For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
August 5, 2004
Presidents Remarks in Ask President Bush Event
Aladdin Shrine Center
Columbus, Ohio
1:00 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Please be seated. Thank you all.
That's what I'm here asking for, for four more years. (Applause.)
Yes, I'm traveling our country -- coming to Ohio a lot, by the way.
(Applause.) I think you have to ask for the vote, and that's what I'm
here doing. I want your vote. (Applause.) And want your help.
I want to thank those of you who are involved with grassroots
politics, the people who are helping to register the voters and the
people who are going to be asking the voters to do their duty in
democracy and go to the polls. I appreciate your work. And by the
way, when you get them headed to the polls, kind of nudge them our
way. (Applause.)
There's more to do for this country. That's what I want to talk
about. We've got an unusual way of talking about the agenda for the
future today. I want to share some thoughts with you. We've got some
citizens from the Columbus area who are going to talk about some of the
ideas that we're going to use to make America a compassionate place, a
better place. And then I'll be glad to answer some of your questions.
First, let me tell you I'm sorry Laura is not here. (Applause.)
She's got a valid excuse -- Governor Bush's oldest son -- that would be
my youngest brother -- oldest son is getting married. Yes. And she's
there early. I'm going late, because I'm working. (Laughter.) But
she is a -- (applause.) She is a wonderful wife, a loving mother, and
a great First Lady. I'm really proud of her. (Applause.) Thank you
all.
I was hoping she would come with me because I wanted her to come to
the cite where my grandfather was raised. I don't know if you know
that or not -- there you go -- Grandfather Bush raised right here in
Columbus, Ohio. (Applause.) You know how we are in the political
arena, we're always trying to find a local peg -- (laughter.) I've got
one here. (Laughter.) And my family is better off having those Ohio
roots in our background.
I also picked a good man to run with. I admit it, Dick Cheney is
not the prettiest candidate in the race. (Laughter.) I didn't pick
him because of his looks. I picked him because he knows what he's
doing. He's a sound man, with good judgment. (Applause.)
Before we get started here, I do want to thank my friend, your
Governor Bob Taft, for joining me today. Thanks for coming, Governor.
Appreciate your service. (Applause.) I've known him for quite a while
-- I've known him for quite a while. We were both governors together,
and we're both members of the famous father club.
I appreciate Congressman Pat Tiberi. He's from this area; he's
doing a fine job. (Applause.) Who you got there? Tiberi tells me
coming in that this is his daughter's first political speech. So when
she starts dozing off, you know the reason why, I've been going on too
long. But I appreciate the Congressman coming. Thank you. I also
appreciate my friend, Deborah Pryce, Congresswoman Pryce, for being
here, too. (Applause.)
Governor Jennette Bradley is with us -- she's a good friend of
mine. I appreciate her service to the state. Thank you, Jennette.
(Applause.) I want to thank Doug Preisse who emceed the event. He's
also head of the grassroots. He's what we call the party chairman.
That's the person in charge of making sure people who want to help have
an opportunity to help to find the vote and turn people out to vote.
I want to thank my friend, Bernie Kosar. (Applause.) I reminded
him that the Dallas Cowboys are going to be starting a 40-year-old
quarterback this year. It's not too late, Bernie. (Laughter.) He got
his ring, he said, he doesn't want another one. But I really
appreciate you coming. Thank you all for being here.
Today I met a fellow named Jack Lehr. He's a soldier in the army
of compassion. That means he's a person who is taking time out of his
life to volunteer to help people. Jack has been involved with tutoring
people in GED preparation programs. That means he's a mentor, see.
Jack has taken time out of his life to help somebody who needs some
help.
One of the reasons I'm running -- where are you, Jack? Oh, there
he is. Thanks for coming out at the airport. I appreciate you.
(Applause.) He's also involved with Hospice. I know a lot of you are
doing the same thing in your lives: you're coaching Little League or
you're involved with Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts, or you're feeding the
hungry, or you're finding shelter for the homeless. All of you are
soldiers in the army of compassion. And one of the reasons I'm seeking
the office for four more years is to continue to call upon our fellow
citizens to love a neighbor just like you'd like to be loved yourself.
(Applause.) See, that means I understand the strength of our country
is the heart and souls of our citizens. That's the true strength of
America, and we can change America one soul at a time by encouraging
people to spread something government cannot spread, which is love.
(Applause.)
One of the most important initiatives of this administration is
what is called the faith-based and community initiative, that allows
faith-based programs -- people from all faiths to access federal monies
to help them do their job of spreading love and compassion. If you're
an addict, if you're hooked on drugs or alcohol, sometimes government
counseling can work. But sometimes it requires a change of heart in
order to change habit. There are people who are empowered to change
hearts in our society, not by government, by a higher calling. And
therefore, government ought to welcome these works of compassion and
healing. (Applause.)
I know we can change America for the better by calling on those who
are change agents, those who are willing to put an arm around somebody
who needs love, and say, I love you, brother; I love you, sister; what
can I do to help you have a better life here in America? (Applause.)
I'm running -- I'm asking for your vote again, and I'm running
because there's more to do to keep this country safer. You know, it's
very important that we never forget the lessons of September the 11th,
2001. I know I won't, I know many of you will never forget it,
either.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: We'll never forget.
THE PRESIDENT: There you go. (Applause.) Let me share with you
some of the lessons that I remember. One, we're facing an enemy which
has no heart, no compassion. And that puts them at an advantage, in a
way, because we're a country of heart and compassion. See, these are
ideological extremists who are willing to use terror to affect the
conscience of the free world. They're willing to try to have their way
by wanton destruction of innocent life. That stands the opposite of
what America stands for, isn't' it? We don't believe in that; yet they
do. They're trying to shake our will and our confidence. One of the
lessons of September the 11th is, we face deadly foe who will kill on a
moment's notice, to try to shake our confidence and our will.
The second lesson of September the 11th is, is that in order to
protect ourselves -- and that's my most solemn duty, is to protect the
American people -- and by the way, it's the solemn duty of first
responders all across our country, it's the solemn duty of those who
wear our uniform. There's a lot of people who understand the
seriousness of the job and the responsibilities we have. We're lucky
to have a nation of so many responsible citizens who are willing to
work hard to defend our homeland.
The second lesson is, though, that in order to defend the homeland,
we've got to be on the offense. We must deal with those people
overseas, so we don't have to face them here at home. (Applause.) And
that's what we're doing. We've got a lot of fine troops out there.
We've got other nations working with us to bring people to justice.
And we're making progress, slowly but surely making progress. This is
a different kind of war. Sometimes you'll see action, sometimes you
won't. We're chasing people down in caves in the dark recesses of the
world. About two-thirds of the known al Qaeda leadership has been
brought to justice, and we're safer for it. (Applause.)
Another lesson of September the 11th is, in order to be able to
defend ourselves, we've got to say to people who are willing to harbor
a terrorist or feed a terrorist, you're just as guilty as the
terrorist. (Applause.) And let me tell you something about leadership
and about being the American President. If you say something, you'd
better mean it. (Applause.) Thank you all. And when I said to the
Taliban -- those are the folks running Afghanistan -- give up your evil
ways or face the consequences, I meant it. They ignored us, they
ignored us, and they paid the price. They're no longer in power, no
long can al Qaeda use Afghanistan as a safe haven for training.
Remember, thousands of people were trained in Afghanistan and then
dispersed throughout the world, some of whom came here to inflict great
harm on our people. The world is better off and America is safer
because of the actions we have taken in Afghanistan.
Think about this. Afghanistan is going to hold elections this
fall. (Applause.) It's amazing, isn't it, when you think about it.
What a change. What a change in a part of the world that is desperate
for freedom. Listen, it wasn't but three years ago or so that these
people lived under the clutches of one of the most brutal groups of
people known to mankind, the Taliban. They wouldn't let young girls go
to school in Afghanistan. They were so backward, their vision was so
dim, that if you dared express an opinion that they didn't agree with,
you were in trouble.
You know, I was in Cleveland the other day, and we went to the
International Children's Games kickoff, and guess who was there -- a
girls soccer team from Afghanistan. (Applause.) Right here in
America. (Applause.) What I'm saying is, Afghanistan is a better
place. They're an emerging democracy. Over 8 million people have
registered to vote. They're an ally in the war on terror. And the
world is better off because young girls and moms and dads have a chance
to realize their ambitions for their families -- not the ambitions of
backward, barbaric people like the Taliban. (Applause.)
We've taken the lead in the world, and the world has changed for
the better. Just think about Afghanistan's neighbor, Pakistan, for a
minute. Because of our leadership and work with the Pakistan
authorities, al Qaeda is now on the run in Pakistan. We've got an ally
in the war on terror with President Musharraf. (Applause.) No, this
world is getting better off.
A very important lesson of September the 11th, one this nation must
never forget, is that when we see threats, we must deal with them
before they fully materialize. That's one of the vital lessons of that
fateful day. (Applause.) See, with these people -- remember, I
described what they're like -- you cannot negotiate with them, you
cannot hope for the best. I like to say, therapy doesn't work.
(Laughter.) They made up their minds. They made up their minds to
inflict terrible harm on those who disagree with them.
That's why people who say that because we've been on the offense to
protect America, we've created more enemies than before, just don't
understand the war on terror. They do not understand. These were
people plotting prior to us taking action around the world. These are
people who look for weakness in the free world. These are people who
are willing to exploit fear in the free world. And the United States
of America will stand strong and resolute in the face of this new
challenge. (Applause.)
Another lesson of September the 11th, I said if we see a threat, we
must deal with it before it fully materializes. We saw a threat in
Iraq. And let me tell you why; not only the intelligence say there was
a threat there, but we remembered the history of the man. He was a
sworn enemy of America. Terrorists were able to -- and terrorist
networks were able to operate in and out of his country. Remember Abu
Nidal? He was the guy that killed the man, an American citizen,
because he was Jewish. His network was there inside of Iraq. Zarqawi,
who's still is running around in Iraq, his network was in Iraq. He is
a -- Saddam was a fellow who paid the families of suicide bombers.
That's one of the -- suiciding to kill innocent people as an act of
terror. He paid the families as an incentive to do so. He had used
weapons of mass destruction. Remember that? He had used them on his
own people. He had used them against countries in his neighborhood.
He was a source of instability. He was a threat, and we saw him as a
threat.
Now, the United States Congress looked at the same intelligence I
looked at, the exact same intelligence, and came to the same
conclusion. Members of both political parties looked at the
intelligence. My opponent looked at the very same intelligence and
came to the same conclusion. (Applause.) The United Nations --
remember I went to the U.N., and said, you have forever condemned him.
You've told him to get rid of his weapons, yet nothing has happened, so
let's try her one more time. And the United Nations looked at the
intelligence, saw a threat, and passed a resolution, 15 to nothing.
That was what the Security Council said. They said, disclose, disarm,
or face serious consequences.
And so, the world spoke, and again, he defied us. And not only did
he defy us, he systematically deceived the inspectors. You remember
the period of time, we said, well, let's give the inspectors the chance
to work. We agreed, until we found out he was deceiving them. What he
was trying to do was buy time. Why? Because he wanted to reconstitute
a weapons program. He wanted to make sure he had the capacity to make
weapons. And if he had any, like we thought he did, he didn't want
anybody to find them. That's why. I had a choice to make then.
Forget the lessons of September the 11th, trust a madman, or take
action to defend our country. Every time, I will defend America.
(Applause.)
We are safer -- we are safer and the world is better off because
Saddam is sitting in a prison cell. I want to share something with
you. Committing troops into harm's way is -- in harm's way is the most
difficult decision a President can make. That decision must always be
last resort. That decision must be done when our vital interests are
at stake, but after we've tried everything else. There must be a
compelling national need to put our troops into harm's way. I felt
that. I felt we had a compelling national need. I know we had tried
diplomacy. I knew that diplomacy at this point couldn't possibly work
because he had no intention of listening to demands of the free world.
And when you put your troops in harm's way, you better have the best
-- the best equipment, the best support, and the best possible pay.
(Applause.)
That's why I went to the Congress and said -- last September --
said, we need more money for our troops, $87 billion more money. Some
of it was for reconstruction, most of it was for the troops, over $60
billion for the troops -- Humvees, spare parts, body armor, the things
necessary that you would want. If you are a mom or dad -- we probably
got a mom or dad here whose child is in Iraq -- you want your son or
daughter to have the best. Thank you, appreciate you.
There were two senators -- there were 12 senators who voted against
more funding for the troops, two of whom are my opponent and his
running mate. (Applause.)
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: I don't know if you heard the explanation. He
said, "I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against
it." (Laughter.) That's not the way most folks speak in Ohio.
(Applause.) As the Commander-in-Chief, I'll see to it our troops have
the best -- the best possible pay, the best possible training, the best
possible equipment to defend the United States of America.
(Applause.) Thank you all. By the way, I know we've got some veterans
here. Thanks for setting such a good example for those who wear our
uniform today. (Applause.) I appreciate your service.
The world is changing. This is an historic times. Freedom equals
peace. Listen, we've done the hard work, and there's more hard work to
do. But I want you to know that we're headed for a peaceful world.
That's my hope. My hope is that young children can grow up in a
peaceful world. My hope is that we never have to live another day like
we did on September the 11th. (Applause.)
And you achieve peace by spreading freedom. That's what America
believes. (Applause.) And that's hard work. Free nations are
peaceful nations. Free nations, nations that listen to the aspirations
of their people, are nations in which it's hard to recruit people
willing to kill themselves for a radical philosophy. That's what
Americans believe. We believe that freedom is the Almighty God's gift
to every man and woman in this world. (Applause.)
And therefore, our strategy for peace is to do everything we can to
protect the homeland, by being on the offense against an enemy. But
it's also to spread liberty. These are historic times. That's why
it's vital we stand with those who love freedom in Afghanistan and
Iraq. Now, it's not easy to be a free society in a place like Iraq --
it's just not. You can understand why: these people were brutalized.
There were mass graves of thousands of -- of a thousand citizens.
I'll tell you an interesting story, and it's one that touched my
heart. Seven people came to the Oval Office, seven Iraqi men. Walking
in that Oval Office, by the way, is a pretty interesting experience --
the kind of place people say outside and say, when I get in I'm going
to tell him what-for. And they walk in, they get overwhelmed by the
Oval Office, say, many, you're looking good, Mr. President.
(Laughter.)
These people came in and they said, liberator. I said, you don't
need to thank me, you need to thank the American people. You need to
thank the mothers and fathers of those, and the husbands and wives of
those who served to free you. (Applause.) They had something in
common besides being Iraqi men -- all of them had their right hands cut
off by Saddam Hussein. That's the society that we've liberated. You
know why? Because his currency had devalued and he needed a
scapegoat. So he found seven small businessmen. For example, one of
them was a jeweler and he told me, he said, I sold dinars to buy -- I
think he said euros -- to buy gold so I could make a watch. And so
what they were looking for, the authority, Saddam and his thugs were
looking for people who sold dinars that caused the currency to be
devalued at that particular moment. They put them in prison, and he
cut off their right hands and burned an X in their forehead. So in
come seven guys who have got an X in their forehead. The good news is
that they had been discovered by an American named Marvin Zindler, from
Houston, and he had a foundation to help people from around the world.
They flew them into Houston. These seven guys had new hands, new
prosthesis. (Applause.)
A guy took my Sharpee, wrapped his new fingers and wrote, "God
bless America," in Arabic. (Applause.) What a contrast, what a
contrast in societies -- on the one hand, a society that was so
brutalized by a dictator that he could just say, I'm going to cut off
their hands; to a society which says, we want to heal you, no matter
who you are, no matter your religion, no matter where you're from. We
believe in human dignity and human rights in the United States of
America. (Applause.)
There's good people now running those countries: Karzai and
Allawi. Allawi, I'm told, woke up one night in London to a
axe-wielding group of men that had been sent by Saddam Hussein to kill
him with an axe. He got away from the axe-wielding thugs severely
wounded. In other words, this guy has seen the worst of tyranny, and
now he's leading the country. He believes in a free Iraq. He believes
in a self-governing Iraq. He believes in listening to the aspirations
of the people. And he's plenty tough to do the job.
And so we've got to stand with these people, see, because, you know
what, a free world -- a free Iraq in a part of the world that's
desperate for freedom is an historic opportunity. Maybe I can put it
to you best this way: You know, my dad, I'm sure some of your dads,
fought in World War II against Japan. And right after World War II
there was a movement to rebuild Japan, so it would be a self-governing
nation. Some doubted whether that was possible. Some people in our
country, they said, why are you wasting your time; why worry about a
self-governing Japan? Fortunately, there were some optimists, some
people who believed in the power of liberty to change societies and
lives who stood the line, and finally succeeded. We succeeded in
helping Japan self-govern.
So I'm having Kobe beef one night with Prime Minister Koizumi.
He's the Prime Minister of Japan and a good friend of mine. We're
talking about how to keep the peace. We're talking about how to deal
with Mr. Kim Jong-il of North Korea -- people are starving, by the way,
and who wants to try to blackmail the free world with a nuclear
weapon. And here we are talking about peace. That's what we're
talking about. See, free societies are peaceful societies. Someday,
an American President will talking to a duly-elected leader of Iraq,
talking about the peace, and America will be better for it.
(Applause.)
And the people of Iraq are watching carefully right now. Are we
going to be a country of our word? When we say we believe people
should be free, are we willing to stand by our word? Or are we going
to go timid and weary and afraid of the barbaric behavior of a few? I
want to be your President for four more years because I believe that
freedom can change the world and the world will be more peaceful.
(Applause.)
A couple of other -- thank you all. Let me talk about domestic
policies. And then we're going to call on some of our -- some of your
citizens to help me make some points. First of all, when I came to
Washington, I said we're going to challenge the soft bigotry of low
expectations. That means the attitude that some -- some kids can't
learn, therefore, let's just shuffle them through the school. You know
what I'm talking about. And people got shuffled from grade to grade,
and society woke up, said, oh, what happened? Well, what happened was
-- was that we didn't set high expectations, and we never measured,
really. We never -- you see, if you believe a child can read, then you
want to know whether that child is reading. And you want to know
early, before it's too late. And when you can figure out whether a
child is not reading early, it gives you a chance to correct the
problems, so that no child is left behind. That's why we called it the
No Child Left Behind Act.
And we made good progress. There is more to do. That's what I'm
here to tell you. There's more to do. We need intensive reading
programs for junior high kids. We need to make sure that they've got
the basic education as they head to high school. We must make sure
that the Internet is in classrooms so that the free flow of information
is vibrant and well. The broadbrand technology initiative of mine is
essential to making sure information flows into our schools. We want
to make sure the high school diploma means something.
There's more work to do. We want to make sure the community
colleges are vibrant. We're about to talk to one of your citizens who
has gone back to school after years, to upgrade her skill level. If we
want them to keep jobs here in America, we've got to make sure our kids
are educated, so they can compete. And we've got to make sure people
have got the capacity to retrain for the jobs which exist. You've got
jobs here.
Listen, I understand something about the job base in Ohio. I know
people are nervous. People are skittish. But there's jobs being
created, and we're going to talk to a job creator here, as well. But
one of the ways to make sure jobs stay here is that we train people for
the jobs which actually exist. And we're going to talk to one of your
citizens here pretty quick -- or two citizens, actually, that are
involved with work training.
Health care is an issue in this campaign, how do we keep it
affordable and available. We've made some good progress in health
care. We've expanded what's called community health centers. Those
are for low-income Americans to get help with primary care, so they're
not getting help in your emergency rooms. One way to hold down costs,
which I think is the crux of much of the problems, health care costs
too much, is to provide care for people who can't afford health care in
a cost-effective manner. And we're doing that by expanding community
health centers.
We've got to make sure that small business owners have the capacity
to pool risk. See, most people who are working uninsured work for
small businesses. And small businesses must be allowed to pool risk
across jurisdictional boundaries -- associated health plans, they're
called -- so they get the same purchasing power as big companies do, in
order to make sure there is health insurance available for employees.
(Applause.)
We want to make sure there's health savings accounts available for
people. We're going to talk to a new purchaser of a health savings
account. You've probably heard of them, aren't sure what they mean.
You're about to learn what they are. They are wonderful ways for
people to save money, to make sure that the person or the family is in
charge of their own health care decisions so that bureaucrats aren't
making the decisions for people. And there are ways to save money.
You'll hear -- (laughter) -- you'll like it. (Laughter.)
We strengthened Medicare. Think back, now. You know, President
after President, candidate after candidate said, elect me, I'll do
something about Medicare. I got the job done, along with Congress.
Medicare is better off. (Applause.) Four million seniors have signed
up for drug discount cards. If you haven't, if you're eligible, sign
up for one. You'll save money when it comes to purchasing prescription
drugs. Next year, we're going to actually start screening seniors.
Doesn't that make sense, to have a health care system that says, let's
screen you first, so we can detect problems early before they're too
late. That was never a part of Medicare. Thanks to the reforms we
worked together on, it's now an essential part, and will save taxpayers
money. (Applause.)
In 2006, prescription drugs will become available for the first in
Medicare, and seniors will have more choices. Seniors will be able to
design the health care plan that meets their needs. That's never been
a part of Medicare. And here's how you save money. Medicare would pay
for the $100,000 or so heart operation. Medicare would not pay for the
prescription drugs to prevent the heart condition from happening in the
first place. See, you spend $2,000 of drugs to save the government
$100,000 of operating expenses. (Applause.) Inherent in my philosophy
for health care is we want the patient and the doctor to be central to
the decision-making process in health care, not Washington, D.C.
bureaucrats. (Applause.)
Finally, let me tell you one other thing about health care. One
reason your health care costs are going up, and one reason doctors are
nervous, and many doctors are leaving the practice of medicine is
because of junk and frivolous lawsuits. (Applause.) See, you can't be
pro-patient, pro-doctor, and pro-trial lawyer at the same time.
(Applause.) You have to choose, see. I think -- I think those of us
in public life have to choose. My opponent made his choice, and he put
him on the ticket. (Laughter and applause.) I made my choice. We
need medical liability reform in Washington, D.C. to help our patients
and doctors. (Applause.)
A couple of other points -- a couple of other points. We've been
through a lot, Ohio has been through a lot. Listen, when you go
through a recession, corporate scandal, emergency, and war, you've been
through a lot in a quick period of time, if you really think about it.
Think about what we have been through as an economy and as a nation,
and yet we're strong. You know why? We've got great workers. We've
got the most productive work force in the world. We've got great
entrepreneurs. We've got wonderful farmers and ranchers. (Applause.)
In other words, we've got good people in this country that are willing
to work together to overcome obstacles. But government can help.
I think one of the reasons why our economy is strong and getting
stronger is because of tax relief. (Applause.) Remember what the tax
relief was like. If you're a mother or a dad, you've got a child, you
got -- your child credit went up to $1,000. If you're married, we did
something about the marriage penalty. I like to remind people, it's a
different kind of tax code, isn't it, that says, we'll penalize
marriage. (Laughter.) That's not what we believe. We ought to be
strengthening marriage in America, not penalizing marriage.
(Applause.)
A lot of the relief -- a lot of the tax relief -- also remember
when you're out there gathering the vote, what I'm trying to do is arm
you up to get ready to convince the undecideds. (Laughter.) Just
remember this; when we were for tax relief, we said, if you pay taxes,
you ought to get relief. In other words, we didn't try to play
favorites. If you're going to have tax relief, the fairest way to do
it at government is to say, if you pay taxes, you get relief. And it's
working.
Part of the tax relief plan that's really important is the small
business tax relief. Most new jobs in America are created by small
business owners. Therefore, it makes sense to cut taxes on small
businesses, doesn't it? (Applause.) Actually, I'll answer my own
question -- it only makes sense to cut taxes on small businesses if you
understand the role of government is not to create wealth, but an
environment in which the entrepreneurial spirit can flourish.
(Applause.)
Let me make one other point on the small business tax relief, so
everybody understands it. Most small businesses are sub-chapter S
corporations or sole proprietorships. Now, what that means, is they
pay tax at the individual income tax level. And so when you hear me
talking about cutting individual income taxes, you've got to be
thinking about the small businesses that are getting relief, as well.
See, one of the cornerstones of the economic recovery package, the
economic stimulus package, was letting small businesses keep more
money, which means it's more likely they're going to stay in business
or more likely to hire somebody. It also encouraged small businesses
to buy capital goods. We'll talk about a capital good purchaser here
in a minute.
And so the economy is strong. There's more work to do. But
remember, we created 1.5 million new jobs in the last year. Ohio's
unemployment rate is 5.8 percent. It's getting better, is what I'm
telling you -- 5.8 percent is good; we can do better. I'll tell you
how you can do
better -- don't raise taxes on the American people, for starters.
(Applause.)
Just remember, they're out there promising every day. I think
they're over $2 trillion -- they, being our opponents -- have proposed
more than $2 trillion in new spending. They just haven't said how
they're going to pay for it. Well, they have, they have to a certain
extent. They said they're going to tax the rich. They're going to
raise the rates. Well, first of all, I don't think anybody ought to
pay more than 35 percent to the federal government. I think that's a
fair amount of money that somebody ought to pay. (Applause.)
Secondly, when they say they're going to tax the rich, remember,
when they're raising those income taxes, they're also taxing small
businesses. Most small businesses pay individual income taxes.
Thirdly, you know how the tax code works. When they say, "tax the
rich," those are the folks who have got the accountants to see to it
they don't pay tax, so guess who gets stuck with the bill? You're
going to get stuck with the bill. The worst thing for job creation is
to be running up the taxes on the working people of this country. And
we're not going to let him have a chance to do so. (Applause.)
I'm winding down here. (Laughter.) Nobody started to fall out
yet. A couple other points I want to make. I'm running because I
understand there's some things we need to do to keep jobs here in
America. We need tort reform to keep jobs here in America. We need
good health policy to keep jobs here in America. We need an energy
plan to keep jobs here in America. (Applause.) We need to become less
dependent on foreign sources of energy. (Applause.)
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Get it done, George!
THE PRESIDENT: I am going to get it done. (Applause.) I told you
when I ran we would reform the schools, and we did. I told you when I
ran we would reform Medicare, and we did. I told you when I ran we
would cut the taxes on the working people, and we did. When this
administration says something, we mean it, and we get it done.
(Applause.)
AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years!
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Okay. I've asked some citizens to
come and help me make my points. First of all, the cornerstone of good
policy, in my opinion, is to encourage people to own something. See, I
believe a society in which there is widespread ownership is a hopeful
and helpful society. If you own something, you really care about the
future of the country. That's why I like ownership. We want to have
an environment so more people own their own business. We're going to
talk to the CEO of a small business here in a minute. There's nothing
more hopeful, is there, than saying, welcome to my home. We want more
people owning their own home. And I'm proud to report the
homeownership rates are at an all-time high in America today. We're
going to talk about owning your own health care account. I also
believe that younger workers ought to be allowed, at their option, to
have personal savings accounts in Social Security so that the Social
Security system can survive. (Applause.)
For us old guys, retired or nearly retired, nothing will change.
But to make sure there's a Social Security system around for younger
workers -- I'm talking about down there in the 30s -- (laughter) --
they ought to be allowed to take some of their own money and have a
personal savings account that they can pass on from one generation to
the next. (Applause.)
The Jaminets are with us, Emily and John. Thanks for coming. As
you can see, Emily is about ready to have her fourth child. She
doesn't look old enough, does she, to have four children. (Applause.)
Thanks for coming. Tell us -- first of all, they have told me that
they bought a home.
MR. JAMINET: That's right.
THE PRESIDENT: First time home-buyer.
MR. JAMINET: That's right.
THE PRESIDENT: Why?
MR. JAMINET: Why? For our family.
THE PRESIDENT: Good, well, most people buy a home for their
families. That's good. (Laughter.) And, so, like, tell -- go ahead,
tell me what you told me earlier. Refinanced it.
* * * * *
THE PRESIDENT: You like having your own home. First, the reason I
asked him to come is -- is that I told you I believe in ownership.
There's nothing better than a story when somebody says, we own our
first home. They own their own home. That's what we want. We want
people from all walks of life to stand up in America and say, hey, I
own my own home. Welcome to my home, not, welcome to the government's
home, but welcome to my home. (Applause.)
These good folks saved money in the tax relief. That's what I
wanted to share with you, as well -- $2,200 in 2003.
MR. JAMINET: That's right.
THE PRESIDENT: -- 2004, how much?
MR. JAMINET: About the same.
THE PRESIDENT: Same, okay. This is $2,300. Now, that's not a lot
to people in Washington, I guess, the numbers counters up there. It's
a lot to them. See, here's what I believe about tax relief.
Government can set priority and it needs -- and that's hard in
Washington. Everybody has got their own priorities. My job is to set
priorities, it's been the defense of the homeland, it's been winning
the war on terror, it's been making sure education works well, making
sure our seniors have a health care system that's reasonable. But I
believe once government sets priorities, these folks can spend their
money better than the federal government can spend their money.
(Applause.)
What did you do with all that money? First of all, it's your
money. Get nervous when you hear people in Washington say, well, we're
spending the government's money. (Laughter.) It's not the
government's money. It's John and Emily's money that we're spending.
Now they've got more of their own to spend. It's an important
distinction in the campaign. People have got to listen carefully to
the words. I think they'll get a difference of philosophy.
Now, what did you do with all your own money? (Laughter.)
MRS. JAMINET: Well, I'm a stay-at-home mom, so it's allowed me to
do that.
THE PRESIDENT: Good. (Applause.)
MRS. JAMINET: I'm just really -- keep focused on our family values
and continue, like John said, to pay off debt, and him going back to
school is such a huge blessing to be able to work at Honda and have a
career that provides for all of us.
THE PRESIDENT: You work at Honda?
MR. JAMINET: Yes.
THE PRESIDENT: That's good. (Applause.) It's interesting, isn't
it, a foreign company investing in the United States. That's
positive. (Applause.) I can see why they did. We've got great people
here in America. They need to keep coming with their money.
(Applause.) They'll find great workers here. Thank you all for
coming.
One think I want to remind you of, is parts of the tax relief
package expire. That's what happened when Congress passed the deal.
It's going to stay low for a while, and then they go away. See, I've
been calling on the Congress to make the tax relief permanent. Now, if
they don't make it permanent, these good folks will pay $1,300 more in
taxes. They'll have less of their own money. In other words, they'll
have $1,300 less to spend. And I don't think that's good for the
economy, to be taking -- I know it's not good for their family.
They're worried about their family. I'm worried about their family;
I'm worried about the economy, too. And taking that money out of their
pockets is not good. Tax relief has got to be permanent in order to
make sure this economy continues to grow. (Applause.)
Thank you all.
We've got an interesting story with Linda Wagner. Linda, thanks
for coming. What's your job description?
MS. WAGNER: Well, I happen to be a registered nurse and I'm
director of employee education for Ohio Health Corporation.
(Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Great. And how does it work?
* * * * *
THE PRESIDENT: Let me ask you something. Obviously somebody is
looking for workers in those fields, I guess is why they're retraining
people.
MS. WAGNER: Yes, that's a desperate need --
THE PRESIDENT: Desperate need. There are jobs in this new
society, jobs in a high-tech world that -- where people need help in
order to gain the skills necessary to fill the jobs. That's what we're
talking about. A compassionate America is willing to retrain people
for the jobs which exist.
* * * * *
THE PRESIDENT: And there's government money for that, trade
adjustment assistance, displaced workers programs. I think it's a wise
use of taxpayers' money, frankly, to help people who have been
displaced from their work go back to school and gain the skills
necessary to fill the jobs which exist. Interestingly enough -- I
don't know if, Linda, you're in a position to say this -- but most
people who go back to school for the new jobs end up making more
money.
MS. WAGNER: Absolutely.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, she was. That's good. (Laughter and
applause.)
MS. WAGNER: You're talking somewhere between 200 and 300 percent
difference in salaries between an unlicenced person and somebody who
has got a licence.
THE PRESIDENT: Listen, if you're out there looking for work and
you don't think there's work available, go to your one-stops, ask and
look for what's available. Good government policy has made money
available for people to be retrained in institutions which are flexible
and available and affordable. The community colleges, for example, are
willing to change curriculum to help meet the needs of the workplace.
And this is a private institution that's doing the same thing. You're
doing great work.
MS. WAGNER: Well, we're pretty proud of our program.
THE PRESIDENT: You ought to be.
MS. WAGNER: We pay for the tuition expenses, books, and we also
fund three clinical instructors to also assist Columbus State in
getting our people educated.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you, Linda. Appreciate you. Good
job. (Applause.) Pass that over to Jerry. See, the reason Linda came
is because I was convinced that she would be able to explain it better
than me, and she did. (Laughter.)
MS. HURLEY: Absolutely.
THE PRESIDENT: But I appreciate that. You didn't have to agree
with her, Jerry. (Laughter.) All right, Jerry. ]
MS. HURLEY: Hello, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: How are you?
MS. HURLEY: I am great today.
THE PRESIDENT: Okay. You don't need to tell us your age, like you
told me earlier.
MS. HURLEY: I am 53.
THE PRESIDENT: And proud of it, I want you to know.
MS. HURLEY: Yes, I am. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: And you're probably a grandmother.
MS. HURLEY: I am a proud grandmother.
THE PRESIDENT: There you go. Okay, tell us about -- this is an
interesting story. I hope people out there are listening to Jerry's
story. Go ahead. I feel like a talk show host. (Laughter.)
* * * * *
THE PRESIDENT: There you go. (Applause.) Listen, the reason I --
isn't that a great story? Thanks, Jerry. What a fabulous story. And,
see, that's going to be the story of the 21st century, when you think
about it. This is a changing world. The job picture changes quite
rapidly. Some jobs don't change, like firefighters, guys. We'll need
you forever. You don't have to worry about these guys. (Applause.)
Thanks for your service.
But jobs change. When most of you were coming up, your dad worked,
your mom stayed at home, your dad had the job at the same company, and
everything was fine. But it's a different world we live in today. And
the job picture changes, and it requires new skill sets. In order to
make sure America is a competitive place, we've got to make sure
education not only gets it right for the youngsters, but that there's
continuing education opportunity for people like Jerry.
Now, government can't say, go back to school. Somebody has to make
that choice herself or himself. But we darn sure can help. And the
community college system is a great place to get people retrained for
the jobs that exist. Not only is there great job satisfaction achieved
by somebody choosing to take advantage of educational opportunities,
they're making more money, too. And that's what's important to
realize. If you gain new skills, and you become a more productive
worker, productivity increases yield higher wages. And that's what's
happening in America.
Some people are nervous -- of course they're nervous -- but there
are jobs out there and the role of government is to help people train
for the jobs which exist, just like Jerry. And I want to thank you for
coming. (Applause.)
We've got an interesting story that Russ and Kathy Griffith are
going to share with you. They're here with us. Russ is a
self-employed consultant, engineering consultant. And he is -- well,
he's going to talk to you about health savings accounts, let me put it
to you that way. Tell everybody what a health savings account is.
* * * * *
THE PRESIDENT: Right, so let's put it this way. Say you've got a
-- you buy a insurance policy that says they'll cover everything above
the first thousand dollars of expenses, which is not a very high
premium policy. And then, you put $1,000 -- in his case, he's
self-employed, so he puts $1,000 of his own money, tax-free, into a
savings account which earns money tax-free, which he can withdraw
tax-free, to cover up the first $1,000 of expenses before the insurance
policy kicks in. So in his case, the expense is the cost of the
insurance policy plus the $1,000 tax-free money into the account, is
that accurate?
MR. GRIFFITH: That's true, yes.
THE PRESIDENT: All right, and this is a new product, by the way,
and it's going to take a while for the American people to figure it
out, but it's a product that says he's in control of his health care
decisions. See, he decides how the $1,000 is spent, not somebody you
never see before -- you know, somebody writing the insurance. It's his
call to make. After all, it's his money. Probably going to cause him
to make better health care choices, for starters, like exercise.
(Laughter.)
Now, let me ask you something, what were you spending prior to your
health savings account, and give people a sense of the savings.
MR. GRIFFITH: We established our health savings account and
insurance policy in the middle of June, and before that, we were
spending $1,111 a month for our insurance policy. Since we established
the HSA account and the -- and the insurance policy, we're now spending
less than one-third of that on our monthly premium. We expect that on
an annual basis, we will spend less than half, when you count the
insurance premium, as well as our out-of-pocket medical expenses, we'll
be spending less than half of what we spent with our previous medical
insurance.
THE PRESIDENT: So he's saving money. So people say, how can you
-- what can you put in place to help people save money in health care.
Well, here's the plan right here. And let me tell you the interesting
thing about the plan, is, see, Russ and Kathy are responsible for the
$1,000. It's their money they put in tax-free, so therefore, they're
going to be wise shoppers when it comes to health care. They're going
to be a better decision-maker. If the doctor says, you've got to spend
$800 on this, they may say, well, I'm not so sure we want to spend
$800, doc, you know. (Laughter.)
MR. GRIFFITH: -- I need that.
THE PRESIDENT: Go ahead. Seriously.
MR. GRIFFITH: I was going to say, tell me, doctor, that I need
that.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, see, rational decision-making by patients
where they're in control of the decision-making process, is part of how
you -- how you hold costs down. If you've got people just spending
your money and you just take it for granted that the decision-making
process is wise, that's inflationary. As you're a part of the process
of, kind of, discerning which is -- what's necessary and what's not, it
also is when it's your money on the line and you see it on your line --
on the line, you'll make better choices about your body. You'll
realize savings by living healthy lives, which isn't the way the system
is today. It's an interesting system.
And see, the way it works for small businesses, let's say Russ
hires somebody and is doing quite well in his business, he can set up
an HSA for his employee and he can kick in the $1,000. The employer
can kick in the $1,000 tax-free for the employee. That's how you fund
a better health care system. It's going to take awhile for this
product to evolve, but in the heart of it, the heart of the system is
that rather than bureaucrats making decisions for Russ, he and Kathy
are making decisions for themselves, and are rewarded on a tax-free
return by making good and wise decisions in the health care.
Listen, thanks for coming. I appreciate you explaining this.
(Applause.) Go ahead. Got anything else? Yes, hold on.
MR. GRIFFITH: I'd like to say also that even though we made that
change, we were able to keep the doctors that we had under our previous
policy. So we had no -- have had no change at all in the health care
we received, either in hospitals or doctors.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, the docs will like this because they like
dealing directly with their patients. They'd rather be spending time
healing than filling out paperwork, I can assure you. (Applause.)
And, at any rate, it's an interesting idea. Thank you all for coming.
Very good job. It's working, in other words. A man just stood up and
said he saved half -- from what he was spending, saved half of his
previous expenses. That's a good deal. People ought to look into it.
Finally, Phil Derrow is with us, small business guy, CEO and
President, Ohio Transmission Corporation, New Albany, Ohio. Welcome.
MR. DERROW: Thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: What's your business do?
* * * * *
THE PRESIDENT: Good, that's -- keep saying that, will you?
(Laughter.) Let me ask you, are you adding any jobs this year? That's
what I'm interested in, and so are the people looking for work.
MR. DERROW: We are.
THE PRESIDENT: How many?
MR. DERROW: We expect to add anywhere from 10 to 36 jobs this year
depending on the business that we --
THE PRESIDENT: See, here's what's happening in America today.
Remember, I told you most new jobs are created by small businesses?
That's what he's saying -- 10 to 35 jobs here, 10 to 35 jobs there.
The entrepreneurial sector of this country is strong. The small
business sector is vibrant and alive. We've been through tough times.
He's growing. A lot of it had to do with good tax policy. Let me ask
you something: Are you going to make investment?
MR. DERROW: Absolutely. We make investments each year. The
reduction or the accelerated depreciation allowance has allowed us to
make more investment than maybe we otherwise would have. It's also
allowed our customers to purchase capital equipment that they may not
have. We've had a number of customers tell us that they made capital
equipment purchases because of the accelerated depreciation schedule.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, see, what that means is -- that's accountant
talk. He's not an accountant, though. He hires accountants, right?
MR. DERROW: I do. I have one here.
THE PRESIDENT: That's good. (Laughter.) Okay. What he's telling
you is that the tax relief we passed said that if you make an
investment, you save money -- you get a little tax break for making an
investment. What will you invest in? Like, when you say, investment,
what will you be buying?
MR. DERROW: We purchase information technology equipment, we
purchase capital equipment. We own and operate air compressor stations
that deliver compressed air to our customers, and we have to make
investments anywhere from several hundred thousand dollars to a couple
million dollars to purchase the equipment to build that station. And
then we sell air to our customers.
THE PRESIDENT: You and I are in the same business. (Laughter and
applause.) Is it hot air, by any chance?
MR. DERROW: Oh, no.
THE PRESIDENT: When he makes an investment -- listen, I want you
to understand how the economy works. See, the tax relief said, we're
going to encourage him to make investment. He just said, I'm going to
purchase equipment. Somebody has to make the equipment that he is
going to purchase. And that's how the economy -- that's how good tax
policy works. It says to Phil, we want tax policy to make it more
likely you'll make an investment, because when he makes an investment,
somebody has got to build the product. And when somebody builds the
product, somebody is more likely to keep a job or find work. That's
why good tax policy has been working. And the key is to make sure that
we don't disincent Phil -- in other words, we changed the taxes at a
time when he's still thinking about investing. Because if he chooses
not to buy the equipment, then the person who is making the equipment
may lose the job. That's how I think. I think about how to make the
decisions of Phil easier, so he can stay in business and expand.
Tell me -- he's got another interesting idea that I think is very
important for the country to adopt: flex-time.
MR. DERROW: I'm glad you told me what my interesting idea was.
(Laughter.)
THE PRESIDENT: I'm not a lawyer, but it looks like I'm leading the
witness. (Laughter.)
MR. DERROW: I always appreciate the help.
THE PRESIDENT: You appreciate the fact I'm not a lawyer? That's
good. A lot of people just say --
MR. DERROW: I appreciate that quite a bit, actually. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Nothing wrong with lawyers. We occasionally need a
good one. But go ahead.
* * * * *
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, see, I think the government ought to change
that. What I'm telling you is, I think the government ought to allow
employers to say to an employee, if you want some time off, and work
different hours, you're allowed to do so. If you want to accumulate
time to spend with your family, spend with your parents, spend for
being reeducated, you're allowed to do so. Government ought to be
standing side-by-side with people, not against people. Government
ought to be helping families. (Applause.) Good job. Thanks, Phil.
Listen, I've got time for some questions. Yes, ma'am. Why don't
you get up there and ask a question. Fire away.
Q I'm a small business owner. We employ roughly -- and I could
talk to you about -- 20 percent increase every year in the last seven
years. However, we happen to be a trade school. We train people for
hair dressing, barbering, manicuring, what have you. My people,
necessarily -- are not necessarily college material, not necessarily
community college material. There is a lack of ability for the people
who are not high school graduates to take advantage of the kind of
training that we offer and we would have the ability to put many, many
more people per year in the work force if trade schools all over
America had the ability to have discretion about accepting non-high
school graduates or people who do not have GEDs.
THE PRESIDENT: I appreciate that. Thanks. I'll look into that.
Let me tell you something, though, what you need to do, you need to be
able to pool risk. You're talking about the health care -- you need to
be able to pool risk with people who do the same thing you do, whether
they be in Texas, Michigan, California, or Ohio. You're prevented from
doing so now. In other words, the more people that she can insure, or
seek insurance for in a larger pool, the more likely it is she's got a
better price. And that's what we need to be able to do.
Your other issue, I need to look into it. Thanks. Whoever made
that grunt, please get up and yell a question. (Laughter.) Sounded
like a friendly grunt, doesn't it? (Laughter.) Yes, sir, go ahead.
Right here. You didn't grunt, but go ahead. (A baby is crying.) Tell
him to be steady, we're almost out of here. (Laughter.) I don't blame
you. (Laughter.)
Q I'm a pastor of a church in Lincoln County, which is just
east of here. And I've agreed to be the chairman of a Christian
coalition for that county. Our church has grown and we're very
interested in trying to acquire two old buildings in the Newark City
that are kind of dilapidated or falling down, and out-of-date put a
rehabilitation, reorientation kind of job vocational training there,
for people to finish their GEDs, for men and women to give them some
basic faith training and to help them rediscover what they can become.
But it's been difficult to know how to acquire or plug into faith-based
funds --
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, I appreciate that. Sure, he's got a great
question. His question is, how can I, somebody who is trying to set up
a program to help people, understand how the faith-based program
works? First of all, you've got to understand this has been a struggle
to change the culture in Washington. There's a lot of people in
Washington who argue process rather than results. They say, well, we
better not do this, it might obscure a very important line in our
society, which is the separation of church and state.
I happen to believe that the better question is, does the program
work; are we changing somebody's life for the better, and therefore,
society is better off; and let's figure out how to make the process
work -- which is what we've done. This is a long answer I'm going to
give you. I'm going to tell you how to do it in a minute. I'm just
telling you there's a cultural issue, because nobody wants the church
to become the state, or the state to become a church. On the other
hand, if a program is effective, we want that program to be able to
compete for funds.
Now, there are some rules that you've got to understand. One, you
can't proselytize. In other words, you've got to take all comers. If
you're a faith-based program and a Christian faith-based program, and a
Jewish person walks in looking for help, you've got to provide the
help. In other words, it's open, which -- that's not a problem for
faith-based programs. People are willing to help cure and solve
lives.
The other problem people have in the faith-based field, they're
worried about interfacing with government, because they're afraid
government is going to give them so many rules and regulations they
won't be able to actually practice their faith. It's hard to be a
faith-based program if you can't practice your faith. That's our
theory.
Now, so what I've had to do is set up offices, and we've got an
Office of Faith-Based Initiatives in the White House. So, step one,
contact the White House Faith-Based Office. Incredibly enough, you're
not going to believe this, this guy is a great guy running the office.
His name is Jim Towey. Guess what one of his jobs was -- he was Mother
Teresa's lawyer. (Laughter.) Imagine. What kind of society is it
where Mother Teresa needs a lawyer? (Laughter.) That's what he was.
And the other thing is, sir, is that the state -- have you got
one? Yes, the state government has got an Office of Faith-Based
Initiatives. Their purpose is to expedite the grant money that comes
from the federal government. Some of the grant money is directly --
goes directly to the programs, and you can apply for that through HHS,
HUD, for example -- Health and Human Services; the Justice Department
grants. There are grants that people can apply to directly. There are
grants that come through formula to the state, and then it's up to the
state to see to it that the faith-based community has got appropriate
access to the money. Bob has done a good job of setting up that
office.
Thanks for that question. I appreciate it.
Yes.
Q (inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, sir. (Applause.) I appreciate that a
lot.
Yes, sir. If you don't have a mike, just yell it out.
Q Good afternoon, Mr. President. My name is Andre Porter, I'm
a 24-year-old law student here in Columbus, and a proud member of FBA.
We sang a song for you today before you got here.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. I appreciate that. Thank
you.
Q We sang two songs. The second song was about anti-violence
and anti-drugs. And we grow up in an era right now where the culture
is so centered on violence and drugs, and so our group -- the song that
we wrote, these gentlemen here, FBA, we wanted to know what you have
planned for our generation to stop violence and increase the goodness
of our culture?
THE PRESIDENT: I appreciate you saying that. That's a great
question. First, I think we have a duty to go on an education campaign
to explain to people that drugs will destroy your life. In other
words, the drug strategy has been interdiction, which is important --
in other words, stop them from coming in from Colombia or wherever they
may be coming in from. There's two other aspects, though, that we need
to really stay focused on, and one is the reduction in demand.
You know, the way the market works, unfortunately, where there is
demand, somebody will figure out how to supply. And so we've got to
get into people's minds and heads early in life that drugs will destroy
our life. There's community-based effort that Washington helps fund,
but it requires grassroots organizations dedicated to suppressing
demand for drugs.
We actually have got a national advertising campaign going on. The
whole idea is to send a message to the kids that drugs will destroy
your life. So that's a useful role for the federal government, is to
be advertising and then stimulating community-based programs. I happen
to think the faith-based initiative is a very important program to help
teach kids that drugs can destroy. I'll give you an example of a
program I'm talking about. I think we ought to have -- I know we need
to have a mentoring program for children whose moms or dads may be in
prison, and surround that child with a loving adult that helps that
child understand that right choices in life -- in America, if you make
the right choices, you have a chance to realizing your dream.
Obviously, you guys made the right choices. Somebody told you,
somewhere in your life, about right choices. Now I don't know who it
was, probably mom or dad. But if not mom or dad, somebody did. And
they told you about the right choices because they had love in their
hearts.
And so, therefore, one of the most -- I think best ways to help
kids get the right message is through vibrant mentoring programs. And
many of those mentoring programs come out of the faith community.
Thirdly, third aspect of a strategy on drugs is to help the addict.
There are -- the truth of the matter is, a few consume most of the
drugs, relatively few. The addicts are really the big drugs users. I
don't know all the statistics off the top of my head. I'm going to
guess, maybe 15 percent of the drug users consume by far the vast
majority of the drugs. They're hooked. They can't get off.
And so one of the things we've got to do at the federal level, it
seems like to me, and state and local level, is focus efforts on
helping the addicts kick the habit. And you heard me say earlier that
addiction
sometimes requires more than just a counseling session. Addiction
requires a change of heart, and that's where the faith community can
play an integral role. And so I've asked Congress, and Congress has
passed money, where the addict gets to make the decision of the type of
program he or she thinks will best help save their life, faith-based or
otherwise. And so there's a -- that's our comprehensive strategy.
I've got some positive news to report -- drug use for youngsters is
down 11 percent over the last couple of years. (Applause.) That's
good. It depends on where we started from. But the point is, the
trend line is good. And the role of government, in my judgment, is to
stand on the side of people in confirming the fact that people can and
should make healthy choices with their lives.
Q I'm from Colombia.
THE PRESIDENT: Colombia, que bueno. Bienvenidos. We'll have the
whole -- conduct in Spanish. (Laughter.) Actually, go ahead.
Q I've been here for 20 years. I just took my wife and my kids
to Colombia -- Colombia is a country that has a lot of problems. At
this point -- your help and -- (inaudible) --
THE PRESIDENT: Gracias, seZor. (Applause.) Thank you very much.
We're standing strong with the Colombian government. I want to thank
you. You know why? I've got confidence in Uribe. He's the President,
Uribe. He said, help us help ourselves. He understands that he has
got to battle narco-traffickers in Colombia, for the sake of his own
country. And so when he comes to the Oval Office, I take a look at
him, in the eye, when he says, I want your help. And I say, why? And
he says, because I want our country to be free from these
narco-traffickers. It makes me feel comfortable that we're doing the
right thing with the taxpayer's money to support Colombia. It's in our
interest we do so. It's also in the interest of the Colombian people
that we help.
And he's a freedom -- this guy loves freedom. I mean, he is a
strong leader. Tell him, thanks, if you talk -- I'll probably talk to
him before you do. (Laughter.)
Yes, ma'am.
Q Hello. I just want to say that, being a young Christian,
it's been very encouraging to me to see you as our country's leader,
being so open about your faith. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thanks a lot.
Q And I was just wondering, do you feel that your faith has
been beneficial to your decision-making process? And if so, how?
THE PRESIDENT: First, let me talk about faith in politics. It is
essential that this country always guard the right for people to
worship as they see fit. (Applause.) It's essential that people
understand, if you choose to worship, or choose not to worship, you're
equally an American. (Applause.) It's very important for all our
citizens to understand that -- that you can worship or not worship, and
you're equally patriotic.
Now, secondly, if you choose to worship, you're just as an American
if you're a Jew, Christian, Muslim or Hindu. That's what freedom of
religion means. (Applause.) I want the youngsters out there to hear
me on this. It's an essential part of the value of our country. It is
an essential tradition and truth that we must pass from one generation
to the next.
Now, having said that, I do have faith. And I want to thank --
I'll tell you, the most sustaining aspect of the presidency, one of the
most interesting parts of the presidency, one of the most touching
parts of the presidency is that people whom I have never known in my
life take time to pray for me and Laura and our family. (Applause.)
And what that means is that's -- it sustains us. It strengthens
us. It -- the prayers comfort us, and so do my own prayers. And so
that's what religion means to me as the President. And I want to thank
you for your question.
Yes ma'am?
Q Mr. President, thank you for your stance on the sanctity of
marriage between men and women. (Applause.) What can we do -- what
can we do to keep judges who find in favor of relationships between
homosexuals?
THE PRESIDENT: Let me -- again, this is an issue that people need
to address with the utmost sensitivity and sincerity. It is an issue
that is a -- an issue that we must not allow to denigrate into
emotional debate. It's an issue that requires thoughtful discussion.
I believe society is better off by a clear definition of
traditional marriage. And the reason I do -- (applause) -- the reason
I do is because, one, traditional marriage between man and a woman has
served society and civilization well. Secondly, there is a firm
commitment required in a marriage between a man and a woman that must
not be undermined by redefinition. That commitment, in itself,
provides stable, loving environments for families.
I am deeply concerned about the fact, on this very sensitive and --
issue is being redefined by the courts, not by the people. I think
that to the extent that -- (applause) -- there needs to be a honest and
open dialogue about this issue amongst the people.
Now, Congress passed what's called DOMA, Defense of Marriage Act,
signed by my predecessor, which defined marriage as between a man or a
woman and prevented states from making a decision that would cause
another state to have to accept that decision. Now, I think that law
is a good law. I am worried about its constitutionality -- in other
words, whether or not it will be overturned by activist judges. As a
matter of fact, a judge overturned the DOMA law of Washington state
yesterday. In other words, judges are beginning to define the nature
of marriage.
So I said that if you -- if you believe like I believe, that
traditional marriage is important, that the best way to see to it that
society -- our society will continue to define marriage as between a
man or woman, is to -- is the constitutional process, is to amend the
constitution so that a judge cannot define.
Now, the other thing that that will do is it will enable the people
to be involved through the state legislators. In other words, you've
got to get it out of the Congress, the amendment, and then it has to be
ratified by the states, which I think is a healthy process. In other
words, it's the legislative branch that will be deciding the definition
of marriage on this very important issue, and not the judicial branch.
And so that's why I advocated what I advocated, and it's the right
position for the country. (Applause.)
Go ahead, yell it out. If you don't like -- if I don't like the
question, I'll reinvent it. (Laughter.) Oops, he didn't believe me.
(Laughter.)
Q Mr. President, I don't have a question, I have three thank
yous.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.
Q One, thank you for your availability to serve.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, sir.
Q Two, your candle is burning brightly.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.
Q And three, thanks for accepting the call and answering the
call to work for what's right in the country and in the world.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, sir. God bless. Thank you. Thanks, a
lot. (Applause.) I'll tell you what, a guy just gave me the hook.
I'm off to Saginaw, Michigan. I want to conclude by telling you this,
it is an honor to be the President of such a great nation.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, sir. I appreciate you giving me a chance to
come and share some thoughts with you. I have a desire, a deep desire
to serve this country for four more years, to make us a safer place, a
stronger place and a better place.
May God bless you all. Thanks for coming. (Applause.)
END 2:27 P.M. EDT
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