Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40 Issue 33 (Monday, August 16, 2004)

[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 33 (Monday, August 16, 2004)]
[Pages 1567-1575]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks to the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America
in Las Vegas, Nevada

August 12, 2004

The President. Thank you all. Thank you all very much. Thank you all
very much for coming. Thanks for the warm welcome. It's good to be back
here in Nevada.
Audience member. We love you!
The President. Thank you. I want to thank Doug and the good folks
here in this training facility for welcoming us. I appreciate your smart
work and your hard work and your dedication to helping our fellow
citizens gain the skills necessary to be able to find work.
And I just want to talk a little bit about the importance of
education, but the reason I'm so grateful that the Carpenters have been
so hospitable here is that this is an example of what works. That's what
we're interested in in life; we're interested in finding things that
work and heralding them. And I want to thank Doug for your leadership.
I'm not the only Bush who's recently been in Las Vegas. You might
remember my wife was back here recently. She went on the Leno show the
next night. [Laughter] She said something along the lines, what happens
in Vegas stays in Vegas. [Laughter] I was interested in hearing her say
that. [Laughter]
She's doing great, by the way. I was a lucky fellow when she said
yes. And she's a wonderful First Lady and great mom. I'm going to meet
up with her here in a little bit to continue our journey throughout the
West.
Really what I'm doing is traveling around, letting the people know
that I'm interested in earning your vote. I really believe that a person
running for office--I'm also interested in letting people know I've got
more to do to make this country a better place, a stronger place, and a
safer place. And I appreciate the chance to come and talk about my
vision for the future of this country here.
I want to thank Doug, and I also want to thank his brother Mike. I'm
not sure which one of them is prettier. [Laughter] But they're both
smart, and they're both good Americans.
I want to thank Dale Shoemaker for his leadership here. I want to
thank Doug Banes and Andy Silins, Bill Irwin. These are all folks who
make this facility work well--appreciate your hospitality. It's great to
meet the workers from all around our country.
I went to the facility next door where Doug and his folks are
training people how to work on these big GE engines, and there's people
from Fort Smith, Arkansas, and southern Indiana, and a fellow from
McAllen, Texas. People from all around the country are here to gain the
skills necessary to be able to work and put food on the table. And
again, that's why I'm here. This is a program that works.
I want to thank my friend the Governor, Kenny Guinn, for coming out
to say hello. I appreciate him being here. Congressman Jon Porter--he's
a good fellow, a really good fellow, and I appreciate him coming out.
Congressman Jim Gibbons--he's from northern Nevada.
I know we got members of the Nevada National Guard, First Squadron,
221st Calvary. I appreciate you being here. Thanks for your service.
I told you one of the things I'm working on is to make the country a
better country. See, I know the strength of the country is

[[Page 1568]]

the hearts and souls of the citizens. Right here in Nevada, you've got a
lot of loving citizens who are willing to help neighbors in need.
When I landed today, I met a fellow named Mike Peschl. Where are
you, Mike? There he is. Thank you for coming, Mike. Here's what Mike
does. Mike has now worked on his 34th home for Habitat for Humanity. It
is a--he spends every Saturday at a Habitat building site. What he is
doing is helping to transform America one heart and one soul at a time.
He knows what I know, that there's nothing better at a Habitat site to
work with the eventual homeowner. And that accomplishes two things. One,
it shows somebody, somebody cares about them. That's what Mike works--
Mike is loving a neighbor like he'd like to be loved himself. You know
what else it does? It encourages an ownership society in America. We
want more people owning things. We want more people owning their own
home in this country.
We'll continue rallying the armies of compassion all across the
country. See, I understand Government can hand out money, but it cannot
put hope in a person's heart or sense of purpose in a person's life.
That's done when people have heard a call and are willing to put an arm
around somebody who is lonely or hurts or is addicted and says, ``I love
you, brother or sister. What can I do to help you?'' America will
change. America will change one soul at a time.
The stronger America is an America where people can find work. And I
was obviously concerned about our country after a recession. That means
people weren't working. It means we were going backwards.
Of course, we started to recover from that recession, and then we
got attacked, and that hurt our economy. Make no mistake about it, the
attacks of September the 11th hurt. We had some corporate scandals. That
hurt. And we've got people who don't tell the truth, it begins to shake
the confidence of our economy. We dealt with these situations. I'm going
to talk a little bit about the war later on, but we passed laws that say
to our corporate citizens, ``You will be held to account if you do not
tell the truth to your shareholders and your employees.''
We've overcome the obstacles. You know why? We've got great workers.
We've got productive, hard-working people in America. We've overcome
these obstacles because the entrepreneurial spirit is strong, the small-
business sector of our economy is alive and well. We have overcome these
obstacles because our farmers and ranchers are good. We've overcome
these obstacles because we refuse to be intimidated. The spirit of
America is strong, and our economy is strong as well.
I also believe one of the reasons that we have overcome these
obstacles is because we provided well-timed tax relief to the small
businesses and the workers of America. If a construction worker has got
more money in his pocket, he's going to demand an additional good or a
service. And when they demand that additional good or a service,
somebody has to produce the good or a service. And when somebody
produces a good or a service, somebody is more likely to keep a job or
find work. That's how the economy works. That's why the tax relief was
important.
We also helped people with families. If you're working and you've
got a child, we helped you raise that child by raising the child credit.
If you're married, we helped you with the marriage penalty. Let me--it's
a backward Tax Code, isn't it, when you penalize marriage? We ought to
be encouraging marriage in our country.
We helped our small businesses.
Listen, this economy is strong, it's getting stronger, there's still
work to be done. I mean, think about it, the unemployment rate in this
State is at 4.2 percent. People are working in Nevada. People can make a
living in this State. National unemployment rate is at 5.5 percent.
We're the strongest economy in the world amongst industrialized nations.
But there's more to do. In order to keep jobs here at home, we need
an energy policy in America to make us less dependent on foreign sources
of energy. In order to keep jobs at home, we ought to be confident about
our ability to compete in the world.
There's some economic isolationists that want to wall us off. I
think that's a mistake. Listen, we've opened up our markets. It's good
for American consumers when there's

[[Page 1569]]

more products coming in for people to choose from. That's how you get
better quality at better price. What I'm asking is for other countries
to treat us the way we treat them, because we can compete with anybody,
anyplace, anywhere in the world.
In order to make sure jobs stay here, we got to have health care
policies that make it more affordable for people to have health
insurance. Most small businesses have trouble affording health
insurance. Large businesses are fine. It's the small-business sector
that is having trouble providing health insurance for our fellow
citizens. And therefore, I think small businesses ought to be allowed to
pool risk across jurisdictional boundaries so they can get the same
discounts for health insurance that big companies get.
Listen, we're going to use technology to help change health care to
make it more efficient, to cut down on mistakes, and to help control
costs. I mean, the health care industry needs to become modernized. It
needs to welcome technology so that it can be a more efficient deliverer
of services. We've got to make sure that the patient and doctor are
central to the decisionmaking processes in health care, not Federal
bureaucrats. That's why I'm for health savings accounts, which are
important.
We'll make sure the Medicare modernization bill I signed works,
gives seniors choices and prescription drug coverage. We'll continue to
provide community health centers for the poorest of our citizens. And to
make sure that health care is available and affordable, we need medical
liability reform. You know what I'm talking about in Nevada when it
comes to medical liability reform. [Laughter] You've seen the costs of
frivolous lawsuits. Ask your small-business neighbor what it's like to
try to provide health care when the costs are going up because of these
frivolous lawsuits. Ask your neighbors what it's like when there's a
threat of lawsuit. That's why we need tort reform as well. These are
practical ways to make sure this economy grows.
And finally, to make sure this economy grows and continues to grow,
we need to be wise about how we spend your money in Washington and keep
your taxes low. Just be careful--all I ask you is be careful about all
this talk about taxing the rich. You know how that goes. The so-called
rich hire accountants and lawyers to maybe not pay as much and,
therefore, in order to meet all these promises, guess who gets to end up
stuck with the bill?
Audience member. We do.
The President. The working people. Be careful of this language.
We've heard it before in American politics.
Now, one of the reasons I'm here is because I understand the
importance of education when it comes to making sure our workers are
able to find jobs. Doug's outfit has been really innovative. In other
words, what he says is, is that, ``We got the skilled workers. We got
hard-working people, and now we want to match their desire to work and
their skills with the jobs which actually exist.'' That's why we went
and saw the--these big turbine-driven engines. People are looking for
workers, people who know these engines. And so that's what the
apprenticeship program was all about and the skill training programs are
all about. It's the practical use of people's time so that people can do
what they want to do, which is work. And my attitude is, is that we
ought to listen carefully to the strategy employed by this union and
implement it at places like our community colleges as well.
See, there are a lot of people who want to work but the jobs, the
nature of the jobs are changing. These jobs are changing. And therefore,
they need help. They need a little extra education to be able to fill
the new jobs. I think, for example, of meeting with textile workers.
Their jobs left, but there's enough Government money to pay for the
reeducation. And now they're in the health care field, and they're
making more money in the new job after getting some additional
education.
That's what Doug understands, a little added value. If you help
somebody with some extra training, they become more productive. And more
productive workers makes more money. And so the Federal Government ought
to be wise about how we use taxpayers' money, and that includes
providing training at community colleges for people who want to work and
need new skills to fill the jobs of the 21st century.

[[Page 1570]]

So I've laid out a plan to double the number of workers that get
reeducated, find additional skills so they can make more money. They've
got to have innovative training accounts. They need less bureaucracy. If
you look at the workforce training programs in the Government, if you
put an objective look on them, you'll find that a lot of money goes to
bureaucracy and not enough goes to the workers. And that's what we want
to focus on. We want to focus on the people who we're trying to help. We
want to make sure that--I believe we ought to increase our budgets for
these training programs, and we'll call upon--continue to call upon
Congress to do so, because it's money well-spent. See, I think the role
of Government is to help people help themselves. And one way to do so is
through good valid education programs, just like they do here at this
site.
Doug was telling me he went over to the Labor Department to tell
them what-for, I guess, or at least to give them a little nudge in the
right direction. But I appreciate that. The reason I bring that up is I
do think it's very important to work with people like Doug and the union
here, to help people understand that we need a million new jobs to fill
the construction jobs over the next decade. And that's a challenge all
of us have got to work on together.
We've got to make it clear there are jobs available. That's why
these job fair hosts need to be notified about the opportunities
available for our citizens. That's why we need guidance counselors to
understand. That's why the Governors, like Kenny, must understand that
there are great career opportunities available for people in the
construction field, and that there's also an opportunity for these good
people to be able to be trained and get the skills necessary, like right
here at this union hall.
The other thing we've got to do is make sure our kids learn early,
before it's too late. Listen, when I got up there, there was--too many
of the kids were being shuffled from grade to grade without the skills
necessary to succeed. It's time somebody said, ``Let's stop this
practice. For the sake of our future, let's make sure we raise the
standards and hold people accountable in our public schools.'' We did.
We've increased funding at the Federal level for public schools by some
49 percent since 2001. But now we're asking some questions like, ``Is
the money being well-spent? Can you read? Can you write? Can you add and
subtract?'' Seems like legitimate questions to ask. And if not, here is
extra help to make sure our children can read, write, add and subtract--
early, before it is too late.

There is more work to do to make sure a high school diploma means
something. There is more work to do for intervention programs in junior
high, for example. And there is more work to do to spend money to
encourage our children in math and science, because the truth of the
matter is, for example, those 1 million construction jobs are going to
require a higher level skill than ever before. And our schools must lay
the foundation to help these folks with the jobs of the 21st century.
That's what we're talking about, and that's the kind of education
program that makes sense. That's why I'm at this facility. Education is
the best way to make sure we keep jobs right here in America.

I want to talk about a couple more issues before I want to spend a
little time on how to secure the country and make the world a more
peaceful place. But I do want to talk about two issues related here to
Nevada. One, water. I was raised in Midland, Texas. [Applause] There you
go. [Laughter] Remember what it was like out there? No water. I
understand how precious water is. People in Nevada understand how
precious water is. And there is a role for the Federal Government. For
example, there is a role for the Federal Government to resolve disputes
like the Colorado River water dispute.

I instructed Gale Norton, my Secretary of the Interior, to work with
all parties to develop innovative strategies, to develop conservation
plans to help meet Nevada's water needs. And there is an agreement in
place. After years of discussion and adherence to the status quo, we've
got an agreement. What I'm telling you is, is that we see problems, and
this administration works to solve them. We see problems--[applause].

[[Page 1571]]

Last summer we launched what's called Water 2025 initiative. Gale is
a Westerner, by the way; she understands water needs. She understands
the problems in the West. She understands there's competing interests
for scarce water. This program promotes conservation, as I mentioned. It
expands the use of voluntary water markets. It provides advanced
technology, like automated pumping and canal controls. It funds research
into new technologies to better deliver water and conserve resources. In
other words, it is a comprehensive strategy to deal with a problem that
needs to be dealt with.
And we look forward to working with the States and the local
authorities to better safeguard this precious resource. I know the mayor
of Henderson is with us today. Mr. Mayor, we will listen to you. And I
know Kenny will listen to you. This is an effort where we've all got to
work together to bring the stakeholders in place so the people of this
part of the world will have water not only today but in future years.
And we're spending money. My budget for Water 2025 more than doubles
the $8.4 million that had been spent to date to $21 million. I mean,
we're beginning an effort to make sure that the people of this part of
the world understand how precious your resource is and how best to not
only conserve it and use it but to develop it in a way that will enable
your quality of life to continue on.
The other issue, of course, I want to talk about is Yucca Mountain.
This is a vital question, and we need to keep facts, not politics, at
the center of the debate. It's an issue that's been developing for a
while. Since the 1987 congressional vote to focus exclusively on Yucca
Mountain, Presidents have considered this issue, as did I. And when I
campaigned here in this State, I said I would make a decision based upon
science, not politics. I said I would listen to the scientists, those
involved with determining whether or not this project could move forward
in a safe manner. And that's exactly what I did. I listened to the
people who know the facts and know the science, and made a decision.
Now, I've listened also, as well, to your Governor and Senator
Ensign and to the Congressmen and to your fine Attorney General. They
didn't agree with my decision. I understand that. They made themselves
very clear. And I said, ``Well, I appreciate your opinion, but I will--
I'll tell you what I will do. I will allow this process to be appealed
to the courts and to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and I will stand
by the decision of the courts and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.''
Now, my opponent is trying to turn Yucca Mountain into a political
poker chip. [Laughter] He says he's strongly against Yucca here in
Nevada, but he voted for it several times. And so did his runningmate.
My point to you is that, if they're going to change, one day they may
change again. [Laughter] I think we need--I think you need straight talk
on this issue. I think you need somebody who is going to do what he says
he's going to do.
Let me talk about one other subject. I know it's on your mind--it's
clearly on my mind--and that's how best to secure our country. We--
they're--first of all, no President wants to be a war President. That
was my last choice. And the enemy attacked us, and we got to respond.
I'm going to share some lessons about September the 11th: first, the
nature of the people that attacked us. I tell people that you cannot
negotiate with these folks. You cannot reason with them. Their hearts
are so filled with hatred, they're willing to take innocent life * like
that. These are people that--they only understand one thing, and that is
force and justice. And that's what they will get. We will pursue them
wherever they exist. [Applause] Thank you all.
* At this point, the President snapped his fingers.
See, I understand we must pursue them overseas so we do not have to
face them here at home. I understand. The second lesson is that this is
a different kind of war than we were used to, and this is a shadowy
network of cold-blooded killers that can hide in cities around the world
where they can find safe haven. And therefore, in order to better secure
America, we not only needed to say to them that we will bring you to
justice, but we needed to say to their allies and people willing to
harbor them, or feed them, or hide

[[Page 1572]]

them that you're just as guilty as those who came and killed the people
in America.
And when America speaks, it better mean what it says. And so when I
said to the Taliban, ``Give them up, or face serious consequences,'' I
meant exactly what I said. And today the world is safer and America is
safer because Afghanistan has been liberated from the Taliban. I want
you--just think about this--in less than 4 years' time, Afghanistan has
gone from a brutal dictatorship that denied many young girls the right
to go to school, that was more than willing to drag their moms or women
into the public square and whip them and, in some cases, kill them, to a
society in which over 8 million people have registered to vote. They're
going to have Presidential elections in October. Afghanistan is an ally
in the war on terror.
Another lesson of September the 11th is that when we see a threat,
we must take it seriously before it fully materializes. That is a vital
lesson. It's a change, obviously, of doctrine because prior to 9/11, we
used to think, ``Well, gosh, if we saw a threat, we're safe anyway. It
may affect somebody somewhere else, but it surely can't affect
America.'' That's what changed on that fateful day. And it's really
important for our country to understand it. I want you to know I clearly
understand that.
And so, therefore, when we looked at--when we looked around the
world and saw threats, we began to act in a different fashion. Now,
look, I want--I would like to deal with all threats diplomatically.
That's the first choice. The use of our military is the last option. And
so we saw a threat with Saddam Hussein. You say, ``Why did you see a
threat?'' Of course, we looked at intelligence and saw a threat, but we
also remembered the nature of the regime of Saddam Hussein. He used
weapons of mass destruction. He harbored terrorist organizations--Abu
Nidal's organization. This is the guy that killed Leon Klinghoffer. He's
a known terrorist, killed an American. He's in and out of Iraq.
Actually, he received safe harbor in Iraq.
Now, Zarqawi's network--he's the people--he's the guy now--he just
beheads people like that to try to shake our will and our conscience.
Saddam Hussein paid the families of suiciders. You know, paying people
whose loved one goes and kills somebody is a part of a terrorist act. He
is a dangerous man. He was shooting at our pilots.
We had been to war with Saddam Hussein before. And he was a source
of instability. And so I looked at the intelligence. Now remember, the
United States Congress--I thought it was important to bring the
Congress--get Congress involved with this very important matter. They
understood the stakes. They looked at the intelligence. They remembered
the nature of Saddam Hussein. Members of both political parties stood up
and said, ``We support the President, if he has to use force, in using
force''--including my opponent.
It looked like for a while he was trying to squirm out of that vote.
[Laughter] The other day, he said that knowing what we know today, he
still--he agreed that the use of force in Iraq was necessary. I welcome
that clarification. [Laughter] He's still got 82 days left in the
campaign, though. [Laughter]
I went to the United Nations. See, I--as I told you, I think
diplomacy should be tried first. And I went to the United Nations, and
the U.N. Security Council voted 15 to nothing that said to the tyrant,
``Disclose, disarm, or face serious consequences.'' And so the world was
once again saying to Saddam, ``You're a threat.'' Everybody recognized
that in the post-9/11 world that a threat needed to be dealt with. He
defied the world, as he had done for over a decade. He systematically
deceived the inspectors. Remember, we sent inspectors in to try to find
the truth, and they were systematically deceived. That's the reality.
And so after a period of time, I had a choice to make. Tony Blair had a
choice to make. Other leaders had choices to make. And that is, do we
forget the lessons of the modern world and hope for the best and hope
that Saddam Hussein all of a sudden miraculously changes his attitude
about America and terrorism and weapons, or do we take action necessary
to defend ourselves and to spread freedom and peace? And given that
choice, I will take action every time.
Knowing what we know today--no, I thought we were going to find
stockpiles; everybody did. But he had the capability of making weapons.
And if the world had

[[Page 1573]]

turned away from watching Saddam, that capability could have been passed
on to terrorist enemies. It's a risk we could not afford to take.
Knowing what I know today, I would have made the same decision, and the
world is better off for it. The world is better off for it. Because
America has led, the world is safer.
We put together a great coalition. Over the next 4 years, I'll
continue to work with our friends and allies. If you think about
Afghanistan, there's nearly 40 nations there. If you think about Iraq,
with allies and friends--Japan, South Korea, Great Britain, the Dutch,
the Danes, Poles--countries all around the world understand what we
know, that free societies are peaceful societies. They understand the
stakes. They know what's really important. But I'll assure you, I'll
never turn over America's national security decisions to leaders of
other countries.
I also want to say to the loved ones who are here, those whose loved
one wear a uniform, the Government has an obligation to your husbands,
wives, sons, or daughters to make sure you've got all--your loved one
has all he or she needs to fulfill the mission. That's an important part
of this debate. And I would ask you to ask your fellow citizens to
remember what happened when I submitted a supplemental funding request
to the United States Congress in September of last year. It was an $87
billion request for more body armor and fuel and spare parts and
ammunition, money necessary so that we could complete our missions. And
it was overwhelmingly approved by the Congress. Members of both parties
supported it; my opponent didn't. And he gave this explanation, he said,
``I actually did vote for the $87 billion, before I voted against it.''
[Laughter] I think you need somebody who speaks plainly and honors our
commitment--honors the commitment of our Government to those who wear
our uniform. And that $87 billion was necessary.
I believe these are historic times. I believe history--historians
will look back and say this was a really important period. This is a
time where we need firm resolve and clear vision about the stakes. But
not only must we stay on the offense to protect our country and not only
make sure our homeland defenses are wise and the strategies are good and
the people are well-compensated--and you've just got to know a lot of
people are working hard to protect us--but we've got to also take on
another mission, and that is to deal with the conditions that give rise
to terrorism.
So there's a long-term strategy, and it's spreading freedom. We, in
America, understand that liberty can be a transforming power for
societies. If you've got a loved one in Iraq--does anybody here have a
loved one in Iraq? You do? Thank you. [Applause] Let me--I appreciate
that. I want you to know that your loved one is serving the country and
the world in a powerful way. Not only--as I said, we'll defeat people
there so we don't have to face them here, but a free Iraq in the midst
of the Middle East is going to be a transforming event. This is a part
of the world where people--the people are desperate for freedom. This is
a part of the world where people--they're frustrated, the deep
resentments because they're not free. We in America believe everybody
deserves to be free. We believe it's the Almighty God's gift to every
man and woman on Earth--freedom.
And therefore, I want you all to know that the long-term
consequences of a free Iraq will make our children safer; it will make
the children in other parts of the world safer as well. It's going to--
this is--these are transforming times.
I'll tell you an interesting story--at least I think it is. I was
having lunch with the Prime Minister of Japan--a dinner with him, and
he's a friend of mine. And there I was sitting down with the head of a
country that my dad fought against, and I'm sure some of your dads
fought against him too. He was an enemy, and he represented a country
which was an enemy of our country. We lost a lot of lives in World War
II because we fought each other. And after World War II, my predecessor
and others understood, however, that a country could be transformed by
liberty, by the habits of liberty. And they stuck to their guns. They
didn't listen to the critics and the pessimists. And eventually, Japan
became a self-governing nation where the people were free.
And therefore, the discussion had changed over a period of time,
hadn't it, from one

[[Page 1574]]

where there was war, and Prime Minister Koizumi and I were now
discussing peace. We were discussing how best we could deal together
with Kim Chong-il and his nuclear weapons ambitions. We were talking
about the peace. This country loves peace. I want there to be a peaceful
world. But I was able to have that conversation in large part because
after World War II, there was a strategy to help our enemies become free
countries. Someday, an American President will be sitting down with an
elected leader from Iraq, talking about the peace, talking about how to
make the world a more peaceful place.
That's what's at stake. And that's why it's really important for us
to complete the mission. There's a lot of people watching America right
now. They're wondering whether or not we've got what it takes to
complete the mission. They hear things like, ``Well, I'm going to
substantially reduce our troops in 6 months.'' That's a bad signal, as
far as I'm concerned. It's a signal that says all the enemy has to do is
wait us out. It means that the Iraqis who are worried about their
future--after all, what they don't want to do is go back to the day
where a tyrant could come and summarily execute them if he felt like it;
therefore, they're afraid to take risks for peace. So they kind of say,
``Well, I wonder whether or not this country really means what it
says.'' It's essential that when America speaks, it means what it says,
and that we should not be sending mixed signals to allies and enemy
alike.
We will succeed--we will succeed. You know why we're going to
succeed? One, we do have what it takes.
Audience member. [Inaudible]
The President. We do have what it takes. We've got the vision and
the courage and the willingness to serve a great cause. The other reason
we'll succeed is because people want to be free. People from all walks
of life want to be free. Mothers and dads in Iraq want to raise their
children in a peaceful environment, just like moms and dads here in
America do. People long for peace. They want peace. They've got peace in
their hearts. They long for a world where--that is a decent world. And
that stands in stark contrast to the enemy. And we've been called----
Audience member. You rock, Mr. President! [Laughter]
The President. Thank you, sir. Let me finish by one story that is a
compelling story. I've told it several times here on this trip and out
on the road. It's the story about the time seven Iraqi citizens came to
see me in the Oval Office. The Oval Office is a powerful place. It's--
you know, people walk in and just get overwhelmed by the majesty of this
shrine to democracy. I do, on a daily basis. And the only person I know
that didn't was my mother, who walked in and continued to tell me what
to do. Anyway--[laughter]--that's a cheap shot, I know.
Anyway, the seven men come in. They--they're Iraqi citizens. All
seven had had their right hands cut off by Saddam Hussein because the
currency--his currency had devalued and he needed to blame somebody. And
one fellow explained to me why him, and it was because he had sold
dinars to buy, I think he said euros or dollars to buy gold so he could
then manufacture jewelry. He was a small merchant. And so he picks these
seven guys out and cuts their right hands off. And then burns an X in
their foreheads and charges them for the operation.
Fortunately, a documentary was made of the plights of these people.
And a guy in Houston, Texas, saw it. He was a successful person who
believed that you have a duty in life to help others, and flew these
seven men over to Houston where they were fitted with new hands. And it
was shortly thereafter that they came to see me. And it was--I'm telling
you, it was a powerful moment to see the stark contrast between a
society that--where somebody could just summarily say, ``I don't like
you; I'm going to chop your hand off,'' and a society full of
compassionate people that were willing to heal the hurt by helping these
people with a new hand. And that's what we're really working on.
I told these men there, I said, ``Come in the Oval Office. I want
you to be in a place where the office is bigger than the person.''
That's what free societies that are stable societies do. They have
institutions that are bigger than the people. ``And some day,'' I said
to them, ``you will have institutions bigger than your people, so that
never again can somebody summarily disfigure you.''

[[Page 1575]]

And that's what we're talking about, really, when you think about
it. We're talking about the difference between good and evil. We're
talking about the difference between compassion and tyranny. And we're
talking about a world in which people are able to realize their hopes
and dreams and aspirations without fear of brutal tyranny. America will
be safer and the world will be better because of the actions we are
taking today.
May God bless you all, and may God bless our country. Thank you all.

Note: The President spoke at 11:02 a.m at the United Brotherhood of
Carpenters and Joiners of America International Training Facility. In
his remarks, he referred to Douglas J. McCarron, general president,
Douglas J. Banes, general vice president, and Andris J. Siling, general
secretary-treasurer, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of
America; Mike McCarron, executive secretary treasurer, Southwest
Regional Council of Carpenters; Dale Shoemaker, senior technical
coordinator, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America
International Training Facility; William K. Irwin, Jr., executive
director, Carpenters International Training Fund; television talk show
host Jay Leno; Gov. Kenny C. Guinn of Nevada; Mayor James B. Gibson of
Henderson, NV; Nevada State Attorney General Brian Sandoval; former
President Saddam Hussein of Iraq; senior Al Qaida associate Abu Musab al
Zarqawi; Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom; Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi of Japan; and Chairman Kim Chong-il of North Korea.