For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 2, 2004
President's Remarks at Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio Rally
Cuyahoga Falls Civic Center
Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
3:51 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all for coming.
AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. The sun is shining on Ohio.
(Applause.) I'm thrilled to be here. I am the first sitting President
ever to come to this fine city. (Applause.) The rest of them missed a
great place. (Applause.)
I'm so proud you all came out today. I'm so honored to be standing
up here with Chuck Canterbury to receive the endorsement of the
Fraternal Order of the Police. It means a lot to get the endorsement
from those who serve our country on a daily basis to make it safe.
(Applause.)
I'm proud of that endorsement. I want to thank Jim Pasco and Nick
DiMarco, as well as all the Fraternal Order of Police folks standing
behind me.
I want to thank you all for coming. I'm here to ask for your
vote. (Applause.) We're getting closer and closer to election day,
and I'm here to ask for your help, as well. (Applause.) Go out and
register your friends and your neighbors. Tell them they have a duty
in America to vote. In a free society, we have an obligation to go to
the polls. Make sure you don't overlook those discerning Democrats,
either. (Laughter.) Like Zell Miller. (Applause.) Or my friend, the
mayor of Youngstown, Ohio, George McKelvey. (Applause.) I'm proud
you're here, Mr. Mayor. I'm proud to call you "friend" and I'm proud
to call you "supporter." Thanks for coming. (Applause.)
Then after you get them registered to vote, get them headed to the
polls. And remind them that if they want a safer America, a stronger
America, and a better America, to put me and Dick Cheney back in
office. (Applause.)
Listen, I have one regret, and that is that Laura isn't here with
me.
AUDIENCE: Awww!
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, I know, I hear it all the time -- why didn't
you send Laura, and you stay at home? (Laughter.) True story. She
said, fine, I'll marry you, when I asked her, but she said, I don't
ever want to have to give a speech. (Laughter.) I said, you got a
deal. (Laughter.) Fortunately, she didn't hold me to my word. The
country got to see Laura speaking in New York City at that convention.
They got to see a strong, decent, fine woman. Laura is a great First
Lady. (Applause.) I'm really proud of her. I'm going to give you
some reasons to put me back in, but perhaps the most important one of
all is so that Laura is the First Lady for four more years.
(Applause.)
And I'm proud of my Vice President, Dick Cheney. (Applause.) He's
warming up. (Laughter.) He'll be right around the corner pretty
soon. He's not going to have the waviest hair on the set.
(Laughter.) I didn't pick him for his hair. (Laughter.) I picked him
because of his judgment and his sound experience. Dick Cheney is
getting the job done for the American people. (Applause.)
I'm proud of your United States Senator Mike DeWine. Thanks for
coming, Mike. (Applause.) I'm honored you're here. Speaking about
senators, you've got another good one in George Voinovich. You need to
put him back in. He's doing Ohio good work. He's a good, solid man, a
good, decent fellow.
I want to thank Congressman Ralph Regula for being with us today,
too. Thank you, Chairman. I'm glad you're here. Lieutenant Governor
Jennette Bradley is with us. Today is her birthday. Yes. What a
great way to celebrate your birthday. (Laughter.)
I want to thank the Mayor, Don Robart, who is here. Mr. Mayor, my
only advice, my only advice -- I know you didn't ask for any -- but my
only advice is, fill the potholes. (Laughter and applause.)
I want to thank the high school band that's here. Appreciate you
coming. (Applause.) But most of all, thank you all. I want to thank
those who work at the grassroots level for putting up the signs and
making the phone calls. (Applause.) I appreciate you. I want to
thank you for what you have done and what you're going to do coming
down the stretch. With your help, there is no doubt in my mind we will
carry Ohio again and win a great victory in November. (Applause.)
And I'm looking forward to this campaign. I love coming to your
state -- I've been spending some quality time here. (Laughter.) I
like to come because I want to tell people where I stand, what I
believe, and where I'm going to lead this nation.
I believe every child can learn and every school can teach. I went
to Washington to challenge what I call the soft bigotry of low
expectations. That's a system that, in some cases, passes children
through grade after grade, year after year without learning the
basics. It's not right. It's not right for our country. We've raised
the standards. We're now measuring early, so we can solve problems
before they're too late. I believe in local control of schools. We're
closing an achievement gap in America and we're not going to go back to
the old days. (Applause.)
I believe we have a moral responsibility to honor our seniors with
good health care. I went to Washington to solve problems, not to pass
them on to future Presidents and future generations. I saw a problem
in Medicare. Medicine had changed, but Medicare hadn't. You know, we
pay $100,000 or so for a heart surgery for a Medicare patient, but not
one dime for the prescription drugs to prevent the heart surgery from
being needed in the first place. That doesn't make any sense for our
seniors. It doesn't make any sense for the tax-payers. I brought
Republicans and Democrats together. I signed a bill that modernizes
Medicare. Seniors will get prescription drugs in 2006 and we're not
going to go back to the old days. (Applause.)
I believe in the energy and innovative spirit of our workers, our
small business owners, our farmers, our ranchers, and that's why we
unleashed that energy with the largest tax relief in a generation.
(Applause.)
When you're out gathering up the vote, remind your friends and
neighbors about what this economy has been through. The stock market
started to decline before Dick Cheney and I got to Washington. Then
we had a recession. Then we had some citizens forget what it means to
be a responsible American. They didn't tell the truth. We passed
tough laws. It is abundantly clear now in America: We will not
tolerate dishonesty in the boardrooms of our country. (Applause.)
And then the enemy hit us. And that hurt us. That hurt our
economy. You know it hurt the economy. But this economy is strong,
and it is getting stronger. We've been growing at rates as fast as any
in nearly 20 years. It's growing because of the spirit of the people.
It's growing because of those tax cuts. (Applause.)
We've added 1.7 million new jobs last year. We've added 107,000
manufacturing jobs since January. The national unemployment rate is
5.4 percent, which is lower than the average of the 1970s, the 1980s,
and the 1990s. (Applause.) There's still work to do in parts of Ohio,
I understand that. That's why I support opportunity zones, places like
Summit County, to give companies relief and incentives so that they can
expand to places where the manufacturing sector has been hurt. No,
there are things we're going to do, but this economy is strong and it's
growing stronger. We're not going to go back to the old days of tax
and spend. (Applause.)
I believe the most solemn duty of the President is to protect the
American people. (Applause.) If America shows uncertainty or weakness
in this decade, the world will drift toward tragedy. This will not
happen on my watch. (Applause.)
I'm running for President with a clear and positive plan to build a
safer world and a more hopeful America. I am running with a
compassionate conservative philosophy that government should help
people improve their lives, not try to run their lives. (Applause.) I
believe this nation wants steady, consistent, principled leadership,
and that is why with your help we're going to win a great victory in
November. (Applause.)
AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
THE PRESIDENT: The world in which we live and work is changing. I
understand that. The generation of our dads and granddads, a man
generally had one job and one career, and the company he worked for
paid for the pension plan and health care. This world we're living in
is different. The workforce is changing. Women are working inside the
house and now outside the house. And many workers change careers and
jobs over their lifetime.
And, yet, the most fundamental of our systems -- the tax code,
health coverage, pension plans and worker training -- were created for
yesterday, not tomorrow. I am running to change those systems so all
citizens are equipped, prepared and, thus, truly free to make your own
choices, so you can pursue your own dreams. (Applause.)
Now, I understand that a hopeful society is one that has got a
growing economy. If we want to keep jobs here in America and expand
the job base, America must be the best place in the world to do
business. (Applause.) That means less regulations on our business
owners. (Applause.) That means we got to do something about these
frivolous lawsuits that plague our small businesses. (Applause.)
If we want to keep jobs here, if we want to -- Congress needs to
pass my energy plan. (Applause.) It is a plan that encourages
conservation. It is a plan that encourages the use of renewables, like
ethanol and biodiesel. It is a plan that says we'll explore
technologies to make sure we consume energy in different ways. It is a
plan that encourages clean coal technology. It is a plan that allows
us to explore for natural gas in environmentally friendly ways. It is
a plan that recognizes to keep jobs here in America, we must be less
dependent on foreign sources of energy. (Applause.)
To keep jobs in this country, we've got to reject economic
isolationism. See, we've opened up our markets -- just not me, other
Presidents, as well, from both parties have opened up our markets
because it's good for you, the consumer. See, if you've got more
products to choose from, you're likely to get that which you want at a
better price and higher quality. That's how the market works. And so
what I'm saying to places like China, you treat us the way we treat
you. Opening up markets is good for our workers. It's good for our
farmers. See, we can compete with anybody, anywhere, anytime, so long
as the rules are fair. (Applause.)
To make sure we keep jobs here we've got to be wise about how we
spend your money in Washington. And we've got to keep your taxes low.
(Applause.) Taxes are an issue in this campaign. I'll tell you why.
The fellow I'm running against has so far proposed $2.2 trillion in new
spending. Yes.
AUDIENCE: Booo.
THE PRESIDENT: No, I know. That's a lot -- even for a senator
from Massachusetts. So they asked him how he's going to pay for it and
he said, well, we're just going to tax the rich. We've heard that
before, haven't we? Let me tell you a couple things wrong with this
"tax the rich."
First of all, you can't raise enough money by taxing the rich to
pay for $2.2 trillion. You raise about $680 billion -- therefore,
there is a tax gap. Guess who always gets to fill the tax gap? Yes,
you do. "Tax the rich," yes, we've heard it. The rich hire lawyers
and accountants for a reason, because they want to stick you with the
bill. We're not going to let John Kerry tax you. We're going to win
in November. (Applause.)
Now that we're on taxes, let me say something about the tax code.
It's a complicated mess. It's a million pages long. It takes six
billion hours a year to fill out the tax forms in this country. In a
new term, I'm going to bring Republicans and Democrats together to
simplify this tax code so it's more fair for you. (Applause.)
In a changing world, the skills that are required for the jobs of
the 21st century change. We have a skills gap in America in some
communities. Some jobs are gone, new jobs arrive. In order to help
our workers, I'm a big believer in the community college system, to
make the systems available so people can gain the skills necessary to
fill the jobs of the 21st century. As well, in a changing world, most
new jobs filled by people -- are filled by people with at least two
years of college, yet, one in four of our students gets there. That's
why I believe in early intervention programs in high school to help our
at-risk students. That's why I know we've got to place a new focus on
math and science. Over time, we'll require a rigorous exam before
graduation. See, by raising the performance in our high schools and by
expanding Pell grants for low- and middle-income families, more
Americans will start their career with a college diploma. (Applause.)
In this time of change, we've got to do something about the health
care system. There's a big difference in this campaign on health
care. You listen carefully to what my opponent's laying out, and it
says one thing. The federal government's going to run it.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: I want you to run it. (Applause.) I want you to
be the decision-maker. So here's some practical ways to help. First
of all, we'll take care of the poor and the needy by expanding
community health centers all around the country. We have a duty and an
obligation to do so. It makes sense that those folks get good health
care in these centers and not in the emergency rooms of our hospitals.
(Applause.)
Secondly, we'll continue to expand the children's health care
program for low-income Americans. In order to make sure health care is
available and affordable, we're going to help our small business
owners. One-half of the uninsured, currently uninsured, work for small
businesses. There's a reason why small businesses can't afford health
care. They ought to be allowed to pool together their risk so they can
buy insurance at the same discount big businesses can. (Applause.)
That makes sense. That's a commonsense way to make sure the control of
health care is in your hands. My opponent opposes that.
I'll tell you another thing we need to do to make sure health care
is available and affordable. We've got to do something about these
junk lawsuits that are running up the cost of medicine and running good
doctors out of practice. (Applause.) You cannot be pro-doctor,
pro-patient, pro-hospital, and pro-trial lawyer a the same time. See,
I think you have to make a choice. My opponent made his choice, and he
put a trial lawyer on the ticket.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: I made my choice: I'm standing with the docs and
patients; I'm for medical liability reform now. (Applause.) In all we
do, we'll make sure the medical decisions are made by doctors and
patients, not by bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.
In a changing society, it helps bring stability in people's life if
they own something. The home ownership rate under my administration is
the highest it's ever been in America. (Applause.) Over the next four
years, we'll continue to expand the home ownership policies to every
corner of America. I love the idea of somebody opening up the door
where they live and saying, welcome to my home, welcome to my piece of
property. (Applause.)
As well, we've got to think different about our retirement
systems. You might remember the 2000 campaign, when people said, well,
if George W. gets in, they're going to take away your Social Security
check. You still got your check, didn't you? So here's my message to
our seniors: Don't worry about what they tell you in the campaign, the
Social Security obligation will be fulfilled. And for us baby boomers,
there's enough money in the system to take care of us. But because
there's a lot of baby boomers getting ready to retire, we need to worry
about our children and our grandchildren when it comes to Social
Security. I believe younger workers ought to be allowed to take some of
their own tax money and set up a personal savings account that they can
call their own that the government cannot take away. (Applause.)
In this world of change, there are some things that do not change,
the values we try to live by: courage and compassion, reverence and
integrity. In changing times, we'll support the institutions that give
our lives direction and purpose: our families, our schools, our
religious congregations. We believe in a culture of life in which
every person matters and every being counts. (Applause.) We stand for
marriage and family, which are the foundations of our society.
(Applause.) We stand for the appointment of federal judges who know
the difference between personal opinion and the strict interpretation
of the law. (Applause.)
This election will also determine how America responds to the
continuing danger of terrorism. Since the terrible morning of
September the 11th, 2001, we've fought the terrorists across the Earth
-- not for pride, not for power, but because the lives of our citizens
are at stake. Our strategy is clear. We're defending the homeland.
We're reforming and strengthening our intelligence services. We're
strengthening our all-volunteer army -- which will remain an
all-volunteer army. (Applause.) We are staying on the offensive. We
are striking the terrorists abroad so we do not have to face them here
at home. (Applause.)
We will continue to spread freedom and liberty in the broader
Middle East and around the world, and we will prevail. (Applause.)
Our strategy is -- see, you think about the world the way it was a
while back: Afghanistan was the home base of al Qaeda; Pakistan was a
transit point for terrorist groups; Saudi Arabia was fertile ground for
terrorist fundraising; Libya was secretly pursuing nuclear weapons;
Iraq was a gathering danger; and al Qaeda was largely unchallenged as
it planned attacks.
Because we acted, a free Afghanistan is fighting terror; Pakistan
is capturing terrorist leaders; Saudi Arabia is making arrests; Libya
is dismantling its weapons programs; the army of a free Iraq is
fighting for freedom; and more than three-quarters of al Qaeda have
been brought to justice. (Applause.)
We've led, many have joined, and America and the world are safer.
This progress involved careful diplomacy, clear moral purpose, and some
tough decisions. And the toughest came on Iraq. Saddam Hussein was a
threat. We knew his record of aggression, support for terrorist
organizations. Saddam Hussein used weapons of mass destruction. He
fired missiles at our pilots which were enforcing the world sanctions.
He slaughtered his own people. Saddam Hussein was a threat. And after
September the 11th, we must always remember we must take threats
seriously, before the fully materialize. (Applause.)
That is the reality of the world in which we live. I recognized
that reality, and I went to the Congress. Congress debated the issue.
They voted overwhelmingly to authorize the use of force. They had
looked at the same intelligence I did, remembered the same history I
did, and voted overwhelmingly for force. My opponent looked at the
same intelligence I did, and when the vote came to authorize force, he
voted, "yes." I guess now it depends on what the meaning of "yes" is
in his mind. (Applause.)
AUDIENCE: Flip-flop! Flip-flop! Flip-flop!
THE PRESIDENT: Before the Commander-in-Chief commits our troops
into harm's way, he must try every other alternative. And so I went to
the United Nations hoping that diplomacy would work. The United
Nations debated the issue, and voted 15 to nothing, the U.N. Security
Council, to say to Saddam Hussein: disclose, disarm, or face serious
consequences. I believe when an international body speaks, it must
mean what it says. (Applause.)
As he had for 16 other resolutions, Saddam Hussein ignored the
United Nations. The other night, my opponent suggested we probably
should have passed the 18th resolution. (Laughter.) What good would a
resolution do after he ignored the first 17? As he had for a decade,
he wasn't about to listen to the demands of the free world. As a
matter of fact, when they sent inspectors in, it is now a fact that
Saddam Hussein was systematically deceiving the inspectors. Part of my
opponent's plan, as articulated in Miami, said, well, we should have
let the inspectors work. They weren't working. He was deceiving
them. He was hoping the world would turn away. So I had a choice to
make at this point in time: Do I take the word of a madman, forget the
lessons of September the 11th, or take action to defend this country?
Given that choice, I will defend America every time. (Applause.)
We didn't find the stockpiles we all thought were there. But,
remember, Saddam Hussein had the capability of making weapons of mass
destruction. He could have passed that capability onto a terrorist
enemy, and that was a risk we could not afford to take after September
the 11th. Knowing what I know today, I would have made the same
decision. America and the world are better off with Saddam in a prison
cell. (Applause.)
Because we acted to defend our country, 50 million people now live
in freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq. (Applause.) I want you to remind
your friends and neighbors about the Afghan story. You realize, almost
three-and-a-half years ago, the Taliban, these ideologues of hate,
would not yet -- let many young girls go to school. Imagine a society
in which young girls weren't allowed to go to school. When their
mothers didn't toe the line on their ideology, they'd take them in the
public square and whip them. Sometimes, they shot them in the sports
stadium. It was a dismal, dark society.
Today, 10 million Afghan citizens have registered to vote, 41
percent of whom are women, and they're having a presidential election
later on this month. (Applause.) Think about that. Freedom is
powerful. Freedom has converted a society that was dark and gloomy to
one of hope and light.
In Iraq, there's a brave Prime Minister named Prime Minister
Allawi. They're going to have elections in January. It's hard work
there. I know it's hard work. But you can be realistic and optimistic
at the same time. We got a good plan. We're training the Iraqis so
they can do the hard work. A hundred-thousand of them are trained.
They're taking action today against some of those terrorist thugs.
Slowly but surely, their forces are getting up, and some point in time,
they'll be ready to defend themselves. We're helping to rebuild that
country. Other nations are involved. They're having conferences here
and conferences there. I'll tell you one thing, a summit isn't how you
solve the problem. (Applause.) I've been to a lot of summits -- I've
never seen one that brought a terrorist to justice.
No, we've got a plan and it's working. Mr. Zarqawi's got one --
he's got one weapon, and that is to shake our will, because we've got
good conscience, because we care about human life and human dignity.
Every life is precious. That's his one weapon. But when America gives
its word, America will keep its word for the Iraqi and Afghan
citizens. (Applause.) We'll help these people move toward elections,
we'll get them on the path to stability and democracy as quickly as
possible, and then our troops will come home with the honor they have
earned. (Applause.)
We've got a great military. Proud of our military. (Applause.)
And I want to thank the veterans who are here for having set such a
great example for those who wear the uniform. (Applause.) I also want
to thank the military families who are here today. (Applause.) We
appreciate your sacrifice. And I made a commitment to our families and
to those who wear the uniform that you'll have all the resources you
need to complete your missions.
That's why I went to the Congress, September of 2003 and asked them
for $87 billion of important funding, funding to support our troops in
harm's way. We got great support there. Matter of fact, the support
was overwhelming for the $87 billion. All but 12 United States senators
voted for the funding, two of whom were my opponent and his running
mate. I want you to remind your friends and neighbors this: there was
only four members of the Senate that voted to authorize the use of
force and didn't vote to fund our troops, two of whom would be my
opponent and his running mate.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: So they actually asked him, they said, why did you
do that? He said, in one of the famous quotes of the 2004 campaign --
(laughter) -- I actually did vote for the $87 billion, right before I
voted against it.
AUDIENCE: Flip-flop! Flip-flop! Flip-flop!
THE PRESIDENT: They kept pressing him. He said he was proud of
the vote. Finally, he said it was a complicated matter, and, yet,
incredibly enough, he came up with a new reason. Last week, he
described his vote against funding the troops as a protest vote. He
said it on national TV.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: When American troops are in harm's way and
defending our country, they deserve better than to have a candidate for
President use them as a protest vote. (Applause.) Oh, I forgot, I
forgot. There's yet another explanation since then, and it happened at
the debate. He said he made a mistake in how he talked about that
vote. The mistake wasn't what Senator Kerry said, the mistake is what
Senator Kerry did. (Applause.) In the debate -- in the debate my
opponent also said something revealing when he laid out the Kerry
doctrine. (Laughter.) He said this, that America has to pass a global
test --
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: -- before we can use troops to defend ourselves.
Senator Kerry's approach to foreign policy would give foreign
governments veto power over national security decisions.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: I have a different view. (Applause.) When our
country is in danger, the President's job is not to take an
international poll. The President's job is to defend America.
(Applause.)
I believe in the transformational power of liberty. The heart of
my conviction is that liberty can help change societies for the
better. You know, I spend time with the Prime Minister of Japan. He's
a good friend. I was with New York -- I was in New York with him at
the U.N. I said, by the way, I'm talking about you on the campaign
trail. Do you mind? And he said, no, not at all. I didn't tell him I
was going to tell you that he likes Elvis. (Laughter.)
Nevertheless, here's why I like to bring him up. Wasn't all that
long ago that our country was at war with Japan. My dad fought him,
your dads and granddads fought him, as well. They were the sworn
enemy. And after World War II, Harry Truman and other Americans
believed that liberty can transform an enemy into an ally, and worked
with Japan to promote democracy. Now, a lot of people then, I'm
confident, were skeptical about that being able to happen. You
understand why. We had just fought them. A lot of lives had been
lost. But because Harry Truman stuck to those values, today I sit down
at the table with the head of a former enemy, talking about the peace
we all want, talking about how to work together to keep the peace.
(Applause.)
Liberty is powerful. It is powerful. I am confident that someday,
an American President will be sitting down with a duly elected leader
of Iraq talking about how to keep the peace in the greater Middle East,
and our country will be better off for it, and our children and
grandchildren will be able to grow up in a more peaceful world.
(Applause.)
I believe -- I believe that the women in the Middle East want to
live in freedom. (Applause.) I believe that everybody wants their
child to grow up in a free and peaceful society. I believe if given
the chance, the people in that part of the world will embrace the most
honorable form of government ever devised by man. And I'll tell you
why I believe these things: Freedom is not America's gift to the
world. Freedom is the Almighty God's gift to each man and woman in
this world. (Applause.)
This young century will be liberty's century. By promoting freedom
at home and abroad, we'll build a safer world and a more hopeful
America. By reforming our systems of government, we'll help more
Americans realize their dreams. We'll work to spread ownership and
opportunity to every corner of our country. We'll pass the enduring
values of our country on to a young generation. We'll continue to work
for peace and freedom around the world.
You know, for all Americans, these years in our history will always
stand apart. There are quiet times in the life of a nation, when
little is expected of its leaders. This isn't one of those times.
It's a time that requires firm resolve, clear vision, and a deep faith
in the values that makes this a great nation. (Applause.)
None of us will ever forget that week when one era ended and
another began. September the 14th, 2001, I stood in the ruins of the
Twin Towers. I'll never forget it. There were workers in hard hats
there yelling at me at the top of their lungs: Whatever it takes. I
remember trying to console some people coming out of that rubble. A
guy grabbed me by the arm, he looked me straight in the eye, and he
said: You don't let me down. Waking up every morning since then,
trying to figure out how best to protect America. I will defend the
security of the people of this country, whatever it takes. (Applause.)
Four years ago -- four years ago, as I traveled your great state
asking for the vote, I made this pledge. I said, if I was honored to
be able to hold a office of the presidency, I would uphold the honor
and the dignity of that office. With your help and with your hard
work, I will do so again for four more years.
Thanks for coming. God bless you all. Thanks for being here.
Thank you all. (Applause.)
END 4:27 P.M. EDT
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