[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 11 (Monday, March 21, 2005)]
[Pages 440-443]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at the National Republican Congressional Committee Dinner

March 15, 2005

    Thank you for the warm welcome. It is great to be here with good 
friends and great allies, the Republican Members of the United States 
Congress.
    I'm here to thank the Members of the Congress for their service to 
our Nation. I appreciate your courageous decision to enter the arena, to 
put your name on the ballot, to lay out an agenda, and to campaign for 
what you believe. I appreciate your hard work, and I appreciate working 
with you. See, we came to Washington to make a difference, not to mark 
time.
    I am honored to have been introduced by one of the Nation's greatest 
Speakers ever, Speaker Denny Hastert--solid as a rock, tenacious as a 
wrestler--[laughter]--and capable as all get-out. Mr. Speaker, Laura and 
I are proud to call you friend.
    We got a lot of work to do. We're going to continue to pursue a 
positive agenda, an optimistic agenda for a stronger America and a safer 
world. We're going to continue to expand opportunity for all who live 
here in America. And we're going to continue to advance the cause of 
freedom and peace. On issue after issue, we will do what Americans have 
always done to build a better world for our children and our 
grandchildren.
    And I'm honored to be sharing my responsibilities with a fantastic 
woman, a great mom, a great wife, a fabulous First Lady, Laura Bush.
    And I'm proud of my runningmate and Vice President, from the great 
State of Wyoming, Dick Cheney. Mine is a job that requires making a lot 
of decisions, which means I must listen to capable, smart people, people 
who are able to give good advice when times are good and times aren't so 
good. Vice President Cheney has been that steady adviser, the solid 
rock. And what a decent man he is. I'm proud to be serving with him for 
4 more years.
    I appreciate other leaders of the United States Congress--my friend 
from the great State of Texas, Tom DeLay, and from Missouri, Roy Blunt. 
I want to thank Congresswoman Deborah Pryce from Ohio and Jack Kingston 
from Georgia and John Doolittle from California and John Shadegg from 
the State of Arizona. I particularly want to pay homage to Congressman 
Tom Reynolds, who has done a fabulous job as the chairman of the NRCC. 
And the chairman of the spring dinner, Spencer Bachus from the great 
State of Alabama. Good job, Spence. It's nice to be up here with Linda 
too. Like you--yes, you married well. [Laughter]
    Anyway, I appreciate the Reverend Steve Gaines and his wife, Donna. 
Patti LaBelle, honored that she is here. I want to thank all the Members 
of Congress who have joined us tonight. Looking forward to working with 
you.
    Laura and I just had a chance to say hello to Buck Fowler and his 
daughters. He's the husband of the late Congresswoman Tilly Fowler. We 
extend our greatest respect for the Fowler family and our prayers for 
Buck and his family as they yearn and long for Tilly.
    In the last 4 years, we've shown that we know how to set an agenda 
and that we know how to work together to achieve that agenda. 
Republicans are driving the debate on all key domestic and foreign 
policy issues of our time. And because we've done a lot of work 
together, because we have achieved a lot, we are the party of reform and 
optimism; we are the party of progress and ideas. We have shown a 
willingness to confront and solve difficult problems. We went to the 
voters and told them what we would do if elected. And when we got 
elected, we did what we promised we would do, and that's why we are in 
the majority in the United States Congress.
    Consider what we did together. Our economy faced a recession and 
war. We worked together to unleash the entrepreneurial spirit of America 
with the largest tax relief in a generation. Our economic policies are 
working. This country has created more than 3 million new jobs since May 
of 2003, and today, more Americans are working than ever before in our 
Nation's history.
    Our party stands for educating every child, so we passed the No 
Child Left Behind Act. It's one of the most important Federal education 
reforms in our Nation's history. We believe in high standards. We 
believe in stopping this process of just moving kids through

[[Page 441]]

schools without them learning the basics of reading and math. And 
because we worked together, an achievement gap in America is closing so 
that no child is left behind in this country.
    We believe in ownership. We want more people to own a home or a 
business. We've worked together to expand ownership for all Americans, 
not just a handful of Americans. Today, because we acted, the 
homeownership rate in America is at an alltime high. Small businesses 
are growing and expanding. And for the first time, Americans can own 
their own health savings accounts, so they can have a health care plan 
of their own when they change jobs and so that they're in charge of 
their health care decisions.
    After our Nation was attacked, we worked together to create the 
Department of Homeland Security. Because we acted to safeguard the ports 
and borders and better protect the American people, this country is 
safer than ever before. We went after an enemy that attacked America, 
and I want to thank the United States Congress for providing our service 
men and women with the resources they need to win this war against the 
terrorists.
    In each case, we were successful because we stayed true to our 
principles. We pushed forward with our ideas. And now, in the start of a 
new term, we must continue to provide bold leadership that the Americans 
have come to expect.
    In the 2004 elections, we ran on large issues. We campaigned on a 
platform of big ideas. We discussed those ideas at every campaign stop, 
and the American people responded. And now it is our turn to respond and 
do what they expect. We campaigned and said that we will be wise with 
the taxpayers' money. I have submitted a budget. Congress is now working 
on that budget to make sure that when we spend money, we do it wisely or 
not spend it at all. To keep the economy growing and creating new jobs, 
we must make tax relief permanent.
    We campaigned on legal reform. The scales of justice are not 
balanced in America. We must free our entrepreneurs and small businesses 
from those junk and frivolous lawsuits that run up the cost of doing 
business and make it hard for people to find work.
    I appreciate the hard work of the Speaker and the leadership in 
getting a class-action reform piece of legislation to my desk. I was 
proud to sign it. We need to take action now on asbestos legal reform, 
and we need to make sure that health care is available and affordable 
and do something about the junk lawsuits that are running good doctors 
out of practice. We need medical liability reform now.
    Our party has a clear agenda, to make health care more affordable 
and give families greater coverage and more control over their health 
decisions. We must move forward with improved information technology to 
prevent medical error and to reduce costs. We must expand health savings 
accounts. We must allow small businesses to pool together so they can 
buy insurance at the same discounts that big companies are able to do. 
In all we do, we will make sure health care decisions are made by 
doctors and patients, not by officials in Washington, DC.
    We will continue our education reforms to make sure our high schools 
function well. We want to make sure a high school diploma means 
something. And also, we understand that in order to make sure this 
economy continues to grow, our employees in America must be skilled with 
the jobs of the 21st century. That is why we are such strong backers of 
the community college system here in America.
    This party understands that to keep our economy growing, we need 
reliable supplies of affordable energy. We need to pass legislation this 
year that makes this country more secure and less dependent on foreign 
sources of energy.
    I'm looking forward to working with the Congress on all these 
matters, and I'm also looking forward to working with Congress to save 
Social Security. I told the people when I ran for office that if given a 
second term, I would make Social Security a top legislative priority. 
And that's exactly what I have done since I was sworn in for the second 
term. I have been to 15 States so far on this issue, and I'm just 
warming up. On every visit, I'm assuring seniors and those nearing 
retirement that their Social Security benefits will not change. No 
matter what the propaganda

[[Page 442]]

says, no matter what the partisans say, our seniors will get their 
checks.
    I'm also making the case to the American people that the Social 
Security system is insolvent and heading toward bankruptcy. I say 
``insolvent''--it isn't today, but it will be soon. You see, baby 
boomers like me are getting ready to retire--[laughter]--and there's a 
lot of us. In my case, the retirement age is in 2008, which is a 
convenient year. [Laughter] And we're living longer, and we have been 
promised greater benefits than the previous generation. And yet the 
problem is, there are fewer workers paying into the system. More people 
living longer, getting greater benefits, with fewer people paying into 
the system is math that will not work for the younger generations of 
Americans. In other words, for younger workers, the current system has 
made promises it cannot keep.
    And every year we wait to address this problem will make any 
solution more painful and more drastic. In other words, we will leave 
our children and grandchildren with a greater burden. And this isn't 
fair, and this isn't right, and that's not how leaders lead. Now is the 
time to confront the Social Security issue.
    Social Security has worked well for many of our seniors. Our job is 
to make sure it works well for the next generation. And as we fix Social 
Security permanently, we must also make it a better deal for younger 
workers. I have proposed allowing workers to set aside a part of their 
payroll taxes in personal retirement accounts. These accounts would be 
voluntary. The money would go into a conservative mix of stocks and bond 
funds that would allow the younger worker to earn a higher rate of 
return on anything the current system could provide. That money would 
provide a nest egg to supplement their traditional Social Security 
checks, a nest egg they would call their own, a nest egg the Government 
could not take away, and a nest egg they could pass on to their 
children.
    With the exception of raising the payroll tax rate, all options are 
on the table for strengthening Social Security. I am willing to listen 
to any good idea. The Social Security debate has only just begun, but 
I'll tell you what I believe and what I hear: Those on the side of 
reform are going to win. The American people want solutions and not 
empty partisan bickering. The American people expect people to come to 
the table and negotiate in good faith. The American people want this 
problem solved now and permanently, and our party will lead on this 
vital issue for generations to come.
    On these and other issues, we're empowering individuals as we reform 
important institutions of our Government. And we do so because we 
believe in the American people. We empower people through our policies 
because we trust the judgment of the people we represent. And we can be 
confident in our policies, and we can be confident in our progress 
because we share the values and ideals of the American people. We've 
given the people of this country a clear choice, and we have performed. 
We did that in the 2002 elections; we did that in the 2004 elections. 
The American people have responded to a party which sets a clear agenda, 
a party which doesn't want to mark time, a party which understands that 
we must confront problems now and not pass them on to future Presidents 
and future Congresses.
    In those elections, the American people have made it clear they want 
a President and Congress that understand the role of courts in our 
democracy. As I campaigned across this country last year, the judges was 
an issue that I raised at every single stop. Everywhere I went, I heard 
the same message: The American people want judges who faithfully 
interpret the law, not legislate from the bench. I will continue to find 
men and women--I will continue to nominate men and women who will 
strictly interpret the Constitution. And my judicial nominees deserve an 
up-or-down vote on the floor of the United States Senate.
    I want to thank the leadership of the Congress and Members of 
Congress for clearly understanding the power of freedom in the world in 
which we live. We will stay on the hunt for those who want to hurt our 
country. We will support our troops around the world as they hunt down 
the terrorists so they can never inflict harm on us. But we also 
understand that the way to defeat terror in the long run, the way to 
defeat hopelessness and despair is to spread freedom and democracy. We 
understand that freedom is not America's

[[Page 443]]

gift to the world; freedom is the Almighty God's gift to each man and 
woman in this world.
    And freedom is on the march. Think about what happened in 
Afghanistan. Millions went to the polls after we helped liberate that 
country from the Taliban. And the first voter, the first person to stand 
up and say, ``I want a democracy,'' was a young woman. It didn't take 
long for freedom to manifest itself in that war-torn country. When 
people are given a chance--just given a chance--they will exercise their 
right as free men and women. See, freedom exists deep in the soul of 
every man and woman on the face of the Earth.
    You know, in Iraq, the terrorists used bombs and beheadings and 
torture to try to prevent people from exercising their God-given right, 
but they couldn't stop the march of freedom. Millions went to the polls 
in defiance of the terrorists. Millions said, ``We want to be free.'' 
And the United States of America will stand with our allies and friends 
to help freedom movements, whether it be in Lebanon or Iraq or all 
around the world, because freedom will lead to the peace we all long 
for.
    In this new term, I look forward to working with you, Speaker, and 
the leaders and the Members of Congress. And as we do, as we work with 
you, we'll stick with our ideals. We'll make our case to the American 
people as plainly as we can possibly make it, and we're going to get the 
job done. That's why we're here. We're in Washington, DC, to serve the 
people of this country, to reform institutions that need to be reformed, 
to stand by principles. We are the party of Lincoln. We are the party 
for Lincoln at home, and we are the party for Lincoln abroad. We believe 
every citizen should live in a free society.
    By expanding freedom at home, we will provide our citizens, all our 
citizens, the path of greater opportunity and more control over their 
own lives. And by expanding liberty abroad, we'll provide our citizens 
with security--the security they need to build a prosperous and peaceful 
future for their children.
    We're living in historic times. It's an incredibly exciting time to 
be serving our great Nation. I'm so honored to hold the position I hold, 
and I'm so honored to be able to work with such decent men and women of 
the United States Congress.
    I want to thank all of you who have come tonight for supporting the 
Republican Party in the United States Congress. You're making a wise 
investment about the future of this country, an investment made upon 
principle, an investment based upon freedom, an investment that will 
help us stay a prosperous nation, and an investment that will allow each 
and every American to rise to his or her own God-given talents.
    I love my country. I love working with the Congress. Thank you for 
coming tonight, and may God bless you all.

Note: The President spoke at 7:22 p.m. at the Washington Hilton Hotel. 
In his remarks, he referred to Linda Bachus, wife of Representative 
Spencer Bachus; Rev. Steve Gaines, senior pastor, Gardendale's First 
Baptist Church, Gardendale, AL; and entertainer Patti LaBelle.