[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 36 (Monday, September 6, 2004)]
[Pages 1780-1784]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks to the American Legion Convention in Nashville, Tennessee

August 31, 2004

    Thank you all. Thanks for having me. And thank you for the warm 
welcome. Thank you all. I'm honored to be here at your 86th national 
convention.
    I--there's another convention going on in New York you might have 
heard about. [Laughter] Tomorrow they're going to choose a Presidential 
nominee. I think I got the inside track. [Laughter] I'm taking nothing 
for granted, however. I'm taking nothing for granted, so Laura headed to 
New York this morning to make my case, but I do want you to know she 
sends her very best regards.
    I also want to let you know that Americans' veterans are the heart 
and soul of this Nation. When freedom was under threat, you risked your 
lives in places like Omaha Beach and Okinawa, Keshan, Kandahar, and 
Baghdad. Because you served, Americans live in freedom. I'm proud to 
stand before you as your Commander in Chief and look in the eye and say, 
America is grateful for your service.
    And America is grateful for the service of Senator John McCain. He 
gave a great speech last night in New York. He's a great American. He's 
a great American who gave his Nation some of the most difficult and 
distinguished service in the history of our military. He fought for 
America. He suffered for America. He returned for honor, and his service 
continues today. I'm proud to have John McCain with us and standing by 
my side.
    I have enjoyed working with the national commander, John Brieden. 
Maybe we got along so well because we both speak the same language--
[laughter]--Texan. [Laughter] But he served this august body with class 
and dignity, and I'm proud of your service, John. Thank you, sir. And I 
was pleased to be introduced by Katherine Morris as well. She too speaks 
Texan. [Laughter] I want to thank her for her leadership as the American 
Legion Auxiliary national president.
    I'm pleased to be here with my friend Tony Principi, the Secretary 
of Veterans Affairs. I want to thank Les Brownlee who is with us, the 
Acting Secretary of the Army.
    I appreciate the mayor of this great city of Nashville joining us. 
Mr. Mayor, thank you for coming.
    I appreciate Congressman Cooper from the State of Tennessee for 
joining us.
    Most of all, I want to thank the Legion members who have been so 
gracious in your hospitality. Thank you and the Auxiliary members for 
welcoming me.
    Since your founding, the American Legion has always been faithful to 
God and to country. You served our Nation in uniform, and you still 
serve today. When Hurricane Charley hit Florida a few weeks ago, 
American Legion posts gathered food and helped neighbors in need. In 
moments of crisis, Americans know Legionnaires always come through.
    Members of the American Legion and the Auxiliary are also serving 
your neighbors every day, volunteering in veterans hospitals, sponsoring 
scout troops and youth baseball, and collecting scholarship money for 
deserving students. You've started a scholarship fund for the children 
of troops killed since September the 11th, 2001, in the war on terror. 
Our country owes these families so much, and I thank you for showing the 
gratitude and the good heart of the United States of America.
    The most important gift you give our country is the example you set 
for the men and women of our Armed Forces. In Afghanistan and Iraq and 
other fronts in the war on terror, today's service men and women are 
carrying on your legacy of selfless service and courage under fire. I 
know you share America's pride in them. They are serving our country 
with pride, and they are bringing honor to the uniform.
    Our fighting men and women are serving America under a proud flag, 
and that flag should be cherished and protected. When John and your 
national adjutant general, Bob, have come by the Oval Office, they 
always remind me about the Citizens Flag Alliance. I appreciate your 
leadership in that important alliance. Like you, I support a 
constitutional amendment to protect the flag from desecration. I think 
John McCain put it best when he said, ``American blood has been shed all 
over the world for the American flag, and I believe it deserves 
respect.''

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    Our Nation's veterans have made serving America the highest priority 
of your lives. And that is why I have made serving our Nation's veterans 
one of the highest priorities of my administration. To make sure my 
administration fulfills the commitment I have made to America's 
veterans, I selected one really fine man in Tony Principi. I am proud of 
the job that our Secretary is doing.
    Thanks in large part to Tony's leadership, my administration has a 
solid record of accomplishment for our veterans. When my 2005 budget 
request is approved by Congress, we will have increased overall funding 
for our Nation's veterans by almost $20 billion or 40 percent since 
2001. We have increased funding for our veterans more in 4 years than 
the previous administration did in 8 years. We have increased VA medical 
care funding by 41 percent over the last 4 years. We're bringing care to 
more veterans more quickly. Since 2001, we have enrolled 2.5 million 
more veterans in health care services. We have increased outpatient 
visits from 44 million to 54 million. We've increased the number of 
prescriptions filled from 98 million to 116 million. We've reduced the 
backlog of disability claims by about a third. We will reduce it even 
further. We have cut the average time it takes to process disability 
claims by 70 days. We're getting the job done for our veterans.
    We have focused resources on veterans who need it most, those with 
service-related disabilities and low incomes and special needs. We've 
established a new scheduling system to make certain that veterans 
seeking care for a service-connected condition are the first in line.
    For more than a century, Federal law prohibited disabled veterans 
from receiving both their military retired pay and their VA disability 
compensation. Combat-injured and severely disabled veterans deserve 
better. I was the first President in over 100 years to sign concurrent 
receipt legislation.
    My administration has launched a $35 million program to provide 
housing and health care and other support services to homeless veterans. 
No veteran who served in the blazing heat or bitter cold of foreign 
lands should have to live without shelter, exposed to the elements, in 
the very country whose freedom they fought for.
    We are modernizing VA health centers and building new ones, 
especially in the South and West where increasing numbers of our 
veterans live. Since 2001, we have opened 194 new community-based 
clinics nationwide. Through the CARES Initiative we're providing $1 
billion and have requested another half-billion for next year to 
modernize VA facilities and to provide better care for veterans in areas 
where the need is growing. When it comes to providing first-class care 
for our veterans, we are getting the job done.
    Our Nation's debt extends not just to the veterans who served but to 
the families who supported them in war and depend on them today. So last 
December, I signed the Veterans Benefits Act, authorizing $1 billion in 
new and expanded benefits for disabled veterans, surviving spouses, and 
their children.
    We meet today at a time of war for our country, a war we did not 
start, yet one that we will win. If America shows weakness or 
uncertainty in this decade, the world will drift toward tragedy. This 
will not happen on my watch.
    The world changed on that terrible September morning, and since that 
day, we have changed the world. Before September the 11th, 2001, 
Afghanistan served as the home base of Al Qaida, which trained and 
deployed thousands of killers to set up terror cells around the world, 
including our own country. Because we acted, Afghanistan is a rising 
democracy. I don't know whether you know this or not, but over 10 
million Afghan citizens have registered to vote in the coming October 
Presidential elections. Because we acted, many young girls now go to 
school for the first time. Because we acted, Afghanistan is an ally in 
the war on terror. Because we acted, America and the world are safer.
    Before September the 11th, Libya was spending millions to acquire 
weapons of mass destruction. Today, because America and our allies sent 
a clear and easy-to-understand message, the leader of Libya has 
abandoned his pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, and America and 
the world are safer.
    Before September the 11th, the ruler of Iraq was a sworn enemy of 
America. He was

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defying the world. He was firing weapons at American pilots who were 
enforcing the world's sanctions. He had pursued and he had used weapons 
of mass destruction. He had harbored terrorists. He invaded his 
neighbors. He subsidized the families of suicide bombers. He and his 
henchmen murdered tens of thousands of his own citizens. He was a source 
of instability in the world's most volatile region. Saddam Hussein was a 
threat.
    After September the 11th, one of the lessons this country must 
always remember is that we must take threats seriously before they fully 
materialize. So I went to the United States Congress, and members of 
both political parties, including my opponent, looked at the 
intelligence and looked at the background and came to the same 
conclusion: Saddam Hussein was a threat.
    Before a President ever commits troops, we must try all other 
alternatives to deal with threats. And so I went to the United Nations. 
I said to the free world, ``Saddam Hussein is a threat.'' They looked at 
the same intelligence and came to the same conclusion with a 15-to-
nothing vote in U.N. Security Council. They said, ``Disclose, disarm, or 
face serious consequences.'' The world had spoken.
    But as he had for over a decade. Saddam Hussein defied the demands 
of the free world. He ignored the demands of the United Nations. As a 
matter of fact, when we sent inspectors--or when the U.N. sent 
inspectors into Iraq, he systematically deceived the inspectors. So I 
had a choice to make: Do I forget the lessons of September the 11th and 
take the word of a madman, or do I take action to defend our country? 
Given that choice, I will defend America every time.
    Even though we did not find the stockpiles that we thought we would 
find, Saddam Hussein had the capability of making weapons of mass 
destruction, and he could have passed that capability on to the enemy, 
and that was a risk we could not afford to take after September the 
11th. Knowing what I know today, I would have taken the same action. 
America and the world are safer with Saddam Hussein sitting in a prison 
cell.
    We will continue to work with friends and allies around the world to 
aggressively pursue the terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan and 
elsewhere. You cannot talk sense to these people. You cannot negotiate 
with them. You cannot hope for the best. We must aggressively pursue 
them around the world so we do not have to face them here at home. In 
this different kind of war, we may never sit down at a peace table. But 
make no mistake about it, we are winning, and we will win. We will win 
by staying on the offensive. We will win by spreading liberty. We 
believe that liberty can transform nations from tyranny into peaceful 
nations.
    And so we'll keep our commitments in Afghanistan and Iraq. We will 
help them become peaceful and democratic countries that are allies in 
the war on terror. Those countries are now governed by strong leaders 
who believe in the aspirations of their people. We'll help them in the 
political process. More importantly, we will train Afghan citizens and 
Iraqi citizens so they can defend their own country against a few who 
would stop the wishes of the many. Our military will complete this 
mission as quickly as possible so our troops do not stay a day longer 
than necessary.
    We're doing the hard work of securing our country and spreading the 
peace, and those commitments are made by the men and women of our 
military. I've had the privilege of traveling to bases around our 
country and around the world. I've met with those who defend our 
security. I've seen their great decency and their unselfish courage. I 
can assure you, ladies and gentlemen, the cause of freedom is in really 
good hands.
    And those who wear our uniform deserve the full support of the 
Government. For the past years my administration has strengthened our 
military. We enacted the largest increases in defense spending since 
Ronald Reagan served as the Commander in Chief. We've increased military 
pay by nearly 21 percent. We provided for better housing, for better 
training, for better maintenance.
    Last September, when our troops were in combat in Afghanistan and in 
Iraq, I proposed supplemental funding to support them in their missions. 
The legislation provided funding for body armor and vital equipment,

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hazard pay, health benefits, ammunition, fuel, and spare parts. It was 
important funding. We received great bipartisan support for that 
funding. All but 12 United States Senators voted to support our troops 
in combat. My opponent chose to vote no on that vital legislation. When 
asked, he said, ``Well, I actually did vote for the $87 billion, right 
before I voted against it.'' [Laughter] When further pressed, he said he 
was proud of his vote, and then he said it was a complicated matter. 
There's nothing complicated about supporting our troops in combat.
    In the long run, our security is not guaranteed by force alone. We 
must work to change the conditions that give rise to terror, poverty and 
hopelessness and resentment. A free and peaceful Iraq and a free and 
peaceful Afghanistan will be powerful examples in part of the world that 
is desperate for freedom. By serving the ideal of liberty, we're 
bringing hope to others, and we're making our country more secure. By 
serving the ideal of liberty, we are making the world more peaceful, and 
by serving the ideal of liberty, we're serving the deepest ideals of the 
American soul. Freedom is not America's gift to the world. Freedom is 
the Almighty God's gift to each man and woman in this world.
    We have more work to do to defend our freedom and to protect our 
country. For decades, America's Armed Forces abroad have essentially 
remained where the wars of the last century ended, in Europe and Asia. 
Much of America's current force posture was designed to protect us and 
our allies from Soviet aggression, a threat that no longer exists. And 
that's why I announced a plan to transform our global force posture, the 
numbers, types, locations, and capabilities of U.S. forces around the 
world.
    This new plan will help us fight and win the war on terror. This new 
plan will help us deal with the threats of the 21st century. It will 
strengthen our alliances while we build new partnerships to better 
preserve the peace. It will reduce the stress on our troops and on our 
military families. It will save the taxpayers money, as we consolidate 
and close bases and facilities overseas no longer needed to face the 
threats of our time and defend the peace and freedom of the world.
    This plan was carefully crafted over more than 3 years in close 
consultation with friends and allies around the world. We will have a 
presence, but we'll have a smarter presence to promote the peace.
    Within hours after I announced this plan, my opponent came out 
against it, and that's his right to do so. After all, it's a campaign. 
He's allowed to say what he believes. The only problem is that he 
endorsed the idea just 17 days earlier. [Laughter] On August the 1st, he 
said, ``I think we can significantly change the deployment of troops, 
not just in Iraq but elsewhere in the world, the Korean Peninsula, 
perhaps, Europe, perhaps. There are great possibilities open to us, but 
this administration has very little imagination.'' Well, it takes a lot 
of imagination to come out against a position you took just 17 days 
earlier. [Laughter]
    This world has changed a great deal since many of you have worn the 
Nation's uniform. Today, our troops have the most advanced technologies 
at their disposal. Weapons are more lethal and precise than any that 
were available for you. Yet, their success in the war on terror is made 
possible by the same things that made your success possible, personal 
courage, dedication to duty, and love of our great country.
    As our troops serve today in Baghdad and Mosul and the Hindu Kush 
Mountains and around the world, I know American veterans feel a special 
pride in them. They're carrying on your legacy of sacrifice and service. 
They're determined to see the mission through. America is proud of them. 
America will stand with them.
    I want to thank you for standing by our men and women in uniform. 
Thank you for your idealism. Thank you for your example. Thank you for 
your dedication to God and country, and thank you for having me here. 
May God bless you, and may God continue to bless the United States of 
America. Thank you all.

Note: The President spoke at 10 a.m. at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. In 
his remarks, he referred to Robert W. Spanogle, national adjutant, 
American Legion; Mayor William Purcell of Nashville, TN; and Col. 
Muammar Abu Minyar al-Qadhafi, leader of Libya.

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