[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 38 (Monday, September 20, 2004)]
[Pages 2025-2032]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at a Victory Committee Reception

September 17, 2004

    The President. Thank you all for coming. I want to thank you all for 
coming. Thanks for being here.
    Al, thanks for your hard work. I appreciate your gathering up a 
little help here, as we're coming down the stretch. [Laughter]
    I feel great about the election. I want to thank you for your help. 
We're making good progress. I want to thank you all here. I know we've 
got a lot of Latinos here. Gracias por su apoyo.
    Audience member. [Inaudible]
    The President. Si. Vamos a ganar, con su apoyo. Thank you all for 
coming.
    You know, Laura and I are traveling our country a lot, and it's 
exciting to get out amongst the people. It really is. I'm enjoying it. 
The crowds are big. The enthusiasm is high. Came off a bus trip in 
Minnesota yesterday, which was very successful; heading down to North 
Carolina today. [Applause] Yes. My energy level is high. My vision is 
clear, and we're going to win.
    So I said to Laura--so when I asked Laura to marry me, she said, 
``Fine, just so long as I don't have to give any political speeches.'' 
[Laughter] I said, ``Okay, you won't have to give any.'' Fortunately, 
she didn't hold me to the promise. [Laughter] You know, in New York City 
the people got to see Laura. You know, there's a lot of pressure on, and 
she gave a great speech. She's a compassionate, decent soul. She's a 
wonderful mother, a great wife. I'm telling the people around the 
country that the reason to put me back in is so Laura will have 4 more 
years. [Laughter] I'm really proud of her. She's in West Virginia and 
South Carolina and Pennsylvania today. So she sends her best.
    Dick Cheney is doing a great job. I'm proud to be running with him. 
I like to remind people that he doesn't have the waviest hair in the 
race. [Laughter] And then I tell them I didn't pick him because of his 
hairdo. [Laughter] I picked him because he's a man of great judgment, 
sound experience, and a person getting the job done for the American 
people.
     I also want to thank Suzanne Lord. Al gets the credit; Suzanne 
probably did all the work. But thank you. Thanks for being here. I want 
to thank my friend Mercer Reynolds, who is the Victory 2004 national 
finance chairman. This is a Victory Committee fundraiser. This is--the 
money goes to help turn out the vote in key States. It's really 
important. And Mercer has done a great job. He was the finance chairman 
for Bush-Cheney, did such a fine job that we deputized him to do the 
Victory Committee. And I appreciate my friend's hard work.
    I want to thank my friend Raul Romero. [Applause] Yes. Donde esta, 
Raul? Alli. It's good to see you, friend. Thanks for bringing so many of 
your friends here. I'm honored to have your continued support. Raul is a 
Tejano. I know him well from Texas. He's a good friend, and you got to 
count on your friends in politics, you know. If you don't have any 
friends, you're not going anywhere in politics. [Laughter] And I, 
fortunately, have got a lot of friends, many here in people like Raul. I 
appreciate you coming.
    I want to thank my friend Jim Langdon. He's a Texan, too. I 
appreciate him being here, and his hard work. I want to thank Julie 
Finley, Dick Hug and Lois, and Shelly Kamins and Lynne. Thank you all 
for putting this good group together, and thank you all for coming.
    I'm telling the people where I stand, what I believe, and where I'm 
going to lead. That's what I'm doing and will continue to do so. I tell 
people that I believe every child can learn and every school must teach. 
And I came to Washington to challenge what I call the soft bigotry of 
low expectations. And we've done so, by raising the standards in 
schools, by measuring early so we can solve problems before it's too 
late, by spending

[[Page 2026]]

extra Federal money but, in return, insisting upon results. And there is 
an achievement gap in America that is narrowing, and we're not going to 
turn back to the old days of public schools.
    I tell people that I believe we have a moral responsibility to 
provide good health care for our seniors. I came to Washington to fix 
problems. We had a problem in Medicare. Medicine was modernizing. 
Medicare wasn't. People say, ``What do you mean by that?'' Well, I'll 
tell you what I mean. It means that we can pay $100,000 for heart 
surgery but not one dime for the prescription drugs that would prevent 
the heart surgery from being needed in the first place. That didn't make 
any sense. We have strengthened and modernized Medicare, and we're not 
going to go back to the old days.
    I tell people that I believe in the energy and innovation of 
America's workers and farmers and ranchers and entrepreneurs, and that's 
why we unleashed the energy with large tax cuts. And they're working.
    Our economy is--I remind people on the campaign trail that we've 
been through a lot. The economy of our country has been through a 
recession. We've been through corporate scandals. That hurt. Those 
corporate scandals hurt. It shook the confidence of the investor class. 
It shook the confidence of the consumers. I also tell them that we 
passed tough laws that now make it abundantly clear we're not going to 
tolerate dishonesty in the boardrooms of America.
    We've overcome the attacks. That attack of September the 11th cost 
us about a million jobs in the 3 months after September the 11th. I say 
we're overcoming it because our economy is growing at rates as fast as 
any in nearly 20 years. The national--we've added 1.7 million new jobs 
since August of '03. The national unemployment rate is 5.4 percent, 
which is below the average of the 1970s, 1980s, and the 1990s.
    I tell the people that my most solemn duty is to protect the 
American people, and that if America shows any uncertainty and weakness 
in this decade, the world will drift toward tragedy. It's not going to 
happen on my watch.
    I'm running with a compassionate conservative philosophy that 
Government should help people improve their lives, not try to run their 
lives. And from what I hear and what I see, the American people want a 
consistent, steady, principled leader. And that's why, with your help, 
we're going to win.
    I understand the world in which we live is changing. It's very 
important for me to explain that to the American people, that we are now 
part of a changing world and the role of Government is to change the 
fundamental systems of Government to help people. The changing world 
occurs because we've got women in the workplace today. Fifty years ago, 
women were at home. The changing world occurs because people change jobs 
or careers often in a lifetime. Fifty years ago, people only had one job 
and one career. And yet, the fundamental institutions of Government, our 
health care, our pension plans, worker training programs, or the Tax 
Code, hasn't changed. They were designed for the days of yesterday. I 
believe they need to be designed for tomorrow, and so I will do so over 
the next 4 years.
    A hopeful society is one in which Government systems help people 
realize their dreams. A hopeful society is also one that has a growing 
economy. It's an issue in this campaign, is who's got a vision to make 
sure this economic recovery is sustained economic growth.
    In order to make sure jobs are here in America, America must be the 
best place in the world to do business. That means less regulations. It 
means tort reform, legal reform for our small businesses and all 
businesses, for that matter.
    We need to get an energy plan to my desk. I proposed a comprehensive 
energy plan to the United States Congress. It's stuck. It's a plan that 
encourages conservation, encourages the use of renewables like ethanol 
and biodiesel. It's got a very important electricity title that 
modernizes the--help modernize the electricity grid. It says we'll 
explore for natural gas in environmentally friendly ways and use coal 
technology--clean coal technology so we can use abundant resources at 
home. I'm telling the people if we want jobs here, we must become less 
dependent on foreign sources of energy.

[[Page 2027]]

    In order to keep jobs here, we've got to have wise trade policy. We 
open up our markets for goods from overseas, and it's good for the 
consumers we do so. If you're a consumer for a product and you have more 
choices, you're likely to get the product you want at a better price and 
better quality. And what I'm telling the American people is, over the 
next 4 years I will continue to insist others treat us the way we treat 
them. I will continue to remind China that they must open up their 
markets to our products. And I say so because I know we can compete with 
anybody, anytime, anywhere, so long as the rules are fair.
    To make sure the economy continues to grow, we'll be wise about how 
we spend the money, the people's money. And to make sure the economy 
grows, we've got to keep your taxes low. And taxes are an issue in this 
campaign. My opponent has proposed at least $2.2 trillion in new Federal 
spending--so far--[laughter]--and we've still got the month of October 
to go. [Laughter]
    So they asked him, ``How are you going to pay for it?'' He said, 
``Oh, it's simple, just tax the rich.'' Well, first, you can't raise 
enough money by taxing the rich to pay for $2.2 trillion in new 
spending. So there's a tax gap, and guess who's going to get to fill the 
tax gap? You are, yes.
    And secondly, we've heard the rhetoric before, ``tax the rich.'' The 
rich hire lawyers and accountants so that the middle class gets stuck 
with the bill. We're not going to let him tax anybody, because we're 
going to win in November.
    I'm serious about fixing the Tax Code. It's a complicated mess. And 
I'm going to bring Republicans and Democrats together to make the code 
more simple and more fair. In order to make sure jobs stay here and to 
make sure this economy grows, we need to spend less time filling out tax 
forms and more time in constructive work. And so I'm serious about 
fixing this Tax Code, and the people want me to help fix the Tax Code.
    You know, one of the interesting challenges we face here in this 
country during changing times is to make sure the workers have the skill 
sets necessary to fill the jobs of the 21st century. You know, I'm going 
down to North Carolina today, and I've met textile workers who lost 
their job but who are able to go back to a community college and gain 
the skills necessary to become employed in the health care sector, for 
example. Because of some education, because they're able to enhance 
their skills and enhance their productivity, they're able to find higher 
paying jobs in the jobs of the 21st century. So one of the real 
challenges for us is to make sure that the worker training programs are 
relevant and actually fulfill the need of making--of matching skills 
with people who want to work.
    And as well we've got to do something about our high schools, 
because most new jobs in a changing world require 2 years of college, 
yet only one in four of our students gets there, which means we better 
have good remedial education, good intervention programs for at-risk 
students in high school. We've got to make sure we emphasize math and 
science. You know, as the No Child Left Behind Act gains steam and--and 
over time we'll require a rigorous exam before graduation from high 
school. See, by raising standards in high school and by increasing Pell 
grants for low- and middle-income families, it will mean more Americans 
are able to start their career with a college degree.
    Health care is an issue in this campaign. I see Vin Weber there. He 
and I spent a little time yesterday in Minnesota, where I was explaining 
our health care vision. It's a commonsense, practical plan to make high-
quality health care more affordable and more accessible, and we have a 
difference in opinion in this campaign. I mean, it's a clear difference 
on health care. My opponent wants Government to dictate the health care 
decisions. I want you to decide the health care decisions.
    Here are some of the practical, commonsensical ideas that I'm 
talking about on the campaign trail. More than half of the working 
uninsured work for small businesses. Small businesses are having trouble 
affording insurance. One reason why is because they're in the 
marketplace alone. I think small businesses ought to be allowed to pool 
risk across jurisdictional boundaries so they can purchase insurance at 
the rates big companies

[[Page 2028]]

get to purchase insurance. My opponent disagrees with that. Those are 
called association health plans, and they make a lot of sense.
    Another way to help people with their health insurance is to expand 
health savings accounts, tax-free health savings accounts. These make a 
lot of sense because it enables a patient and a doc to interface. It 
lets a person control his own money. It means a person can take that 
health savings account from one job to the next. Remember, people are 
changing jobs and careers during the course of a lifetime here in 
America today.
    I've got a plan to help small businesses better afford health 
savings accounts for their working uninsured. We're going to allow low-
income Americans to have a tax credit that they can apply to a health 
savings account. Health savings accounts are a practical way of helping 
reduce the cost of medicine and making sure people have got insurance.
    We're going to continue to expand community health centers. I think 
they make sense, because community health centers are places where the 
indigent and the poor can get primary care and preventative care without 
having to go to an emergency room of a hospital. I told the people, when 
I was running, we were going to renovate or expand 1,600 clinics. I'm 
meeting that goal. The goal in a second term is going to be every poor 
county in America have a community health center.
    A big issue in the campaign is medical liability reform. People are 
now beginning to understand what these junk lawsuits mean for their 
health care. The junk lawsuits are running up the cost of health care, 
and more and more citizens understand that. And junk lawsuits are 
running good docs out of the practice of medicine. If the goal is to 
make health care more available and affordable, this country needs 
medical liability reform--now.
    I'm looking forward to the health care debate. My opponent's plan is 
a massive, big-Government plan. And you can tell by the size of the 
price tag it's massive, and it's big. [Laughter] They estimated the cost 
of his health care plan to be $1.5 trillion. That's with a ``T.'' 
[Laughter] And that's a lot, even for a Senator from Massachusetts. 
[Laughter]
    He wants to expand Medicaid. By expanding Medicaid, you're crowding 
out families from small businesses, from private health plans in small 
businesses. In other words, you're moving people from the private sector 
to the public sector. And what's wrong with that is that all of a sudden 
you have Government officials deciding what coverage you get, and you 
have Government officials deciding decisions for you. His plan is the 
exact opposite of what we believe. We believe when it comes to health 
care decisions, they ought to be made by doctors and patients, not by 
bureaucrats here in the Nation's Capital.
    I've spent a lot of time talking about ownership in the campaign. I 
believe ownership helps bring stability in changing times. During my 
administration, the homeownership rate is at an alltime high in America. 
We want more people owning their own home. It's a fantastic statistic.
    We're working hard to make sure more Latinos own their own home and 
people from all walks of life own their own home. I can't think of 
anything more important than promoting ownership throughout America. I 
love the fact somebody opens up the door where they're living and says, 
``Welcome to my home. Welcome to my piece of property.''
    And I think in order to make sure the retirement system, Social 
Security works well for a younger generation, we've got to incorporate 
ownership into Social Security. I tell the people where I go that if 
you're on Social Security, you don't have to worry about the Government 
fulfilling its promise. Now, I know there's going to be political 
rhetoric trying to say something different than that, but it's not a 
fact. Social Security trust is solvent when it comes to those who've 
retired. Finally--frankly, the Social Security Trust is in pretty good 
shape for baby boomers.
    But we've got to worry about the youngsters, our kids and our 
grandchildren, when it comes to the solvency of the Social Security 
system. That's why I believe younger workers ought to be able to take 
some of their own money, set aside a personal savings account that will 
help Social Security fulfill its promise, a private account that they 
can call their own, a private account they can pass on to

[[Page 2029]]

the next generation and a private account that Government can't take 
away.
    I also spend time out there reminding people that in a changing 
world some things don't change: The values we try to live by, courage 
and compassion, and reverence and integrity; the institutions that are 
fundamental to our lives, our families, our schools, our religious 
congregations.
    We believe in a culture of life in which every person matters and 
every being counts. We stand for marriage and family, which are the 
foundations of our society. And I stand for the appointment of Federal 
judges who know the difference between personal opinion and the strict 
interpretation of the law.
    This election will also determine how our country responds to the 
continuing danger of terrorism. Since September the 11th, 2001, we've 
fought the terrorists across the Earth, not for pride, not for power, 
but because the lives of our citizens are at stake. It's very important 
for me to continue to lay out our strategy. We've got to lay out our 
strategy. We've got a clear strategy. We'll continue to defend the 
homeland. We'll transform our military to meet the threats of the 21st 
century. We'll strengthen our intelligence services. We will stay on the 
offensive. It is best to strike the terrorists elsewhere, so we do not 
have to face them here at home. And we will continue to spread freedom 
and peace, and we're going to prevail.
    Our strategy is working. When you're out gathering up the vote, 
remind people about what life was like 3 years ago, compared to today. 
Maybe this will help you: 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 secretly pursuing 
nuclear weapons; Iraq was a gathering threat, headed by a sworn enemy of 
the United States; Al Qaida was largely unchallenged as it planned its 
attacks.
    Because we acted, Afghanistan is fighting terror; Pakistan is making 
raids and arrests; Libya is dismantling its weapons programs; Saudi 
Arabia is after Al Qaida; the army of a free Iraq is fighting for 
freedom; and more than three-quarters of Al Qaida key members and 
associates have been brought to justice.
    America and the world are safer. This progress involves careful 
diplomacy, clear moral purpose, and some tough decisions. And the 
toughest came on Iraq. I knew Saddam Hussein's record of aggression and 
his ties to terror. When people say, ``What ties to terror,'' remind 
them about Abu Nidal, the killer of Leon Klinghoffer, and his 
organization, or Zarqawi--he's the person who beheads people, trying to 
shake our conscience and shake our will; he was in and out of Baghdad, 
as were some of his cohorts--or the fact that Saddam Hussein paid the 
families of suicide bombers. He had a history of using weapons of mass 
destruction. It's important for the President and the country to always 
remember one of the lessons of September the 11th is that we must take 
threats seriously before they fully materialize.
    My administration saw a threat in Saddam Hussein. I went to the 
Congress. They looked at the same intelligence I looked at, remembered 
the same history I remembered, came to the same conclusion we came to: 
Saddam Hussein was a threat. And Members of Congress authorized the use 
of force. My opponent looked at very same intelligence I looked at and, 
having looked at it, concluded that Saddam Hussein was a threat and 
voted ``yes'' when it came time to authorize the use of force.
    Before the Commander in Chief commits the troops into harm's way, he 
must try all options before the military. I was hoping diplomacy would 
work, so I went to the United Nations. And the United Nations looked at 
the same intelligence we did and remembered the same history we 
remembered and concluded, with a 15-to-nothing vote in the U.N. Security 
Council, that Saddam Hussein must disclose, disarm, or face serious 
consequences. I believe when international bodies speak, they must mean 
what they say. I believe when the President speaks, he must mean what he 
says.
    Saddam Hussein wasn't about to listen to another U.N. resolution. We 
hoped he would. We would hope he'd listen to the demands of the free 
world, but he didn't. He not only didn't listen to the United Nations 
Security Council, but when the U.N. tried to send inspectors in there, 
he systematically deceived them. So I have a choice at this

[[Page 2030]]

point in our history: Do I forget the lessons of September the 11th and 
hope for the best when it comes to a madman, or take action to defend 
the country? Given the choice, I will defend this country every time.
    We didn't find the stockpiles we thought would be there, that we all 
thought would be there. But Saddam Hussein had the capability of making 
weapons, and he could have passed that capability on to the enemy. And 
that is a risk we could not afford to take after September the 11th, 
2001. Knowing what I know today, I would have made the same decision. 
And America and the world are safer with Saddam Hussein sitting in a 
prison cell.
    Because we acted to defend ourselves, 50 million people now live in 
freedom. Afghanistan 3 years ago was run by these barbaric people. When 
they hear me talk about an ideology of hate, I'm talking about people 
like the Taliban. Young girls weren't allowed to go to school. Their 
mothers were whipped in the public square or killed in sports stadiums 
if they didn't toe the line of these backward people.
    Today, 10 million citizens, 41 percent of whom are women, have 
registered to vote in the upcoming October Presidential election. Think 
about that. It wasn't all that long ago that four women were pulled out 
of a bus and executed by some of the Taliban holdovers because they were 
trying to--I think they were registering people to vote or just 
registered to vote. And the world was, ``Oh, no, the elections won't be 
happening. It's too dangerous.'' People want to be free. And if given a 
chance, they will exercise their rights. And look what's happened in 
Afghanistan.
    Despite ongoing acts of violence in Iraq, that country has a strong 
Prime Minister; they've got a National Council; and they are going to 
have elections in January of 2005. The world is becoming a better place 
because freedom is on the march.
    We stand for free societies in the Middle East because they'll be 
hopeful societies which no longer feed resentments, the resentments that 
cause people to kill in the name of a hateful ideology. We stand for 
free governments in the Middle East because we know they'll fight 
terrorists instead of harboring them. I talk to people a lot about why 
freedom will make us more secure--that's why. Free societies are hopeful 
societies. And free societies will be allies against these hateful few 
who have no conscience, who kill at the whim of a hat--at the drop of a 
hat.
    So the mission in Afghanistan and Iraq is clear. We'll help these 
new leaders train Afghan and Iraqi citizens so they can do the hard work 
of preventing the designs of a few from stopping the hopes of the many. 
We'll help them train their police and help them train their armies so 
they can defend themselves. We'll help them have these elections. We'll 
get them on the path of stability and democracy as quickly as possible. 
And then our troops are coming home with the honor they have earned.
    We've got a great military. I'm proud to be the Commander in Chief 
of a fantastic military. It's been my honor to have met many who wear 
the Nation's uniform. These are extraordinary citizens of great courage 
and great decency, and they deserve the full support of the Federal 
Government. That's why, last September, I went to the Congress and asked 
for supplemental funding of $87 billion to support our troops in combat 
in both Iraq and Afghanistan. And this was an important request. It was 
for ammunition, spare parts, body armor. It was for fuel, hazard pay, 
health benefits. This was an important piece of legislation--so 
important, support was overwhelming in the United States Congress, so 
strong that only 12 Members of the Senate voted against it, 2 of whom 
were my opponent and his runningmate. Do you realize this? Do you 
realize that four Members of the Senate voted to authorize the use of 
force and then voted against funding the troops? Only 4 of 100, 2 of 
whom are my opponent and his runningmate.
    So they asked him why, and he said, ``I actually did vote for the 
$87 billion,'' right before he voted against it. [Laughter] And he said 
he was proud of the vote. And finally he just said, ``It's just a 
complicated matter.'' [Laughter] There's nothing complicated about 
supporting our troops in harm's way.
    A President must be clear, and a President must mean what he says. 
During the course of this campaign, my opponent has, I think, seven or 
maybe eight different positions on

[[Page 2031]]

the war in Iraq. He was for it but didn't fund the troops. Then he 
became the antiwar candidate. Then I think it was at the edge of the 
Grand Canyon that he said, well, knowing everything we know today, he 
still would have voted for it. Then he said we're spending too much 
money, and he was on a national talk show earlier that said, we weren't 
spending enough money. And then he did a radio interview 2 days ago to 
try to clear it all up. [Laughter] And here's what he said: There were 
no circumstances--none--under which we should have gone to war, although 
his own vote to go to war is the right one, and it was right to hold 
Saddam Hussein accountable. [Laughter] Even the radio talk show guy 
said, ``I can't tell you what he said.'' [Laughter]
    Mixed signals are the wrong signals to send our troops in the field, 
to the Iraqi people, to our allies, and most of all, to our enemy.
    We've got a strong alliance, and during the next term I'll continue 
to work with our friends and allies to try to stop proliferation, to 
continue to help Afghanistan and Iraq. There are nearly 40 nations in 
Afghanistan and some 30 in Iraq. And it's important for the President to 
continue to reach out to other nations. But I will never turn over our 
national security decisions to leaders of other countries.
    I believe in the transformational power of liberty. I've spent time 
with Prime Minister Koizumi. I like to share this with the people of our 
country, this little conversation about Koizumi, because it helps make 
the point of what I mean by the transformational power of liberty. 
Koizumi, of course, runs a country that--with whom--with which we were 
at war. My dad fought against the Japanese. Your dads, relatives, loved 
ones fought against the Japanese too. Japan was the sworn enemy of the 
United States of America.
    Yet, after World War II, Harry Truman believed that liberty could 
transform societies. Fortunately, a lot of Americans agreed with him. 
I'm sure some didn't. You can imagine how hard it would be to say, after 
having lost a loved one in a war against the Japanese. They said, ``Why 
do we care? Why do we want to work to help them become a democracy?''
    But Truman did. And as a result of doing the hard work, of helping 
an enemy transform itself by becoming a democratic society, I now sit 
down at the table with the leader of Japan, talking about the peace that 
we all want. Think about that for a minute. See, liberty has the ability 
to take--transform an enemy into an ally, so we can work on the peace 
together.
    Someday, an American President will be sitting down with a duly 
elected leader of Iraq, talking about how to keep the peace in the 
greater Middle East, and our children and our grandchildren will be 
better off for it.
    These are historic times. This is a historic moment in history, as 
far as I'm concerned. We're helping to change the world for the better 
by spreading freedom. And it's hard work. It's hard work for a society 
to go from one that had been brutalized by a tyrant who condoned mass 
graves, cut off the hands of the guys that came to see me in the Oval 
Office because his currency had been devalued. It's hard work. But it's 
necessary work, and it's work that will succeed, because I believe that 
freedom is the Almighty God's gift to each man and woman in this world.
    I tell the people, this young century is going to be liberty's 
century. By promoting freedom at home and abroad, we're going to build a 
safer world, a more hopeful America. By reforming our systems of 
Government, more Americans will be able to make their own choices and 
realize the dream that are available in this country. We'll continue to 
spread ownership and opportunity to every part of our country. We'll 
pass the values of our Nation on to a new generation, and we'll work for 
peace and freedom.
    And I want to thank you for giving me a chance to be your President. 
I'm excited about this campaign. I'm looking forward to the next days. I 
like coming down the stretch. [Laughter] And I appreciate your help. 
We'll put your good, hard work and your help to good use. We're going to 
turn out the vote, and we're going to win in November. And I'm honored 
to have you on my side. Thank you for coming. I appreciate it.

Note: The President spoke at 12:41 p.m. at the Grand Hyatt Washington. 
In his remarks, he referred to former Representative Vin Weber of

[[Page 2032]]

Minnesota; senior Al Qaida associate Abu Musab Al Zarqawi; Prime 
Minister Ayad Allawi of the Iraqi Interim Government; and Prime Minister 
Junichiro Koizumi of Japan.