[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 43 (Monday, October 30, 2006)]
[Pages 1871-1876]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at a Reception for Congressional Candidate Vern Buchanan in 
Sarasota, Florida

October 24, 2006

    Thank you all. I'm proud to be here. I appreciate you turning out--
to give me a chance to say that Vern Buchanan is the right man to be the 
United States Congressman from the 13th Congressional District. He is 
smart; he is capable; he is successful; he shares your values; he loves 
his family; he practices his faith with sincerity. He's a decent, 
honorable man who deserves to be elected to the United States Congress.
    And I want to thank you for helping him. I appreciate you coming 
out. It makes me feel good. I know it makes the Congressman-to-be feel 
good. But it gives us a chance to remind you that we're in the final 
stretches of this campaign. And he's been working hard, and his family 
has been working hard. And he's going to count on you to turn out the 
vote.
    So I want to thank you in advance for what you're going to do, which 
is to find our fellow Republicans--to remind our fellow citizens we have 
an obligation to vote, and when you get them headed toward the polls, 
tell them if they want a country that's strong and an economy that's 
strong, send Vern Buchanan to Washington, DC.
    I was pleased to meet Sandy and James and Matt--Sandy would be the 
wife--[laughter]--James and Matt, the sons. I told them how much I 
appreciated them supporting Vern for his run. I know what it's like to 
run for office, and it's important to have a wife and family stand with 
you. It can kind of get lonely out there on the campaign trail 
sometimes. And to have that strong family standing with him means a lot 
for this candidate.
    I know what I'm talking about, because I married well, just like 
Vern married well. And Laura sends her love to our good friends down 
here in Florida. And we've got a lot of friends down here. As a matter 
of fact, I don't have a lot of friends down here--I've got some 
relatives down here. You know, Jeb and I share the same campaign 
consultant--[laughter]--our mother. [Laughter] And so for you little 
ones here, my advice

[[Page 1872]]

is, listen to your mother. At 60 years old, I'm still listening to mine. 
But Laura sends her love; Mother sends her love; and I know Jeb Bush is 
strongly for Vern Buchanan to be the next Congressman from this 
district.
    I, too, want to thank my buddy, the Senator from the great State of 
Florida, Mel Martinez. Thank you for coming.
    There's a lot of issues that we can talk about. I want to talk about 
two today. And the first issue I want to talk about is the taxes you 
pay. It's an important issue. We have made our position clear. We 
believe in lower taxes, and we intend to keep them that way. The 
Democrats consistently oppose cutting your taxes. It should tell you how 
they feel. See, we just have a fundamental disagreement. They think they 
can spend your money better than you can. We believe you can spend your 
money far better than the Government can.
    When you go to the voting booth in 2 weeks, the lever you pull will 
determine the taxes you pay for years to come. Americans will cast their 
ballots on November the 7th, but you will feel the results every April 
15th. We share a philosophy that when you have more money in your pocket 
to save, spend, or invest, the economy benefits.
    He knows what he's talking about. It's important for people from 
this part of the great State of Florida to have somebody who has been a 
successful entrepreneur represent you. This is an entrepreneurial State; 
this is an entrepreneurial area; this is a man who has taken risks. He's 
built businesses, but more importantly, he's employed people. He is 
successful; he understands how the economy works. He has lived the 
American Dream.
    The Republican Party is dedicated to making sure the American Dream 
is viable for every single American. We understand that if you have more 
money in your pocket, it's easier to save for a child's education. We 
understand if you have more money in your pocket, a young Floridian can 
afford a downpayment on a new home. We understand that when small 
businesses have more money in their treasury, it makes it more likely 
that small business will grow and expand and hire new people. Our 
economy grows and the American Dream expands when you keep taxes low, 
and therefore I was able to lead the United States Congress to pass the 
largest tax relief since Ronald Reagan was the President of the United 
States.
    And now the results of the tax relief are in. Tax cuts we passed 
have left more than a trillion dollars in the hands of American workers 
and families, farmers, and small-business owners. And the American 
people have used that money to help fuel strong economic expansion.
    The Democrats said the tax cuts were not the solution to solving an 
economy that was slipping into recession, you might remember, back in 
2001. The truth is, the tax cuts have helped make the American economy 
grow faster than any major industrialized nation. This economy is the 
envy of the world.
    The Democrats said that the tax cuts would lead to a jobless 
recovery. The truth is that our economy has added jobs for 37 months in 
a row, and since August of 2003, our economy has created 6.6 million new 
jobs.
    The Democrats said tax cuts would not help increase wages. Well the 
truth is, real wages have grown 2.2 percent over the last 12 months.
    The Democrats said tax cuts would cause the deficit to explode. Well 
the truth is that tax cuts led to economic growth, and that growth has 
helped send tax revenues soaring. And as a result, the deficit has been 
cut in half 3 years ahead of schedule.
    The Democrats have made a lot of predictions. Matter of fact, I 
think they may be measuring the drapes. [Laughter] If their electoral 
predictions are as reliable as their economic predictions, November 7th 
is going to be a good day for the Republicans.
    And here's the truth. One of the reasons that the Democrats will 
lose on election day: Because they want to raise your taxes. No, I know 
they don't want to tell it that plainly, but that's what they're going 
to do. You know, the top Democrat leader in the House made an 
interesting statement recently. She said, ``We love tax cuts.'' Given 
her record, she must be a secret admirer. [Laughter]
    When we cut taxes on everybody that paid income taxes, she and her 
colleagues--most of her colleagues--voted against it. When we reduced 
the marriage penalty, she and most

[[Page 1873]]

of her colleagues voted against it. When we cut the taxes on small 
businesses, she voted against it. When we lowered taxes for families 
with children, she voted against it. When we reduced the taxes on 
capital gains and dividends, she voted against it. When we put the death 
tax on the road to extinction, she voted against it. Time and time 
again, she had an opportunity to show her love for taxes. [Laughter] If 
this is the Democrats' idea of love, I wouldn't want to see what hate 
looks like.
    You know, you listen to the debate, and they're trotting out the 
same old stuff. They're saying they're only going to raise taxes on the 
rich. It's important for people in this district not to be fooled by 
that language. It's important for people all across the United States 
who are making up their mind who to vote for in these elections not to 
be fooled by the language, ``Oh, we'll only tax the rich.''
    Some of you are old enough to remember 1992. [Laughter] They 
campaigned on saying they will--for a middle class tax cut. You might 
remember that rhetoric. But when they took office, the middle class tax 
cut they promised turned out to be one of the largest tax increases in 
history. See, here's what happens. You get up to Washington, DC, and you 
start spending the people's money if you're a Democrat, and you start 
making all these promises on the campaign trail. Then you get up and you 
say, ``Well, I think I'm going to spend money here or there.''
    Earlier this year, the Democrats in the House, for example, put a 
budget alternative to call for 177 billion additional dollars than that 
which we're going to spend. The problem is, if they only raise taxes on 
the rich--raise taxes on people making $200,000 or more--they would fall 
far short of meeting their spending promises. So guess who gets to pay 
the bill? All of a sudden, the tax cut on the rich means you have to 
pay. It means the middle class in America have to pay. America should 
not be fooled by the empty rhetoric of the Democrats running for 
Congress. The best way to make sure that the Democrats don't raise your 
taxes is to put Congressman Vern Buchanan in Washington, DC.
    It's important for you to understand this fact as you're rounding up 
people to go to the polls, as you're getting ready to get on the 
telephone, dial people and remind them to vote--and if somebody says, 
``Well, tell me about this election''--when it comes to taxes, here's 
the way it works in Washington. Under the current law, the tax cuts we 
passed, many of them, are set to expire. In other words, if Congress 
doesn't be proactive, the tax cuts will go away. And if the tax cuts go 
away, you're paying higher taxes. In other words, if Congress fails to 
act, your taxes go up.
    And so they asked the ranking member of the Ways and Means 
Committee--that's the tax-writing committee; he would be the one who 
would take the lead in taxes--and his response to a question was, he 
couldn't think of one of our tax cuts he would extend. See, this is the 
attitude of those who want to run the House of Representatives on the 
Democrat side. He said, he couldn't think of one of the tax cuts--he 
couldn't even think of one that he would extend. Asked if he meant that 
would consider--asked if that meant he would consider tax hikes across 
the income spectrum, he said, ``Of course it would.'' See, they're 
genetically--[laughter]--disposed to raise your taxes.
    If there is no legislation renewing or extending the tax cuts, every 
tax rate will go back up to the old level. The marriage penalty will 
return. The death tax will spring back to life. The child credit will be 
cut in half, from $1,000 per child to just $500 per child. So I want 
people who are listening to the debate in this election to think about 
what that would mean, if the Democrats take control.
    If you're sitting around the dinner table and there's two children, 
your taxes just went up $1,000, if they take control. If you're got 
three children at the dinner table, your taxes went up by $1,500. If 
you're a family of four and you're working hard to make ends meet and 
the Democrats take control of the House, your taxes just went up $2,000. 
The best way to make sure you have more of your own money in your pocket 
to spend on your family is to vote for Vern Buchanan, and we'll work to 
make the tax cuts we passed permanent.

[[Page 1874]]

    I want to talk about another issue, if you've got some time. The 
most important issue facing this Nation is to protect you. The most 
important job in Washington, DC, is to do everything we can to protect 
you from another attack. We face an enemy that is brutal; they have no 
conscience. They have an ideology which is the opposite of our ideology. 
They can't stand freedom. They have desires, and that is to spread a 
kind of caliphate, a governing organization, throughout the Middle East 
from which to launch attacks and spread their dark vision of the world. 
They use murder as a weapon to achieve their objectives. There is no 
negotiation possible with these kind of people. You can't reason with 
them. The best way to protect the American people is to stay on the 
offense and bring them to justice so they don't hurt us again.
    We had a series of interesting votes in Washington, DC, recently 
that should explain the fundamental differences between how we view the 
war on terror and how the Democrats view the war on terror. I felt that 
the President should do everything in his power, within the 
Constitution, to protect you.
    And therefore, after 9/11, I made a couple of decisions that 
recently were brought to a vote on the floor of the House of 
Representatives, which should give you an indication about the 
differences of opinion. I believe that we must work to prevent attacks 
from happening in the first place, but here in the homeland--by staying 
on the offense. But here in the homeland, I understand that the enemy 
has to be right one time, and we have to be right 100 percent of the 
time in order to protect you. And therefore, I feel it's important to 
make sure our professionals have the tools necessary to protect you.
    I felt like that if Al Qaida or an Al Qaida affiliate was making a 
phone call into the United States of America from outside our country, 
our intelligence professionals need to know why. This is a different 
kind of war. Past wars--in past wars, you could watch flotillas of ships 
or count airplanes to determine the intent or the strength of the enemy; 
you could watch manpower being moved. This is a different kind of war. 
It's a war that requires intelligence so that we can make sure our 
professionals are able to protect you.
    The idea of people--professionals being able to listen to Al Qaida 
and its affiliates came to a vote on the floor of the United States 
Congress. The American people must fully understand that the vast 
majority of Democrats opposed the right of this administration to have a 
tool necessary to protect you. We just have a different view. They must 
not think we're at war. They must think that the best way to protect you 
is to respond after the attack. I understand this is a war, and the 
United States of America will do everything we can to protect you before 
the enemy hits again.
    This is a different kind of war, and we pick up people off the 
battlefield, and we want to know what they know. I'm sure you've been 
reading recently about some of the people that we have picked up since 
that fateful attack on us on September the 11th, 2001. We captured a man 
named Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who our intelligence officers believe was 
the mastermind of the September the 11th attacks. I felt it was 
important that our professionals find out what he knew, in order to make 
sure I could say to you, standing right here, that we're doing 
everything we can to protect you.
    I felt it was important for these brave souls who work for the 
intelligence service to have the tools necessary to inquire to these 
killers what they know, in order to be able to stop a further attack. 
This vote came up on the floor of the United States House of 
Representatives. The vast majority of Democrats voted against giving our 
professionals the right to interrogate to protect America. These are 
patriotic souls, but their vision of the world is wrong, and we need to 
make sure that we continue to control the House of Representatives to 
provide the protection necessary for--[applause].
    This is a global war. There are many fronts in the war on terror. 
We've got some fantastic men and women who wear our uniform. The best 
way to protect the American people is to keep the enemy on the run. It 
is hard to plot and plan when you're hiding in a cave. It's hard to plot 
and plan when you know the mighty United States military and/or our 
intelligence services are breathing down your neck. And therefore it is 
important to have Members of the United States Congress who

[[Page 1875]]

understand the stakes of the world in which we live and will join me in 
making sure our troops have all the equipment, all the support, all the 
pay that is necessary for them to do their job.
    A central front in this war, a central part of protecting America 
from an enemy that would like to strike us again, is Iraq. It's tough 
fighting in Iraq. It is tough fighting because the enemy understands the 
stakes of success in Iraq. A lot of people in Washington, a lot of 
Democrats, say that Iraq is a diversion on the war on terror. As you 
know, I have a difference of opinion; I believe it is a central front in 
the war on terror.
    And that's an honest debate to have, but if you haven't made up your 
mind yet, listen to the words of Usama bin Laden or his number-two 
person in Al Qaida, Mr. Zawahiri, both of whom made it clear that their 
objective is to inflict as much pain as possible so America will 
withdraw from Iraq, so they can have safe haven from which to plot and 
plan attacks, so they can have more resources to develop the weapons 
they would like to use against us, so they can topple moderate 
governments.
    It is conceivable 20 years from now, people would look back on this 
period of time in the midst of a world in which radicalism and extremism 
was prevalent, in which allies such as Israel were surrounded by 
incredibly hostile forces, in which Iran had a nuclear weapon, in which 
governments were in control of these radicals who then cut off oil 
supplies to the West. That's the scenario that will happen if we 
withdraw before we achieve our objectives. People will look back and 
say, ``What happened to them in the year 2006? How come they couldn't 
see the threat?'' I see the threat. That is why we have got a strategy 
for victory in Iraq.
    The stakes are high, and the enemy understands that. Our goal is to 
have a country that can defend itself, sustain itself, govern itself, 
and be an ally in the war on terror. Our goal was to remove a threat. I 
made the right decision in taking Saddam Hussein out of power. And now 
our goal is to help this young democracy succeed, is to help these brave 
souls defeat the thugs and the sectarians and the Al Qaida, from 
toppling their dreams.
    Twelve million Iraqis went to the polls. They said, ``We want to be 
free.'' You shouldn't be surprised. Freedom is universal. We don't own 
freedom in America. I believe there is an Almighty, and I believe one of 
the great gifts of the Almighty is the deep desire to be free.
    For those of you who understand military, I'm running the war this 
way: I set the goal, and I count on our commanders on the ground and our 
Ambassador in Baghdad to set the tactics in order to achieve the goal. 
We're constantly changing. The enemy changes, and we change. The enemy 
adapts to our strategies and tactics, and we adapt to theirs. We're 
constantly changing to defeat this enemy.
    But if the Democrats were to take control, their policy is pretty 
clear to me: It's cut-and-run. Oh, they try to claim it's not. They try 
to claim it's not, but if you listen to their leaders, the man I ran 
against for President in 2004 said we need a date certain from which to 
withdraw. My attitude is, look, I want to bring our troops home as much 
as anybody, but I want to make sure they come home with victory, not 
with defeat.
    For the sake of these little kids here, we will fight in Iraq, and 
we will win in Iraq. And when we achieve our goal, we will have dealt 
the enemy an incredible blow. You know, we've got great assets on our 
side. We've got a fantastic country, people that are strong. We've got a 
military that is bold and courageous. We got one other thing going for 
us, too, and that is the great power of liberty.
    Liberty is a powerful, powerful tool. You see, liberty will yield 
the peace we want. Free societies will yield the peace. We're in an 
ideological struggle between extremists and radicals who hate and 
between moderate people who simply want to live in peace. It's a 
struggle between good and decent people and evil killers. It's a 
struggle that is going to take a while to achieve. But it is an 
ideological struggle, and you can defeat an ideology of hate with an 
ideology of hope--and freedom is that ideology of hope.
    You know I--recently I had an interesting experience. I share this 
with people all around our country because I want to bring to life that 
which we are now accomplishing.

[[Page 1876]]

I went to Elvis's place--[laughter]--with the former Prime Minister of 
Japan. He was the sitting Prime Minister of Japan then. I went. I had 
never been there. [Laughter] The Prime Minister wanted to go there. 
[Laughter] See, he was an Elvis fan. [Laughter]
    But I wanted to tell an interesting story. It's the story about a 
family--my family--and a story about liberty. My dad fought the 
Japanese. You've had relatives--I know people here whose families fought 
the Japanese. They were the sworn enemy of the United States. It was a 
bloody conflict. Thousands of people lost their lives. Young kids 
volunteered to defend their country, just like people are volunteering 
today to defend our country, and a lot didn't come home.
    As a matter of fact, it took us a while to get Japanese--slurs of 
Japanese people out of our vocabulary; the hate was so bad. I find it 
interesting that I'm on the airplane flying down to Elvis's place with 
the Prime Minister of a former enemy talking about the peace, talking 
about bringing peace to the world. For some of you young ones out there, 
60 may seem like a long time. For those of us who are 60, it just seemed 
like a snap of the fingers. [Laughter]
    Something happened between 18-year-old Navy fighter pilot George 
H.W. Bush and his President--and his son, the President, talking about 
keeping the peace with the Prime Minister of a former enemy. And what 
happened was, Japan adopted a Japanese-style democracy. Liberty has got 
the capacity to change hate into hope. Liberty has got the capacity to 
help change an enemy into an ally. Someday, someday, an American 
President will be sitting down with duly elected leaders from the Middle 
East talking about the peace, and a generation of Americans will be 
better off.
    The stakes in this election are high. I ask you to vote for Vern 
Buchanan. He'll be an ally in making sure your taxes stay low so the 
economy grows and an ally in making sure the United States Government 
does everything in our power to protect the American people and to make 
sure that a generation of Americans can grow up in peace.
    God bless, and thanks for coming.

Note: The President spoke at 1:35 p.m. at the Sarasota Bradenton 
International Convention Center. In his remarks, he referred to Gov. Jeb 
Bush of Florida; Usama bin Laden, leader of the Al Qaida terrorist 
organization; U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad; and former Prime 
Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan.