[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 37 (Monday, September 13, 2004)]
[Pages 1839-1845]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks in Kirtland, Ohio

September 4, 2004

    The President. Thank you all. Listen, there's nothing better than 
taking a Saturday

[[Page 1840]]

bus ride with your family--[laughter]--especially in Ohio. Thanks for 
coming out today. It's great to be in Lake County. I appreciate so many 
people turning out. It looks like Lake County and Ohio is Bush-Cheney 
country.
    I believe you got to get out with the people and ask for the vote, 
and that's what we're doing today. I'm here to ask for your vote, and 
I'm here to ask for your help.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. I'm going to give you some reasons why I think you 
ought to put me back in, but perhaps the most important one of all is so 
that Laura is First Lady for 4 more years. She's a great mom, a 
wonderful wife. She is a terrific First Lady for the United States.
    And I'm so proud of Barbara and Jenna. I really appreciate them 
coming out on the campaign trail with us today. Campaigning like this is 
kind of like going on the family camping trip--[laughter]--I promised, 
but never took them on. [Laughter]
    I appreciate my friend Steve LaTourette. He's a great United States 
Congressman. You need to put him back into office. And while you're 
putting me back in and putting him back in, put George Voinovich back in 
as well. I appreciate you being here, Senator. I also appreciate Senator 
Mike DeWine and his daughter Alice joining us today. Michael, thank you 
for coming. Congressman Ralph Regula from Ohio is on the bus trip with 
us today. Thanks for being here, Ralph.
    I appreciate Mayor David Anderson coming today. Mr. Mayor, thank you 
for coming. Fill the potholes. [Laughter] I want to thank the Sonny 
Burgess Band for coming today.
    I want to thank all the grassroots activists who are here. I want to 
thank you for setting up such a fantastic rally. I appreciate your hard 
work. I appreciate what you've done and what you're going to do. I'm 
here to ask you to register your friends and neighbors to vote. We have 
a duty in this country to vote. Remind your citizens--your fellow 
citizens to do their duty. And when you're registering voters, register 
independents and discerning Democrats. You heard Zell Miller the other 
night. He represents a lot of folks who understand that with 4 more 
years, Dick Cheney and I will make this country safer, stronger, and 
better.
    We're approaching an historic national election, and the time for 
choosing is getting closer. I'm looking forward to campaigning in your 
State. You've got a great State full of great people. I'm looking 
forward to talking about the records we've built, the convictions we 
hold, and the vision that guides us forward. I fully understand a 
Presidential contest is a contest over the future. And so as I travel 
your State, I'll tell you where I stand, what I believe, and where I'll 
lead this country for the next 4 years.
    I believe every child can learn and every school must teach. And 
that's why we passed the most important Federal election reform in 
history. We are challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations. We're 
raising standards. We're using accountability system to figure out who 
needs help early, before it's too late. We believe in local control of 
schools. We know reading is the new civil right. We're making progress 
in America. The achievement gap is closing, and we're not turning back.
    I believe we have a moral responsibility to honor our seniors with 
good health care. That's why I brought Republicans and Democrats 
together. Seniors now get immediate help buying medicine. Soon, every 
senior will be able to get prescription drug coverage, and we're not 
turning back.
    I believe in the energy and innovative spirit of America's workers, 
small-business owners, farmers, and ranchers, and that is why we 
unleashed that energy with the largest tax relief in a generation. 
Because we acted, our economy is growing. Yesterday we received the jobs 
report for August. It shows that our economy is strong and getting 
stronger. We added 144,000 new jobs last month, including 22,000 new 
jobs in manufacturing. We've added 1.7 million new jobs since last 
August, a year ago last August. The national unemployment rate is 5.4 
percent. That is a full point below last summer. It is lower than the 
average rate of the 1970s, the 1980s, and the 1990s. There's more work 
to be done here in the State of Ohio. I understand there's people 
looking for work and can't find a job. We will not rest until they do 
find a job.

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We're making progress, and we're not turning back.
    I believe the job of the President is to confront problems, not pass 
them on to future Presidents and future generations. I believe the most 
solemn duty of the American President is to protect the American people. 
If America shows uncertainty and weakness in this decade, the world will 
drift toward tragedy. This will not happen on my watch.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. I'm running with a clear and positive plan to build a 
safer world and a more hopeful America. I'm running with a compassionate 
conservative philosophy that Government should help people improve their 
lives, not try to run their lives. I believe this Nation wants steady, 
consistent, principled leadership. And that is why, with your help, 
we're going to carry Ohio and win a great national victory in November.
    One of the things I talked about the other night in New York was how 
this world of ours is changing. People are changing jobs. Women are 
working not only inside the house but now outside of the house as well. 
It's a different world from the world of our parents and grandparents, 
yet most of the fundamental systems of our country haven't changed. The 
Tax Code, the health coverage, the pension plans, the worker training 
were created for the world of yesterday, not for tomorrow. We're going 
to transform these systems so that all citizens are equipped and 
prepared and thus truly free to make your own choices so you can pursue 
your dreams.
    Any good plan starts with making sure people can find work. Any good 
plan makes sure that we expand hope and opportunity with a growing 
economy. To create more jobs in America, America must be the best place 
in the world to do business. To create jobs in America, Congress must 
get my energy plan to my desk so we become less dependent on foreign 
sources of energy. To create more jobs in America, we must open up 
markets around the world for U.S. goods and services. We open up our 
markets--my message to other countries like China is, ``You open up 
yours.'' We can compete with anybody, anywhere, anytime, so long as the 
rules are fair. To create more jobs in America, we must get rid of these 
junk lawsuits that threaten our small-business owners. To create more 
jobs here, we've got to be wise about how we spend your money.
    See, I believe Government can set priorities and fund those 
priorities and let you keep more of your own money. My philosophy says, 
``We're good at some things, but once we fund those things, you can 
spend your money far better than the Federal Government can.''
    In order to make sure this economy grows, we've got to keep your 
taxes low. And there we have a difference of opinion in this campaign. 
I'm running against a fellow who has already promised over $2 trillion 
of new Federal programs if he's elected.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. That's a lot. That's a lot, even for a Senator from 
Massachusetts. So they asked him the other day, ``How are you going to 
pay for it?'' And he said that old line we've heard before, ``Oh, don't 
worry, we'll pay for it by taxing the rich.'' We have heard that line 
before. First of all, you can't raise enough money to pay for all those 
programs by taxing the rich, and secondly, you know how it works. They 
get accountants and lawyers, and you get stuck with the bill. But we're 
not going to let him. We're going to carry Ohio and the country.
    Thank you all for being here. I appreciate you coming.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. Today, a little earlier, I talked about creating 
what's called American opportunity zones. These will help communities 
recovering from lost manufacturing, textile, and other jobs. For 
example, an area like greater Cleveland will be able to apply for tax 
relief and investment incentives and regulatory relief, specifically 
designed to attract new businesses and new jobs.
    Another drag on our economy is the Federal Tax Code. Yes, that Tax 
Code is a complicated mess. It's filled with special interest loopholes. 
You realize it takes 6 billion hours of paperwork and headache every 
year to comply with the Tax Code. In a new term, I will lead a 
bipartisan effort to reform and simplify the Federal Tax Code.

[[Page 1842]]

    In a new term, we'll help our workers by expanding access to 
community colleges so they can gain the skills necessary to fill the 
jobs of the 21st century. Let me tell you what else we need to do. In a 
time of change, most new jobs are filled by people with at least 2 years 
of college. That's the realities of the 21st century. Yet one in four of 
our students gets there. In our high schools, we'll fund early 
intervention programs to help students at risk. We'll place a new focus 
on math and science. Over time, we'll require rigorous exam before 
graduation. By raising performance in our high schools and expanding 
Pell grants to low- and middle-income families, we will help more 
Americans start their career with a college education.
    In changing times, we've got to do more to make quality health care 
available and affordable. One-half of all the uninsured are small-
business employees and their families. Small businesses are having 
trouble affording health care. So in a new term, we must allow small 
firms to join together to purchase insurance at the discounts that big 
companies get.
    We're going to offer tax credits to encourage small businesses and 
their employees to set up health savings accounts. In a new term, I'll 
ensure every poor county in America has a community or rural health 
center. And to make sure we improve health care for you in Lake County, 
we've got to get rid of these frivolous lawsuits that are running up the 
cost of medicine and running your docs out of practice. We've got a 
national problem when it comes to these frivolous lawsuits. I don't 
think you can be pro-doctor, pro-hospital, and pro-patient, and pro-
plaintiff-attorney at the same time. I think you have to make a choice. 
My opponent made his choice, and he put him on the ticket.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. I made my choice. I'm for medical liability reform--
now.
    In changing times, there's nothing like owning something to bring 
stability to your life. We're going to continue to promote homeownership 
in America. The homeownership rate in our country is at an alltime high. 
Nothing better than knowing more people are opening the door to their 
house and saying, ``Welcome to my home. Welcome to my piece of 
property.''
    As well if you're a younger worker, you better look at that Social 
Security system very seriously. Older guys like me are just fine when it 
comes to Social Security. But the fiscal solvency of Social Security is 
in doubt, if you're a younger worker. We'll strengthen Social Security 
by allowing younger workers to save some of their taxes in a personal 
savings account, an account they call their own, an account they can 
pass on from one generation to the next.
    In this world of change, there are some things that do not change, 
the values we try to live by, courage and compassion, reverence and 
integrity. The institutions that bring us stability must not change, our 
families, religious congregations. They deserve our support. We stand 
for a culture of life in which every person matters and every person 
counts. We believe religious charities provide a safety net of mercy and 
compassion, and our Government must never discriminate against them. 
Because the union of a man and woman deserves an honored place in our 
society, I support the protection of marriage against activist judges. I 
will continue to appoint Federal judges who know the difference between 
personal opinion and the strict interpretation of the law.
    This election will also determine how America responds to the 
continuing danger of terrorism. Since the terrible morning of September 
the 11th, 2001, we have fought the terrorists across the Earth, not for 
pride, not for power, but because the lives of our citizens are at 
stake.
    Audience members. U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!
    The President. Our strategy is clear. We are defending the homeland. 
We're transforming our military. We're strengthening our intelligence 
services. We're staying on the offensive. We will strike the terrorists 
abroad so we do not have to face them here at home.
    Audience members. U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!
    The President. We are working to advance liberty in the broader 
Middle East because freedom will bring hope and the peace we all want. 
By being resolute and strong, we will prevail.

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    Our strategy is succeeding. Four years ago, Afghanistan was the home 
base of Al Qaida; Pakistan was a transit point for terrorist groups; 
Saudi Arabia was fertile ground for terrorist fundraising; Libya was 
pursuing nuclear weapons; Iraq was a gathering threat; Al Qaida was 
largely unchallenged as it planned its attacks. Because we acted, today, 
the Government of a free Afghanistan is fighting terror; Pakistan is 
capturing terrorist leaders; Saudi Arabia is making raids and arrests; 
Libya is dismantling its weapons programs; the army of a free Iraq is 
fighting for freedom; and more then three-quarters of Al Qaida's key 
members and associates have been detained or killed. We have led. Many 
have joined, and America and the world are safer.
    This progress involved careful diplomacy, clear moral purpose, and 
some tough decisions, and the toughest came on Iraq. We knew Saddam 
Hussein's record of aggression and support for terror. Remember, he 
subsidized the families of suicide bombers. He harbored Abu Nidal and 
his organization. He let Zarqawi run free in Baghdad, and his crowd. We 
knew his long history of pursuing and even using weapons of mass 
destruction. And we know that September the 11th requires our country to 
think differently. We must take threats seriously before they fully 
materialize.
    And so I went to the United States Congress. I saw a threat, and I 
said to the Congress, ``Do you see a threat?'' And members of both 
political parties looked at the same intelligence I looked at and came 
to the same conclusion we came to. And they authorized force, including 
my opponent. He looked at the same intelligence. He came to the same 
conclusion. And when they said on the Floor of Congress, ``Do you vote 
to authorize the use of force,'' he said, ``I do.''
    The last commitment of the Commander in Chief has got to be to put 
troops in combat. The first commitment has got to be to try to resolve 
problems diplomatically. And so I went to the United Nations. I said to 
that body, I said, ``We see a threat.'' They looked at the same 
intelligence we had looked at and again concluded that Saddam Hussein 
was a threat. They passed a resolution 15 to nothing that said, 
``Disclose, disarm, or face serious consequences.'' The free world had 
spoken. But as he had for over a decade, Saddam Hussein ignored the 
demands of the free world. He wasn't about to listen to the collective 
voice of the world. As a matter of fact, he deceived inspectors that 
were sent into his country.
    So I had a choice to make. It's the kind of choice that only comes 
to the Oval Office. It's the kind of decision no President would ask for 
but must be prepared to make. The decision was: Do I trust a madman and 
forget the lessons of September the 11th, or defend our country? Given 
that choice, I will defend America every time.
    Because we acted to defend our country, 50 million people have been 
liberated. Think about this, young women, young girls could not go to 
school in Afghanistan under the Taliban. Their mothers were whipped in 
the public squares. Yet, because we acted, we're not only more secure, 
but 10 million people have registered to vote for the upcoming 
Presidential election in October. Iraq has got a strong Prime Minister 
and National Council, and national elections are scheduled in January. 
The world is changing. Freedom is on the march.
    We're standing with the people of Afghanistan and Iraq, because when 
America gives its word, America must keep its word. We're also doing so 
because we're serving a historic cause that will make our country safer. 
See, free societies in the Middle East will be hopeful societies, which 
no longer feed resentment and breed violence for export. Free societies 
change people. Free governments in the Middle East will fight terrorists 
instead of harboring them. That helps us keep the peace.
    Our mission in those countries are clear. We'll help new leaders 
train their army so they can do the hard work of defending themselves 
against a few who want to deny the hopes of the many. We will help those 
countries head toward elections. We will help them get on the path of 
stability and democracy as quickly as possible. And then our troops will 
return home with the honor they have earned.
    We've got a fabulous United States military full of decent, 
honorable, and courageous people. I want to thank the veterans

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who are here for having set such a great example for those who wear the 
uniform.
    I made a pledge to those who wear the uniform and their families, 
we'd give them all they need so they can do their job. And that's why I 
went to the Congress last September, proposed--and the Congress 
overwhelmingly passed--$87 billion of funding needed for our troops for 
body armor and fuel, spare parts, ammunition, hazard pay, health 
benefits, all that's necessary to support them in their missions in Iraq 
and Afghanistan. And I was pleased that we received strong bipartisan 
support. As a matter of fact, it was so strong that only 12 United 
States Senators voted against the funding.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. Yes. Two of them are my runningmate and his--my 
opponent and his runningmate.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. Only four United States Senators voted to authorize 
the use of force and then voted against funding our troops. Two of those 
Senators were my opponent and his runningmate.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. So they asked him why, and he said, ``Well, I 
actually did vote for the $87 billion, before I voted against it.'' 
That's a----
    Audience members. Flip-flop! Flip-flop! Flip-flop!
    The President. I bet you they don't speak that way on the town 
square in the cities here in Lake County. They pressed him further, and 
he said he's proud of the vote. Then he just said, ``The whole thing was 
a complicated matter.'' There's nothing complicated about supporting our 
troops in combat.
    Over the next 4 years, we'll continue to work with our friends and 
allies in the cause of freedom and peace. There are nearly 40 nations 
involved in Afghanistan, some 30 nations involved in Iraq. I'm proud of 
their contributions. I appreciate working with the leaders of those 
countries for making us all more secure. But I will never turn over 
America's national security decisions to leaders of other countries.
    I believe in the transformational power of liberty. That's what I 
believe. I believe the wisest use of American strength is to advance 
freedom. I've been spending time with Prime Minister Koizumi of Japan. 
We sit at a table and discuss a lot of things, and one of the most 
important things we discuss is peace. Think about that. It wasn't all 
that long ago in the march of history that my dad and your dads or 
granddads were fighting Japan in a brutal war. They were our enemy. And 
here today, because my predecessor and others believed in the power of 
liberty to transform an enemy into an ally, because they stood strong in 
the face of the skeptics, because they believed that freedom is the 
deepest desire of every human heart, that Japan is a democracy and an 
ally. And here I am talking about the peace, talking about North Korea, 
how to make it work on the peaceful peninsula, talking about Iraq, 
talking about how to bring terrorists to justice. Some day an American 
President will be sitting down with a duly elected leader of Iraq 
talking about the peace, and our children and grandchildren will be 
better off.
    I believe millions in the Middle East plead in silence for their 
liberty. I believe that given a chance, they will embrace the most 
honorable form of government ever devised by man. I believe all these 
things, not because freedom is America's gift to the world but because 
freedom is the Almighty God's gift to every man and woman in this world.
    I believe that the 21st century will be the century of liberty. By 
promoting freedom here at home and abroad, we will build a safer world 
and a more hopeful America. We'll spread ownership and opportunity to 
every corner of this land. We'll pass the enduring values on to another 
generation. We'll continue to lead the world in the cause of freedom and 
peace.
    For all Americans, these years in our history will always stand 
apart. There are quiet times in the life of a nation when little is 
expected of its leaders. This isn't one of those times. This is a time 
when we need firm resolve, clear vision, and a deep abiding faith in the 
values that make this a great nation.
    None of us will ever forget that week when one era ended and another 
began. September the 14th, 2001, I stood in the ruins of the Twin 
Towers. It's a day I will never forget. I'll never forget those workers 
in hardhats at the top of their lungs yelling at

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me, ``Whatever it takes.'' I remember shaking hands with people who just 
came out of the rubble, the firefighters and the police who set such an 
incredibly powerful example for bravery and courage and compassion all 
across the country. The guy looked me in the eye, and he said, ``Do not 
let me down.'' And since that day, I wake up thinking about how better 
to protect our country. I will never relent in defending America, 
whatever it takes.
    Four years ago, when I traveled your great State and asked for the 
vote, I made a pledge. I pledged that if you honored me with this great 
responsibility, I would uphold the dignity and the honor of the office 
to which I had been elected. With your help, I will do so for the next 4 
years.
    God bless. Thanks for coming. God bless you all. Thank you all.

Note: The President spoke at noon at Lake Farmpark. In his remarks, he 
referred to Mayor David E. Anderson of Willoughby, OH; Senator Zell 
Miller of Georgia, who made the keynote address at the Republican 
National Convention; senior Al Qaida associate Abu Musab Al Zarqawi; 
Prime Minister Ayad Allawi of the Iraqi Interim Government; and Prime 
Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan.