[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 41 (Monday, October 16, 2006)]
[Pages 1808-1813]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at a Reception for Congressional Candidates Peter Roskam and 
David McSweeney and the Illinois Congressional Victory Committee in 
Chicago, Illinois

October 12, 2006

    The President. Thank you very much. Thanks for coming. I'm proud 
you're here. Before I liberate the Speaker, so he doesn't have to stand 
up here for this long speech--[laughter]--I want to say this to you: I 
am proud to be standing with the current Speaker of the House who is 
going to be the future Speaker of the House.
    Speaker Denny Hastert has a long record of accomplishment. You know, 
he's not one of these Washington politicians who spews a lot of hot air. 
He just gets the job done. I have worked with him up close. I know what 
it's like to work with a Speaker who is determined to protect the United 
States of America, and a Speaker who wants to make sure that everybody 
who wants a job in America can find one. He has delivered results for 
the people. This country is better off with Denny Hastert as the 
Speaker, and it will be better off when he's the Speaker, the next 
legislative session.
    The Speaker has heard me give a lot of talks, so he wants to make 
sure if there's a chair nearby--[laughter]--but I want to thank you all 
for coming. Your support means a lot.
    Audience member. We will win.
    The President. Yes, sir. I am also proud to be with two fine 
candidates, Peter Roskam, David McSweeney. And I want to thank you for 
helping them. I have a sense of what it's like to run for office. 
[Laughter] I've done it before, and I know how important it is for two 
candidates who are out, day in and day out, campaigning to be able to 
look at an audience this size and realize they're getting fine support. 
Your support means a lot not only to their campaigns, in the sense that 
you're helping to fill the hat, but it means a lot to their spirits to 
realize there's a lot of people pulling for them.
    And there's nobody better to pull for a candidate than his family--
in this case, Peter's family, Elizabeth and his children, and in David's 
case, his wife, Margaret. And it's been my honor to be able to see both 
those families, and I want to thank the families for supporting these 
good men for running for office as well.
    Speaking about wives--[laughter]--I was--I happened to have my 
picture taken a while ago with a group of citizens that came through, 
and one fellow--I guess I would define him as blunt--said, ``You know, I 
was hoping to have my picture taken with Laura.'' [Laughter] I said, 
``It's not hurting my feelings, man; you got good taste.'' [Laughter] 
She sends her best to the Speaker and to the candidates; she sends her 
best to you all. I am a lucky man to have Laura Bush as my wife. And our 
country--in my nonobjective opinion--is lucky to have her as the First 
Lady.
    I wish Kevin White all the very best in his run for the Fifth 
Congressional Delegation. Thanks for coming, Kevin--give Geraldine a hug 
for me.
    Audience member. Right in front of you; right here. [Laughter]
    Audience member. I'll do it for you.

[[Page 1809]]

    The President. Yes, thank you. [Laughter]
    Audience member. Give her a hug for me. [Laughter]
    Audience member. Okay.
    The President. That's your responsibility. [Laughter]
    I am proud to be here with Congressman Don Manzullo from the great 
State of Illinois. My thanks to State Representative Tom Cross, who is 
the minority leader of the Illinois House. I want to thank all the State 
and local officials who've joined us. But most of all, thank you all for 
being here.
    I thank my friend Pat Ryan. It's not easy to raise this much money, 
and I know how much organization it takes, and therefore, it takes a 
strong leader up top, and that's exactly what Pat Ryan is. He's a strong 
leader and a great American, and I'm proud to be with you, Pat.
    I want to thank my friend Andy McKenna, who is the chairman of the 
Illinois Republican Party. The reason I mention grassroots activists is 
that you win campaigns by having candidates who can carry a strong 
message, and we have those candidates. You win a campaign because people 
are generous with their hard-earned money, and you have been so tonight. 
And you win campaigns when people get out and put up the signs and make 
the phone calls, go to the community centers and houses of worship and 
say, ``Support these candidates.'' So I want to thank you for what you 
have done, and I encourage you to continue to work to turn out the vote 
come this November.
    We've got a lot to do to make sure this country is prosperous and 
safe. I'm looking forward to working with these two new Congressmen as 
we work to diversify our energy supply. I'm going to tell you why we 
need to. I'm a little concerned at the price--the drop in gasoline 
prices, which I welcome, and I know you do too. [Laughter] However--
masks the fact that it is not in our national interest to be dependent 
on foreign sources of oil. And so I look forward to working with these 
Congressmen to promote alternative energy sources, such as ethanol, and 
new research and development into new battery technologies that will 
enable you to drive the first 40 miles on electricity, and your car 
won't have to look like a golf cart. [Laughter]
    We've got an aggressive agenda--aggressive agenda to diversify our 
energy sources so that we're not dependent on Middle Eastern oil. It's 
in our national security interests.
    I'm looking forward to working with these Members to make sure 
health care is available and affordable. We don't need the Federal 
Government telling doctors how to practice and telling patients who they 
got to go see. But we do need the Federal Government to do something 
about these junk and frivolous lawsuits that are running good doctors 
out of practice.
    A big issue always facing the Congress is how to make sure that the 
entrepreneurial spirit remains strong in the United States. And we got a 
strong record. This administration has got a strong record on the 
economy, and so does Speaker Denny Hastert.
    You might remember the facts. This country has been through a 
recession, a stock market correction. We've been through a terrorist 
attack on our Nation. We've been at war to defend this country. We've 
had major hurricanes. For a while, we had high energy prices. And yet 
America is the envy of the industrialized world when it comes to 
economic growth.
    Our national unemployment rate is 4.6 percent. People are working; 
we've added 6.6 million new jobs since August of 2003. Our farm economy 
is strong. Productivity is up. Small businesses are on the rise. This 
economy is in good shape, and we need to keep Denny Hastert and the 
Republicans in charge of the United States Congress to keep it that way.
    And we're in good shape because we cut the taxes on everybody who 
paid income taxes. We have a philosophy of government that says, if you 
have more of your own money in your pocket to save, spend, or invest, 
this economy will do well. That stands in stark contrast to our 
opponents, who believe that they can spend your money better than you 
can spend your money. And so we cut the taxes--not once, but twice. We 
cut the taxes on families with children; we cut the taxes on people who 
were married; we put the death tax on the road to extinction; we cut the 
taxes on small-business people.

[[Page 1810]]

As a result of good fiscal policy in Washington, DC, this economy is 
strong. And the best way to keep it there is to make the tax cuts we 
passed permanent.
    That's the opposite view of the Democrats. You might remember the 
debate about the deficit--they go around the country saying, ``Well, we 
got to solve the deficit, and we need to raise taxes.'' That's not the 
way Washington works. If they were to get in charge of the House of 
Representatives, they would raise your taxes and figure out new ways to 
spend your money. The best way to balance this budget--by the way, a 
couple of years ago, I stood up and said, we can cut the deficit in half 
by 2009. It's amazing what happens when you cut taxes; the economy 
grows; you end up with more tax revenues. When you couple that with 
fiscal discipline in Washington, DC, which we have exhibited, the 
deficit gets cut. As a matter of fact, we cut the deficit in half not by 
2009, but by 3 years prior to that.
    The best way to keep this economy growing, the best way to make sure 
we've got a fiscal situation that makes sure the economic growth 
continues is to keep taxes low and prioritize how we spend your money. 
And the number-one priority has got to be to protect America and make 
sure those who wear the uniform have all the support they need to do 
their job.
    Our record on taxes is clear. The Democrats in Washington have a 
clear record of their own. The trouble is, they don't want you to know 
about it. Recently the top Democrat leader in the House made an 
interesting declaration. Here's what she said: ``We love tax cuts.'' 
Given her record, she must be a secret admirer. [Laughter]
    It's not just the so-called tax cuts for the rich she opposes, when 
we cut taxes for everybody who pays income taxes, she voted against it. 
When we reduced the marriage penalty, she voted against it. When we cut 
taxes on small businesses, she voted against it. When we lowered the 
taxes for families with children, she voted against it. When we cut the 
taxes on dividends and capital gains to stimulate investment, she voted 
against it. When we put the death tax on the road to extinction, she 
voted against it. Time and again, when she had an opportunity to show 
her love for tax cuts, she voted, no. If this is the Democrats' idea of 
love--[laughter]--I don't want to see what hate looks like. [Laughter]
    A big issue in this campaign across the United States and here in 
Illinois with these two Congressmen is, who is going to keep your taxes 
low? When we win, we will keep your taxes low. And make no mistake about 
it, the Democrats will raise your taxes. It's a fundamental difference 
in this campaign. And I'm looking forward to leading us to victory to 
make sure the taxes on the people of the United States remain low and 
reasonable.
    No, there's a lot of big domestic issues--and I'm sure our 
candidates are out there telling people what's on their mind--but the 
biggest issue facing this country is, who best to protect you? We are a 
nation at war. You know, I wish I didn't have to say that. I wish I 
could say everything is fine, but that's not the reality of the world in 
which we live. The most fundamental job of those of us in government is 
to protect you and to do everything in our power to protect the American 
people.
    There's an enemy that lurks and plots and plans because they cannot 
stand--they can't stand our values and what we believe. They don't 
believe in the freedoms that we believe in. They're bound by an 
ideology, and they're willing to use murder as a tool to achieve that 
ideology. It's a different kind of war, but it's real--as we learned on 
that fateful day of September the 11th, 2001.
    On that day, I vowed that I would use all of my powers and national 
assets to protect the American people--and so did the Speaker. These are 
folks you can't negotiate with. These are ideologues who have stated 
clearly, their objective is to drive the United States out of the Middle 
East so they can establish a caliphate based upon their ideology of 
hate. They have made their plans clear, and it's essential that the 
President and the United States Congress listen carefully to the words 
of the enemy.
    My view is, is that the best way to defeat this enemy is to stay on 
the offense and defeat them overseas so we do not have to face them here 
at home. And so we're keeping steady pressure on a group of people who

[[Page 1811]]

would want to do America harm. It's hard to plan and plot when you're on 
the run. It's hard to plan and plot when you're in a cave. You just got 
to know, there's some incredibly brave Americans, working with allies, 
that are keeping the pressure on this enemy to keep you safe.
    One of the terrible lessons of September the 11th is that oceans can 
no longer protect us, and therefore, it is essential that the United 
States treat threats seriously before they come home to hurt us, before 
they fully materialize. I saw a threat. Members of both parties in the 
United States Congress saw a threat. The United Nations saw a threat in 
Iraq. Removing Saddam Hussein from power was the right decision, and the 
world is better off for it.
    Iraq is a central front in this war on terror. Oh, I know the 
Democrats say it's a diversion from the war on terror--some of them say 
that. But I would ask them to listen to the words of Usama bin Laden or 
Zawahiri, who is the number two of Al Qaida, who have said clearly, 
their ambitions are to drive us out of Iraq so they can establish a safe 
haven from which to launch further attacks; to drive us out of Iraq so 
they can have resources to use to fund their ambitions; to drive us out 
of Iraq so they can topple moderate governments.
    Imagine a world in which there are violent forms of extremists 
who've crushed the hopes of moderate, decent people because they have 
this ideology that is so foreign to us. Imagine a world in which they 
could use oil to blackmail the free world. Imagine that world, as well, 
with a group of people that don't care for America, with a nuclear 
weapon. If that were to happen, a generation of Americans would look and 
say, ``What happened; what happened to the leaders; how come they 
couldn't see the threat?''
    I see the threat. The Speaker sees the threat. We've got a plan for 
victory in this war on terror, and that includes helping those 12 
million people who are desperate for freedom to achieve their dreams of 
democracy. We've got a goal, a clear goal, which is an Iraq that can 
defend itself and sustain itself, an Iraq that will be an ally in the 
war on terror.
    We're constantly changing our tactics to meet those of the enemy. 
We're constantly adjusting. But make no mistake about it, our plan is 
victory. We will stay in Iraq; we will fight in Iraq; and we will win in 
Iraq for the security of the United States.
    We have to be right 100 percent of the time to protect the country. 
The enemy has to be right one time. And therefore, it is incumbent upon 
those of us in government to make sure the professionals on the 
frontlines of protecting America have all the tools necessary to protect 
you. The Speaker understands that. These candidates running for office 
understand that.
    And that is why I worked with the Congress to pass what's called the 
PATRIOT Act. It was an act that tore down walls that prevented the 
intelligence community and the criminal justice community from talking. 
I know that probably sounds strange that that happened, but it's the 
reality. You can't defend America unless all elements of government are 
capable of sharing information so that we can prevent the attack from 
happening in the first place. I also believed it was essential--and by 
the way, the Speaker led the charge in making sure the House passed the 
PATRIOT Act the first time and then reauthorized it.
    Secondly, I believe strongly that if an Al Qaida or Al Qaida 
affiliate was making a phone call into the United States from outside 
the country, we need to know why. If the most important job of 
government is to protect you, we need to understand what the enemy is 
thinking and what they're planning. I thank the Congress for getting the 
House of Representatives to endorse the terrorist surveillance program. 
I thought it was very important that when we captured a leader of the 
enemy on the battlefield that we detain and question that enemy. I 
thought it was essential to protect you, that we gain information from 
the leadership of those who would do us harm.
    One of the people we captured was Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who our 
intelligence officers believe was the mastermind of the 
9/11 attacks. I thought it was important for this country to gain 
information from this mastermind in order to be able to say we're doing 
everything we can to protect you. And

[[Page 1812]]

we learned a lot of information from those who we have captured, 
information that our intelligence service believes strongly has 
prevented attacks on the homeland. And yet we've had a debate on this 
issue, and the Speaker of the House led the House of Representatives to 
endorse this vision.
    In other words, we've been giving people the tools necessary to 
protect the homeland, and our Democrat colleagues back in Washington 
have taken a very different approach to the war on terror. There is a 
difference of opinion. I'm not questioning anybody's patriotism or love 
for America, but I am questioning their view of how best to protect you. 
And this is an issue in this campaign. If the security of the United 
States is the most important issue, then part of this issue is which 
party has been willing to step up and give those charged with protecting 
you the tools necessary to do so.
    In each vote, a clear pattern has emerged on which party can best 
protect the American people. More than 75 percent of the House Democrats 
voted to block the renewal of the PATRIOT Act. Almost 80 percent of the 
House Democrats voted against allowing the CIA to continue the 
interrogation program. Almost 90 percent of the House Democrats voted 
against continuing to monitor terrorist communications through the 
terrorist surveillance program. Rarely has a single series of votes 
summed up the difference between the two political parties so clearly. 
If the Democrats' Congress had their way, we wouldn't have had the 
PATRIOT Act or the interrogation program or the terrorist surveillance 
program. They can run from this record, but we're not going to let them 
hide.
    You know, I was--recently read where the Democrat leader said this. 
She said, ``The midterm elections should not be about national 
security.'' I strongly disagree. I want those discerning Democrats and 
independents and Republicans to hear loud and clear that the person who 
wants to be Speaker of the House has said that the midterm elections 
shouldn't be about national security.
    I know this election ought to be about national security. I'm 
briefed every day on the threats this country faces. The United States 
of America cannot afford to wait and respond to an attack. The United 
States of America must be on the offense to make sure the attacks don't 
happen in the first place.
    We've got one great asset at our disposal as well, and it's called 
liberty. I believe in the universality of liberty. I believe there is an 
Almighty, and I believe one of the great gifts of that Almighty is the 
desire for people to be free. I believe that. I believe that Muslim moms 
want to be free. I believe that people all across the globe have this 
great desire and yearning to live in freedom. And I believe that freedom 
will help us yield the peace we want for our children and grandchildren.
    The way to defeat--the way I like to put it is, we're in an 
ideological struggle. It's a struggle between extremists, radicals, and 
reasonable people who simply want to have a better life. And I believe 
it's incumbent upon the United States of America to stand with those who 
are reasonable and moderate against the extremists and radicals.
    I believe it's our call to do so, and I have great faith in the 
power of liberty to transform regions of hate to regions of hope and to 
transform enemies to allies. And the reason I say that to you--I've had 
some amazing experience as your President, and perhaps one of the most 
unusual is my relationship with the Prime Minister of Japan. I must have 
told this story hundreds of times because it is so ironic that my 
relationship is so close, and yet my dad, when he was a young man, 
volunteered to fight the Japanese as a sworn enemy.
    You know, recently I invited my friend, the former Prime Minister--
he just left office--to go to Elvis's place. [Laughter] I'd never been 
there. [Laughter] He wanted to go there. See, he's an Elvis fan. But I 
also wanted to tell a story to the American people about ideological 
struggles and the faith we should have in liberty--because on Air Force 
One, going down to Memphis, Tennessee, the Prime Minister and I talked 
about keeping the peace. Isn't that interesting? My dad fought the 
enemy, fought the Japanese as the enemy, and now his son is talking 
about the peace.
    We're talking about North Korea and how it's important for there to 
be more than one voice at the table when it comes to convincing the 
leader of North Korea. By the

[[Page 1813]]

way, it's much better to have China at the table with the United States. 
It's much better to have Japan and South Korea--[applause].
    We talked about the fact that Japan had deployed 1,000 troops in 
Iraq, because he understands what I know, the advent of democracy is a 
huge defeat to the extremists. That's why they're fighting so hard. 
That's why this is such a brutal battle. And I understand it affects the 
American people, because the enemy has got a weapon, and they use it, 
and that's the murder of innocent people. And it gets on our TV screens, 
and we're a nation of compassionate, decent people who care about human 
life in all its forms. And yet Prime Minister Koizumi knows what I know, 
that we will succeed as liberty progresses, and we will succeed by 
helping people who yearn for a better life, and we will succeed by 
marginalizing those extremists and radicals and, if need be, bring them 
to justice before they hurt us again.
    Something happened between World War II and when I became the 
President, talking with this Japanese Prime Minister. And what happened 
was, Japan adopted a Japanese-style democracy. Liberty has got the 
capacity to transform an enemy into an ally. And someday, an American 
President will be sitting down with elected leaders in the Middle East 
talking about how to keep the peace, and a generation of Americans will 
be better off for it.
    God bless.

Note: The President spoke at 5:25 p.m. at the Hilton Chicago. In his 
remarks, he referred to Patrick G. Ryan, executive chairman and founder, 
Aon Corp.; former President Saddam Hussein of Iraq; Usama bin Laden, 
leader of the Al Qaida terrorist organization; former Prime Minister 
Junichiro Koizumi of Japan; and Chairman Kim Jong Il of North Korea.