[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 40 (Monday, October 4, 2004)]
[Pages 2164-2171]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
<R04>
Remarks in West Chester, Ohio
September 27, 2004
The President. Thanks for coming. Thank you all. Thanks for coming.
Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
The President. Thank you all for coming. That's what I'm here to
tell you: I'm ready to lead this Nation for 4 more years. And I'm here
to ask for your vote.
I think you've got to get out among the people and give them a
reason. That's what I'm here to do today. I'm here to give you a reason
why you ought to put me back in office for 4 more years. I not only want
your vote; I want your help. I'd like for you to register your friends
and neighbors, tell them we have a duty in this country to participate
in democracy. Register your Republican friends; register your
independent friends; register your discerning Democrat friends, people
like Zell Miller. And then when it's voting time, head them to the polls
and tell them if they want a safer America, a stronger America, and a
better America, to put me and Dick Cheney back in office.
Thanks for coming. It's a good sign when this many people come here
for a rally. Let me tell you what I think. I think we're going to carry
Ohio again, and I think we're going to win a great victory in November.
I wish Laura were here today to see this crowd. I'm going to have
dinner with her tonight, and I cannot wait to tell her what I saw. As
you might remember, she was a public school librarian. I asked her to
marry me. She said, ``Fine, just so long as I don't ever have to give a
speech.'' [Laughter] I said, ``Okay.'' [Laughter] Fortunately, she
didn't hold me to that promise. The American people got to see her in
New York City a while ago, saw what a strong, compassionate, great lady
she is. I love her dearly. Perhaps the most important reason to put me
back into office is so that Laura is First Lady for 4 more years.
I'm proud of my runningmate. Dick Cheney is a fine man. Listen, I
admit it, he doesn't have the waviest hair in the race. [Laughter] I
didn't pick him for his hair. I picked him because of his experience,
his sound judgment. I picked him because he can get the job done for the
American people.
I'm proud to be on this stage with John Boehner. What a fine man he
is and a great United States Congressman. I'm proud to have worked with
him on important legislation, and I'm proud to call him friend. I'm
honored that Mike DeWine is with me today, the fine United States
Senator from the State of Ohio. I appreciate you coming, Mike. Speaking
about Senators, I hope you put George Voinovich back in office. He's a
fine leader, good man.
I appreciate Congressman Rob Portman, Dave Hobson, who is with us,
Mike Turner, Steve Chabot. I want to thank you all for coming. I'm proud
you're serving the people of the great State of Ohio so well.
I want to thank all the State and local officials who are here. I
know the Lieutenant Governor and the State auditor. My friend
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Joe Deters is here. Write him in. Make sure you write him in. He's a
good one.
I want to thank all the grassroots activists. I see my friend
Anthony Munoz is here. I appreciate you.
Audience members. Munoz!
The President. Yes. He can still play, I agree. [Laughter]
Fortunately, he's on my team. I need him, and I appreciate his hard
work.
I want to thank Darryl Worley. I'm honored you're here, Darryl. I
hope you like his music as much as I do.
Lakota East High School and Lakota West High School, thank you all
for being here.
Most of all, thank you all for coming. It lifts my spirits to see so
many people. I'm honored you're here, and I appreciate your interest in
this campaign. You know, I'm looking forward to campaigning. I like it.
I like to tell people what I believe, where I stand, and where I intend
to lead this Nation for the next 4 years.
I believe every child can learn and every school must teach. I went
to Washington to challenge the soft bigotry of low expectations. I
didn't like a system that had low expectations and just shuffled kids
through school year after year, grade after grade without teaching the
basics. That's not right. That's not the America we know. So I worked
with John Boehner to change the laws. We've raised the standards. We now
measure so we can solve problems early, before they're too late. We
trust the local people to run their schools. We're making progress in
America. An achievement gap is closing, and we're not going to turn
back.
I believe we have a moral responsibility to honor our seniors with
good health care. I went to Washington to solve problems, not to pass
them on to future Presidents. I felt like we had a problem in Medicare.
Medicine was modernizing, but Medicare wasn't. Take, for example, the
fact that Medicare would pay some $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 wasn't fair to our seniors.
It's not fair to the taxpayers. We brought people together. We've
strengthened and modernized medicine. Our seniors will be getting
prescription drugs in Medicare in 2006, and we're not going to turn
back.
I believe in the energy and innovative spirit of America's workers
and small-business owners and farmers and ranchers. And that's why we
unleashed that energy with the largest tax relief in a generation.
Listen, our economy has been through a lot. You might remember the
stock market had been declining for about 5 months prior to our arrival
in Washington, DC. And then when the recession came and hit us, and then
some of our citizens forgot what it meant to be a responsible American.
They didn't tell the truth to their shareholders and their employees. We
passed tough laws in the face of those corporate scandals. We made it
abundantly clear, we will not tolerate dishonesty in the boardrooms of
America. And then we got hit on September the 11th, and that hurt our
economy as well.
When you're out there rounding up the vote, you remind people what
this economy has been through. But our economy is strong, and it is
getting stronger. Our economy has been growing at rates as fast as any
in nearly 20 years. The national unemployment rate is 5.4 percent, which
is lower than the unemployment rate--average unemployment rate in the
1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Still, parts of our country are lagging behind.
You've got some people who are hurting here in Ohio. I know that. I'm
not going to rest until every American who wants to work can find a job.
We'll continue to promote pro-growth, pro-small-business, pro-farmer
economic policy so everybody has a chance to be able to make a living.
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 is not going
to happen on my watch.
I'm running for President 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
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help, we'll carry Ohio and win a great victory in November.
I understand the world we live in is changing. In the generation of
our dads and granddads, a man generally had one job, one career, worked
for one company that provided a pension plan and health care. This is a
different world we're living in. Many people change jobs and careers
during the course of a lifetime. Women work inside the house and now
outside the house as well. Yet, the fundamental systems of our
Government haven't changed. In a changing world--think about this--the
fundamental systems, the Tax Code and health coverage and pension plans
and worker training, were created for the world of yesterday, not
tomorrow. I'm running for 4 more years to help transform these systems
so that all citizens are equipped and prepared and thus truly free to
make your own choices and pursue your own dreams.
A hopeful society is one that helps people realize their dreams. A
hopeful society is one in which people can find work. I have a plan to
make sure this recovery is lasting prosperity. If we want jobs to stay
here in America, America must be the best place in the world to do
business. If we want jobs here, we've got to do something about these
needless regulations that hamper our small-business owners. If you want
jobs here in America, we must do something about the frivolous lawsuits
that make it hard to expand the job base.
Listen, if you want jobs here, Congress needs to pass my energy
plan. You cannot have a growing economy without a good energy plan. I
submitted a plan that encourages conservation, a plan that uses
renewables like ethanol and biodiesel, a plan that says we can use our
coal in environmentally friendly ways by using clean coal technology, a
plan that says we'll explore for natural gas in environmentally friendly
ways using new technologies, a plan that modernizes our electricity
grid, a plan that recognizes that in order to keep jobs here, America
must be less dependent on foreign sources of energy.
Listen, to create jobs, we've got to reject economic isolationism.
We don't want to wall ourselves off from the world. One in five jobs in
the manufacturing sector in this country depend on exports. See, we've
opened up our markets--I didn't open up the markets. Previous
Presidents, both Republicans and Democrats, just like me realized it's
to your advantage that you've got more products to choose from. See,
when you get more products to choose from, you're going to find what you
want at a better price and higher quality. That's how the marketplace
works. That's why I'm saying to places like China, ``You treat us the
way we treat you. You treat us fairly just the way we treat you fairly.
You open up your markets to our people.'' And I say that because I know
we can compete with anybody, anytime, anywhere if the rules are fair.
To create jobs, to make sure people can find work here, we've got to
be wise about how we spend your money and keep your taxes low. Taxes are
an issue in this campaign. I'm running against a fellow who has proposed
$2.2 trillion in new Federal spending--so far.
Audience members. Boo-o-o!
The President. Imagine what's going to happen when we get to
October. [Laughter] Two-point-two trillion, that's a lot of money, even
for a Senator from Massachusetts. [Laughter] So they asked him, ``How
are you going to pay for it?'' He said, ``Fine. We'll just tax the
rich.'' You've heard that, haven't you? See, you can't raise enough
money to pay--by taxing the rich to pay off $2.2 trillion worth of new
spending. There's a tax gap. You know who fills the tax gap.
Audience members. We do.
The President. Yes, you do. I'll tell you something else about that
rhetoric, ``tax the rich.'' The rich hire lawyers and accountants for a
reason, to stick you with the bill. The good news is, he's not going to
tax you, because we're going to win in November.
I'll say something else about the Tax Code.
Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
The President. I told you, our systems need to change. The Tax Code
needs to change. It is a complicated mess. The Tax Code is a million
pages long. Our people spend 6 billion hours a year filling out taxes.
It's full of special interest loopholes. I'm going to bring Republicans
and Democrats together in a new term to simplify this Tax
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Code, to make it more fair for the people of America.
See, I've got a plan to make sure our workers have the skills
necessary to fill the jobs of the 21st century. These are changing
times, and the nature of jobs change with them. And sometimes people
need help in order to get the skills necessary to fill the jobs for the
21st century. That's why I'm such a strong backer in the community
college system. I also understand that most new jobs in a changing world
are filled by people with at least 2 years of college, yet only one in
four of our students gets there. That's why we'll fund early
intervention programs to help students at risk in our high schools.
That's why we'll emphasize math and science. Over time, we'll require a
rigorous exam before graduation. By raising performance in our high
schools and expanding Pell grants for low- and middle-income families,
we will help more Americans start their career with a college diploma.
In a time of change, we need to do something about our health care
system. When it comes to health care, I want you to listen to this
debate now, coming down the pike. When it comes to health care, we have
a philosophical divide. My opponent wants Government to dictate to you.
I want you to decide. I want you to be the decisionmaker.
More than half of the Americans who are currently uninsured work for
small businesses. Small businesses are having trouble affording health
care. In order to make sure these good folks have got health care, in
order to make sure health care is more available and affordable for
small-business owners, we must allow small businesses to pool together
so they can buy insurance at the same discounts that big companies can.
Under this plan, small-business owners and employees will be the
deciders. My opponent opposes this kind of plan. He wants Government to
decide on behalf of people.
Audience members. Boo-o-o!
The President. We need to expand tax-free health savings accounts.
We'll give small-business owners tax credits to encourage them to put
money in health savings accounts for their employees. We want people
owning a health savings account so they can make medical decisions on
the advice of a doctor, not on somebody working for an HMO. We will
expand community health centers to every poor county in America to help
the indigent and the poor. We want people to have access to health care.
We'll make sure that our low-income children's programs are fully
enrolled in. We want people to--people who can't afford health care--we
want to make sure health care is available for them.
But I'm going to tell you what else we need to do. In order to make
sure health care is available and affordable, we've got to stop these
junk lawsuits that are running good doctors out of practice and running
up the cost of your health care. I've talked to too many ob-gyns in this
country who are getting sued and having trouble practicing their
medicine, and that hurts women. No, we need to make sure that we do
something different than what we're doing in lawsuits--in the legal
system today. See, you cannot be pro-doctor, pro-patient, pro-hospital,
and pro-trial-lawyer at the same time. I think you have to choose. My
opponent made his choice, and he put a trial lawyer on the ticket.
Audience members. Boo-o-o!
The President. I made my choice. I'm for medical liability reform--
now. Now, in all we do to make sure health care is available and
affordable, we'll make sure that the decisions are made by doctors and
patients, not by bureaucrats in Washington, DC.
Listen, in changing times, it helps people to have stability if they
own something. The homeownership rate in America is at an alltime high
under my administration. More and more people are owning their own home.
We've got a plan over the next 4 years to continue to expand
homeownership to every corner of this country. I want more people owning
the--opening up that door of the house they live in and say, ``Welcome
to my home. Welcome to my piece of property.''
We've got to think differently about retirement systems too. Listen,
if you're on Social Security, you don't have a thing to worry about. You
might remember the campaign 4 years ago when they said, ``If George W.
gets elected, you're not going to get your check.'' Remember those ads?
You got your check, didn't you? Don't listen to them this time, either.
Baby boomers are in pretty good shape when it comes to Social Security.
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But we need to worry about our children and our grandchildren when
it comes to Social Security. We need to think differently about
retirement. I think younger workers ought to be allowed to take some of
their own money and set up a personal savings account to make sure
Social Security meets its promise, a Social Security account you call
your own, a Social Security account that Government cannot take away.
We have a difference of philosophy in this campaign. My opponent's
programs expand Government. My programs expand freedom and opportunity
for every American.
Listen, in changing times, things--some things won't change, the
values we try to live by, courage and compassion, reverence and
integrity. In changing times, we'll support the institutions that gives
our lives direction and purpose, our families, our schools, our
religious congregations. We stand for 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. I stand for the appointment of
Federal judges who know the difference between personal opinion and the
strict interpretation of the law.
And we'll continue to work to spread the responsibility culture in
this country. The culture of our country is changing from one that said,
``If it feels, good do it,'' and ``If you've got a problem, blame
somebody else,'' to a culture in which each of us understands we're
responsible for the decisions we make in life.
This election will also determine how America responds to the
continuing danger of terrorism. Since the terrible morning of 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. Our strategy is clear. We'll defend the homeland. We will
transform our military. We'll strengthen our intelligence services. We
will stay on the offensive. We will defeat the terrorists abroad so we
do not have to face them here at home. We will work to advance liberty
and freedom throughout the world, and we will prevail.
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
secretly pursuing nuclear weapons; Iraq was a gathering threat; Al Qaida
was largely unchallenged as it planned attacks.
Because we acted, the Government of a free Afghanistan is fighting
terror; Pakistan is capturing terrorist leaders; Saudi is making raids
and arrests; Libya is dismantling its weapons programs; the army of a
free Iraq is fighting terror; and more than three-quarters of Al Qaida's
key members have been brought to justice. We've led. Many have joined.
And America and the world are safer.
We've still got hard work. This progress involved careful diplomacy,
clear moral purpose, and some hard decisions. The hardest came on Iraq.
We knew Saddam Hussein's record of aggression. We knew he was a sworn
enemy of America. We knew of his support for terror. After all, he
harbored Abu Nidal, the leader of a terrorist organization that carried
out attacks throughout Europe and Asia. Abu Abbas was in his country.
He's the person that killed Leon Klinghoffer. Zarqawi, the beheader, had
been in Baghdad prior to our arrival. We knew Saddam Hussein's long
history of pursuing and even using weapons of mass destruction. We knew
that. And we know that after September the 11th, our country must think
differently. We must take threats seriously before they fully
materialize.
In this dangerous world, we must never forget the lessons of
September the 11th. We have a duty to protect the American people. We
must take each threat seriously. So in Saddam Hussein, we saw a threat,
and I went to the Congress. The Congress looked at the intelligence I
looked at, remembered the same history I remembered, and voted
overwhelmingly to authorize the use of force. My opponent looked at the
same intelligence I looked at, and he voted ``yes'' when it came time to
authorize the use of force.
Before the Commander in Chief commits troops into harm's way, he
must try everything possible to prevent war. And so I went to the United
Nations hoping that diplomacy would finally work with Saddam Hussein.
That's why I went there. I have a duty to the moms and dads and husbands
and wives
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of those who wear the uniform to try everything to protect our country
without the use of the military. And so I stood in front of the United
Nations and made the case. They looked at the same intelligence I did.
They remembered the same history, and they voted 15 to nothing to say to
Saddam Hussein, ``Disclose, disarm, or face serious consequences.'' I
believe when an international body speaks, it must mean what it says.
Saddam Hussein didn't believe it. He didn't believe it. Why should
he? After all, for 16 years, he had ignored the United Nations--excuse
me, 10 years, 16 resolutions. That's resolution after resolution after
resolution. As a matter of fact, when they sent inspectors into his
country, he systematically deceived them. Diplomacy wasn't going to
work. He wasn't about to listen to our demands. So we gave him a last
chance. He ignored the last chance. And then I had a choice to make:
Take the word of a madman, forget the lessons of September the 11th, or
do what's necessary to defend this country. Given that choice, I will
defend America every time.
Because we acted to defend our country, 50 million people in
Afghanistan and Iraq now live in freedom. Think about what happened in
Afghanistan. That was a country run by the Taliban. They were
barbarians. They think the exact opposite of the American people. They
do not believe in freedom. Many young girls were not allowed to go to
school in that country. Imagine a society that would not allow young
girls to go to school, and then when their moms stepped out of line,
they whipped them in the public square, sometimes killed them in a
sports stadium. But today, the free people of Afghanistan are now able
to register to vote. Ten million citizens, 41 percent of whom are women,
have registered to vote in the upcoming October elections. It's a
powerful statement of freedom.
It's in our interests that Afghanistan be free. There's no longer
training camps there. Al Qaida can no longer find safe haven.
Afghanistan is now an ally in the war on terror. And Afghanistan stands
as a bright light, stands in contrast to that ideology of hatred spread
by our enemies.
In Iraq, despite ongoing violence, they now have a strong Prime
Minister, a National Council, and national elections will be held in
January. I met with Prime Minister Allawi. He's a strong man. I wanted
to make sure he was as committed to freedom as we were. He is. I looked
him in the eye. He told me, he said, ``Mr. President, we'll succeed if
you don't let these terrorists shake your will.'' I told him, I said,
``When America gives its word, Mr. Prime Minister, America will keep its
word.'' A strong man, who knows that they can achieve their objective,
which is a free society.
It's in our interest they achieve a free society. It's in our
interest that Iraq be free. Iraq will be an ally in the war on terror.
Iraq will be standing with the nations of freedom to stop these
ideologues of hate from advancing their cause. You know, when the Prime
Minister was here, he received great accolades, except there was one
noticeable voice. My opponent criticized Prime Minister Allawi here in
the United States.
Audience members. Boo-o-o!
The President. He criticized a brave man who's risking his life for
the freedom of his country and for our security. You cannot lead; you
cannot lead a coalition; you cannot convince the Iraqi people that we
stand with them if when their Prime Minister and their leader comes to
U.S. soil, someone is willing to criticize him. He was wrong to question
his credibility. America must stand with these people as they make the
hard choices for freedom. It's in our interest.
The world will be more peaceful when Iraq is free, and Iraq will be
free. And that's our mission. We will help train Iraqi citizens and
Afghan citizens so they can do the hard work of defending their country
against these terrorists who want to stop the march of freedom. We'll
get them on the path to stability and democracy as quickly as possible,
and then our troops will come home with honor they have earned.
Listen, we've got a great United States military. I'm proud to be
their Commander in Chief. And I want to thank the veterans who are here
today for having set such a great example for those who wear the
uniform. Thank you, sir.
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And I want to assure the loved ones of those who wear the uniform,
they'll have the full support of the Government. That's why I went to
the Congress and asked for $87 billion to provide vital equipment and
fuel and ammunition, body armor for our troops in harm's way in both
Iraq and Afghanistan. This was an important piece of legislation. Matter
of fact, it was so important, we got great bipartisan support. Only 12
Members of the United States Senate voted against the funding request, 2
of whom are my opponent and his runningmate.
Audience members. Boo-o-o!
The President. When you're out rounding up the vote, remind people
of this fact: Four Members of the United States Senate voted to
authorize force and didn't vote to fund the troops, only four Members,
two of whom are my opponent and his runningmate.
Audience members. Boo-o-o!
The President. You might remember, they asked him, ``How could you
make that vote?'' He said, ``Well, I actually did vote for the $87
billion, before I voted against it.'' They kept pressing him. He said
he's proud of his vote. And finally, he said, ``The whole thing was a
complicated matter.'' [Laughter] There's nothing complicated about
supporting our troops in combat.
I appreciate the contributions our friends and allies are making in
our cause. They've been helping. We've got some 40 nations involved in
Afghanistan, nearly 30 in Iraq, and I thank them. I'm not going to
denigrate their service. I'm going to continue to thank their service in
the cause of freedom. I believe they're doing useful, important work.
Over the next 4 years, I'll continue to work with our allies and
friends, but I will never turn over America's national security
decisions to leaders of other countries.
Later this week, I'm going to have an opportunity to debate my
opponent. It's been a little tough to prepare for the debates because he
keeps changing his positions--[laughter]--especially on the war. I mean,
after all, he voted for the use of force but against funding the troops.
He said that we're not spending enough money to reconstruct Iraq, yet
now says we're spending too much. He said it was the right decision to
go into Iraq, yet now he calls it the wrong war.
Audience members. Flip-flop! Flip-flop! Flip-flop!
The President. I think he can spend 90 minutes debating himself.
[Laughter] You cannot lead if you don't know where you stand. I'm going
to continue to speak as clearly as I can and tell the people what I
believe. And I'm not going to change positions when times get tough.
I believe in the transformational power of liberty. I believe the
wisest use of American strength is to advance freedom. I like to tell
the people that one of my favorite leaders is Prime Minister Koizumi of
Japan. I saw him in New York. I said, ``Do you mind if I talk about you
on the campaign trail?'' He said, ``Fine.'' I said, ``All right. I'm
going tell them you like Elvis,''--[laughter]--which he does. [Laughter]
I want you to think about this when you're explaining to people
about what I mean by the transformational power of liberty. Think about
this fact, that it wasn't all that long ago that we were fighting Japan
as a sworn enemy of America. Fifty-eight years ago, it seems like a
long--if you're 58 years old, it seems like a long time. [Laughter] In
the march of history, it really wasn't all that long. My dad was in the
war. I suspect many people's relatives were in that war against a sworn
enemy.
After we won World War II, Harry Truman said, ``Why don't we help
the Japanese become a democracy,'' because he believed in the
transformational power of liberty. There were a lot of skeptics in our
country then. They said, ``Well, you know, they were an enemy. They
can't be a democracy,'' or, ``Why worry? They were an enemy. They
inflicted too much harm on us.'' But fortunately, the President and
others stood their line. They believed, and today, because of that
belief, I sit down with Prime Minister Koizumi, talking about how to
keep the peace we all want. Think about that. And that's what we want.
We want our children and grandchildren to be able to grow up in a
peaceful world.
I believe we have that obligation to work for that peaceful world.
And when we succeed in Iraq--you see, Zarqawi has only got one weapon.
He can't beat us militarily. The only thing he can do is shake our
conscience
[[Page 2171]]
because we value human rights and human dignity. We weep when we see the
brutality he inflicts on TV. It breaks our--that's the only weapon he
has. We also understand that freedom will whip the Zarqawis of the world
in the long term. In the long term, free societies will make this world
a peaceful place. Someday, an American President will be sitting down
with a duly elected leader of Iraq, and they'll be talking about the
peace. And our children and our grandchildren will be able to grow up in
a better world.
I believe the women in the broader Middle East yearn to be free. I
believe that moms in every society want to raise their children in a
free society. I believe that if given the chance, people in the broader
Middle East will choose the finest government ever devised by man, and
that's democracy. I believe all these things not because freedom is
America's gift to the world; I believe this because freedom is the
Almighty God's gift to each man and woman in this world.
This young century will be liberty's century. By promoting freedom
at home and abroad, we'll build a safer world and a more hopeful
America. By reforming our systems of Government, we'll help more
Americans realize their dreams. We'll spread ownership and opportunity
to every corner of this country. We'll pass the enduring values of our
country to a new generation. We will continue to lead 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
that requires firm resolve, clear vision, and a deep faith in the values
that makes us a great nation.
None of us will ever forget that week when one era ended and another
began. On September the 14th, 2001, I stood in the ruins of the Twin
Towers. I'll never forget the day. I'll never forget the sights and
sounds of standing in that rubble. I remember workers in hardhats
yelling at me, ``Whatever it takes.'' I remember doing my best to
console those who had come out of the rubble, and a guy looked me right
in the eye, and he said, ``Don't let me down.'' I've waken up every
morning since that day thinking about how best to protect America. I
will never relent in defending the security of this country, whatever it
takes.
Four years ago, as I traveled your great State asking for the vote,
I said if you--I made a pledge that if you gave me a chance to serve our
great country, I would uphold the honor and the dignity of the office to
which I had been elected. With your help and with your hard work, I will
do so for 4 more years.
God bless. Thanks for coming. Thank you all. Thank you,
firefighters.
Note: The President spoke at 4:39 p.m. at Voice of America Park. In his
remarks, he referred to Senator Zell Miller of Georgia, who made the
keynote address at the Republican National Convention; Lt. Gov. Jennette
Bradley and Auditor of State Betty Montgomery of Ohio; Ohio State
Treasurer Joseph T. Deters, write-in candidate for county prosecutor,
Hamilton County, OH; pro football Hall of Famer Anthony Munoz; country
music entertainer Darryl Worley; senior Al Qaida associate Abu Musab Al
Zarqawi; Prime Minister Ayad Allawi of the Iraqi Interim Government; and
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan.