For Immediate Release
Office of the Vice President
September 14, 2004
Vice President's Remarks at a Victory 2004 Rally in Blytheville, Arkansas
Staple Cotton Warehouse
Blytheville, Arkansas
10:46 A.M. CDT
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you. This is a great welcome.
It's great to be back in Arkansas. (Applause.) And I'm grateful for a
chance to come to Blytheville. (Applause.) I've been traveling all
over America, and it's nice to get a little Southern hospitality.
(Applause.) I'm proud to be in the land of the mighty Mississippi, and
I'm proud to be in Bush-Cheney country. (Applause.)
My wife Lynne was supposed to be with me this morning, but she's
under the weather. And I told her to stay down and rest up, we've got
49 days to go in the campaign. And we want her out there on the trail
with me. (Laughter.) Who is that guy? (Laughter.)
But I often tell people that we have a Republican marriage, that
the reason we got married was because Dwight Eisenhower got elected
President of the United States back in 1952. You're saying what is he
doing with this story. Where is this going? (Laughter.) But in those
years I was a youngster living in Lincoln, Nebraska with my folks. Dad
worked for the Soil Conservation Service. Eisenhower got elected, he
reorganized the Agriculture Department, Dad got transferred to Casper,
Wyoming. And that's where I met Lynne. We grew up together; went to
high school together; and got married, of course; and two weeks ago,
celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary. (Applause.) And I explained
that to a group the other night that if it hadn't been for Dwight
Eisenhower's election victory, Lynne would have married somebody else.
(Laughter.) She said, right, and now he'd be Vice President of the
United States. (Laughter and applause.) Every guy in the audience
knows exactly what I mean.
But I'm delighted to be here. We've been traveling across the
country, talking about what a tremendous convention we had in New York
last week. (Applause.) When you've got the spectrum from Rudy
Guiliani and Arnold Schwarzenegger to Zell Miller, that's not a bad
line-up. (Applause.) The President laid out a clear, forward-looking
plan to make America more hopeful and to make the world more secure.
He talked about the changing world we live in and the need to transform
the systems of government so that all citizens are equipped, prepared
and free to make choices and to pursue their dreams. He also talked
about the power of liberty to transform countries and lives and bring a
future of hope and peace. We're looking forward to talking about that
vision over the next 49 days. And we're looking forward on November
2nd when we elect George Bush President of the United States for four
more years. (Applause.)
AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
THE VICE PRESIDENT: I want to thank Mike Huckabee and Win
Rockefeller for being here this morning with us, as well. They do a
great job for Arkansas. (Applause.) The President and I are
tremendously grateful for all of our supporters in Arkansas. Here and
across the country we've got strong backing from Republicans and
independents. And we're proud to have the support of so many Democrats
like Zell Miller who know who the best man for the presidency is.
(Applause.) The President and I were proud to carry this state in
2000. We're going to work even harder for your support this year.
You'll be seeing more of us here in the Natural State, and with your
help, we're going to win this election on November 2nd. (Applause.)
I said in my convention speech in New York, I'm mindful that I now
have an opponent. (Laughter.) No, I really do. People keep telling
me Senator Edwards got his job because he's sexy, good looking,
charming, and has great hair. (Laughter.) And I said, "How do you
think I got the job?" (Applause.)
But in all seriousness, this is an important election, a very
important election. It couldn't come at a more crucial time in our
history. Today we face an enemy every bit as intent on destroying us
as the Axis powers were in World War II. This is not an enemy we can
reason with, or negotiate with, or appease. This is, to put it simply,
an enemy that we must destroy. And with George Bush as our
Commander-in-Chief, that's exactly what we're going to do. (Applause.)
I'm sure many of you heard the remarks at the Republican convention
by Rudy Giuliani. He remembered -- as mayor of New York -- the day
that his city was attacked, turning at one point to his police
commissioner, Bernie Kerik, and saying, "Thank God George W. Bush is
our President." (Applause.)
Under the President's leadership, we have reached around the world
to capture or kill hundreds of Al Qaeda. In Afghanistan, the camps
where terrorists trained to kill Americans have been shut down, and the
Taliban driven from power. In Iraq, we dealt with a gathering threat,
and removed the regime of Saddam Hussein. (Applause.) Seventeen
months ago, he controlled the lives and the fortunes of some 25 million
people. Today, he's in jail. (Applause.)
President Bush doesn't deal in empty threats and half-way measures,
and his determination has sent a clear message. Just five days after
Saddam Hussein was captured, the government of Libya agreed to abandon
its nuclear weapons program and turn the materials over to the United
States. (Applause.) Today, the uranium, the centrifuges, and the
plans for nuclear weapons that were once hidden in Libya are locked up
and stored away in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, never again to be a danger to
Americans. (Applause.)
The biggest threat we face is having nuclear weapons fall into the
hands of terrorists. The President is working with many countries in a
global effort to end the trade and transfer of the deadly technology.
The most important result thus far -- and it's an important one -- is
that the black-market network that supplied nuclear weapons technology
to Libya, as well as to Iran and North Korea, has been shut down. The
world's worst source of nuclear proliferation is out of business, and
we are all safer as a result. (Applause.)
We could not have succeeded in these efforts without the help of
dozens of countries around the world. We will always seek
international support for international efforts, but as the President
has made very clear, there is a difference between leading a coalition
of many nations and submitting to the objections of a few. We will
never seek a permission slip to defend the United States of America.
(Applause.)
America faces a choice on November 2nd, between a strong and
steadfast President and his opponent, who seems to adopt a new position
every day. Just last week, John Kerry gave us what I think is his
eighth position on the war in Iraq. He said that Iraq was, and I
quote, "the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time." Except it
turns out that is really somebody else's position. It's former
Democrat Primary Candidate Howard Dean's position. And nine months
ago, when Howard Dean took this position during the primary, Senator
Kerry said, and I quote, "Those who doubted whether Iraq or the world
would be better off without Saddam Hussein and those who believe today
that we are not safer with his capture, don't have the judgment to be
President or the credibility to be elected President." End quote.
(Applause.) That's a direct quote from John Kerry, Drake University,
in Iowa, December 16th of last year. In the spirit of bipartisanship,
that's one position of Senator Kerry's that I do agree with.
(Applause.)
In times of great challenge, our troops, our allies and our enemies
must know where America stands. The President of the United States
must be clear and consistent. But in all the national campaigns that
I've watched up close, I've never seen a candidate go back and forth so
many times on a single issue.
All the shifts Senator Kerry has made are troubling, but there is
one that really stands out. It starts with Senator Kerry and his
running mate, Senator Edwards, voting in favor of using force against
Saddam Hussein. But then, when it came time to vote for funds that
would provide our fighting men and women with body armor, ammunition,
jet fuel, and spare parts, Senators Kerry and Edwards voted no. Only
12 members of the United States Senate opposed the funding that would
provide vital resources for our troops. Only four Senators voted for
the use of force and against the resources our men and women in uniform
needed once they were in combat. Only four. And Senators Kerry and
Edwards were two of those four.
At first Senator Kerry said that he didn't really oppose the
funding. He both supported and opposed it. He said, and I quote, "I
actually voted for the $87 billion before I voted against it." Well
that certainly clears things up. (Laughter.) Lately, he's been saying
he's proud that he and John Edwards voted no, and he explains that his
decision was "complicated."
But funding American troops in combat should never be a complicated
question. (Applause.) It's simply wrong to vote to commit our troops
to combat and then refuse to provide them with the resources they
need. We need a President who will back our troops 100 percent, and
that's what we've got in George W. Bush. (Applause.)
President Bush knows that our dedicated servicemen and women
represent the very best of the United States of America. And I want to
thank them and all the veterans with us here today for what they have
done for all of us. (Laughter.) One of the most important commitments
that the President made during the 2000 campaign was that our armed
forces would be given the resources they need and the respect they
deserve -- and he has kept his word to the U.S. military.
These are not times for leaders who shift with the political winds,
saying one thing one day and another the next. In his years in
Washington, John Kerry has been one of a hundred votes in the United
States Senate -- and fortunately on matters of national security, his
views rarely prevailed. But the presidency is an entirely different
proposition. A senator can be wrong for 20 years, without consequence
to the nation. But a President -- a President -- always casts the
deciding vote. And in this time of challenge, America needs -- and
America has -- a President we can count on to get it right.
(Applause.)
On Iraq, Senator Kerry has disagreed with many of his fellow
Democrats. But Senator Kerry's liveliest disagreement is with
himself. His back-and-forth reflects a habit of indecision, and sends
a message of confusion. And it's all part of a pattern. He has, in
the last several years, been for the No Child Left Behind Act -- and
against it. He has spoken in favor of the North American Free Trade
Agreement -- and against it. He's for the Patriot Act -- and against
it. Senator Kerry says he sees two Americas. It makes the whole thing
mutual -- America sees two John Kerrys. (Laughter and applause.)
Our country requires strong and consistent leadership for our
actions overseas, and the same is true for our policies here at home.
When President Bush and I stood on the inaugural platform on the west
front of the Capitol and took the oath of office, our economy was
sliding into recession. Then, on 9/11, terrorists struck our nation
and shook the economy once again. We faced a basic decision -- to
leave more money with families and businesses, or to take more of the
American people's hard-earned money for the federal government.
President Bush made his choice. He proposed and he delivered tax
savings to the American people -- not once, not twice, but three
times. (Applause.)
Every American who pays federal income taxes benefited from the
Bush tax cuts -- and so has our economy. We've created jobs for the
last 12 consecutive months -- a total of 1.7 million new jobs over the
past year -- including 144,000 jobs in the last month alone. Here in
Arkansas, more than 13,000 jobs have been created since a year ago
June. Mortgage rates, and interest rates, and inflation are low.
Consumers are confident, businesses are investing, and families are
taking home more of what they earn. (Applause.)
We're seeing record exports for farm products. Farm income is up.
Our farm economy is strong and that's good for the entire nation.
We know there are still challenges, especially in your
manufacturing communities. The President and I will not be satisfied
until every American who wants to work can find a job. But this is a
strong economy, a growing economy. The Bush tax cuts are working.
(Applause.)
Our accomplishments these last four years have made America safer,
stronger, and better. They also demonstrate something about the
character of our President. He didn't go to the White House to mark
time, or to use his energy on small goals. He went to take on the big
issues, and to undertake major reforms. He has led with confidence,
clear vision, and unwavering purpose. He's made hard choices, and kept
his word. And that's exactly how he will lead this nation for the next
four years. (Applause.)
In our second term, we will keep moving forward with a pro-growth,
pro-jobs agenda. We will work to make the Bush tax cuts permanent.
And to help families and small businesses, we will lead a bipartisan
effort to reform and simplify the federal tax code. (Applause.)
We will work to end lawsuit abuse. (Applause.) We know that it's
a lot easier for America's businesses to hire new workers if they don't
have to keep hiring lawyers.
We will work for medical liability reform because we know the cost
of malpractice insurance is creating a crisis, not only in Arkansas,
but across the nation. America's doctors -- (applause) -- America's
doctors should be able to spend their time healing patients, not
fighting off frivolous lawsuits. (Applause.)
Our opponents have a very different vision for the country. They
opposed our tax relief measures; now they're proposing massive
increases in federal spending. They helped block our energy plan in
the Senate. They oppose effective reform of the legal system, and
they're against medical liability reform. Their big idea for the
economy: raise our taxes.
President Bush and I will also continue to defend our society's
fundamental rights and values. We stand for a culture of life, and we
reject the brutal practice of partial birth abortion. (Applause.) We
stand strongly for the Second Amendment, and we will defend the
individual right of every American to bear arms. (Applause.) We
believe that our nation is "one nation under God," and that the
American people ought to be able to say so. (Applause.) And we
believe Americans ought be able to say so when they pledge allegiance
to the flag. (Applause.)
There shouldn't be any question about this, and there wouldn't be
if we had more reasonable judges on the federal bench. (Applause.)
But we have a situation in the United States Senate now where Democrats
-- including Senators Kerry and Edwards -- are using the filibuster to
block the President's sensible, mainstream nominations. Recently, they
used their obstructionist tactics to keep the Senate from voting on
Bill Myers, a friend of mine from my part of the country, a good man.
If Bill had made it to an up-or-down vote on the floor of the Senate,
he had the votes to be confirmed to the Ninth Circuit, which, by the
way, is the circuit that decided we should not say "under God" when we
pledge allegiance to the flag. Sounds to me like they could use some
new judges on the Ninth Circuit. (Applause.) What the Democrats are
doing is outrageous, and that's why we need to send more Republicans to
the United States Senate. (Applause.)
On issue after issue, President Bush has a clear vision for the
future of our nation. America has come to know him, and I have come to
admire him very much. I watch him at work every day. He's a person of
loyalty and kindness, a man who speaks plainly and means what he says.
I have seen him face some of the hardest decisions that can come to the
man of the Oval Office -- and make those decisions with the wisdom and
humility Americans expect in their President.
Abroad, under President Bush's leadership, we will use America's
great power to serve great purposes, to protect our homeland by turning
back and defeating the forces of terror, and to spread hope and freedom
around the world. Here at home, we will continue building prosperity
that reaches every corner of the land so that every child in America
has a chance to learn, to succeed, and to rise in the world.
(Applause.)
The President and I are honored by your confidence in us, and by
your commitment to the cause we all share. President Bush and I will
engage -- will wage this effort with complete confidence in the
judgment of the American people. The signs are good -- here in
Arkansas, and even in Massachusetts. (Applause.) According to a news
account, people leaving the Democratic National Convention in July
asked a Boston policeman for directions. He replied, "Leave here --
and go vote Republican." (Applause.)
President Bush and I are honored to have the support of that police
officer, and of Democrats, Republicans, and independents from every
calling in American life. We're grateful to our many friends across
the great state of Arkansas. Thanks for this tremendous welcome this
morning. We're proud to have you on the team. And together, on
November 2nd, we'll going to see our cause forward to victory.
Thank you very much. (Applause.)
END 11:09 A.M. CDT
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