[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 31 (Monday, August 8, 2005)]
[Pages 1245-1253]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
<R04>
Remarks to the American Legislative Exchange Council in Grapevine, Texas
August 3, 2005
Thank you all. Thank you all. Please be seated. Earl, thanks for the
warm introduction. Thanks for the invitation, and thanks for the award.
And I appreciate your leadership of ALEC. Good leaders make good
decisions. You made a good decision bringing this convention to Texas.
[Laughter]
I'm pleased to be with the members of ALEC, and I want to thank you
for serving. And I want to thank your families for standing by you as
you serve. I appreciate you putting your community and your State and
your Nation ahead of your self-interest. I also appreciate the
philosophy you espouse, philosophy rooted in free enterprise,
accountability for local officials at all levels, and your focus on
results. I used to work with some ALEC members when I was Governor of
the great State of Texas. I see a couple of them sitting around here. I
appreciate you all coming. The thing I found about ALEC members is
they're always willing to challenge the status quo, to espouse what I
call a compassionate conservative philosophy, a philosophy that says,
``Government if necessary but not necessarily Government.''
And so, thanks for having me. Thanks for serving, and thanks for the
invitation. Laura sends her best. She is the--she's down there in
Crawford, and she is--I got to tell you, she's a great First Lady, is
what she is, and a great wife.
I see the speaker and Nadine Craddick from Midland, Texas. I think
one of the reasons why Laura is admired is because she has never forgot
where she came from or how she was raised. She's proud of Midland,
Texas. She's carrying those Midland, Texas, values to Washington, DC.
And she's a great mom, great wife, and a great First Lady. I want to
thank--thank you, Tommy Craddick, who is the speaker of the house--of
the Texas house is with us. And Speaker, you're
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doing a great job. Proud of your accomplishments, proud to be with you
today.
I want to thank Duane Parde, the executive director. I want to thank
the members of the Texas host committee.
I want to thank the Congress folks who are here today. I see a
couple of you out there, a couple of Texas Congressmen, Feeney from
Florida, and Culberson is here. Thank you all for coming. I want to
thank former Senator John Breaux from Louisiana for joining us. John,
thanks for being here.
I asked Breaux to help out on simplifying the Tax Code. It needs to
be simplified, and--looking forward to seeing your report. [Laughter]
But thanks for serving.
In Washington, we're working on two great goals, one, strengthening
our economy, so people can realize their dreams; and defending this
country. And we're making good progress on both. This economy of ours is
strong. It is getting stronger, and the amazing thing is to remember
where we have come from. We went through a recession and a stock market
correction and a terrorist attack and corporate scandals and war. And in
spite of that, this economy is growing at some of the highest levels
ever.
In 2003, growth was at the highest levels in nearly 20 years. Our
economy today is growing faster than any other major industrialized
nation in the world. We've added 2 million new jobs in the last 12
months. More people work today than ever before in our Nation's history.
Employment is up in 48 of the 50 States. Unemployment is down to 5
percent. That's below the average rate of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.
The entrepreneurial spirit is strong. More people own a home today than
ever before in our Nation's history. Our tax relief plan is working.
This week's report shows that both personal income and consumer
spending grew rapidly in June. Real disposable personal income has grown
by about 12 percent since the end of 2000. You know, some have
questioned in Washington whether or not you can cut taxes and increase
revenues for the Treasury. Well, I don't know if you saw the report that
came out--recently came out. It showed that the Federal deficit is
projected to be $94 billion less than previously expected. And that's
because revenues are catching up. And the reason revenues are catching
up is because the tax cuts stimulated economic vitality and growth all
across the country. I laid out a goal for the Congress to work with the
administration to cut the deficit in half by 2009, and we're ahead of
pace to realize that goal.
At the State level, there's some good news. You've seen the effects
of the growing economy on your revenue. State revenues in the first
quarter of 2005 increased 11.7 percent from the prior year; 42 States
have received more in revenue than expected, which tells me that we need
to work together to make sure we're wise about how we spend that money.
Part of making sure that our economy continues to grow is to pass
budget resolutions that are fiscally sound. And that's what we did in
Washington, DC. I submitted the first budget to propose a cut in
nonsecurity discretionary spending since Ronald Reagan was the
President. And I appreciate the action in the United States House of
Representatives and the United States Senate to pass a budget resolution
that adhered to those principles. And now the appropriators must follow
the guidelines of the budget. To keep this economy growing, we must not
overspend at the Federal level.
I set out some priorities this winter, priorities to adhere to our
principle that the role of Government is not to create wealth; the role
of Government is to create an environment in which the entrepreneurial
spirit can flourish, in which dreamers can be--realize big dreams. And
as they do, they'll employ more of our fellow citizens.
I'm proud to report to you that we're making headway when it comes
to legal reform. We've got too many junk lawsuits that make it hard for
people to create jobs in America. We passed class-action reform. We
passed bankruptcy reform--hope we can get asbestos reform done. I tell
you one other thing we need to get done in Washington, DC, this fall.
For the sake of good health care, to make sure health care is available
and affordable, Congress needs to pass medical liability reform and get
it on my desk.
I told the United States Congress this country needs to develop an
energy strategy. We should have done that 10 years ago. We
[[Page 1247]]
should have developed a strategy that would help us diversify away from
foreign sources of oil. And finally, after years of work, I'm proud to
announce I'll be signing next week a comprehensive energy bill. And it's
a good piece of legislation. It's a legislation that encourages domestic
production. It's a piece of legislation that encourages conservation.
It's also a piece of legislation that recognizes, over time, we must
diversify away from our dependence on hydrocarbons. That's why we're now
promoting nuclear energy. It makes sense for this country to use safe,
clean nuclear power.
We've got plenty of coal in America. We're now spending the money to
make sure we burn it wisely so that we can protect our environment. In
this bill, we've got good clean coal technology research and
development. I believe that the best way to end our dependence on
foreign sources of energy is to figure out how to use different kind of
automobiles. And I believe hydrogen power is going to be the source of
power that will allow us to diversify over time. And this bill is good
about promoting research and development for hydrogen automobiles.
Some of you from the Midwest may remember we had a problem with our
electricity grid. This is a bill that modernizes the electricity grid
and gets rid of old laws that prevent utilities from being able to raise
money efficiently in the capital market. This is a good piece of
legislation. It's a legislation that sets us on our way for independence
from foreign sources of oil. I'm proud to sign it next week in New
Mexico, and I want to thank the Members of the House and the Senate for
getting it done.
Congress recently passed the patient safety bill which improves
health care by reducing medical errors. Congress passed the highway
bill. We had a little problem getting that bill done over the last
couple of years because we had a disagreement about the right number. I
felt that the number ought to be fiscally--a fiscally responsible
number. We worked hard with Members of the Senate and the House. I'll be
proud to sign a fiscally responsible highway bill next Wednesday in the
State of Illinois.
Finally, I campaigned across this country telling people, I believe
in free trade and fair trade. I hope we all understand the importance of
opening up markets for U.S. products. If you're good at something, you
ought to be selling those products, not only here at home but around the
world. And we're really good at certain things. We're great at growing
crops, for example. We're good at growing soybeans, and therefore, it
seems to make sense that the administration ought to be working hard to
opening up markets for our soybean growers and our manufacturers and our
entrepreneurs and our high-tech folks.
We had a problem in our hemisphere about trade. I don't know if you
realize it or not, but most of the goods from Central America came into
this country duty-free. Yet 80 percent of our goods were taxed through
tariffs in Central American countries. That didn't seem to make sense to
me. It certainly wasn't fair. All I say to people is, you treat us the
way we treat you. If your goods can come into our markets duty-free, our
goods ought to be able to go into your markets duty-free.
And that's the spirit of the CAFTA legislation that I signed
yesterday. It recognized that free trade must be fair trade. And the
piece of legislation I signed is going to help people find jobs here in
America. It's going to make it easier for us to sell our products to 44
million consumers.
But CAFTA was more than a trade bill. CAFTA was a statement about
democracy in our own neighborhood. We entered into a pact, a long-term
pact with new democracies, countries that not all that long ago were
wrestling with civil strife and dictatorships. These young democracies
turned to America, and said, ``We want to be allied with you through an
economic trade pact.'' And by passing that bill, the United States of
America made a clear statement to those young democracies that we stand
with you. We will help you develop free markets and free societies. We
will help you stand as you struggle to build your democracy. It's in our
national interest that democracy prevail in our neighborhood.
So we got some stuff done, and I want to thank you all for your
support in this legislation. I also want to thank you for standing
strong when it comes to insisting that there be high standards and
accountability in our
[[Page 1248]]
public school systems. I was proud to sign the No Child Left Behind Act.
It's what I call challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations. If
you do not have high standards and if you do not measure, people just
simply get shuffled through the system. That's not what we believe. And
I told you earlier I was proud of ALEC because of your results-oriented
nature. You believe in results.
I believe in local control of schools, and that's inherent in the No
Child Left Behind Act. It says, ``You measure. You court your--chart
your course to excellence.'' But I also believe in results, and when we
spend money at the Federal level, I expect people who are spending that
money to show the taxpayers results. And that's why we're measuring.
That's why we want to know whether a child can read and write and add
and subtract. It's not too much to ask. You shouldn't be afraid to ask
that question to your local educators and school boards. You ought to
say, ``Listen, we trust you. We believe in you. We support you, but why
don't you show us.'' See, you can't correct a problem until you diagnose
a problem.
Inherent in the No Child Left Behind Act is our belief that we've
got to diagnose problems before you can solve problems. And by the way,
it's working. There's an achievement gap in America. We've got too many
young African American kids who aren't reading at the proper grade
level, relative to Anglo kids. But because of the No Child Left Behind
Act and because of good teachers and because of good leadership at the
State level, that achievement gap is narrowing, and America is better
off for it.
I want to thank you for your support of the Faith-Based and
Community Initiative. We understand that Government can't love.
Government can pass law. Government can hand out money, but Government
cannot put heart--hope in a person's heart or a sense of purpose in a
person's life. That's done when a loving citizen puts their arm around
somebody who hurts and says, ``How can I help you? What can I do to make
your life better?'' The true strength of America lies in the hearts and
souls of our fellow citizens. That's our strength. Our strength can be
found in the armies of compassion which exist all across America.
ALEC understands that the best way to bring hope into the dark
corners of our country, the best way to bring optimism into people's
lives is to stand squarely on--side by side with faith-based
organizations and community-based organizations whose members have heard
that call to love a neighbor just like you'd like to love--be loved
yourself.
At the Federal level, we'll continue to open up Federal money for
grant purposes for faith-based programs. And at the same time, we will
not allow bureaucracies to say to a faith-based program, ``You can't
practice your faith.'' We're saving lives in America because we're
unleashing the great compassion of America, the people of America, and
the people whose hearts are right. I'm honored to be standing with good
folks who understand that we can save America, one heart, one soul, and
one conscience at a time. So I want to thank you for your support of the
faith-based initiatives.
I hope Congress gets a good rest because they got a lot of work to
do when they get back. The Senate has got work to do, starting with the
confirmation of a fine man, Judge John Roberts. John Roberts is highly
qualified. He's one of the best appellate attorneys in the United
States. He has argued 39 cases before the Supreme Court. I nominated him
to the DC District Court, and he was approved by unanimous consent in
the United States Senate. That means nobody objected. I spent time with
John Roberts. He's a good family man. He has got a good way about him, a
good modest fellow who is plenty bright. But most importantly, John
Roberts is a man who will interpret the law--interpret the law based
upon the United States Constitution, and he will not legislate from the
bench.
The Senate needs to conduct this hearing in a way that brings credit
to the Senate. They need to have a good, honest debate about Judge
Roberts. But I hope it's done in a way that brings dignity to the
process. And they must be deliberate, but they also must hear this call:
Roberts needs to get his hearing done and the confirmation completed so
he can be seated before the Supreme Court reconvenes in early October.
Congress needs to continue debating Social Security. Let me tell you
about what I
[[Page 1249]]
think my job description is. I think my job is to confront problems, not
pass them on to future Presidents and future Congresses. I know that's
what the American people expect of their leaders, and I see a problem in
Social Security. I'm part of the problem. I'm fixing to retire.
[Laughter] Matter of fact, my retirement age is in 2008. That's when I'm
eligible for Social Security. It's a convenient year. [Laughter] And I'm
not the only one. There's a lot of us who are eligible to retire. We're
called the baby boomers. There's about 40 million people today receiving
Social Security. By the time the baby boomers like me get completely
retired, there will be about 75 million. In other words, a lot--there's
a lot of us. And we're living longer than previous generations. Matter
of fact, I think I'm going to ride the old mountain bike this afternoon
in Crawford to make sure I live longer--[laughter]--if I can survive the
heat.
We've been promised greater benefits than the previous generation.
People went around the country saying, ``Vote for me. I'll increase your
Social Security benefits.'' And sure enough, that's one of the promises
that Congress kept. You've got a lot of people living longer, getting
greater benefits, with fewer people paying in the system. In the early
fifties, there was about 16 workers to every beneficiary. Today, there's
3.3 workers for every beneficiary. Soon there's going to be two workers
for every beneficiary. If you look at the cash flow analysis, you'll
find that the system goes red in 2017.
And by the way, it is a pay-as-you-go system. Some people think it's
a trust fund. The trust fund concept means we take your money; we hold
it; and we give it back to you. No, this isn't the way it is. It is a
pay-as-you-go. You pay. We go ahead and spend. [Laughter] You pay. We
pay--you pay your payroll taxes, and we go ahead and pay for the
benefits. And with money left over, we fund Federal programs. And all
that's left is a file cabinet full of IOUs. Somebody told me that, and I
went to West Virginia to see it for myself, and sure enough, it's still
there--paper, promises. No, the system in 2017, goes in the red. In
2042, it's bankrupt.
So my first question to Members of Congress is, how can you go back
to your districts, when you look at the facts, and stand up in front of
young workers and look them in the eye and say, ``Man, the future is
bright for you,'' knowing full well somebody is going to be paying
payroll taxes into the system that's going broke? I certainly can't do
that. And that's why I stood up in front of the Congress and said,
``We've got a problem. Let's work together to fix it,'' and have gone
around the country describing to the people the nature of the problem.
The system is going broke is what is the problem.
Secondly, I've done something most Presidents haven't done and that
is put out some solutions. First of all, if you were born prior to 1950,
nothing is going to change for you, and that's important for those of
you who are interested in the subject to remind your mothers and fathers
or some of the elderly in your districts--nothing changes. I understand
older people don't like change, and therefore, when they hear, Social
Security reform, it makes them nervous. As a matter of fact, some folks
who don't want to see any Social Security reform at all have used that
leverage--they go into people's districts and say, ``George W. is going
to take your check away.'' It's not going to happen. There's plenty of
money for the senior citizens.
It's the younger workers who are coming up who better be paying
attention to this issue. It's the younger folks who are coming up who
are going to have to pay for people like me who are going to live longer
and get more benefits than the previous generation. And so I said, ``Why
don't we go ahead and come up with a system that says you're going to
get your benefits if you're a poor person based upon wage increases, and
if you're a wealthy person, you get your benefits that increase based
upon the cost of living increases, and you scale it in between?'' And
that solution or that suggestion nearly solves all of the permanency
problems in Social Security. Listen, if you're a younger--somebody told
me about a survey about the younger folks said they're more likely to
see a UFO than a Social Security check. [Laughter] Well, if you believe
that, it seems like it makes sense to have a system that if you're doing
all right, it increases your benefits based upon cost of living. That
means you're
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going to get a check, and it's going to be at least increasing at the
rate of cost of living.
We've got a lot of politics in Washington these days, though. People
don't want to discuss the idea. It's kind of zero-sum up there when it
comes to big issues. By the way, as we're talking about how to make the
system permanently fixed, seems like to me now is the time to make sure
it turns out to be a better deal for younger workers too. I strongly
believe that younger workers ought to be allowed to take some of their
own money and put it in a personal savings account, so they can watch
their money grow at a rate greater than that which the Government can
grow their money, a personal account they call their own, a personal
account the Government cannot spend, a personal account they can pass on
to whomever they want.
We believe in ownership. We understand that the more people that own
their home or own their own business or own and manage their own health
care account or own and manage their own retirement account, the more
people that do that, the better off America is. If you own something,
you have a vital stake in the future of this country. Now is the time to
permanently fix Social Security, and now is the time to trust people
with their own money, to give people a chance to build an asset base
they call their own.
I told you about old Johnny Breaux and his tax reform. When Congress
gets back, I think they ought to do two things. One, I think they ought
to make the tax cuts we passed permanent. And that includes getting rid
of the death tax forever. And as I mentioned, I'm looking forward to the
tax simplification ideas. It's not going to be easy, but it's necessary.
And John is a good man, and he'll work with his fellow citizens on that
panel, both Republicans and Democrats, to propose some interesting ideas
for the administration and Congress to look at. It's important. It's a
big idea, and it's a necessary idea.
I'll tell you another big idea. We've got to do something about our
immigration laws. Our obligation is to secure the borders. We've got to
make sure that we have the resources and technologies available for our
Border Patrol agents. We've got to make sure we have a focused strategy
to prevent people, goods, drugs, whatever, being smuggled into this
country. That's one of our duties. And I meet with Chertoff quite
frequently. He's the head of the Homeland Security. We do talk about how
best to modernize the border security. One way to protect this border is
to recognize that people are sneaking in here to work. And I believe
that if you are a willing employer--in other words, if you have somebody
looking for work and you can't find an American, there ought to be a
legal way, not an illegal way, a legal way for you to be able to employ
that person.
Listen, we'd rather have people coming in with a card that said,
``I'm a legal worker,'' than trying to sneak across the border. And
we've got people being smuggled across--there is a whole smuggling
network and a network of forgers and document falsifiers that are trying
to beat the system. It seems rational to me that says there ought to be
a way to let somebody come and do jobs Americans won't do, on a
temporary basis.
I've heard all kinds of talk about amnesty. I'm against amnesty. I
think amnesty would be a mistake. But I do think it would be good to
make sure our employers who are looking for workers are able to find
people who are willing to do the jobs they have in a legal way. I'd
rather our Border Patrol agents be looking for terrorists and drugs and
guns being smuggled across our border, and people here--coming here to
work have a legal way to do so on a temporary basis.
So immigration reform is going to be an interesting subject when we
get back to Washington, DC. I'm looking forward to the topic. I also
want to talk to you about national security. Make no mistake about it,
we are at war. We're at war with an enemy that attacked us on September
the 11th, 2001. We're at war against an enemy that, since that day, has
continued to kill. They have killed in Madrid and Istanbul and Jakarta
and Casablanca and Riyadh and Bali and London and elsewhere.
These are ideologs. These people have an ideology. It's really
different from ours. We believe in human rights and human dignity and
minority rights and rights for women and rights to worship freely.
That's what we believe. We believe in a lot of rights for people. These
killers don't. They have a narrow view
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of life. They have taken a great religion and converted it to their own
vision. They have goals. They want to drive us out of parts of the
world. They want the free world to retreat so they can topple
governments. They want to be able to do in parts of the world that which
they did in Afghanistan, take over a government, impose their negative,
dark vision on people.
Remember what life was like in Afghanistan. It's hard for the
Western mind to even comprehend what life was like for people in
Afghanistan, but this is a society in which young girls couldn't go to
school. And if you objected to their point of view, you were taken into
the public square and whipped or sometimes assassinated. There was no
freedom. The only people that were free were the tyrants and the
dictators, those who imposed their view of the world. This is their
vision, and they would like to see that vision spread. Make no mistake
about it, this is a war against people who profess an ideology, and they
use terror as a means to achieve their objectives.
After September the 11th, I made a commitment to the American people
that the United States of America will not wait to be attacked again. We
will take the fight to the enemy, and we will defend our freedom.
To win this war on terror, we will use all elements of national
power. We will use our military. For those of you who have got loved
ones in the military, I want to thank you--tell them to thank--you thank
them for me, on behalf of a grateful nation.
We'll use our diplomatic corps. In other words, we're working with
friends and allies. Part of winning this war on terror is to remind
others of what's at stake and to work diplomatically to get people to
keep pressure on the enemy. We've got our Treasury Department working
with our friends and allies to cut off money. One way to defeat the
enemy is deny them access to money. And when we find money being spent
illegally or funding these terrorist organizations that funnel money to
these killers, we do something about it.
We're beefing up our intelligence here in America. We want to make
sure that FBI and CIA can share intelligence. We want to make sure that
we not only get the best intelligence, we analyze it properly, and we
share it with our friends and allies and vice versa.
See, it's a different kind of war. In the old days, you'd have
armies that were funded by States. You knew where they were. You could
trace them. This war is against killers who hide, and then they show up
and kill innocent life, and then they retreat. And so you've got to have
good intelligence in order to defeat them. We're working hard to
coordinate law enforcement around the world. In other words, we're using
all assets of this great Nation in order to defeat this enemy.
We're making progress in defending the homeland. We've more than
tripled homeland--funding for the homeland security since 2001. I'm sure
some of you, in your States and local communities, have seen some of
that money come down to help our first-responders be trained and to be
equipped. I'm proud to report that the House of Representatives and the
Senate renewed parts of the PATRIOT Act, permanently, and a small part
of the PATRIOT Act will be sunsetted.
This is an important piece of legislation. It was passed
overwhelmingly right after September the 11th, and it's been used
effectively by our Government. You see, the PATRIOT Act did several
things. One, it allowed law enforcement to share intelligence with the
enforcement side of their operations. The FBI couldn't talk to each
other before the PATRIOT Act. You couldn't have your intelligence
division sharing information with your law enforcement division. It
didn't make any sense, but that's the way it was. And the PATRIOT Act
ended that. It tore down walls. It allows parts of our Government to
share information with one another.
The PATRIOT Act, in essence, gave our terror fighters the same tools
that our Government has given our drug fighters. The PATRIOT Act enables
us to more effectively defend the homeland, and it does not usurp your
rights under the Constitution. Every tool we use has got the scrutiny
within the guidelines of the Constitution. The PATRIOT Act is important.
I'm looking forward to the House and the Senate to reconcile their
differences and get a PATRIOT Act to
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my desk as soon as possible. Our law enforcement officials must have the
tools to protect the United States of America.
And we're making progress here at home. We've broken up terrorist
cells in America. We've broken up networks, financing networks in
America, in places like California, Oregon, Illinois, North Carolina,
New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Florida, and other States. There are a
lot of people working hard on our citizens' behalf to protect this
homeland. The best way to protect the homeland, however, is to stay on
the offense, is to bring the enemy to justice before they come to our
shores. And that's precisely the second part of our strategy. We're
fighting the enemy in Afghanistan. We're fighting them in Iraq. We're
defeating them there so we do not have to face them here. And our troops
are doing great work.
Iraq is the latest battlefield in the war on terror. Foreign
fighters are going into Iraq to fight coalition troops for a reason.
They understand the stakes. A free Iraq in the heart of the Middle East
will deal a serious blow to their hateful ideology. A democracy in the
heart of the Middle East will be a major blow to their desire to spread
an ideology that's hateful and dark and negative.
The violence in recent days in Iraq is a grim reminder of the
enemies we face. These terrorists and insurgents will use brutal tactics
because they're trying to shake the will of the United States of
America. That's what they are trying to do. They want us to retreat.
They want us, in our compassion for the innocent--say, ``We're
through.'' That's what they want. They will fail. They do not understand
the character and the strength of the United States of America. They do
not understand our desire to protect ourselves, to protect our friends,
protect our allies, and to spread freedom around the world.
Our men and women who have lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan
and in this war on terror have died in a noble cause, in a selfless
cause. Their families can know that American citizens pray for them. And
the families can know that we will honor their loved one's sacrifice by
completing the mission, by laying the foundations for peace for
generations to come.
We have a strategy for success in Iraq. On the one hand, we've got a
military strategy, and we'll continue to hunt down the terrorists, as we
train Iraqi forces so they can defend their own country. As Iraqis stand
up, Americans and coalition forces will stand down. And we're making
progress. More and more Iraqi units are more and more capable of
defending themselves.
You know, my--I hear all the time, ``Well, when are you bringing the
troops home?'' And my answer to you is: Soon as possible, but not before
the mission is complete. Why would a Commander in Chief--it makes no
sense for the Commander in Chief to put out a timetable. We're at war.
We're facing an enemy that is ruthless. And if we put out a timetable,
the enemy would adjust their tactics.
The timetable is this--and you can tell your Guard troops and
reserve troops and mothers and dads of those serving--the timetable
depends on our ability to train the Iraqis, to get the Iraqis ready to
fight. And then our troops are coming home with the honor they have
earned.
At the same time, we're helping that country defend itself and
training its troops, there's a political track. A democracy is beginning
to grow. I don't know about you, but when those 8 million-plus Iraqis
went to the polls, it was an amazing moment. You know, I believe this,
and at the heart of much of my policy is this firm belief, that freedom
is the gift of an Almighty to every person in this world. It doesn't
matter who you are. Embedded in your soul is the deep desire to live in
freedom. That's what I believe. And if you believe that, then you
shouldn't be all that surprised when, if given a chance, 8 million-plus
people, in defiance of car bombers and killers and terrorists, said loud
and clear to the world, ``We want to be free. We want to live in a
democracy. We want a government that listens to us and doesn't tell us
what to do.''
And it's that movement toward freedom that frightens the enemy. It's
that movement toward a free society in which people of different
religious persuasions can live in peace together. It scares--it's that
movement that says, women have got equal rights with men that frightens
these people.
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But that movement is going forward. They're in the process now of
arguing about a constitution. I don't know if you've read our American
history much, about when we were writing our Constitution. You know, if
there had been that much scrutiny when we were writing our Constitution
as has been given to their--scrutiny when they're writing their
constitution, a lot of people would have said it's never going to get
written. It was not an easy deal for our Forefathers, our Founders to
get consensus on our Constitution. But nevertheless, they worked hard
and came up with a great Constitution.
That's what the Iraqis are doing. They're coming up with a doctrine
that will survive the years so that self-government and freedom prevail.
And then they'll be voting on the document in October. And then they'll
elect a permanent government in November. Democracy is moving forward,
and that's part of laying the foundation for peace.
We have done this type of work before in our Nation. We have fought
evil before. We have been through ideological struggles. Your dads and
granddads fought against the Nazis and fought against the Japanese. It
was an ideological struggle against an enemy that was ruthless. And we
prevailed. We prevailed in more ways than one. We prevailed militarily,
but we also helped spread democracy. We laid that foundation for peace
for the next generation coming up.
Do you know that one of my best friends in the international
community is the Prime Minister of Japan? Isn't that interesting? The
Prime Minister of Japan, Prime Minister Koizumi, and I work together on
North Korea and Iraq and Afghanistan. He's an ally. He's a good buddy.
It wasn't all that long ago that my dad and your dads and granddads were
at war with the Japanese, in a brutal war. They were the enemy. But
something happened in between, something other than a military victory
happened in between. And what happened was, was that Japan embraced a
democracy. It wasn't an American democracy. It was a Japanese democracy,
but it was a democracy.
And it turns out, if you look at history, democracies are peaceful
nations. The spread of democracy yields peace. What you're seeing on
your TV screens today is the work of brave soldiers and diplomats and
coalition partners, spreading democracy, defeating a hateful ideology
with an ideology of hope, an ideology that has got a clear vision for a
better tomorrow for all its citizens. We've seen this work before, and
we have prevailed because we have been steadfast and true to our
beliefs.
And we'll prevail again. This Nation will be steadfast. This Nation
will be strong. And this Nation, like other generations before us, will
make sacrifices necessary to lay the foundation for peace for
generations to come. We've got a big task in Washington, DC, and that's
to remember the stakes of the war on terror and to do our duty and to be
true to the principles of the greatest Nation on the face of the Earth.
I want to thank you for letting me come here today. May God bless
you all, and may God continue to bless America.
Note: The President spoke at 11:58 a.m. at the Gaylord Texan Resort and
Convention Center. In his remarks, he referred to Earl Ehrhart,
chairman, and Duane Parde, executive director, American Legislative
Exchange Council; Tom Craddick, speaker, Texas House of Representatives,
and his wife, Nadine Craddick; and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of
Japan.