicality to economies, and 
the cycle is now coming on an upswing.
    In a country like China, it's really booming, and they're absorbing 
a lot of the supply of steel in the world, which is, in fact--I believe 
you're referring to the price of steel getting higher, which is making 
it more difficult for you to work. I believe that the higher price of 
steel will serve as an incentive for people to produce more steel, and 
that--it's a price-driven industry, as you know, and that as people 
produce more steel, it should take--relieve the pressure.
    It's just like what's happening in the energy markets today. For a 
while, there was excess supply because the world's demand was depressed. 
And now the world is growing, very much like the steel prices. And by 
the way, I'm sure the energy prices affects your business too, I would 
think, which is high and hard to deal with, I fully recognize. We're 
seeing it at the gasoline pumps as well, and that's not positive for 
American consumers and American people.
    It has to do with the fact that the demand is increasing relative to 
supply and that when you get these countries beginning to grow and 
they're not very fuel-efficient to begin with, like China, they're 
taking a lot of world oil off the market in order for their economy to 
grow, and it's affecting our prices.
    That's why we need an energy bill. That's why we need to be 
diversified. I believe there will be an increase in fuel supply in 
response to price, which would make it--which would then begin to ease 
off.
    About 3 years ago, if I'm not mistaken, the price of your product 
was significantly different than it is today. And I guess what I'm 
telling you is you're going through a rough cycle. But I don't think the 
Government policy can say, ``Okay, fine''--you know, make people go out 
and produce more product to relieve the price. I think the market is 
going to have to adjust to do that.
    And I also suspect you're a little nervous about reliability of 
electricity. I hear from small manufacturers all the time, and a part of 
the energy bill that's stuck in the Congress, by the way--I've been 
trying to get it moving for the good of the country. It's stuck. Part of 
it is to make sure that our electricity systems are modern, that the 
electricity systems have got maximum reliability standards from these 
sellers of electricity as well as modern ways to attract capital to 
expand the electricity systems and modernize them.
    That was a very good question on steel. Commodity prices go up and 
down, and the thing that our country must not do, as I mentioned to you, 
in response to economic conditions, is wall ourselves off from the rest 
of the world. I think it would be a terrible mistake to become isolated 
from the rest of the world. Economic isolationism is pessimistic, and it 
does not lead to a hopeful future. Again, I'm going to repeat what I 
said about not becoming isolated from the rest of the world. If you're 
good at something, and we're very good at things, with a level playing 
field we can compete. And as we compete, people are more likely to find 
a job.
    Anybody got anything? Yes, ma'am.

Education

    Q. I'm an eighth grade teacher and----
    The President. First, thanks for teaching.
    Q. You're welcome. Typically, when I'm discussing education policy 
and, specifically, funding with my colleagues, I'm pretty much in the 
minority with a conservative view. What can I tell my colleagues that 
the Bush administration is pro-education?
    The President. Sure. You can tell them we've increased Title I--
elementary and secondary education spending since I've been in office, 
from 2001 to today, by over 47 percent. That's a healthy increase in 
spending. On the other hand, I believe that spending--the Federal 
Government ought not to try to run the schools. I believe the best 
spending decisions are made by State and local people.
    I believe the ratio between the Federal Government and the State and 
local people is a good ratio, something about 94 to 6 or 93 to 7 
percent--7 percent coming from the Federal Government. We're more than 
happy to encourage spending. I just want to make sure that the spending 
works.
    And so you can tell the folks that our approach has changed, 
literally changed how people--what people--not what people can do with 
the money but what they must achieve with the money. You notice I used

[[Page 837]]

the word ``achieve.'' In other words, we expect results. If you don't 
measure, if you don't get--if you don't ask for results, it is likely 
you won't get results or at least you won't know. How do you know--tell 
your friends, how can you possibly know whether or not a child can read 
unless you're willing to measure?
    Secondly, tell your friends that when we find--in the No Child Left 
Behind Act, early on when we discover that a child doesn't have the 
tools necessary to read, he or she gets extra help. Third, that if a 
school perpetually fails, parents get different options in order to make 
sure that people respond to the moms and dads and to the needs of the 
children.
    We've got a really good record on public education. And the No Child 
Left Behind Act is a strong piece of legislation which I believe will 
make the public school systems work better, not worse.
    What else? Yes, sir.

Support for the President

    Q. I don't have a question, sir. I just wanted to thank you. I 
served in the United States Air Force for 10 years. I just love the love 
that you have for our troops and admiration you have for our troops, and 
I salute you.
    The President. Thank you, sir.
    Q. ----and the First Lady as well.
    The President. Thank you. I appreciate that. Thanks for saying that.
    I'm a fellow who knows a good exit line. [Laughter] We're getting on 
the bus and heading up the road. I want to thank you all for coming. I 
hope you've enjoyed this as much as I have. I'm glad to get out of the 
Nation's Capital and come and be with you all. I've really enjoyed our 
dialog and our discussion. I hope you can tell I have a reason why I 
want to be your President for 4 more years. I hope you can tell I'm 
counting on you to go to your neighbors and let them know I have a 
reason. And I hope you can tell I'm incredibly optimistic and hopeful 
about the future of this country, because I understand the strength of 
this country is the people who live in America.
    May God bless you all, and may God continue to bless our country. 
Thanks for coming.

Note: The President spoke at approximately 1:40 p.m. at Cabela's 
Distribution Center. In his remarks, he referred to Richard N. Cabela, 
chairman and director, Cabela's Inc., and his wife, Mary; Wisconsin 
State Representatives Stephen J. Freese and Gabe Loeffelholz; Mayor 
Jerry Wehrle of Lancaster, WI; senior Al Qaida associate Abu Musab Al 
Zarqawi; Muqtada Al Sadr, Iraqi Shiite cleric whose militia engaged in 
an uprising in Iraq in early April; and former President Saddam Hussein 
of Iraq. The transcript released by the Office of the Press Secretary 
also included the remarks of the First Lady, who introduced the 
President. This item was not received in time for publication in the 
appropriate issue.