    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 17 (Monday, May 1, 2006)]
    [Pages 766-768]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Remarks at a Republican National Committee Reception in Indian Wells,
    California

    April 22, 2006

        Please be seated. Thanks for coming. The lesson of the 1994
    fundraiser is, I should have had a better chairman. [Laughter] I want to
    thank you all for coming. I really appreciate your support for the
    Republican Party. We're the party that is the party of ideas, a party of
    optimism, and a party of people who know how to solve problems, which is
    exactly what we're doing.
        I, first, wish Laura were here; she's not, of course. About four
    people go through the photo-op line indicated that they kind of would
    rather have Laura here than me. [Laughter] Yes, well--I can understand
    why. She is really a fine person, and she sends her best to all her
    friends here.
        I thank my friend Brad. You know, one of the great things about our
    life is that we've had friends before I got into politics, and they're
    going to be our friends after we're

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    in politics. And Brad Freeman is such a person, and I value his
    friendship. I want to thank him for organizing this event.
        I want to thank all the folks who helped make this a very successful
    event. One reason why we are successful as a party is because we've got
    a great party chairman who understands that our message is one that
    should reach into every neighborhood; ours is one that is inclusive;
    ours is one that is hopeful--and that's Ken Mehlman. I want to thank you
    for coming, Ken.
        I appreciate Duf Sundheim, party chairman here in California. I saw
    Duf yesterday at Cisco Systems, saw him here in the desert. What are you
    doing tomorrow, Duf? [Laughter] But thank you for your service;
    appreciate it very much.
        I'm confident that Arnold Schwarzenegger will be reelected to
    Governor of this important State.
        I am always a better person after I've been in the presence of Mary
    Bono. She is the Congresswoman from this district; she is smart; she's
    capable; she's doing an excellent job for the constituents here. I don't
    know if you realize this, but today is Earth Day, and Mary has led the
    way to make sure that some of the most valuable territory, some of the
    most valuable country in this part of the world are preserved for
    generations to come, and I want to thank you for your leadership. I also
    want to thank you for your strong stand in the war on terror. You're
    doing a fine job.
        Connie Mack, from the great State of Florida, is with us.
    Congressman, good to see you; thank you for coming. Proud you're here.
    Good friend of the brothers, and mine, too.
        Bruce McPherson, the secretary of State is with us. Bruce, thank you
    for coming. Appreciate you being here, sir. I call him ``Senator;'' now
    we call you ``Secretary.'' It's good to see Mary as well.
        Chuck Poochigian is with us. Chuck is running for the State attorney
    general. Chuck, good luck to you. Thank you. My old buddy, proud to see
    you. Thanks for coming. Thanks for bringing Debbie with you as well.
        Steve Poizner is with us, running for the insurance commissioner.
    Steve--there he is. Good luck to you.
        I just said hello to Congressman Brian Bilbray. Where are you,
    Brian? Thanks for coming. Good luck on your race. We're pulling for you.
    Finally, Ben Stein is with us. Appreciate you coming, Ben. I think he's
    with us. Maybe he's not with us.
        I'd like to make a couple of points, and then we'll sit down for a
    second, and then visit some more with you. Today we had an important day
    in the war on terror. The elected leaders of Iraq came together and
    formed a unity government for the sake of people--[applause]. The
    formation of a unity government is a blow for the terrorists who have
    tried to divide Iraq and prevent Iraq democracy from emerging forward.
        And the United States of America will continue to stand with the
    brave citizens of Iraq as this democracy grows. It is in our interests
    that democracy succeed in Iraq. We must defeat the terrorists by denying
    them safe haven, and we will defeat the terrorists with an ideology that
    is hopeful and optimistic and positive, and that's an ideology based
    upon liberty.
        I've also had a wonderful time traveling your beautiful State.
    Yesterday I talked about a really important initiative for our country,
    and that is the Competitiveness Initiative. And the reason it's--I
    started talking about it in my State of the Union is because it is very
    important for the United States of America to feel confident about our
    future, and not to fear it.
        There are some in our country that feel like we should isolate
    ourselves from the world. There are some who fear trade with other
    countries, and therefore, want to throw up walls and protective
    barriers--not me. I believe the United States, in order to make sure our
    people have got a standard of living that improves, must be a leader in
    the world, must not fear competition, must be willing to continue to put
    policies in place that will mean that other generations of Americans
    coming up can realize a great quality of life. And it starts with making
    sure that the United States of America is the leader of research and
    technology.
        And so, yesterday at Cisco Systems, I talked about our desire to
    double Federal funding for the basic sciences so as to continue to make
    sure we're technologically advanced. I also talked about making sure the

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    research and development tax credit is a permanent part of the Tax Code,
    to encourage private investment when it comes to research.
        But I spent a lot of time yesterday talking about education. I
    proudly signed the No Child Left Behind Act, which changed the way
    people should view education, from one in which it was okay just to move
    kids through to one that said we're going to measure, and we're going to
    hold people to account. We're going to set high standards, and we're
    going to measure to determine whether our children are learning to read
    and write and add and subtract. And if we find out they're not able to
    read and write, we'll correct problems early, before it's too late. I
    want to extend that same rigor that we've applied in reading to math and
    science so that our children have got the skills necessary to fill the
    jobs of the 21st century.
        And today I had the honor of being in West Sacramento, after my bike
    ride, by the way, in Napa Valley, which--good place to ride, by the way.
    I talked about an issue that I know is on people's minds here in
    California, and that is high energy prices. And I reminded our folks
    that we live in a global world, and when China's demand for energy goes
    up, it affects the gasoline prices here. When India's demand for energy
    goes up, it affects the gasoline prices here, which says to me, we've
    got to be smart about using energy--using investment technology to get
    away from use of oil.
        And I talked about plug-in hybrid vehicles, the research going into
    that, so that one day you'll be driving your first 40 miles on
    electricity, electric batteries. And I talked about ethanol. But I also
    talked about hydrogen fuel cells, which I believe will be the wave of
    the future for how we drive our cars.
        What I'm telling you is, ours is a party that has got a vision and a
    plan to make sure the United States of America is the leader in the
    world. Our message to the American people is, don't fear the future,
    because we intend to shape the future.
        Thanks for coming. I'll answer a few questions in a little bit.
    Thank you for being here.

    Note: The President spoke at 6:05 p.m. at the Toscana Country Club. In
    his remarks, he referred to Bradford M. Freeman, California State
    finance chairman, Bush-Cheney '04, Inc.; Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of
    California; California Secretary of State Bruce McPherson and his wife,
    Mary; Chuck Poochigian, candidate for California State attorney general,
    and his wife, Debbie; Steve Poizner, candidate for California insurance
    commissioner; Brian Bilbray, candidate for Congress in California's 50th
    Congressional District; and entertainer Ben Stein.