    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 38 (Monday, September 25, 2006)]
    [Pages 1641-1646]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Remarks at a Reception for Congressional Candidate Gus Bilirakis in
    Tampa, Florida

    September 21, 2006

        Gus, thanks. There's nothing wrong with a son following in his
    father's footsteps, particularly when you've got such a good son as Gus
    Bilirakis. [Laughter] He's the right man for the United States Congress,
    and I appreciate you all coming to support him.
        I've been looking for Brother. [Laughter] He claims he's working.
    [Laughter] But I know he sends his best. He, like me, recognizes that
    Gus is the right man to serve you in the United States Congress. He
    really is. He's a good, decent, honorable, family-oriented man who will
    represent the interests of the folks down here. So Jeb sends his best.
        But more importantly, so does Laura. [Laughter] Like me, Gus married
    well--[laughter]--and it was my privilege to meet Eva and the four boys
    who are here. It's good to see you guys. Thanks for coming. Thanks for
    helping Dad get elected. He's going to need your help putting up those
    signs. And he's going to need the help of a family standing with him.
    And that's why it's important to have people who go to Washington, DC,
    who have prioritized their families. And the Bilirakis is a family-
    oriented group of folks. They understand that families are important for
    a stable society, and I'm proud to be here with Gus and all his friends.
        Thank you all for coming. It's not easy to have a fundraiser this
    successful; it really isn't. And I know how much work it took, Gus, to
    convince this many people for coming. It's a good sign when you're
    running for Congress, Gus, and you get this many people to stand up and
    say, ``We're willing to help

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    you.'' And for those of you who have given, thanks. And for those of you
    who wonder if there's still more to do, there is. And so I urge you to
    think about putting up signs and getting on the telephone and turning
    out the votes. Go to your churches and places of worship, community
    centers, and remind people, when you've got somebody who is honest and
    decent and who shares the values of the people in Tampa, vote for him
    and send him to Washington, DC.
        We not only married well; we share something else in common: We've
    got strong-willed mothers. [Laughter] And I'm glad to be here with
    Evelyn. The only difference between Ms. Bilirakis and my mother is, my
    mother's hair is white. [Laughter] Both of them speak their mind. As a
    matter of fact, when I ran into Miss Bilirakis earlier, she said to me--
    this is in Washington--she says, ``My boy is running, and you get down
    there and help him as quickly as you can.'' [Laughter] Isn't that right?
    [Laughter] I'm proud to be with you. And thanks for serving. You married
    a good man. He served this district well, as will his son.
        I'm proud to be here with Congresswoman Katherine Harris, running
    for the United States Senate. I want to thank Bing Kearney, who is the
    event chairman, and all the organizers. Appreciate you coming. Thanks
    for your help.
        I'm looking forward to the campaign. I'm looking forward to
    reminding the American people there are significant differences in
    between what our party believes and what the other party believes. If
    there's a--it's easy to tell us apart. And the first place you can start
    is looking at taxes. There's a fundamental difference in this campaign
    and campaigns all across the country about who best to spend your money.
    We believe that the best people to spend your money is you. We believe
    that once you set priorities, it's important to have money in their
    pocket, because we know that when you save, invest, and spend, it helps
    this economy grow.
        And so working with Members of the United States Congress, we passed
    the largest tax relief since Ronald Reagan was the President. We cut the
    taxes on everybody who pays income taxes. We doubled the child credit.
    We reduced the marriage penalty. We didn't think it made sense, by the
    way, to penalize marriage. We think in society, you ought to encourage
    marriage.
        We cut the taxes on capital and--capital gains and dividends to
    encourage investment. We understand the role of Government is not to
    create wealth but to create an environment in which the entrepreneurial
    spirit flourishes. We put the death tax on the road to extinction,
    because we want to help our small businesses and farmers. There should
    be no doubt in anybody's mind where we stand on cutting taxes.
        And the Democrats in Washington have got a record of their own, and
    there should be no doubt in anybody's mind where they stand. When we
    first cut taxes back in 2001 to get this economy going, when we cut
    taxes to recover from a recession, when we cut taxes to make sure we
    recovered from a corporate scandal, almost 85 percent of the House
    Democrats voted against it. When we cut taxes in 2003, nearly 95 percent
    of the House Democrats voted against you having more money in your
    pocket. And when we extended the key tax cuts earlier this year, more
    than 92 percent of the House Democrats voted against it. I think you're
    beginning to get a drift of their philosophy about your money.
        One leading Democrat predicted this: He said the tax cuts would do
    nothing to create jobs. That's what they were saying when we said we
    were going to cut the taxes on the small-business owners and the working
    people to make sure you had more money in your pocket, which would
    stimulate job growth. And one of the leaders said, ``No, that's not
    going to do anything to create jobs.'' Well, since those words were
    uttered in May of 2003, our economy has added nearly 5.7 million new
    jobs. That's more jobs than Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain,
    Italy, Japan, all put together. This economy is strong because of
    progrowth economic policies.
        You see, what our opponents don't understand is that the economy
    grows when you control more of your own money. The tax cuts we passed
    put more than a trillion dollars in the hands of American workers and
    families and businesses. And you used that

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    money to help us become a strong economy, the world leader.
        And now we've got a choice to make, and that's what elections are
    all about, giving the people clear choices. Do you want to keep your
    taxes low so we can keep the economy growing, or do we raise taxes and
    let the politicians in Washington try to grow the economy?
        Gus has made his position clear, and so have I. We're going to let
    you keep more of your own money. But the Democrats have made their
    position clear too. I want you to remember, the last time they had
    control of the United States Congress back in 1993, they passed a
    massive tax increase. In the 13 years since then, they've worked hard to
    sustain their record as the party of high taxes.
        A majority of House Democrats have voted against reducing the
    marriage penalty not once, not twice, but 26 times. It's a clear record.
    A majority of House Democrats have voted against a higher child tax
    credit 19 times. It's a clear record. If they get control of the House
    of Representatives, they'll raise your taxes, and it will hurt our
    economy, and that's why we're not going to let them get control of the
    House of Representatives--and elect people like Gus Bilirakis.
        Just this week, the top Democrat on the House tax-writing committee
    said this--it's important for the American people to know there's a
    difference in point of view; they just think differently, got different
    philosophies about to do--what to do with your money. Here's what the
    top Democrat said on the committee that's going to write--determine what
    happens to your taxes. He said, ``I can't think of one of our tax cuts
    that should be extended.''
        That's one way of saying, they're going to raise your taxes,
    because, you see, if you don't extend the tax cuts, your taxes go up.
    They may not call it a tax increase; they may want you to think
    something different. But if they don't extend the tax cuts that are set
    to expire, the working people, the small-business owners, those who are
    struggling to put food on the table for their families, the taxes are
    going to go up.
        Now, they're going to say--they may not tell you they're going to
    raise your taxes. They're just going to say they're just going to let
    the tax relief expire. That's like a boss who came in and said, ``You
    know something, I'm going to let your last pay raise expire.''
    [Laughter] We're not going to let it happen. We're going to make it
    clear the differences between our desire to keep your taxes low and
    their desire to run your taxes up. Good economic policy says, we got
    plenty of taxes in Washington, DC; let's make sure the entrepreneurs and
    small businesses have enough money in their pocket to expand this job
    base so people can find work.
        And I'm looking forward to talking about this until election day. I
    think it's a big issue. I think there are plenty of people across the
    country--Republicans, discerning Democrats, and wise independents--who
    understand they're paying plenty of taxes to Washington, DC. Oh, you'll
    hear this; they're going to say--and Gus, I'm sure you'll have to deal
    with this--they're going to say, ``Look, we've got to raise your taxes
    to balance the budget.'' That's not the way Washington, DC, works. They
    will raise your taxes and figure out new ways to spend your money. The
    best way to balance the budget is to keep progrowth economic policies in
    place that are generating additional tax revenues into the Treasury and
    be wise about how we spend your money.
        We've got to set clear priorities in Washington, DC, and the top
    priority is to make sure our troops will have what it takes to defend
    the United States of America.
        There's a lot of issues. A lot of issues will be--I'll be working
    with Gus on. One issue, of course, is to make sure we diversify our
    energy supplies. We've got to make sure we get off of hydrocarbons as
    quickly as possible. But in the meantime, we'll be exploring for
    hydrocarbons, and we'll do so in an environmentally friendly way that
    protects the coast of the State of Florida. I told you that I would
    support reasonable limits, extended limits, about off-shore drilling,
    and I've kept my word to the Governor. I've kept my word to the people
    of Florida, and I'm going to continue working with this Congressman to
    make sure that we have good, sane energy policy.
        I'm going to continue to work with this Congressman-to-be on making
    sure seniors

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    have got prescription drugs that they can afford. You might remember,
    before I came into Washington, DC, Medicare was an important policy, but
    it was growing tired and old. Medicine was changing--there's a lot of
    doctors out here who know what I'm talking about--Medicare wasn't
    changing with it. It was a system that just simply wasn't meeting the
    needs of our seniors. So I said to Congress, ``Why don't we modernize
    Medicare; why don't we make sure that our seniors have got prescription
    drug coverage as a part of a modern Medicare system.''
        We worked hard; we got the legislation out. And now I'm going to
    make sure we work with the United States Congress, the new Congress
    after this election, to make sure the Medicare reforms we put in place
    that are benefiting seniors of all political parties all across the
    Nation don't get watered down by people who think the best way to run
    medicine is to have the Federal Government make every single decision.
        I'm looking forward to working with Gus Bilirakis to make sure the
    good reforms we put in place to make sure every child gets a good
    education stays there. The No Child Left Behind Act is making a
    significant difference for the United States of America, and
    Congressman, I look forward to working with you on its reauthorization.
        And I'm looking forward to working with this good man to keep the
    peace. This is a nation at war. And we've got to have people in the
    United States Congress who see the world the way it is, not the way we
    would like it to be. We can't afford to not be realistic about the world
    in which we live. The stakes are too high. There's an enemy that still
    wants to attack us. I wish I could report otherwise, but that is not the
    reality of the world in which we live. And therefore, the most important
    job the Congressman will have--will--to join with other Members of
    Congress and the administration to protect the United States of America.
        If somebody is--associated with Al Qaida is making a phone call into
    the United States of America, we want to know why, so we can protect the
    United States against further attack. If somebody associated with
    terrorism is moving money around, we need to know why, so we can protect
    the United States of America from attack. If there are walls that make
    it hard for intelligence gatherers and those charged with protecting
    this country, make it hard for them to communicate, we want to tear down
    those walls so we can protect the United States of America from attack.
    Our most important job in Washington is to protect you, and we'll do
    everything we can.
        I remind people that the enemy has got to be right once, and we got
    to be right 100 percent of the time in order to protect us. So the best
    way to protect the United States of America is to stay on the offense
    and bring the enemy to justice before they come here and hurt us in
    America.
        And that's exactly what we're doing. Every day, you just need to
    know, some of America's finest folks are on the offense. We're running
    down every lead possible. It's hard to plot and plan attacks against the
    United States when you're on the run. I need Members of Congress who
    understand that you can't negotiate with these folks; you can't hope
    that they change their mind; that the best way to protect the American
    people is to defeat them overseas so we do not have to face them here at
    home.
        And the central front on this war on terror is Iraq. Now, I know
    some Americans say, ``Well, it's not associated with the war on
    terror.'' Well, all I ask them to do is listen to what Usama bin Laden
    says when he calls Iraq the third--world war III. All I ask is that our
    fellow citizens be realistic about the world and listen to the words of
    senior Al Qaida when they say our objective is to--their objective is to
    run us out of the Middle East so they can topple moderate governments,
    so they could have energy resources at their disposal to inflict
    economic damage on those of us who refuse to kowtow to their demands,
    run us out of the Middle East so that they could achieve one of their
    objectives, which is the destruction of our close ally Israel.
        Iraq is a central front in this war on terror, and we've got a plan
    to defeat the enemy. And it starts with answering to the will of 12
    million brave Iraqis who said, when given a chance to vote, ``We want to
    be free.''
        There's big debate about Saddam Hussein. My view is today as it was
    then; he was a

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    threat. You see, after 9/11, we had to take threats seriously before
    they came home to hurt us. In order to protect this country--if you
    think the most important obligation of the Federal Government is to
    protect the country, then you must recognize that we do two things. One,
    if we find somebody harboring terrorists, we hold them to account; and
    we've got to take threats seriously before they come home to hurt us.
    Saddam Hussein was a threat.
        And don't let people rewrite the history of the way the world was.
    He was a state sponsor of terror. He paid family of suiciders. He had
    attacked his neighbors. He had used weapons of mass destruction. He was
    a sworn enemy of the United States of America. And he had been given
    ample time to disclose, disarm, or face serious consequences by over a
    dozen United Nations Security Council resolutions. Getting rid of Saddam
    Hussein was the right thing to do, and the world is peaceful because of
    it--the world is more peaceful because of it.
        And the world will be more peaceful when democracy takes hold in
    Iraq. And it's hard work. It's hard work because Al Qaida understands
    that democracies in the Middle East defeat their ideological vision of
    an extremist caliphate. It's hard because Saddamists are upset that
    they're no longer in power. It's hard because people are taking revenge
    for past history. But it's necessary work. It's necessary for our
    security.
        If we were to leave before the mission was done, what kind of signal
    would that send to the extremists and radicals who want to harm either
    the United States or our close allies? What kind of signal would it send
    to the reformers and dreamers of a better life, that the United States
    has lost its will? What kind of signal would it send to those who count
    on the United States for its leadership? Our credibility would be
    damaged. Our enemies would be emboldened.
        We're constantly changing tactics, but our strategy has not changed.
    We will help the Iraqis build a military where they can defend their
    freedom. We will help them build the institutions necessary for a free
    society to work. We will do our job and stand by the people of Iraq, and
    the world will be better for it when democracy takes hold.
        You know, people ask me all the time--people ask me all the time,
    you know--they say, ``What do you mean, when democracy takes hold? Do
    you think--really think people in the Middle East want to be free?'' And
    the answer is, absolutely. We believe in the United States and the
    universality of freedom. I personally believe there's an Almighty, and I
    think a great gift from that Almighty is the desire in everybody's soul
    to be free. I'm not talking about just American Methodists. I believe in
    everybody's soul is the desire to be free. And I know that when you look
    at history, liberty has got the capacity to defeat resentment and
    ideologies of hate.
        You know, one of the stories I like to share with people is my
    experience with the Prime Minister of Japan, Prime Minister Koizumi. You
    might remember, I had an interesting trip. [Laughter] He and I went down
    to Elvis' place. [Laughter] Went down there for a couple of reasons:
    One, I had never been to Elvis' place, and I'd like to go, you know. I
    thought it would be kind of fun. [Laughter] More importantly, he wanted
    to go. [Laughter] He loves Elvis. [Laughter] He can sing all the songs,
    you know--[laughter]--collects the memorabilia.
        But I also wanted to send a signal to the American people about
    what's possible when liberty takes hold. A fellow came through the line
    recently here, and he said, ``My grandfather served on the USS San
    Jacinto with your dad.'' They were in the Pacific Ocean, young guys who
    had been called into action because the Japanese had attacked us, and we
    were in a brutal war with Japan--a really tough war.
        The hatred for--of America for Japan was intense, and so intense,
    you can imagine how people would react if somebody had stood up and
    said, ``I predict, someday, an American President and the Japanese Prime
    Minister would be going to, you know, a singer's house.'' [Laughter]
    They would have run him out of town, probably, you know. [Laughter]
        But that's, in fact, what happened. And when we were on the airplane
    going down from Washington to Memphis, we were talking about keeping the
    peace. The Prime Minister of a country with which we were at war, a
    brutal war--young kids went off and never

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    came home, unbelievable devastation and destruction in that war, a war
    ended by massive bombing--the Prime Minister of that country and the
    President of the United States were talking about peace. We were talking
    about North Korea, what we could do together to keep the peace. We were
    talking about the need to help this young democracy in the heart of the
    Middle East succeed so it could defeat an ideology of hatred. We were
    talking about how democracy has got the capacity to defeat the
    conditions that create resentment and hopelessness that cause young men
    to decide to become suicide bombers.
        It's an amazing lesson of history, isn't it? It strikes me as so
    ironic, in a way, that my dad fought the Japanese, and his son sits down
    with the Prime Minister of the same country to keep the peace. What
    happened was, Japan adopted a Japanese-style democracy. Liberty has got
    the unbelievable capacity to convert enemies into allies, to change
    nations from hopelessness to hope. Someday, an American President will
    be sitting down talking to duly elected leaders of the Middle East about
    how to keep the peace, and a generation of American children will be
    better off for it.
        And those are the stakes. We're in the great ideological struggle of
    the 21st century. It's a struggle playing out now in the Middle East
    between decent, honorable people who want something better for their
    children than war and turbulence versus extremists and radicals who use
    terrorism and murder to create fear. And the United States must lead in
    this ideological struggle to achieve the peace we all want.
        And so I'm proud to stand with a man who sees the world the way it
    is; a person who understands that this great country has got
    responsibilities not only to protect ourselves but responsibilities to
    lay the foundation for peace for generations to come.
        It's an exciting time to be representing the greatest nation on the
    face of the Earth. You'll like it up there, Gus. [Laughter] And I hope
    you all work hard to make sure he gets there. Thanks for coming. May God
    bless you.

    Note: The President spoke at 1:36 p.m. at Raymond James Stadium. In his
    remarks, he referred to Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida; Usama bin Laden,
    leader of the Al Qaida terrorist organization; former President Saddam
    Hussein of Iraq; and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan.