For Immediate Release
Office of the Vice President
September 10, 2004
Vice President's Remarks and Q&A; at a Coffee with Community Members in Wisconsin
The Golden Basket Restaurant
Green Bay, Wisconsin
8:45 A.M. CDT
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Thanks to all of you for being
here. We've brought -- of course, I've got Lynne with me. And Bart
Starr -- I think some of you know him. (Laughter.) Great of him to
spend the day with us as we campaign across Wisconsin. We got Daughter
Liz over here. She's spending some time with us. And Daughter Mary is
here someplace, but I think she's working.
MRS. CHENEY: Dick, do you want to move that mike up?
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Can't hear me? All right, is that better?
Q That's better.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, what we wanted to do is just a chance,
literally, to sit down this morning and have a cup of coffee and a
conversation and hear from you what is going on and how you look at
things, and maybe answer a few questions. There's no formal program.
It's a little hard sometimes, given the crowd behind you over there.
(Laughter.) They've got a job to do, and so they'll be here, as well,
too. So it's all on the record. But the basic purpose is something
relatively new, as we travel and campaign, of course, we've done a lot
of speeches. We've done town hall meetings recently, where we get a
big crowd together and speak and then answer questions. But this
morning, after we leave here, we're going to go to Sheboygan, and then
on down to Milwaukee -- a bus trip down the lake shore this morning.
I was just reminiscing. The first time I came through here was
with Warren Knowles, who was governor 38 years ago. Yes, you and I
remember, but the rest -- (Laughter.) But, no, it was the 1966
campaign. And we'd arrived in Wisconsin that January to work for the
Governor for a while, came from Wyoming. And Liz was born here, in
Madison, that summer. She now has four of her own. But it is always
fun to come back and get to spend some time in Wisconsin. This was
very important to us early in our careers, living in Madison and going
to school there, working for the Governor. And I say, I covered the
state from one end to the other with Warren Knowles, and then later on,
worked for Bill Steiger, who, of course, was the congressman from the
-- what was then the sixth district -- great guy, and really gave me my
start in Washington when I first arrived there.
So we have many fond memories of Wisconsin. And one of the
privileges of working for the Governor was he was a great Packer fan.
(Laughter.) And we used to catch football games. (Applause.)
Bart, you want to say a word or two? It's good to be back.
MR. STARR: Thank you. It is -- it's great to be back. And I'm
just glad that I -- that time when I was playing and not coaching --
(Laughter.)
Just quickly, as I was looking at the buses downtown before coming
out here, noting the words on it, a safer America, a more hopeful,
safer world -- a more hopeful America, I couldn't help but think of how
privileged we are to be in this man, and his wife's company today.
I've never been around -- I told him earlier -- I've never been around
someone I was more impressed with when I had met him back in 2000. And
what they stand for is class, is dignity, is responsibility, is
commitment. It's just a joy to be in his presence. So I'm very, very
honored to be here with you today.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you, sir. It's our privilege to get to
spend the day with you, Bart. And maybe we can just open it up to
questions, if anybody has got anything they'd like to talk about, any
issues you'd like to raise.
Yes, sir.
Q Mr. Vice President, I'm a dairy farmer (inaudible). And I'd
like to commend the administration for supporting the (inaudible)
program that George Bush signed (inaudible). And also, I think, we're
still seeing a lot of farmers (inaudible) with health care. And there
are some programs we have in Wisconsin here. And I think if they could
be coordinated well with what you and George Bush want to do for health
care in this country. It's an experimental program that would be
jointly shared with the state and federal government. So I'm hoping
that we'll see some focus on that, and continue to work in that area.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Sure. You say this is a program the state
runs now?
Q It's an experimental one now that we're trying to put
together, and we are having some problems with the USDA people, and
agriculture appropriations -- Senator Bennett -- who would be
responsible for helping us out in this area. And I think it would be a
very good program, and it will bring affordable health insurance to
farmers who find it difficult to be able to buy it. It's getting to be
very expensive, and this would be a pooling program that would help a
lot.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Sure. Now, that's one of the things we're
pushing. We hadn't -- I hadn't seen it in connection with agriculture
so much, although it might have application there, too, is this notion
of what is called association health plans. It has been targeted upon
small operators, small businesses and so forth who would be allowed to
pool their purchases, in effect, and get the same kind of pricing and
discounts that a large corporation can get in terms of acquiring health
insurance for their people. That kind of concept, with respect to
agriculture?
Q Yes, right. Basically, farmers -- small farmers would be in
on it, and then the small business people who can't afford to supply it
for their employees and things like that.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Yes, the same principle would apply. And it's
one of our priorities, one of the things the President talks about in
connection with health care and health care costs. And we have not
been able to get the legislation through the Congress yet, but we'll
keep working it. But it is a very important concept. And especially,
when you think about -- from our perspective, whether you're talking
about agriculture, from the standpoint of small business, seven out of
10 jobs in the country, new jobs are created in small businesses. And
it turns out that about 60 percent of the people in the country who
don't have health insurance are employees or owners of small businesses
-- because of the cost that's associated with it, and their inability
to take advantage of those larger discounts. So it is one we'll
continue to push on. I hadn't heard about it in connection
specifically with agriculture, but we'll take a look at it.
Q It's an experimental model. And it will be coop care -- so it
will be controlled by the people that belong to it.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: So you belong to a coop and the health
insurance will be part of the deal.
Q Right.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: It's an interesting idea.
Q Mr. Vice President, first as a small business person, I wanted
to share that the tax cut from the economic policy of your
administration really has made a significant difference. It has
enabled us to reinvest in our business. And we've added over a hundred
jobs in the past two years. And we see, certainly, that aggressive tax
policy and maintaining a strong economy are important -- as well as
recognizing that national security -- and security gives us the chance
-- or enables us to have the security and the confidence to reinvest in
our businesses. Could you share some of your thoughts both on the war
on terror and economic, and it's impact on the economy as a whole?
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Sure. Can I ask what kind of business you're
in?
Q Yes, we're in a trucking company. We have a trucking
operation that's located here in Green Bay, in Florida, and in
Oklahoma.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: I see. And you say -- and you've added a
hundred employees in the last year?
Q We have. In two years, we've gone from a hundred people to
now 215 people, and have invested about $11 million in assets that have
enabled us to do that. And really when you look back, directly at the
impact of the tax policy, and the strong environment for small
business, it has really enabled us to do that. And you're right it's
going to be small business that really drives the economy and creates
new jobs. And we see evidence of it every day. And the policies that
are happening at the national level are absolutely critical for us to
be able to continue to invest in our business and continue to grow and
generate those jobs.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Right. Well, we think going forward, with
respect to the economy in particular, we think the tax policy that we
put in place has been instrumental in getting us through the recession
that really was there -- we inherited, as we were sworn in. And of
course, it was made worse by the attacks of 9/11. We lost about a
million jobs within a matter of a few weeks after the 9/11 attack. And
it still had an impact on the airline industry and so forth.
One of the keys in the future will be for us to make those tax cuts
permanent. Because of the way the Senate rules work, those tax cuts
will expire a certain number of years out. And one of the things we're
working on right now is to get legislation through that would leave
those rates where we took them after we'd reduced rates. We doubled
the child tax credit, reduced the marriage penalty, repealed the death
tax over time so you can pass on a farm, or a ranch, or a small
business to the next generation. But all of those provisions will
sunset unless we can get permanent passage of them. And that's one of
the items that will be a priority for us.
In other areas, we need -- with respect to small business and the
economy, generally, we need to address health care costs. We've talked
a little bit about the health insurance problem. But medical liability
is a huge issue a lot of places around the country. I don't know what
the situation is here in Wisconsin. I know I was in Ohio yesterday.
It's a major problem there, big problem in my home state of Wyoming.
The cost of malpractice insurance has gotten so high for doctors that a
lot of them are just having to give up the ghost and move to states
where there are controls so they can practice there.
In Wyoming, we just had a special session of the legislature to try
to address these problems. For a new doctor just starting to practice
in the home state of Wyoming costs about $80,000 up front, cash lay out
-- outlay for health insurance. So we need to reform our medical
liability system in order to cap some of those costs, and that's
another important area.
Energy is an important area. You can't have a strong, viable
economy without sound energy policy. We've been battling with that for
three years now. We've gotten the bill through the House. We came two
votes short in the Senate, and we'll continue to push that hard, as
well, too. Senators Kerry and Edwards didn't show up for the vote in
the Senate. And they opposed our package. But we need two more votes,
and we'll be able to get sensible policy in place there -- so a series
of items like that.
There's no silver bullet with respect to the economy. There are a
whole series of things, regulation -- making certain that regulations
aren't too burdensome; fair and effective trade policy -- opening up
foreign markets to U.S. producers and manufacturers, as well as taxes,
health care, education and so forth. And all of those were part of the
President's agenda that he talked about in New York the other night
with his acceptance speech at the convention.
Q Thank you.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Yes, sir.
Q Mr. Vice President, I represent veterans from the state of
Wisconsin. And I'm a past national commander of Uniformed Services
Disabled Retirees. And during your and the President's term, you have
accomplished more for us disabled retirees and disabled veterans than
they have in this country in the last 40 years. And we just ask that
all of the young men and women that are coming back from Iraq, that you
continue that support, and that we do not falter in our job in Iraq
because we just feel that that is so important to bring down terrorism
in this country.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, we appreciate that very much, and
appreciate your service. And one of the things I know -- (Applause.)
One of the things I know -- I guess, everybody is listening in.
(Laughter.) With respect to caring for our veterans, that's an absolute
commitment that has been there, needs to be there. And the President
feels very strongly about one of the promises he made during the last
campaign was that we'd make certain that the troops had the resources
they need and the respect they deserve. And we've tried very hard to
do that. And with respect to veterans, one of the -- a couple of key
indicators, I guess, one is that if you look at spending on veterans
over the last four years, we have done twice as much by way of
increases as the Clinton administration did throughout eight years in
terms of meeting the requirements and needs of our veterans. And of
course, the concurrent receipts legislation has been one of the most
important pieces of legislation in a long time.
Q Well, I am a recipient of concurrent receipt and
combat-related specialty pay, so I know what that means.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: It's very important.
Q It has just brought so many rewards from the veterans. This
is an important issue.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Yes. The President is the first one ever to
sign that legislation. So it's a significant -- a significant
milestone and achievement.
With respect to Iraq and the war on terror, maybe I can just take a
couple of minutes and talk about that and respond to the questions. In
effect, what happened with 9/11 is it really forced us to think in new
ways about the nature of the threat to the United States, about the
kind of strategies we had to pursue in terms of defending the U.S. And
so we've made significant changes, if you will, in our national
security strategy.
At the heart of that was the President's decision that we would not
only go after the terrorists, but we would also go after states that
supported terror -- that provided sanctuary or safe harbor for
terrorists; provided support for them, or training, or financial
assistance, or weapons. And that was a new departure. And it was
absolutely necessary for us to do that, especially in Afghanistan,
where we first gave the Taliban the opportunity to cough up the al
Qaeda organization. But when they failed to do that, we moved in and,
obviously, took down the government of Afghanistan -- the Taliban
government. We captured or killed hundreds of al Qaeda. We closed the
training camps. There were training camps throughout Afghanistan that
had been used to train some of the terrorists who attacked the United
States on 9/11, as well as about total -- one estimate is about 20,000
terrorists in the late '90s went through those camps, and then went
back out to their home countries and set up cells in various countries
around the world. So that was a major achievement. And then, of
course, when we moved into Iraq, took down Saddam Hussein's regime, he
had a history of 12 years of defying the international community. He
had produced and used weapons of mass destruction in the past, on his
own people and on the Iranians. He had provided sanctuary and support
for terrorists in the past. They used to pay $25,000 to the family of
suicide bombers who'd kill Israelis. He hosted Abu Nidal. There was a
relationship with al Qaeda. There's no question but what the world is
better off today with Saddam Hussein in jail and his government shut
down. And both in Afghanistan and Iraq now, we're actively involved in
standing up new governments and new security forces.
In Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai is the interim President. They'll
have elections next month in October, before our election. They've got
-- 10 million people have registered to vote in Afghanistan -- never
before in history have had that -- (applause) -- that election --
they've already written the constitution. They'll have a
democratically elected government in place by the end of the year. And
that's a huge change from what was there just three years ago when that
was the base from which al Qaeda launched the attack that killed 3,000
Americans.
In Iraq, we're attempting the same basic operation. We've got an
interim government stood up now. The Iraqis control all the
ministries. Mr. Allawi, the Prime Minister, is in place -- will
probably be coming to the United States in a couple weeks for the U.N.
General Assembly meeting up in New York. That's still an open
question. But at the same time, they're getting ready to hold
elections in January.
They've now created an advisory national -- a national advisory
body. In January, they'll elect, in effect, their first constitutional
assembly, if you will, a group of Iraqis that will come together and
write a constitution for Iraq, and that will ultimately lead to
elections for a new government in December of next year, of '05. Both
in Iraq and Afghanistan, we're also spending a lot of time and effort
training the Iraqis and the Afghans to deal with their own security
problem, that is building an Afghan national army, building an army in
Iraq, and security forces, police forces, people that can control the
borders so that they can take over the responsibility for dealing with
the old elements of the old regime, and any terrorists that are left
operating in those nations. That's a very important part of our
overall strategy, as well, too.
And you're absolutely right. The key here is not just to go close
training camps, or to capture or kill terrorists, you've also got to go
change the circumstances on the ground that breed terrorism, and that
led to the failed state in Afghanistan, and to the -- obviously, the
situation in Iraq that constituted a threat to people in the region, as
well as an emerging threat to the United States. So it's a very
important piece of work. It's part of a worldwide effort that has to
be mounted in terms of working with other intelligence services, drying
up the financial networks that support terror.
It's important for us to remember this is a global problem. This
is not just a U.S. problem. Remember all the attacks that have
occurred since 9/11 elsewhere in the world; including Madrid, last
spring; including Casablanca, in Morocco; including Mombassa, in East
Africa; including Istanbul, in Turkey; and Riyadh, in Saudi Arabia; and
Bali and Jakarta, in Indonesia -- mostly recently in Jakarta just this
last week, when they made an abortive attempt at the Australian embassy
-- or what happened in Russia last week, where -- took down two
airliners, and then a few days later, moved in on that school, killed
over 350 people, most of the school children. That is a global,
worldwide problem that the civilized world cannot accept. And the
United States, obviously, will play a leading role in dealing with that
global war on terror for the foreseeable future.
I wish we could say there is a point at which they'll sign a
treaty, and the war will be over with. But it's not that kind of
conflict. It's the kind of conflict that's going to take a long time
for us to resolve. And we'll have to be on our guard. They'll
continue to try to attack us. We have done a lot to harden the target
here at home to improve our defenses -- created the Department of
Homeland Security, passed the Patriot Act to give our law enforcement
people the tools they need to prosecute terror. But in the final
analysis, even if we're successful 99 percent of the time, it's a
little bit like football, Bart, a good defense isn't enough, we got to
go on offense. And that has been the key to the President's strategy.
I think it's one of the major differences in terms of how we
perceive what is required in the future, and how a Kerry administration
would perceive what is required in the future. He's still very
uncertain about Iraq. He has been for it. He's been against it. He
obviously can't make up his mind exactly how he would have dealt with
those conditions and circumstances. And I think George Bush has
provided the kind of leadership we need, and that we need to retain for
the next four years in order to prevail in the war on terror.
(Applause.)
Q Along with that theme, Mr. Vice President, I appreciate your
acknowledgment of the balance between the security operations that are
occurring right now in both Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the civil
military operations, that aspect. Green Bay has sent 130 of its
citizen soldiers, and we recently served -- returned about four months
ago, after a 14-month tour. It's a civil affairs battalion, and we
were responsible for over 50 percent of the nation, of establishing the
government as it currently is, restoring essential services. It's
probably one of the most proudest moments of my life, being able to
help in that mission.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: You were over there with your unit for 14
months you say?
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Yes, sir. Yes, we returned April 22nd. I
want you to know that since I've been home and I'm watching the media,
you would never know that this is one of America's finest moments. I
remember Jeane Kirkpatrick had made a statement to the United Nations,
she's our former ambassador to the United Nations. She had made the
statement that, every once in a while America has to look at itself in
the mirror and be prepared for a pleasant reflection, and here is a
beautiful reflection. And I watched you at the Republican Convention
with that swagger in your speech -- (laughter) -- confident that you
know that -- I'm a school teacher. I teach government and economics to
eighth grade. And I have always talked about the veterans, the
generation -- the greatest generation, World War II, and the sacrifices
that this nation has made in resources in man -- in manpower, and
monetary resources to make the world a better place. And I know -- and
I felt that, in your speech, you know that this is going to go down as
one of those moments that I be teaching when I retire, that this is one
of those times when this generation of Americans, with a huge
sacrifice, made the world a tremendously better place. I thank you for
your vision.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you, sir. (Applause.) And thank you
for what you did for all of us. We're glad to have you home.
(Applause.)
Q Mr. Vice President, welcome to Wisconsin. It's a pleasure
having you back. I'm an executive director of a faith-based
organization called Rawhide Boys Ranch, here in Wisconsin. And we are
a youth-serving organization. We work with court-referred and at-risk
youth. And the gentleman sitting next to you, actually, is our
co-founder, and has invested 40 years of his life in terms of seeing
this mission succeed. We work with young men from the inner city of
Milwaukee, as well as throughout Wisconsin to redirect their lives.
And a couple things I'd like to address with you. One is just a
favor. There is some legislation coming forward that is going to make
it -- help to make it more restrictive to donate used vehicles to the
charities, and the situation that is a wonderful source of support for
a nonprofit organization. Rawhide has benefited from it. We serve
more youth because of it. And we give them an environment that truly
is making a difference in their lives. In fact, we're on the theme of
Iraq right now -- I'm just going to point out, one of our alumni
actually served in Iraq. He's in the U.S. Army Airborne Rangers, and
served in Afghanistan, and served in Iraq, and actually participated in
the capture of Saddam Hussein. He was among the special operations
unit that was involved in that raid. And so we're very proud of him.
Bart is proud of him. And we know that this type of donation makes a
big difference. And Senator Grassley from Iowa is proposing to kind of
limit that. And we'd certainly appreciate if the administration would
consider not making it more difficult for people to donate things that
they feel are a value to them, and could make a difference for a
charity. It serves as a job training environment for our youth. These
vehicles come, and so it serves them in that way, as well -- as well as
it raises support for us.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: You got some paper or specifics on it, we'll
be happy -- I'll be happy to talk to Chuck and see what the story is.
Q My question has to do with your trip to Milwaukee. We're
reading stories recently about roving gangs of youth going throughout
the city of Milwaukee, and encountering other youth, and actually
beating them. And so it is becoming quite a situation. I'm wondering
if you could just comment on the administration's vision for assisting
youth who are at-risk, or in desperate situations, in terms how the
government's vision is in terms of assisting them and seeing them have
greater hope for their future.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, one of the things, of course, that the
President campaigned on last time around and continues to push very
hard on is exactly the kind of organization you represent -- the notion
of faith-based, charitable organizations that really do wonders in our
society. And it's not government. It's out there in the private
sector. It's groups and organizations of various kind that come
together for worthy purposes to deal with problems in the community,
and to help, especially at-risk youth. And he's pushed hard to -- and
we've done a lot by executive order, but we'd like to get legislation
through that would make it possible for organizations to receive
support without being discriminated against by the government, in terms
of the way that whole mechanism works. And we'll continue to push hard
on that in the future.
Other areas that I think are vital that contribute long-term to
solutions in those areas -- is reform of the education system. You
look at one of the issues that George Bush felt most strongly about,
really was, I think, was one of the motivators for his running for
governor in Texas was the problems in the education system -- and so in
Texas, he moved aggressively to establish high standards and
accountability, had some considerable success. And the first piece of
legislation he introduced when he got to Washington was the No Child
Left Behind Act, and of course, reached out, got bipartisan support for
it. Ted Kennedy signed on. John Kerry supported it. He has problems
with it now. But at one time he supported it. (Laughter.) And the
NCLB is, I think, the most important reform of the education system in
about 40 years. Lynne knows more about it than I do. She's the
education expert.
But we have increased spending on Title I and Title II of
elementary and secondary education by some 49 percent in the four years
-- the three years, I guess, now that we've been there. It is a major
priority for us going forward. The President talked the other night in
his acceptance speech about some additional initiatives we want to
pursue in that area. We're talking about taking the same concept --
that is establishing standards and having tests to measure progress for
our elementary schools, and moving that now to the secondary schools,
as well, too, so that we get schools that work, schools that don't fail
to address the achievement gap -- especially between the majority of
our students and minority groups of various kinds. I think teachers
benefit from that. They want accountability. Parents want
accountability. And we need public schools that work. Lynne and I
were products of public school. I would guess most of us around the
table are. Our daughters went to public schools. And in our day, that
was the route up. That's how you got the skills and talents you
needed. And it's especially important in the inner city where
oftentimes there aren't other institutions that work that can help
young people find the true path in life. So those are all some of the
things we'll continue to push and work on.
Q Hi, Mr. Vice President. Welcome to Green Bay. I'm a small
business owner. I'm actually in the brewing and restaurant business.
And Wyoming and Wisconsin have the lowest state taxes on brewing. So I
appreciate -- I don't know if you had anything to do with that.
(Laughter.)
THE VICE PRESIDENT: I didn't have anything to do with it, but I'll
take credit. (Laughter.)
Q Okay. Only like $2 a barrel. Anyway, that's something in
common we have, too. I just want to continue to emphasize to simplify
our tax code, the marriage penalty -- getting rid of that was a real
benefit for my wife and I. We have three children, too. So that just
-- it really helps out. And I think I just continue to encourage you
to continue to simplify our tax code. Because when I hear the other
candidate talking about tax credits. And to me that means your
accountant has got to figure more stuff, and more lines. And it's
really -- you don't see the benefit. When at the bottom of the line,
you get that money back, it means a lot. So I just -- continue to
fight for that.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: No, well, we appreciate that. I think it has
been one of the President's real contributions is what we've done to
the tax code because it was revolutionary in many respects -- not just
reductions, but rather reform. We doubled the expensing for small
business to be able to buy equipment and expand the business -- buy
equipment or vehicles and so forth from $25,000 I think to $100,000 a
year. And those kinds of changes have lasting significance for firms,
as well, too.
With respect to simplification, it's something the President talked
about the other night. Anybody who sets down and tries to figure their
own taxes, recognizes how enormously complex it has gotten. One
estimate I've seen -- I can't remember the exact number now -- we spend
billions, though, every year just trying to comply with a tax code that
was designed to collect enough revenue to operate the government. And
when we make it as complicated as we have, that's wasted effort.
There's great inefficiencies built into the system. So the President
has indicated he wants to try to put together a bipartisan effort to
reform and simplify the tax code in a second term. And it's one of the
priorities that we'll be talking about.
Q Thank you.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Yes, ma'am.
Q Mr. Vice President, I want to commend you on what you are
doing with the No Child Left Behind. I'm a retired school teacher.
And I see -- after 35 years of teaching, I have seen that there's no
child that doesn't have potential for something. And they may not be
the A students, they may not be the top athletes, but they have
something to offer to everyone. And so I'm very interested and
concerned about that bill, and that program -- the No Child Left
Behind. I'm wondering is there something that can be done more locally
with that program? It seems kind of dormant in some places.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Kind of dormant?
Q Yes.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Yes.
Q Because it's not moving.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, basically what it has done -- and maybe
-- I suppose it depends, in part, on the quality of your schools here
in Green Bay, and in Wisconsin. My guess is the school system,
generally, in Wisconsin is pretty good.
Q I think we have --
THE VICE PRESIDENT: And so you don't have as many of the kinds of
problems that we've got in some other areas of the country. But the
basic principle, of course, is to test in certain grades on a regular
basis, on an individual basis so that we know whether or not the school
is producing the desired results, and so that individual students are
performing up to snuff, and that when we have failing schools, that the
parents are given opportunities if those schools fail to meet with the
necessary standards, that they've got options to send their kids to
other schools -- other public schools, or to require to achieve and
receive funding for tutors, for example, to improve the performance of
their own kids. It's that basic notion of testing and high standards
and of accountability that's the heart of the effort. And, I say,
we've provided significant funding to carry out that program now. And
the next step is to apply it at the secondary level, as well, too. I'm
not familiar with the specific circumstances in Wisconsin. My general
impression, though, is the school system here is in pretty good shape.
Q We do have good volunteer backgrounds in Wisconsin, I think --
or at least in our community. And I think that is helping with a lot
of individualized tutoring. And I think -- that is headed in that
direction. And that is why I think Kerry's idea of just giving $4,000
to every kid that wants to go to college, and then pay it back in
community service like babysitting and things like is so ridiculous.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Okay. Do you want to say anything? I usually
defer to Lynne on education. (Laughter.)
MRS. CHENEY: I actually think I knew George Bush as a policymaker
before Dick did. Because we were living in Texas, and I watched what
he was doing. And he was just convinced that we don't need to settle
for schools where there's this achievement gap between Anglo youngsters
and Hispanic youngsters, between African American youngsters and Anglo
youngsters. He just didn't accept that we need to do that, and that if
we set high standards no child should be left behind. And we've begun
to close that gap. It's something we still have to work on. But early
results across the nation, there's some indications that we're
beginning to close that gap. And it is so important to make sure that
-- as Dick often says in his speech that every child who is born in
this country has a chance to rise and succeed in the world. That's a
goal we have to set.
Q I'm a pastor. And I just want to thank you. A big issue for
me, of course, in our church is pro-family, and pro-life. And you talk
about terrorism, the womb should be the safest place. And I want to
thank you and the President for your strong support for the family and
for protecting the unborn. And I don't know what the future strategies
are, but it's very strong, I think, for the moral fiber of America.
And we just wanted to thank you for that.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you. No, it's something the
President feels very strongly about. And we'll continue to work on
very aggressively.
Q Thank you.
Q Mr. Vice President, we want to thank you for coming here to
Green Bay. We're very pleased to have a chance to spend some time with
you this morning. I know you've got a busy schedule. I just wanted to
thank you for coming in today and sharing your time with us. Best of
luck with the rest of the trip in Wisconsin. All of you enjoy the
state and thank you for coming.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: All right, well, we appreciate that. Maybe I
can grab you two on the way out, and get a --
Q I wanted to say thank you for coming.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: All right, well, thank you.
END 9:20 A.M. CDT
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