[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 43 (Monday, October 30, 2006)]
[Pages 1898-1903]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at a Reception for Senatorial Candidate Michael Bouchard in 
Warren, Michigan

October 26, 2006

    Thank you all. Thanks for coming. The way to go from worst to first 
is elect Mike Bouchard to the United States Senate. I am impressed by 
Mike Bouchard's character, his decency, his compassion for the people of 
Michigan. And there's no doubt in my mind, with your hard work, he'll be 
elected to the United States Senate.

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    I thank you for coming. You know, it's an interesting year. The 
other side is dancing in the end zone--except they're on the 15-yard 
line. We got the issues on our side. We got the right candidates 
running. Mike Bouchard is going to win. And I appreciate you coming to 
support him.
    And I'm proud to be here with Pam and his family. I thank--you know, 
there's nothing better than having a candidate who has got a strong 
family. I appreciate the fact that he puts family first in his life. And 
I know what it's like to have a loving wife and kids that love you 
because I've got a loving wife. And she understands what I know: Michael 
Bouchard is the right man for this job.
    I appreciate Congressman Joe Knollenberg joining us. Congressman, I 
appreciate you coming. We got the State attorney general, Michael Cox. 
Michael, where are you? Thanks for coming, buddy. [Applause] There you 
go. He's a good man to be running with. He's a good, strong leader. I 
appreciate you coming, Mike.
    I'm proud to be here with the grassroots activists for the State of 
Michigan, the party chairman, the national committeewoman; the cochair 
of the Michigan Republican Party happens to Jane Abraham. I know her 
husband quite well. [Laughter] The reason I bring up the grassroots 
activists is, I want to remind you that giving money is one thing; 
turning out the vote is the other. And coming down the stretch, this 
good man is going to give it his all, but he needs you by his side. He 
needs people getting on the telephones and putting up the signs and 
knocking on doors and reminding people of Michigan, if they want good 
government and good results, Mike Bouchard is the--should be the United 
States Senator.
    And when he wins, we've got a lot to do together--got a lot to do 
together. One thing we're going to do together is to make sure we 
continue to develop alternative fuel for our automobiles. See, we've got 
a problem here in America. We are too dependent on foreign sources of 
oil. And the best way to diversify away from foreign sources of oil is 
to encourage renewable fuels like ethanol. We want Michigan farmers 
growing the fuel that runs our automobiles, for the sake of economic 
security and national security.
    I'm looking forward to having this good Senator vote to confirm the 
judges I nominate to the Federal bench. Make no mistake about it, one of 
the key issues in this campaign is the type of judiciary we end up 
having in America. My job is to appoint judges who will strictly 
interpret the Constitution and not use the bench from which to 
legislate. And it would be--if you believe in that philosophy, it's 
important that you have at least one United States Senator from Michigan 
who will support a conservative judiciary, and that's Senator Mike 
Bouchard.
    I mentioned his love for family. He understands what I know, that 
marriage is a fundamental institution of our civilization. Yesterday in 
New Jersey, we had another activist court issue a ruling that raises 
doubts about the institution of marriage. I believe that marriage is a 
union between a man and a woman. Mike and I believe that marriage is a 
sacred institution, that it is critical to the health of our society and 
the well-being of families, and marriage must be defended.
    Another big issue in this campaign, and one I'm looking forward to 
working with Senator Bouchard on, is taxes. You know, we believe that we 
ought to keep your taxes low because we believe you can spend your money 
better than the Government can. The Democrats believe that they can 
spend your money better than you can and, therefore, will raise your 
taxes.
    Make no mistake about it, this is a key issue in this campaign. When 
we were confronted with recession and corporate scandal and an attack on 
the United States and the war--needed to defend ourselves--and 
hurricanes and high energy prices, this economy was able to withstand 
those challenges because we cut the taxes. See, if you have more money 
in your pocket to save, invest, or spend, this economy grows.
    Oh, you heard all the rhetoric during those tax debates. For those 
people who are undecided in this campaign, you might want to look up the 
words of the respective candidates when it came to cutting taxes. You 
might want to make sure you understand the record of people who are 
running in this race for the United States Senate when it comes to 
taxes. You might remember, the Democrats said that tax cuts were not the 
solution

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for an economy that was slipping into recession. Truth is, the tax cuts 
have helped make America's economy the fastest growing of any major 
industrialized nation.
    The Democrats said the tax cuts would lead to a jobless recovery. 
You might remember that rhetoric. The truth is that our economy has 
added jobs for 37 months in a row, and since August of 2003, our economy 
has created more than 6.6 million new jobs. Oh, the Democrats said the 
tax cuts would cause the deficit to explode. Well, the truth is that the 
tax cuts led to economic growth, and that growth has helped send tax 
revenues soaring. As a result, we cut the deficit in half 3 years ahead 
of schedule.
    And now the Democrats are telling you they're going to win on 
election day. But the truth is, if their electoral predictions are as 
reliable as their economic predictions--[laughter]--November 7th is 
going to be a good day for Michigan because Mike Bouchard is going to 
win the United States Senate.
    One of the reasons why we're going to hold the Senate and hold the 
House on election day is because the Democrats are determined to raise 
the taxes on the people that work in this country. Oh, I know, they're 
not going to admit it out loud, but I want to remind you of what the top 
Democrat leader in the House said recently. She said, ``We love tax 
cuts.'' Given her record, she must be a secret admirer. [Laughter]
    It's just not the so-called tax cuts for the rich that she opposes. 
When we cut taxes for everyone who pays income taxes, she and her House 
colleagues, as well as Members of the United States Senate, voted 
against that tax cut. When we reduced the marriage penalty, she and her 
colleagues in Washington, DC, voted against it. When we cut the taxes on 
small business, she and her colleagues voted against it. When we lowered 
taxes for families with children, she and her colleagues voted against 
it. When we reduced the taxes on capital gains and dividends, she and 
her colleagues in Washington, DC, voted against it. When we put the 
death tax on the road to extinction, she and her colleagues in 
Washington, DC, voted against it. Time and time again, when she had an 
opportunity to show her love for tax cuts--[laughter]--she voted no. If 
this is the Democrat's idea of love--[laughter]--I wouldn't want to see 
what hate looks like. [Laughter]
    No, taxes are a big issue--big issue. Oh, you'll hear them try to 
obscure the deal by saying, ``We're just--only going to tax the rich 
people.'' I want you to tell your fellow citizens who have yet to make 
up their mind that in 1992, they campaigned on, ``We're going to give 
you a middle class tax cut.'' And when they had the power and the 
capacity to make the decisions about taxes in the White House and in the 
Congress, we had the largest--one of the largest tax increases--
increases--in American history. Their record is clear. They can run, but 
they can't hide. If the people of Michigan want low taxes, you vote for 
Mike Bouchard as United States Senator.
    I want to talk about taxes just a little bit more. [Laughter] See, I 
know how important they are for this economy of ours. I know how 
important they are for small businesses. I know how important it is for 
our farmers and ranchers to get tax cuts. I know how important it is for 
people who are working for a living to be able to have more money in 
your pocket so you can make the decisions for your family. I know how 
important it is to keep taxes low. I've seen it work. We've got a record 
that we can run on.
    You know, the way it works is, is that these tax cuts we passed are 
set to expire, so, therefore, they have to be renewed by Congress or 
made permanent. So recently they asked the head man on the Ways and 
Means Committee in the House of Representatives--he would be the head 
man; see, he's the ranking member on the Ways and Means Committee--they 
asked him about which tax cuts he would extend--the ones that maybe help 
the family with children, or the ones that get rid of the marriage 
penalty. He asked that--he couldn't think of one of those tax cuts that 
he would extend. In other words, by not extending, he's raising your 
taxes. See, they try to hide behind the language.
    I don't know if your opponent is trying to hide behind the language, 
but I doubt that she's going to be there to make sure these tax cuts we 
passed stay intact. I want to tell you what that means. It means that if 
the child tax credit were cut in half, if these tax

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cuts aren't extended, if you're having breakfast with your family and 
you got one kid, your taxes go up $500, if they get control. Imagine 
having lunch with four children and the tax cuts don't get extended. 
That mother and father can rest assured that the Democrats will have 
caused their taxes to go up by 500 times four. That would be $2,000. 
That may not seem like a lot to the big spenders in Washington, DC, but 
it's a lot to the people who work for a living. If you want to keep your 
taxes low, you vote for Mike Bouchard for the United States Senate.
    Mike mentioned an issue that's on my mind a lot. As a matter of 
fact, every day I think about how best to protect the American people, 
because that is the most important responsibility of your Government. I 
wish I didn't have to say that, but as your Commander in Chief and as 
the person responsible for rallying the Federal Government to use all 
assets to protect you, I've got to speak plainly to the American people. 
An enemy still lurks; a dangerous enemy still exists, which will use any 
means they can to attack us again. And therefore, we must use every 
means we have at our disposal to protect you. The most important job I 
have, and the most important job this United States Senator will have, 
is to make sure that we do everything in our power to protect the 
American people.
    See, we face an enemy that knows no bounds of decency. They're 
ideologues, but they're ideologues of hate. They have taken a great 
religion and have twisted it to their evil intentions. They want to 
establish a caliphate, a governing structure, from Spain to Indonesia, 
in which they're able to impose their dark vision on decent men and 
women. They want safe haven from which to launch attack against America 
again. They would like the wealth so they can develop weapons of mass 
destruction to use against us.
    You cannot negotiate with these people. You cannot reason with these 
people. The best way to attack--the best way to defend America is to go 
on the attack, stay on the attack, and bring the people to justice 
before they hurt us again.
    And Michigan needs a United States Senator who understands the 
stakes of the world in which we live, and that Senator will be Mike 
Bouchard. We need a Senator up there who understands this is a global 
war fought on a variety of fronts. One of the lessons of September the 
11th is, we must stay on the offense. Look, it's hard to plan, plot, and 
attack if you're running or hiding in a cave. And you got to know, we 
got immense pressure on those who would do harm to the United States.
    The other lesson--another lesson is, is that when we see a threat 
overseas, we must take that threat seriously. America cannot wait to 
respond after we've been attacked. One of the lessons of that fateful 
day is, we must do everything in our power to protect you before there's 
an attack. I saw a threat in Iraq. Getting rid of Saddam Hussein has 
made the United States safer and the world better off.
    And now our job is to complete the mission, and that is to help Iraq 
become a government--a country that can govern itself, sustain itself, 
defend itself, a country that will be an ally in the war against these 
extremists that want to harm us. And the stakes are high. It's important 
that we succeed. It's important that we understand there's an enemy that 
will kill innocent life so they can get their images on our TV screens, 
because they believe it's just a matter of time before we leave before 
the job is done.
    If we were to listen to the Democrats in Washington, DC, who say, 
``Let's have a fixed date of withdrawal''--by the way, that's code word 
for saying, leave before the job is done--we would turn over this 
important country to radicals and extremists who would plot and plan and 
attack.
    I want you to think about a world in which violent forms of 
extremists battle for power, a Middle East in which moderate governments 
have been toppled, a Middle East in which these extremists get ahold of 
oil and energy and enable--to enable them to blackmail the United 
States. Imagine the message: ``If you don't abandon your relationship 
with Israel,'' for example, ``We'll run the price of oil up to--if you 
don't retreat to allow us to continue to expand our caliphate or 
governing structure, we'll run the oil up.'' Imagine Iran with a nuclear 
weapon 20 or 30 years from now. People would look back at this period of 
time and say, ``What happened to

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them? How come they couldn't see the threats to a generation of 
Americans who are growing up? Why weren't they able to see the dangers 
that persisted?''
    I see the dangers. I understand the stakes. Victory in Iraq is 
essential for the security of the United States of America. We will 
change our plans; we will adjust our tactics; but we will support our 
military. We will support this young democracy, and we will win in Iraq.
    And there's a fundamental difference of opinion. You listen to the 
rhetoric of the leaders of the Democrat Party. They have a different 
view than I do about whether or not this is a global war on terror. They 
have a different view about how aggressive the United States should be 
in pursuing enemies overseas so we do not have to face them here at 
home.
    I want you to listen to what the--one of the leaders in Washington, 
DC, said this past Sunday. She said--a Democrat leader in a nationally 
televised interview--she said, ``It is not right to say that, quote, 
`Iraq is part of the war on terror.' '' In other words, they don't 
believe Iraq is a part of the war on terror. They believe it is a 
separate theater of some kind. I'm not sure what they believe. This is a 
global war we're--fight. You can't win a war if you don't believe we're 
in a war. And therefore, we need leaders in Washington, DC, who 
understand the stakes.
    And her position on Iraq would come as news to Usama bin Laden, who 
has proclaimed that the ``third world war is raging in Iraq.'' Her 
position would come as news to the number-two man of Al Qaida, Mr. 
Zawahiri, who has called the struggle in Iraq ``the place for the 
greatest battle.'' Her position on Iraq would come as news to the 
terrorists from Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Sudan, Lybia, Yemen, and 
other countries who have come to Iraq to fight America and the coalition 
forces. Her position would come as news to the people of Iraq who have 
lost loved ones as a result of terrorist bombings and beheadings and 
brutal acts of terror. Her position would come as news to those brave 
men and women who wear the uniform of the United States of America who 
are risking their lives every day to protect the American people.
    And her position that the war on terror--see, she went on to say 
it's only in Afghanistan--her position that the war on terror should be 
fought only in Afghanistan would come as news to the citizens of London 
and Madrid and Amman and Bali and Beslan and Riyadh and Istanbul and 
Casablanca and other cities where the terrorists have murdered innocent 
men, women, and children.
    We need people in Washington, DC, who understand the stakes of the 
world in which we live. Our most important duty is to protect you. And 
the best way to protect the American people is to confront the enemy 
overseas so we do not have to face them here at home. And the best way 
to confront the enemy is to be clear-eyed and understand that if we were 
to leave Iraq before the job is done, the enemy would follow us right 
here to the United States of America. We will fight; we will win in 
Iraq.
    We got a lot of assets at our disposal. We got the finest military 
that has ever existed, and we need a United States Senator who will 
support them. And when I say support them, I mean give them all the 
tools necessary so they can do their job. This Government owes these 
young men and women and their families all the support necessary, and 
I'm confident that Senator Mike Bouchard will help me provide that 
support.
    But we've got another asset, and that's the power of liberty. I like 
to tell the story--as a matter of fact, I'm going to tell it as many 
times as people will listen--[laughter]--about my trip to Elvis's place. 
[Laughter] I went down there, as you might recall, with the then sitting 
Prime Minister of Japan, who no longer holds the office, Prime Minister 
Koizumi. He's a friend of mine. We went down there. I'd never been, 
thought it would be fun to go. He wanted to go a lot. [Laughter] He was 
an Elvis fan.
    But I also wanted to tell a story. And here's the story: My dad, 
like many of your--who got relatives here, many of you whose relatives 
did the same thing, who are--you're here; the relatives probably 
aren't--[laughter]--joined the Navy to fight the Japanese. You know the 
kind of people I'm talking about. He's an 18-year-old kid; the Japanese 
had attacked America. They killed more people on 9/11 than were killed 
at Pearl Harbor.

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And yet he went, just like the kids who are signing up today. We've got 
unbelievable men and women who are saying, ``I understand the stakes, 
and I want to go defend my country''--as volunteers. That's what 
happened in World War II. And it was a bloody war, and a lot of people 
lost their lives. It was a tough, tough fight.
    I find it to be really interesting that the son of this Navy pilot 
is on Air Force One flying down to Memphis, Tennessee, with the Prime 
Minister of the former enemy, talking about peace, talking about the 
fact that this country of Japan has sent 1,000 troops into Iraq, because 
the Prime Minister Koizumi and I understand that we're involved in an 
ideological struggle between decent people who want to live in peace and 
radicals and extremists who will battle democracy in order to be able to 
impose their will.
    We talked about North Korea and the fact that not only the North 
Korea--man trying to get him a nuclear weapon and how destabilizing that 
would be, but we mourned the fact that thousands starve inside that 
country. We talked about HIV/AIDS on the continent of Africa and our 
understanding that to whom much is given, much is required; and that 
this great country, I assured him, would continue to take the lead in 
providing antiretroviral drugs to help save lives. And we talked about 
helping Afghanistan build up its democracy.
    Isn't it amazing? My dad fought the Japanese, and I'm talking about 
keeping the peace. Something happened between World War II and today, 
and what happened was, Japan adopted a Japanese-style democracy. 
Democracies yield the peace. Liberty has got the capacity to transform 
an enemy into an ally. Liberty has got the capacity to transform regions 
of hopelessness to regions of light and hope.
    Someday, an American President will be sitting down with duly 
elected leaders from the Middle East talking about keeping the peace, 
and our children and grandchildren will be better off for it.
    God bless.

Note: The President spoke at 6:03 p.m. at the Mabry Banquet and 
Convention Center. In his remarks, he referred to Pam Bouchard, wife of 
senatorial candidate Michael Bouchard; Saulius ``Saul'' Anuzis, 
chairman, and Holly Hughes, national committeewoman, Michigan Republican 
Party; former Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham; 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.