[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 48 (Monday, December 5, 2005)]
[Pages 1796-1799]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at a Reception for Senatorial Candidate Michael S. Steele in 
Baltimore, Maryland

November 30, 2005

    The President. Thank you. As Maryland builds the bridge, you might 
as well make it a ``Steele'' bridge. I'm proud to be here to say to the 
good folks of this important State, Michael Steele is the right man for 
the United States Senate.
    He's a decent man. He's an honorable man. He's a family man. Those 
are the kind of traits you want when you elect somebody to the United 
States Senate. And there's no doubt in my mind he's going to win. People 
from both political parties are going to realize this man is capable of 
doing the job, that he'll bring dignity to the office, that he'll help 
heal racial wounds, that he'll show there's a future for everybody in 
the State of Maryland.
    Michael has got a record. He's served--you know, one of the things 
people look at when they're looking at people running for office, do 
they know anything about the economy. The truth of the matter is a lot 
of people are wondering whether or not they're going to have a job. And 
under the Ehrlich-Steele administration, the unemployment rate here in 
Maryland is 4.1 percent. That's a record. It means people are working. 
You can forget all the politics rhetoric. People need to look at the 
bottom line. People of this State are working. They're able to make a 
living.
    I've got some good economic news for our Nation. The latest economic 
growth is at 4.3 percent. America's workers and businesses have overcome 
the challenges of two hurricanes and high energy prices, so the third

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quarter growth is at the 4.3 percent. It's the fastest rate in nearly 2 
years.
    Just goes to show that when Government unleashes the power and 
potential of the American worker, the small-business owner, the 
entrepreneurs, when America promotes free markets, lower taxes, and less 
regulations, the country will continue to prosper and maintain our 
economic leadership in the world. You need to put Michael Steele in the 
United States Senate because he understands that small businesses create 
the jobs.
    I appreciate Andrea Steele. I appreciate her standing by her man 
during this campaign. She's going to be a great--a great Senator's wife. 
Michael married well, and so did I. [Laughter] And Laura sends all her 
best.
    Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele of Maryland. Thank you very much.
    The President. I want to thank you all for being here. I want to 
thank you for contributing to this good man. You see, when you're out 
there running for office, sometimes it may feel a little lonely, until 
you walk into a room just like this. [Laughter] It's hard to feel lonely 
when you've got this kind of support, Michael.
    Lt. Gov. Steele. Yes, it is.
    The President. It's important that you contribute to his campaign 
the way you have, and I want to thank you for doing that. It's also 
important that you contribute by talking to your neighbors and when the 
time comes, to pick up the telephone and encourage people to vote. And 
when you're doing so, make sure you not only include Republicans but 
Democrats and independents as well. You see, people in this country want 
there to be honest Government. No matter what party they're from, they 
want a decent, honorable man to represent them. And in Michael Steele, 
you've got such a person.
    I like his attitude about education. And I hope the people of 
Maryland do as well. Listen to what he said. He said, ``We need to 
replace the systems that trap poor kids in failing schools.'' In other 
words, his vision is to focus on the children, not the system, but the 
children. He agrees with me; no child should be left behind in America. 
And when we find success, we'll praise success. But when we find 
failure, we've got to have the courage to challenge the status quo, to 
insist upon high standards and excellence for every single child, not 
only in Maryland but around the country. He'll be a great United States 
Senator when it comes to education.
    I appreciate Michael Steele helping to launch the Governor's Office 
of Community Initiatives here in Maryland. It's part of the Faith-Based 
Initiative. The Faith-Based Initiative recognizes there's a limitation 
to the capabilities of Government to cause people to love one another. 
Government is about law and justice--that's what Government is. But love 
comes from a higher calling. And there are thousands of our fellow 
citizens who have heard that call to love a neighbor just like they'd 
like to be loved themselves and are willing to serve in some of the 
darkest communities and areas of our country, where people don't have 
hope, where the light doesn't shine in. But the light can shine in if we 
unleash the vast potential of America, the great compassion. And Michael 
Steele understands that.
    Michael will come to Washington, DC--and he's coming, by the way, 
with a nation that is at war. I wish I could report to you that we're 
not at war, but we are. And we need Members of the United States Senate 
who understand the reality of the world in which we live.
    There's an enemy out there that still wants to do us harm. And they 
want to because their vision of the future is completely opposite from 
ours. We believe in freedom. We believe in the right for people to 
worship freely, to speak their mind freely, to print their editorials 
freely. That's what we believe. They believe in the opposite. They 
resent freedom. They have a totalitarian view of the world that says, 
``You either believe it my way, or you're going to be in trouble.'' And 
they want to spread that vision around the world. How do I know? They've 
told us, and we've got to take their words seriously.
    We should never forget the lessons of September the 11th, 2001, that 
there's an enemy out there willing to inflict great harm on the American 
people. And because we're not going to change in our beliefs about 
freedom, they're not going to change in their beliefs about causing us 
harm. And therefore, there's only one thing we need to do, and that is 
to stay on the offensive, bring these

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people to justice for hurting American people.
    And a Senator Michael Steele will understand that. The people of 
Maryland will send somebody to the United States Senate who understands 
the high stakes of the world in which we live, the need to stay firm in 
our--and have strong resolve in doing our duty, which is to protect the 
American people. The enemy has declared that Iraq is the central front 
in the war on terror, and we got to take them for their word.
    Today I gave a speech in Annapolis. I made it abundantly clear to 
the American people we have one objective in Iraq, and that is victory, 
to make sure that we secure the American homeland by defeating the enemy 
in Iraq. And we got a strategy to do that. On the one hand, we're 
helping Iraq develop a democracy. Think of what's happened in that 
country in 2\1/2\ years, and compare it to other democracies such as our 
own.
    In 2\1/2\ years, they've gone from brutal dictator, enemy of 
America, was on a state sponsored list for terror, at the very minimum 
had the capability of developing weapons of mass destruction if the 
world looked the other way, a dictator who had been sent in front of the 
United Nations 15 or 16 different times with resolutions--the whole 
world recognized the evil nature of this person. And then they were 
liberated, and then they had elections, and then they ratified the 
Constitution. And now they're going to have elections on December the 
15th, all in 2\1/2\ years. Democracy is on the move. A free society is 
emerging.
    And people say, ``Why is that important?'' Well, free societies 
yield the peace. History has proven that democracies are peaceful--yield 
the peaceful countries. And we need allies in the war against these 
terrorists, and we're going to have one when we succeed in Iraq.
    The other part of our strategy is to have the Iraqis defend their 
own country, is to train them so they can take the fight, is to prepare 
them to defeat the terrorists who want to use Iraq as a safe haven. 
These terrorists have no philosophy; they got no ideology that says the 
world will be better. The only thing they've got is the capacity and the 
willingness to kill innocent people. That's the only weapon they have.
    What they're trying to do is to get on our TV screens and shake our 
will and cause us to leave before we have completed the mission so they 
can have Iraq as a safe haven to plot, plan, and to spread their 
totalitarian vision. They don't understand America. Our will will not be 
shaken. We will complete the mission and free Iraq.
    And it's going to be important for this important State to have a 
United States Senator who understands the stakes. And Michael Steele 
understands the duty of protecting the American people. He understands 
the importance of supporting our troops in harm's way. Anytime we've got 
a man or woman in uniform in harm's way, he or she deserves the full 
support of the United States Government, and Michael Steele as a Senator 
will do that.
    I also look forward to working with Senator Steele when it comes the 
advancing democracy around the world. You know, I just came back from 
the Far East, where I went to South Korea, Japan, China, and Mongolia. 
As an aside, it is a huge honor to represent the United States overseas. 
I mean, we are such a compassionate, decent nation it is an honor to 
stand up in other parts of the world and say--talk to people about the 
values we believe in. And during my visit there, I spent time with Prime 
Minister Koizumi of Japan. That's nothing unusual about the U.S. 
President sitting down with the Prime Minister from Japan. But it is 
when you put it in historical context.
    And we were talking about the peace. The Prime Minister and I were 
talking about how to help Iraq become a democracy, understanding that a 
democracy in the heart of the Middle East will defy the terrorists' 
ambitions for spreading a totalitarian regime, that democracy is the 
only system that allows people to have hope for the long run, and that 
helps defeat resentment and the bitterness that they use to recruit 
their suiciders. We talked about North Korea, how to make the Korean 
Peninsula nuclear-free so that the world is more peaceful.
    In other words, we're talking about laying the foundation for peace, 
and yet it was only 60 years ago that my dad and many of your

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relatives fought the Japanese. They were the sworn enemy of the United 
States of America. And here it is, 60 years later, that the son of a 
Navy bomber pilot who fought in Japan was sitting down with the Prime 
Minister of our former enemy, talking of peace.
    So what happened? What historical lesson can we draw from that? 
Well, the lesson is, is that Japan adopted a Japanese-style democracy. 
See, democracies are peaceful societies. History has proven democracy 
yields the peace. And what you're seeing unfolding in the hard work 
we're doing today is laying the foundation for peace. Someday an 
American President and a United States Senator is going to look back at 
this generation's call and say, ``Thank goodness they stood true to the 
values America believes in--freedom; freedom to worship; human rights 
and human dignity--and helped spread that to parts of the world.'' 
Someday an American President is going to be sitting down, talking to a 
leader from an Islamic country, working on keeping the peace. We're 
laying the foundation of peace for generations to come.
    And I look forward to working with United States Senator Michael 
Steele to lay that foundation of peace for generations to come.
    Michael's mother is named Maebell. Mine was named Barbara. 
[Laughter] She says she made their home, growing up, rich in character. 
That's what she said. She worked in a Laundromat for 45 years. She 
understood the true definition of wealth and richness. She said she made 
her home rich in character, rich in turning hope into action. That's the 
kind of fellow you want in the United States Senate representing you, 
somebody raised in that kind of way, somebody who was taught character 
matters more than anything else. Character is the basis for leadership.
    Michael Steele is a man who loves his family, loves his country, and 
loves his God. Michael Steele will make a United States Senator that 
will bring pride to the great State of Maryland. And I'm proud to stand 
with him.
    Thank you all for coming. May God bless you.

Note: The President spoke at 11:49 a.m. in the North Club Area Lounge at 
M&T Bank Stadium. In his remarks, he referred to Lt. Gov. Steele's wife, 
Andrea, and his mother, Maebell Steele. A tape was not available for 
verification of the content of these remarks.