[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 44 (Monday, November 1, 2004)]
[Pages 2622-2628]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks in Lititz, Pennsylvania

October 27, 2004

    The President. Listen, before I want to say something, I'm traveling 
with a guest and a friend who represents thousands of people all across 
this country who are affiliated with the Democrat Party. My friend has 
come from Georgia to share a message with you about how we're going to 
work with Republicans and Democrats and independents to carry the great 
State of Pennsylvania. Please welcome my friend Senator Zell Miller. 
[Applause] I'm thrilled to be traveling with him.
    I told Zell when we landed, I said, ``This is a good size crowd 
here, and there's a reason why: because we're going to carry 
Pennsylvania on November the 2d.'' And that's what I'm here to do. I'm 
here to ask for your vote and ask for your help. I'm asking that you 
turn out your friends and neighbors to the polls. I'm asking you to 
continue to make the phone calls and put up the signs. I'm asking you to 
do everything you can because with your help, we'll make America a safer 
country, a stronger country, and a better country for every single 
citizen.
    Perhaps the most important reason to put me back into office is so 
that Laura will be the First Lady for 4 more years. When I asked her to 
marry me, she said, ``Fine, just make me a promise.'' I said, ``What is 
it?'' ``Promise me I'll never have to give a political speech.'' 
[Laughter] I said, ``Okay, you got a deal.'' Fortunately, she didn't 
hold me to that deal. She is giving a lot of speeches, and when she 
does, the American people see a fine, compassionate, strong First Lady.
    I'm proud of my runningmate, Dick Cheney. I admit it, he does not 
have the waviest hair in the race. [Laughter] You'll be happy to hear I 
didn't pick him because of his hairdo. I picked him because of his 
judgment. I picked him because of experience. He's getting the job done 
for the American people.
    What a great United States Senator Rick Santorum is. He and Zell 
serve in the Senate together. I'm proud to have Rick Santorum as my 
campaign manager for the State of Pennsylvania. I'm proud to--excuse 
me--call him friend, and I know you're proud to call him Senator. And I 
hope you put Arlen Specter back in there. We need to work with him for 6 
more years.
    I'm honored to be on the stage with Joe Pitts, Congressman from this 
area. I appreciate you being here, Joe. Thanks for your service. I want 
to thank Pat Toomey for the class he showed during the primary campaign. 
I appreciate his leadership and his service to the Congress.
    I want to thank all the candidates who are here, people running for 
office. I wish you all the best coming down the stretch. I want to thank 
my friend Daron Norwood and the Matt Goss Band for singing.
    Most of all, I want to thank you all. You've lifted our spirits for 
being here. You're kind with your time, and I want to thank you for 
coming. This election comes down to some clear choices----
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. This election comes down to some clear choices, clear 
choices for our families. We have issues of great consequence. The first 
clear choice is the most important because it concerns the security of 
your family. All the progress on every other issue depends on the safety 
of our citizens. It will be the first Presidential election since 
September the 11th, 2001. Americans will go to the polls in a time of 
war, an ongoing threat unlike any we have ever faced before. The 
terrorists who killed thousands are still dangerous, and they are 
determined to strike again. And the outcome of this election will set 
the direction of the war against the terrorists.
    The most solemn duty of the American President is to protect the 
American people. If America shows uncertainty or weakness in this 
decade, the world will drift toward tragedy. This will not happen on my 
watch.

[[Page 2623]]

    Since that terrible morning of September the 11th, 2001, we 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've strengthened the protection of the homeland. Tom Ridge, the former 
Governor of your State, is doing a great job as the Secretary of 
Homeland Security. We're strengthening our intelligence capabilities. 
We're transforming our military. There will be no draft. The All-
Volunteer Army will remain an all-volunteer army. We're staying on the 
offensive. We're relentless. We are determined. We will strike the 
terrorists abroad so we do not have to face them here at home.
    And part of our strategy is to spread liberty. We believe in the 
transformational power of liberty to change societies. Think what 
happened in Afghanistan; think about what's happened there. It wasn't 
all that long ago that young girls couldn't go to school, and if their 
mothers didn't toe the line of the ideologues of hate which ran that 
country, they were whipped in the public square and sometimes executed 
in a sports stadium. Because we acted in our self-interest, because we 
acted to destroy Al Qaida's capacity to train in Afghanistan, millions 
of people went to vote in a Presidential election. The first voter in 
that election was a 19-year-old woman. Freedom is on the march, and 
America is more secure for it.
    Iraq will be having Presidential elections in January. That society 
has come a long way from the days of torture chambers and mass graves. 
Free societies are hopeful societies. By spreading freedom and liberty, 
we not only secure ourselves in the short term, we spread the peace that 
we all long for so our children and our grandchildren can grow up in a 
hopeful tomorrow.
    A President has to lead with consistency and strength. In a war, 
sometimes your tactics have to change but not your principles. Americans 
have seen how I do my job. Even when you might not agree with me, you 
know what I believe and where I stand and where I intend to lead our 
country. On good days and on bad days, whether the polls are up or the 
polls are down, I am determined to win this war on terror and to protect 
the American people. And I will always support the men and women who 
wear their Nation's uniform.
    I want to thank those who wear the uniform. I want to thank the 
families of our military. And I want to thank the veterans who are here 
who have set such a great example. We have a duty to support those in 
harm's way with all the resources they need, necessary for them to do 
their job. That's why I went to the United States Congress and asked for 
$87 billion of supplemental funding to support our troops in combat. And 
we got good support in the Congress. Matter of fact, the support was so 
strong that only 12 United States Senators voted against the 
supplemental funding request, 2 of whom were my opponent and his 
runningmate.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. As you're out gathering the vote and as you're out 
talking to people about this election, remind people of this startling 
statistic: Only four members of the United States Senate voted to 
authorize the use of force and then voted against providing the funding 
for our troops in combat--only four, two of whom were my opponent and 
his runningmate.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. So they asked him--they asked him--I'm sure the 
people of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, are just as surprised as people all 
around the country when he gave his famous answer about his vote. He 
said, ``I actually did vote for the $87 billion, right before I voted 
against it.'' [Laughter] He's given a lot of explanations since then, a 
lot of them. One of the most interesting ones of all was that it was 
just a complicated matter. There's nothing complicated about supporting 
our troops in combat.
    After repeatedly calling Iraq the ``wrong war'' and a ``diversion,'' 
Senator Kerry this week seemed shocked to learn that Iraq was a 
dangerous place full of dangerous weapons. [Laughter] The Senator used 
to know that, even though he seems to have forgotten it over the course 
of the campaign. But after all, that's why we're there. Iraq was a 
dangerous place run by a dangerous tyrant who had a lot of weapons. We 
have seized or destroyed more than 400,000 tons of munitions, including 
explosives, at more than a--thousands of different sites, and we're 
continuing

[[Page 2624]]

to round up more weapons every day. I want to remind the American 
people, if Senator Kerry had his way, we would still be taking our 
``global test.'' Saddam Hussein would still be in power. He would 
control all those weapons and explosives and could have shared them with 
our terrorist enemies.
    Now, the Senator is making wild charges about missing explosives 
when his top foreign policy adviser admits, quote, ``We do not know the 
facts.'' Think about that. The Senator is denigrating the action of our 
troops and commanders in the field without knowing the facts. 
Unfortunately, that's part of a pattern of saying almost anything to get 
elected, like when Senator Kerry charged that our military failed to get 
Usama bin Laden at Tora Bora, even though our top military commander, 
General Tommy Franks, said, ``The Senator's understanding of events does 
not square with reality.'' And our intelligence reports placed bin Laden 
in any of several different countries at the time.
    Our military is now investigating a number of possible scenarios, 
including that the explosives may have been moved before our troops even 
arrived at the site. This investigation is important, and it's ongoing. 
And a political candidate who jumps to conclusions without knowing the 
facts is not a person you want as your Commander in Chief.
    When it comes to your security--when it comes to the security of our 
families, my opponent takes a very different approach. He says that 
September the 11th did not change him much at all.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. And his policies make that clear. He says the war on 
terror is primarily a law enforcement and intelligence gathering 
operation. Well, September the 11th changed me. I remember the day I was 
in the--at Ground Zero, on September the 4th, 2001. It's a day I will 
never forget. There were workers in hardhats there yelling at me at the 
top of their lungs, ``Whatever it takes.'' I remember a man grabbed me 
by the arm, he looked me square in the eye, and he said, ``Do not let me 
down.'' Ever since that day, I wake up every morning trying to figure 
out how to better protect America. I will never relent in defending 
America, whatever it takes.
    The second clear choice in this election concerns your family 
budget. When I ran for President 4 years ago, I pledged to lower taxes 
for American families. And I kept my word. We've doubled the child 
credit to $1,000 per child. We reduced the marriage penalty. The Tax 
Code should encourage marriage, not penalize marriage. We created the 
lowest--a lower tax bracket of 10 percent so working families would get 
help. We reduced income taxes for everybody who paid income taxes. We 
helped our farmers. We helped our ranchers. We helped our small-business 
owners. After-tax income--that's the money in your pocket--increased by 
about 10 percent since I became your President.
    Our economy has been through a lot, and I want you to remind your 
friends and neighbors about these facts. First, 6 months prior to our 
arrival in Washington, the stock market was in serious decline, and then 
we had a recession. Then we had corporate scandals, and then the attacks 
of September the 11th cost us about a million jobs in the 3 months after 
that fateful day.
    But we acted. By cutting the taxes, we spurred consumption and 
investment, and our economic policies have led us back to growth. Our 
economy is growing faster than in any nation in the industrialized 
world. We've added 1.9 million new jobs since August of 2003. The 
national unemployment rate is 5.4 percent, which is lower than the 
average rate of the 1970s, the 1980s, and the 1990s. The unemployment 
rate in Pennsylvania is 5.3 percent. Homeownership rate is at an alltime 
high. Farm income is up. The small-business sector of our economy is 
flourishing. The entrepreneurial spirit is strong, and we're not going 
to go back to the days of tax and spend.
    My opponent has very different plans for your budget. He's going to 
take a big chunk out of it. He voted against all the tax relief that I 
suggested Congress pass. If he'd had his way, the average family in 
America would be paying $2,000 more in taxes to the Federal Government.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. All told, during his 20 years in the United States 
Senate, he has voted to raise taxes 98 times. That's five times

[[Page 2625]]

a year. I would call that a predictable pattern. [Laughter] When a 
Senator does something that often, he must really enjoy it. [Laughter] 
During this campaign, he's proposed $2.2 trillion of new spending. Now, 
that is a trillion with a ``T.'' That's a lot even for a Senator from 
Massachusetts. [Laughter]
    So they said, ``How are you going to pay for it?'' And he said, 
``Oh, we're just going to tax the rich.'' Now, you've heard that before. 
Be wary when you hear, ``Oh, we're just going to tax the rich.'' My 
opponent has promised 2.2 trillion, but when you run up the top two 
brackets, you only raise between 600 and 800 billion. There is a gap 
between that which he promised and that which he can deliver. And guess 
who usually fills that gap?
    Audience members. We do!
    The President. We're not going to let him tax you; we're going to 
carry Pennsylvania on November the 2d and win a great victory.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. The third clear choice in this election involves the 
quality of life of our families. A good education and quality health 
care are important to a successful life. As a candidate, I pledged to 
challenge the soft bigotry of low expectations by reforming our public 
schools. And as President, I kept my word. We passed education reforms 
to bring high standards to our classrooms and to make schools 
accountable to our parents. We're seeing progress all across America. 
Math and reading scores are on the rise. Achievement gaps, particularly 
for minority students, are closing all across our country. We're 
building on these reforms. We'll extend them to our high schools so that 
no child is left behind in America.
    We'll continue to improve our lives. We're making health care more 
accessible and affordable. We will expand health savings accounts so 
small businesses can cover their workers and more families are able to 
get health care accounts they manage and call their own. We will create 
association health plans so small businesses can join together and buy 
insurance at the same discounts that big companies are able to do. We 
will help families in need by expanding community health centers. We'll 
make sure every eligible child is enrolled in our Government's low-
income health insurance programs.
    And to help the families of Pennsylvania, we will do something about 
the frivolous lawsuits that are running up the cost of medicine and 
running good doctors out of practice. Like other States, you've got an 
issue when it comes to these medical liability lawsuits. I met too many 
good ob-gyns who have been run out of practice because their premiums 
have gone up too high. I have met expectant mothers here in Pennsylvania 
who are worried about whether they and their baby will get the health 
care they need. You cannot be pro-doctor and pro-patient and pro-
personal-trial-lawyer at the same time. You have to make your choice. My 
opponent made his choice, and he put a personal injury trial lawyer on 
the ticket. I have made my choice. I'm standing with the doctors of 
Pennsylvania, with the patients of Pennsylvania. I'm for medical 
liability reform--now.
    My opponent has got a different view when it comes to health care. I 
remember our debate, when he looked right in the camera and he said his 
health care plan, ``the Government has nothing to do with it.'' I could 
barely contain myself. [Laughter]
    The Government has got a lot to do with it. Eight out of ten people 
would be signed up to a Government program. Think about the idea of 
making it easier for people to sign up for Medicaid. It means small 
businesses will no longer provide coverage for their employees because 
the Government will. And people would be moved from private insurance to 
Government insurance. You see, when the Government writes the checks, 
the Government starts making the rules. And when it comes to health 
care, when the Government makes the rules, the Government starts making 
your decisions. And they start making the decisions for you, and they 
start making the decisions for the doctors.
    His plan is a big Government-run health care plan. It is the wrong 
prescription for American families. In all we do to reform health care, 
we'll make sure the decisions are made by doctors and patients, not by 
officials in Washington, DC.
    The fourth clear choice in this election involves your retirement. 
Our Nation has made

[[Page 2626]]

a solemn commitment to America's seniors on Social Security and 
Medicare. When I ran for President 4 years ago, I promised to keep that 
commitment and improve Medicare by adding prescription drug coverage. I 
kept my word. Seniors are now getting discounts on medicine with drug 
discount cards. Low-income seniors are getting $600 of help this year 
and $600 of help next year to help them afford prescription drugs. And 
beginning in 2006, all seniors will be able to get prescription drug 
coverage under Medicare.
    And we'll keep the promise of Social Security for our seniors, and 
as we do so, we'll strengthen Social Security for generations to come. I 
want you to remember what happened in the 2000 campaign. It is--it's 
pretty predictable what takes place when it comes to elections. You 
might remember, they said, ``If George W. gets elected, our seniors will 
not get their checks.'' Well, I want you to remind your friends and 
neighbors when you're out gathering up the vote that George W. did get 
elected, and our seniors did get their checks. And our seniors will 
continue to get their checks under Social Security, no matter what the 
politicians try to scare you with. Baby boomers like me are in pretty 
good shape when it comes to the Social Security trust.
    But we need to worry about our children and our grandchildren. We 
need to worry about whether the Social Security system will be there 
when they need it. And that's why I think younger workers ought to be 
able to take some of their own money and put it in a personal savings 
account, a savings account that will earn a better rate of return, a 
savings account they call their own, a savings account that the 
Government cannot take away.
    My opponent takes a different approach when it comes to Social 
Security. He declared he will protect Social Security. But I want you to 
remind people that he voted eight times for higher taxes on Social 
Security benefits. And when it comes to the next generation, he hasn't 
offered anything at all when it comes to strengthening Social Security. 
The job of a President is to confront problems, not to pass them on to 
future generations and future Presidents. In a new term, I'll bring 
people together and strengthen the Social Security system for 
generations to come.
    In this campaign, I'm speaking to the hopes of all Americans. The 
President's job is not to lead one party, but to serve the entire 
Nation. I'm proud to have lifelong Democrats like Zell Miller by my 
side, and he's joined by millions of other Democrats across our country 
who are supporting our ticket. As the citizens of this Nation prepare to 
vote, I want to speak directly to the Democrats. I'm a proud Republican, 
but I believe my policies appeal to many Democrats. In fact, I believe 
my opponent is running away from some of the great traditions of the 
Democrat Party. If you're a Democrat and you want America to be strong 
and confident in our ideals, I'd be honored to have your vote.
    The Democratic Party has a great tradition of leading this country 
with strength and conviction in times of war and crisis. I think of 
Franklin Roosevelt's commitment to total victory. I think of Harry 
Truman's clear vision at the beginning of the cold war. I think of John 
Kennedy's brave declaration of American ideals. President Kennedy said, 
``The rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from 
the hand of God.''
    Many Democrats look at my opponent and wonder where the--that great 
tradition of their party has gone. My opponent takes a narrow, defensive 
view of the war on terror. As the United States of America hunts down 
the terrorists and liberates millions from tyranny and aids the rise of 
liberty in distant lands, my opponent counsels retreat, votes against 
supporting our troops in combat, downplays the power of democracy, and 
accepts and adopts a narrow so-called realism that is little more than 
defeatism.
    I believe American leadership is the hope of the repressed, the 
source of our great security, and the greatest force for good in this 
world. I believe the liberation of captive peoples is a noble 
achievement that all Americans can be proud of. If you are a Democrat 
who wants America to lead with strength and idealism, I would be honored 
to have your vote.
    The Democratic Party has a tradition of support for our public 
schools. The party of

[[Page 2627]]

Lyndon Johnson and Hubert Humphrey always stood up for the right of poor 
and minority children to get the best education America could offer. 
Many Democrats look at my opponent and wonder where that firm conviction 
has gone. Just as teachers and principals across America are lifting the 
sights of our schools and raising the test scores of minority children, 
my opponent is talking about weakening the standards and going back to 
the old days of stagnation and excuses for failure.
    I got into politics and I ran for Governor of Texas because I wanted 
to challenge that soft bigotry of low expectations. I didn't want to 
stand by and watch another generation of students miss out on the 
opportunity of our great country. When I came to Washington, I made 
schools my first domestic priority. We've increased funding to record 
levels. We're demanding results for our children of every background. If 
you're a Democrat who believes in strong public schools that teach every 
child, I'd be honored to have your vote.
    Americans of both political parties have always had respect and 
reverence for the institution of marriage. Never in our history has 
marriage been a partisan issue; it's not a partisan issue today. Yet, 
many Democrats look at my opponent and wonder, where is his commitment 
to defending the basic institution of civilization? He says he supports 
marriage, but he'll do nothing to defend it. My opponent even voted 
against the Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage as between a 
man and a woman. More than two-thirds of Democrats in the Senate 
supported that act, and President Bill Clinton signed it into law. On 
the issue of protecting marriage, the Senator from Massachusetts is 
outside the mainstream of America and outside the mainstream of the 
Democratic Party.
    I believe that our society must show tolerance and respect for every 
individual, yet I do not believe this commitment of tolerance requires 
us to redefine marriage. If you are a Democrat who believes that 
marriage should be protected from activist judges, I'd be honored to 
have your vote.
    The Democrat Party has also a great tradition of defending the 
defenseless. I remember the strong conscience of the late Democratic 
Governor from Pennsylvania, Robert Casey, who once said that when we 
look to the unborn child, the real issue is not when life begins but 
when love begins. I remember the moral clarity of the late Senator 
Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Democrat of New York, who said that partial-
birth abortion is, quote, ``as close to infanticide as anything I have 
ever come upon.'' Many Democrats look at my opponent and see an attitude 
that is much more extreme. He says that life begins at conception but 
denies that our caring society should prevent even partial-birth 
abortion.
    Preventing partial-birth abortion is an ethical conviction shared by 
many people of every faith and by people who have no religion at all. I 
understand good people disagree on the life issue, so I've worked with 
Republicans and Democrats to find common ground on difficult questions 
and to move this goodhearted Nation toward a culture of life. If you're 
a Democrat who believes that our society must always have room for the 
voiceless and the vulnerable, I would be honored to have your vote.
    There are Democrats all over America, north and south, east and 
west, who believe their party's nominee does not share their deepest 
values. I know the Democrats are not going to agree with me on every 
issue. Yet on the big issues of our country's security, victory in the 
war against terror, improving our public schools, respecting marriage 
and human life, I hope people who usually vote for the other party will 
take a close look at my agenda. If you're a Democrat and your dreams and 
goals are not found in the far left wing of the Democrat Party, I'd be 
honored to have your vote. And next Tuesday, I ask you to stand with me.
    And I want to thank each and every one of you who have come today 
for standing with me. I appreciate your support. I appreciate your 
convictions. I appreciate your good work. I believe in the future of 
this country.
    One of my favorite quotes was written by a Texan named Tom Lea. He 
said this, he said, ``Sarah and I live on the east side of the mountain. 
It is the sunrise side, not the sunset side. It is the side to see the 
day that is coming, not to see the day that is gone.'' During the course 
of this campaign, my opponent has spent much of the time talking

[[Page 2628]]

about the day that is gone. I'm talking about the day that is coming.
    We've been through a lot together in the last 4 years. Because we've 
done the hard work of climbing that mountain, we can see the valley 
below. For the next 4 years, we'll protect our families. We'll build on 
the prosperity of our Nation. We will defend our deepest values. We will 
spread freedom and liberty around the world and continue to work for the 
peace we all long for.
    You know, when I campaigned across this great State in 2000, I said 
if you gave me a chance to serve, I would uphold the honor and the 
integrity of the office to which I have been elected. With your help, 
with your hard work, I will do so for 4 more years.
    Thanks for coming. God bless. Thank you all.

Note: The President spoke at 11:12 a.m. at the Lancaster Airport. In his 
remarks, he referred to country music entertainer Daron Norwood; Usama 
bin Laden, leader of the Al Qaida terrorist organization; and Gen. Tommy 
R. Franks, USA, (Ret.), former combatant commander, U.S. Central 
Command.