For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 14, 2004
Remarks by the President at Victory 2004 Rally
Thomas and Mack Center
Las Vegas, Nevada
10:05 A.M. PDT
THE PRESIDENT: I appreciate it, thank you. (Applause.) Thank you
all for coming. (Applause.) I appreciate you all being here. With
only 19 days to the election, the finish line is in sight.
(Applause.) And Nevada will be a part of a great nationwide victory in
November, the 2nd. (Applause.)
I'm proud to be on stage with so many of the governors, the
nation's governors. I'm a member of the ex-governors club.
(Applause.) They'll be a member of that club one day soon.
(Laughter.) I know these folks really well -- they're hardworking,
they bring people together to get the job done in their states. They
focus on results, and that's what I've done as your President, and
that's what I'll do for four more years. (Applause.)
I want to thank our host, Governor Kenny Guinn, for his
hospitality. (Applause.) It wasn't very hard to get the governors to
come to Vegas -- (laughter) -- to begin a road trip. The next two days
they're going to travel our country to tell people that leadership
matters. (Applause.) They're going to tell the people that the best
way to make sure America has strong and steady and principled
leadership is to put Dick Cheney and me back into office. (Applause.)
It's great to be in the home of the Running Rebels. (Applause.)
And that's what I'm doing -- I'm running and I'm not going to stop
until election day. (Applause.) Look, my only regret is that Laura is
not here to see this crowd. (Applause.) She's right around the corner
at the AARP convention. (Applause.) So the convention said, send your
best speaker. (Laughter and applause.) When I married Laura, she
said, fine, I'll marry you, so long as I never have to give a speech.
(Laughter.) I said, okay, you got a deal. Fortunately, she didn't
hold me to that deal. (Applause.) When the people see her speak they
see a compassionate, strong, great First Lady. (Applause.)
I'm proud of my running mate, Dick Cheney. (Applause.) He did a
really good job in his debate. (Applause.) I admit it, he doesn't
have the -- he didn't have the waviest hair there on the set.
(Laughter.) I didn't pick him because of his hairdo. (Laughter.) I
picked him because of his experience, his judgment, his ability to get
the job done for the American people. (Applause.)
After this we're going to Reno, and then we're going up to Oregon,
and I'm proud to be traveling with a great American in John McCain.
(Applause.) I like traveling with John. We have a lot of fun. We
laugh, we enjoy each other's company, and we share something in
common: We both love our nation. (Applause.)
I want to thank Senator John Ensign, the great Senator from Nevada,
for being here today. (Applause.) And Congressman John Porter, make
sure you put him back into office. (Applause.) Congressman Jim
Gibbons, from the northern part of this state, is with us today, as
well. Congressman, thanks for coming. (Applause.) I want to thank
all the state and local officials who are here. I want to thank my
friend, Lee Greenwood, for entertaining the folks. (Applause.)
I particularly want to thank the grassroots activists who are here,
the people who are going to put up the signs and make the phone calls.
(Applause.) I'm here to thank you in advance for what you're going to
do over the course of the next 19 days. (Applause.) You're going to
tell people they have a duty in our democracy to vote. Get them headed
to the polls. But don't overlook discerning Democrats, people like
Zell Miller. (Applause.) And when you get them headed to the polls,
tell them if they want a safer America, a stronger America and a better
America, to put me and Dick Cheney back into office. (Applause.)
We had a great debate last night. (Applause.) Those debates, all
three debates clarified the differences in our records, our approaches
and our plans for the future. I'm proud of my record. (Applause.) My
opponent seemed to want to avoid talking about his. My record is one
of lowering taxes, reforming education, providing prescription drugs to
seniors, improving our homeland protection and waging an aggressive war
against the terrorists. (Applause.)
The Senator's record is 20 years of out-of-the-mainstream votes,
without many significant reforms or results.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: Our very different records are a window into what
we believe and what we'll do in the next four years. The Senator
believes in a bigger government; I believe in more freedom and choices
for our citizens. (Applause.) The Senator believes government should
dictate; I believe you should make the decisions. (Applause.)
Sometimes it's a little hard to tell exactly what he believes --
(laughter) -- because he tries to obscure his votes. Take health
care. Once again, last night, with a straight face -- (laughter) --
the Senator tried to say his health care plan is not a government
plan. (Laughter.) Yet, 22 million new people will be enrolled in a
government program under his plan, the largest expansion of government
health care ever. Eighty percent of the newly-insured on his plan
would be placed on a government program like Medicaid. The Senator
claimed his plan would help small businesses -- yet, a study conducted
by small business groups this week concluded Senator Kerry's plan is an
over-priced albatross. (Applause.) I have a different view. I want
to make health care more available and affordable by helping small
businesses, not saddling them with a bunch of government rules.
(Applause.)
And once again, with a straight face, the Senator, shall we say,
refined his answer on the proposed global test he would administer
before acting to defend America.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: After trying to say it wasn't really a test at all,
last night he once again defended his approach, saying, I think it
makes sense. (Laughter.) The Senator now says we have to pass some
international truth standard. Those are his words. The truth is, we
should never turn over America's national security decisions to
international bodies or leaders of other countries. (Applause.)
In the last few years, the American people have gotten to know me.
They know my blunt way of speaking. (Applause.) I get that from Mom.
(Applause.) They know I sometimes mangle the English language.
(Laughter.) I get that from Dad. (Laughter.) Americans also know
that I tell you exactly what I'm going to do and I keep my word.
(Applause.)
When I came into office, the stock market had been in serious
decline for six months. The American economy was sliding into a
recession. To help families, and get this economy growing again, I
pledged to reduce taxes. I kept my word, and the results are clear.
(Applause.) The recession was one of the shallowest in American
history. Over the last three years, our economy has grown at the
fastest rate of any major industrialized nation. (Applause.) In the
past 13 months, we've added 1.9 million new jobs. (Applause.) The
unemployment rate in America is at 5.4 percent, lower than the average
of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. (Applause.) The unemployment rate in
Nevada is 4 percent. (Applause.) The mining sector is strong. Farm
and ranch income is up. More people are owning their own home.
We're moving forward, and there is much more to do. (Applause.)
To make sure quality jobs are created in America and to make sure
people can find work, America must be the best place in the world to do
business. (Applause.) That means we need to reduce the regulations on
our job creators. We must end junk lawsuits, which are threatening the
small businesses which create most new jobs. (Applause.)
To keep jobs here, Congress needs to pass my energy plan. My plan
encourages conservation, encourages the use of renewables like ethanol
and biodiesel. It encourages new technologies. It encourages clean
coal technology. It increases domestic production. To keep jobs here,
our nation must become less dependent on foreign sources of energy.
(Applause.)
To protect jobs and communities in the West, we need to reduce the
risk of devastating wildfires. That's why I was proud to sign the
Healthy Forest Restoration Act. (Applause.) Under this good law, we
are cleaning the underbrush that serves as fuel for fires. Because we
acted, our forests are healthier, residents and small businesses are
safer, and people across the West are better off. (Applause.)
To create jobs, we need to reject economic isolationism and open up
markets around the world for U.S. product. Americans can compete with
anybody, anytime, anywhere, so long as the rules are fair.
(Applause.) To create jobs, we need to be wise about how we spend your
money and keep your taxes low. (Applause.)
My opponent has his own history on the economy.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: In 20 years as a Senator from Massachusetts, he's
built up quite a record -- of a Senator from Massachusetts.
(Laughter.) He's voted to raise taxes 98 times.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: That is a vote for a tax increase about five times
every year.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: I think that qualifies as a pattern. (Laughter.)
He can run from his record, but he cannot hide. (Applause.) Now he's
promising not to raise taxes for anyone who earns less than $200,000 a
year. The problem is, to keep that promise, he would have to break
almost all of his other ones. (Laughter.) His plan to raise taxes in
the top two income brackets would raise about $600 billion. But his
spending promises will cost about four times that much, more than $2.2
trillion. That's with a "T." (Laughter.) That's a lot even for
somebody from Massachusetts. (Laughter.) See, you can't have it both
ways. To pay for all the big spending promises he made, he'll have to
raise your taxes.
AUDIENCE: Boooo!
THE PRESIDENT: The choice in this election is clear. (Applause.)
My opponent has a history of voting for higher taxes, and he promised
to raise them in this campaign. And that's the kind of promise a
Washington politician usually keeps. (Laughter.) I believe our
families and our economy are better off when Americans keep more of
what they earn. We will keep your taxes low. (Applause.)
When I came into office, the public schools had been waiting for
decades for hopeful reform. Too many of our children were shuffled
through school without learning the basics. I pledged to restore
accountability to the schools and end the soft bigotry of low
expectations, and I kept my word. (Applause.) Seeing the results --
our children are making sustained gains in reading and math. We're
closing the achievement gap for minority students. We're making
progress for our families. We will leave no child behind. (Applause.)
To build a more hopeful America, we must have the best-prepared and
most highly-skilled work force in the world. Most new jobs are filled
by people with at least two years of college education; yet only about
one in four of our students gets there. So we'll fund early
intervention programs in our high schools to help at-risk students.
We'll place a new focus on math and science. Over time, we'll require
a rigorous examination before graduation from high school. By raising
performance in our high schools, and by expanding Pell grants for low-
and middle-income families, we'll help more Americans start their
career with a college diploma. (Applause.)
My opponent has a history on education issues -- a history of doing
almost nothing. (Laughter.) The Senator has pledged to weaken the No
Child Left Behind Act.
AUDIENCE: Boooo!
THE PRESIDENT: He has proposed diluting the accountability
standards and looking at measures like teacher attendance to judge
whether students are learning.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: His proposals would undermine the high standards
and accountability we worked hard to pass. We're moving beyond the old
days of failure and mediocrity and low standards, and we're not going
to go back. (Applause.)
When I came to office, we had a problem in Medicare -- medicine was
changing, but Medicare wasn't. For example, Medicare would pay tens of
thousands of dollars for heart surgery, but wouldn't pay a dime for the
prescription drugs that could prevent the heart surgery from being
needed in the first place. It didn't make any sense for our seniors,
and it didn't make any sense for out taxpayers. I pledged to bring
Republicans and Democrats together to strengthen and modernize Medicare
for our seniors, and I kept my word. (Applause.) The results are
clear. Seniors are already getting discounts on medicines, and
beginning in 2006, all seniors will be able to get prescription drug
coverage under Medicare. (Applause.)
We're moving forward on health care, and there's much more to do.
We need to make health care more affordable and more available for all
our people. We need a safety net for those with the greatest needs. I
believe in community health centers, places where the poor and the
indigent can get care. In a new term, we'll make sure every poor
county in America has a community health center. (Applause.)
We need to do more to make sure more children are fully subscribed
in our programs for low-income families. We must do more to make sure
health care is affordable. You know, most of the uninsured are
employees of small businesses. Small businesses have trouble affording
health care. To help more workers get health care we should allow
small businesses to join together, so they can buy insurance at the
same discounts that big companies do. (Applause.)
To make sure health care is affordable, we have got to expand
health savings accounts, so workers in small businesses are able to pay
lower premiums and people can save tax-free in a health care account
they call their own. (Applause.) To make sure health care is
available and affordable, we have got to do something about the junk
lawsuits that are running up the costs of your health care.
(Applause.) All the lawsuits force doctors to practice defensive
medicine, which costs our government about $28 billion a year. They
cost our nation's economy anywhere from $60 billion to $100 billion.
The lawsuits drive up insurance premiums, which drive good doctors out
of practice.
Today I met Dr. James Barber. Three years ago Dr. Barber paid
$27,000 in insurance premiums as an OB/GYN in Henderson. Last year's
premiums would have been more than $100,000. He had to stop delivering
babies in Nevada. He's now practicing in California, where they have
reasonable medical liability laws. His premiums in California are
$33,000, 70 percent of what they would cost in Nevada.
I also met one of his former patients, Nicole Byrne. She said Dr.
Barber saved her life during a previous pregnancy. Now she's pregnant
again, and she is devastated that Dr. Barber won't be able to deliver
her babies. Nicole and Dr. Barber understand that you cannot be
pro-patient and pro-doctor and pro-trial lawyer at the same time.
(Applause.) You have to choose. My opponent made his choice, and he
put a trial lawyer on the ticket.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: I made my choice. I'm standing with the docs and
patients. I am for medical liability reform now. (Applause.)
The choice in this election is clear. My opponent wants to move in
the direction of government-run health care. I believe health
decisions ought to be made by doctors and patients, not by officials in
Washington, D.C. (Applause.) I've set out policies that move America
toward a positive and optimistic vision. I believe our country can,
and must, be an ownership society. There's a saying that no one ever
washes a rental car. (Laughter.) There's a lot of wisdom in that
statement. (Laughter.) When you own something, you care about it, and
you have a vital stake in the future of our country.
So we're encouraging entrepreneurship, because every time a small
business is started, someone is achieving the American Dream.
(Applause.) We're encouraging health savings accounts, so people have
the security of owning their own health care plan. We're promoting
home ownership. More and more Americans own a home today. I love it
when somebody opens the door of the place they live and says, welcome
to my home; welcome to my piece of property. (Applause.)
In a new term, I will take the next great step to build an
ownership society by strengthening Social Security. (Applause.) Our
Social Security system needs fixing. First, we'll make sure we keep
the promise to those who are on Social Security today. I remember in
the 2000 campaign, those ads saying, if George W. gets elected, they're
going to take away your check. Our seniors got their checks.
(Applause.) Nobody is going to take away our seniors' checks.
(Applause.) Baby boomers like me are going to be just fine when it
comes to Social Security. But our children and our grandchildren are
understandably worried about whether Social Security will be around
when they need it, and we need to be concerned about them.
For their sake, we must strengthen Social Security by allowing
younger workers to save some of their payroll taxes in a personal
account that Washington politicians can never take away. (Applause.)
My opponent wants to maintain the status quo when it comes to Social
Security.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: That is unacceptable. He's against Social Security
-- these Social Security reforms. And he's just about against just
about every other reform that gives more authority and control to
individuals. On issue after issue, from Medicare without choices to
schools with less accountability to higher taxes, he takes the side of
more centralized control and more bureaucracy. There's a word for that
attitude -- it's called liberalism. (Applause.) Now, he dismisses
that as a label. Must have seen it differently when he said to a
newspaper, I'm a liberal and proud of it. (Laughter.)
Others have noticed. The nonpartisan National Journal Magazine did
a study and named him the most liberal member of the United States
Senate. And that's saying something. (Laughter.) Another group known
as the Americans for Democratic Action have given Senator Kerry a
higher lifetime liberal rating than Senator Ted Kennedy. And that's an
accomplishment.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: See, I have a different record and a different
philosophy. I don't believe in big government and I don't believe in
indifferent government. I am a compassionate conservative; I believe
in policies that empower people to improve their lives, not try to run
their lives. (Applause.)
In this time of change, some things do not change -- those are the
values we try to live by, courage and compassion, reverence and
integrity. In changing times, we will support the institutions that
give our lives direction and purpose -- our families, our schools, our
religious congregations. We stand for a culture of life in which every
person matters and every being counts. (Applause.) We stand for
marriage and family, which are the foundations of our society.
(Applause.) We stand for the appointment of federal judges who know
the difference between personal opinion and the strict interpretation
of the law. (Applause.)
My opponent's words on these issues are a little muddy, but his
record is plenty clear. (Laughter.) He says he supports the
institution of marriage, but he voted against the Defense of Marriage
Act, which a bipartisan Congress overwhelmingly passed, and my
predecessor signed into law. He voted against the ban on the brutal
practice of partial birth abortion.
AUDIENCE: Boooo!
THE PRESIDENT: He called himself the candidate of conservative
values, but he has described the Reagan years as a time of moral
darkness.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: There is a mainstream in American politics, and my
opponent sits on the left bank. (Applause.) He can run, but he cannot
hide. (Applause.)
This election will also determine how America responds to the
continuing danger of terrorism. I believe the most solemn duty of the
American President is to protect the American people. (Applause.) If
America shows uncertainty or weakness in this decade, the world will
drift toward tragedy. This will not happen on my watch. (Applause.)
Since that terrible morning, since that terrible morning of
September the 11th, 2001, we have fought the terrorists across the
Earth -- not for pride, not for power, but because the lives of our
citizens are at stake. (Applause.) Our strategy is clear. We will
defend the homeland; we'll strengthen our intelligence services; we'll
transform the all-volunteer army -- and we'll keep it an all-volunteer
army. (Applause.) We will stay on the offensive. We will strike the
terrorists abroad so we do not have to face them here at home.
(Applause.) We will continue to spread freedom and liberty. And we
will prevail. (Applause.)
Our strategy is succeeding. Think about the world as it was
three-and-a-half years ago. Afghanistan was the home base of al
Qaeda. Pakistan was a transit point for terrorist groups. Saudi
Arabia was fertile ground for terrorist fundraising. Libya was
secretly pursuing nuclear weapons. Iraq was a dangerous place and a
gathering threat. And al Qaeda was largely unchallenged as it planned
attacks.
Because we acted, Afghanistan is a free nation, fighting terror.
And last Saturday, the people of Afghanistan voted for a President.
(Applause.) Pakistan is capturing terrorist leaders; Saudi Arabia is
making raids and arrests; Libya is dismantling its weapons programs;
the army of a free Iraq is fighting for freedom, and more than
three-quarters of al Qaeda's leaders and associates have been brought
to justice. (Applause.)
We've got an aggressive strategy to keep us safe. And we'll stand
with the people of a free Afghanistan and Iraq. Think about what
happened in Afghanistan. It wasn't all that long ago that the Taliban
ran that country. Young girls couldn't even go to school. They were
not only harboring terrorists, they had this dark ideology of hate.
And people showed up in droves to vote. Freedom is powerful. People
have gone from darkness to light, because of liberty. (Applause.) The
first voter in the Afghan presidential election was a 19-year-old
woman. (Applause.)
Iraq is headed toward elections. See, free societies in the Middle
East will be hopeful societies, which no longer feed resentments and
breed violence for export. Free governments in the Middle East will
fight the terrorists, instead of harboring them. And that helps us
keep the peace. Our mission is clear: We'll help the countries train
their armies and their police, so they can do the hard work of
defending democracy. (Applause.) We'll help them get on the path to
stability and democracy as quickly as possible, then our troops will
come home with the honor they have earned. (Applause.)
We have got a great United States military. (Applause.) I want to
thank all the veterans who are here for having set such a great example
for those who wear today's uniform. (Applause.) I want to thank the
military families who are with us today for their sacrifices.
(Applause.) And I want to assure the families, we'll keep the
commitment I made to our troops -- we will make sure they have all the
resources they need to complete their missions.
And that's why I went to the United States Congress in September of
2003 and asked for an $87 billion supplemental request, money necessary
to support those troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. We received great
bipartisan support. As a matter of fact, only 12 United States
senators voted against the supplemental request, the funding, two of
whom are my opponent and his running mate.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: When you're out gathering the vote, remind your
fellow citizens that only four United States senators voted to
authorize the use of force and then against sending the money to
support them in harm's way. Two of whom -- two of those four are my
opponent and his running mate.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: You might remember my opponent's famous quote, when
asked about that vote. He said, I actually did vote for the $87
billion before I voted against it.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: Now, he's given a lot of explanations since that
one. One of the most interesting ones is when he finally said, well,
the whole thing is a complicated matter. (Laughter.) There's nothing
complicated about supporting our troops in combat. (Applause.)
I believe in the transformational power of liberty. I believe that
millions in the Middle East plead in silence for their freedom. I
believe women want to grow up in a free society and raise their
children in a free society. (Applause.) I believe that if given a
chance, the people of the Middle East will embrace the most honorable
form of government ever devised by man. I believe all these things
because freedom is not America's gift to the world, freedom is the
Almighty God's gift to each man and woman in this world. (Applause.)
For all Americans, these years in our history will always stand
apart. You know, there are quiet times in the life of a nation when
little is expected of its leaders. This isn't one of those times.
It's a time that requires firm resolve and clear vision, and a deep
faith in the values that makes us a great nation.
None of us will ever forget that week when one era ended and
another began. September the 14th, 2001, I stood in the ruins of the
Twin Towers. It's a day I will never forget. There were workers in
hard hats yelling at me at the top of their lungs, "Whatever it
takes." (Applause.) Governor Pataki was with me. (Applause.) He
knows -- he remembers those workers and those police and firefighters
coming out of the rubble, bloodshot eyes. A guy grabbed me by the arm,
and he said, "Do not let me down." Ever since that day, I wake up
every morning trying to figure out how best to defend this country. I
will never relent in defending America, whatever it takes. (Applause.)
Four years ago, when I traveled your state, asking for the vote, I
made this pledge: If you gave me a chance to serve, I would uphold the
honor and the dignity of the office to which I had been elected. With
your help, I will do so for four more years. (Applause.)
God bless. Thanks for coming. Thank you all. (Applause.)
END 10:48 A.M. PDT
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