[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 41 (Monday, October 11, 2004)]
[Pages 2223-2235]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks in a Discussion in Mansfield, Ohio

October 2, 2004

    The President. Thank you all. Thank you all for coming. Thanks for 
being here.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. Thank you all for coming. I'm proud you're here. Go 
ahead and be seated. Thank you all. Thanks for coming.
    It's great to be here in Mansfield. It's an honor to be back in the 
State of Ohio. You might have noticed I'm spending some quality time 
here. [Laughter] And there's a reason. I believe you have to get out 
amongst the people and ask for the vote, and that's what I'm doing here 
today. I'm here to say, I'd like your vote. And I'm also here to ask for 
your help.
    Audience member. You got it!
    The President. I appreciate it. [Laughter] I want to thank all those 
who are involved in the grassroots politics here. I know our party 
chairman is here. I know there's a lot of people putting up the signs 
and making the phone calls. I know people worked hard to turn out such a 
great crowd, and I thank you for it.
    I'm going to thank you now for what you're going to do, which is to 
register people to vote. Don't overlook discerning Democrats like Zell 
Miller when you do so. And then remind people that in our free society, 
we

[[Page 2224]]

have an obligation to vote. And then when you get them headed to the 
polls, tell them if they want a safer America, a stronger America, and a 
better America, to put me and Dick Cheney back in office.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. Thank you all. Got a lot of work to do here. 
[Laughter] I'm here to let you know I have a reason for wanting to serve 
for 4 more years. It's important for a person running for office to say, 
``Here's what I've done,'' but only to verify that which I'm going to 
do. And that's what we're here to talk about. I appreciate you giving me 
a chance to come. As you can tell, we've got some citizens from the area 
here who are going to help illuminate the points about the approach to 
Government that I take, which is, the role of Government is to help 
people realize their dreams, not tell people how to live their lives.
    And that's a fundamental difference in this campaign. It's a 
fundamental difference. I'm running against a fellow who trusts 
Government. I trust the people. And we're going to spend some time 
talking about it.
    Before I do so, I want to tell you, Laura sent her best. She was a 
public school librarian in Texas when I asked her to marry me. She said, 
``Okay, just so long as I never have to give a speech.'' [Laughter] I 
said, ``You've got a deal.'' [Laughter] Fortunately, she didn't hold me 
to my promise. [Laughter] People of this country got to see her in New 
York City. They got to see the woman I know--decent, compassionate, 
strong, and a great First Lady. She said, hi. I'm going to give you some 
reasons to put me back into office, but perhaps the most important one 
of all is so that Laura will be your First Lady for 4 more years.
    I'm proud of my Vice President. He's been a great friend and a good 
adviser. I admit it, he doesn't have the waviest hair in the race. 
[Laughter] I didn't pick him for his hair. [Laughter] I picked him 
because he's got good judgment; he's got great experience. I picked him 
because he's getting the job done for the American people.
    I'm proud Oxley's here. I know you're proud to have him as your 
Congressman. Mike Oxley is a fine, fine man. Thanks, Ox. And I see the 
chairman is with us, Ralph Regula. Thank you, Ralph, for coming as well. 
Appreciate both of you here. I just got off the bus, and Mike DeWine 
went up the road. He is the warm-up person for the next speech, but he 
sends his best. Mike's a great United States Senator, and I hope you 
understand what a great Senator you have in George Voinovich. Please put 
him back into office. Thanks for coming.
    Let me--a couple of things I want to say to you. One, as you're 
gathering up the vote, it's important for you to remind your fellow 
citizens what this country has been through for the last 3\1/2\ years 
and the fact that we have taken decisive action to deal with the issues 
that have confronted us. Take the economy. When we got in there, the 
stock market had been in decline for a while. It was kind of an 
indication of things to come, and then there was a recession. Recession, 
of course, means that small-business owners have trouble making payroll, 
that people are just--great uncertainty, that people are worried about 
their jobs. And then, just as we were beginning to get our balance in 
the recession, we found out that some of our citizens were not 
responsible citizens. They didn't tell the truth, and that affected our 
economy. Make no mistake about it, those corporate scandals affected the 
economic vitality of this country. So we acted. It's called the 
Sarbanes-Oxley bill. It's a bill that says we're not going to tolerate 
dishonesty in the boardrooms of America. And then after that, the enemy 
hit us, and it cost us jobs. The attacks of September the 11th caused a 
lot of grief, a lot of concern. It caused us to change our--aspects of 
our foreign policy, which I'll talk about in a little bit, but it hurt 
our economy.
    There have been major obstacles in the path for economic success, 
yet we've overcome them. We've overcome them because the entrepreneurial 
spirit in America is strong. We've overcome it because our small-
business owners are optimistic people. We've overcome it because we've 
got great workers in America. And we've overcome it because of well-
timed tax cuts.
    We're going to talk a little bit today about how the tax relief 
helped individual families as well as the small-business owners. The

[[Page 2225]]

economy of this country is strong, and it's getting stronger. The 
national unemployment rate is 5.4 percent, which is lower than the 
average of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. We're growing at rates as fast 
as any in nearly 20 years. I understand there's pockets of unemployment 
here in Ohio. It's been tough on this State, and I know that. That's why 
progrowth policies will help. You'll hear other ways to help the people 
who are hurting here. So long as anybody is looking for work, I'll 
continue to make sure this economy has got what it takes to grow.
    Now, let me tell you about our economy. It's one thing to have 
overcome obstacles; the question is, how do you make sure the growth we 
have now is lasting prosperity? It's really the issue in this campaign. 
The best way to make sure work stays here in America, the best way to 
make sure people can find work is to make sure America is the best place 
in the world to do business. That means less regulations on our 
businessowners. That means legal reform so frivolous lawsuits don't make 
it hard to hire.
    We open up our markets to goods from other countries. It's happened 
in previous administrations. Both Republican and Democrat Presidents 
have done so, because it's in your interests. The more products you have 
to choose from, the more likely it is you're going to get that which you 
want at a better price and higher quality. That's how the marketplace 
works. So in return, rather than closing our markets and isolating 
ourselves from the world, I've said to other countries like China, ``You 
treat America the way America treats you.'' The best trade policy is to 
work to open up markets around the world because we can compete with 
anybody, anytime, anywhere if the rules are fair.
    In order to keep jobs here, make sure the doors of our businesses 
stay open, we need an energy plan. I submitted a plan to the United 
States Congress. Congress needs to get it to my desk. It's a plan that 
encourages conservation. We spend billions on research to make sure that 
we can find alternative sources of energy. I strongly believe we ought 
to be using ethanol and biodiesel in the energy mix, which we are. I 
know we can use technology to see to it that our coals burn more 
cleanly. We need to be using technology to explore for natural gas in 
environmentally friendly ways. But to keep jobs here in America, this 
country must become less dependent on foreign sources of energy.
    We've also got to be wise about how we spend your money in 
Washington. In order to make sure this economy grows, we've got to be 
wise. We've got to set priorities and stick to those priorities, and 
we've got to keep your taxes low. If you want this economy to grow, it's 
important to keep your taxes low, and it's an issue in this campaign. My 
opponent has, so far, proposed $2.2 trillion of new Federal spending. 
That's with a ``T.'' That's a lot, even for somebody from Massachusetts. 
[Laughter] And so they said, ``How are you going to pay for it?'' They 
asked him, ``How are you going to pay for it?'' He said, ``I'll just tax 
the rich.'' We've heard that, haven't we, before. ``Just tax the rich.''
    Today I'm going to talk to a small-business owner that is evidently 
a part of that equation. There's a tax gap in his plan. He says, well--
he's going to propose $2.2 trillion, by--but by raising the two top 
brackets, you only raise a little over $600 billion. That's the tax gap. 
Guess what happens when there's a tax gap in Washington? Guess who gets 
to fill the tax gap?
    Audience member. We do!
    The President. Yes. As well, when you hear him say ``tax the rich,'' 
just remember that the rich hire lawyers and accountants for a reason, 
to slip the bill and pass it to you. The good news is, we're not going 
to let him tax you. I'm going to win in November, with your help. 
[Applause]
    Thank you all. Hold on. We've got to work here. Thank you all. 
Behave yourselves back there. [Laughter] They got the best view in the 
house. Not now. [Laughter]
    A couple other things I want to talk about. I want to remind you I 
understand we're living in a changing world. And it's changed--just 
think about the workplace. It used to be where a person had one job, one 
career, worked for one company, one pension plan, one health care plan, 
and that person was a male--generally a male. Today, the workplace has 
changed a lot. People are changing jobs and careers quite frequently. 
Women are working inside the house and outside the house. And yet, when 
you think about it, the

[[Page 2226]]

fundamental systems of our Government, like the Tax Code or the health 
care plans or the pension plans, were designed for yesterday, not 
tomorrow. I'm running to change those systems so that people have the 
opportunity to be able to realize the great promise of America.
    Let me talk about health care right quick, and we're going to talk 
about an interesting example of what I'm talking about. The health care 
system today, we've got a choice, it seems like to me, and the choice is 
whether or not the Government is going to run the health care or you're 
going to run the health care. I believe it's as simple and as stark as 
that. I've analyzed my opponent's plans, and when you think about it, 
everything he's going to do, it's going to cause the Government to be 
more intrusive in the health care system. To me, that's the wrong 
approach.
    About 50 percent--so here's some practical ideas for you to talk to 
your neighbors about. First of all, there ought to be a safety net. 
There's a safety net when it comes to Medicare. I went to Washington to 
solve problems. I saw a problem in Medicare. Medicare would pay nearly 
$100,000 for heart surgery but not a dime for the prescription drugs 
which would prevent the heart surgery from being needed in the first 
place. That didn't make any sense. It certainly didn't make any sense 
for our seniors. It didn't make any sense for the taxpayers. We brought 
Republicans and Democrats together. We modernized Medicare, and our 
seniors will be getting a prescription drug benefit in the year 2006.
    I believe in community health centers, places where the low-income 
Americans can get primary and preventative care in places other than 
your emergency rooms. And I believe every poor county in America ought 
to have a community health center. I believe in a children's health 
insurance program, but we've got to make sure all those who are eligible 
are signed up to do so.
    But I also understand this reality: 50 percent of the working 
uninsured work for small businesses. Small businesses are having trouble 
affording health care. And in order to enable them to be able to better 
afford health care, I think small business ought to be able to pool risk 
so they can buy insurance at the same discount big businesses get to do. 
My opponent opposes that. I think it--I don't think it makes sense. I 
don't think it's practical, commonsense policy to not enable small 
businesses to be able to afford health insurance for their employees.
    Another problem we have in America, and it's America-wide, is the 
fact that there's too many lawsuits which are running good docs out of 
business and running up the costs of your health care. You can't be pro-
doctor and pro-patient, pro-hospital and pro-trial-lawyer at the same 
time. I think you have to choose. My opponent has made his choice, and 
he put a trial lawyer on the ticket. I made my choice. I'm for medical 
liability reform--now.
    I believe in health savings accounts. We're going to talk about 
health savings accounts in a minute. A better way for me to describe it 
is to let somebody who owns one describe what they mean. But really, 
what they are is a chance for somebody to own their own health care 
account. And I believe good Government policy will encourage--needs to 
encourage small businesses to set up health savings accounts for their 
employees, accounts that you call your own. In a changing world, when 
people change jobs, it makes sense to have somebody be able to own their 
own health care account that they can take from job to job and that they 
can pass on to other generations. See, if you own something in a 
changing world, you have more stability in your life.
    Let me talk about the retirement plans in America. It's really 
important, in my judgment, to think about ownership in the Social 
Security system, in order to make sure our younger workers have got a 
system that is viable. Now, let me make--let me say this to you. In 
2000, when I campaigned, I clearly remember some of these television ads 
saying to our seniors, ``If George W. gets in, you're not going to get 
your check.'' Well, you got your check. It's not going to happen. It 
didn't happen in 2000. It's not going to happen in 2005. Seniors will 
get their checks. Baby boomers, we'll get our checks.
    But we need to be worried about our young kids, our children and 
grandchildren. There's a big bulge of us baby boomers getting ready to 
retire, and there's not enough

[[Page 2227]]

people putting money in. That's the issue. And to make sure Social 
Security is viable for our younger workers, the money in the Social 
Security trust has got to be earning a higher rate of return. That's why 
I believe younger workers ought to be able to take some of their own tax 
money and set it aside in a personal savings account to help fulfill the 
promise of Social Security, an account they call their own and an 
account the Government cannot take away.
    A couple other things I want to say to you about how to cope in a 
changing world. The labor laws were designed for yesterday. We need to 
change them so that people working outside the home are able to have 
flex-time or comp-time. They're able to be able to store up time so they 
can better juggle their needs of being a mom and a worker at the same 
time. The labor laws ought to be family-friendly. The labor laws ought 
to recognize times have changed and give people flexibility so they can 
manage both their home and their career.
    Right quick about education. First of all, I went to Washington to 
challenge this system that sometimes, and too many times, just shuffled 
kids through, grade after grade, year after year without teaching the 
basics. It is not right to allow a child to go through the school system 
without having the tools necessary to be able to compete and work in the 
world of the 21st century. And so I said to Washington, ``Let's do 
things differently. We'll increase Federal spending, particularly for 
the poor and disadvantaged, but in return, we'll start asking some basic 
questions, `Have you taught the child how to read, write, and add and 
subtract?' ''
    And so, now, in return for increased Federal money, States must 
design accountability systems which are able to determine whether or not 
we're meeting the high standards we've set. You cannot solve a problem 
until you diagnose it. And so the idea is to determine early in a 
child's career whether or not he or she can read and correct the reading 
problem today, before it's too late. We're closing a minority 
achievement gap in America. The system's working, and we're not going to 
go back to the old days of no accountability and no excellence in the 
classrooms, some of the classrooms of America.
    But there's more to do, more to do when it comes to education. You 
know, many of the new jobs of the 21st century require a college degree, 
but only one in four of our students gets there. That's why I believe 
we've got to have at-risk programs for high school students so they 
don't slip behind. We've got to emphasize math and science so that 
skills--kids have got the skills necessary for the jobs of the 21st 
century. Over time, I believe there ought to be accountability in the 
high school systems so we can say we've raised the standards. We need to 
increase Pell grants for low- and middle-income families. But all this 
means that more and more of our kids will be able to start their career 
with a college diploma, will be able to compete in the 21st century.
    There's also a skills gap in America. Think about this. In many 
communities, some communities, the job base is changing from the way it 
was, of yesterday, and yet, many workers don't have the skills necessary 
to fill those jobs. We've got a comprehensive program to make sure the 
worker training programs fulfill the needs of the 21st century. I am a 
big believer in the community college system, where many of our workers 
have got the capacity and ability to be able to get the skills necessary 
to fill the jobs in their own neighborhoods, in their own communities.
    And so what I'm telling you is, is I understand this world of ours 
is changing. And we've got plans to say, in a changing world, the 
systems of Government will change with it, not to tell people how to 
live their lives, but to say, ``Here's your opportunity.'' Government 
can't make somebody be ambitious, but what Government can do is say, 
``Here's a chance.'' We'll give you the skills and opportunity to be 
able to realize the great dreams of this country. That's a hopeful 
America.
    So I'm telling the American people, give me a chance to be President 
for 4 more years, to build a more hopeful America, an America based upon 
ownership. Do you realize, under my administration, the homeownership 
rate is at an alltime high?
    And we're about to talk to a homeowner. But before we do so, I want 
to talk to--Teresa Slaubaugh is with us. Thanks for coming, Teresa. Glad 
you're here. You're married?

[[Page 2228]]

    Teresa Slaubaugh. Yes, I am.
    The President. Husband's name, please?
    Mrs. Slaubaugh. My husband is Paul Slaubaugh.
    The President. Good. He is--[laughter]--just getting warmed up. 
[Laughter] How many kids you got?
    Mrs. Slaubaugh. I have two beautiful children.
    The President. Two beautiful children. Are they here?
    Mrs. Slaubaugh. Yes.
    The President. Let me see if I can pick them out here. No. 
[Laughter] I've asked Teresa to join us just so people understand what 
the tax relief meant. Now, when I talk about tax relief, first of all, 
we cut the taxes on everybody who pays taxes. See, if you pay taxes, you 
ought to get relief. And secondly, we raised the child credit. Two 
beautiful children meant that the child credit went up for Teresa and 
her husband, Paul. It is Paul?
    Mrs. Slaubaugh. Yes.
    The President. Whew. [Laughter] Whooo. [Laughter]
    This family of four, because of the reduction in rates, the creation 
of a new rate, the 10-percent bracket, raising the child credit--and oh, 
by the way, just one other thing before I let Teresa speak--she's 
probably wondering if she's ever going to get a word in edgewise. 
[Laughter] The code penalizes marriage. It doesn't make any sense to 
penalize marriage. We ought to have a Tax Code that encourages marriage.
    And so, how much relief--how much tax relief did you all get in '03? 
Do you know? I know. You saved $1,700. That's not a lot in Washington 
terms, I understand that. Did that mean anything to you and Paul?
    Mrs. Slaubaugh. It meant quite a bit to us.
    The President. Okay, like how?
    Mrs. Slaubaugh. My husband, Paul, works as a high school teacher, 
and he serves our country as a Navy Reservist.
    The President. Great.
    Mrs. Slaubaugh. I'm a home-school mom. I'm a stay-at-home mom, and 
we have benefited from your administration. This has allowed us to 
purchase curriculum for our son, school supplies for our son. We have 
been able to supply piano lessons, physical education classes where we 
have to go outside the home environment to supplement his education. And 
we've been able to take field trips to various places.
    The President. Good. Listen, I think it's important--let me just--
this will help me make my point. After Government meets its obligations, 
after we set priorities and fund them, I think it makes sense to let 
Teresa and her husband, Paul, keep as much money as possible. She can 
spend her money better than the Government can spend her money. That's 
the philosophy. That's our philosophy in this campaign.
    And think about what this means. Think about what the tax relief 
means. I'm so pleased you're here, because it gives me a great example. 
Think about what it means. It means that as a result of tax relief, the 
Slaubaugh family has got more choices. It provides more freedom, and 
they've chosen to educate their child at home. First of all, that's a--
it's got to be really hard to be the mom and the teacher, although moms 
should be teachers, but this is, mom, teacher, and teacher. [Laughter]
    And yet, the money is freeing them up to do what they want to do. 
When you hear me talk about Government policy to create more freedom, 
that's what I'm talking about. They have the freedom to be able to make 
a choice that they want to choose, and I want to thank the Congress for 
making sure that the child credit, the 10-percent bracket, and the 
marriage penalty relief that we passed was made permanent for 5 more 
years. I appreciate your work. [Applause]
    Wait a minute. Hold on. We've got a lot more work to do yet.
    So one of the things I love is to hear a story about somebody who 
said, ``I've started my own business.'' I think one of the--I know one 
of the strengths of this country of ours is the small-business sector of 
our economy, and today we've got Grant Milliron with us. [Applause] 
Pretty well known, evidently. Pretty soon you'll be running for mayor.
    Grant Milliron. You never know.
    The President. That's right. So tell the people at what age you 
started your business.
    Mr. Milliron. I was 18 years old, and I was 9 days away from my 19th 
birthday. [Laughter]

[[Page 2229]]

    The President. You talk about the entrepreneurial spirit, I mean--I 
can't tell you how many people I've talked to that said, ``Well, I 
started my business at the kitchen table,'' or ``in my garage.'' I don't 
know where you started yours?
    Mr. Milliron. Very similar. We started with one acre of property and 
12 automobiles.
    The President. Really? So what do you do? Give people a sense of 
what your business does.

[Grant E. Milliron, president, Milliron Iron & Metal, Inc., made brief 
remarks.]

    The President. There you go. [Applause] Hold on. Hold on. He's doing 
great. A couple of points. He said something interesting; I want to 
remind you. He said, ``Your policies have meant a lot to us recently.'' 
And he talked about capital-intensive business--that means machines, got 
to buy equipment. And one of the things he's referring to is the fact 
that we provided incentives for small businesses to make purchases and 
investments, and there's a reason why. I'll get to it in a minute.
    So with this incentive, did you buy anything? What did you buy?
    Mr. Milliron. We certainly have. We began a program in late 2003 of 
reentering the solid waste business. I was in that business too for 
about 15 years. The first thing we did is buy three brand new trucks. 
Those trucks are very expensive. We spent almost a half-a-million 
dollars for three trucks.
    The President. Somebody had to make the trucks. See, he said--what 
the tax policy did was it increased demand; that good tax policy says to 
Grant, ``Here's something to help you in the decisionmaking process,'' 
which is to make a capital investment. When he decides to make the 
capital investment, somebody has to make it for him. That's how the 
economy works. His decision, based upon tax relief, caused somebody else 
to be able to work and, at the same time, meant his own workers were 
more productive. That's why good tax policy is--that's how good tax 
policy happens.
    Go ahead. How many workers have you got?
    Mr. Milliron. In one company, the iron and metal company, we had 23 
people going into the first of this year. We have added seven people. 
And once our shredder operation is up and running, we know we'll be 
hiring six or eight more people.
    The President. Think about that. That's what's happening in this 
economy. Grant's got optimism. He sees a brighter future. He's making 
some capital investments to make his business more competitive, and he's 
hiring people. He's added seven people. He says he's going to add seven 
more. It's happening all over America. The small-business sector of this 
country is leading this recovery. Seventy percent of new jobs are 
created by small-business owners just like Grant. Isn't that right?

[Mr. Milliron made further remarks.]

    The President. See, the small-business sector of this economy is 
leading the recovery. But I want to tell you something interesting and 
why my opponent's policies are wrong, in my judgment. Grant's company is 
a Subchapter S. That means he pays tax at the individual income-tax 
level. About 90 percent of the small businesses pay individual income 
tax. They don't pay corporate tax. They pay individual tax. That's 
because they're a Subchapter S corporation or a sole proprietorship. So 
when you hear my opponent saying, ``Oh, we're just going to tax the 
rich,'' remember this. Thousands of small-business companies are the so-
called rich, in his vernacular. It makes no economic sense to tax this 
man as this economy is recovering. He just said he's thinking about 
hiring seven more people. It is less likely that Grant will hire people 
if he knows his taxes are going up.
    Good economic policy rewards investment, rewards risktaking, and 
honors the fact that 70 percent of new jobs in this country are created 
by small-business owners just like Grant. John Kerry's economic policies 
will hurt this economy. You ready? Good job, thank you.
    Joanna Williams. How are you?
    Joanna Williams. Good.
    The President. You are married to Taylor?
    Mrs. Williams. Exactly. Very good.

[[Page 2230]]

    The President. Where is old Taylor?
    Mrs. Williams. Oh, he's right back there.
    The President. Oh, yes. Hey, Taylor.
    Mrs. Williams. You just made his day.
    The President. I made his day. Well, I'm trying to get him on TV. 
[Laughter] Give him a, ``Hi, Mom,'' Taylor. [Laughter]
    I've asked Joanna here and Taylor, because, guess what? They bought 
their first home this year, isn't that right?
    Mrs. Williams. Yes, we did.
    The President. I told you homeownership rates are at an alltime 
high. And so, what was it like?
    Mrs. Williams. To buy our home?
    The President. Yes.

[Mrs. Williams made brief remarks.]

    The President. Yes, one reason why people are able to afford homes 
today is because of--mortgage rates are low. Interest rates are low. 
This is not the effect of--this is caused by the Federal Reserve Board. 
I can't claim credit for that. But I can claim credit for this, a 
policy--a tax policy which left more money in the hands of those that 
earned it.
    I presume that tax relief helped you afford the downpayment?
    Mrs. Williams. Yes, it did. And it also helped with Noah's nursery, 
and we did home renovations around the house too.
    The President. Yes, see? Did you have to buy something to do the 
home renovation?
    Mrs. Williams. The home? [Laughter]
    The President. No, I know. To do the renovation in the home. You had 
to buy the home, that's for sure. [Laughter]
    Mrs. Williams. No hard questions. [Laughter]
    The President. Did you go to your local store and--[laughter].
    Mrs. Williams. Yes. Yes. [Laughter]
    The President. You did? That's called stimulating demand. The tax 
relief helped them buy the home; it helped them renovate their home. And 
when they renovated the home, they had to buy something to renovate it 
with. That's how it works. That's how the economy works. That's why you 
want to unleash the individual decisionmaking. See, the economy works on 
the decisions made by consumers, not by Government people. That's how it 
works.
    And so this good family's decisionmaking was affected by good tax 
policy. And she owns her own home. We've got plans that encourage others 
to own their own home. We've got a downpayment plan to help those who 
can't afford downpayments. We've got counseling programs to help people 
understand the fine print. You know, a lot of first-time homebuyers--I 
don't know if that affected you or not--but they take a look at that 
contract; you know, ``I'm not so sure I want to sign.'' You need a 
magnifying glass to read the print. And so we've got counselors to help 
people, first-time homebuyers, to understand the contracts they're 
signing.
    I love it when, in this country, more and more people are opening up 
the door where they live and saying, ``Welcome to my home. Welcome to my 
piece of property.''
    Good job. Thanks for coming. Give Noah a hug.
    Mrs. Williams. I will.
    The President. Kevin is with us. He is--what do you do, Kevin?
    Kevin McElligott. I'm an insurance agent.
    The President. Good. So you know something about that which you're 
able to talk about.
    Mr. McElligott. Well, property and casualty, but I do work with 
health care.
    The President. Yes. Anyway, he's the owner of a health savings 
account. Explain to people what that means.
    Mr. McElligott. It's an insurance policy. It's a high deductible, 
around $4,000. We recently just got a couple quotes, conventional versus 
HSA. Conventional is approximately 50 percent higher. My employer--thank 
you--takes that money in savings and gives it back to my family in a 
bank account that we can use for our deductible.
    The President. Yes, okay, let me--let me help. [Laughter] He owns 
one. I don't yet. So what he's saying is, is that they purchased a high 
deductible insurance policy. In his case--I mean, you can get all kinds 
of deductibles--but in his case, they've chosen a 4,000--is that right--
--
    Mr. McElligott. Correct.
    The President. ----dollar deductible, meaning the insurance pays the 
cost of health care above $4,000. And when you have a high

[[Page 2231]]

deductible policy, it costs you a lot less than a regular insurance 
policy does. In other words, you----
    Mr. McElligott. About 50 percent.
    The President. Fifty percent. So what does it cost you a month for 
your high deductible, roughly?
    Mr. McElligott. Four hundred and ninety dollars a month.
    The President. Yes. So the other one would have been----
    Mr. McElligott. Seven hundred and forty.
    The President. Something like that. So, in other words, you start 
paying this to buy this high deductible. And so you say to yourself what 
about--what happens between zero and 4,000, in his case? And what 
they've done, and what anybody in America can now do because of the new 
law, is set up a savings account that you call your own. Your company 
helps you with the savings?
    Mr. McElligott. They take the money that they save from the 
conventional, from the HSA, and puts that right in your account.
    The President. So they put it in an account. So here he's got--think 
about this now--a family has got $4,000 of cash, earning interest tax-
free--it's put in the account tax-free; it comes out tax-free--that they 
call their own. If they have expenses above $4,000, the insurance policy 
kicks in. The company contributes the money into the account. Think 
about, now, what this means. It means he controls the decisionmaking 
process, not some, you know, insurance executive or insurance worker 
somewhere. But Kevin and his family makes the decisions.
    If there--spends less than $4,000 in the year, the money rolls over 
to the next year tax-free. It's his money at this point in time. He owns 
the account. If he changed jobs, the account goes with him. This is a 
new way for health insurance that does a lot of interesting things. It 
makes sure Kevin is the decisionmaker. Is that right?
    Mr. McElligott. Yes, we have the freedom to choose which doctor, 
which hospital, which pharmacy we use.
    The President. It's very important. Secondly, it provides an 
interesting incentive, doesn't it, for he and his family to make healthy 
choices, like walking every day or running every day or swimming every--
exercising. It's proven that if you take time out to exercise, you'll 
have less disease. And as less disease happens, he's got more money in 
his account. This is an account that makes sure the decisionmaking is 
between Kevin and the doctors, not between bureaucrats in Washington, 
DC. What else can you say about it?
    Mr. McElligott. Well, I have a wife and three kids. Just to let you 
know, we use our health care. I have a 3-year-old, Jack, 8-year-old, 
Laura, and a 10-year-old, Chris, so we do use the doctor. And we've been 
on this for 3 years, and I don't have one nickel out-of-pocket for 
medical care in 3 years.
    The President. Yes, I want people to look at these.
    Mr. McElligott. My wife, Michelle.
    The President. It's a different way of doing things, as opposed to 
the Government telling him what to do or an insurance company saying, 
``Oh, we'll just cover it.'' The decisionmaking process is essential to 
making sure health care is available and is affordable. And this is a 
way to make sure people are directly involved with health care 
decisions. I urge everybody, small-business owners out there to look at 
these plans. It's a way to make sure health care is affordable for your 
workers. And we're going to make sure that low-income Americans have 
access to this, providing refundable tax credits that they can use in a 
health savings account. It's much better if somebody owns their own 
health account, than be reliant upon the Government for health care. 
It's much better for the system, and it's much better for the patient. 
Good job.
    A couple of other things. In a changing world, things shouldn't 
change. We stand for a culture of life in which every person matters and 
every person counts. We stand for marriage and family, which are the 
foundations of this society. I also stand for putting Federal judges on 
the bench who know the difference between their personal opinion and the 
strict interpretation of the law. Okay.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. Thank you all. Let me talk about one other subject. I 
want to talk about how to make sure this country is safer. I want to 
share some of the lessons I learned on

[[Page 2232]]

September the 11th. First of all, that we face a determined enemy that 
has no conscience. These are--these people are--I call them ideologues 
of hate. They've hijacked a religion in order to justify their brutal 
vision of the world, and they are determined, and they are tough. The 
best way to do our duty to protect this country is to fight them 
overseas so we do not have to face them here at home, is to stay on the 
offense, never relent, use every asset at our disposal.
    Second lesson of September the 11th is that this is a different kind 
of war. I wish I wasn't talking about war. It's a war that came on our 
shores. We didn't ask for it. Nobody wanted it, but it's the calling of 
our time, to protect this country. It's a different kind of war than 
we're used to. We face these ideologues who will hide in the cities or 
caves, and therefore, a doctrine--I laid out a doctrine that said, ``You 
can't harbor these people. If you do, you're just as guilty.'' In order 
to protect ourselves, we have said to people around the world, ``You 
will be held to account.''
    Now, when the President has said something, in order to sure this 
world stays peaceful, he better mean what he says. That's why, in the 
course of politics, you can't keep changing your position. You can't 
react to the political situation and say, ``Well, now I believe this,'' 
or, ``I believe that.'' There has to be a steadiness when it comes to 
securing this country. And so when I said, ``If you harbor terrorists,'' 
I was speaking directly to the Taliban who had been harboring Al Qaida--
as a matter of fact, thousands trained in Afghanistan--I meant what I 
said. They didn't believe me, and they're no longer in power, and the 
world is better off for it.
    I want you to think about what's happening in Afghanistan. Three 
years ago or a little over 3 years ago, many young girls didn't get to 
go to school because the Taliban had such a dim vision of the world. 
Women were taken into the public square and whipped, or sports stadiums 
and killed if they didn't adhere to the strict doctrine of hatefulness. 
That was the reality and the truth. Plus, they were dangerous, dangerous 
because Al Qaida, the parasite, was slowly but surely taking over the 
host.
    Today, in Afghanistan, 10 million citizens, 41 percent of whom are 
women, have registered to vote in a Presidential election that will take 
place in 10 days. As a matter of fact, I think it's a week from today. 
If I'm not mistaken, the election is a week from today. I could be 
corrected. But think about that. People that once lived in darkness are 
now living in light. Freedom is coming to Afghanistan, and it's 
important for our future to understand the ramifications of a free 
Afghanistan. First of all, it serves as a beacon for others to see. 
Secondly, we now have an ally in the war on terror, not an enemy.
    And in Iraq, it's been tough work there, just like the tough 
decision I had to make, which is the third lesson of September the 11th. 
When we see a threat, we must deal with it before it materializes. If we 
see a--this is an important lesson to remember--prior to September the 
11th, it used to be we'd see a threat and say, ``Well, we may deal with 
it or may not deal with it, but it certainly can't come home to hurt 
us.'' That changed on that day. Our history changed. It's essential that 
the President and the people of this country never forget that threats 
must be dealt with before they fully materialize.
    I saw a threat in Saddam Hussein. I'll tell you why I saw a threat. 
First, he was a sworn enemy of the United States of America. We had been 
to war with Saddam Hussein. He was shooting missiles at our pilots who 
were enforcing the world's sanctions. He had terrorist connections, Abu 
Nidal, Abu Abbas. Zarqawi was in and out of Baghdad. He ordered the 
killing of an American citizen from Baghdad, Foley. This is before the--
before we went in. Saddam Hussein had used weapons of mass destruction. 
I understood--I understand today that the connection between weapons of 
mass destruction and the terrorist network is the biggest threat we 
face.
    So I saw a threat. And I went to the Congress. And they looked at 
the same intelligence I looked at and concluded Saddam was a threat, and 
they authorized the use of force. My opponent looked at the same 
intelligence and voted ``yes'' when it came time to authorize the use of 
force. I guess it matters what the definition of ``yes'' is in his mind. 
[Laughter]

[[Page 2233]]

    Before the Commander in Chief commits troops into harm's way, he 
must try everything else, and I did. I understood the consequences of 
putting our kids in harm's way. That's why I went to the United Nations, 
and I said, ``Well, here's a threat.'' They looked at the same 
intelligence and, as they had 16 different times, passed another 
resolution. And the resolution said, ``Disclose, disarm, or face serious 
consequences.'' A President must mean what he says; international bodies 
must mean what they say, too, in order to make this world a peaceful 
place.
    Saddam Hussein just didn't pay attention to it. He wasn't interested 
in resolutions. Why should he be? The first 16 didn't mean anything to 
him. My opponent the other night said, ``Well, we should have passed 
another resolution.'' What, the 18th resolution is going to all the 
sudden make sense to Saddam Hussein? No, he's just waiting for the world 
to turn a blind eye.
    We didn't find the stockpiles we found--that we thought would be 
there. We thought they'd be there. Everybody thought they'd be. But he 
had that capability of making those weapons. And when the world turned a 
blind eye, you can bet he would have.
    So the U.N. obviously wasn't interested in--I mean, Saddam wasn't 
interested in listening to the U.N. Diplomacy wasn't working. The other 
night, my opponent said, ``Well, we should have let the inspectors 
work.'' The inspectors were being deceived. The facts are, as David Kay 
pointed out, the reality on the ground was that the inspectors were 
being deceived. How can the inspectors work if they're being deceived? 
So I have a choice at this time. Diplomacy has failed. Saddam Hussein is 
basically thumbing his nose at the world again, and the choice is this: 
Do I take the word of a madman, do I hope for the best with Saddam 
Hussein, do I forget the lessons of September the 11th, or take action 
necessary to defend this country? Given that choice, I will defend our 
country every time. [Applause]
    Thank you all.
    In the debate Thursday night, my opponent continued his pattern of 
confusing contradictions about Iraq. After voting for the war and after 
saying my decision to remove Saddam Hussein from power was right, he 
says, now, ``It was all a mistake.'' He's changing. Then he was asked if 
our troops were dying for a mistake. He said, ``No.'' See, you can't 
have it both ways. You can't say it was a mistake and then it was not a 
mistake. You can't be getting--you can't be for getting rid of Saddam 
Hussein when things look good and against it when things look bad. You 
can't claim that terrorists are pouring across the border into Iraq, yet 
at the same time, try to claim that Iraq is a grand diversion from the 
war against terror. A President cannot keep changing his mind. A 
President must be consistent. A President must speak clearly, and a 
President must mean what he says. [Applause]
    Thank you all.
    A couple of other things. A couple of other things.
    Audience member. We love you, George!
    The President. In the debate, my opponent said something really 
revealing when he laid out the Kerry doctrine. He said that America has 
to pass a ``global test'' before we can use American troops to defend 
ourselves.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. You might remember that part of the debate, what he 
said. See, Senator Kerry's approach to foreign policy would give foreign 
governments veto power over national security decisions. I have a 
different view. When our country is in danger, it's not the President's 
job to take an international poll. It's the President's job to defend 
this country. I work hard with our friends and allies. I just talked to 
my friend Tony Blair on the bus coming into Mansfield. We'll continue 
working with our friends and allies for the sake of freedom and peace, 
but our national security decisions will be made in the Oval Office, not 
in foreign capitals.
    A couple of other points I want to make for you. The--we've got to 
support our military when they're in harm's way. It's really important. 
We owe it to the troops in uniform. We owe it to their loved ones too. 
That's why I went to the United States Congress and asked for $87 
billion of supplemental funding in September of '03, and the response 
was great. Members of both political parties understood that we needed 
to support our troops in harm's way and voted

[[Page 2234]]

overwhelmingly for my request. Four United States Senators voted for the 
authorization of force and against funding, four of a hundred, two of 
whom are my opponent and his runningmate. [Laughter]
    Think about that, four Members said, ``Yes, we'll authorize force, 
but we're not going to give you what you need.'' That's politics, isn't 
it? So they asked him, they said, ``Well, why?'' And he said, ``Well, I 
actually did vote for the $87 billion, before I voted against it.'' 
[Laughter] Amazing statement. [Laughter] The other night he said it was 
a mistake to say it. No, the mistake was not voting ``yes'' to fund our 
troops. That was the mistake.
    Somebody said, ``Well, you know, this war of yours is creating more 
enemy.'' The enemy was plotting before we went into Iraq and 
Afghanistan. The enemy was being trained in Afghanistan. These 
ideologues of hate do not need an excuse for their killing. They're 
trying to shake our will, is what they're trying to do. They want us to 
withdraw.
    We will stay on the offense against them two ways. One, we use every 
asset at our disposal. Our troops are doing a great job in Iraq. They 
are--and they're helping us implement our strategy. Our strategy was to 
transfer sovereignty, which we did early, to a Government run by a 
strong leader in Prime Minister Allawi. Our strategy is to train Iraqis 
so they can fight these folks who are trying to stop the advance of 
freedom, and we're making progress. We've trained 100,000. We'll have 
125,000 trained by the end of this year, and these soldiers are doing 
good work. Look on your TV screens, what's taking place in Samarra. The 
Iraqi soldiers are working hard, and you shouldn't be surprised. They 
want to live in freedom. They understand a free society will mean a 
hopeful society for their children.
    There's a reason why Zarqawi and others are fighting. They can't 
stand the thought of freedom. They understand how powerful a free 
society will be in contrast to their dark view of the world. The best 
way to defeat terrorism in the long term is to defeat hopelessness and 
poverty by spreading liberty and freedom, and that's why this battle is 
taking place in Iraq. And that's why it's important signal to our 
troops. The President should never send mixed signals. We should never 
send confusing signals to friends and foe alike.
    We'll continue our rebuilding efforts to help these people get up 
and going. We've got $7 million obligated to be spent over the next 
months. There will be elections in January. It's one thing to be 
realistic, but I think you can be realistic and optimistic. I believe 
we're going to succeed. As a matter of fact, I'm confident we'll succeed 
so long as we don't lose our will. And when we succeed, we'll have done 
our duty to protect America. Not only will we have removed a tyrant that 
had been a source of great instability and danger to our country, we 
will have helped a country grow in democracy. And that's important, 
because I believe in the power of liberty to transform societies.
    I tell people this so people can understand better what I'm talking 
about. I've got a great relationship with Prime Minister Koizumi of 
Japan, an interesting guy. I saw him in New York a while ago at the 
U.N., and I said, ``I'm telling people in our country about our 
relationship. Do you mind?'' He said, ``No, not at all. It's okay.'' He 
likes Elvis. [Laughter] I didn't tell him that part. I don't think he 
would mind. Do you mind, friend? Anyway, it's interesting to think about 
this conversation--these conversations we have with him, though, in this 
context. Fifty years ago, we were fighting the Japanese. Think about 
that. They were a sworn enemy of the United States of America. Fifty 
years isn't all that long, unless, of course, you're 58 years old, which 
seems like--[laughter]--seems like an eternity. [Laughter]
    Anyway, so we were at war with a sworn enemy. My dad fought there. 
I'm sure, confident, other relatives of yours fought there as well. And 
yet, after that war was over, Harry S. Truman and others said, ``Why 
don't we help Japan become a democracy so it becomes a peaceful part of 
the world?'' There were skeptics in America then, of course. You can 
imagine, many of the families were saying, ``Wait a minute.'' Many of 
the families of the deceased were saying, ``Wait a minute. Why would we 
want to help an enemy that killed my loved one become a democracy? Why 
would we want to help them at all?'' But we had a belief that still 
stands today,

[[Page 2235]]

that liberty can transform societies, liberty can cause an enemy to 
become a friend.
    And so, today, I sit down with Prime Minister Koizumi talking about 
the peace we all want, talking about how to make this world a more 
peaceful place. Someday, an American President will be sitting down with 
the duly elected leader of Iraq talking about the peace in the greater 
Middle East. And our children and our grandchildren will be better off 
for it.
    I believe people throughout the world long to live in free 
societies. I believe the women of the Middle East want to be free. I 
believe if given a chance, people will choose the form of government 
which enables people to better realize their dream, democracy. I believe 
all these things not because freedom is America's gift to the world--
it's not--freedom is the Almighty God's gift to each man and woman in 
this world.
    And so I've come here to Mansfield, Ohio. I've come here to let you 
know I've got a reason for asking for the vote again. I clearly see 
where this country needs to go. I strongly believe that when I get 4 
more years, this country will be a safer place, a stronger place, and a 
better place for everybody who lives here.
    Thanks for coming. On to victory. God bless.

Note: The President spoke at 12:15 p.m. at the Renaissance Theater. In 
his remarks, he referred to Robert T. Bennett, chairman, Ohio Republican 
Party; Senator Zell Miller of Georgia, who made the keynote address at 
the Republican National Convention; senior Al Qaida associate Abu Musab 
Al Zarqawi; David Kay, former CIA Special Advisor for Strategy Regarding 
Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction Programs; Prime Minister Tony Blair of 
the United Kingdom; Prime Minister Ayad Allawi of the Iraqi Interim 
Government; and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan. A portion of 
these remarks could not be verified because the tape was incomplete.