For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 5, 2002
President's Remarks at Minnesota Republican Party Dinner
Remarks by the President to Minnesota Republican Party Victory 2002
and Coleman for Senate Dinner
Minneapolis Hilton and Towers
Minneapolis, Minnesota
6:25 P.M. CST
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Thank you
for that warm welcome. Tonight I'm here for one simple
reason: I want Norm Coleman to become the next United States
Senator from Minnesota. (Applause.) And so do a
lot of other people in Minnesota, as witnessed by this
crowd. (Applause.)
Thank you all for coming and thank you for supporting this really
good man.
I want to thank Gene, for his kind comments. And, Pat,
thank you very much. I want to thank members of the United
States congressional delegation who are here tonight: Gil
Gutknecht and Mark Kennedy and Jim Ramstad, three fine members of the
House of Representatives. (Applause.) Your dollars will not
only help Ron, but will help these three members get reelected, as
well.
I want to thank those of you who work in the grass-roots of the
Republican Party, defending values that make America
stronger. (Applause.) And I want to thank my fellow
Americans for your support and your kind prayers.
I really want to thank Laurie Coleman, as well. She is
obviously going to be a strong asset in the Coleman
campaign. And like Norm, I married above myself,
too. (Laughter and applause.)
I'm really proud of Laura. You know, when I married
Laura, she was a public school librarian. She really wasn't
fond of politicians or political speeches. Man, what a great
First Lady she has become. (Applause.) She's a fabulous
wife, a great mother of our 20 year old twin daughters. And
has been such a calm and positive influence on Americans all across our
country. I'm grateful for her sacrifice and I love her.
(Applause.)
I'm really impressed by Norm. You know, in this line of
work we're in, you've got the good talkers, and then you've got the
doers. In this case, obviously, he's a good talker and a
doer. (Laughter and applause.)
He's an independent thinker. And that's important for
the state of Minnesota. But he's a person who tries to
figure out how to get things done. And he has done so in St.
Paul, Minnesota. He's a man of accomplishment. He
knows what it takes to succeed. He's a proven leader. He's
a practical guy that focuses on results. And that's the kind
of United States senator you need in the state of
Minnesota. (Applause.)
The record speaks for itself. It's a record of
accomplishment. It's a record that understands the role of
the private sector in the revitalization of community. But
what I love is Norm's passion for education. I love a person
who understands that the power of education can make America a much
more hopeful place.
I appreciate a man who stands tall for making sure every child is
educated, and no child is left
behind. (Applause.) I hope the people of
Minnesota, from all parties, understand what a good and decent,
honorable man Norm Coleman is, and to send him to the United States
Senate. (Applause.)
We've got some big things ahead of us in this nation. We
have got a war to win. (Applause.) My biggest
job, the most important job I have, is to defend this nation and our
people, and defend this nation and our people is exactly what I intend
to do. (Applause.) Thank you.
The enemy really misunderstood America. When they
attacked us, they must have thought we were soft, that we were so
materialistic that we wouldn't understand sacrifice and duty and
honor. They thought we would blink, and they made a huge
mistake. (Applause.) In the course of this
conflict, I made it clear that either you're with us, either you stood
with the United States and our defense for freedom across the world, or
you were against us. And a lot of nations heard that call,
and they stand with us. And for that, we're
grateful. (Applause.)
I also made it clear that if you harbor a terrorist, if you try to
hide a terrorist, if you feed a terrorist, you're just as guilty as
those who murdered thousands of innocent lives and you will be held
accountable, too. (Applause.)
And thanks to our fabulous men and women who wear the uniform, that
doctrine in the first theater in the war against terror has been
upheld. We went to Afghanistan not as conquerors, but as
liberators. (Applause.) Not only did we uphold the doctrine
of harboring a terrorist, we freed women and children from the clutches
of one of the most barbaric regimes history has ever seen. I
can't tell you how proud I am of the U.S.
military. (Applause.)
I am proud of our military and I'm so very proud of the American
people. The American people are patient and calm in the face
of danger. The American people understand that history has called this
nation into action. The American people understand that the
struggle we face is going to be long and arduous, but a united nation
has sent a loud message to the rest of the world: we will
defend freedom; we will defend the values we hold dear, no matter what
the price.
I have submitted a budget to the United States Congress that has
got the largest increase in defense spending in a generation, for this
reason: any time the United States sends our men and women who wear
our uniform into harm's way, they must have the best equipment, the
best training and another pay raise, and I ask the Congress to pass
that budget. (Applause.)
It is important for the United States Congress to understand that
the price of freedom is high -- but the price of
freedom is never too high. It is important for the world to understand
that we struggle not just for freedom, but for civilization, itself.
If the United States were to blink, the rest of the world will be
lulled to sleep. And this country, so long as I am the
President, will be steadfast in our leadership and in our resolve to
lead the world to more freedom and more liberty and more opportunity
for everybody on the face of the earth. (Applause.)
Every morning I wake up and read what they call a threat
assessment. I get to walk into the grand Oval Office. It's
such a fabulous office, by the way. It's such an honor to be
working in that shrine. I'm an early morning kind of
guy. I get there generally around 7:00 a.m. Spot,
the dog, goes with me. (Laughter.) Spot was born
at the White House, when mother and dad were there. So she's
quite comfortable with the
surroundings. (Laughter.) Barney, the one year
old Scottish Terrier, does not get to
go. (Laughter.) I just got a brand new rug in the
Oval Office. (Laughter.)
But I sit at this grand desk where the Roosevelts have sat, other
Presidents. And I read threats to the United States of
America. I realize that there is a barbaric enemy that hates
what we stand for, hates our freedoms, hates our
openness. People who cannot stand the fact that we're able
to worship freely in America, we're able to express our opinions in
America. And America is a place where we have spirited
elections, but we're a sound and solid democracy.
I recognize that I will -- have got to do
everything I can to make sure that we respond to these
threats. And so we've put together a homeland defense
strategy that coordinates activities with the federal law enforcement
level, state law enforcement level and the local law enforcement
level. We're running down every hint, every threat, every
possible threat. I can't tell you how proud I am of the FBI
and the men and women who wear the uniform of the police in Minnesota
and all around the country. These folks are working overtime
to secure America. (Applause.)
We've got a first-responders initiative that will make it more
likely that if there's an attack, the good police and emergency folks
and fire folks of Minneapolis or St. Paul can respond. We've
got a bioterrorism initiative that, after it's all said and done, may
end up actually providing incentive for -- be
able to provide an impetus to find cures for diseases that will plague
us. We've got a better border security initiative going
on. We're going to do a better job of understanding who's
coming into our country and who's leaving their country, and why
they're here in the first place.
We're buttoning up America. And I want to thank my
fellow citizens for being on alert, and for those who are working
overtime to protect you. But I want to remind my country people, my
fellow countrymen, that the surest way to secure the country, the best
way to make sure our children and grandchildren can grow up in a
peaceful and hopeful world is to hunt down the terrorists wherever they
try to hide and bring them to justice. And that's precisely what we
will do. (Applause.)
It's obvious, the news has shown that we're still active in
Afghanistan. We have found a significant al Qaeda group of
killers, and the Afghans, along with our special forces, along with
other coalition members, are hunting them down. America must
realize this is a dangerous phase of this war. And we lost
life today. And I know all of us mourn for the family
members who have lost their life. But I can assure them that
the cause is just. Defending freedom and defending the
homeland is a noble and just cause. And I hope they're as
proud of them as I am. (Applause.)
Our efforts go beyond Afghanistan, as you're beginning to realize.
We'll team up with any friendly government that's interested in
bringing al Qaeda and terrorists to justice. We've arrested
over a thousand people outside the Afghan theater and bringing them to
justice.
But I also laid down another dictum, and it's this: in
order for our children to be free, we must never allow transparent
dictators -- nontransparent
dictators -- to develop weapons of mass
destruction; thereby, enabling them to mate up with terrorist
organizations. We will not allow the world's worst regimes
to develop the world's worst weapons, and hold America and our friends
and our allies hostage. (Applause.)
I know this is going to be a long and difficult time for
America. But we are up for the task. America will
lead this world to a more secure and a more hopeful future.
And we've got a job to do at home, as well. You know,
when I was campaigning in Chicago, I'll never forget, one of the
reporters said, would you ever allow any deficit spending? I
said, only if we had a recession, or an emergency, or a
war. (Laughter.) Thankfully, the nation is
resolved to fight the war. Thankfully, we had thousands of
citizens rise to deal with the emergency. And thankfully, we
cut the taxes on the American people to deal with the
recession. (Applause.)
The best thing we did to deal with the recession is to allow people
to keep more of their own money, so they can spend it and provide more
demand, and therefore the corresponding supply. The best way
to deal with a recession is to trust the American people with their own
money. (Applause.)
For a while you heard some of them talking in Washington that they
were going to stop the tax relief plan. I do not know what
economic textbook they were reading. But one thing you don't
do is raise the taxes on the people in the midst of a
recession. What you do is trust the private
sector. What you do is incent people to create more
jobs. What you do is understand the best economic recovery
plan has got one word, and that is, jobs. How do we create
jobs for the working people in the United States of
America? (Applause.)
And there are some things we can do to create jobs, besides
providing tax incentives. One, we can have an energy plan
that makes sense. I came to Minnesota to lay out my vision
for an energy plan that says we can conserve better, we must modernize
our electricity. But for the sake of our national security,
we need to develop more oil and gas here at home. The less dependent
we are on foreign sources of crude oil, the more secure America will be
in the long-run. (Applause.)
And we've got to get a good farm bill out, one that
encourages -- one that does not encourage over-production;
one that recognizes, however, that our farmers hurt, that there needs
to be a reasonable safety net. And one that recognizes this
fact: Minnesota's farmers, along with the rest of the
farmers in America, are the best at what they do in the
world. And if you're the best at what you do in the world,
we ought to open up more markets for you to sell into the
world. (Applause.) For the good of our farm
economy, and for the good of the American workers, this nation must not
build barriers around our borders. This nation must work to
open up markets for U.S. products. We ought to be a free
trading nation, and proud of it. (Applause.)
And we must understand the power of value-added
processing. When I campaigned for President, I said I
supported ethanol. And as President of the United States, I
support ethanol as a way to reduce our dependency on foreign sources of
crude oil, and as a way to clean the air in the United States of
America. (Applause.)
And we're making good progress on other fronts. Today I
went to Eden Prairie High School. And I've got to tell you,
if you've got kids there
-- (applause) -- I was really proud of
the student body. They actually
listened. (Laughter.) But it was a chance to tout
a really good piece of legislation that we got passed. You
know, I am passionate about making sure that we do not leave any child
behind in America. I am passionate on challenging systems
that simply shuffle children through the school system, without
understanding whether they can read or write or add and subtract.
The bill I signed says a couple of key points. One, if
you receive federal money, show us whether or not children are
learning. If you receive a dime of federal money, we expect
every child in America to be learning how to read and write and add and
subtract. (Applause.)
Lest you think I forgot where I came from, however, I understand
all wisdom does not exist in Washington,
D.C. -- that the people who know best how to run
the school systems are the local folks; that we've got to pass power
out of Washington, D.C., to provide maximum flexibility to the local
districts, local schools, local -- the
states. Listen, the more flexibility there is at the local
level, the more likely it is every single child in America will
learn. This is a great piece of legislation, and it took
both Republicans and Democrats to get it passed.
I don't know if you remember, but right after I signed that bill, I
had the honor of traveling the country, with two Democrat sponsors and
two Republican sponsors. It probably shocked
you -- I know it shocked the folks in Crawford,
Texas -- (laughter) -- that
I actually said kind things about Ted Kennedy. But he got it
out of the United States Senate. He made it happen. This
good piece of legislation would not have happened without the work of
both Republicans and Democrats. It shows what is possible
when we put our political differences aside and focus on the children
in America. (Applause.)
And it's that attitude, that point of view is why I'm so strongly
supporting Norm Coleman. (Applause.) That's what
we need in Washington. We need people who go up there not to
represent, you know, a narrow interest, but to work to change the tone
of Washington, D.C., to make Washington the kind of place where people
look at and say, I'm proud of my government; that government can
actually get things done in a positive way. And that's what we need to
continue to work on. It's so important, in order to rally
the country.
You know, I'm asked all the time, what
can -- people say, well, what can I do to help in
the war against terror? What is it that I can do? Well, my
answer is pretty straightforward. If you want to fight evil,
do some good. If you want to show the world the true side of
America, our heart, our decency, our
compassion -- love a neighbor just like you'd
like to be loved yourself. (Applause.) Mentor a
child. Find a child who wonders whether or not America is
meant for them, and put your arm around that child, and say, "I love
you." That's how you can fight evil. Walk into
the house of a shut-in, and say, neighbor, what can I do to help you?
Support your teachers. Get involved in a faith-based
program, understanding that faith can change people's hearts, and by
changing people's hearts we can change their
lives. (Applause.)
The way to fight evil is through the gathering momentum of millions
of acts of kindness; is to show the world the true face of the American
people. I am so optimistic about this country, because I
understand our resolve and our unity. I understand our
courage.
You know, probably the most meaningful event that took place, as
far as I'm concerned, right after September -- or
during the September 11th and afterwards -- was
Flight 93, when Americans were on a telephone to their
wives. They said the Lord's Prayer. They then
said to their wives, I love you, and drove an airplane in the ground to
save other people's lives. This notion about us being a
shallow, materialistic society went down the tubes with the courageous
people on Flight 93. (Applause.)
It leads me to believe that out of these acts of incredible evil
will come some great good. If we remain strong, the world
will be more peaceful. And here at home I think we have an
opportunity to help change a culture -- one that
has said, if it feels good, go ahead and do it; and if you've got a
problem, blame somebody else. I see a different culture, one
in which we understand we're all responsible for the actions we take in
life. That we're
responsible -- (applause.) That part
of a responsibility era means that each mom and dad in America must
love their children with all their heart and all their soul.
A responsibility era calls us all to help neighbors in
need. A responsibility era recognizes the worth in serving a
cause greater than self. A responsibility era understands
that sacrifice for the good of your fellow human beings is worth it.
Listen, this is a fabulous nation. It's a fabulous
nation not because of our government. It is a fabulous
nation because of the hearts and souls of the American
people. And it is such a huge honor to be the President of
the United States, of such a great land.
Thank you. (Applause.)
END 6:55
P.M. CST
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