Remarks by the President at Flagstaff, Arizona Welcome
Coconino County Fairgrounds
Flagstaff, Arizona
2:02 P.M. MST
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all for coming. It's such an honor to be
here. Well, we're working on the drought. (Laughter.) I love the
rain. (Applause.) Thanks for standing out here. It's such an honor
to be here. I appreciate you all enduring the weather.
It is my honor to be here for the next Congressman from this
district, Rick Renzi. (Applause.) He's a good fellow. He's a good
man. He believes in family values. After all, he's got 12 kids. I
want to thank Roberta for standing by him as he takes his message to
the people that he works hard to let the people know what's in his
heart. He's a good-hearted man. He cares deeply about the people of
this district. I'm here to endorse his candidacy because I think he'll
be the right thing for Arizona, and I know he'll do the right thing for
America. (Applause.)
I appreciate very much also being here with the next governor of
the state of Arizona, Matt Salmon. (Applause.) Matt is a common-sense
fellow. One thing he understands, that when it comes to spending money
at the state level, he's not spending the government's money, see.
He's spending the people's money. He's from the people. And I look
forward to working with Matt when he becomes the governor of this great
state.
I'm also honored to be traveling with Senator John Kyl.
(Applause.) He's a stand-up kind of guy. He is rock-solid. He's
strong on the defense of our country. And I look forward to continuing
to work with him to make sure the judicial nominees I send up to the
United States Senate get a fair hearing. (Applause.)
I named the other day a great lady from Texas to the bench named
Pricilla Owen. But they played politics with her nomination. She got
the highest ranking of the ABA; she was one of the top in her law
school classes. But they didn't give her a fair hearing. They
distorted her record. See, they want judges that use the bench from
which to legislate. We want judges to strictly interpret the
Constitution of the United States. (Applause.)
I appreciate so very much working with Senator John McCain from the
state of Arizona. (Applause.) John's a true patriot, a true patriot
who's standing strong as we try to keep the peace here in the world. I
appreciate very much being with my friend Jane Dee Hull. I used to be
a governor, and I got to know her as a governor of Texas. I'm proud to
call her friend. I'm proud of the job she's done for the state of
Arizona. Thank you, Jane Dee, for being here. (Applause.)
I want to thank all of you all who care about your community, and
all of you all who are what we call grassroots politics -- the people
who turn out the vote. The people who make the phone calls; the people
who go to the coffee shops and tell people the truth about the
candidates running for office. I want to thank you for your supporting
this good ticket. And I want to thank you for loving your country.
(Applause.)
AUDIENCE: USA! USA! USA!
THE PRESIDENT: I look forward to working with Rick on some
important issues that matter. One important issue that matters, we've
got to make sure we keep our people working. As we work hard to secure
the homeland, we've also got to remember a secure America is an America
where people can find work. So long as somebody who is looking for a
job can't find a job, I think we have a problem. And so we've always
got to keep working to expand the job base. We want people being able
to put food on the table here in America. We want people being able to
make a living. And that starts with fighting off this slowdown with
letting people keep more of their own money. (Applause.)
Here's the debate that takes place in Washington. The debate is,
is that either you let people have more of their own money, or you
don't. If the economy is slow, and you let a person keep more of their
own money, they're likely to spend it. And when they spend it, it
means they're demanding something. They're demanding a good or a
service. And when that demand is there, somebody is likely to produce
the good or a service. And when somebody produces a good or service,
guess what's more likely to happen -- somebody is going to be able to
find a job. The tax cuts were important for the American economy,
they're important for small business, they're important for the
entrepreneurs, they're important for job creation. We need to make the
tax cuts permanent. (Applause.)
You've got to remember that money we're spending up there in
Washington isn't the government's money, like I said, it's the people's
money. It's your money. (Applause.) We need to make sure we don't
overspend. Listen, they don't have a budget in the United States
Senate, no fault of Senator Kyl. They don't have a budget. If you
don't have a budget, guess what's likely to happen -- every idea sounds
like a good idea up there. (Laughter.) Those ideas run into the
billions. If you don't have a budget, it's hard to hold people to
account. We need fiscally responsible people in Washington, like
Rick. We need people who will set priorities and make sure we don't
overspend your money. A deficit will hurt economic vitality. I
submitted a budget that shows how we can reduce the deficit, how we can
get to surplus, but it's going to require fiscal sanity in Washington,
D.C. (Applause.)
We need a common-sense policy in Washington. And the forest policy
of the United States is not common-sensical. (Applause.) It doesn't
make any sense to allow -- to not thin our forests. It doesn't make
any sense to fight off the beetles. It doesn't make any sense not to
thin them out. It doesn't make any sense to allow kindling to pile up
underneath good wood. It doesn't make any sense. For the sake of a
common-sense environmental policy, for the sake of making sure our
forests remain healthy in the long-term, let's get some people like
Rick in Washington, D.C., with whom I can work, to get good forest
policy in America. (Applause.)
I also appreciate being here on behalf of Matt Salmon. Matt's a
good, solid man. He's a guy who keeps his word. See, he's one of
these fellows that says, I'm going to run for Congress, I'm only going
to serve three terms. And then when his term came up, he said, I'm
going home. That doesn't happen a lot in politics. It should happen
more, by the way, where people do what they say they're going to do;
that when they look at the people, they're going to do what they say.
That's why you can trust him as your governor. When he says he's not
going to raise your taxes, he means he's not going to raise your
taxes. (Applause.)
I also look forward to working with Matt to make sure that we help
people who need help. We've got people on welfare in the state of
Arizona who need help to learn how to work. See, we're getting ready
to reauthorize the welfare law. And I urge Congress to make sure that
as we do so, that we keep work as the cornerstone of good welfare
policy. Helping a man learn to work, helping a lady find a job,
helping people have the skills necessary to be able to provide for
their family is a part of making sure somebody has got dignity in their
life. And I look forward to working with Governor Matt Salmon to make
sure that the welfare policy of Arizona is a compassionate, yet
conservative welfare policy. (Applause.)
I want you to know that I am constantly thinking about our economy
and trying to work with Congress to improve the job base. But my most
important job is to protect America from another attack. (Applause.)
That's my most important job, because there's still an enemy out there
which hates America. And they hate us because of what we love. We
love freedom. (Applause.) We love the idea that people can worship an
almighty God any way they choose in America. (Applause.) We good --
we value the idea that people are free to express their opinions, that
we have a free press. We love freedom in America. And so long as we
love our freedoms, the enemy will hate us.
But guess what. We're never going to forget our freedoms. We're
always going to hold those freedoms dear. And so long as we do, the
enemy will be there. And so we've got to hunt them down and we've got
to protect the homeland. There's a lot of good people, a lot of good
people working hard on your behalf to protect the homeland. Any time
we're getting a hint, any time we get an idea, any time we get a
scintilla of evidence that somebody might be thinking about doing
something to America, we're moving on it. (Applause.) And I say we're
moving on it, it's at the federal level and the state level and the
local level. Our biggest responsibility is to prevent the killers from
coming to hurt America again.
And that's why I went to Congress and asked them to join me in
setting up what they call the department of homeland security. Listen,
there's over 100 agencies in Washington, D.C. that have got something
to do with protecting the homeland. That's 100 agencies full of good,
hardworking people. But they're scattered everywhere. It seemed to
make sense to me to put them under one umbrella, so that the -- we
could set priorities, so that we could change cultures, if necessary,
within the agencies, to make the number one priority your protection.
And we're making progress up there. The House of Representatives
voted a good bill out, but it seems to be stuck in the Senate, because
the Senate wants to micromanage the executive branch of government.
The Senate wants a thick book of rules on how to defend the homeland.
And let me just give you some examples. The Customs Service, for
example, wanted to require its inspectors at our nation's 301 ports of
entry to wear radiation detecting devices. See, that made sense. You
wear a radiation detection device to make sure nobody is trying to
bring a weapons of mass destruction into America. Yet the union that
represents the Customs workers objected. They sought to invoke
collective bargaining, which would have taken at least a year to
solve. See, we don't need those kind of rules that bind the executive
branch from doing what you want us to do, which is to protect the
homeland. (Applause.)
Let me give you another example. Let me give you another example
of what we're trying to cut out of the new department, this kind of
stuff that doesn't make any sense. I know it doesn't make any sense to
the people of Flagstaff. I can assure you it doesn't make any sense to
the people of Crawford, Texas either. (Laughter.)
In order to locate employees in cases of emergency, the Customs
Service sought to have employees provide their home addresses and
telephone numbers to the Customs Service. In other words, if we had an
emergency, we want to know where to call. The union objected, and
said, such a request would violate the privacy rights of the workers.
Now, that doesn't make any sense. Listen, I strongly believe workers
ought to be able to join a union if that's what they want to do. They
ought to be able to have collective bargaining rights, if that's what
they choose. But for the sake of our national security, this
President, and future Presidents, needs the flexibility necessary to
put the right people at the right place at the right time, to protect
the American people. (Applause.)
But the best way to defend the homeland is to hunt the killers down
one at a time, and bring them to justice. (Applause.) That's the best
way to defend this homeland. It's a different kind of war we fight.
It's important you know that it still goes on, though. It's a
different kind of war. In the past, people would say, well, we're
making progress, we destroyed the enemy's tanks, or we're making
progress if he no longer has any ships. These people don't have tanks,
they don't have ships. They've got hate. These leaders are the ones
that hide in caves, or the dark recesses of some cities, and the send
youngsters to their suicidal death. These are the folks who hijacked a
great religion, and take innocent life without any hesitation. See,
they don't value life like we do. In America, everybody counts. Every
life has worth, every life is precious. That's not the way the enemy
thinks. The enemy doesn't care. They've got these designs on America,
because we love freedom.
And so we're going to look at every cave we can find. It don't
matter how long it takes, my fellow Americans. It doesn't matter how
long it takes, we're going to hunt them down, one by one. We owe it to
our children, and we owe it to our children's children. (Applause.)
And we're making progress. The doctrine that says, either you're
with us or you're with the enemy, still stands. (Applause.) And
there's a lot of good folks around the world who are working with us,
working with us to hunt these killers down before they hit us again.
We've hauled in over a couple thousand of them. As a matter of fact,
one of them the other day who wanted to have been the 20th hijacker
popped his head up, and he's no longer a threat to the United States of
America, or our friends and allies. (Applause.)
There's a lot of good folks in a lot of nations around the world
working with us to find these, and to bring them to justice. We don't
seek revenge, we seek justice. That like number hadn't been quite as
lucky as the ones who have been detained or arrested. So we're making
progress, slowly but surely. Slowly, surely, and methodically. This
great nation is doing everything we can to protect our people.
That's why I've asked Congress for the largest increase in defense
spending since President Reagan was the President. I did so for two
reasons. One, any time we put our youngsters into harm's way, they
deserve the best pay, the best training, and the best possible
equipment. (Applause.) And secondly, I wanted to send a message to
friend and foe alike that we're in this deal for the long haul. That
when it comes to talking about something we hold dear, our freedom,
we're not going to quit until we succeed.
When it comes to defending the homeland, this great nation -- the
will of this nation has been aroused by an enemy which inflicted
serious, serious damage on our people. No, they -- when they hit us
they thought we might file a lawsuit or two. (Laughter.) But they
realized -- they realized they hit a mighty nation and a good nation,
and a decent nation, and a nation that loves the values that we hold
dear.
It's going to be some rough sledding ahead at times, it really is,
in order to defend ourselves. We're fighting a resourceful group of
people. We're fighting people who know no fear. We've also got some
other tasks, because there are some madmen in the world who have got
weapons of mass destruction. We've got people who torture their own
people. If there's dissent, they kill them. They've gassed their own
people with weapons of mass destruction. The man in Iraq has attacked
two countries. He lied to the world. He's deceived us.
I went to the United Nations, and I said as clearly as I could, in
order for you to be an effective organization, you must deal with him.
If you don't, we will lead a coalition which will. We cannot allow the
world's worst leaders -- (applause.) There's no negotiation, there's
no discussion, this man must disarm like he said he would do. After 11
years of deceit, this man must disarm.
For the sake of peace, for the sake of peace not only in our -- in
his neighborhood, but in ours, he must disarm. And if he does not,
it's his choice to make. It's his and the United Nations' choice to
make. Our last choice is to commit our troops to harm's way, but if we
have to, to defend our freedoms, if we have to, the United States will
lead a coalition and do so. (Applause.)
And there are a lot of good people, a lot of good people on both
sides of the political aisle who understand the task ahead. A lot of
good people who are working with the administration to come up with a
common resolution to send a strong message to the world that this great
nation, this great nation will not stand by and allow the world's worst
leaders to threaten us with the world's worst weapons. (Applause.)
I want you all to understand that as we -- as we work to peace, as
we work for peace -- and that's my goal -- we must also work to make
America a better place; a better place for all of us, a better place
for each person which lives in this country. That starts with making
sure that every child is educated, and not one child is left behind.
I want you to know that it's important for all of us to challenge
the soft bigotry of low expectations, to understand that when you set
the bar low, when you have such low standards, you're going to get
lousy results, and children will be left behind. That's no longer
acceptable in America.
I told -- Rick was telling me -- Rick and the governor-to-be were
telling me you've got a great school district here in Flagstaff.
(Applause.) That's because the citizens care about the schools. I
want to thank the teachers who are here for being teachers.
(Applause.) I want to thank the principals who are here. I want to
thank the parents who are here who demand on high standards for every
single child. (Applause.)
A better America means we've got to have a health care system
that's modern. Listen, Medicare is an incredibly important program.
Medicine has changed; Medicare hadn't. (Laughter.) Medicine has
changed because of technology and innovation; Medicare is the same
program it was a while ago. In order to make sure Medicare works, like
we want it to for our seniors and for America to be a better place, our
seniors need prescription drug coverage. (Applause.)
And you know what else we need to do? We need to end the frivolous
and junk lawsuits which drive up the cost of medicine -- (applause)
-- which makes it harder for folks to find health care.
We've also got to make sure that we unleash the true strength of
the country, and that is the hearts and souls of the American people.
I believe strongly that we must have a faith-based initiative in
America, an initiative which recognizes that in our churches and
synagogues and mosques we find universal love. See, people have asked
me, what can I do to help in the war against terror? What you can do
is you can love your neighbor just like you'd like to be loved
yourself. If you want to fight evil, do some good in America.
(Applause.)
No, the enemy hit us, the enemy hit us, but they didn't realize who
they were hitting. They hit a nation which will fight for our security
and freedom. But they also aroused a new spirit in the country, a
spirit which says, it's more than a patriot who puts his hand on a
heart, it's a patriot who helps a neighbor in need. It's a patriot who
understands that there are some pockets of despair and loneliness in
America, and that while government can hand out money, what government
cannot do is put hope in a person's heart, or a sense of purpose in a
person's life. That's done when somebody puts their arm around a
neighbor in need, and says, I love you, what can I do to help you?
It's done when somebody mentors a child. It's done when somebody goes
and feeds the hungry, provides shelter for those who don't have
shelter. That's what it means. And that's happening in America.
All across our country, people are understanding there is a new
culture of responsibility emerging. See, out of the evil done to
America is going to come some really incredible good, in my judgment,
because I believe so strongly in the purpose of this great country.
I'm reminded all the time, as I travel our country, about what
happened on Flight 93. Flight 93 was a historic moment in our
country. It's a sad, sad moment, but it was a time when average
citizens were flying across the land, they knew the plane was going to
be used as a weapon. They were on their phones and they told their
loved ones goodbye. They used the word, love. They said a prayer.
One guy said, "Let's roll," and they drove the plane into the ground to
save somebody else's life. (Applause.)
It is the most profound, profound example of the great American
values -- that we understand in order to be the country of promise and
hope that we're meant to be, that we've got to live our lives beyond
just ourself; that we've got to service something greater than ourself
in life.
There's no doubt in my mind, no doubt in my mind that we can
achieve peace in the world if we remain strong and diligent and focused
and tough when we need to. And there's no doubt in my mind we can be a
more compassionate and decent and hopeful nation. And you know why?
Because this, my fellow Americans, is the greatest nation on the face
of the Earth, full of the most decent and loving and kind people.
Thank you for coming. May God bless you all, and may God bless
America. (Applause.)